Trix400
Newbie
Dear Steve:
I will not chime in on photo film/digi mind/less split.
BUT, if you want to achieve Empty Mind, it is really easy.
Ditch your scooters and get a bicycle,
just make sure of one thing:
that it is fitted to your body proportions !!! —
You will achieve your empty mind after only a few rides.
If not, just lengthen the ride.
It’s the perfect pace at which to experience the world & all its delights.....
I will not chime in on photo film/digi mind/less split.
BUT, if you want to achieve Empty Mind, it is really easy.
Ditch your scooters and get a bicycle,
just make sure of one thing:
that it is fitted to your body proportions !!! —
You will achieve your empty mind after only a few rides.
If not, just lengthen the ride.
It’s the perfect pace at which to experience the world & all its delights.....
vitaly66
slightly tilted
JoeV
Thin Air, Bright Sun
Subscribed to your scooter channel!
JohnWolf
Well-known
Somehow I missed this thread all these years, though I check in on the Vespa blog regularly.
Empty Mind, First Thought, Best Thought, The Tao of Seeing - it all resonates deeply with me.
I'm a dedicated film user and have never considered an admonition like your friend's above. There is something to be said for his advice. For sure I shoot most freely, spontaneously, and empty-mindedly with my GR III. And least so with my M2.
Glad to have discovered your post. It has me thinking.
John
Dervla
Established
Hello Steve, I have read and enjoyed your Scooter in the Sticks posts for years.
Steve Williams
Established
I have a bicycle but sadly my Psoriatic Arthritis has long ago made riding a bicycle a painful undertaking. I remember though when rides on my bicycles, before scooters and motorcycles, could transport me to that "empty mind." I achieve the same now with my scooter. But as I get older I suspect the continual changes in my life will catch up to me and I'll have to walk...
Steve Williams
Established
Thanks. I plan to integrate on occasion some more deliberate photography into the videos.
Steve Williams
Established
A digital camera definitely allows me to embrace every fleeting glimpse and feel of the reality before me without cost or consequence. But I also know that the burdensome and suffering I associate now with working with film and making prints in a darkroom offers a glimpse of reality through a differently affected set of eyes. And it throws my impatience in my face. Who knows where this road will lead.
Steve Williams
Established
I'm glad you have found something worth reading there. When I look at it now it seems a vault of memories...
Cascadilla
Well-known
I just happened on this thread today--I think any long time photographer goes through dry spells and sometimes thinks that a change of equipment/technique will get them past it. I haven't had much luck with that approach, but eventually something comes along and makes it new again and interesting. Your choice of a Pentax brings back memories for me--I owned 4 bodies for a decade and a half and they were my professional mainstays for most of that time. Great cameras and extremely reliable for me, and lots of great Pentax lenses also. I still use a few of those lenses on my current Pentax DSLRs and they hold up quite well.
Richard G
Mentor
Great thread. Never saw it before. Great thoughts from so many. Did you ever work up from trees to rocks in streams? A Pentax is a great camera for this I’m sure. Good luck with it.
For me even the bicycle is too fast. I use my M9-P and tiny Summaron M 28 a bit like my iPhone or a Barnack. Like KM-25 early in this thread I feel freer with film so often. I can’t check. I might have buggered up the exposure anyway as I’m just not sure what film is in the camera and knowing it won’t be slide film I can just go for overexposure thinking it probably isn’t the Color Plus 200. (It was). Or I’ve set the light meter for the other camera and forgot to change. And despite the expense and 37 shot limit, I so often think what the heck, at least the result will be different, a greater chance of something interesting. I like the effect on me of using different cameras, but not cameras I don’t like. That is a negative influence. Why strain against the bit deliberately. There’s a lot of momentum using something you like, so long as you’re using it and not thinking about using it: cameras that get out of your way. I have an old Spotmatic I hardly use and love what I get with it when I do.
For me even the bicycle is too fast. I use my M9-P and tiny Summaron M 28 a bit like my iPhone or a Barnack. Like KM-25 early in this thread I feel freer with film so often. I can’t check. I might have buggered up the exposure anyway as I’m just not sure what film is in the camera and knowing it won’t be slide film I can just go for overexposure thinking it probably isn’t the Color Plus 200. (It was). Or I’ve set the light meter for the other camera and forgot to change. And despite the expense and 37 shot limit, I so often think what the heck, at least the result will be different, a greater chance of something interesting. I like the effect on me of using different cameras, but not cameras I don’t like. That is a negative influence. Why strain against the bit deliberately. There’s a lot of momentum using something you like, so long as you’re using it and not thinking about using it: cameras that get out of your way. I have an old Spotmatic I hardly use and love what I get with it when I do.
