Q&A With the Authors

We would love to hear from you. Please post your questions about contemplative photography, comments about the book, or other observations about contemplative mind and life. We will do our best to respond to whatever you post. (Please keep in mind that we are running as fast as we can, and may not get to this as soon we would like.)

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Recent Questions and Answers:

using selective focus - narrow depth of field

Submitted by freedda

Question:

I have noticed in looking at contemplative and "miksang" images, that none (or almost none) of them make use of selective focus or a narrow depth of field. It seems to me that even with clear seeing, your mind and eyes will selectively focus on some things and leave others out of your field of perception (the work of Sally Mann and Keith Carter comes to mind here). I wonder then, is there a "rule" in creating contemplative images, that selective focus is not to be used? And if so, why?

Answer:

As you suggest, selective focus can be an excellent technique for forming the equivelant of perceptions, and one that we use. You don't see much narrow depth of field in photographs these days because the physics of digital camers with small sensors gives them almost unlimeted depth of field.

Texture assignment

Submitted by alesswo

Question:

Because I am growing with miksang, I want to undesrtand how this shot (http://seeingfresh.com/photo/reflective-spave) classify in texture assigment. I know , in miksang the photo is a result of a process, and not an intellectual homework classifing shots. My perception was on the soft texture of tiles, Am I right or wrong?

Answer:

Thanks for asking this question. It is really helpful. First of all, there is no right and wrong in evaluating assignment images. We can each have different experiences of what the dominant visual quality of an image is.

As to the photo, if your perception was the soft texture of tiles, the image doesn't express that very clearly. The first thing I see when I view the image is you taking the photo. Next is the shinny, round mirror. The tiles come in a distant third. It feel like you lost track of the initial perception, and the image does not form the equivalent of what you saw. This is where visual discernment is essential. It is the way to rest with the initial perception until you understand just what it is. At that point, you can form a good equivalent of what you see.

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Q&A With the Authors

Recent Questions and Answers:

using selective focus - narrow depth of field

Texture assignment

The Book