Morning, Greenhead Slough
Project Managers love to do those lessons learned sessions when every project is completed. What did we learn during the project that we can apply to the next project? Well, here is the second installment of things I learned from this trip. I have made these mistakes for you. This is not the opinion of an internet crank. This actually happened.
5. Practice with a new camera before you go into the field is very important. Using the camera develops the muscle memory to unconsciously work the camera controls without thought. Knowing which part of the lens controls the zoom and which controls the manual focus does make a difference. Being able to operate and control the camera by feel is essential for you to be ready when the decisive moment is upon you. How to hold and handle a new camera must be learned to avoid pushing that odd combination of buttons that replaces your photographic efforts with a multi-media serenade of your most recent images. Trust me on this. Not knowing this was responsible for more “What did I just do?” moments on this past trip than anything else.
6 The more you come back to the same location the better chances you have of making better photographs of that place. It takes a while to “learn” a location. How the light strikes it when different conditions and in our case different tides gives you the opportunity to make different photographs in the same place. You learn to see what the place is and then you can proceed along to seeing what the place can be and finally discover what the place could represent. That’s why you take much better photographs in areas you know well than photographs where you are just visiting.
7. What type of a photographer are you? Brooks Jensen and I often photograph at the same place at the same time. Our photographs look nothing alike. After about twenty five years of photographing together, I finally figured out why this is so. I photograph places and Brooks photographs concepts. My photographs are literal and what I am photographing is recognizable. Brooks’s photographs may not be recognizable as a specific place because what he photographs represents the concept he is photographing. Things are much different than thoughts. That’s why our photographs don’t look alike.
8. Back away slowly when you are “finished” photographing. A while back I blogged about how important it is to pay attention to how you leave the area you are photographing because you never know when you are finished photographing an area. We photographed Teal Slough for about two hours, packed up and were driving away. Brooks saw something, stopped the car, unlimbered his camera gear and went back to make his best photograph of the safari. Paying attention to your exit is a very important thing to do. You just never know when you are truly finished photographing at a location.
These are AMAZING!! They all came out great and I love the ueiqunness of all the shots 3
Posted by: Cristian | February 09, 2012 at 06:37 AM