Julian wrote:
Nothing new here. Basic rules and approach to photography tenets which most of us follow.
This can be very new to many. William touches on a very important concept - how to turn photography from a voyueristic/docomentation-oriented endeavor into something that is very experiential and involves all of one's senses - and examines a scene for contrast, luminosity, color, texture, form - and using a mindful approach, allow oneself to capture a scene without judgement or preconception.
When shooting, having a calm mind and being able to see things as they are without imposing one's own interpretation - aka - "seeing fresh" - will reward one with very satisfying images. The concept of "Miksang" which translates from Tibetan as "Good Eye" is at the core of this approach to photography.
I will argue that this is not the approach that most photographers use.
Being able to differentiate the commonplace from the special/unique is a discipline that requires a calm mind.
There is much to read on the topic of Contemplative Photography - Freeman Patterson, George DeWolf, Andy Karr, Michael Wood, John McQuade, David Ulrich, Dick Devries, John McQuade, and others have written extensively on the subject.
What you will see once exposed to a new way of seeing, is that the basic rules and photography "tenets" are very basic and extremely constraining - and yes, most of us do follow them as a means of establishing a structure and discipline to allow us to take pictures. Seeing Fresh, Miksang, Contemplative Photography frees one of these constraints.
http://seeingfresh.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTfzVw96QAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tccPU91aKUohttps://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-contemplative-photography/https://www.quarryfarm.com/wp/about-miksang/I am glad that William posted this - it just might help some of us to pause and think why we take the pictures we do, and how we can see differently to create different images using the elements of the scene as they reveal themselves to us, and not relying on "correct" camera settings focal length, depth of field, ISO, shutter speed, color, contrast, sharpening, etc to make an image.
I disagree with Williams article on his last point - it's less about one's emotions and what one may have had in mind - it's entirely about "the moment" or "witnessing" reality - a very "Zen" thing.
https://zenstudies.org/teachings/what-is-zen/Otherwise, he totally describes a new way of seeing - and his examples do capture this.