The Market

I've been pretty absent lately - not been shooting much and really miss it. I can make some decent excuses though: I've been sick for a couple weeks, I've moved and the weather's been $hit...all excuses so I'm not happy with them or myself for not getting off my ass and shooting. Its weird, I can feel myself moving backwards, and by all measures, that bothers me. We all work hard at the various things we do in life, and it really makes me feel guilty whenever I have this feeling of regression. All is not lost however! ...I'm feeling the winds of motivation :)

On Saturday, I spent the day with my girlfriend and we made our way to the market in Seattle to pick up a few things for dinner. I had brought my camera up for the weekend as we had a busy schedule with many friends so I lugged my camera bag with me.

Although I wasn't able to get any solid time to shoot with my friends and work on my people work, I was able to take a few random snaps as we wandered around the market and enjoyed a little dry time between rain storms.

Many of the shots taken during the day were from the hip, literally. It makes me want to start working on a whole set of 'street' work that is all shot without looking through the viewfinder and just guessing on composition. The results are pretty encouraging so far and will show up here in the future.

A few words on the fist shot below -
I have a general interest in a photo journalistic style however I feel my skills in this department are VERY lacking and I feel this REALLY detracts from the wedding work that I do. This really bothers me and I feel an obligation to myself and clients to hone this skill. Cartier Bresson talked about "The Decisive Moment" and I think most would hold him as the master of capturing "The Decisive Moment," which is essentially the critical mass of a moment frozen in a moment in a photograph. I've felt myself really needing to work on this side of my shooting and feel like I'm on the right track with this first shot....the eyes of the man working the news stand. Note the people playing soccer in the intersection of 1st and Pike in the distance.

Bresson if you don't know:
Henri Cartier Bresson

Case Study - Carrera

Discovering what you're good at -

Some of us are lucky and know straight away exactly what we are good at. We're naturally gifted and things seem to work out swimmingly. I think we can all think of a friend or two that seems to be good at whatever they touch.

I can only assume this is true for photographers as well. Some are natural landscape photogs while others come more naturally to portraits. This is all well and good and I think we'd all be happy to go along in life being content in our innate abilities and not strike out a bit.

People move me. People are about the only thing in this world that matter. I'm drawn to people, be it in everyday life or in photography. Think of the most moving photo you can think of... I bet you there's a person in that shot. Bottom line, working with people is one of the most rewarding aspects of photography for me.

but... I want to be good at automotive photography.

So Nick and I took off tonight, I'd rented a lens and he was to stay out of the house while the Mrs. studied for finals. We managed to find a few decent spots to shoot his new ride but I wasn't really feeling it. At the end of the day, shooting a car is just that, an inanimate object (never thought I'd say that! ...I love my cars!). So drawing out some life can be a bit challenging. I needed a new approach.

So now for the meat of the post -

I know I'm not an automotive photographer. Its not my gig. I love cars, I love cameras, but I really struggle to take a good shot of a car. I don't know what it is but my shots always seem a little flat and don't move me when I look at them.... 'ok.... a car. so what?'

For me, photography is a bit of a slow burn, when I'm shooting things that dont move. I like to take my time and absorb the situation, the light, and spend some time looking at the details. Standing close, standing far, crossing the street...looking from as many angles as I can... circle around if I can.

With the 911 tonight, I was able to take a few minutes and just stare. See it in a new way. I've seen these cars tons of times, driven and appreciated them. I needed to get to know the car a little bit and understand it in a new way before I squeezed the shutter for if I didn't, I'd just have a flat xerox.

Which brings me to my point.

We all have weaknesses, even in the things that we're generally good at. Don't forget to step back and think about WHY you thought what you saw was a good shot. What is compelling about it? Why does that make the shot interesting? Can you enhance that and add to the drama? ...are you just pushing the button to hear the CLICK? What is this picture about? ...or will you just delete it as soon as you get it on the computer?

Step back, think, absorb, understand; and with your new perspective - CLICK



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