What Do You Think About...
This camera life has sent me on a bit of a journey of sorts and I've enjoyed all aspects of the ride. Do I think I'm a skilled portrait photographer, "No" but I do think that I can extract emotion from most people, which in and of itself is an art of some form. Look, I'm not going to turn any heads with what I shoot buuuuut then again, I might open a few eyes and that is the name of the game.
A few months back, I wrote of a trip that I took to Los Angeles with my buddy Fresh. Me and Fresh decided to take a workshop down Pasadena, CA which is about three hours and change away from where we both live. I'm unsure if it's dedication to the art or a want to see how a non photo trained guy like myself has progressed behind the camera, which led me to agreeing to both the class and the journey.
I don't share too much about what I do behind the camera and that has caused me to scratch my head a bit, primarily due to the fact we live in a world where everyone are attempting to be noticed by others. The day I'm laid to rest, I'm sure many will be surprised by a few things, maybe I'll start stockpiling pictures which can play in a loop.
The instruction provided was fairly straightforward for this class; we were shown how to use light to our advantage. For starters, I've been committing a cardinal sin when it comes to positioning and actually a few other things which I won't get into for the sake of making myself look worse (if you could see my face right now). Look, I was making mistakes but no one knew the difference and no humans or animals were harmed in the process!
We were instructed to be engaging with our models and in doing so explaining what we were needing from them. In my group, I was always the last shooter and in my mind the quirkiest out of the bunch. There are only so many poses one can hold, smiles shared, and so on, trust me I get it. Maybe, it was my energy or perhaps it was my mustache, either way, the models found enough energy to pay attention and join me as I asked them to just be themselves.
The two models were as different as the sun and the moon yet I still managed to find the perfect light and angle to extract their personalities. I could do this stuff, this people in front of the camera stuff and I think I could do it well of course I'd ask those who share a similar passion/love for the camera to join me.
I found myself asking, "What Do You Think About....." quite often because laaawd knows I hate seeing the same cookie cutter things. IF you see me, ask me if I'm being creative, IF you don't see me, just know I am being something.
Who would've thought... Not me
