Chase light, not people
I watched a video the other day called "Chase Light Not People" by Marc Anthony. It stuck with me more than I expected.
In late July, I was in Germany and picked up a Leica M240. I've been shooting Nikon D and Z cameras, and for the past several months a Fujifilm X. Every system has its own signature; that's nothing new. But one thing I noticed with the Leica, straight out of the raw file, before any editing, is the contrast and color saturation. I didn't see it the same way with Nikon or Fujifilm. Clean contrast, deep color, but not overly sharp. Just pleasing to look at.
That's actually a side note, though. What I really wanted to get into is something I noticed looking through photos from a recent NYC trip.
I had many missed shots. The subject just wasn't where I wanted it. I didn't have the time or the skill yet to work the frame. I'd see the subject and shoot in a rush instead of setting it up right. I also don't always check my photos after I take them, and the M240 display isn't sharp enough to really tell what I got in the moment anyway. After watching Marc's video, I keep coming back to the same thought. Next time I see a frame with good light and shadow, I need to wait for the right moment instead of moving on. I tend to move on. Waiting is the part I still need to work on.
Here I wanted the full shadow of the subject in frame. Instead it gets cut off at the bottom right.
I wanted the subject to walk into the light background instead of staying in the shadow. Right idea, wrong timing.
I want to experiment with light and shadow, and I want to do more of that learning in NYC instead of Philly. Nothing against Philly; I love this city and the people in it. The many tall buildings in NYC give me more chances to find light and shadow to work with. That's really what it comes down to: more chances to practice finding the right light, then finding the right subject within it. Also, I love taking the train into NYC and spending the day there.
Finding good light and shadow takes time. Finding the right subject inside that light takes even more time, and a lot more patience. I got a couple of decent shots out of that NYC trip. But honestly, I learned more by going back, looking at the ones I missed, and trying to figure out why I missed them.
That's what the Marc’s video brought back up for me. Chase the light first. The people, the subject, that part comes after, and it's the harder part, actually, to get right.
