Always being aware of my immediate environment.
As I tell my online students with the BPSOP, and those that take my “Stretching Your Frame of mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, you just never know when that illusive keeper will cross your photographic path. When I say illusive keeper, I’m talking about that 0ne in fifty images that passes through you camera on any given day of shooting.
Most of the photographers I teach, as well as those that I respect as great shooters all have certain criteria in judging what each considers a keeper, or better yet an “OMG” photo. My standards are set extremely high and they keep getting higher if that’s possible!!! Since I know that these kinds of photos come and go in a blink of an eye, mostly because of the sometimes fleeting light, I want to be ready just in case.
It stands to reason that one of the best ways to have a shot at your keeper is to always have a camera with you. Which I do!!! This reminds me of the tag line for the Texas Lottery that reads, “You can’t win if you don’t play”. The good news is that your chances of coming home with that “OMG” photo is a lot better than winning the Lottery.
In the above photo, I had just sat down in an outside bar on the second floor of the hotel I was staying at. As always, I had my camera with me and saw this happening right before my very eyes. Since it screams Line, the most important of all the elements of visual design, I took a picture of it.
Wherever I’m sitting, walking, running, or riding, I’m constantly moving my eyes around my immediate environment. It’s like I have a built in 2X3 rectangle and I’m seeing everything in an imaginary viewfinder. I’m especially looking for light hitting or falling on an object or person. It may be as obscure as a thin shaft of light, or it might be in an unusual shadow that it creates. My eye is also attracted to any movement that occurs in my peripheral vision.
Looking for anything that’s weird or quirky because of some brief juxtaposition of elements or a reflection is a good source of keepers. Try to anticipate something that might be happening and have your camera “close to the vest” when it does. Chances are it won’t last long.
Last, remember what Eddie Adams (a Pulitzer prize winning photographer) said, “When you get lucky, be ready”.
Here’s a few examples of being an observer of my surroundings:
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
