This is just a little word about concept planning, shoot planning and test shooting. The Macro image shown here is a part of a concept I was toying with for the "American Epidemic" Photo Study I have been working on. Overall, the technical aspects of this photo are awesome, the focus is there, the droplette is perfectly formed, the angle on the needle is perfect and overall, I am very happy with the composition...So...Where's the problem?
The problem in this shot lies in the background and the needle itself. As I sat with some extra time in my day, I thought I would give this a quick attempt...in doing so, I neglected to clean the needle, neglected to prepare the background and really just wasn't thinking about the final results as much as I was the technicals of working in such a close up, "magnified" environment. The intent was NOT to end up with usable final images in this session, but to test my skills and abilities to work in this macro environment, without micro adjust rails and macro ring lighting or any of the other equipment usually associated with true 1:1 macro work. YET, here it is, a shot that, had I spent the time ahead of time to better prepare, test shooting or not, would have been an AMAZING and very usable shot for the series!
So...The lesson here...ALWAYS TREAT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOOT AS IF IT WERE A FULL BLOWN PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITY. You never know what kind of shot you will get out of a "Test", in the end, you may be presented with the actual shot you were looking to ultimately achieve...
Plan, compose, test and execute should ALWAYS be the order...and should that TEST step end up producing the final results you wanted, well...you banked some time for the post process!!
Now...time to go clean up that needle, setup a better black background card (instead of a black binder), and get that shot right!!!
Capture Moments...Capture Life...Capture CHAOS!!!!
Gill
The Chaos
Photo Excursions and Equipment to Remember
Just a short post for the moment about equipment and heading out on photo excursions. We have all been there, you have a great idea for a photo story or a series to shoot for commercial use or to just work on skill development and practice our art... so gather up the rig, pick out the glass we think we'll use, and out the door we go! I know... Let's go shoot light trails long exposures...10 Mile drive... Check out a cool location...Haul everything up a few flights of stairs...Pick the body and the glass out of the bag...Setup the tripod...Mount the ca...uh oh...Mount the cam...Oh no...Mount the camera already...Nope! Minor little oversight! Who was responsible for that little $8 quick connect plate? AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR REMEMBERING THAT LITTLE THING OR WAS IT ME THAT'S RESPONSIBLE?!?!?!?
And so my night began...a few days prior, I had been using my Super-telephoto that sports it's own tripod mounting collar to balance the load on the tripod...and that mounting collar, is where the quick connect remained...and...oh yeah...that super-tele? Yeah...That wasn't glass I chose to bring along that particular night!!!!!
So...there I am...10 minutes walk to the car, 1/2 of my gear ready to start shooting...and alas...the process is over before it began...all over an $8.00 piece of plastic...
So remember...when you go out on an excursion, planning isn't always necessary, because lets face it, "impromptu", "in the moment", and "I think I'll go try..." are often the creative process behind some of our best work...but if you're like me and "It just popped in my head" drives a lot of your shooting...INVEST in the simple things that help keep you on track.
Today's fed-ex arrival...a 2nd quick connect for my tripod head...because, you know...long exposures at 1:00 AM on Pacific Coast Highway can get a little complicated when you can't mount the camera on a tripod!!!
Gill T.
Capture Moments...Capture Life...Capture CHAOS!!!