Zen and the Art of Photography

Getting the April issues of Southport and Leland Magazines finished and to the press last weekend kicked my butt. Deadline week always takes a lot out of me because it means wearing all the hats I wear all at the same time. Getting editorial straight, making sure all the advertising is in and correct, laying it all out in InDesign and getting that package to the printer uses all of my available brain power. Adding the time-sensitive nature to that, it all needs to be finished by a hard and fast deadline hour, puts me in mental state that is not easy to just drop out of once all the work is accomplished. 

I tried taking a break last Saturday by taking the cameras out with Lisa and shooting some photos in Leland. We had a blast, but knowing all I had to do and being really in the middle of all the deadline pressure led to me not thinking my way through what I was doing and so making mistakes. I double exposed, I forgot to change the focus, and I messed up the rinse time of the developing of that roll. Using that old folding Brownie requires close attention to do it correctly. 

This past Tuesday was my official “day off” for the month. It was the day after the magazines were sent to the press and the day before they are dropped off for me to deliver. I always try to use that day each month as a re-charge day and not do much if any magazine work. The April issues I had just finished were good ones, full of good content and lots of ads, but they took a lot of last minute work to bring off. I was pretty frazzled and my brain was still running a mile a minute. I needed to unwind. 

Lisa recommended I “go somewhere” and suggested Calabash, just to get a change of scenery. That was a great idea and I decided to go bit farther south and visit the Vereen Memorial Gardens in Little River, South Carolina. I figured the flowers would be out and there is an angel statue there that I really wanted to capture with the Brownie. 

The plan worked. I took both the Brownie and the EOS-R with a new 35mm lens I’d just bought. It was amusing to me to carry around two ends of the technology spectrum like that. The EOS-R was for fun and the Brownie was for therapy, to force me to slow down. 

Using the Brownie is different. Its limitations force you to think both differently and more. With a max of six frames, choosing a subject isn’t impulsive like it is with a digital camera. I had a couple shots I really wanted: the angel and something waterfront Calabash. I wasn’t confident of finding the beginning of the film so I took an image I wasn’t dying for as the first. Just a shot through a fallen tree looking out over a saltwater marsh. It came out ok, but also shows that I wasn’t fully invested. It’s just ok.

I put the Brownie up and took a walk with the EOS-R that was just the kind of relaxing I needed. It was warm but not hot, breezy but not windy and sunny but full of big puffy clouds. I got some cool photos but I’ll write about that later. 

Then it was off to get the shot I drove there for. The angel is part of a memorial to the Vereen family after which the gardens are named. It sits just off the road in a clearing. This day the sun was coming in and out from behind the clouds and when it was out, it shone right on the angel. I concentrated on doing everything right. I paced off the distance for focus. I checked the exposure with my app and set what I though would be right. I took my time fussing with the viewfinder to frame the angel well. Then I just stood there and waited for the sun. There were no cars driving by and no other people. It was just me and the wind and the angel and the old camera. When the sun came out and hit the angel’s face just right I tripped the shutter and repeated the process for another angle just to cover myself. I figured this was worth two of my six frames. 

My second angle. I like it, but like the one at the top of the blog better

The entire process probably took 20 minutes. It was exactly what I needed. Slow, meticulous, step-by-step and entirely without deadline. I had slowed down and found my calm, and my happy. 

Then a dude with a leaf blower rolled up so I moved on. Off to Calabash.

On the waterfront I found the shrimp boat I had planned to shoot, but then I had a change of plan. There were big pelicans on the pilings by the boat. I’m a sucker for a pelican on a piling and these were very chill pelicans who didn’t mind me being there in the least. So I was able to go back to my slow, methodical routine. I was excited by the birds and didn’t want them to fly off, but forced myself to just trust they’d stay and not rush at all. It worked out well and my pelican buddies remained perfect models. 

I’m thankful for the outlet photography gives me, and I’m particularly thankful for having discovered this old camera that forces me to slow down and fully engage in the process. I feel like it is more than just relaxing, I think it makes me a better photographer. Even using a modern DSLR, it is never a bad thing to slow down and think. And it’s good for the soul as well.