TRSmith
Subscriber Member
Everyone has a process for growth and improvement. Occasionally, I imagine that everyone has little epiphanies along the way. Today I experienced a quiet little one while shooting the Memorial Day parade in the nearest "city" in our area large enough to hold such an event.
What I realized is that I'm not the least bit timid when it comes to poking my lens right up the nose of a Gladiola. But when it comes to people, I'm a bit of a chicken. Shrubs, trees, fields, ponds, etc. are perfectly willing to sit there and wait for me to get myself and my gear right where I want it. But people!
A day like today is sensory overload. My brain gets all slushy and fails to engage. How do I make sense of all this activity? It's not my gear, that works fine. And I have figured out the basics of how to use it. What seems to be missing is the concentration and the ability to visualize and then proceed with making a shot happen.
So the epiphany for me (and by anyone else's measure it may seem pretty underwhelming) is that I have to work harder to pursue the shots I want. I have to shoot more so it's second nature to me and "I" am not as much of a factor. By that I mean the "I" that's self-conscious, or too polite, or too cautious about somehow invading another's space.
I got some ok photos today, but I missed the ones I really wanted because I was too timid. I can still see them, almost in the same way you leave a party and continually run a conversation back in your mind with all the "should have saids" neatly in place.
In any case, forward, eh?
Thanks,
Tim
What I realized is that I'm not the least bit timid when it comes to poking my lens right up the nose of a Gladiola. But when it comes to people, I'm a bit of a chicken. Shrubs, trees, fields, ponds, etc. are perfectly willing to sit there and wait for me to get myself and my gear right where I want it. But people!
A day like today is sensory overload. My brain gets all slushy and fails to engage. How do I make sense of all this activity? It's not my gear, that works fine. And I have figured out the basics of how to use it. What seems to be missing is the concentration and the ability to visualize and then proceed with making a shot happen.
So the epiphany for me (and by anyone else's measure it may seem pretty underwhelming) is that I have to work harder to pursue the shots I want. I have to shoot more so it's second nature to me and "I" am not as much of a factor. By that I mean the "I" that's self-conscious, or too polite, or too cautious about somehow invading another's space.
I got some ok photos today, but I missed the ones I really wanted because I was too timid. I can still see them, almost in the same way you leave a party and continually run a conversation back in your mind with all the "should have saids" neatly in place.
In any case, forward, eh?
Thanks,
Tim