The name of this blog is ‘Spirit and Seeing.’  Why isn’t it called ‘Spirit and Photography?’  That’s what it’s really about isn’t it?  The surface reason for not calling it ‘Spirit and Photography’ is that name seemed too long  for people to type in; it’s just a bit more cumbersome than I would like the title to be.  The deeper reason is that, for me at least, seeing is at least 75% of what goes into successful photography.  A good camera is nice, a good lens is always welcome, technique – at least as far as operating the camera is concerned – is also good.  But the selection of what appears in the viewfinder and the way it is composed there is even more important.

Spring impression

A modern digital camera – I’m using a Canon 40D – automates a lot of what used to trip me up.  Autofocus is a boon, image stabilization is great and automatic metering is good too.  Having a histogram adds a critical dimension to image making.  All of that taken care of automatically to one extent or another means that the bulk of the job shifts even more over to image selection and composition, or seeing.

As complex as it is, the English language often compresses multiple meanings into a single word.  Take for example the word ‘seeing.’  If I’m absent-mindedly walking along and managing to avoid running into trees, dogs, people and parked motorcycles, am I ‘seeing’ in the same sense as when I’m composing a picture that people will find interesting?  The answer, obviously, is no.

One of the benefits of a strong interest in photography is that it helps us see more of the world.  Not more square inches of the world, but more per square inch.  When we first start out with a camera and have gotten to the point that we don’t have to think too much about the camera settings, it often happens that we see more and more interesting things when we have the camera in our hands than when we don’t.  With more practice, that difference decreases and we see more ‘photographically’ even when we don’t have a camera with us.

I take our two dogs for a walk around the block every morning at around 5:45.  We’ve been doing this for years.  It is usually dark and there isn’t much that changes from one day to the next but thinking photographically helps me see things I hadn’t noticed before.  The photo below was taken one winter morning.  I had been by that tree hundreds of times but perhaps because of the frost on the ground and who knows what else, it was different.  When we got back home I picked up the camera and tripod and went back to see if it was what I thought it was.

Do you really want to know what is behind that tree?

The light being obscured behind the tree makes a huge difference.  Moving a few inches to the left or right turns the image into nothing very interesting.  I’ve looked at this tree many times since and the shot just isn’t there for me now.  Maybe when there is frost on the ground, then again, maybe never again.

So yes, this blog is about photography but then photography is largely about seeing.  I’m happy with the title ‘Spirit and Seeing.’

The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust