More Like Guidelines

I’ve noticed lately that I’m noticing a lot more.

This morning I (still healing from back surgery and not yet carrying a big lens and camera) took my phone downtown and shot ICM architecture for a few hours. I had a great time and got some interesting photos to look at tonight. Before that, I went to a museum in town where the sunrise hits the tall windows really nicely at certain times of the year. This is not one of those times, apparently… but when I drove to the exit I got blasted by the Mars-red sun coming up through the smoke, behind me in the rear-view mirror.

Some things that are becoming not rules, but more like guiding photography principles for me:

#1 Turn Around

Besides being super-handy in case you’re being tracked by Bigfoot, I’ve found some shockingly amazing things just by turning around. This is one of them.

Standing on a ridge over the Snake River shooting a really nice sunset beginning to develop over the Tetons in 2023 with a photography workshop group, all of us were standing in a line being dutifully focused on the scene right in front of us.

Standing there waiting, being cold and being a tiny bit bored, I turned around. And there was this.

Still one of my favorite shots not because it’s a great photograph, but because it taught me a lesson: if you don’t look around once in a while you might miss something important (yes, I stole that from Ferris Bueller).

#2 Follow That Rabbit

I’ve gotten good at this. If I see something that needs to be explored, like my fascination with ICM and learning how to use a manual camera app on my phone, I’m all in.

Follow that rabbit, see where it goes, it may go somewhere you want / need to be.

#3 Attention is a Practice

Be willing to stay with something interesting long enough for it become meaningful. This one is new, I’m still working on it (per Kai Hornung).

#4 Don’t Assume You Know What You’re Looking For

Recent example: walking on the beach in Oregon a few weeks ago, there were big cliffs, giant sand dunes, beautiful huge rock formations in the water.

There were also pigeon guillemots, tidepools, a certain pile of blue rocks, and ghosts on the beach. I expected none of those things (except the tidepools).

I’ll be adding more of these guidelines as they surface.