Home › Q&A

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.)

Ask a question ›
 

Recent Questions and Answers:

workshop / training

Submitted by Rinzing
Question: 

Hi, My name is Kelsang Rinzing, I'm a Buddhist monk living in Nottingham, England. I've just come across your site, submitted a few images and ordered the 'The Practice of Contemplative Photography' book. I would be interested to take part in some of your future workshops and perhaps engage in the Teacher Training programme. I found some links to a Dutch and an inactive German Miksang trainer in Europe. I was wondering, is there anyone from England who completed your course and would be able to teach me here or would I need to travel to Holland or to US to compete workshops, courses? I've been waiting for a while to find workshops such as yours. With appreciation and best thoughts, Rinzing www.rinzingphotography.com

Answer: 

Thanks for submitting your photos and this question. You could contact Helen Vink in Holland at helen@miksang.nl. Helen is teaching all over Europe.
You could also get in touch with Michael at miksang1@comcast.net. He is planning a four week 2012 Miksang Institute which will include teacher training.

Will you accept images to a gallery with some post processing?

Submitted by Louise
Question: 

Currently, I make images with a non-DSLR camera. As the image quality is weak, (does not do well in low light, does not have the same sharpness or color saturation as a DSLR does), I do some post processing in Photoshop Elements to enhance my images so that they look more like what I actually saw. For example, I often do a Levels adjustment. It seems like not that different a process than what is done to process RAW images, and some of what is discussed in Chapter 15. But my camera shoots only in jpegs. Will photos which have some photoshop processing (but not unnatural manipulation of the images) be accepted in the galleries, or is it required that we submit only the original untouched jpeg images? I have read and so enjoyed "The Practice of Contemplative Photography". Thank you for your teachings. I am doing the exercises, and I am a long time mindfulness meditation practioner and teacher, so this pathway with photography feels wonderful.

Answer: 

 

Thank you for the good, clear question. There is no problem with post-processing your images to make them look more like your perceptions. Adjusting the levels of both RAW and JPEG files is often necessary to take advantage of the full range of brightnesses that can be displayed on a computer or printed.

Thanks also for the kind words about the book.

 

 

The Book

“This is not your usual ‘how to be a better photographer’ book. It takes you into deeper water. It requires investigation and commitment to areas new to you. Among other things, you will think about perception in new ways. If you read this book with care, and without skepticism, it will radically expand your thinking, seeing, and photography.”

—Jay Maisel, photographer
and author of Light on America