January 09, 2011

Stop to Smell the Roses, Moving to find them...

Music | BaBopByeYa by Janelle Monae

I brought out the Rollieflex with the intention to shoot. Bag, meter and camera by my side in the car... On my way home from a brief meeting, within a split second, I saw my first subject speed by as I drove. For another split second I questioned if I should turn the car around and take a closer look. Without thought, brakes on, scanning for an area to make a U turn, the direction of the car suddenly changed...


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Out of the bag, meter and camera in hand, I step out and get my general reading from the meter... 320 asa, f:5.6 @ 125. I want this image to have more mystery and stop down another 3/4's. It wasn't too difficult to line up the first shot as it was the view that initially grabbed my attention in the first place... A simple and almost anticlimatic, click of the Rollie and I was off to look for other angles...

After collecting a few other photos, I knew a great app in my camera phone that would work well with this particular subject matter. Back in the car and back out again, I find the same and other angles to shoot. Often times with digital, I try and keep in the mindset of shooting like I would with film... I won't look at the results of what I shot until only after coming home. A memento of the panache of what it used to be like... But today with my phone camera, I wanted to see if what I had in mind was working...

When something is working, you just go with it. No thinking. I had come to the area I was in by happenstance and so it would be I would drive around without much thought. My only inclination was to drive on roads I've never been on. On almost all my stops for a shot, I pulled both cameras out. I know for certain they will be very different from each other.

I had a very fruitful hour or so. I knew it all started with that bus. I knew that it all started by turning the car around and get the process going. A time to smell the roses or in this case, shoot the dilapidated...
 
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