[Leica] Re: Lessons Learned from Shooting - WAS: Initial Slide Sorts

[Gary Elshaw <gary.elshaw@vuw.ac.nz>]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for one of the best posts i've read for a while. Photography should
be about learning: both about yourself and others. Simple concept, but a
really difficult thing to implement.

Take care,
Gary


>It _is_ rather depressing, isn't it?  But I'm discovering some secrets
>(which I'm sure you folks already know, but here it is from a rank
>beginner):
>
>1. Shoot a _lot_.
>
>2. Experiment: change subjects, positions, perspectives, distance, exposure,
>lighting, emulsions--anything and everything.
>
>3. Get as much feedback as possible: review the slides/prints alone and with
>others so that you can learn from what you've done.
>
>I just followed rules 1 and 3 above, and here are four lessons I've learned
>already (I must be in a list-making mood; bear with me):
>
>a. Rule no.2 above.  This may be due to my being in "learning" mode, but it
>could apply forever; there's really no substitute for experimentation.
>
>Having grown up (so to speak) on a zoom lens Way Back When, I've discovered
>that I'm lazy about composing.  My feet get stuck.  I need to learn to crop
>in the finder (move forward or backwards) or shift perspectives when taking
>multiple shots (move laterally or vertically).
>
>I have also found that I tend to take multiple shots without changing
>_anything_.  Of course the subject is changing (expressions, positions), but
>that alone isn't teaching me much.  I need to start experimenting more with
>bracketing, depth of field, composition, selective focus, and so on.
>
>b. Similar to lesson a, but specific advice on composition from my friend
>Liz: "focus on what's interesting and eliminate the rest."  This speaks to
>the generic rule about "getting closer"--literally and figuratively (more on
>the latter in lesson c).
>
>I found that way too many of my shots have extraneous information that's of
>little or no interest: sky, street, cars, whatever.  This could partly be a
>process of getting accustomed to shooting with the M and using framelines (I
>don't recall having so much extra space in my photos back in my SLR/zoom
>days).  In any event, several of my photos could be salvaged by enlarging
>and cropping, which points to more effort required while composing the shot.
>
>c. Pay attention.
>
>This one's odd, and may just be me, but I've discovered (much to my chagrin)
>that I'm actually a _nervous_ shooter--perhaps because I'm shooting candids
>of people I don't know, and so feel shy about it (hopefully this will
>dissipate over time), or because I'm already anxious about how the image
>will turn out while I'm shooting it, or both.
>
>In any event, the effect is that I'm rushing my shots without waiting for
>the decisive moment (to be fair, at times I've already missed it due to
>fiddling with exposure and focus, but that occurs less frequently than
>hurrying the shot), and I'm being careless about basics like depth of field
>and framing.  It's as though I'm in a just-shoot-and-get-away-quick mode.  I
>suspect that being more attentive to what I'm shooting at the moment and my
>comfort level while doing so will both increase over time, and are no doubt
>mutually reinforcing.
>
>d. Don't worry about the throw-aways (learned this thanks to the replies on
>this list!).  See them all as experiments to learn from, then let them go,
>looking forward to the next ones....
>
>This last lesson may be the most important of all.  I've had to learn it
>many times in many different areas of my life, but it boils down to this: if
>you aren't having fun, why bother?  We tend to focus on products: the final
>image, the completed essay, the released software, and so on.  But life is
>lived in the _process_, and so, not surprisingly, the product tends to take
>care of itself merely by virtue of attending to the process of creating it.
>I've discovered that the product nearly always reflects the process: if I'm
>not paying attention or enjoying what I'm doing, the product--regardless of
>venue--ends up disappointing.
>
>In the end, we've only got right now to work with.  All else is merely
>memory or anticipation--figments of thought and imagination.  Even our
>photos are not captured memories but, paraphrasing Winogrand, entirely new
>facts that are discovered afresh in the process of seeing them this moment.
>
>It's amazing how much you can learn after a few rolls through an M. :)
>
>Regards,
>Dan

_____________________________________________________________

"The difficulty now is that unexceptional adults believe the loss of
youthful dreaming is itself "growing up," as though adulthood were
the passive conclusion to a doomed activity and hope during
adolescence."


OO             The Uses of Disorder
[_]<|          Personal Identity and City Life -- Richard Sennett
  /|\
Gary Elshaw
Post-Grad Film Student
Victoria University
New Zealand
http://elshaw.tripod.com/
http://elshaw.tripod.com/photointro.html
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