When Is Familiarity Important? Three Part Series - Part THREE

Sometimes there are situations in photography that the moment is instant and spontaneous. Capturing that moment, that feeling and making a great photograph is the only thing that is on your agenda. There is no time to get familiar with the subject or the location. - click or it may be gone.

There are rules to photography. There are rules and there are suggestions. I try to know the rules and suggestions (I am not the most technical photographer I work on instinct with settings etc.) and when it comes time to make a picture - go with what feels right.

Central Ave Boxing Gym is a place I had never been before. I never really knew what a boxing gym looked liked or what it felt like to be in one. (I can tell you now that it's very hot.) I didn't know what the lighting conditions would be like or spacial restrictions. I went and spoke to some people and observed for a couple of moment before shooting anything. This photo was taken from a balcony above the training floor. It was the place that I could get the best exposure and the best composition.

Moments like this are great when you walk into a situation without knowing anything and leave with a photograph that you really like.

The more you know about something the better your end result will be but don't let that limit you. The best way I've found to familiarize yourself with a subject is immersion. Go out and shoot something, then go photograph it again. Measure your progress - keep notes. What do you wish you did differently? Go and repeat. Great photographers are made by shooting photographs.

When Is Familiarity Important? Three Part Series - Part TWO

Concert photography is like gambling in a casino - the odds are mostly against you. However, there are those times that if you know the game well enough and see an opportunity to come up and have the nerve to follow through - the payoff is huge.

My favorite band to shoot is Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers. Local act gone national, great rock-n-roll and it's always a good time. I've seen RCPM tons of time but I have just started photographing them seriously.

Although I've seem them a lot it wasn't until I saw them as a photographer did I realize how hard this band was to photograph. With every shoot I started to realize how the stage presence and gestures were dictated by the song or tempo. Roger has a great stage presence and is very energetic (someone commented on a photo of mine and said it was trying to photograph a moth in a bright light.) After a while and after watching and after missing shots - it all clicks. Ok here comes the song (Mekong) ok he's probably going to do this...ok here's this song (Counterclockwise) I should be positioned over here a little.  Believe me it makes getting shots like this one (taken on 11/21 in Tempe, AZ) a little easier. Going back to the initial gambling analogy - you're able to stack the deck in your favor a little.

I've never shot soccer before - let alone kids soccer (or kids for that matter.) I was bored one day and I wanted to take photos and I ended up in Snedigar Park in Chandler, AZ. It was hot that day and I decided on setting up in a corner under a tree with a telephoto lens. (Truth be told I never use my telephoto lense - I don't know why.) After reviewing my action shots which were good - not great I saw this photo. A picture of a bunch of kids waiting for play to start. 7, 8 and 9 all in a row. That's what makes the shot. If I was little more familiar with kids soccer or more specifically I may have shot a great action photo - but this is what I came away with. A numeric composition.

Next post will deal with something that I briefly familiarized myself with a left with making a great photograph.

When Is Familiarity Important? Three Part Series - Part ONE

Yesterday I commented on a "How to photograph skateboarding" article and it got me thinking - When is it important to be familiar with your subject? I'll stay with skateboarding for a moment...

If you don't know skateboarding the chances of you taking a great (not just good) skateboard photo in minimal. There are so many subtle nuances in skateboarding that make a great shot. With that being said these nuances that are predictable when you know the athlete and the sport. Here's a photo of Neal Hendrix I shot at The Skatepark of Tampa / Tampa Pro.  Neal is a perfect example. As a skateboarder he is super consistent and since was a contest run he was doing the same tricks in the same parts of the ramp - which is typical of contest runs and in practice. But if you didn't know Neal or the tricks he was doing - you would be at a severe disadvantage. (Thanks Neal for being a good example.)

I ask myself constantly - "Why am I shooting this?" Many times the answer is "because I want to" or simply "this looks cool." I'm fine with any answer that makes someone pick up a camera but if you go back to the why - it's something that interests you - right? Why else would you want to capture that moment in time?

With all that being said sometimes the subject is something that doesn't take a long time to get familiar with. In the next posts of this series I'll give examples of different subjects: subjects that I had to get to know well before I made a great picture and others that I familiarized myself quickly with before a great photo was made.


(Note: Thanks for reading my blog. Please post comments as you see fit or send me an email (grtaylor2@mac.com) with any questions etc.)