trust your intuition
Being knowledgeable is a good thing. Knowing how different equipment, settings and processes affect the outcome of your imagery is something every photographer should be aware of to some degree.
Too much knowledge can be paralyzing, though. When we lift the camera to our eye, there are about a million variables we could pay attention to. If we try to get everything perfect, we will never make the image.
This is one of the reasons why I love shooting in auto or semi-auto modes. Freed from having to get the settings right, I focus on what matters: making the image.
I pay attention to the light, the lines, the shapes, the textures... and how everything comes together in the frame. And still, this can be overdone as well.
I believe an image should not be analyzed until it is... well, an image. Sure, many times you will know what it is about a scene that will make for a great image.
But other times, it's just a feeling in your gut. It just feels right. The secret is not revealed right away, if it is at all. This happens to me very often: it is not until I sit down in front of my iPad that I see what made the image feel right.
Photography is not math. In fact, a more “perfect” composition might feel more rigid, forced, soulless.
There's a lot of value in being aware of the compositional elements in our image. Just don't let those hold you back. Remember to loosen up a little bit, don't be afraid to use your intuition, and trust your feelings a little bit more.
When in doubt, just click.
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I got out to take photos for the first time in weeks! I needed to break my daily (and very comfortable) routine, and I decided to drive up to Lake Michigan on a rainy day. It didn’t disappoint: it was peaceful and beautiful. I came back energized and ready for what’s to come.
And what’s to come is two trips. The first one is happening right now, if you are reading this newsletter the day it came out, on Monday, April 12th, 2021. Rachel and I should be up in Glen Arbor, Michigan, enjoying the lake and the dunes. And hopefully, with enough time to do some photography.
The second trip should happen by next week, or the week after that (always playing it by ear here). I’m hoping to get back to one of the harshest locations I’ve ever tried to photograph: the Badlands in South Dakota. I have a whole series of my first time there (1, 2, 3 and 4).
I’m very excited about these two trips, they’ll be the first since I came back from my road trip more than 5 months ago. And I will be sharing them with you right here.
Thank you so much for being there, I hope you all have a great week,
Adrian