POTN G-series Speed Challenge 268- Miksang

[Boutty]

Thanks everyone again for opening my eyes through your Miksang photos.

In my opinoin, there is no right or wrong way of capturing the image as it involves the experience of seeing and contemplative mind of the author.

The winners:-
1st - Kevan_G9 - a universe within...
Peaceful & nice colours

2nd - Maureen Souza - Below the Branches
Painterly & well composed

3rd - liannallama - Luminescence
Great texture & lighting

Honourables:-
teekay - Dreaming high
Simplicity & humbleness

IVOlution - A pier...
Undistracted & present
________________________________
Challenge #268 - Miksang

"Miksang is a Tibetan word meaning "good eye" and represents a form of contemplative photography based on the Dharma Art teachings of Chögyam Trungpa, in which the eye is in synchronisation with the contemplative mind. The result of this particular perception of the world, combined with photography, produces a peculiar and open way of seeing the world. Miksang pictures tend to bring the observer back into the original contemplation state of the author of the picture. The pictures can bring one back to a purer perception of reality that is often neglected. Miksang involves nothing fancy, no special setup; only a visual capture, in the proper state of mind, of everyday's reality. "

Thanks to Wikipedia for the emergency. Let's see some 'Quiet mind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4ZuRYBBkQ)' photos.
________________________________

To submit, click Post Reply and put your Photo Name in the Subject Line. Don't forget your Camera Model.

Post until Monday noon GMT, 29 March 2010.


Photo Submissions
Camera -- Canon G-Series Camera (G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, G7, G9, G10, G11) or Pro 1 only.
-
Time -- any on-topic photo taken at any time is eligible, although photos that have won other competitions should NOT be entered.
-
Size -- photo must be EXACTLY 800 pixels on the longest side, with NO BORDERS.
-
Post-Processing -- do whatever you like and the host will decide if it works.
-
Posting --
One photo per photographer in each challenge.
Photo Title in the message subject line.
Camera model.
EXIF data, if you like.
Commenting -- No commenting on photos by anyone, including the photographer. Once the winners are declared, photographers can add comments to their images and everyone is invited to discuss.
-
Photo Display -- Photos must appear in this thread to be eligible.
-Time

One challenge every week, on the following schedule:
New Topic ... As soon as possible after winning.
Posting Starts ... Right after topic is announced.
Posting Stops ... Monday noon GMT
Winners Announcement ... Tuesday noon GMT.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please consider turning on Private Messaging in your profile.
This will allow the host to contact you about winning or ineligible photos. You turn this feature
on by clicking "User CP, Edit Options, Enable Private Messaging"
(about a third of the way down the page).
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click this sentence for Hosting Rules and Winners List. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=113480)

Click this sentence for Discussion of Rules thread. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=59640)

[Michael Wells]

G3
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4460820752_cc654923e8_o.jpg

[mrshobden]

G11, ISO80, f5, 1/2000

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2684/4483212603_2397fc0c29_o.jpg

[IVOlution]

G11

[Maureen Souza]

Pro 1

[marie]

Pro1
1/400 f/4

http://www.pbase.com/image/106740916/original.jpg

[teekay]

G1

http://community.netidea.com/teekay/temp/Miksang3.jpg

[tmwag]

G9
http://www.pbase.com/twag/image/116613897.jpg

[Kevan]

G9:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4464070102_5386146908_o.jpg

[JimAskew]

G11

[Needsnow]

G11

[Paul B]

Canon G9

[athrasher]

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7553/4445204602c1a9720eb4b.jpg

G11

[lanton]

G10

[rpolitsr]

http://sites.google.com/site/rpolitsr/r_polit_9/pictures/potnentries/268_moon_CRW_6427_800.jpg

powershot Pro1

[liannallama]

G6
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd336/liannallama/IMG_8641-tiles.jpg

[CarloY]

G9 ...

[Boutty]

Thank you ALL for entering. The challenge is now closed. The judge of this "good eye" contest needs to rest his eye & mind. :p

The winners will be announced ASAP. :cool:

[Boutty]

Results posted. :cool:

[corythosaurus]

Some great shots this week, well done everyone and congratulations to the winner!

[JimAskew]

Great shots by all! This was both challenging and fun. Congratulations to the winners :)

[liannallama]

wow! I really learned a lot from this exercise! Thanks so much for posting this so I could learn about something new and a new way of thinking!

Great entries, everyone! Teekay was my favorite of the bunch. I love the geometric effect and complexity of such a simple image!

[Kevan]

Boutty, thank you for coming up with this fascinating challenge. I had never heard of Miksang until this challenge and even at this point, I'm not certain I truly understand what makes for a good or bad Miksang image. I've spent probably more time trying to understand this challenge and the term Miksang than any challenge I've been involved in before. So good were everyone's entry, they were all winners to this simple guy's eye. I did have my favorite which happened to be IVOlution's. It looked like modern art to me. Bravo!

