I cringe when people refer to me as a professional photographer. That one little word adds so much pressure. Is the aperture set properly? How about the ISO? Should I frame the shot tight or loose?
I shoot stills because I love to capture the moment. I make my living as a video director for a church in Scottsdale, but my first passion is stills. My co-worker's wife took a photo of their youngest daughter jumping on a trampoline. It is one of the cutest shots I have seen. Her pigtails are flying free, her back is to the camera yet you can see the joy in her body language. Had her mom worried about the camera settings this moment would have been lost.
Now, don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for making sure that everything is exposed properly and that the framing is correct, but for me the most important thing is that the image is captured in a way that touches my heart.
One of the things I love is to hear the story behind the photos. There are a lot of my photos that were literally just shot on the fly. For example this photo I took in Liberia earlier this year:
It was literally 5-months after I had returned back to Scottsdale when I realized what I had captured. If you look closely, the ice cream vendor is scooping some of his cool treat directly into the hand of his customer. I love this shot. There is not long story behind how I captured it. I was in a Land Rover and I caught this image as we zoomed by. That's it.
But then, there are stories like the following two photos. I warn you!!! The second one is very difficult to look at, but his story MUST be told.
My first surgery.
Little Sadie.
Both of these photos were taken when I was in Liberia on a mission trip. There is a story behind both of these photos. Powerful ones you can read on my other blog. Click HERE to read more about them. The link will not take you directly to the photos story, my time in Liberia not a story you can fully comprehend by reading one blog entry. I was only there for 30-days, so while it is a bit of a read, I assure you, you will walk away with some things to ponder.
What lead me to write this post was a website I found. These are award winning photographs from all over the world. The photographer tells the "behind-the-scenes" to these award winning captures. It is a bit like renting a DVD and getting the untold stories on how a movie was created. Take a peak by clicking HERE.
I shoot stills because I love to capture the moment. I make my living as a video director for a church in Scottsdale, but my first passion is stills. My co-worker's wife took a photo of their youngest daughter jumping on a trampoline. It is one of the cutest shots I have seen. Her pigtails are flying free, her back is to the camera yet you can see the joy in her body language. Had her mom worried about the camera settings this moment would have been lost.
Now, don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for making sure that everything is exposed properly and that the framing is correct, but for me the most important thing is that the image is captured in a way that touches my heart.
One of the things I love is to hear the story behind the photos. There are a lot of my photos that were literally just shot on the fly. For example this photo I took in Liberia earlier this year:
It was literally 5-months after I had returned back to Scottsdale when I realized what I had captured. If you look closely, the ice cream vendor is scooping some of his cool treat directly into the hand of his customer. I love this shot. There is not long story behind how I captured it. I was in a Land Rover and I caught this image as we zoomed by. That's it.
But then, there are stories like the following two photos. I warn you!!! The second one is very difficult to look at, but his story MUST be told.
My first surgery.
Little Sadie.
Both of these photos were taken when I was in Liberia on a mission trip. There is a story behind both of these photos. Powerful ones you can read on my other blog. Click HERE to read more about them. The link will not take you directly to the photos story, my time in Liberia not a story you can fully comprehend by reading one blog entry. I was only there for 30-days, so while it is a bit of a read, I assure you, you will walk away with some things to ponder.
What lead me to write this post was a website I found. These are award winning photographs from all over the world. The photographer tells the "behind-the-scenes" to these award winning captures. It is a bit like renting a DVD and getting the untold stories on how a movie was created. Take a peak by clicking HERE.
1 comment:
Powerful, Kimberly. You need to be taking more and more photos. Always.
I looooove that shot of Zion too. It's one of my all time favorite moments.... captured forever.
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