Contemplative Photography - Simplicity Assignment

By Len Dobrucki

16 Dec 2011

This is my 4th entry for the exercises from the book "The Practice of Contemplative Photography", by Andy Karr and Michael Wood. Part 1 is at http://jpgmag.com/stories/18201 , part 2 is at http://jpgmag.com/stories/18217 , part 3 is at http://jpgmag.com/stories/18260

For this assignment, we move on to simplicity... see http://seeingfresh.com/photo-submissions/simplicity

First the excuses :-( ... lousy weather, too busy working, getting ready for ski season, and the list goes on and on.

Well, weather is a bad excuse because in Contemplative Photography, everything comes from within, so you should be able to "perceive" in any weather. I guess I'm just basically a fair weather photographer.

Moving on, this assignment is all about finding form in space without shooting into the sky. (That's cheating, although sometimes you just can't help it!). Easier said than done, as I found out, but I am learning about patience and persistence in my photography. I read somewhere else that you can first find space, and then look for form within that space. Trouble is, once I found the space, I had trouble finding the form. Anyway, after 3 or 4 outings, I managed to get a few shots that I like, and that I think fit into this exercise.

Another thing I'm discovering is that when I'm out shooting, I have these exercises in the back of my mind and I'm feeling more aware of what's out there.

So please leave your comments.

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