When I am in the zone, when I am lost in taking pictures, my breathing stops as I trigger the shutter. Something passes through me, a movement of the spirit that I hesitate to analyze. It is my version of nirvana.
I have loved photography all my life. When I was a kid, the Kodak Instamatic was all the rage. Few of the pictures I took remain, but from the beginning I wanted to be an art photographer. To make different pictures.
Over the years, I shot sporadically, mostly on vacations. It was not until my trip to Arizona and Utah in 1999 that I made a concerted effort to explore the medium. After assembling three albums of images from my trip, I purchased a Pentax SLR. At the same time I took a black and white printmaking course, taught by a fine Raleigh photographer, David Simonton.
I built a darkroom in my kitchen and experienced the ecstasy of seeing an image emerge from a blank sheet of paper as I rocked the tray containing the developer. I made prints every Saturday, accumulating enough to be exhibited at the Visual Arts Exchange. Pure joy.
The darkroom days ended when my landlord insisted on removing the plywood sheet that covered my kitchen window. The muse languished for several years, until I joined the 21st century and bought a digital Canon point and shoot. I set up a photoblog, which I will of course promote: http://larryb.shutterchance.com/
The objects in my frame have evolved over time. My Pentax led me to industrial subjects: power lines, tower cranes, backhoes. I became inordinately fond of the leftovers of construction sites: cables, plywood sheets, boxes of nails. Somehow they moved me, perhaps because I am under construction myself. To this day, I pass up the finished buildings in favor of the half-built ones.
Now my Nikon leads me to flowers. I take field trips to the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh and Duke Gardens. Placing an exotic bloom in the viewfinder brings peace. There are so many varieties, and unless the wind is blowing, they stand still while I compose. People like flower pictures, and I enjoy pleasing them.
I work quickly. I have a knack for composition and good angles appear naturally.
Here are some pointers if you want to follow the light:
Get close. Standing a mile away from your subject brings all sorts of junk into the frame. Lose your shyness and move right in.
Move your feet. Good photographers circle their subjects and crouch to get the best angle. It’s a dance. Soreness in the ankles and knees is a small price to pay for a compelling image.
Flood your SD card. Take scads of pictures. The technical word for this is practice. Go home and savor your pictures. You can always delete the ones you don’t like.
Learn from the masters. Start with Ansel Adams and keep going. Inspiration is essential. The library is chock full of photo books.
Beware of chasing money. There are only three ways to make money in photography: weddings, portraits, and advertising. There are many fine practitioners in these fields, but don’t lose sight of the sheer enjoyment of making pictures.
The most important tool is your eye. The greats can make a compelling image with any camera. Ansel Adams took interesting shots with his Brownie. Smartphones are associated with goofiness, but they can also facilitate striking images.
If you see an old guy in downtown Raleigh, bobbing and weaving and ignoring the rest of the world, it will be me. Have fun out there.
I am guided by the great French photographer Henri Carter-Bresson: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/henri-cartier-bresson/
More pictures: https://qz.com/1145191/henri-cartier-bressons-historic-photos-of-india-are-to-be-auctioned-in-new-york/
Words from Cartier-Bresson:
Oak City Essays 