Do you stage pictures, or do you just shoot what you see?

[Lss]

I mostly shoot what I see.

 

[sreed2006]

Many small plants have been wounded or died while I was out photographing and they were in the way of what looked like a good picture. On the other hand, I have served as part of the food chain for innumerable insects, so Mother Nature and I are probably even.

Trash laying on the ground gets moved quite frequently. That comes from taking too many pictures that would have been acceptable, if not for the trash in the scene being a distraction. Once in awhile, the trash is the subject, but I have never arranged trash just to photograph it.

Sometimes, I set up a corner or room of the house as a studio, and that means manipulating everything - moving furniture, setting up the lighting, posing the person(s), or setting up the object to be photographed. It is a lot of work. I do get good results using that technique, and enjoy the process of creating the scene.

When I just grab a camera and go out taking pictures of what I see, most often I do not get any picture worth sharing or keeping. I cannot put an exact percentage to how bad it is, but I know it is over 99% non-keepers. So, as much as I like to photograph that way, I've cut way back on it just to save on film costs and/or disk space.

 

[OurManInTangier]

I've always just photographed what I've seen in terms of personal pics, the stuff I post here. However I've become bored and frustrated with photographing on the street and am looking to do something a little different but hopefully that different thing can involve a bit of both.

For work it usually involves both aspects but posing, arranging and lighting is a massive part of the job...thankfully I'm not bored of that!

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I always shoot what I see, and I have one project in particular where I must stage more-or-less the subject (which of course I'd have to see). Outside of that, it's all "as it happens".

 

[jwc57]

I guess I should have mentioned that all studio work is staged. I was speaking about environmental/documentary work before. Food or people, everything else is staged in some way...including building small sets. I'm working on a "garage" scene now.

It is getting more difficult to do portraits on location and catch a few unrehearsed moments. I noticed on some of the more recent shoots that, as soon as the camera came up, they stopped whatever intimate moment they were sharing, looked at me and smiled. Shooting a true photojournalist/documentary wedding is impossible today. The brides expect "staged" shots. It also seems to have become more about the photography than the wedding. I've heard complaints of wedding photographers taking a couple of hours for group portraits, then stealing the bride and groom away from the reception for more. I try to find couples that want me to document the day, not become a part of it. It just isn't what sells today.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I will never directly change a photo, not because of any rule but because I believe I make better photos that way. I only photograph people I did not previously know and will frequently shoot a frame, rewind, then let the subject react to being photographed in a subsequent frame. They seem to create better photo ops than I can.

 

[crawdiddy]

Ummm... Small Tibetan boys pissing on Chinese flag. I paid for the tea. Otherwise, no.

Cheers,

R.

This cracks me up!

I hope you blur theTebetan boy's face, lest he end up in Chinese prison camp.

 

[Joe AC]

Never stage my pictures unless it before I'm about to shoot.

Joe

 

[jcrutcher]

Ummm... Small Tibetan boys pissing on Chinese flag. I paid for the tea. Otherwise, no.

Cheers,

R.

This is the best!

 

[Peter^]

Thanks everybody for all the answers in this thread. It is great insight into the way you work. I've learned a few things.

 

[Kent]

I normally only shoot what I see.
Only when I take gear shots, I of course arrange the items.

 

[daveleo]

When I am creating "art", I do this and that and everything else before and after hitting the shutter button.

When I am recording my life, I shoot what I see.

I didn't vote because the categories are exclusive of each other.

 

[jwnash1]

I shoot what I see. I am not artsy enough to stage something. Don't have the vision.
John

 

[taxi38]

gut reaction was ¨never!¨,but in truth every shot is arranged and controlled by my movement and by my waiting for the cheese to arrive.

ps., Im only referring to street photography,still lifes tend to be arranged,...liberally.

 

[farlymac]

I have been known to move some offending stuff out of the view before a shot, or bending a tree branch that was blocking the light. But then the same thing goes for post work, like when I removed the orange electric cord growing out of my nieces head at her engagement party.

It just depends on what the shot is supposed to represent.

PF

 

[TXForester]

With a still life, sometimes. If I photograph a wildflower, I might move a leaf or stem of grass out of the way. Usually I see if I can find a composition that doesn't need altering before I adjust the subject. With other subjects, I don't arrange things and take them as they come even if they don't make a strong photo.

 

[one90guy]

I shoot as I see it and gave up trying to get grandchildren to pose.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I hope you blur the Tibetan boy's face, lest he end up in Chinese prison camp.

They were born in exile and were unlikely to go to occupied Tibet, at least before they were grown up. Where there was any danger of anyone going back to Tibet and being recognized, yes, blur. I've met enough people who've been tortured and raped to be careful about this one.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nokton48]

Depends.

I've been to many, many events where it is to everybody's advantage, for me to take control and direct every aspect of the shoot.

Other times it is best to lay back and see what you can make of it.

 

[hidejoshi]

I change time and conditions, no scene. Sometimes realy shoot.