Shooting Without Looking

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This week I examined my basic approach to photography. For 65 years I’ve been using the same process. I photograph what I see through the viewfinder. What would happen if I didn’t do that? I tried it out in our backyard. I have a little point and shoot camera that lets me turn the viewfinder off. I held the camera in the middle of a bush or tree and clicked the shutter without looking – no composing, no focusing, no exposure settings. Above are all nine shots with no cropping and no image editing. They surprised me by capturing views of my own backyard that I didn’t know existed.

The experience intrigued me. So, the next day I took my little camera to the Oregon Garden. I tried all kinds of unusual angles and perspectives. It was fun. I took around 50 pictures without looking. I waited to look at them until after I got home. The anticipation added to the fun.

Again I was surprised. I got some unusual views that I would not normally take. It’s like I came home with someone else’s pictures. Here are six that I particularly liked.

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So what did I learn from this exercise? Well, to start with, it’s important to challenge your basic assumptions. For me photography has always been about capturing what I see. I found that it can also be a way to discover unanticipated treasure. If you shoot only what you see, you’ll miss everything you didn’t see.

Jim