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One of my favorite images from the Miksang Summer Institute Program in Boulder, Colorado—where I recently spent two wonderful weeks immersed in contemplative photography.
Photographed at high noon on the Pearl Street Mall, our assignment was to capture moments involving people. This was one “fish” that didn’t get away. 🙂
In the discussion on contemplative photography, Marti wrote:
…to capture “life” or just a moment that catches our attention, I think we need to worry less about the “rules” when shooting.
Other than having the camera set for fast exposures, there was definitely no time to think about “rules” when this fleeting moment caught my eye!
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Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/750 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance 7.94m
April, this is so precious. I’ll bet her parents would have loved to have a print of this. Little kids do so many things in which they are totally absorbed to the extent of not paying attention to anything going on around them – only their own action(s).
You certainly captured the peak of the moment.
I like to contemplate what the little girl did next. She may have looked inside the bowl. Or she may have dropped the bowl and stooped down to pick up those chips. Or she may have started crying, esp if one of her parents had run over and scolded her.
All I can know is that through many repeated similar actions, she’s learning something. But she won’t remember each action when she’s older, only the lesson learned.
I wish I’d saved the second frame to create a diptych. The little girl looked around with a huge smile, as if to say “Oh, look at that!”
And you know, I didn’t even think of offering a print to her mom—who didn’t scold as she hurried over to gather goldfish up from the walkway. 🙂
My bad! I’ll remember next time.
April,
I have missed seeing your beautiful images here and at TME. I had not realized that you attended another Miksang workshop. Good for you! Cant wait to hear how it went. I will call soon to chat.
Hope your summer is going well. My parents will leave next week. I will be able to concentrate on photography a bit more after that. Maybe another get together is in order??
This image is quite precious. An instantaneous slice of life captured beautifully. I am impressed.
Diane Arbus once said…. I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them….I think it applies here. Thanks for sharing.
Usha, I’ll look forward to your call! And let’s do try to get together again, before this summer passes us by. I have a little GPS now, so it’d be easy for me to drive up your way. 🙂
Ahhh. I wish I could go to another Miksang workshop. Did Michael and Julie lead the workshop? I sure get that flash of perception quality out of many of your recent pictures.
Roland, what a pleasure to see you here — and to discover you’ve also begun a photo blog! Google does a decent enough job of translation that I can enjoy your thoughts along with your images.
Michael and Julie did lead the workshop, and now I understand how their shooting alongside the participants can enhance our understanding. On some days, they also struggled with the assignments despite having tackled them hundreds of times before! Their insights into their own process and stumbling blocks, along with ours, was illuminating.
I see they will be in Amsterdam and Zandvoort in October, conducting the two levels I just attended (and would happily experience again)…
Thank you, April. Glad the translation works well enough. I fear, my own human translation wouldn’t be that much better. 🙂
And yes, I had really deep inspirational moments when walking slowly together with Julie. Michael was less easy to get near. 🙂 It’s such a different world, once we can free our mind and open the heart, no? Since little Theo currently needs all my time, my personal Miksang training is following your photographs. 🙂
All the best
Ha! I think your personal Miksang trainer is little Theo. How I would love to experience the world afresh through the eyes of a child. 🙂
Ah, but now that you’ve added the English abstracts I don’t have to guess at your meaning. Thank you! They are wonderfully clear, and thought provoking.