Mindful Photography

“Like chess, or writing, it is a matter of choosing from among given possibilities, but in the case of photography the number of possibilities is not finite but infinite.”

--John Szarkowski, from On Photography by Susan Sontag

Creating the photographs you want means composing a part of your environment in the viewfinder of your camera. The possible options are vast and the most common error made by many beginning photographers is to photograph at the first place they stop.  A particular subject calls to them, they click the shutter and move on hoping that the image they captured will turn out to be a keeper. This approach is rarely successful but sometimes they get lucky. These little surprises are enough to reinforce their methods and they continue to be accidental photographers.

To fully explore the possibilities of any worthy opportunity requires taking time to become immersed in the scene. William Neil, master landscape photographer, calls this “working the scene.” I call it mindful composition. One of the most satisfying aspects of photography is the arrangement of objects within the frame of the viewfinder. Only by carefully observing the relationships  of line and form, foreground and background, and the balance of tones, can you refine the image design to intentionally make a great photograph.

To work the scene to it’s fullest advantage, you must pause—put the camera down for minute and take a few deep breathes if that’s what it takes—and then carefully observe the arrangement of objects within the frame of the viewfinder. A few steps to the left or right, forward or back, moving up a hill or sitting on the ground, can make a huge difference in the overall impact of the composition. You can also try changing focal length to help find a different perspective. Remember, the object of your attention is not the true subject of the composition--the entire frame of your viewfinder is--and your attention to all parts of it is critical to making a successful statement. Photography is as much about making a statement as is the craft of writing. It's the statement or message inherent in the image that sets a good photographer apart for the snapshot artist.

Anything that distracts the viewer from your subject or theme can ruin an otherwise good photograph. A good example is a bright piece of sky in the corner of a darkly lit image. Another is an out-of-focus branch, in an otherwise sharp image. Distractions such as these pull the viewer’s eye out of the scene and away from your message.

One of my favorite compositional techniques is to fill the frame with a texture. When a more-or-less even pattern fills the entire frame, it isolates the subject from any distracting elements—this is the second rule of mindful photography: remove any elements that distract from the subject or theme. In the forest image shown here, for example, Cathryn filled the frame with the branches and blossoms spread evenly throughout. No sky or any other distracting bright areas are included and there are no foreground elements to add depth. This gives the composition a flatness of scale that heightens the textural effect.

Cathryn found an angle where the dogwood and redbud blossoms moved diagonally across the frame in order to balance color and form. She moved her camera into the best position to fill the frame. This is often a process of trial and error, looking through the viewfinder, moving again until all elements come together.

The process of composing an image is a combination of exploration and refinement. Don’t trust your message to luck. As a photographer, your call to a particular subject or theme is an emotional one—it is a call straight to the heart.  Explore your environment with your heart, and refine the composition mindfully.