Finding Serenity in Photography
Most people have their own idea of serenity. For some, it means sitting on a beach listening to waves lap against the shoreline. For others, it is sitting by a fire on a cold winter day reading a book and sipping a hot cup of coffee. A 10K run is serenity for some friends of mine although gasping for air while my legs are burning never did much for me. For those that know me, it will come as no surprise that I find peace and tranquilly in landscape photography. Being in a beautiful surrounding with my camera gives me an inner calmness and gratification that I have difficulty replicating elsewhere. The last set of images in this blog are rare photos of me in my “natural habitat”.
What does the camera add? Could’t I find the same level of peace and satisfaction by simply watching a sunrise at the shore or seeing the sunset behind crashing waves? For me, the camera adds intent. It gives me the reason to be wherever I am and forces me to look at a scene as a potential piece of art rather than just an attractive landscape. My mind stays focused on creating a picture — answering the challenges of composition and the technical aspects of getting the exposure correct. It is the marriage of this focus along with being in a fantastic setting that prevents other thoughts from entering my head. There is no room for anxiety or self doubt. No room for stress-inducing thoughts that usually plague me at three in the morning.
An important part of my outings is to not worry about coming away with an image — not an easy task given the effort that could go into getting myself in a position to create images. Although I normally am able to capture something to my liking, there have been many times where I go out for a shoot and not snap an image. And that is OK. There is aways going to be another sunrise, another foggy morning on a lake, and another spectacular autumn day. If I stress too much about making an award-winning photo, it sort of defeats the purpose and, often, that added stress causes me to miss an image that might be very obvious if I just relax and keep my eyes open.
Photography has largely been a solo pursuit for me, but solitude is not a prerequisite for serenity. I have shot with other people and as long we respect each other’s creative process, I really don’t mind the company. My inability to convince others to depart at an ungodly early time and stand for hours in, at times, less than hospitable conditions, has been the main reason why I tend to shoot by myself.
Assuming I am able to create an acceptable image, I have a lovely reminder of my outing. Indeed, I am somewhat surprised that for most of the thousands of images that are stored on my hard drive, I have a distinct memory of the shoot itself which makes the picture more than just a photo but a feeling and a reminder of a wonderful time outside. I can recall the challenges of a particular shoot (wind, rain, brutal cold, etc), the changing conditions, or the joy of an unplanned shot.
Given that I almost always shoot by myself, there are few photos of me out in the field creating images. Here are several that do exist. I’m not sure if my sense of peace and tranquility comes through in these pictures, but trust me, it was there.
