There is a concept in Japanese that describes the stages of mastering an art or practice. Shuhari approximately translates as “to keep — to fall — to break away”.

Shu. Ha. Ri.
Obey. Detach. Separate.

You can see it is divided into 3 stages:

1. Obey.To conform precisely to the traditional wisdom or teaching or learning fundamentals.
2. Detach. To break away from these rules and look for exceptions and alternatives. To find one’s own path.
3. Separate. To transcend both the rules and the alternatives.

With respect to my photography, I can say that I now have a basic appreciation of the fundamentals: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and their relationships. I also know my way around my camera. I have taken a ton of photos, and some of them are okay.

But most of them are pretty boring. Im just shooting stuff.
Theres a cool looking building. Snap.
Oh, that woman is just about to walk into that shaft of light at the end of the allyway. Snap.
Hello interesting looking person with a funky hat. Snap.

Each time trying just a little too hard to ‘get it right’.

It’s time to start detaching, to move into the second sage ‘Ha’. To experiment with bending the rules and not worrying too much about settings. To look for artistic accidents that capture the aesthetic. To ditch the pixelated essay in favour of the artistic poem.