Solitude and my photography

When I think about my most favorite photography themed trip, I only have two categories, Solo trips and collaborations are my main two categories here.

Of those two categories though, solo trips are my favorite.

I do enjoy both types of trips, I am just more inclined to solo trips over trips involving others. I don’t know if this is a desire to enjoy the freedom associated with solo travel, if it is some sort of childhood learned behavior or that it might just be therapeutic whatever it is I just love solo photography.

In fact I love it so much that I almost never collaborate with others on any sort of project whether it be a video or photo shoot or even to just hang out as they say… This is partly because I grew up pretty much by myself and learned to enjoy solitude instead of hating it.

When you spend enough time alone, you come to learn the freedom it provides and you actually crave it. So for me, I will operate alone for the most part. Now this is not without its pitfalls either. You see, when you don’t collaborate with others your projects typically won’t grow past a certain point. If you are the kind of person who has big ambitions for your projects, then operating like me is probably not the best idea.

The standard recipe for success is pretty simple. Dont tell anyone your going out shooting and then go. Lol… I was only half joking here, if your serious then you will just go.

Another thing that is special about solo photography is that you can explore at a pace that is inconceivable by others. You can go as slow or as fast as you want and can even get into areas where multiple people just would not be feasible.

To be fair though, it is not without its pitfalls too. For some people, being alone with your thoughts is actually terrifying. So if you need interaction with others, then what I am doing here is not for you.

When I wander the streets with my camera, I am at peace. No one the make sure your not leaving behind or holding back. No judgement about equipment, it is just the process. If you have not found your zen activity then I recommend you start looking at what makes you really happy and focus on that.

Getting a fresh perspective on a common event.

Today I had a thought about what sets my Sacred Harp photos apart from everyone else’s photos.

I thought about this for a while and figured out that my goal is not to simply capture every leader (although that is kind of a side quest) but rather I want to capture the essence of the event as a whole. The reason I say this is because I see others capturing images of just the leaders and usually just from the front straight on. Now to be fair, this does produce good images but for me they are not as interesting. Hence…

When I goto a Sacred Harp singing there is a specific location that I want to be at in the room. It is near the bass section where it meets the tenor section. Now if I were more serious about the photos, and less serious about singing with the class, I would actually goto the other side of the room as most people mark time with their right hand. This makes getting a good photo, which I will spell my recipe for below, even harder since I am on their right side and their hand blocks their face alot.

My “recipe” for a good photo is as follows:

  • I want them looking at the crowd and not their book if possible (I want to see their eyes)

  • I would love a strong expression

  • I want the face to look relaxed and not contorted from singing a strong note

  • I want their hand in motion and slightly blurred from movement

  • I want their face properly exposed

  • I want good white balance

  • I want them 75 to 80% offset to the side for deep “look space”

  • Finally, I also want photos of the rest of the event (this is kinda separate but it helps tell the story)

So with that daunting list of requirements delineated let’s take a look at them a little more in depth.

I want them looking at the crowd.

This is kinda standard composition information but this creates a bond in the photo between the leader and the class visually. I want the photo to hold the viewer and have them explore the image.

I love getting a strong expression.

This is really hard to do most of the time. I have certain leaders that I know will give me this and I actually look forward to these leaders for this reason alone. This draws the viewer into the photo and lends an emotional aspect to the image.

I want the face of the leader to look relaxed.

Most of the time, when people lead, they are nervous and it shows in the photos. So I watch for them to relax a little. This usually happens towards the end of the song so I will watch for opportunities to get a better photo then if I can. Sometimes people have odd expressions when they sing as well and this contorts the face to make them look less appealing in the photo, so I will look for pauses in the music to where they might be catching their breath or their part is silent so I can grab a quick photo then. My goal here is to get them actually enjoying the song and not just leading it.

I want the motion blur of them marking time with their hand.

This gets me that “action” look that I am wanting that shows something is happening and that they are not just standing there I want that photos to show that the event is “alive” with activity if possible. By having a little motion blur from the hand moving, it does this without making the whole image blurry. At least for me, it does.

I want their face properly exposed.

This as it turns out, is a really hard thing for me to get right while on the fly. Seems there is almost always a window in the frame and the sunlight is wreaking havoc on the light meter in the camera. I do my best to compensate for this, but sometimes it just doesn’t work right and the person is almost a black silhouette. As a good photographic rule though, this is normally a well exposed part of the image.

I want good white balance.

Again, you would think this would be a no brainer, but as it turns out, this is a lot harder than you would think. You see these events happen normally in venues that are poorly lit with mixed color temperature lights so you never really know what to expect. I will normally grab a white balance value at the beginning, and again at lunch as the sunlight will dope the reading and make your pictures look yellow…

I want them offset way over to one side.

We are talking way past the rule of thirds concept as I am not trying to follow that concept at all, but rather I am wanting to tell a story and it is not about one person, but the class as a whole with the leader just one part of it. The singers are just as important so I want as many of them in the frame as possible to give more context to the image. Sometimes I get a good image and this isn’t the case like with Terry (1st at the top), but this is not what my usual goal is. He leads very uniquely and I love photographing him for this reason.

I want photos of the rest of the event.

You see, there is more than just the singers and the leaders and them singing songs. There are people just there to hear it, kids playing and people eating… Plus this is sometimes the only venue where some people ever meet up so there are lively conversations sometimes as well and lots of laughter. I want to try to capture this as well.

The desert table alone is worth the trip in my book!

This is a tall order to be sure, but I normally get one or two “real keepers” from these singings that will meet either all or nearly all of my rules for leaders. So of those rules are pretty low hanging fruit, like proper white balance, just takes me remembering to take a sample of the interior occasionally to make sure it has not changed on me. some are much harder, like getting position and facial expression and exposure right when they are moving around while they lead… Something I dont strive for though is perfectly sharp images, a little motion blur just adds character to the photo and makes it look like they are actually doing something instead of posting up static for a photo. Also I dont care if the eye isnt tack sharp either as the photo isnt a portrait but rather something closer to reportage in my mind. I like it when the eyes are sharp but it isnt on the list if you will notice. I dont list it because the story is more important to me than that aspect. I dont know why, but that is how I see it. Everyone loves the images when I share them too so I am happy with most of them too…

Do you have a favorite venue or event you like to shoot and do you have a set of personal rules that make us your perfect photo from that event? I would like to hear about your version of this story!!!