Zen photographer - Part 2

Learn how to take better pictures while enjoying your time more.

This article is the continuation of my series on the Zen photographer.

The benefits of mindfulness are many, I already outlined some in part one of this series. Although it is probably better to read the articles in order, you can also start here and work your way back. As a mindful writer, I realize there is no wrong way. ;)

We all strive to become better photographers. Some of us actually become outstanding photographers, while so many others become obsessed with technical jargon and camera resolution.

Silence

Noisy World

Our world is a noisy place and if it is not, we do our best to add noise whenever we can. We turn up the music in our car so that everyone else can hear our wonderful beats and we wear an iPod when we are outside.

Try to silence all the noises and enjoy just being without doing. You will find out that this is much harder to accomplish than you can imagine. Thoughts will pop into your head at random, each demanding your immediate attention. Those thoughts will seem important now.

Silence your mind

Take some time to meditate or to clear your head of all thoughts. Concentrate on your breath and on the wind, the smells and the sounds around you.

I use a binaural beat generator on my iPhone or listen to some very quiet relaxation music to help me de-focus from the things that keep my mind busy all day.

Benefits

We often do not see the beauty that is all around us and we often miss the most unique and compelling compositions because of the noise in our heads. The compositions that we do see are those that we have memorized from other artists, stereotypical pictures that easily peak through the noise in our head. To see nature with clarity, non-judgmentally, we need to open our minds and we need to silence the noise.

I tried to silence my busy mind on my last trip to Death Valley. Not only did I shoot some wonderful pictures, I was also able to unwind on my first day. Usually it takes me several days to accomplish this state of relaxation after a busy workweek.

Trust

Why we need trust and why we do not trust

Besides silencing the noise, we need to trust our instincts. Trust your eyes and trust that things that attract your attention are worthy of your attention.

I used to chase visions of other photographers. On my way to a viewpoint or to some location, I often passed some excellent photographs hiding in the landscape. Even if I subconsciously registered them, I did not trust myself.

Advertising has numbed our minds by constantly deceiving our senses. We hardly trust anything we see or any person speaking to us. Our western society has pre-conditioned us to mistrust.

Benefits

Although mistrust is very helpful in many situations in life, it stops us from trusting our instincts when it comes to photography. It thus prevents us from finding our own style and setting ourselves apart from other photographers.

Trust your heart and your instincts and pay attention to seeing without judging. Open your eyes completely to the beauty that is in front of you and use your camera to show exactly what you see.

On my trip to Death Valley, I shot some well-known icons such as Zabriskie point, but I also discovered new places completely deprived of visitor traffic and created some unique photographs.