For those of you who have ever asked me to do a shoot for you, you will know I am not the man to be writing an article about how or when to say no. So, maybe my title is a complete farse. On the other side of that coin, though, something about doing any and all shoots really struck me.
If I only needed to save my time, I would say no to everything. Sometimes, I consciously think this will be a stretch on my time, but subconsciously, I want to say no because I might not live up to the job. That sounds like an opportunity to grow to me.
I just had a friend ask if I could help her brother take some shots of a rent house for internet advertising. I do not know the first thing about architectural photography. Well, that is not totally true. I do know a couple of hints to get you (and me) started, if you are really wondering: use a tripod (for lots of reasons, but primarily because you will often need a smaller aperture), take two shots (or use HDR-ish techniques) exposed for the windows and for indoors. That is another topic, though…one I really do not know much about.
Anyway, I said yes, of course. I learned a few lessons in the process, lessons about the feel of a scene, lessons about angle, and a big lesson about how much a tripod restricts movement. That last one was the biggest one for me, and is somehow tied to the overall theme for this post: how trying something new can stretch me in ways that will improve certain aspects of my non-architectural photography.
I realize that when I am taking a portrait or even a street shot, quickly erasing the person from the scene (in my mind) and composing a good architectural shot, might bring about a totally different shot. Oh…un-erase the person and focus on the subject too.
To put all this in a different way, when I looked at my architectural shots, I noticed how much the perspective would make or break a shot (though experimentation is still welcome). I cannot break that down into rules, but some shots went from aweful to wonderful by taking a couple steps to the side. I guess this gets back to being aware of everything in the shot; make it intentional.
