Paul Lester Photo

A beautiful ending

This was my first time going on a photography shoot one-on-one with another photographer. All other out of town shoots had been done either with my family or a group of photographers.

With family, you’re pretty much on your own during the morning and evening. The middle of the day is reserved for family things. Fortunately, my wife and I are very compatible. We don’t like to be entertained, so we avoid places that are full of shows, attractions, etc. We prefer more quiet time.

With a group, you are given to the dynamics of the group. In other words, you pretty much go with what the crowd wants to do as far as photography, and you can be on your own during the non photography hours. Also, with a group, there always seems to be a few who lag behind and slow things down, in general. One of the things that I liked about Craig Tanner’s workshops was that he had a particular time to leave, you knew where we were going and, if you didn’t show up on time, you got left and had to come on your own.

The dynamics in a group of two, with a single car, are a little bit different. Naturally, you’ll have to agree on when and where to go. Also, the amount of time spent shooting in one location needs to be agreed upon. I found that Kate and I could go to a location, shoot for about 3 or 4 hours, and then head for breakfast, come back in the evening, do the same, then head for dinner. The outings were very easy. I really don’t know if she’s an early bird, but there was never a complaint about getting up at 5:00 AM. She was always excited and ready to go.

I’ve known some photographers who like to flit about, staying only in one location long enough to get a picture or two, then they are bored and want to move on. Also, I’ve met ‘evening’ photographers, who want nothing to do with rising at 5:00 AM, but can stay out all night shooting and/or partying. These, are not compatible photographers for me. I’m not a late night person and I would feel that I missed something great if I didn’t catch the sunrise. I prefer to be in the room, reviewing pictures, and winding down from the evenings activities by 10:00 PM, so that I can get up at 5:00 AM with relative ease.

I guess that a good outing is made with people who are similar in levels of patience, sleep habits, and desire. I’m looking forward to more such outings.

This video has been making the rounds on a few blogs.

I’ve watched it a number of times and while I’m not a big fan of Henry Wessel’s work, I do like some of it. I do love the video. His approach to photography is simple, direct, intuitive, and very impulsive. He states that the present is ‘chaos’ and that is what he seeks to capture.

My favorite part of the video is when he talks about his working technique. In particular the time lag between when he takes a picture and then when he reviews it. He will take the pictures, develop the film, print contact sheets, then store them away. Some 2 or more years later, he will evaluate the picture objectively and decide which ones to print. In this way, he is emotionally detached from the picture. He’s forgotten, perhaps, the situation and the feelings, leaving the picture to stand on its own merits.

This started me to thinking about my own images, given that I have just returned from an image gathering fiesta! I know that, at least for me, my images cannot be reviewed objectively at this time because the emotional aspect of taking the picture is still very fresh. In other words, I’m too emotionally attached. Heck! I still have sand in my pockets from the trip!

It is somewhat easy to determine the obviously good from the obviously bad; however, it is a more difficult task to decide between those with potential and those that are somewhat weak when you still have the emotional side, or attachment. Each photo is a child to which you gave birth and it’s rather difficult to toss the children out. They are born from your creativity.

I can, however, go back start working on my 2003 – 2006 images and culling the herd … if I have the energy to do so. It would be easy/easier to make good choices about which images to delete, or perhaps better, which ones to print or to put into a gallery of images. I can see how this would work, but I can also see how it would be a detriment to someone who is doing stock photography, or some time sensitive work, where time-to-market is essential. I believe that methodology would work well/better for fine art prints.

Will I give my photos a two year wait before evaluation? I doubt it, but it does give me incentive to go back a few years and start culling the herd.

That said, here are a couple from 2004 that I really like.