eluisphoto:

27.366

Shooting the Shooter.

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

Thought of the day? Just as the beautiful quote (which also just so happens to be one of my favorite quotes of all time) said by Mr. Ansel Adams himself suggests, when it comes to any picture (or any work of art, at that), there are always at least two people: the artist (in this case, the photographer) and the viewer. Aside from the obvious, however, this brings up a lot of different notions to consider. Beautiful images aren’t taken because of equipment, because if that were the case, there would be no market in the art industry, whatsoever. Think about it - alternatively, the rule applies for everything else: an extremely well-written novel isn’t dependent on the equipment used, but rather the mastermind behind the computer, behind the piece of paper and pen, behind the writing medium used to create it. To stick with the topic of ‘photography’, good pictures are the simple result of not just the gear used, but also more importantly - the composition, the framing, the exposure settings, the shooter’s knowledge of their subject, and everything else that follows it. I’ve received a number of tumblr questions regarding what equipment I use, what’s the best piece of equipment to buy for ___ amount of dollars, and so on. In one of my previous Project 366 posts, I went over the idea of how the best camera is the one with you. That idea still stands, completely, one-hundred and ten percent. The gear will come later, before you even know it, so while you’re at it.. You might as well improve on your shortcomings! Also, I recall a tumblr question from an anonymous asker who asked me if I’m ever overly cautious when walking around with my camera, especially with my 80-200/2.8, which would surely attract attention. The bottom line is - we are photographers, and in order to capture the true wholeness of a specific moment in time, we have to go out of our way most of the time in any given scenario. Attention is to be expected, and it’s truly inevitable. Think about it, to have the power to freeze time with the simple actuation of a camera’s shutter.. Pretty powerful, if you ask me, and with great power comes great responsibility and poise. So, with all of that said - don’t get too caught up with what you don’t have, but rather take what you have and capitalize on your technique. Don’t be afraid to walk around with a big camera and potentially ‘attract attention’, because after all, that is a big part of the thrill of the art. As Diane Arbus once said.. “I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do – that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse.”

Happy shooting!

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