Slowing down

I'm sat at work feeling full of cold and lacking in motivation. Its very quiet today so I am using the rare opportunity of a slow day to contemplate slowing down.

The photo challenge from a couple of weeks ago was a challenge to slow down. I rarely take the time to sit and observe and plan a photograph. In fact, I rarely find the time just to sit at the moment. So, my own personal challenge for the next couple of weeks (months maybe?) is to use the exercise below to take some photos:

Stage 1 – Find a location
You can do this exercise anywhere, in your garden, up a mountain, or if the weather isn’t so nice, in your living room or kitchen!  Once you’ve found your location, sit down.
Stage 2 – Observation
Don’t get your camera out yet, you’ve got some preparation to do first!
I want you to spend a full 10 minutes looking at your surroundings.  Really look closely.  How does the light interact with objects nearby? What textures can you find? How does the setting feel?  What details would you have missed if you’d just walked past?  Does anything produce a natural “frame”?
Spend these 10 minutes to pick a subject and plan the shot you’re going to take.  If you need to move around to find the best angle, do so! This stage is all about planning though, so don’t pick up your camera until the 10 minutes are up!
Stage 3 – Implementation
Now you can get your camera out!
Spend the next 5 minutes taking your photo.  Move around the subject to get the best angle, frame it carefully.  If you need to adjust anything in the scene (eg move a twig out of the shot, cast a shadow over part of the image) then now is the time to do so. Take as many shots as you need to get the shot you spent all that time planning.  If you can get it in one shot, great!  If it takes you 20 attempts, well that’s cool too.  Just don’t get carried away and overrun your 5 minutes!

I am planning to start tonight when I get home and the kids are in bed (please let it be earlier than last night). Already I am mulling over which room I could sit in, where the light will be best at that time of day, what interesting objects are lying around. I am looking forward to 10 minutes of just sitting and looking. I think that it may well do far more for me than improving my photography.

Life right now is busy and relentless and a contant juggling act. How often do we give ourselves the chance to sit without the interruption of other people, radio, television, internet, phones? It is something that I usually struggle with but at this particular moment in my life I crave solitude and quiet. I long for a day alone with my camera, a good book and beautiful surroundings. Although I am sure that I would get bored and miss them within hours (if not minutes).

So, tonight I will give myself those 15 minutes to take a photo and will show you the results later.