Slow Photography

Horseshoe crabs on beach in Port Washington, Long Island, New York. GOOD EYE W e often use the term "good eye" to describe a photographer's work: "Oh, she's got a good eye." But what is a good eye?   A good eye needs training and experience, and practice in learning to see. A good eye flows from your first brief moment of perception. Given the fact that what lands on our retina is not   see, a good eye is also an inner eye. It perceives feelings, states and meaning in a moving world. JUST THIS     Seeing begins with a flash, a simple, direct perception of a subject now in front of you. The subject is what pulls you, like a magnet, into the mysterious present moment. My old man calls this present moment: "Just this." Water droplet on the side of a boat hull.  SEEING TRULY: NO RIPPLE IN STILL WATER    Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead wrote a song. Entitled " Ripple", Garcia's haiku chorus sings of still wat...

If you'd like, thumb through the pages of my photo book... Photopia by James Austin | Make Your Own Book   Photopia, is an exploration of contemplative seeing, with 70 images from my experience.  

Fall.  The earth and sky seem to whisper to us: “winterize, or die.” Everyone rushes around. Yet, we can pause, taking our time to savor the season. Even as our heart beats faster, and we feel ourselves speeding up, we can change our awareness to slow our pace back down. Walk outside with your iPhone or camera. Opening our eyes to Fall's beauty, a Slow Photography approach helps us make interesting images. Here are four Visual exercises I've found helpful. 1. INTIMACY: You're Not Close Enough ! When the photographer Robert Capa said "if your photographs aren't good enough, you are not close enough," he meant more than being physically close to our subject.  We have to get to know our subject, intimately. Selective intimacy is the key. Instead of taking taking many photographs, wait until you are taken by one photograph you love. Wait for that subject and light that engages your passion. I've found my best photos ...

Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod Massachusetts    Haste Makes Waste. Snapping away, shooting without seeing, we can make hundreds of images, and then quickly dump them on our hard drives. Later, we delete most of them, when the Waste Dump pile becomes too high.    However, I have good news. There is an antidote, a Timeless Eye. Let's discover the timeless eye and the Fab Four of Photography. Stream, Colorado      Imagine each photo is the last one you will make. Photograph it as if your image is the most important one you'll ever take. Stick with the process of making it until you feel the flow.      Skillful photographers never run out of time. They live by the motto:  “Photograph as if you will die tonight, yet craft each image as if you have all eternity.” The photographer David Duchemin calls this approach: work fast to work slow. In your photography, "make haste slowly" or "Festina Lente" as the Roman Emper...