Practicing moments with people

Yesterday I got together with two girlfriends from the Miksang group. We met at the Vondelpark in Amsterdam for a coffee and then went photographing. Anjali and I put our intention on Moments, Meta on That.
That signifies connecting with the qualities of a field of perception (i.e. leaves or people). It is not a special moment, it is not depending on time, it is always there.
Moments signifies an event: our heart resonates with something, it is there and then it is gone. It has a fleeting quality.

I wanted to go to the busy area of the Museumplein which is a touristy kind of place. A few large and famous museums are located on the square and usually lots of tourists go there to take photos. I thought that was an ideal place to practice Moments with people in continuation of the workshop of last weekend.

guy taking picture

Well, there were lots of people around, no problem there. The problem with people is that they move around all the time so you really have to be available, to have your camera in the standby mode and ready to hit the release button.

young guy with map

I noticed that people sitting down and taking a picture themselves are relatively quiet and easier to focus on. Having my DSLR instead of my powershot made a huge difference: it reacts quicker so the shot is more accurate.

oriental woman taking photo

It was a grey day though, so no deep shadows or high highlights and there was hardly any wind. The perfect weather for a little outing.

seagull in pond at Museumplein

two guys with cell phones

woman just after taking a picture 

woman taking picture

After shooting we went for lunch in a nearby quiet place. We chatted, selected our pictures and showed them to each other on a little laptop or an iPad. Practice days like this are relaxing, joyful and instructive at the same time. We all learn from each other.