Nailing It.

I’ve been researching the work of some of my favorite masters of photography (you can find them in the 411 page under Inspirations).   Therefore, I’ve really been working on shooting the decisive moment and trying to exercise my eye to see the story.   Since I have decided to get back to the basics and not process my images outside of black and white conversion, I’ve found a freedom and joy in the shooting process that has eluded me in the previous months.  I feel like I’m back to where my heart was captured for photography when I first started out.  Amazing what simplicity can do for a person.

At some point I will return to my portrait work, hopefully with a renewed interest and a renewed perspective.  Ultimately though, my style will come from the thing I love and that is shooting the human condition without constraint or definition.  Without the feeling that I’ve got to get the trite posing that has become so common in even “lifestyle” portraiture.  I don’t know how this will happen for me.  But I’m evolving.  With portraiture there is still so much control that must be exuded because a photographer is shooting for the client…ultimately.  Even when they’re shooting from their own creativity.

I guess just like in my real every day to day life, I want people to think.  If I can continue to shoot images that make people think or feel or remember or wonder, like they do for me, then I’ve done what I’ve set out to accomplish.  I think at heart, I missed a calling to be a photo-journalist.  Maybe that’s arrogant.  I’m sure it is.  I’m just trying to shoot what speaks to me.

This image is my favorite from my trip to Los Angeles.  I think it resembles closely what I want to convey.  I look at it and I see a famous pop culture entity and the people on the street moving, going, and completely without knowledge that I had captured them doing so.  It screams big city to me.  When I look at this image, I see how common the pop culture is and how no one seems to be interested in its presence.  I wonder where the people are going, thinking, and what is going on in each individual’s lives. I try to guess which ones are tourists and which ones are local.  It’s the ebb and flow of awareness or lack thereof.

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The rest of the story….