Just as with any form of expression - music, or painting, or creative writing- photography is both a language and a tool. Merely knowing how to communicate in that language isn’t the ultimate goal
Knowing how to operate your camera is like the ante at a poker table. It’s what gets you into the game, and nothing more. It’s the rest of the game where all the fun happens.
You grow from first-hand experience while also becoming exposed to a steady stream of new ideas and strategies from other
Note: as I am not a working photographer, I’ve been looking for ways to get experiences from others: courses, masterclasses, talks on youtube
Enthousiasts don’t need to be as productive or efficient as professionals. But learning some photojournalist techniques can transform your experience both as a photographer and as a traveler
Photography also can be a gateway to much much than [recording and cementing your memories]. Just like a photojournalist, you’ll learn to think of your camera as a tool that can be used to open new doors
One trick to becoming a more successful photographer is to not focus so much on the act of making pictures. Instead, focus on your non-photo interests. The point to where you should be shooting.
The individual photos will be much more relevant to who you are as an individual
Finding these niche subjects and then pulling at the threads is what leads you stories.
Youtube, Google Maps photos, and street view [+ reddit] are no substitute for traveling, but can serve as valuable tools to offer a little working knowledge of your intended destination.
If I were already in Hanoi working on another assignment, a piece on outdoor barbers is exactly the type of picture package I might try to knock off in an afternoon.
Once you have found a contact for a potential subject, your next step is to cold-approach them. Use the contact info on their website or social media pages, depending on how they interface with the public.
There are a lot of ideas in this book that I consider to be a sort of cheat code -a way to level up in a significant way. And using a fixer is near the top of that list.
Assuming the new camera doesn’t have the exact same interface and physical form factor, one big thing you lose is muscle memory
Carrying just one lightweight body, with a single focal length lens, was one of the most liberating experiences I’ve ever had. It led to a fabulous week of shooting in Havana. Did I miss some photos? Absolutely But I more than made up for that with the many photos I would have otherwise missed from being too encumbered with gear.
Being limited to a fixed medium-wide lens, you have to approach your shooting differently. You can’t just hang back and snipe people from afar like you can with a tele zoom. you have to work closer, which affects the way tou engage with your subjects. You have to think more about creating the situations and interactions that lead to better photos.
It’s not that having a different camera makes you braver, It’s that you have removed the emotionally safe fallback of shooting from a distance.
To get through that door, it sometimes requires a sink-or swim moment. But I can tell you that it is very much worth the effort to try, if only to see how it can change your approach to photography.
Let’s take a typical gear pack for our photo workshop in Vietnam.
Looking back at my photos, I found that it was often the color of the light that helped to draw me into the scene in the first place. So now, instead of being accurate, I am more interested in being faithful.
In other words, “don’t shoot it how it looks, shoot it how it feels”
First, I look at my scene on 5600K, AKA daylight. Next I’ll adjust my Kelvin setting until I balance my warm and cool light. Finally, I’ll look for any weird color spikes and address them with a green-magenta shift
So, anytime you find yourself with a ridiculous excess of one color of artifical light, see what happens when you start to steal some of that color away from your frame. Because stealing some of the excess will often result in a photo that is much more interesting.
Advice from Michael Williamson
“A photo is a box: you gotta fill it up left to right, top to bottom, front to back”
But we can push it just a little bit further, maybe waiting a few minutes for something to anchor that carefully constructed scene to a particular moment in time, then everything changes.
Your “shoots everything” lens now becomes an unintended source of complexity, when what your brain really needs is more simplicity and flow. And that comes from predictability Many photographers before you have solved this problem by marrying a single focal length. Why not you?
One of my favorite things about evening blue hour is that it is also transparency hour. As the relative levels of light shift to where indoors is brighter than outdoors, all the windows become beautiful, transparent little framing devices into new worlds.
No matter how tired you are, you cannot collapse onto the bed at this moment. Indeed, your strategy will be to surf the wave of jet lag that is crashing down upon us, and shape it into a tool that we can use to our benefit in the coming days.
Morning blue hour offers photographers a double bonus. Not only is the color and angle of light better during morning blue hour than it is during midday, but the whole feel of the city is different. Exploring a city white it is waking up is a productive daily havit for a photographer.
For those first two days, we’ll continue to adhere to the “only sleep when it’s dark” rule. Meaning, no daytime naps yet. With long-haul travel, two days of this regimen will get you to a point of feeling mostly recovered.
So for my first morning in Hanoi, my plan is to go out before sunrise with the goal of simply walking and being consciously observant.
I’ll have a camera with me, just in case. But I probably won’t use it. I’ll also have a notebook, which I’ll use a lot.
We’re observing rather than shooting, to gather and prioritize predictable opportunities for later. Because the more you can learn through scouting, the less you need to rely on luck.
