Sort of.
I mean being new to this whole photography thing I need all help I can get.
If you know what I mean.
So in-between work and work I got a couple of new books:
This whole street photography thing ain't as easy as it looks.
Or is it?
Easy as it looks I mean.
You go out with a camera, walk around and take some pictures, right?
Maybe.
There are tons of pictures out there that folks took out on the street, but what makes it good?
What makes you want to look at it not once, but twice?
In other words, what am I doing wrong?
Or right?
I think it comes down to three things: luck, composition sense, and cojones.
That was Spanish, not French.
Luck because you gotta be there to capture the moment:
The car pulled away like thirty seconds after I took this shot.
It helped that it was raining too.
No rain, maybe no shot.
Composition sense, actually let's call it camera sense, for there are times when the content is there, but if you frame it wrong and don't use the camera well, it just doesn't work:
Okay, that's just a shot I took off my lanai, but there's a picture there, I just didn't bother to frame anything.
Like this:
Sometimes you got the shot, you just didn't get the shot.
Lastly, this is from the books, you need to be bold.
Brave.
No guts no glory and all that sort of thing.
Or be satisfied with this:
Taken from behind a wall on the beach.
Or this:
Hey Mr. Violin is it okay if I get some pictures?
Sometimes you gotta get in there, up close, to get what you need.
I've passed on plenty o'good shots because I was well, afraid to go and get it.
Or I just took the easy way out and took the shot from a different angle.
In a stalking sort of way.
So, what's this all about Alfie?
Well I've been thinking about what I do and why I do it.
The purpose and motivation.
I mean I teach photography so I better know what the hell I'm talking about and I better have the goods or I don't have any credibility.
The other reason for my introspective if you will, is that well I take a ton of pictures and I don't know why.
Pictures of course record history.
They are also a social record, a sign of the times so to speak.
Street photography even more so.
I mean I like taking pictures of nice sunsets and stuff, but really street photography intrigues me and I find it more challenging and rewarding.
I think I'm beginning to understand this photography thing a little better.
I took the shot, but what was my intent?
As with all art, it's not just about the making part, but why you made it.
Will this change the way I take shots?
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