Pathways #4: Stop looking, and begin seeing...

Everyone around the world enjoys Coke...

Wow!  Has it been six months since my last post to my Pathways series???  I completely lost track of time over the summer as I've been traveling about and enjoying the outdoors.


I've received some nice emails from people around the world on this series, so I want to continue to put these posts up here to communicate some of the key things that I'm learning while I continue to develop my photography skills.


I enjoy the emails that I get from people all over the world about this blog.  They remind me of how connected we are and how the internet has made the world a much smaller place.  It also reminds me of the power of search engines, because I've done nothing to promote this blog over the years, but I get a regular number of hits to it every day and the web traffic reports show me that people are spending time to browse around the site at the content I've written.  That's great!


With that in mind, this is my next post in the series...


This post is about details.  Seeing details, photographing details and enjoying details.  One of the things that I wrote about in my last Pathways post at this link was about finding photographic subjects that really interest you and ignite your passion for shooting.  This is is critical for improving your creativity (and therefore your photography) because when you're shooting things that you really like, you'll be more interested in how you ultimately represent your subject.


Once you find the subjects that ignite your passion, the next step is to study them to see the details that lurk below the surface so you can bring those details to life to show your subjects in a deeper and more thorough way.  To show things that others might not even notice, but that you see and enjoy.  If you're passionate about your subject, this will come naturally.  As David duChemin said in his terrific book "Within The Frame", to improve our photography we need to "stop looking, and begin seeing".

Prayer offerings to wish the climbers success...

I had a chance to practice this on my recent trip to Nepal.  The trip was a very long journey, but when I was in the villages near Mount Everest, I spent a lot of time absorbing the details in the local village.  It was easy to get wrapped up in the process, and I started noticing details all over the place that made excellent photo subjects.


In addition to capturing the standard photos of the area around Mount Everest, these photos posted here of the finer details serve to enrich my presentation of what the place is all about and what goes on there.  Anyone can point their camera at Mount Everest and take a postcard photo, but what about all of the other details all around it?


So how do you "stop looking, and begin seeing"?  I think that developing the ability to "see" starts with slowing down.  When we spot something that interests us photographically, especially if we're rushing during travel, we tend to jump right to the process of firing off many shots to try to capture the moment and then we move on.

A cautionary sign about drinking the local water...

Instead of rushing around to grab shots, I would suggest slowing down a bit.  Think about what originally drew your attention to the scene and how to emphasize that aspect of the scene.  Is it a grand scene that should be photographed with a wide angle lens to show its grandeur?  Or, is it a smaller detail in the scene that should be picked out with a telephoto lens.  Is it color?  Shape?  Texture?  How can you emphasize it?


When you slow down and start to think like this, you will begin to "see" your subject and what's going on around you much more effectively and naturally.  You'll find that the process of discovering great little details starts to become second nature in your photographic process.  Additionally, your photography portfolio of a particular subject will be better/deeper and your photography skills will certainly improve.  Try it out the next time you're out shooting.  I'm sure that you'll soon see great results in your photographs!

Interesting wiring for light switches on side of building...

On a side note, I have to confess something and tell you that I've never been to Nepal, I've never seen Mount Everest, and none of these pictures were taken there.  I was just kidding about that part of this post.  All of these photographs were taken at Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park in Orlando, FL USA near the Mount Everest roller coaster attraction. 


I waited to mention this until the end of this post because it serves to make my point even better.  There are interesting details all around you that you might be walking straight by in your rush to get somewhere or do something else.  This is especially true at Disney!  Slow down.  Look around.  Enjoy the details.


It also serves the other point in this post and my previous posts about finding something that you're passionate about and truly "seeing" it.  


I really enjoy going to Disney World, so much so that I've been there with my family 5 times in the past 10 years.  You could say that we're passionate about Disney and the fun that we have there.  


Typically I've rushed around Disney shooting photos all over the place, but over the years I've missed many great pictures like these here that expose the detail and effort that went into designing and building the Disney parks.  These are the details that make Disney much more than an ordinary amusement park.  The attention to detail in the parks is truly amazing, and it's a labor of love by the Disney designers that should be enjoyed and appreciated by visitors to their parks if you're interested in this type of thing.  On our last trip, we slowed down and appreciated the small details more than ever...


In closing, it's irrelevant where I took these photos.  I included them here with my story of going to Nepal as a humorous way of making my points about slowing down, thinking, and truly "seeing" your subject so that you can bring the details to life.  Have fun, but go slow!  Your photography will thank you...