I recently stumbled upon SmugMug Films which, if you haven’t discovered it, I highly recommend watching some of the great videos found there. I watched one created by nomadic photographer Andy Best. In his narrative he talks about how breathtaking scenes in nature bring him profound internal good feelings and that he photographs these scenes in the hope that people who see his photographs get some of that same positive energy. His reflection on his craft struck a chord with me as I too hope that images I share have an effect on people who see them. This drone shot of sunrise in Rehoboth made me think of the term ‘moment of Zen’ both when I shot it as well as when I was processing it. My investigation into that term was an interesting journey all of its own. There is a lot to put your arms around when determining what exactly is meant by the term and what it invokes (think of Jon Stewart and the Moment of Zen at the end of each Daily Show back in the day for instance). What most closely matches my sense of a moment of Zen, like this Atlantic sunrise photograph, is this statement about a moment of Zen found in a 2008 post by Mons Romulo, “…small moments of separating ourselves from worldly concerns, from anxieties and worries, and being at peace-both in the mind and body.” Enjoy this moment of Zen sunrise as much as I did and do.