Congrats to my fellow winners, splendid job!

I'm at a loss for a topic and will have to sleep on it. I promise I'll spend a restless night thinking up something.

[tmwag]

Congrats to the winners..liannallama's entry in particular..yes miksang!

[Michael Wells]

Thank you, Boutty, for a glimps into a world I'd never heard of before! I think you could spend a lifetime "getting it", as they say. Congrats to the winners! It was really hard for me to pick a favorite this week...every time I came back it was a different one! Thanks again Boutty, for hosting, judging, and for a bit of education this week!:D

[CarloY]

Congrats all! Great shots. Thx Boutty for the contest. I got very little done in last couple days due to my trance state.

Top of my list, Lanton's 'Clematis' immediately quieted my mind. Rpolitsr's 'Sky Shadows' made a strong mood statement.

Cheers.

[BobsYourUncle]

I must be real dense. . . Though I read the description, I'm still trying to figure out what it is and what it means. I still don't get it. . . . :oops:

[Maureen Souza]

Thanks for 2nd place, Boutty...and congrats to Kevan and the others.
Especially thanks for the Miksang challenge....I found myself being a little frustrated with it but I learned something new. Always good for an old gal.....;)

[rpolitsr]

Congratulations, Kevan, Maureen and Lianne for having your pictures in the top places this week.

Certainly a single contemplative exercise can not move us any closer to the millenary knowledge and wisdom of a Tibetan Rinpoche as Chögyam Trungpa.
Thanks to Boutty, this week was an interesting glimpse into that knowledge.

I'm not sure if I got the basic idea correctly, but my picture was an attempt to capture the observation of shadows and light in the full moon sky of these days.
I saw the moon and clouds through my eyes closed to a tiny dash, producing an interesting perception of the scene. The camera lens can not simulate that perception without the assistance of post processing, but I refused to crop the image or use Photoshp except for basic levels and sharpening for my entry.

The photoshop effect is included in the image below, just to show you how I saw the Scene.

http://sites.google.com/site/rpolitsr/r_polit_9/pictures/potnaux/268_moonblur_CRW_6427_400.jpg (http://sites.google.com/site/rpolitsr/r_polit_9/pictures/potnaux/268_moonblur_CRW_6427_800.jpg)

The textures and colors on the pictures of liannallama and CarloY, posted after my entry, were a belated inspiration of another things to try.

Thanks to all the participants for the beautiful collection of photos and to Boutty for another interesting theme.

[marie]

:)

Congratulations to the winner Kevan
very lovely picture.
Congratulations to runners up # 2 Maureen and #3 lliannallama. beautiful pictures
and from everyone

:cool:
Thank you very much Boutty for hosting and judging this week's challenge

"The pictures can bring one back to a purer perception of reality that is often neglected.
nothing fancy, no special setup; only a visual capture, in the proper state of mind, of everyday's reality. "
Let's see some 'Quiet mind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4ZuRYBBkQ)' photos.
________________________________

: )

I knew mine was a little off beam but 'seeing ' as the concept of the challenge was more or less a spiritual thing this week .. as in 'looking into the 'soul' and 'heart ' of subject matters we photograph'
I just decided... for me, this week especially (Holy Week) ..that which is leading up to * Easter Sunday ...for Christians... thoughts of the passion death and resurrection of Our Saviour ( Jesus) came to mind, there being so much natural and otherwise beauty in this world.. (stemming from * that concept) I knew everyone else would come up trumps for the special challenge

:D

Big welcome to the challenge mrshobden
(not sure if its mrs hobden or mr shobden)
: )))
and big welcome to needsnow



thought all the photographs beautiful
especially loved, along with winners ... Michael's and Rafael's (wonderful) photographs

[IVOlution]

Congrats to everyone and great job Boutty, you did make us think and search! I was familar with the concept but did not know that it is called Miksang. In my honest opinion, it is just another form of minimalistic photography. Maybe in some other artistic practice, one can express himself better, like painting for example. There it takes much more time to complete the "peace"(double meaning)...Anyway, my fav is Teekay's pic.
Have fun untill next monday!
Ivo
P.S. Thank you Kevan_G9

[mrshobden]

marie - I am MRS Hobden....Adam's other half and not as good a photographer YET ! I've just got a G11 so I can now compete directly with my husband which makes life interesting in my household!!! Thank you for your kind comments...it was my first ever attempt at this or any other comp...!

Linda

[chisel]

Great topic, beautiful entries; judging must have been especially hard.

[liannallama]

Mrs. Hobden I never would have known you were a newbie and you are not the only one since I'm pretty new to the board too and am definitely on the newbie end of learning photography!

