LUCKY SHOT

When tell a photographer "You got lucky" and  "what a lucky shot," we do not mean to praise their efforts. We may mean that blind luck made the picture possible. Yet, a lot of effort goes into a lucky shot. 

As photographers, we create luck. There are several kinds of luck, beyond blind luck. These happen when we practice and hone our craft, not because we are fantastically skilled or have mastered anything, but because of who we are.

Simply by getting up and taking one more walk around Lunenburg, I made the photograph above. This is the key: luck favors those in motion. When you wander, without a goal, fortunate events occur. You will see more of them the more you get away from your screen. Go now.

Another key point. Chance favors only the prepared mind. Your habits, passions, where you are, how you think, who you chat with, all of these go into the luck you make. The idea comes from Louis Pasteur, the inventor of pasturization, who first wrote in French that chance favors only the prepared mind. 

Because you have distinct habits and a life unique to you, you have hobbies and activities that are distinctly your own, in your own living space, and in so doing, you bring things about. Chance works for you through your individuality. This kind of luck we might call  JUST YOUR LUCK. This is not blind luck at all. It is the chance encounters that work for you, when you pursue individualized projects, personal hobbies and your life's passions.

____
Notes: 

* James H. Austin MD defined four Varieties of Chance in his book Chase, Chance and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty, p. 77, MIT Press. His writings and discoveries in medicine have informed my views of chance, as he outlines 4 varieties of chance, Chance I, II, III and IV. 

Jeff Widener described his photograph of the Tiananmen Square "tank man" as a lucky shot, but on closer examination of his story, 3 other kinds of luck were involved. http://petapixel.com/2013/06/21/a-conversation-with-jeff-widener/

" A good photograph is a happy accident--if you qualify the statement by saying that the greater the artist, the oftener the accident happens." ( after Charles Hawthorne). See also "the harder I work, the luckier I get."
​

Bonzai Tripod

Hoseki Shinichi Hisamatsu was a Japanese artist, Buddhist and philosopher. In Zen and the Fine Arts, he proposed seven properties that exemplify the art of the Bonsai tree. His concepts harmonize with the awareness we seek when making photographs.                                         

1. Asymmetry. For a Buddhist, perfect form is impossible. Suffering is eased by letting go of striving for perfection. Informality and imbalance pervade nature. This is reflected in a work of art.
   
2. Simplicity.  A photograph contains only what is necessary, and no more. It seeks to avoid complexity.
   
3. Austere sublimity. Zen art is not youthful, sensual or opulent. It fits better with advanced age. It exhibits rigor and austerity. Fancy touches can be removed in order to lead into the heart of the message. The texture of some old printed photographs, tainted by time and faded by the sun, may show this sublime quality.
   
4. Naturalness. A photograph is not reality. It does not occur in nature, it is an impression of reality. It may show the essence or idea of a place like a forest or mountain. It appears effortless, not conscious. Such photographs seem informal, as if the scene had always been that way, timeless.      
   
5. Subtle profoundness. A photograph may express more than the shown subject. This is the idea of equivalence. The image may refer to dignity, perseverance, a season, time, or closeness to death. These photos may compel their viewer to see the implications, associations, depth of thought. Their profoundness is beyond verbal description, but is revealed over time.                                   
   
6.  Contemplation. Contemplative, slow photography is free from attachment. It needs no conventions or customs. The transgression of conventional ways of thinking is an essential feature of Zen. A photographer who places classical rules ahead of meaning misses the core of the Zen aesthetic. Guidelines are helpful to beginners, but if it lessons the Zen character of a photograph, a rule can be released. Rules should enable, not restrict.
   
7.  Tranquility, loneliness, peace of mind. Zen art is directed inwards. Everything that disrupts this peace needs to be eliminated.