The Lens Meets Zen.

See. Shoot. Repeat.

Photo by Alif Ngoylung on Unsplash

“ I don’t take photographs. It is the photograph which has to take me.” — Henri Cartier Bresson

Reacting quickly in photography requires the skill to perform and shoot faster than we can be reasonably expected to think. The only way we can achieve this heightened Zen-like sense and skill level is through training and preparation with the artform.

Here are some useful concepts and practices for training ourselves to react faster, without thinking;

Getting acquainted

Familiarity with the camera is vital. Becoming accustomed to the settings of your particular body, it’s menus and button layouts will shave seconds off the speed it takes to get ready to shoot. The camera, like any other craftsmen’s tool, becomes an extension of ourselves.

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

Variables

The number of settings on new cameras is huge. If we find ourselves in different shooting situations often, we will start to see various combinations of settings that are useful. For example, if the main variable in the scene is the depth…