:>

[teekay]

Congratulations to the winners and to Boutty for introducing us all to Miksang.

Like most, I'd never heard of it before, am still not sure how to define it photographically, and wouldn't have had a clue how to begin judging this week's collection of interesting shots.;)

[Kevan]

I had a couple photos that I was considering for this challenge, preferring some more than the one I eventually entered. After Googling up a storm, I think it was this video that gave me the closest sense of what direction to go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4ZuRYBBkQ In particular was the instructor's comments to his students to slowly look around themselves and observe the relationships of color, rather than the objects themselves. I'm paraphrasing here, but I think that was his gist.

This was the the only site that gave me some instruction, all the others seemed to spend more time discussing the origin and meaning of the word, and I guess... the meditative result the photo should evoke. I guess it's a method in which you know it when you see it, but that isn't particularly helpful in terms of the right and wrong way to approach a photo shoot.

Frustrating? Yes. But I did enjoy the investigation.

[IVOlution]

Kevan, I saw the same video and think the same you do...when you see it you know it, but doesn't really help on how to approach...still think that is just another way to aproach minimalism. What do you guys think?

[teekay]

I must be real dense. . . Though I read the description, I'm still trying to figure out what it is and what it means. I still don't get it. . . . :oops:

Consuming our famous local product, BC Bud (medicinally, of course) would probably be a very good way to conceptualize Miksang, Bob. Just guessing, you understand...;)

[tmwag]

Consuming our famous local product, BC Bud (medicinally, of course) would probably be a very good way to conceptualize Miksang;)

That explains it;)

[BobsYourUncle]

Consuming our famous local product, BC Bud (medicinally, of course) would probably be a very good way to conceptualize Miksang, Bob. Just guessing, you understand...;)

Yeah, funny ! Haha!

It has been many many years since some BC bud passed my lips. Maybe we should have a topic with that one as a requirement!:lol::lol:

[mrshobden]

Thanks Lianne. Well done for your achievement ! In fact well done to everybody - I thought all the shots were stunning!

Linda

[Boutty]

Guys & gals, I am glad that you have enjoyed this little challenge and thanks for the fun to read feedback. I am sorry this also photographically had confused most of us included me. :p

I like the quote of this Miksang practitioner (http://miksang.com//jill_scott.html). Now I know why my great inspirer Don Ellis (http://www.kleptography.com/) take so good pictures; might be he knows Miksang? :cool:

Here's my shot of the Miksang moment... ;)

[Kevan]

Huh? ;)

[tmwag]

Inviting the phenomenal world to interrupt the continuing coverage of mind's discursive commentary - naming, assessing, categorizing, judging, editing. Stopped by the ordinary - for a moment, no past or future, pretty or ugly, significant or insignificant. Looking becomes seeing - open, moved, joyfully present.

Miksang...

[IainB]

Congratulations on hosting a very imaginative topic, Boutty. Wonderful images. Congratulations to Kevin, Maureen and Lianne. Lovely images - peaceful and mesmeric. A sudden shortage of time in my orbit meant I could not enter.

[IVOlution]

Inviting the phenomenal world to interrupt the continuing coverage of mind's discursive commentary - naming, assessing, categorizing, judging, editing. Stopped by the ordinary - for a moment, no past or future, pretty or ugly, significant or insignificant. Looking becomes seeing - open, moved, joyfully present.

Miksang...

Tom, now you made it clear to me! Miksang is not just another form of minimalism...
thnx

[IainB]

I like the quote of this Miksang practitioner (http://miksang.com//jill_scott.html). Now I know why my great inspirer Don Ellis (http://www.kleptography.com/) take so good pictures; might be he knows Miksang? :cool:


Yes, Don's images (G1 and G2) are pure and uncluttered. Even his street candids have a sense of 'pause' rather than a frozen moment, if that makes sense! I am left thinking 'what happened a moment later?'
Don's a master...

[tmwag]

Tom, now you made it clear to me! Miksang is not just another form of minimalism...
thnx

I'm glad it's clear to you..I have a ways to go;)

[marie]

marie - I am MRS Hobden....Adam's other half and not as good a photographer YET ! I've just got a G11 so I can now compete directly with my husband which makes life interesting in my household!!! Thank you for your kind comments...it was my first ever attempt at this or any other comp...!

Linda

:lol:

many thanks for that information Linda
sounds great about the camera(s) and future household plug and plays :mrgreen::eek:


& its great to 'meet' you

:D

[IVOlution]

hey guys,
i've been practising some Miksang-ing, would appreciate your comments on my flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivolution/sets/72157623905552370/)... I am trying to understand the complexity of it. Got frustrated a bit since I think it is just another form of minimalistic photography...I think I still don't get it...(i am blond by the way)
oh and I opened a thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=10040053#post10040053)and would love to see you Miksang-ing more...