Some time back I was listening to a talk on Buddhism & these three word “BE – DO – HAVE” kind of stuck in my head.

They simply put mean – We often believe that we have to take action DO before something happens or before we can HAVE a thing, place, or experience and then we will be satisfied enough to then justify BE-ing.

But before I share my thought how this is relevant to photography , let’s take a step back and try to answer a few questions !

Why do we take photographs ?  What is it that we are trying to capture ! a moment in time, a memory, beauty !

What is it that we trying to convey through our images ! What inspires us to pick our camera and press that trigger !

Thanks to the advancements in technology (read Digital) today we can go trigger happy and hope that we get few pictures that are worthy of showcasing. Take a moment to ponder on these question & relate to “BE-DO- HAVE” .

When the Shutter bug bites us the first time we shoot everything under the sun flowers, mountains, sunsets, wildlife, people, etc which is good for at that point we are not sure what is our true inspiration.  Many time we let others guide us or dictate us on our inspiration – read “comments” on our images.

Here is how you apply “BE-DO-HAVE” the ZEN approach to photography

1) First and foremost stop take a moment and just “BE”. i.e. take a moment and absorb the surrounding that you want to capture & then try to visualize the frame that you want to capture in your mind. Observe your surroundings, evaluate the most unique thing about the picture that you want to capture. Look at different perspectives of the same image once you are familiar with the surroundings.

2) Second – Define or compose “DO” your picture in your mind. Then try to see this image through your view finder. When you look at the image through your naked eye you line of sight is different compared to the line of sight through your viewfinder, look for annoying distraction in the frame.

3) Third – capture the moment “HAVE”. Once you capture don’t look at the image immediately.

It is always good to do your ground work & pre shoot preparation before you embark on a shoot. Before you step out for a shoot have a story line ready that will give you the clarity on what you want to shoot. By doing so you are taking your viewer through the journey that you experienced.

Bookmark to: