Being Intentional
Dallas Willard used to say that the ability to develop good habits depended on three things. Vision; Intention; and Means. He called it his V.I.M. principle. There's a lot of truth in that and I think that certainly, from my personal experience, anytime I have struggled to develop good practices in my life or in my photography, its been down to a lack of one of those things.
For 'Vision,' its just means that you see how things truly are, and you also see where you want to be. You've a clear picture of what you want to change and achieve. 'Intention' then, is that moment when you make the decision to do it. The 'Means' is the process that you use in order to get there.
For example, back in 2012, I wanted to make myself slow down and think more about my photography. I'd realised that I did so much without thinking and then, when something didn't work out, I'd no idea how to fix it. The 'means' for me was to enroll myself on an HND in Photography. It was during that HND that I fell in love with landscape photography.
When it comes to taking images like the one above, or any other for that matter, unless you decide to just be a happy snapper and accept whatever results you get, its important to understand what you like and dislike about your photography; also to understand how you work and what you need to do to change and improve; and then to decide to do it.
As I started writing this blog post, I remembered some things that had helped me and so I thought they might be helpful to you too. Although I never met the man, Dallas Willard has been a mentor to me since 2018 when I rediscovered my faith. Of course, his teaching and advice weren't about photography, but I think that so much of it spoke to me about the hectic rate at which I was living my life. I needed to learn to slow down.
'Slowing' is one of the most vital things for us to do, I think. In life, it can help us evaluate and also appreciate the things that really matter. In photography it has much the same result. This is something I've been putting into practice for the past number of years.
Every month, I carve out a day from the rat race and switch off my phone. I have a little place that I go to just get away from all the distractions, where I can look at nature and breathe slowly, to read, to rest. I spend time in solitude and as much as possible in silence. I look to enrich my life with these simple things.
For the past six months, I have also started to bring my camera with me, to slow down and appreciate the things I am seeing. This photograph of a spider was one of them.
I went for a walk about my secluded little spot and as I was looking at the plants, I spotted this little fellow. At the start of the year I started shooting with a Nikon Z50ii and it came with two kit lenses; a 16-50mm and a 50-250mm. I'd never had a 250mm lens before and I soon realised it had opened up a new world to me. I would never have thought of trying to photograph anything like this previously. This has really introduced an element of fun again to my photography. Now that I know I can get images like this, it has actually made me slow down even more, because know I know what is possible. I love landscape, but now I really enjoy the adventure of looking closely at the things around me.
So, the point I'm trying to make (with too many words!) is that as we decide to be more intentional about our lives and our photography it can change our perspective. Sometimes that problem that we've been trying to figure out, becomes clear when we are able to look at it through a different lens (pardon the pun!).
What do you enjoy photographing? Maybe you just have your smartphone, that's ok. Being creative isn't about having the latest gear, its about being able to see something interesting and being able to capture that moment as you see it, so you can show to others.
I hope my meandering thoughts are helpful to you. As always, please reach out and I'd appreciate it if you could share this post and/or comment on it. It gives me an idea if I'm on the right track or not.
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