"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together."-John Ruskin
The great female photographer, Diane Arbus, once said, "The world can be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind." She's right, it's true. Sometimes, when I have had an especially good day with the camera, I will sit in front of the computer, looking at the images that I was able to capture with the camera earlier in the day, and wonder about how quickly the message goes from my brain to my right hand... the hand that snaps the photo.
Many times, it doesn't even seem like my brain has anything to do with the photos I achieve, when I am on the run, and I have to go on instinct. I think maybe, after the point where I am aware of the lighting around me, it's like little unseen, artsy, fairies who actually get the photo. LOL. Nah... it's me who takes the picture, but it is certainly a combination of eye, hand and the quiet mind, not the noisy mind, that sees the photo in time, as to not loose it to momentary hesitation. Sometimes contemplation makes me over think the shot, and lose the perfect photo because I hesitated. I think my photos have been getting better in the past year, because I have learned to slow down my thinking, block out the noise in my brain, that has nothing to do with the picture in front of me.
Thank you Brad, I learned a lot from this challenge. Now to answer the questions about the settings I used. In the case of this photo, I used the portrait setting, in low lighting, with the auto focus setting. Other than a soft focus (noise reduction) I used no other enhancements.
Be sure to visit all the participating Robins, just follow the links below...
Linking List
1. Brad... We-Is
POSTED!
2. Carly... Ellipsis... Suddenly Carly
POSTED!
3. Janet... Fond of Photography
POSTED!
4. Suzanne R... New Suzanne R's Life
POSTED!
5. Karen... Outpost Mavarin
POSTED!
6. Julie... Julie's Web Journal
POSTED!
7. Linda... Blah Blah Blog
POSTED!
8. Steven... (sometimes) photoblog
POSTED!
9. Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
POSTED!
-OndineMonet
"My Hand"
Berkeley, California
March 5th, 2007
Late Evening
