Monday, March 22, 2010
In a rut?
I am often asked what I do when I get in a rut creatively, or when I get bored with my images/processing/etc. I am a huge believer in many of the exercises that David duChemin talks about in his eBooks "10" and "10 More" where David's whole premise is based on ways to improve your craft without buying gear. With that in mind, I did 3 things this weekend that I haven't done in a while.
For our Faded & Blurred photo walk in Hollywood, I took 3 rarely used lenses, my 17-40mm f/4L, my 35mm f1.4, and my 100mm f/2.8 macro. Those are the only 3 lenses I used, not my comfortable, well loved 70-200mm or 24-105mm. I didn't even pack them in the bag. And I still shot with 2 bodies, but 1 of them was loaded with film. Ilford 400 HP5 B&W or Kodak 100 Ektar. We'll see how that turned out soon...
Then on Sunday, I took my favorite model (my daughter) out to my favorite spot (the Arboretum), and I only brought my 135mm f/2. I love this lens, I just don't get to use it enough. But by limiting myself to just 1 focal length, it forces me to get creative, and MOVE, to get the framing, composition, and focus that I want.
Don't have a prime? Then tape down your zoom to a particular focal length. If all you have is the 18-55 kit lens, and you are always at 18 or 55, tape it down at 28. My buddy Corey over at Last Minute Photo Studios mentioned grabbing a friend or family member and shooting off 400 images. Just get out, go shoot for 2 hours. And come join me at Vasquez Rocks on 3/27. Have fun. Remember why you fell in love with this in the 1st place
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Awesome Frank! How many frames did you take of just her that day?
ReplyDeleteDamn near 400, still have more to get through. We had a blast, and she didn't mind modeling for me
ReplyDeleteGreat post Frank! A serious lack of equipment forces me to do this often and I like it. Sometimes the lack of glass is a blessing!
ReplyDeleteThat’s what it’s all about man—taking photos of your favorite model on such a beautiful day. I took my daughter to Disneyland on Saturday and took my 40D with my 50mm f/1.4 and love the speed/low-light capabilities of this lens and not having to disturb people in line—and more importantly—my daughter with flash. I also took my PowerShot G10 and took a whopping 1 photo! I was next to my daughter on the Dumbo ride and I had to use a wider lens since if I would have tried leaning back with my 50mm I probably would have fallen out ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat’s what it’s all about man—taking photos of your favorite model on such a beautiful day. I took my daughter to Disneyland on Saturday and took my 40D with my 50mm f/1.4 and love the speed/low-light capabilities of this lens and not having to disturb people in line—and more importantly—my daughter with flash. I also took my PowerShot G10 and took a whopping 1 photo! I was next to my daughter on the Dumbo ride and I had to use a wider lens since if I would have tried leaning back with my 50mm I probably would have fallen out ;-)
ReplyDelete