Who amongst you get zoned?

It was HCB who said the only book on photo technique that was worth reading was: Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugene Herrigel.
 
FrankS said:
When I am photographing uninterrupted for several minutes, I get into a particular state of mind where I seem to lose my consciousness (self-awareness) and get into a zone, oblivious of time, responsibilities, worries, etc. In my limited understanding of Zen and meditation, this is like "losing oneself in the moment". This can be a problem if I'm with others who are non-photographers (like my family) because I lose track of time and my responsibility to those others.

My question is: How common is this among other photographers? Does this sound familiar to you or or just airy-fairy?
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Hell, this happens to me even when I'm not taking pictures. As much as I try to convince my wife that it's because of my Buddha nature, she just says I'm irresponsible. I don't know which of us is right.
 
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Bud, that's great! You have a buddha nature too? I drive my wife nuts! She jsut doesn't get me. Still a young soul.
 
It happens to me, and yes, only (normally) when I am shooting alone. Years ago a very good friend and I would sometimes go on weekend photo shoots together, camping out. We were so similar in our habits and perspectives, that we both seemed to be able to get into a zone on those outings.
 
dcsang said:
There are also times when I go out and I'm with a lot of photographers and I feel absolutely zip.
I don't want to shoot, have no desire to shoot, and usually end up shooting 2-3 frames max.
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The idea of photography being something of a "group activity" has always struck me as strange. Of course, my mother was a painter, and a fairly solitary sort, as were the artists she occasionally did hang with. Getting those people together for a "group art activity" would be akin to herding cats. The creative act, IMO, is essentially a solitary activity – having others around can obliterate whatever "zone" one wishes or hopes to enter (and I've been there often enough to believe in the idea – it's not just for runners anymore!). This one of the many reasons why I've never joined a camera club (besides wanting to avoid the usual silly stuff) ;)
 
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I'm taking a 10 mile canoe trip (read: drift) down the Grand River in Southern Ontario this Thursday, in which I plan to get zoned both literally and figuratively. Problem is, a few canoes have tipped in the past......and I want some nice shots.....thinking of tying a javex bottle to my beater M3 and old Summarit.
 
FrankS said:
When I am photographing uninterrupted for several minutes, I get into a particular state of mind where I seem to lose my consciousness (self-awareness) and get into a zone, oblivious of time, responsibilities, worries, etc. In my limited understanding of Zen and meditation, this is like "losing oneself in the moment". This can be a problem if I'm with others who are non-photographers (like my family) because I lose track of time and my responsibility to those others.

My question is: How common is this among other photographers? Does this sound familiar to you or or just airy-fairy?
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That sounds very familar... shutterbugging (for me)... akin to getting lost in a piece of music whilst playing an instrument.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
I prefer things wide open. (She says with a straight face.)

:D
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A girl after my own heart. :) I prefer to paraphrase the old saying into, f/1.4 and be there, at least figuratively.

Cheers,
Jeremy
 
For me the zone thing is always solitary. When I'm with a group of other photographers (which is hardly ever) I'm soon struck with a sense of the absurd, and they all look so intense, stalking the subject, bodies contorted into bizarre postures, black boxes pushed against their faces, that I just say screw it and start photographing them.

Ted
 
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