Weston began by making the Bresson point, that your first 10,000 photographs are rubbish; it is at the 10,001st photograph that they start to get good. I have no idea how many I've taken. I know it's probably in the mid-20,000s, but because I shoot loads and loads, sometimes on continuous, of the same thing, I don't know how many actually qualify as photographs I've selected and processed. Working that out is not a job for now either!
Weston's "lightbulb" moment came when he realised he needed to stop making record photos and start capturing emotion and narrative. What is the story in the photo? For instance, Weston was photographing the wildebeest migration. He realised that the story wasn't individual animals, but their collective journey; and so he introduced motion blur and grouping into the image.
The seminar progressed with Weston explaining how he now plans and preconceives images, even down to the caption, before he even gets anywhere near shooting. He plans the title, the story, the composition (even sketches it), the lighting, the exposure, flash equipment, location, time of year, phase of moon, time of day, zone of sharpness, effect of moon on exposure, etc. Everything. Weston believes that images never happen in front of you - you have to make that happen.
Weston is obviously a "left-brain" photographer. I would never be able to do this; it would drive me insane. For me the fun is all in the moment and particularly with wildlife (and also street photography); it is the sense of adrenalin when you know something good and unexpected is happening. I want to capture what is happening as it happens. I can't wait a year to plan it all and then go back....I am a right-brain photographer. I can plan a location, time of year, time of day, lenses, and concept, but that is about it. The rest I want to happen in the moment. And I certainly wouldn't have the caption ready beforehand (maybe during though).
Another point Weston made is that you have to know your subject, which I agree with. I think that by knowing this, you can work out what type of shots you want to take and at what time of day, but I'd still want to keep an open mind!
Weston also spoke about point of view and perspective. Apart from not simply making record shots, he mentioned that you should have something interesting and new to say, and not take a photograph in the same way that other people would: show a view that you would not normally see. For instance, this image of a tiger called "Cooling Off" (scroll through to locate) taken at close range (70-200mm lens) is definitely not a perspective I've seen myself!
In terms of context, apart from pre-visualisation (which I struggle with), Weston says to put the viewer in the moment - what does it feel like to be there? Any communication in the photo has to be clear and concise, precise and unambiguous. Whatever it is you want to say, it has to be the message in the picture.
Composition is also very important. Weston recommends excluding unwanted information by:
- crop
- blur (shallow depth of field)
- compose (frame in camera)
- exposure (over expose background) e.g. animal in snow.
To get ideas for pictures, Weston asks questions e.g. why are zebras black and white (to confuse lions)? When you shoot, ask how you are going to caption images. And remember, all light is good for something, e.g. gorillas in the rain. It's your mind that creates the reality and you are presenting what the world looks like to you. Consider elements of design (lines, shapes, patterns, texture) when you are composing a shot and ask if you are capturing emotion in the process. Deconstruct the scene in your mind before you press the shutter.
Interestingly, Weston says he uses a 70-200mm lens mostly (which is good as I have just bought one!), which surprised me. I was expecting a much longer zoom plus extenders....
Weston then went on to talk about quantum physics, but this was too much and quite frankly, unclear how he connected it to photography. I thought the photos he showed were nice but not great, but then they are certainly better than I can do! I really like the tiger in the pool though - hope my 10,001 looks like that ! :-)
References:
- Weston, C (2014) Cooling Image [online image]. Available from http://chrisweston.photography/project/involvement [accessed 2 August 2014]
- Marx, K. (1994) Right brain/left brain photography: the art and technique of 70 modern masters, New York, Amphoto
- Chris Weston Wildlife Photography available from http://chrisweston.photography/ [accessed 2 August 2014]
- Royal Geographical Society available from http://www.rgs.org/HomePage.htm [accessed 2 August 2014]
- Travel Photographer of the Year Competition available from http://www.tpoty.com/ [accessed 2 August 2014]
No comments:
Post a Comment