The smaller debate of taking camera out /not taking camera out
Hello again and welcome to another NathanPhoto blog, this week’s thoughts have been mainly about when, and when not, to take cameras out with me, obvs this is when I’m not working per se, as not taking cameras out when working would be the first mistake. I think a bit of background is needed here, there has been a (sea) change in my working methods in the last year, I’m not always working in the same way as I once did, as I used to have the full Dslr kit with me at all times then. I’ve changed my working methods and a move to where everything is walkable/public transport has made me rethink what I take and when I take it, plus now I use two different camera systems these days, dslr’s for work and rangefinders for research work, they have very different qualities and produce different images.
As you can imagine this had led to debates about which/whether to take the camera out, these have mainly been short shopping trips, just nipping out etc, you know the random distractions of life. Question is if to take the camera or not?
This question opens up ideas behind imagery specifically, is a picture better if it’s made in passing rather than one that has been made specifically? *Crossover klaxon* I realise that this line of inquiry is firmly in my research domain and that I’m crossing over again, BUT l thought that this debate would benefit from a NathanPhoto spin on it, as well as making for added depth.
It’s also been a question that I have been asked occasionally in teaching and my answer is not always straight forward and has a number of parts, think my answers feed into some pedagogical ideas on learning, for example, you can either:
· Take the camera and resent the fact that you did as it’s in the way and heavy and people are looking at you funny when you take pictures, and you don’t like it. So you automatically start from a viewpoint (and believe) that anything you take isn’t going to be any good.
My answer to that is a state of mind thing and don’t be too hard on yourself there’s always tomorrow and actually that image isn’t too bad.
· Taking the camera will make you think “…well I brought it along so I might as well use it, shall I take a picture of that? Oh go on why not.” It might be good, bad or indifferent (or in the case the other day an image I made fed into another topic that I wasn’t even thinking about at that time)
My answer to that is, you know what at least you made something, good or bad it will contribute to your image making process.
· You don’t take the camera and then you constantly see all the pictures you would have taken; you start to kick yourself that you didn’t bring it, you feel a bit meh about it all, you start seeing more pictures and convince yourself that that would have been the ‘one’
My answer to that is that at least you are seeing pictures and that still feeds into your image making process for next time, the moment can’t be repeated but it can sometimes be recaptured.
Now I can hear you say, what about camera phones, yes I know we all have our mobile phones mostly with cameras, but I think most some acts of photography needs a camera not a phone/camera. That’s not to scorn mobilephotography or anything at all, I use it when it needs and it works well, the raw system on the pro is great but sometimes the quality is not what I’m looking for and not the image that I need or want at that time.
Sorry that I think my conclusions won’t give definitive answers as I think that there aren’t any definitive answers. As with most things photo related, I believe that the final decision is yours, take the camera/not take the camera is up to you but l would suggest that you go with what feels right at the time whether you make, take or fake, it’s all good.
Now for a picture, with the change in seasons, the acres of beautiful light and the impending newish sales direction launch coming up, I’ve been making images that I wouldn’t normally think about or show here (more on that later.) This photograph reflects Beetham Tower in Manchester in another Tower. The tower appears to be a something coming into my views more and more readily, saw this angle and thought, yep that’ll work, we’ll see if it does.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your time, if there are any comments, questions, feedback or anything then please get me on the usual channels.