Kicking the Tires

I have spent the past few months tinkering with experimentation and lomography as the two really do equal one. If I can create imperfection/creativity within either the camera / lens or in the film development process, I feel I have achieved my goals.

But does Lomography imply ‘flying by the seat of your pants’? … Not even close. First there are two main types of cameras that Lomography works with. One is your basic Holga or Lomo or cameras such as the Olympus XA series. In those cameras you shoot with ‘auto’ and set you focus by zone. That’s it.

The others are cameras where the photographer has more control over shutter, aperature and even ISO as you can push or pull or purposely shoot low light film in high lighted areas or vise-versa. In either of those two cases you still approach your shots with an unpredicatable and untraditional style. IE: Just snap without focus or speed, or shoot into the sun, or perhaps view obstructions as a positive. On and On……

Take for instance this photo below:

Can you say “Lomographic”? This was shot with no concern for focus. It was composed of negatives that were shot in the evening hours with a low 100 ISO. But more importantly it was shot with an ‘eye’ for composition, and that is something that is not easily taught. Try to teach a person to think creatively, just try.

Or look at the next shot”

Most people would view this as a throw-away but not me. I view this imperfection as perfection. Just look at the stray light etched in. Now when taking this shot, I didn’t know I would obtain this degree of light but because I knew where I was in the roll of film, I could guess what might come of it. So framing the shot and using composition simular to each, let alone exposure….gave me ‘this’ as a final product. I happen to love it. It just looks cool.

Or this shot….

Again, it just works and it has an awesome appearance. The main characters are grouped in the middle …but activity floats 360. Faces appear to just be staring off. Emotion or boredom or an “I don’t care attitude’ …. The three figures are melded together and crop out of the other. A nice blend but notice here, unlike the other two, that there is more clarity and definition found in the faces. So lomography is unpredicatable ….it involves clarity where it might work, and messiness when needed or ambiguity to focus on. So my experimentation continues as I have a gallery of ‘puzzle-type photography in mind. I just need to keep being creative.

Pre and not Post

I have this ‘thing’ ping-ponging around within my mind…..where my photography needs to focus on capturing truly creative images. So, when I go out for my street photography walks, in addition to seeking out my projects/themes approach (see previous blogs on); I desire creativity….beyond what others might see. If my images don’t beg a question or provide a ‘wow’ response from the viewers, well, what good is it?

Now, to reach a level of creativity, I feel I need to visualize the final product I desire and then to set my camera functions ‘ahead’ of even pressing the shutter, as opposed to many who simply grab a shot and then rely upon ‘photoshop’ to do the rest, if any. Case in point: The other month (I travel a lot so I think in terms of months as opposed to weeks or days), I went to a photo club meeting where the vast majority of people shared images that were photoshopped. When asked what they did to get that image; well….they simply had no idea. They merely pressed a button.

Even if they could recall the button(s) pressed, I feel their process is inherently the wrong approach ( I.E. Post is not Pre….Pre is not Post). What does that mean? PRE is being creative even before you press the shutter. I am creative ahead of the shutter. I visualize a final scene, and for my photography, this implies that I visualize a world of color and transfer it to high contrast black and white. But the visualization extends beyond that. What should my camera settings be? Set them in the Pre-stage. Adjust the settings now, and don’t rely upon Photoshop to do so.

This is more of an authentic approach in my creativity, as this is done prior to capturing any image, and not as will-nilly with concentrating on software afterwards. Create and know what you want the image to look for ahead of time and get your settings in line. This is easy with digital, and a sure ‘guess work’ with film; trust me on this. But part of the fun with film is experimenting.

So look at the photo below….. pre-set, not post…I wanted the starkness to show. The people; well…an aura of them to be dispersed within the highlights. Did I succeed? I think so….I like this shot. I have a book that it will go in. The point is. Be creative. Be Creative in the Pre-process and not the Post process. Know your settings and know your camera and know what you want from the shot and simply match the settings.