Something special about the light at this time. We’ve now passed the fall equinox on Sept 22. The days are getting shorter, and the sun’s elevation will reduce; the light will get even prettier at sunset.
I was working on photographing a couple of high school seniors for an extended senior session a few weeks ago. All three happen to be in the marching band, and the opportunity to photograph them in action was irresistible. However, the distances I needed to work at required renting a long, long lens. A 150-600mm to be precise. I don’t normally work in that range, not my favorite range to be sure. Heavy lenses and a big presence, everyone looks when you pull one of these out. I much preferred shooting in the 35 to 90 range and with the smallest profile I can get away with. I do own a 70-200 that I use only when necessary. Can you tell, I don’t like really long lenses. Anyway, I’m making my way around as the band is getting ready for the kickoff performance and what do I see rising to the east but the moon. That gorgeous fall sunset lighting up the high clouds and the low clouds in shadow, what a fall look. Luckily, I had the long lens with me to take this shot… I’ll have to carry it more often? NOT!
Turning Around as a Tool
In the early days of my career, I took several classes at Santa Fe Photo Workshops. Great experience and some fantastic teachers. One of the workshops I attended was with Jay Maisel. He was all New York and a fantastic photographer. The class was packed full of his wisdom, and spiced with his New Yorkisms… To the ears of a polite Midwesterner, it was a bit of a shock. I’ll have to tell you sometime about his 5 levels of sh*t realization, harsh but true. Anyway, for this post, I thought his belief that the most important photographic tool is the U-turn. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve been driving down the road and noticed something worth photographing. And it doesn’t just happen when I’m driving, ask my wife… “where did Rob go? Oh, don’t worry, he’ll catch up.” When photographing, whether for work or personal, I get in a zone of mental focus. I’m fully engaged in the process of creating images. That focus, however, also needed to be tempered with the ability to notice. Let stimuli in and, with practice, your brain notices the world around you. Don’t lose focus on what you need to do, but don’t let that get in the way of a great find. I might say that the higher rule is to train your mind to notice, be curious, and revel in the small finds that pass by others unnoticed.
Another rule he had, which is a close competitor to the U-turn, is if you don’t see anything interesting in front of you to photograph, turn around. No spice there, but to the point. If you aren’t seeing any images, you probably need to open your eyes more.
