by Jon Wason copyright 2013
I am not a violent person but my philosophy is “shoot it till its dead.” As a photographer I am driven by the desire to capture a great image. Let me explain a bit more.
Last week I spotted an interesting, old, pickup truck parked along the highway so I stopped for a closer look. There is a center console next to the driver’s seat in my Toyota and my camera is almost always there ready for action.
Almost everyone is familiar with electron microscope images of sperm fertilizing an egg. What you see is the large round egg completely surrounded by the wriggling sperm cells. Similarly, when I find a good object to shoot, such as that vintage, red pickup, I shoot from all angles like the sperm attacking the egg. I shoot from straight on and slowly move around clicking from all angles. Another thing I do is and zoom in on some details like the chrome plated grill and the big round fenders. Also use a wide angle for some shots. Be sure to move back and get some distance shots, too. If you fortunate enough to have a bag full of lenses, mount ‘em and use ‘em.
The great thing about digital capture is that later you can delete the images you are not pleasing to you. A few years ago when I was using film, I shot less images because processing a roll of 36 exposure film was about 10 to 15 dollars. With digital a camera this is not a concern, so shoot all you want. However, keep in mind that you will spend some time holding your camera and reviewing images and deleting the ones you don’t like and later at your computer spend more time editing the images from your shoot. So there has to be some balance between quantity and quality.
Don’t be a violent person, but when you are out there with your camera remember to shoot your subject until it is dead.
