On Optimism, Expression
February 21, 2009
Joy Leap
There is a space, easily accessible to me from where I work, that I like because it’s spooky and full of potential. It’s technically available to be built out into someone’s bizarre and wonderful workspace, but I don’t want to say exactly where it is because then you’ll steal it and my own dream of this many-thousand-square-feet weird spot will not come true. It’s not exactly a secret. But I nurse an attachment to it.
It’s full of light, the kind that just begs for some sort of edgy model photograph shoots–in fact, I have seen models photographed within fifty feet of here so maybe it’s already happened.
Yesterday I was wandering around in its copious southwest-exposure light and wishing I had a person to take photographs of and finally I just used myself, which made me feel awkward but it was necessary. For want of tripod, I propped my camera on sawhorses, buckets. Then I painstakingly took photos on 10-second self-timer, making approximate focus guesses and stopping down to maximize depth of field. Thus is was severely limited both on composition options and speed of taking frame.
The photograph below I took on the very first try. I centered myself on the back wall and leapt and jumped and bounced.
I took perhaps another half dozen after this one trying to capture something as spontaneous-feeling but nothing worked as nicely as the first, inspired go. I find that I am not only happy with the emotion it caught, but that there are about a dozen variations on toning and crop that work nicely.
What’s my long-winded point here? This:
- I want to take more photographs, and,
- I want to learn how to photography people, better
3 Comments
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More more more photography posts!! : )
This is now the photo that pops up on my phone on the rare occasion you call me.
:)
Hello Lyza,
I’ve come across your stunning landscape pictures quite recently, as I’ve been doing some google research on film photography, which I’m going to take up soon. Let me add I’m a total amateur, so I’ll treat your words as professional advice. In fact, I don’t care if someone’s has been popularly tagged as a “renowned photographer” – what I care about is what I see. When I saw your photos, I said “yes, she’s a real pro, let’s ask her some questions.” So here it goes: Have you ever used a different scanner than Nikon Super CoolScan 9000, and if so which of the less expensive would you recommend? The 9000 is totally our of my price range, so I’ve been considering CoolScan 5000, Konica Minolta Dimage 5400 II, Nikon LS 50 ED, and PLUSTEK OpticFilm 7200i. Have you worked with any of these? If so, how do they compare?
(BTW: Sorry for such uninspired, unspiritual and scarcely thought-provoking questions, but decisions will have to be made, and I need some reliable opinion. Anyway, soon – if time and patience permits – I’ll complete a website with my photos of Shanghai, which I took 2 years ago. I’ll ask you deeper questions then, and demand a crushing critique of course ;) …) Take care!
Wojtek Soltysiak