18mm, f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO 200
During the month of March, I didn’t pick up my camera save for on one occasion.
I used the time instead to go through my library and evaluate how far I’ve come in the nearly two years that I’ve been actively trying to improve myself as a photographer. I scoured Flickr for photographs I liked and rather than just faving them and leaving it at that, I looked at the photograph and asked myself why I liked it. I’d look to see what I would’ve done differently and what I would have been exposing for. I took mental notes on composition, lighting, and many, many other things. I added over 1000 photographs as favorites and viewed thousands more. (Some flickr users got more than 10 or 20 saves from me- One person in particular had almost her entire photostream faved by me.)
But most importantly, during my time off from actively shooting, I tried to figure out what exactly I like to shoot. Those of you who have seen my photostream know that I shoot pretty much everything- from landscapes to portraits, flowers and skies, paintings to musical performances. And I’m okay with that- I enjoy shooting everything and I will continue to do so, but I discovered that above everything else, I enjoy photographing people. I love capturing split-second interactions between people on camera. The photograph above is an example of a moment like that. I have no idea who either of those people are- presumably, they’re second-semester freshmen at Boston University currently, but I can’t confirm that. I cannot tell you what preceded this 0.00625 seconds of time or if anything happened after, but during this 0.00625 seconds, there was an interaction between these two people, be they friends or strangers.
So I’m back. And I’ve added a Holga and a Vistaquest to my photographic arsenal. Also, I may be shooting more with my iPhone. (In case you didn’t notice, my last upload was shot with my iPhone at a Flyleaf/Breaking Benjamin/Three Days Grace concert.)
Also, I realize many of the last few shots have been in B+W, and I can’t explain that. Maybe it’s just the mindset I’ve gotten into since planning on shooting B+W film, maybe my subconscious found something hyperappealing in B+W during my month off. I’ll try to bring some color in soon, but my reserve bin is almost entirely B+W right now anyways.
April: you are on notice.