Beyond the "Good Eye"

Horseshoe crabs on beach in Port Washington, Long Island, New York.

GOOD EYE

We 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 water: 

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.  

  The image in the song comes around again, in photography. Writing about mindfulness, photographer and writer George deWolfe invites us to:

   " Imagine a picture of a tree and its reflection in a pool of water. The tree is reality and our mind is the pool. When waves occur on the pool, we cannot see the tree clearly, as when words, thoughts... cause our minds to be turbulent and we cannot see reality clearly. 

   "When the pool is calm, we can see the tree clearly, just as when our mind is clear of concepts and desires, we can see reality clearly. 

   "Mindfulness causes the pool of the mind to become mirror-like, so that it can reflect reality. It is seeing truly. It is seeing what is."

Skimmers along Atlantic shore in Cape May, New Jersey.

 
 Perceiving reality is a process of clearing our minds of desires. A good eye is a clear perception of your present experience.


BREATHING LESSONS
   How do we stay in "just this" present moment of perception? Breath in and out slowly until we are relaxed, saying "Just This" to ourselves. Pause and let go of photographing. Just look. Let the mental noise fade a bit as you breathe deeply and slowly.

Docked boats in Port Moncton harbor, Nova Scotia

“ I’m waiting, I’m listening. I go to
those places and get myself ready
through meditation. Through being
quiet and willing to wait, I can begin to see the essence of the subject in front of me. ” 

~ Minor White

BLINDERS OFF

As we quiet the body and mind, we can take off the blinders and drop the chains that separate us from reality.

"We must first set down 'the pack'—the notions and positions that separate us from reality. We must take off the blinders that limit our vision and see for ourselves that originally there are no seams, flaws, organs between us and the whole phenomenal universe." 

~ Daido Roshi

Anchor chain aboard a boat in morning dew.

AUTHENTICITY

   Practicing slow photography will change how we see. Minimalistic at times, its photos may seem abstract, with areas of empty space. The goal of slow photography is to enlighten you about yourself.  This is artistic authenticity.

   Along the way, we can also let go of criticizing others for their photos. Just because someone else's path does not follow yours, does not mean they are lost, to paraphrase the Dali Lama. There  are many eyes in photography. Having an eye for one kind does not imply having a good eye for all types.

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( Note: Thanks to the work of Alan Wilson Watts, Thích Nhất Hạnh, John Daido Loori, Minor Martin White, and especially my father James H. Austin.