Author: Cooper Strange

2009-04-20

Do We Know How to Capture the Decisive Moment Anymore?

I have had these thoughts on the back of my brain for a few days, since reading Doug Menuez’s post about digital photography making him lose his edge. With film, you really have to think harder. Even better stated, with modern, fancy-pants, bell-and-whistled wonder cameras, you just fire thirty shots in five seconds, go home, and pick your keepers.

Now, I am by no means the first to bring this topic up, I would not delude myself to believe so. I have read it on the Strobist, in history flicks about the greats of photography (notably Henri Cartier-Bresson), and as I just mentioned, from Doug Menuez…among many others. We must force ourselves to get that film-shooting edge, but how do we do that?

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2009-04-18

Midnight Inspiration: Photo Story Waiting to be Photographed

Last night, I waited up till midnight (well, I guess that is a little misleading, sounding like I regularly go to bed before then) to go out and record a sound I wanted on the short experimental video I am working on. I was out at the front gate of the factory here, and saw another story sitting right in front of me, just waiting to be told.

As I said before, I am tired of shooting one-shots day in and day out, disconnected photographs, maybe speaking to an overall theme, but never delving into the story in progress. I want to tell stories. I want to learn how to dig deeper and put together an overall story. And instead of crying about not having enough time (too cliché, anyway), I decided to keep my eyes open to the stories around me and start telling some of them.

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2009-04-14

Not a Street Boy on the Streets

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2009-04-13

LensBaby Photojournalism

The day has finally come: I saw a news photo that used a LensBaby. That is just too rad for words, at least for words besides “rad”. I love the LensBaby lens concept. It gives us a very different approach to photography and helps us break out of our auto-focus, tack shap, wonder world.

I just noticed a thumbnail of this photo in Google Reader. I was not even reading the news, this was just on the very top of the page because it was recent. So, I could easily believe others have used LensBaby in photojournalistic work, but I just have not seen it.

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2009-04-09

Almost Storyboarding a Still Photo and Video Mix Idea

I am no professional when it comes to storyboarding. There is an inspirational starting line, huh? Better to say it now before you read the whole post and either believe I know what I am talking about or (knowing better) find out I am full of hot air. So, with that self-deprecating disclosure, shall we talk about storyboarding?

I complained yesterday about not having many chances to tell a story. Then, I came to the conclusion that stories are all around us, and I just have to recognize them and decide to record and retell them (using whatever medium I think best…though that is usually in photos for me). Today, a great story opportunity hit, and I am going to take it on. I am trying to think through what I want to do with the story: how to tell it, what medium, what will I need to prepare, and so on. See…I told you I barely know what I am doing. I am very much shooting from the hip.

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2009-04-08

I Just Want to Tell a Story

I keep thinking about cool stories to tell in photos: the folks living in shacks behind my apartment and what their lives are like, the life and belief of a typical Thai Buddhist, or any number of other story ideas. I envy photojournalists, whether they are given assignments or have the accomplished privilege of choosing their own projects, because they get to tell stories for living: meeting people, grapling with the issues of a given situation, and trying to portray that story in photos. SOOO cool! So, I have to wonder if it is possible to tell my own stories if it is not my job to do so.

I am going out on a limb this time. One, I really have no idea where this post will end up…I have just started and am hoping for the best. And two, there may not be anybody out there who feels the same way. So, I might be talking to the wind, but if for nobody else, I think it will be good for me.

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2009-04-07

My Normal Flash Setup Using Optical Slaves

I have been trying lots of different flash setups lately (optical, radio, bounce, etc), but I tend to fall back on optical triggering because it is the most trustworthy and versatile of my options. Of course, I would love to grab a pair of Pocket Wizards, but hey, you donate a pair, and I will certainly put them to use!

If you have a normal flash mount (just found out Sony uses their own “standard”…punks), you can easily buy a little optical trigger for no more than $15. You slide that baby on the bottom of your flash, and then when any other flash goes off, it will trigger that flash. So, the pop up flash will trigger it, or hey, I have even used my point and shoot flash to set off my speedlight!

But that is not the end.

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2009-04-06

How Normal Amateurs Develop Their Shooting Skills

This post is for a friend of mine, who, like many of us, really wants to improve his photographic skills, but cannot seem to find the time to do so. How do we improve our photography when we already have a busy life? Well, I am in the same situation, really: just another amateur who wants to improve. Here was what my friend said:

I took the camera out to Big Lake with us Saturday and saw some really good shots, yet somehow, I took no shots. There is going to have to be a shift for me to do more shooting. I don’t have extra time on the weekends to go out and shoot like I would like to. So, I’m thinking that as I go and do the many things that have to be done I need to set in my mind that I’m going to have to slow down and take some shots. There was a town that we passed through that was like we just stepped out of Texas and into Old Mexico. The building architecture shifted. Would have been some great shots, but alas, I was in too big a hurry to get home.

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2009-04-05

Photos of Chinese QingMing Festival

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2009-04-04

Psyched Out on QingMing Festival

The photo shoot for QingMing Festival (that is, the Chinese grave sweeping festival) did not quite go as well as planned. The only word I can think of is letdown…or maybe that is two words (then it is double the let down, you know). I was so excited about QingMing with my wife’s family, and they were more than happy with someone to help them take photos. It worked out well in theory.

I knew I had expectations of what it would be and I also knew that some of those expectations were likely to be wrong. It is not like Chinese culture is going to look exactly the same in every country and every family around the globe. There are only a couple billion of them or something.

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