I took some photos of my coworkers today. This time it was in “nature” instead of on a roof.
I can’t remember if it was me or if it was my father who thought up the notion of taking pictures of people walking by, but we did just that.
Making pictures of people just standing can be boring. They don’t know what to do with their hands, their pockets, their legs, their heads. They fart around and look awkward and stare straight at you, they don’t even laugh or tell jokes, and when you tell jokes yourself, they don’t always laugh.
It’s like everybody instantly forgets how to human the instant they’re having their portrait taken.
That’s near to one end of the spectrum: people who don’t actively hate having their picture taken, but also don’t love it. The other end is people who like having their picture taken far too much. I find them a bit easier to work with if I’m being honest. I make jokes about not liking it when I take pictures of people on the other end of the spectrum, but I’m lying to them to make them feel more comfortable.
When you’re walking you’re not thinking about what your legs are doing, or what your hands are doing, or what any of you is doing, you’re just thinking of walking. If I give the shout to give a look, you do it in the moment, you do it as you, not as the caricature you picture yourself as; a person having their picture taken for a website to attract more new business or to at least not embarass anybody you work with.
People ask to not look fat, or for this or that side of the face to look more natural, or for their skin to look alright, but nobody ever asks to look like they aren’t over thinking the ever-living hell out of their circustances, and most of them do anyways. They ought to be asking for that.
I was talking to a friend about some pictures I took early last week; they were pretty good and they mentioned that. I said it was because I was comfortable, the person being photographed as comfortable, and the camera wasn’t too bad. That’s what it takes to make a good picture; comfort. The trick to taking pictures, and likely the trick to almost everything is to be comfortable and to not worry so much.
That reminds me of a film I barely remember. The only thing I recall from the film is an exchange between two characters. One was an FBI agent, the other was the soviet spy he was interrogating for espionage and treason. The FBI agent observed that the soviety spy seemed strangely calm, eerily, bizarrely so, he asked why he wasn’t worked up? The charges against him were terribly serious.
The spy responded,would it help if I were worried?
Of course it wouldn’t.
I can’t remember if it was me or if it was my father who thought up the notion of taking pictures of people walking by, but we did just that.
Making pictures of people just standing can be boring. They don’t know what to do with their hands, their pockets, their legs, their heads. They fart around and look awkward and stare straight at you, they don’t even laugh or tell jokes, and when you tell jokes yourself, they don’t always laugh.
It’s like everybody instantly forgets how to human the instant they’re having their portrait taken.
That’s near to one end of the spectrum: people who don’t actively hate having their picture taken, but also don’t love it. The other end is people who like having their picture taken far too much. I find them a bit easier to work with if I’m being honest. I make jokes about not liking it when I take pictures of people on the other end of the spectrum, but I’m lying to them to make them feel more comfortable.
When you’re walking you’re not thinking about what your legs are doing, or what your hands are doing, or what any of you is doing, you’re just thinking of walking. If I give the shout to give a look, you do it in the moment, you do it as you, not as the caricature you picture yourself as; a person having their picture taken for a website to attract more new business or to at least not embarass anybody you work with.
People ask to not look fat, or for this or that side of the face to look more natural, or for their skin to look alright, but nobody ever asks to look like they aren’t over thinking the ever-living hell out of their circustances, and most of them do anyways. They ought to be asking for that.
I was talking to a friend about some pictures I took early last week; they were pretty good and they mentioned that. I said it was because I was comfortable, the person being photographed as comfortable, and the camera wasn’t too bad. That’s what it takes to make a good picture; comfort. The trick to taking pictures, and likely the trick to almost everything is to be comfortable and to not worry so much.
That reminds me of a film I barely remember. The only thing I recall from the film is an exchange between two characters. One was an FBI agent, the other was the soviet spy he was interrogating for espionage and treason. The FBI agent observed that the soviety spy seemed strangely calm, eerily, bizarrely so, he asked why he wasn’t worked up? The charges against him were terribly serious.
The spy responded,
would it help if I were worried?
Of course it wouldn’t.
