I am getting to the bottom of my inability to click with the paper and after a day at the new school, it made a lot of sense.
I have been blaming the chore/circuit breaker of captioning, but that is only part of the problem for me.
The real issue is low volumes of over thought images as opposed to many more taken in a more free form way, naturally and spontaneously. The captioning issue is a part of this, but it is more than that. I have never been attracted to the posed or constructed image. It is not and has never been me. I have tried, I really have, but never have I felt comfortable with “making” an image. Taker or maker, the subject of one of my earliest posts is clear to me.
I remember trying still life, waiting patiently for the right landscape light and after many weddings, I know which process I am drawn to.
I see, I take.
I do it a lot and I do it fast and quietly. The bulk of my “skill” such as it is, was developed around that process. This even comes out in my sports imagery. I do not shoot bursts, only single images using anticipation, practice and responsive gear.
I don’t mind studio work, in fact I really like it, but even then, it is about setting a scene and letting the players act within that. When I do shoot happily for the paper, I adopt a similar ethos.
Set the scene and let the players function within that, then capture the semi-scripted image.
Got to be natural, or as natural as possible.
Posing was not an option here, I did not even speak the language.
The give away was video.
Shooting video is for me, basically the same as shooting stills my way. The problem at work now is I want to shoot video and stills at the same time. The other guys shoot their stills in a set process at the end of the interview or press conference, they often shoot their video the same way.
I have to adapt, but the good news for me is having the school for shooting my way, I do not feel totally trapped in a foreign space.