Slow Photography

GETTING THERE: After sailing to Long Island, Bahamas in February 2018, we rowed our dinghy .4 miles (650 meters) east from the anchorage to a sponge fisherman's area ashore at Gray's Bight settlement, Long Island. First called Yuma by the Arawaks, and later named Fernandina by Columbus, Long Island is 180 miles southeast of Nassau.  Explore the Shrimp Hole and see the shrimp bodies reflected by the undersurface, an experience like floating in space, in this video:                 Play   Video "Exploring the Shrimp Hole, A Salty Paws Adventure" THE SHRIMP HOLE: We'd been previously to Long Island's famous Deans Blue Hole, one of the world's deepest at 663 feet. However, swimming in the shrimp hole was surreal. To get there, you can drive South from Thompson Bay. Since we were anchored, we landed a dinghy and took a short walk across the Queen's Highway and through the grounds of Saint Mary's Spanish c...

Two Gods Jim Austin Jimages " When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow."   ~   Anais Nin The truths we hold as self-evident can make us strong. Yet, we can easily carry them to extremes. When our truths about our creative process emerge from darker places, they may hinder our curiosity. To open our vision to other novel vistas, we may need to let go of what we hold tight. In an old Anglican church, shadow and sunlight patterns danced on a wall around the decaying windows. Clouds floated across the sun. I wondered if the essence of this illumination could be expressed in a picture.  Watching these rays of light and shadows move across the wall, I slowed  down to steady my mind and the camera. Colors were vivid. Greens and yellows emerged from the darker hues. I noticed the broken shutter with vines growing in, as if through an eye. Mother nature came in one tendril at ...

Slowness is beauty. There are many ways to slow down our photography: relaxed awareness, mental willpower, a tripod. Bronze Buddha, Nikko Japan. Slow photography is more being, and less doing. To practice it, we start by believing that slowness is beauty.  Awhile ago, living in Kyoto, Japan, I found that the idea "slowness is beauty" was part of Japanese art and culture. The phrase is: "Oso-sa wa utsukushi-sa."  Her is an exercise. For part of my workshop on ideas in photography, I offer a "slowness is beauty" exercise to photography students. We practice Slow Photography with the low ISO setting on our cameras. Bob's Barbershop, Cambridge Maryland. Low and Slow. In summer, or when the light was particularly bright, a low and slow ISO helps us work deliberately. For example, I used ISO 64 when I walked past Bob's Barbershop in Cambridge Maryland. The light was overcast, and I changed ISO to 64 on  my ...

I have a passion for Polaroid.  Photographing with an SX-70 Alpha and the Polaroid 180 cameras,  these images were made from instant prints. First, manipulated Time-ZERO SX-70 film was a beautiful way to slow the process. How is it an example of slow photography?  Glad you asked. Slow Down SX-70 Time Zero Manipulation, Jimages Clown and Polaroid Print, Jimages The Scream, Jimages Curiosity is a Creative Gift. Jimages. Girls who Play in Plaid, Jimages Sliding with my Brother, Jimages After an SX-70 print came out of the camera, it can be altered over a couple of days. This is done gradually. The idea is to match technique with subject. In 1976, I began doing SX-70 manipulations with my first SX-70 Instant Folding Alpha-1 Land Camera in Denver. The kids and clown above were photographed in Denver's parks, and the highway workers on Interstate I-70 in Colorado. Then, I added a Polaroid 180 camera. Folks who see i...

Spring sunrise off the New Jersey coast. 1. THINK FIRST     Check out that Mode dial on your camera. There may be a letter B on it. B means Bulb. It keeps your shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter release, giving more time to expose the image. Allowing more time is the point. When we choose B on our mode dials, we can also mentally change our operating mode to Brain . B for a longer, more leisurely exposure, and B for Brain.   Our brain has two main systems that fire up our visual areas to make better pictures. The one we often think of is left and right brain, but that division is an outdated, simplistic idea about our amazing visual processing system inside our Brain. Spring in a water fountain. 2. PHOTOGRAPH IN HEART MODE   Thinking, Fast and Slow is a 2011 book by Nobel Memorial Prize winner in Economics Daniel Kahneman. In his book, Kahneman shows us two types of thinking we can use for our pho...

Slow photography is mindful. In 2013, the slow photography rebellion continues.  We will explore and critique the art of photography. Come along. Jim Austin, Jimages, Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennesee.