I've been much more relaxed about what I take photos of this year. I'm not going to stress out about getting a shot each and every day and I've posted filler shots many days this year. Monday was the first day I picked up my camera in three days. This would have been out of the question the last couple of years. This year, it's a different story.
I went back and critiqued some of my 100 Stranger portraits. To be honest, many of them should be better. I won't quibble about this one I've posted as I think it's definitely the best of the bunch, but others either shouldn't have seen the light of day or I should have taken better care to get better lighting or better focus or something. Perhaps I'm not cut out to take portraits?
That's a distinct possibility. One of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, Ansel Adams, has been an inspiration to me for as long as I can remember. Shortly after his passing, there was an exhibit, near where I lived, of his 100 prints, the ones he kept in two distinct galleries for exhibition. Many of the prints we are all familiar with, while others were brand new to me. There were also several portraits included in this gallery, including one of Georgia O'Keefe.
Hopefully, I'll get my stranger mojo back in the near future. Maybe I just need a change of scenery. Next month, I'm heading up to visit my daughter during my spring break for her birthday. We're planning on visiting San Francisco. I haven't been to San Francisco, outside a quick drive through one summer, since my honeymoon 25 years ago, so I'm very excited about the photo possibilities there. The thing that I just need to remember, however, is that it just needs to be relaxed. The opportunities will come for all sorts of photos, including strangers. I don't need to push them like I did in years past. I just need to remind myself this.
At the beginning of the movie, "Throw Momma from the Train," there is a great scene with Billy Crystal and Danny Devito, in which Crystal character says something to the effect of, "A painter paints, and a writer writes." He could also have said that a photographer takes pictures. We each have strengths and weaknesses; we can't know what they are until we try to do things. I know that I am not a portraitist; you might well be, but you haven't really been doing this long enough (seriously) to know, yet. I suspect that Ansel Adams took portraits for reasons vastly different than his stated reasons for his landscapes. My reasons for taking pictures are pretty basic: I like what I see and I want to be able to recall it. I take very few pictures for any external reasons, and the 365 Project, as I realized only a few days into it, was never going to be something to which I could adhere: I just don't think that way.
ReplyDeleteBottom Line: take photos of what interests you, and you'll eventually realize what it is that you are best at. Then focus (no pun intended) on that. Simple concept, but tough to implement. It'll keep you busy for many years, however :-)
The best part about the 100 strangers project is there's no set time limit to complete the project, as there is with something like the 365 project. I started mine in 2010 and I have 19. To be fair, there have been many times where I've blown the chance to take a cool strangers photo because I've gotten into talking to them and never thing about the photo. My 100 strangers photos aren't the best. I'm definitely better at other aspects of photographs, but for me it's more about the story and the people rather than the image. I can tell you a story from each of the images I took and about the day or whatever, which to me makes the project even more fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't sell yourself short. The images I've seen of your 100 strangers project are excellent and I've enjoyed them.
As for Ansel Adams -- a favorite of mine, too. There was an exhibit of his stuff in my area a few years ago and it's amazing seeing it up close. (I also saw some of his images at an exhibit in Portland, Maine a couple of years ago).
Thanks P.J. I think I'm like you in that I've lost a couple of opportunities to get a shot because of the conversation. My friend Jim and I (Chaosmanor above) met another geocacher while we were out getting geocaches a couple of weeks ago. I'd left my camera in the car. I think if I'd had the camera with me, I'd have asked to take his photo for the project.
DeleteAnd I do agree with you that the nice thing about it is there is no time limit. I'll get it done when I get it done.