Shutter Sisters

Sunday School: A Time to Click, A Time to Wait

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The show let out at a quarter to midnight.  I should’ve gone straight home since I would need to be up at six the next morning for work.  It was cold, I was tired and hungry and my feet felt like they were made of lead, but I felt a strong flutter of anticipation; my inner photo detector was going off loudly, and I knew better than to ignore it.   I listened to that still small voice that spoke not in words but in sensations–the tightening of my chest, the wave of nostalgia washing over me, the rollercoaster in my stomach–signs that clearly told me that there was a photograph I needed to take that night, and if I were patient and still, I would know.

And so I waited, standing at my favorite Six Corners with my camera ready.  I clicked the shutter a few times here and there, but for the most part, I simply kept watch and waited. Then I saw them, crossing the street towards me, a young couple walking in the warmth of contented familiarity, and they paused in front of me, waiting for the light that would take them to the next corner.  The moment I saw the cloud of smoke and breath intermingled–a ghost given up to the cold clear night–I quickly aimed my camera and clicked.  THIS was the photo I was waiting for.  I can’t explain to you how I knew, but I did.

There is a time to click, click, click away, and there is a time to be still and vigilant for that one moment you’ve been waiting for.  To me, it is a spiritual practice, this business of being still, especially since I have a shutter-happy index finger.  To practice pure presence in that time and place, to soak it in and relish deliberate slowness; it is meditation, it is prayer, and it is a gift to myself.

If your usual modus operandi is to shoot randomly and often, try waiting 5 minutes in between shutter clicks.  Try waiting 10 minutes.  Experience a different way of seeing the world, savoring bits and pieces until the big picture comes into focus.  It’s not something I do often, but when I do, the reward of the wait is oh-so worth it.

Do you have images that were the result of meditative and deliberate waiting?  Have you ever kept watch in anticipation of the right moment? Please share with us the fruit of your patience.

Comments

  6. neat shot! this is something i need to practice more often, and have been told to do by one of my best friends who is a photographer… to wait, study, get the best shot i can… instead of being so quick to click. i tend to be impatient that way.

    here are a few shots at buckingham fountain in chicago {i’m familiar with six corners as a native of chicago, by the way.} i must have sat there for an hour waiting for a good shot of the birds flying or moving. most of the time, they just sat there still with the mist washing over them, occasionally turning there heads to look at the tourists. but i really wanted some motion shots with outstretched wings, so i waited and waited and waited. i know there are not the best shots in the world, but i loved the mood and the color and the movement.
    http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/07/flights-of-fountain.html

  10. I really love that photo. This is so timely for me! That kind of photography is appealing to me so much right now. I’ve been working on it myself, but it’s hard! It’s easy to catch random people in your shots and make them look like snapshots, but catching people in just the right place at just the right moment — that’s hard!

    Here’s a recent one of my tries. I was at a local community college, waiting for something, and while I waited, I watched some students play ping pong. I waited for exactly the right moment of action, and I think I caught it:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/superdewa/4370019158/