The toughest part of photography is all in between actually doing photography. The act of picking up a camera and pressing a button to take a picture is obviously quite effortless. To be a good photographer means you have to be taking good pictures. Good pictures go far, far outside of the camera itself. While I used to be very dissatisfied with my first DSLR, a Canon t3i. I realized much later that just about everything I want to accomplish with my portraits can still be done very effectively with that older piece of equipment. Good photography takes effort and innovation. Imagine you happen to have a room where a large window pouring sun over a rocking chair, and the way the light hits it just right combined with the color of the walls around and the floor below not to mention the shelves filled with antiques and collectibles in the background all somehow come together so perfectly that it makes for an amazing photograph everytime you take it. If you took that picture and showed it to someone they may say, "Hey, you're a good photographer." That picture you have now is proof of your ability, it's the visual resume of your accomplishment. Although certainly to build upon your resume, if you want another great photo to add to your collection, you cannot simply go into that same room and take the very same picture. It's a new picture but it's the same picture. Also waiting for a different time of day but shooting from the same angle would perhaps work in unison with the previous photograph. Clearly that wouldn't be enough to make a new outstanding picture. It would just be the same great photo with minor overall variations. You have to find another room where everything lines up perfectly with the composition, the subject matter, and the lighting to make another photo that's worthy of the first. But how often does that happen?
Much like anything in life things can not be counted on to just line up. They can in miraculous ways and they can also unwind in the absolute opposite. When I get my best pictures luck can certainly be a factor that I just happened to find something as is and be fortunate enough to notice it so I can take the shot. But more often than not when I get a good picture that I consider strong enough to be a good piece for my portfolio, it’s because I had to do lots of work behind the scenes. Putting myself out there, researching potential places to shoot, looking for models that are available, working with other peoples schedules while trying to be where I need to be for the best light. Coming up with concepts, moods, outfits, themes.
That being said I am so guilty of the opposite. Funny enough where I live now is close to the beach and when I first moved here, I found that atmosphere to be an endless fountain of photographic potential, and by many means it still is. However over the years of shooting it, it certainly has felt like it offered me less every time I went out to see it. Almost as if the universe itself was working against me in order to produce a truly remarkable shot with the elements that had brought me success in the past. For instance I love getting shots of the sunsets at one of the concrete piers. I go there at least once or twice every month looking to find a great view I can capture and share. Something to make me feel like my time out there was worthwhile. Funny enough the best shot I ever got of that pier happened years ago, more accurately put. It happened within the first few months of me living here.
Some years later I discovered I may have a good chance of getting quality shots of the birds found on the beach. I didn’t have much equipment when it came to getting close up shots of birds. I had literally one old chinon auto 200mm f3.5 manual focus lens that I adopted to a Canon EF mount. The first time I had gone out with the mission to shoot birds specifically, I had birds of all types all around me, with the best lighting conditions and despite the difficult task of nailing focus with the old manual lens. I still managed to get some photos I was very proud of. So the next thing I did was order a new lens that would be super helpful for getting wild-life. An autofocus lens that could zoom in and out from 150 to 600mm.
I now had so much more reach to get up close and personal with the subjects and have no trouble making sure I got them in focus. This lens undoubtedly proved to be exceptionally capable for what I was wanting to get. However, as if by weird voodoo magic. Everyday that I went out to the same location for the sunset hoping to get great bird shots now equipped with a more capable piece of equipment. Something was off. Some days there are barely any birds to show up. Sometimes there would be less favorable conditions outside. No matter how many times I’ve gone back with that same mission I would never have the luck I had the first time finding good subjects in good places to capture a stunning shot.
It’s a strange phenomena but it feels like to me good shots are always predetermined by how much effort went into every aspect of the plan beforehand. In times where I say I didn't plan all that much, but I was making an effort to try something new or go somewhere new. I would be rewarded with good shots. Times where I re-applied the same strategy in the same location would always net me less and less. It’s as if karma lives inside my camera. I also don’t think it’s a case where the same location and subjects are just boring me overtime and therefore I’m less impressed with the shots. It’s literally just a case where getting another great shot is just not happening despite me using my best techniques with what's available. I hadn’t put in the blood sweat and tears and the world around me didn’t offer up anything else in return. Effort follows you as does a lack of it.
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