I read an article by a well known photographer today, that covered the topic of the "forced photograph". He was referring to the type of image we all make when there is nothing of real value to shoot; the light is flat and the shapes and forms required to make an interesting picture are simply absent. There may well be times when we might stop and go home, yet for some reason we refuse to be beaten and record something anyway.
I do it all the time: take boring snaps, but that doesn't mean to say that anybody will see them. They are always deleted after editing, but today being a "nothing" day I decide to attempt to produce something out of nothing and publish the result. The day is windless; the light is flat, and my subject is tiny in the frame, but I fire the shutter anyway. One of six frames for the whole afternoon.
Whether or not the photograph works - or even if there was one to be had in the first place - is beside the point. It didn't take any effort to capture, nor was there any great feat of post processing, yet it captures perfectly a winter's afternoon from where I was stood at the time.
The well known photographer concluded in his article that on such occasions as 'nothing days" you should not take the photo in the first place and just be satisfied with the effort and time behind the camera. I see his point entirely, but that won't stop me. Ever.
Shoot and be damned, or shoot and be happy.
12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1 /320 second at f/8. + 0.3 EV Compensation. ISO 320
© 2014
2 comments:
Wasn't that bad after all, then. :)
No, Nic, not bad at all. ;-)
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