There are times when we all just ‘fumble’…. well, I had that time the other day, so let me explain.
For the past 6-7 months my photography has been concentrating on a ‘project’ that is a soon to be photo book. One of the guidelines I instilled within my self was that I was looking for symbolism, which, meant that I wasn’t looking for any humanity, just objects. To boot….I shot exclusively with a 55mm lens and with my Olympus Om2-SP.
But last night….I went out with a Leica MA plus a Voigtlander VC11 light meter attached to the hot-shoe. Normally not a problem. But given my past 6-7 months I found myself stumbling along just doing mundane street photography in downtown Tucson with nothing explicit to shoot.
Exactly now where did I stumble? To start off the bungling….take the focal length. Instead of 55mm I was now using a 35mm. Not a lot of difference but enough. One thing I have learned is to take out one lens…..only one lens. Concentrate on that focal length so one’s eyes and brain become in sync and what I ‘seek for’ is what I find; all based upon the focal length I go out with. So shooting for months with a 55mm lens kind of spoiled me a bit too much as my mind sought out photos more attuned to a 55, rather than a 35.
To move on…… in my project I purposely selected ‘no humanity’….only objects. But yesterday I became torn between a combination of both people and objects and I feel…looking back at my shots (on film, so I have no idea what they look like), I feel I missed on both accords. Now did I? not sure….
Moving on some more…..I found myself shooting with a Leica MA where I was experimenting with the Voigtlander VC11 light meter for the first time in the field. This particular model of camera doesn’t connect to the light meter so I have several steps here. First….attempt to adjust my camera settings so they come pretty close, based upon the sunny 16 rule. Second….take a reading on the VC11 after setting what I feel is a good aperture. Third, read the reading…..and move my settings on VC11 to my camera lens and camera. Then shoot. …. This is a bit more time consuming than thought considering I need to wear reading glasses.
With my reading glass issue…..I find myself in a process within itself. My glasses are a top my head while I scan looking for a shot. Then I pull my glasses down to take readings on the light meter. I keep them down as I adjust my camera settings. Then I raise my glasses and take a shot. Then…repeat performance. Seemingly now, not all difficult but remember that street photography requires a bit of quickness to not miss a shot and that entire process with my glasses simply slows me up, thus….I fumble and stumble.
How to move forward…? First..get bifocals. The lower half will be my reading cheaters while the upper half will be essentially clear glass as I am not near-sided. Then, practice, practice and practice on the procedure of using the light meter and making sure I properly transfer said readings to the camera…
Sounds easy….is it?