This is the post I started writing about last week. I got sidetracked as I was writing and took off on a tangent that wasn’t at all part of my plans. I liked where I was headed so I went with it. This is what happens when I pick up my camera, sometimes. Most of the time, if I’m being honest. I might start out wanting to shoot flowers that have just started to bloom, so I grab my Nikon and pick a lens and off I go. I know the light in my various parts of my yard is prettier at certain times of the day than at others, so those are the areas I head to when I feel the need to shoot. I also know there are certain windows in my house that give me the beautiful light that pretty images are born from.
But what happens when I don’t know what I want to shoot. This is, actually, most of the time. I have never been one of the those people to “see” my shot before I take it. I don’t stress over my compositions. i just find something and start shooting. Those first few images are rarely keepers but they are part of the process. They’re my warm up images. My safe shots, if you will. Then I start exploring my subjects from different angles and locations. I move myself all around my subject or if the subject is movable, I’ll move into pretty light. I don’t chimp (review for you non-photographers) after each picture, but I do after every few to see if I’m on the right track. To see if what I’m feeling at this point is coming across in my images. Some days I might get that WOW image in 10-12 frames, but on some days it simply takes longer. When I first started out in photography someone once told me that a good photographer might get one good image for every 100 frames they shot. My first thought was “I’m glad I’m shooting digital or I might not be able to afford this hobby!”
I have a good friend, whom I’ve gone shooting with many times. I always used to envy her process. She sees her images before she shoots. She’ll pick up her camera and look at her subject and walk around and think about her settings. She’ll compose her shot in her head and then in camera. It’s a very meaningful, thoughtful process. Meanwhile I’ve already jumped in and started clicking away. I adjust as I go if I’m not liking something. I read somewhere that you should have a vision and I felt as though I was missing something. That something was wrong with me. Why didn’t I have a vision? I tried to change my work flow and attempted to do things my friends’s way and the way I read I should be doing them, but that process frustrated me and discouraged me from picking up my camera. Here’s the thing, if it works for me, why change it? My art is my art. It’s not my friend’s art or the art of the author who said I should have a vision. If their way works for them, great! I hope they keep at it! I needed to be true to myself and do it the way that keeps me engaged.
The act of picking up my camera is what inspires me. Composing in camera.. Pushing limits of light and focus. Trying new techniques. New lenses. Just jumping in there is what inspires me. I recently bought a very inexpensive set of lenses for my iPhone. While helping a friend out with a photography summer camp he teaches for kids, I pulled the kit out of my bag and started playing with it. I screwed one of the 5 lenses onto the clip and started shooting to see what it could do. I wasn't feeling it right out the box so I put it away. After all, I was a counselor and was supposed to be teaching, not shooting! During a break I mentioned to one of the other adults that I was frustrated with it and her response was “Did you read the directions?” Nope. I did not. I just jumped in and started playing. You never know what you’re gonna get and it might be a nice surprise.
Lately, my love of photography and desire for creativity in my work has lead me to Lensbaby for that exact reason. I love those surprises. It feels like magic sometimes! I have a few Lensbaby lenses and love the effect I get in camera with my work. One of their newer products is the Lensbaby Omni Creative Filter System. It’s a series of films, gels, and crystals that you use in front of your lens to add color, light flare, and other creative effects to your images. One of the things I truly love about using the Omni is you almost can’t preconceive an idea. You probably can’t recreate an image, exactly. The possibilities seem endless. I never know what my final image will look like until I see it in my view finder. This, my friends, is why it works for me. It allows me to explore the possibilities. Will I like them all? Nope. Will I read a manual. Nope. I’ll just pick them up and play! Having a vision doesn’t work for me. It’s not part of my journey and I’m okay with that! You should be too!
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This echinacea was shot using the reverse freelancing technique using a Helios 44-2 and one of the Lensbaby Omni Crystal wands! I just love the double exposure effect I created!
Now here’s one from the set of lenses I bought for my old iPhone. Is it perfect. Nope, but it’s good enough that I’ll play around with the lenses again sometime!
So if you’ve read this far, and still don’t know what or how to shoot, don’t feel discouraged. Take a break. Walk away for a while. Find something online that inspires you. Try a new technique. Buy a creative lens, if that’s your gig. Or just pick up your camera and head towards something meaningful to you. It might not be perfect or even good, but the act of clicking the shutter is a start!