Taking a step back
Looking through my photos from the trip with JJ, i've realised that i've got it all wrong. I tried picking several good photos and it was really difficult to get something of my liking. JJ went through my shots with me and pointed out a couple of glaring errors of which i believe i should not have commited. He didn't dish it out on me like how his previous boss did to him when he screwed up his job. It was an opportunity to shoot fine art photography at a wedding and i didn't take it. JJ was there to cover the main event and i should have use my time properly and sneak in a couple of well composed shots with the bare minimum technical details. Incorporating fine art and expression will then be a bonus.
But i did not.
Instead i shot the wedding as i would if i were to be alone. Funny thing is, the shots turn out worse than the previous one i did for lichuan. At the very least, i didn't have out-of-focus or totally blurred shots for lichuan's album. Did some reflections and realised that this trip had infact been a step back for me. I was back to where i started. I shot for the sake of getting some photos (to post online then and now to put into the album). The coercive nature of the shots made them feel very forceful. I felt totally disgusted when i saw the shots playing over my powerbook. I wonder why i even click the shutter then. I tried too hard and i got worse.
There weren't room for me to experiment what i wanted to do. Nothing was within my control. I wanted rear sync with the couple walking in. I wanted low-key outline for the speech on the stage. I wanted a joyous feeling expressed through a simple smile on the couple's face. I wanted the nod of approval from the parents. I wanted the simple eye conversation between the husband and wife. I wanted the intense yum sengs written all over the bothers' face. I wanted to see the vein poppings. I wanted...
And all i was worried about, is that i would miss something great had i taken more time with the previous shot. I rushed. I sped. and i got nothing done in the end.
So i conclude that i'm not really that suitable for this job. Perhaps as a backup guy with the freedom to take his time on his shots, but as the main fella in charge of delievering the boring posed shots? I doubt i want that kind of constraint. Some might say i'm influenced by niaph heng's latest post but i believe each one of us feels the same deeper down in our hearts. If we chose the photography path just to abide to others, i think there are much more meaningful things out there for us to accomplish.
Speaking of taking a step back, i think many decisions become clearer when we take a step back. We give ourselves more room and more space. We see things from afar with greater clarity and greater rationality. Recently, i've taken one step to many and things are getting alittle too close for comfort. It's not right and i know it. =|
But i did not.
Instead i shot the wedding as i would if i were to be alone. Funny thing is, the shots turn out worse than the previous one i did for lichuan. At the very least, i didn't have out-of-focus or totally blurred shots for lichuan's album. Did some reflections and realised that this trip had infact been a step back for me. I was back to where i started. I shot for the sake of getting some photos (to post online then and now to put into the album). The coercive nature of the shots made them feel very forceful. I felt totally disgusted when i saw the shots playing over my powerbook. I wonder why i even click the shutter then. I tried too hard and i got worse.
There weren't room for me to experiment what i wanted to do. Nothing was within my control. I wanted rear sync with the couple walking in. I wanted low-key outline for the speech on the stage. I wanted a joyous feeling expressed through a simple smile on the couple's face. I wanted the nod of approval from the parents. I wanted the simple eye conversation between the husband and wife. I wanted the intense yum sengs written all over the bothers' face. I wanted to see the vein poppings. I wanted...
And all i was worried about, is that i would miss something great had i taken more time with the previous shot. I rushed. I sped. and i got nothing done in the end.
So i conclude that i'm not really that suitable for this job. Perhaps as a backup guy with the freedom to take his time on his shots, but as the main fella in charge of delievering the boring posed shots? I doubt i want that kind of constraint. Some might say i'm influenced by niaph heng's latest post but i believe each one of us feels the same deeper down in our hearts. If we chose the photography path just to abide to others, i think there are much more meaningful things out there for us to accomplish.
Speaking of taking a step back, i think many decisions become clearer when we take a step back. We give ourselves more room and more space. We see things from afar with greater clarity and greater rationality. Recently, i've taken one step to many and things are getting alittle too close for comfort. It's not right and i know it. =|
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