Phased Blogography

Today was the annual JP Morgan Round the Island Race, probably the biggest yacht race in the world with over 1,700 boats sailing the 50 mile course around the Island.

Never too old to take photos.

Last night I went out and shot some trials riding with Dave and Adam. Trials, for those who don’t know, is riding bikes over natural or man-made obstacles and requires precision, skill, and balance. Unlike other aspects of mountain biking there isn’t any really clear cut ‘moment’ in a lot of the moves that can tell you what is happening in the shot. Quite often there are lots of before and after setup moves that are missed out in the 1/200th or so that is captured, which I find makes trials quite challenging to photo, especially to a non-biking audience.

Possibly my favorite of the day, Dave riding up the edge of the slipway in the rain.

A nice ‘One Move’ shot. Adam, post to beach… (Should have been a touch to the right more… :-p)

Being a hayfeaver sufferer and a light sleeper, I often wake up at silly times of the morning unable to breath. Most of the time its a pain, but sometimes it can be rather nice…

4:54am

A couple from last nights session up woods.

My favourite from last night, Adam scrubbing a quickly made step up in the near pitch black. Can just about see some ambient coming in the back there.  1/5@f3.2, iso 200.

All kinds of blur going on here, and a somewhat questionable placement of my fill light,  One for the re-shoot list :-)

Random Facts…

• My camera bag weighs the same as my bike (26lbs)
• The red Ready light on flashes are useful for finding them in the dark
• The SB25 is a really tough flash
• Its surprisingly dark in the woods at 9.30pm

I think todays photography has started to place too much emphasis on the technical aspect of how the photo was made, as opposed to the aesthetic why was the photograph made. Just because someone uses four grands worth of kit to produce a photo doesn’t make it amazing. It comes down to the often forgotten idea that its the photographer that takes the photo, not the camera, and it doesn’t matter what light recording device is used, as long as something is being used.  I do think sometimes the technical aspect can help others, but should only be used as rough guide, as otherwise the whole idea of using photography to be creative and come up with something new and visually stimulating falls down. Once somethings been done, its old news. A few examples that pop into the brain are The “Dave Hill Look” and “Dragan Effect”.  Both are two processes that first start out with an idea, then were planned, then lit and shot, then processed to achieve that particular look. Not as many people really want to believe, an action that can be applied to a shitty photo to make it suddenly amazing. Andrzej Dragan only takes only a few photos, spends months on the processing based on the subject and context, and produces amazing portraits. This is what many people fail to realise, the subject and context of the photo is much more important than what is done in Photoshop. Photoshop is a tool to help realise the photographers idea, but past a few minor tweeks and changes, the magic wand can’t magically make the photo amazing.

So where am I going with this? Basiclly, people should stop worrying about what camera they have, just go and and take photos. Ignore photoshop, think about what they are photographing, and do something new. Be influenced by other people, but don’t copy them.

As for me, I’m going to start using film more for personal work, slow down, think about everything a lot more and concentrate on the subject and context. Use Photoshop less and let the photograph stand on its own merit. With my digital shooting, simplify; one lens, one light, (I think I may have said this before actually…) and see what happens…

http://www.andrzejdragan.com/ -  For photos that are better than yours. :-)