Intentional Photography
A couple of weeks back, my good friend Carlo and I have been chatting about intentional photography on Whatsapp as I deal with my first world problem of whether I need a better camera to make me a better photographer.
I've read blog posts and watched videos by creatives talking about being intentional about making images. While their definition vary, it seems to include elements like, taking time to frame a shot, "seeing" the final image, slowing down to get the exposure triangle right, all of these before pushing the shutter button. And most definitely, no burst mode. Sometimes, it also includes travelling miles by car or foot to make the image.
I've thought a lot about this style of shooting and maybe written about a desire to slow down in order to make better images
. However, this approach to photography runs contrary to the way I photograph. I make photos when opportunities arise as I travel to work, walk to lunch spots in the city and when I'm with Chris and Artie. Sometimes if life allows, I’ll drive to a place specifically to do photography but those opportunities have been less easy living out in the country.
While this seems like photography takes second place, I choose to view my photography as an organic part of me. It is like my shadow, always present in my life and what I/we do. Honestly, if I slow down to make an image, my subjects would have moved away or I would be late to work.
I am not an intentional photographer. I'm a always "on" photographer who likes capturing memories with a camera that I carry with me almost every waking moment of the day. If anything is intentional, it its that I intentionally want to continually improve my craft. From avoiding unintentional camera shake to improving the way I compose my images.
However, here is where I contradict myself. There is one aspect of my photography that I want to work on which might put me on the same path as the creatives I mentioned previously. I want to consciously find the right moment to photograph. For example, with Chris and Artie, when is the best time to make a photograph that captures what we are doing without slowing our progress? I could take multiple photos and be able to choose the right one from them. But that means a lot of photos to review and maybe, none are right. If I can make better images with fewer shots, I suspect the happiest person of all would be Chris and Artie as they won't have to suffer having a camera pointed at them all the time.
Speaking of family photography, here are some images I made using an interval timer. The camera makes an image every 30 secs and I try to ham it up.
