However, photographically related (I think I'll start labelling paragraphs "NPR" for "not photographically related" when it's about my grandkids or something else personal. If you're just reading this for the photo stuff, you can skip those paragraphs).
PR: The guest speaker at the camera club, as I said yesterday, was Richard Lautens from the Toronto Star. He's an eloquent and communicative speaker and certainly a talented professional photographer. Sometimes people like that hold back -- that's what's wrong with mentoring because the mentor generally wants to maintain his advantage over his student -- but I got the impression that Richard didn't. He was secure in what he does and he knows he's good at it.
You had to be there to get what he was saying. You'll have the opportunity because he's going to be presenting again at the Digital Imaging Show in a couple of weeks. See him if you can.
A few tidbits:
- You really really need to know your hardware inside out. You can't shoot creatively if you have to think about which button controls the aperture setting or how to switch to manual focus.
- You can have a $15,000 lens but it doesn't do you a damned bit of good if you don't know where to point it.
- Think about the shot you want to get BEFORE you shoot. Yes, luck plays a part, but there's no substitute for hard work and planning. I am AMAZED by all the forethought that goes into his pictures.
- While the "rule of thirds" and other compositional elements are important and can add to an image, the purpose in journalistic photography is to tell a story. Inter-club competition rules go by the wayside when you're trying to communicate a feeling with a picture.
- Put people in your pictures. They make your viewers connect with the images much better.
I'm inspired to go out and shoot some more pictures. It's hard to find the time -- perhaps next weekend.
TTFN...
No comments:
Post a Comment