Which part of the story are you telling?
After the fact?
[photopress:hawaii_mon_11.jpg,full,centered]© Damon Webster
That lilikoi pie was awfully good. Emphasis on was.

Or that decisive click of the shutter occurring in the peak of the moment?

[photopress:53_zamri.jpg,full,centered]
Did you see that? and no photoshop?

Was the photographer waiting for the dolphin because it had just breached? Or because the diver was going to launch?
Was the pie so darn good that a photo of the freshly cut, tart goodness wasn’t the share but finished container said how good it was?

Is it your own natural, life pace that determines the images you make? Or perhaps the opportunity presented will shift your vision. Even if only momentarily.
Somehow I think that no matter what your preferred methodology, you may, and should, creatively stray from time to time.

[photopress:portrait61.gif,thumb,alignright] Would I expect to see Ansel Adams in the dog pack of paparazzi taking shots of Brittany ? Maybe not.
Although an 8×10 camera on a tripod running behind a car would be pretty funny.

Here is the point of all of this: whether photography is your profession or passion you should always take another look; put away the tripod, or take it out. Shoot with strobes or just existing light. Prop the shot or use existing elements. Stretch it out a bit. Maybe you didn’t miss the shot. Maybe the shot hasn’t happened yet.Or perhaps it’s sitting there waiting for you.

Photograph your life before, during, and after. At the very least, the looks back will amaze you. You may be known for your portraits but that schooner on the high sea is talking to ya. Or maybe the lilikoi pie is.

I know, it may all seem like you know this all intuitively. True.
There are times we all need a little reminder though. Not permission to stray, but a nudge to reawaken your stuff.

Too heady?

Sorry, after going through a spring cleaning of images, remembered the photos from before.
In the days of film, the days of yore.
And anytime you can review a collection of work, hopefully it just asks new questions, like “If I keep doing this will I get better? Tell a better story? Share an emotion in a clearer way ?”

Sometimes it’s the event as it happens, sometimes it’s the resulting artifacts.

OK, enough musings. For now.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Photo News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.