A thinking photographer spends a lot less time engaged in off-the-cuff shooting, and more time exploring, observing and prioritizing.
Every city has places where people gather up at the edge of the day. In Honk Kong, att he sea wall at the bottom of Kowloon.
Our cameras can act like an invisible shield.
=Removing the emotion from the moment
This new awareness has changed the way I think about the balance between photographing something and experiencing it. Because I know the simple act of raising a camera to my eye can cause me to be much less emotionally present
Whole chapter is good to re-read. Exerpts:
Don’t forget to thank the [portrait subject]. A good way to not lose perspective is to embrace the idea that great portraits are not taken. They’re given.
This approach is key evolution from thinking like a tourist that takes photos to becoming a traveling photographer. Your camera becomes a catalyst to new interactions and experiences.
Being in the habit of making your rounds, meeting people and planting seeds pays off on multiple levels. You are making contact with people that you know you’ll gave a good chance of seeing again. And those meetings can result in the new acquaintances that take Hanoi from being a place filled with strangers to a being a city of friends.
Committing to travel in this way, as a serial meeter of people, has a profound effect on how you experience your trip. You’re not just visiting a place. You are dipping into the stream of humanity that already exists here. It’s a perspective shift, both as a traveler and as a photographer
Explain that you are making photos of people all week in Hanoi. Then ask them, “who is the most interesting person you know that I should meet and photograph?”
The goal, especially early in your trip, is to cast a wide net. Meet many people. Have lots of interactions. Make copious notes. Gather stacks of ideas. Pull at the threads. And then spend the majority of the trip camped out at the intersection of methodical planning and serendipity.
Just know that music can help you both to create and project the mindset of being open to an interaction.
If you see an alleyway that looks interesting, pop in for a look. Same with a whole-in-the-wall shop. Or the quiet oasis of a temple. Initiate interactions, make new contacts every day. When you stop on the street to grab a mid-afternoon spring roll, chat with the lady cooking them. Because every new conversation brings a chance at more good luck.
Instead of viewing rejection as a personal failure, reframe it as a natural outcome of a percentage of social interactions. Obviously, not everyone will be open to conversation or connection. And it often has nothing to do with you as an individual
Over the course of the a day I have five distinct photo sessions: pre-dawn lake, morning commute, afternoon light, evening commute, and sunset-to-blue-hour transition. Each of these sessions is going to have a different feel, both because of the quality of the light and the daily rhythm of activity.
Without the daily siesta, there’s no way I could muster at 5 a.m. every day for the whole trip. I would very quickly start to feel overdrawn. And I would pay for it in the evenings, when I would much rather be fully awake and socializing with friends and colleagues
Every city has its unique scams and annoyances. And since we are going in with the intention of interacting with as many people as possible, it makes sense to build your local street smarts.
As photographers, we are looking to interact with people. That syandpoint often requires that we accept a little more vulnerability and risk than if we were moving through the city in a more detached and anonymous way. It’s all part of the game.
First, and I am going to keep banging this drum, you want to be both friendly and respectful. Be a human first, and a photographer second. Because you will always get better results this way, and because it’s the right thing to do.
Because you are being respectful, being friendly, making eye contact, and asking permission, you are going to stand out when compared to a typical, detached, gawking tourist. And more often than not, you’ll get a returned smile and a nod. Which means you are good to go.
Being seen to have displayed interest over time is a near-universal door opener. It Instantly separates you from the crowd of impatient, camera-toting tourists.
But the important part is that you are continuously stacking your odds. First by observing,. Then by making a distant photo. Next, by being seen just watching and learning. Then by striking up a conversation. And finally, by sharing your photos. All of those things combine to give you a much better chance to make the photo you really want to make.
A whole chapter with the full story and approach to a portrait HEART
I speak very little Vietnamese. But one of the phrases I’ll always try to have at the tip of my tongue is an inquiry as to wether they speak English. Because often they will, even if only a little. And that’s still going to be better than my Vietnamese.
It’s as if the existence of a language barrier can help to erode the other barriers that would otherwise be present. Because we are both focusing on solving this one problem.
So, now when I’m traveling, my current opening line is often something like: “Hi, I’m David and I’m a photographer from the United States. When I travel I like to contribute photos for Google Maps. May I please post some photos from here?”
And once I have asked, I feel as if I now have an implied permission to shoot more like a photographer and less like a typical smartphone user. So now, it’s not weird that I am looking for detail shots and sense-of-place pictures.
In fact, the more time I spend shooting the more natural it is to work my way up to a nice environmental portrait of the proprietor.
As a photographer, you have the ability to create and add value in the process of your interactions with the random people you meet when traveling. It’s like a currency you can mint then freely spend, especially for the small proprietors with whom you cross paths.