As the followers of my blog, my online students with the BPSOP, and the photographers who have attended my “Stretching your Frame of mind” workshop all know, I have a plethora of random thoughts gathered throughout my photographic and teaching career. I call these thoughts my “Personal Pearls of Wisdom“.
Dating back to the early eighties when I first started teaching, I’ve conjured up these expressions as situations called for them, either from my own experiences or those of my students. Although I love all my Pearls for one reason or another, there is none that brings a laugh to me faster than “Go With The Flow“.
If you’ve been shooting long enough, I’m sure at one time or another you’ve been faced with a situation that you either didn’t expect or didn’t want. You probably had a certain idea in your mind, or a pose, or a composition that come hell or high water you were going to shoot…no matter what!!!
If you were anything like I was in the old days, those days before Medicare, Social Security, and mellowing out, you got flustered or probably a little pissy because it wasn’t going your way. For me, it was usually the subject that wouldn’t cooperate or a lot of the times it had to do with animals.
I don’t remember exactly when it was, but at some point I decided to stop fighting it and joining it. I began to “go with the flow“. If someone wasn’t taking my direction, or for some reason really didn’t want to be photographed the way I envisioned, I would just let them do what they wanted and when I discovered that it usually resulted in a better photo, I started waiting and hoping it would happen again. It’s not something you can create yourself, it has to be spontaneous and coming from the subject. It’s also very important to anticipate the possibility because if something does happen, it’s a good chance that it won’t happen for long and won’t ever happen again.
The two photos you see above and below are perfect examples of “Going With the Flow“. I was working on a photo essay called “Back-road Businesses where I traveled the smaller roads throughout Texas looking for the entrepreneurs of these weekend businesses. These are businesses that spring up all over Texas on the weekends, opening on Fridays and closing Sunday afternoons after all the travelers were back home.
In the photos taken of the owners of the sword and knife business, and the hubcaps, they didn’t want to show their faces. No matter how much I was willing to pay for a hubcap or a sword, they were just not interested. The sword man said that I could take his picture but it had to be his way. He told me to go out and get setup and he would think about what he was going to do (after buying a knife). When he finally came out wearing the helmet, I thought I would start crying in utter happiness!!! How could I have ever planned that?
When I asked the guy with the hubcap to take a picture of him in front of all his hubcaps, he said fine, but I couldn’t show his face (maybe something to do with his britches?). He leaned over and grabbed a hubcap and put it in front of him. He said that if I still wanted to take his picture it was OK.
OK!!!!!!!! Someone please pinch me, because I knew I had to be dreaming!!!! I shot as fast as I could before he could change his mind.
So my friends, be prepared to forgo your initial idea and be ready to “Go With the Flow”. Just let it happen because it just might prove to be a better idea.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, check out my 2018-19 workshop schedule and come shoot with me sometime. Hear my “Pearls in Person”!!!
JoeB
