Wedding

I’m always mentally photographing everything as practice.

Minor White

I know I certainly do this. There are days when you are more focused and aware of your surroundings and notice things differently. You are more acute to changes around you and become more visually aware. It’s often light and the play of light across a landscape whether it’s the countryside or even a cityscape. During lockdown I took to the countryside on my bike and ventured off down lanes, bridal paths, found lakes and forests and generally got lost in nature. I was frequently taking out my camera and momentarily stunned by some breath taking view and needed to record it. If I didn’t have my camera I would stop and watch the play of light or the wind in the trees and for a brief moment pause, ignore the madness of world events and enjoy such simple beautiful moments. I was taking a moment to mentally photograph what lay before me. If you are watching and observing carefully you will begin to see so much more. 

I wonder whether this awareness is something that you either have or you don’t. I recall a past girlfriend joking how often I would scream ‘look at the light’ when we were out. I noticed the changes in light all the time and had to discuss it. But she didn’t see what I saw and I suppose was tuned into something different. Or she did notice it but didn’t feel the urge to mention it and remark on the changes. Having an awareness of light as a photographer is absolutely key and without it I feel you are like a chef without taste buds. It’s impossible to operate without understanding light and using it to your advantage. I forget which great photographer said that photography is essentially painting with light. I think it was the great landscape photographer Ansel Adams. I know you can teach people to light portraits and objects but can you teach someone to have an awareness of light? Being able to be sensitive to it and have a natural feel for it. We can all apply paint with a brush to a canvas but clearly we can’t all be great artists. 

I am not a fan of obvious tricks and gimmicks with photography. I believe we generally respond similarly to much the same stimulus when it comes to appreciating images and art. Given similar cultural backgrounds and life experiences we would tend to have a similar reaction to certain photographs. I am always cautious around photographers who are burdened by their technical knowledge or who talk about cameras like a petrol head that talks about cars. For me it’s an instrument to create and capture and I really am not interested in discussing its technical capabilities and comparing it with others cameras. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a technical photography magazine or spent longer than an hour with a manual trying to work out what I need to know. It’s all about simplicity and keeping my mind focused on the end image. You need to be fascinated and enthralled by pictures and that’s art and movies too. Not fascinated and enthralled by pixel size, lenses and digital noise reduction. 

Now of course this is all linked and the technical knowledge will take you closer to what you need to capture. For sure it was so much simpler in the film days and there was a lot less to discuss and learn technically. It had not really changed a great deal over the years and new technology was still within ones grasp to understand. You didn’t need to watch online tutorials and attend workshops or download things or upgrade other things. But now a digital camera can be really annoyingly over complicated and for sure this impacts on your picture taking and the freedom to just roam, capture and express. The photographers I work with and myself are forever trying to simplify what we do and how we shoot. Trying to eradicate all the frustrating technical advances and take the process of picture taking back to something simpler. 

I can’t imagine how young assistants deal with all the numerous programs to process images now and the complexities of those programs. When I was an assistant I was pretty skilled with almost all the cameras that professionals used and similarly I was proficient with most lighting systems. I had a good understanding of all these formats and worked happily with whatever kit the photographer used. It was always fun to load a Hasselblad film back at top speed and act as if you were a commando assembling a rifle under enemy assault. But there is no way I would be able to get to grips with the complex I.T demands of all the different digital cameras, the different processing software and the need to switch between Mac and PCs and more. I would be making my way for the kitchen opting to be the tea and coffee maker for the day and leave that entire technical element to someone else. Or better still I would now happily retrain as a make up artist or hair stylist and never ever go near a computer ever again. 

But yes I also wander around and mentally photograph what I see. I often see someone and then in my mind begin to work out how I might photograph them. What would I see them wearing and what interaction might I engage them in. Can I spot if they have good side or a pose that somehow brings out their character? Can I style them my way and if so what period and look might I go for. Could she be dressed in a kooky Diane Keaton fashion with a tailored mans jacket and waistcoat and bowler hat or would she look chic in simple jeans and a T-shirt.

If its not a person I might be struck by the beauty of the light falling across a building or the way the clouds happen to be hanging above the fields. I may see the lights of the cars all align in some perfect harmony and work out what angle best captures this moment. I feel that some people have this going on in their head all the time and it’s either there or not. It’s an awareness of the environment and what’s happening before you. I truly believe that people are losing such awareness now their heads are spent looking down at their phones all the time. And I’m just as guilty and often have to remind myself to put my phone away and look up and take in what is around me. I wonder at how much is lost when people simply don’t look up and take in the beauty of the environment and simply see. An X girlfriend of mine just posted holiday snaps of her teenage son on their Venice trip. There were nine or so photographs of him sat in famous Venice beauty spots and places of cultural artistic significance. In each image he was sat with his face down over his mobile phone. And I’m pretty sure he wasn’t googling the historical facts of the gallery, monument, statue or painting. He was missing it all. Yes I’m sounding like an old fart but I really do believe this is concerning. 

I remember when I used to teach photography a good exercises for students was to ask them to spend time shooting in a particularly small and dull environment. So you could take a room and remove almost all of the furniture and objects inside and then challenge the class to take it turns shooting the room. Imagine as they wander in and are faced with being creative, finding angles and each person approaching the task in an original way. There are no obvious stand out features that you are drawn to as such. It may be that is just the window and the door and one desk that are left. See how you can each shoot in a different and original way. How can we all approach this task with fresh eyes? It’s a fascinating exercise and it forces photographers to look differently, to assess and see with a new eye and essentially move out of their comfort zone of shooting in the same traditional way. Break some rules, think outside the box and come up with something really new. And as Minor White suggests, you can ask the class to mentally shoot the room in advance of wandering in with cameras. Let their imaginations fly and see what they come up with later. 

Well I was well and truly in the heart of utterly glorious Somerset countryside on this wedding and was constantly in awe of the play of light and wind on the landscape. No doubt Minor White would have been in a state of bliss running around with his camera and tripod. I too was running a round with my camera and tripod as second shooter to the very talented Alex Lloyd photographing the beautiful wedding of Annie and George. A wonderful mix of British and American guests brought a new fun dimension to the day. The setting, the weather, the beautiful guests and the atmosphere made this one of the most stunning weddings of the year. It was an absolute delight and pleasure to be part of this incredible celebration.