JeffS7444
Well-known
I seem to have missed it the first few times, but I'd say that this old thread has aged better than most.
I'm not sure about "empty mind", but I strive for a "beginner's mind". Not by forgetting basic rules of composition, or for operating the camera of course! But in the sense of seeing the world in terms of ever-changing forms, colors, textures and motion, and looking for combinations which somehow resonate with me. At least that's what I like to believe as I wander through the same well-trodden settings. There's almost always something new to be experienced if you're receptive to it.
One recent evening, as I was taking out the trash, I looked up at the sky and liked what I saw, so I photographed it.
I'm not sure about "empty mind", but I strive for a "beginner's mind". Not by forgetting basic rules of composition, or for operating the camera of course! But in the sense of seeing the world in terms of ever-changing forms, colors, textures and motion, and looking for combinations which somehow resonate with me. At least that's what I like to believe as I wander through the same well-trodden settings. There's almost always something new to be experienced if you're receptive to it.
One recent evening, as I was taking out the trash, I looked up at the sky and liked what I saw, so I photographed it.
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
Just before Covid hit I gave up almost all my film photography for this very reason.
In my case, "burdensome" and "suffering" were not my main motives in having made this decision, rather "impatience" - I had been doing darkroom work, with very few breaks, since 1961, and in 2019 I came to the realization that after six decades in the dark my time with D&P had reached a point I can only described as a "nadir". I just had enough, and it was time to call it quits on almost all of it.
I still process films on a "needs must" basis - with about 200 rolls, mostly in bulk films, in my darkroom fridge, I feel a sense of having to use it up (tho' the temptation to put the 100-foot bulk cans, especially the Panatomic-X, on Ebay for the bidders to outdo themselves in fighting each other for it, is strong), and I still enjoy putting an occasional roll or two through my Rolleiflexes, Nikkormats and Contax G.
One of the joys of scanning my rolls, compared to the many hours II've spent hovering over my LPL 7700 in the dark and the copious amounts of red wine I consumed during these ordeals to keep myself going, is that I can program my scanner to scan and then do other things. Obviously, more time is required on my computer for post-processing, but I can manage this much more effectively than having to set up the darkroom for a night (when I usually did most of my printing). And my sleep patterns are better, so a double win for me.
The cost factor was also important. I still do not dare to sit down and calculate how much I've spent on film and chemistry over the decades. It would depress me too end. Good digital Nikons aren't cheap, but after I've bought them the cost of shooting drops dramatically. This is particularly important to me as I"m now an age pensioner and on a more restricted budget.
As well, for the most part, the sort of image-making I do (mostly architecture) can be achieved as easily and with as good results, with my digital Nikons. For me film is just too burdensome.
Like the OP, I also have wondered where this "road" would lead me to. Except in my case, at my age I know the inevitable outcome and I want to delay it as long as I can. All the more important in my decision to move away from film while I still have time to do other important things in my life, travel and enjoy the many small pleasures.
So yes, film is now too much for me..
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CMur12
Well-known
Jeff, I also strive for the "beginner's mind" in the sense of discovery and seeing everything as new.
I'm inclined to use a camera similar to what I started out with to put me into this frame of mind.
- Murray
JeffS7444
Well-known
What cameras "push the right buttons" for you?
Myself, I think I'm becoming more camera-agnostic over time. But I'll admit that I struggle sometimes with my Zeiss Ikonta, because the process of: unfolding it, popping up the finder, setting focus, aperture and shutter speed, advancing the film, cocking the shutter, and finally (finally!), snapping the photo, isn't terribly transparent. It may be a model of comfort and convenience compared to a view camera, but that's not saying much these days.
CMur12
Well-known
I'm thinking of cameras already in my possession.
I bought my first "serious" camera in 1972, as a university student. I got a killer deal on a demo-model Yashica TL Super (a 35mm SLR, identical in function to a Pentax Spotmatic). Today, I have several Minolta SR-Ts, which are a little more advanced than the Yashica (full-aperture metering and more info in the finder), but operate on the same principle and would offer essentially the same experience.
The waist-level finder of a TLR on a tripod also encourages a whole different vision and way of viewing. In this case, aside from focusing with the fold-up loupe, I can view and compose the image with both eyes. It's like laying out the image on a canvas. It's a very different experience from eye-level viewing.
In truth, I haven't taken a photo in a long time, though it's what I still want to do. (I also have a used DSLR that I need to learn to use.)
