Friday, December 03, 2010

Passing By


Passing By
Originally uploaded by Iguanasan
I went to my photography club meeting the other day and during the meeting we watched a small clip of an interview with Jay Maisel. I had heard of Jay Maisel before but I had not really known much about him and the video really gave me a few insights.

During this short clip he made a few suggestions about the way he shoots and why he shoots. While I had not, in any way, tried to copy him my shooting style was very similar so I tried a couple of his suggestions and today I managed to capture this moment.

I realize it has some technical issues, however, I don't really care. I just love the moment that I captured and I wouldn't have captured it had I not adjusted my shooting style based on the video clip I saw. I am still not trying to copy Jay Maisel but instead I internalized some of his comments and tried something I was previously afraid to try.

I still have lots of work to do to improve my images but I am certainly enjoying the journey. Like these two gentleman it's all about walking the path.

(More details in the comments below...)

2 comments:

TeresaA said...

no criticism from me, I love the juxtaposition of all the elements here. But I'd love to hear more about what you internalized and what speaks to you

Iguanasan said...

I was first struck by the fact that I tend to shoot much of the same stuff as Jay Maisel though he's more outwardly passionate about it. I don't want to copy him but I didn't mind taking a few hints.

Part of my trouble, if you can call it that, is that I always work really hard to get the shot technically perfect. In this case Jay was saying that he bumps up the ISO so he can get a fast shot. Camera always at the ready waiting for the shot, walk slowly and really look. Sometimes, you find a stage and you just need to wait for the players. In this shot, all of those things came to pass.

It was dark and rainy so I bumped up the ISO to 1600 which, on my Rebel XSi, would normally introduce quite a bit of noise. I normally avoid high ISO like the plague.. this time I "went wild".

Secondly, I found my stage and waited to see life happen around me. In the past I would have taken a shot of the windows due to the colours that were there and moved on. This time, I tried to envision what might happen if I waited. As the two men approached I prepared and shot, capturing the moment.

The big thing that was kind of freeing was that I didn't care if it was technically perfect. I just wanted to capture the moment. Just like I've been learning in karate, it is my art to do my way.