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Worth a Shot
Written and photographed by Marie DeFreitas
There are a lot of things I learned as I studied photography. A couple of them being: getting a good shot is hard as hell. Getting several good shots for a series is harder than hell. I admire photographers now more than ever now, because I know, getting that perfect shot is hardly ever easy.Â
We all love pretty pictures. I did so much that I decided I wanted to do it myself. Thereâs something about capturing a moment, and knowing that it is one like no other that fascinates me. But I found that the only thing more difficult than purposely creating a single photo, was creating a series of them. I got myself a Nikon D80 and shot what I could. Which at first ended up only being cats and flowers in my parents backyard, and I quickly discovered I was no Ansel Adams. Out of hundreds of photos that I took I only ended up liking maybe three each time. But soon enough I realized that that was okay. Because sometimes within those three photos, together, I had captured something that was worth looking at.
Photography is one of those very subjective practices where I found that each time I came up with an idea there was a little voice inside me that was disappointedly whispering âbut thatâs been done so many times.â Â Portraits, landscapes, fashion, food, wildlife. Whatâs left? And then thereâs the more important question, whatâs even accessible to you? Because weâve seen those railroad tracks at sunset and weâve seen those hands holding the pretty flower. Whatâs next, Leibovitz? So your photos might not be something new, chances are weâve seen whatever youâre shooting a million times before. This is when I realized that only way out of this dilemma was not to focus on shooting something new, but on shooting something that had the ability to make my viewers feel something.
Before you pick up that camera, think about why. What are you shooting and why? Be sure not to drift too far, but donât confuse this with how deep your concept runs. It can be as deep or as simple as you want, but it must be accessible. If you’re photographing someone laying in the dirt and you want to communicate how that represents a connection with nature, go for it. But donât try to tell us that the type of tree means this, and that weâre supposed to get that the green leaves means that because green was your grandmaâs favourite colour. Donât. Thereâs no way your audience is going to pick up on details that even you are projecting onto your work. Locate your concept, the reason youâre creating this. Define it. Keep it close. Donât lose focus.
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A few photos from a black and white hands series I did:
In addition to the big idea, be aware of the little ideas within your creation as well. Whatâs that foot on the bottom of the frame there for? You donât know? You didnât notice it? Nope. Get rid of it. If thereâs something there for your viewers to interpret that you didnât intend to be, get it out of here. One thing Iâve heard time and time again about creating a photo series is that you must make everything deliberate, or at least try to make it look that way. Only the important things should work their way into the composition. No lazy feet. No âsomething you didnât noticeâ thatâs glaring at the viewer with no intended purpose. Get in the shot what you need to and capture it.
Now youâve at the overwhelming stage where you camera is full of hundreds of slightly different compositions and angles of the same thing. Yes, youâre going to have to go through each one, stare at it for way too long, Â and narrow it down to the winners. After hours of frustrating indecisiveness eventually youâll get those hundreds down to maybe twenty, then maybe ten, and finally your five beauties.
Youâve made your decision, congratulations. Now you get to make them look even better. Yes, editing is somewhat lying. You didnât get that awesome exposure with only the light of the setting sun. But you must know how far is too far with lying. A few adjustments. A little turn up on the blues, a bit of tweaking with the highlights. But if youâre cutting entire figures out the photo, if youâre flat out handing your viewers a big oleâ film roll of lies, get out of here.
Photography isnât easy. Itâs a lot of contorting yourself into strange positions for that perfect angle, a lot of capturing the same moment dozens of times until every detail is just right, and a lot of just waiting for the sun to rise. Itâll take a lot of frustrated moments before your photos look the way your pictured them in your head, and sometimes that might not even happen. And thatâs okay. Part of the fun is discovering what youâre capable of when youâre looking through a lense that suddenly becomes an extension of yourself.
You are creating those moments as if they are little wisps of time frozen in a frame and presented to your audience. And if you do something right, you might actually make your viewers feel something with those moments. And they might not even know why they are staring at it for so long. But they are. And thatâs all that matters.