- Murray
Retro-Grouch
Well-known
Perhaps this is a manifestation of "empty mind", perhaps not. But I have very often found that single images that I shot almost offhandedly, without a tripod, without bracketing, and with a cursory meter reading, were often the real keepers on any given roll. The images I really worked to make were very often duds. Of course, this was when I shot primarily 35mm, and film was cheaper; I could afford to be offhand about "wasting" film.
The years I spent shooting digital were a strange experience. Most often, I set a high enough shutter speed and small enough aperture to not worry about sharpness, DOF, or using a tripod; auto ISO took care of the rest, and live view showed exactly what my final image would look like. In theory, this is the ultimate "empty mind" method of shooting, but it left me feeling detached and distanced from the whole process, as did shooting digital in general. It seemed that the images I made, even the good ones, somehow didn't feel like they were made by me.
These days, I shoot medium format pretty much exclusively, with Ektachrome, mostly with a 6x9 technical camera on a tripod. This is about as slow and demanding a process (short of large format with sheet film) as can be; there are endless steps that must be followed, and transparency film demands the most precise metering. And don't forget the dark slide!
Strangely, this promotes a style of shooting that I enjoy the most. The technical fiddling demands attention, but is second nature, so I can engage with my human subjects over a longer period of time to make an image that probes for something a little deeper, an "essence" if you'll forgive the phrase. I shoot far fewer frames than with 35mm, but have far more keepers. For years, I've read that many large format photographers find their process "meditative" and promoting deeper engagement with their subjects, so perhaps I'm experiencing that as well.
So... I'm not sure of the point(s) of these ramblings, except to say that the "empty mind" can be accessed in many ways and can change over time and in response to one's evolving relationship with subject and craft. Make it up as you go along, and if you need rules, make your own!
The years I spent shooting digital were a strange experience. Most often, I set a high enough shutter speed and small enough aperture to not worry about sharpness, DOF, or using a tripod; auto ISO took care of the rest, and live view showed exactly what my final image would look like. In theory, this is the ultimate "empty mind" method of shooting, but it left me feeling detached and distanced from the whole process, as did shooting digital in general. It seemed that the images I made, even the good ones, somehow didn't feel like they were made by me.
These days, I shoot medium format pretty much exclusively, with Ektachrome, mostly with a 6x9 technical camera on a tripod. This is about as slow and demanding a process (short of large format with sheet film) as can be; there are endless steps that must be followed, and transparency film demands the most precise metering. And don't forget the dark slide!
Strangely, this promotes a style of shooting that I enjoy the most. The technical fiddling demands attention, but is second nature, so I can engage with my human subjects over a longer period of time to make an image that probes for something a little deeper, an "essence" if you'll forgive the phrase. I shoot far fewer frames than with 35mm, but have far more keepers. For years, I've read that many large format photographers find their process "meditative" and promoting deeper engagement with their subjects, so perhaps I'm experiencing that as well.
So... I'm not sure of the point(s) of these ramblings, except to say that the "empty mind" can be accessed in many ways and can change over time and in response to one's evolving relationship with subject and craft. Make it up as you go along, and if you need rules, make your own!
Richard G
Mentor
All of this resonates with me, and probably any photographer enamoured of medium format. But the first paragraph is spot on too. My wife will sometimes leave the house with me, her final instruction “And don’t bring a camera.” So since I got a Barnack or two it’s usually that as it fits in a pocket. As we walk and I see something I have so little time. I see less, something noticed presses on me, can’t be analyzed at all and has to be taken very quickly - she won’t slow down or wait. This leads to more keepers than a leisurely walk on my own.
Retro-Grouch
Well-known
I'm fortunate in that my partner has infinite patience with my need to stop, and squint, and ponder, and finally get the camera out... and then not shoot anything! However, never go out to shoot with your dog. They're the ultimate distraction, despite the fact that you can see countless YouTube videos of crunchy outdoorsy types shooting in the woods with their dogs running around loose and doing what dogs do. All very puzzling to me, as a cat lover, but a former dog owner as well.
Richard G
Mentor
With you there. I ‘walked’ our Basset Hound as a teenager. Since then I’ve only looked on unenviously at others ‘walking’ their dogs, while I enjoy my walk along the river. At home though a Reg Doll cat seems to think he’s a dog, wants out, where he cannot be let free, and wants games. My son’s verdict: self-inflicted, a two word distillation of pet ownership. But that cat has taught me and each member of the family so much, keeps time, reflects our moods and comes close to nurture those in need. He can empty his mind and enter the zone, sitting on the table next to my laptop. He loves work, and can watch it for hours. He will stalk a small spider patiently for an hour. I’m sure if he took up photography it would be medium format, with film.
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