Hi, >> When/how do your take your shots? Answer or not. If you have time, I tried to >figure out >> how to simplify this question. The following is just what I could think of based on >reading >> the list, not necessarily the best choices. >>
I usually take a camera with me most places when I'm not at work. This is for occasional snaps that I see that are worth a frame or 2. I have a series of little 'essays' that I'm always working on, such as people reading, sleeping, people (not) reacting to computer/TV screens, the surveillance society, that sort of thing, so I'm generally attuned for these things. If I see something that demands better light, then I plan to go back some time to get the shot, and will plan the equipment around that. At the moment there are 2 things on my mind like this. One is a landscape I see from the train when I sometimes go out of London on business. Next time we get a frosty spell at the weekend I'll go there and get some shots in the early morning. The other is a guy I know of (I've yet to talk to him) who lives in a small, tattered tent in a particularly beautiful urban nature reserve. Especiallly in the cold weather we've been having life must be kind of tough for him, and it would be interesting to find out more about him and the way he lives, which is unusual. On a larger scale, I have several projects in the UK which I'm planning which will take quite a long time to shoot, but which are intended to get me my next distinctions from the Royal Photographic Society. They involve planning and shooting 2 essays, of 15 and 20 photos. They will take several months, but at least they're in this country. Finally, there is some stuff I'd like to do in various foreign countries which will take years to come to fruition, simply because I have to earn a crust, and earn enough to take the time off and go there. Some of these are probably pipe dreams, but if I have enough of them, some of them will happen. I have notebooks full of ideas and events and calendars, and I try to organise things in such a way that I can do 2 or 3 of them every year. >> I am really, really curious so any answers are appreciated. Partly I am wondering >how, >> when not taking a class, to work photography into my life. The other part is just >plain >> nosiness. :-) It comes back to somebody's reply to the 'one tip or trick to improve your photography thread'. Someone said something along the lines that being a photographer should be secondary to some other interest. If you have an interest in something, and a desire to photograph it, your pictures will probably be better than if you just hang around waiting for photos to happen. So the trick is to develop as many photogenic interests as you can, and get photography into your life that way. Nosiness sounds like a good quality for a photographer to develop, just as laziness is a good quality for a programmer! --- Bob
