that we don’t really understand
what’s going on in front of the camera.
We just kind of sense that
“Oh my God, it’s significant!”
and photograph impulsively
while trying to get the exposure right.
Exposure occupies my mind
while intuition frames the images.
Minor White
One afternoon last week I stopped my car on a country road, eyeing a row of trees stretching across a wintry field, shrouded in a light fog. “Maybe,” I said to myself.
Leaving the motor running and without taking the time to grab my tripod, I stepped toward the field. The snow was deeper than it appeared; my boots disappeared into the wet whiteness. I hesitated, then struggled up the incline toward the trees. With each step, more snow found its way into my boots.
Once on top, I said, “I think so.” But my boots kept slipping, my body was shivering, and the motor was running. So I slid to my knees and quickly exposed this image before starting to slide back down the hill, involuntarily. Intuition did the framing, not I.
Back in my digital darkroom, I was grateful intuition had its way.
