My photography can sometimes come in waves. At certain times of the year I may be out photographing frequently and almost constantly working on recent photographs in between the photography excursions. At other times of the year life intervenes and/or the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’ve been somewhat in the latter state for the past couple of months. I’ve still been doing a fair amount of photography, but teaching work and other distractions have also required more of my focus.
In the last few days I had an experience that reminded me of how important it is to connect to my subjects on a deeper level, and which made me feel that I was beginning to move back into that photographer state once again. It was nothing profound — simply a morning walking a different trail than the one I usually take at Muir Woods. A brief encounter with another hiker got me thinking about this way of seeing and engaging the landscape.
I saw him coming up the trail as I was stopped to make a photograph, with camera and tripod set up and a pack of other gear on my back. He was traveling light, with only a very small pack, and moving quickly. As he went by he asked, “How much does that weigh? Eight or ten pounds?” That caught me slightly by surprise, since I hadn’t really considered the weight of everything — it weight what it weights! (It is probably more like 20 pounds.) I mumbled something about “perhaps a little more,” and then thought to ask, “And you?” He mentioned that he had a very small point and shoot style camera only, and that he didn’t want to be burdened by the extra weight. I replied that I had gone through a phase like that too, at one point, so I understood where he was coming from. Continue reading Going Out, Slowly
