I usually go for long walks or a dérive with my camera, and on a good day, I sometimes enter a flow state. This state occurs when I am not consumed by thoughts of what needs to be done during the day, and allow myself to drift without any goals. Rather, moving through the landscape as I am drawn by colours, light, shapes and the unique, which sometimes is fleeting.

There are days when this is not possible, so on shorter prefunctory walks, there is a way of training your eye and strengthening the way in which the mind is seeing the world. This exercise should help you understand how your mind perceives the world around you during your more extended, more flow-like walks.

Focusing on Light

The Camera captures light, and light is never constant throughout the day; what the camera will see changes in intensity, contrast, shadows and colour range. So the first way to strengthen your mind’s perception of light is to focus only on how light falls on things and to photograph both harsh and soft contrast on objects. It is not essential to find a good composition; rather, the goal here is to study how light falls on objects. This should take only a few minutes, and you need to take only three photographs. What is essential is that you download and examine the pictures when you get home.

Focusing on Shapes

The second set of three or more photographs should focus on shapes. Here, it is essential to compose by not focusing on the subject or details. It is sometimes helpful to squint, which simplifies light and dark shapes. In other words, try not to look at more information but focus on hard edges, overlapping forms, strong contrast and negative space. It is also possible with most new cameras to set the viewfinder to black and white, and removing the colour sometimes helps to see the shapes and contrast more clearly.

Focusing on Patterns

The next set of three or more images should focus on patterns and how they repeat. You could choose to focus on shapes, lines, colours, textures or objects. This will depend on where you are walking. Sometimes it is helpful to slow down and scan more from side to side as you move forward. During this process, describe to yourself what is making the pattern, and during that process, look for anything that might interrupt the pattern, whether it be an object, a shadow or something that is out of place. Once you are immersed in this thinking, make your images, keep in mind what is in the frame and whether you need to move closer or further away. Here you are creating order out of chaos.

While you are viewing these at home, one helpful way of evaluating the image is to reduce its size. If the pattern isn’t strong enough, then it is likely that the frame wasn’t tight enough.

Antony’s 10 Minute Exercise

Antony Crother has a similar practice, which he outlines in the video below.