Key Notes

When I do these blogs….many times I do these for ‘myself’ as opposed for others. I use these blogs as one approach to note taking. What am I doing right or wrong or why isn’t something working etc.

For instance….I was working on a recent book/zone project where I was going thru some of my past images and attempting to make a narrative from them…a visual form of an essay. But it wasn’t working. I was telling Deb just this morning that ‘it isn’t working’….and then I proceeded to create a list of 5-6 things as to why it wasn’t working. Then I mulled around with it once more thinking I could make the project work and no, it didn’t. Then I mulled a bit more and finally it occurred to me why it wasn’t working. And yes, it goes back to the way I shoot, the look I want…what and how I shot yesterday compared to today etc….

This is what I came up with. In order for my images to work and my overall workflow to be successful I need to make sure I hit upon ‘my basics’…or the thing that motivates me. Not what I hear from You Tube or know from other great photographer, but from me. What do I require.

First….when I go out shooting….I go out with a purpose now. No longer just shooting but a purpose in mind. So that really curtails the number of shots I take (film usually but digital is okay). I have a purpose and I seek to find that within my images. That is essential as I enjoy putting together zines and books that represent the central theme.

Second….I want the following in my images. I want movement. But, what is movement? I had to define that. Movement to me can be actual movement as in someone walking or running. But movement can also be action within what that person is seen as doing or represented as doing. So…take a look at these two images below.

Is this movement in the traditional sense? No…but what action is being presented here is movement. It shows this lady who is reflecting upon an image and caught within two separate images, not quite mirror of each other since I stepped back and shot in a refocus. But, the movement or action here is represented in her ‘reflecting’ and wondering to herself about this painting. Movement. Now take a look at the second image below.

This one is shot from behind the person as they walk down a narrow alley. Traditionally this might be thought of as movement but not in my eyes. The act of moving is caught by having his head turn back to me and look at me. That is movement. He is responding…acting….reflecting on ‘what I am doing’ as I take a shot of his movement. That is movement

In goes on and on….as to what qualifies but it has to have my definition of movement. A question that comes up after the fact about the image just taken.

Third…I want visual impact. If I take a nano-second to look at an image…does it create an impact within the viewer that stirs them? Does it make them go Wow?…If not….I don’t have a good picture. This impact can be done in several ways but many times, if not all it is accomplished by the shadows, light….and most of all geometry of the two as they play against each other. Okay, take a look below. What do you see initially? Do you like it?

Look at this one time and do so quickly. Like it or not? I think you will. Then look at it more thoroughly. Look at the shadows below…the harsh light above as it masks whatever he is pointing to (movement) on the table as the other guy looks on wondering (movement). Look at the angle of the table….the pole above the shoulders of the waiter etc… All off center. Angles….angles…. together with shadows and light. A great visual image from the start.

So….that is what I finally came down to today. What works…what doesn’t and why and why isn’t my current project not working? Because it lacks all three components to a degree. Theme, movement and impact.

My 'Half-Frame' Project

My upcoming project (I always have one on the horizon) will utilize my 1960 circa Olympus Pen F half-frame. I am ultra pumped about this project as it will extend well into the entire 2024 year. Currently my Pen F is coupled with a 38mm lens which is the equivalent of 55mm in full frame. Having another Zuiko 55mm lens and having worked with that focal length on my OM-1 film camera, and having done so exclusively for my last project (Same Ole Shit), I am fully aware of what a 55 can do. But the 55 i used prior was for that OM and not this Pen F, but, the uniqueness of that focal length stands out. .

But now ladies and gents, please allow me to introduce to you the larger 60mm…..(85mm equivalent) which I will use to compliment the 55mm lens. . A minor issue I have ahead of me but yes; I still need to find a good copy of this lens. They are out there and can be had in excellent shape, and should be, given the $$$$. Another old but relatively rare Pen F lens, but ….it should be just about perfect for capturing my street images from just a bit further away, or street portraits.

As I approach my photography goals today, and I might add…I continue to grow in my craft…I seek to hone in on my projects using the right gear combo. Thus the Pen F half-frame and the 38/60mm lenses. Yet there is more, yes more….. How I ask, can one move forward with a project of this caliber with out a bit of fun built into it?

Fun, what is fun? What does fun look like in photography? Well, that varies…. but I know from past projects that that ‘fun’ involves motivation to get up daily and to hunt the streets. Go past the weather, the grime…the miles I walk and seek out compositions and scenes that match the project. That is the ‘fun…’

Projects

Hey dude….too many photos… and I shoot film!!! Imagine if I shot digital and came back from a vacation with a thousand downloads. Dah; then what? Then I would have to select ‘A’ photo from essentially 20 identical posed shots which occurred during the same scene/photo —all the time looking for the perfect one.

Lucky I shoot film, eh? Yet admittedly, even shooting film rends me with multiple boxes of stored negatives not to mention how many I have scanned to a digital file. But is it really the numbers game; or hold up, back up….return to the point where you haven’t even taken a shot. Ask yourself….what am I shooting? And when you do that, you find the real issue at hand.

“What am I taking photo’s of and why?” For years my idea of street photography was what many people did, done, continue to do….shoot anything that moves or looks cool, or shoot the bum on the street or totally mindless ‘tourist shots’ that belong on postcards, or look for insane anal features such as capturing nosehairs or butt cracks. Whoa Dude…. I soon bored of that. The same ole crap that gets posted to Photo websites as ‘art’ becomes mindless dribble and even then, then what? Tons of photographs/negatives (since I shoot film) and again, then what?

So listen man…take some advice from an old fart photographer….I ‘Project-out’ my photo-ops. IE: as a typical photo-shoot goes: I load my film, grab my lens and lock the door knowing that I walk out that same door with a true purpose in mind as I walk the streets. Mentally I have zoned in on a certain topic and know what to look for. I have peripheral mental vision as opposed to aimlessly wandering and shooting and coming home with “tourist / postcard?” photographs.

If you look at my photos in the navigation section of my site, you will see that some of my broad topics include a ‘Zine Option Available’. Those are the projects that I have turned into projects. You will also note that I have many other photographs but they are my aimless ones, although categorized. When I want to project them out, I will re-visit those photographs and like a musician creating a song, I will begin to orchestrate my project based photo theme. What do I have, what do I need….. You get it. I orchestrate it. I find what works, get a feel of where I want to be….and go out shooting with that in mind.

Try it….you will begin to find more meaning in your photographs, more purpose. Don’t become The Dude as in the Big Lebowski. Be a photographer with purpose…No aimless wandering…no Tourist Postcard photographs.