Paul Lester Photo

on the corner of Red Vulcan and Stubb where the grass has been allowed to go to seed. No, this is not a famous corner that you should know about, it’s just an, as yet, undeveloped street near my neighborhood. Formally, it had no name. It was simply a place deep in the woods on some farmer’s land.

It’s a place of wonder and magic where each day the sun comes up to start the day alerting all of its inhabitants that it’s time to get started for the day; However, it is a sad place, too, as I know that by the end of summer, perhaps sooner, it will be nothing but a memory aided by the few pictures that I can take between now and then. Soon it will be replaced by a manicured lawn and a $400,000, 3,500 square foot house in which two people will probably live.

Since the 1970s, the average square footage of a house has increased by 50% to its current level of about 2,650 SF. No longer is the house a place to live, it’s a lifestyle. Also, the average size of a family is shrinking. The funny thing is that even though we are buying these larger homes, were spending less time in them because we are working to pay for them! That does not sound sane at all!

I thought these thoughts as I was taking pictures in the cool morning air wondering why it is so hard for us, as humans, to share the land with the other inhabitants of this big blue marble. It’s probably and unanswerable question, but maybe it’s a simple answer, hubris, or perhaps we still believe that the planet is ours to conquer! Either way, I enjoyed the outing, but sometimes I get disturbed by the rampant building that is going on all over the place.

We have to have a place to live, but do they have to be so large and do we need to consume so many resources? I wonder.

Today’s topic, as it applies to photography, comes from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success:

In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty … in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning.

And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.

This rather hit home with regards to my photography. Sometimes I have trouble dealing with uncertainty. Not in my career, or potential career as a photographer, but in the act of taking pictures, or more to the point, of which subjects to choose. Sometimes, I play it safe and go for what I know; however, in reading this and thinking about the times when I have stepped away from the safety net, it was exhilarating.

When we adhere strictly to that which we already know, we close off opportunities for growth. I would say that historically, I like to deal with landscapes, macros, etc; however, after stepping into the land of ‘people’, a place that was flooded with uncertainty, I feel that I have grown as a photographer and as a person.

This is certainly not to say that one should not hone ones skill through repetition, but that we should not limit ourselves, in anything, because of uncertainty of the outcome. We should be detached from the outcome and simply enjoy the moments of uncertainty which are surely to come along.

At first, this may seem like it is against goal setting, but it is not. It is tightly meshed with goal setting, but having its primary focus on the moment at hand, but not on the outcome. It’s believing that the outcome will manifest itself, if we pay attention to the moment at hand. We are executing the plan and believing in the outcome. We are not attached to the outcome, though.

Detaching from the outcome in photography, for me, means detaching from the expectation of what I will get when I go out to shoot. I just go out and try to enjoy those precious few moments and shot whatever happens to catch my eye, whether it be plant, animal, building, or person. It allows me to be more free. I’m still learning.