Both Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams spoke about the emulsion of the mind being a part of photography. Yet I can’t find a long-sought quote, likely from one of them, that I vaguely remember.
Hence a paraphrase that’s lingered in the back of my mind for decades:
Capture an image on the emulsion of the mind in addition to, if not instead of, the emulsion of the camera.
One may be out, camera in hand, looking for the perfect shot. But instead of staying behind the camera, squinting through a tiny viewfinder, first capture the scene on the emulsion of your mind.
Don’t stay behind the camera when a vast mountain range fills your horizon. Put the camera aside and be awed by the grandeur, the immensity, the inexpressible feeling that cannot be captured in a photo. Commit it all to the emulsion of your mind. Inhale rain-sweetened air, watch clouds sail by like giant ships or wispy mares tails; note the futility of virga failing to reach the ground. Watch the nodding of the trees. Listen to the rustling grass, the hawk overhead, the whispering creek nearby. Feel the ground underfoot, the gravely grit of a mountain trail or the solid thud of compacted plain. Embed it all in your senses before you minify it with a lens.
At any special event, in any notable place, or in places not special at all, absorb the whole before you raise your camera. Be a part of the scene before you step out of it to become a photographer. Be a participant, not merely an observer. Experience what makes the scene special before you try to preserve it with a camera.
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Header: “Breathless Beauty — Pano” © Erik Stensland. Reprinted with permission.
Some truly wonderful images, Colorado ! – and I can only agree with the photographers’ thinking; for my own photographer, my beloved husband, was of exactly the same mind ! 🙂
To put it inelegantly, I think it boils down to if you’re focused only on taking pictures, you’re missing the picture.
EXACTLY !! 😀
nice to experience it in real time and fully
Essential, I think, to great photography.
Virga is a new word to me but it describes a familiar phenomenon. Nice.
I learned it from my dad during our many family vacations in this area. We didn’t see much of it in Oklahoma but here in dry Colorado, it’s pretty common. One of the screenshots on my webcam page is of virga over Denver at sunset.
What a lovely bunch of photos! A photographer since childhood, your reminder to see with heart and mind before “capture” is much appreciated!
Oh, I was remiss in not including a link to Erik’s website. He’s my favorite photographer and I could linger for hours over his photos. He lives in Estes Park and has Rocky Mountain National Park at his doorstep. (I’m so jealous!) I included Hedien’s photo because I wanted a great plains shot (no pun intended).
Beautifully said, and I love the idea of the emulsion of the mind. I remember once being at the Grand Canyon when a busload of tourists got off the bus, walked to the edge, took their pictures, and then got back on the bus.
I see so many people snapping a photo of the mountain or the elk, and I wonder if they really see or feel what they’re photographing. Yes, better to put the camera down and let the magic of nature fill you up.
I’ve never been there, but I can’t imagine standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and not being awed into many minutes of reverent silence.
I learned years ago, after wasting a lot of vacation time taking pictures, that I don’t want a camera between me and the experience. When I’m in the mountains, I want to be in the mountains.