Life's little (photo) lessons - what are yours?

[wlewisiii]

And even on stage, the best shots were always between song's.

 

[boojum]

As someone who shoots a lot of sports, I always feel that the out of play images are at least 30% of an event, with 70% of the images coming from performance/competition. Crowd going nuts, people embracing or high-fiving, athletes in tears or screaming with joy, those are the documentary images that need coverage almost as much as the athlete in action. So a more general guideline is to shoot for emotion and scenes as much as action and performance.

The fellow I was thinking of is William Albert Allard. Very few photographers attract me. The ones who do always seem to shoot at the edges. Here is a link to Allard. I hope you enjoy what he has shot. He has some stuff on YT that is interesting and instructive, at least for me.

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And this wonderful YT link. I think the guy is great,

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[Dogman]

There were a couple of guys on the competing daily paper who, like me, always got the best photos from the crowd, cheerleaders, coaches, etc., than from the action. The difference was, their sports editor would run their photos. Mine only wanted something with a ball in it and he didn't care jack schmitt for the sideline stuff. Frustrating as hell.



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[boojum]

There were a couple of guys on the competing daily paper who, like me, always got the best photos from the crowd, cheerleaders, coaches, etc., than from the action. The difference was, their sports editor would run their photos. Mine only wanted something with a ball in it and he didn't care jack schmitt for the sideline stuff. Frustrating as hell.



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Sounds like he was a classic example of the Peter Principle. But, look at the work you are doing now. Hah! Revenge is sweet. OK, that's negative. It is fun to be able to shoot what you want and to do it well.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Sounds like he was a classic example of the Peter Principle.

That's a blast from the past! I think I read "The Peter Principle" about fifty years ago.

All the best,
Mike

 

[jpressman]

One small lesson for me is to let the images sit on the SD card for a couple of weeks before I take a look at them. I need some distance from my feeling at the time of taking the shot, and I can be more objective about whether or not it's ok. I've taken many many photos that I thought were great at the time that turned out to be just so-so or even bad.

 

[Anthony Harvey]

Thanks for the William Allard links Boojum. I didn't know of him. A really great photographer. Very calm and unassuming as a person and so naturally talented. Very interesting, a pleasure to listen to him and to see such superb photos that do really catch the moment. As he says, he's really a people photographer, and to my mind one of the best.

 

[wlewisiii]

Thanks for the William Allard links Boojum. I didn't know of him. A really great photographer. Very calm and unassuming as a person and so naturally talented. Very interesting, a pleasure to listen to him and to see such superb photos that do really catch the moment. As he says, he's really a people photographer, and to my mind one of the best.

It's not fair to him at all, but when you said that, I remembered the scene on Deep Space where, right before he get's Garak to try root beer, Quark complains that he's a "people person" 🤣 Must be why I like doing my landscapes... "A man's got to know his limitations." 🙂

 

[chuckroast]

The fellow I was thinking of is William Albert Allard. Very few photographers attract me. The ones who do always seem to shoot at the edges. Here is a link to Allard. I hope you enjoy what he has shot. He has some stuff on YT that is interesting and instructive, at least for me.

​

Thanks so much for this introduction. Superb work. Just .. wow.

 

[Leon C]

And even on stage, the best shots were always between song's.

Ahem! 😉

 

[boojum]

I am gratified to have shared with you Allard. As a young man, say 13, I saw The Decisive Moment right around when it was first published. I knew it was being praised as a masterpiece but it just did not do much for me. And it still leaves me cold. But Vivian Meier and Allard touch something within me, Meier in mono and Allard in color. They shoot people. And to me without people all we have is scenery. I need more and I need to be able to understand it. Meier and Allard are understandable to me. Yes, I am not the sharpest knife on the tree.

Shooting the edges is great advice. I mentioned shooting some Little League. The offhand dugout shots are better that the "hit the ball" shots. I have a small project going of the local Tuesday night pinball league. They are kind and let me wander in their silver ball world without fuss. I hope to get maybe a half dozen good shots.

 

[chuckroast]

I am gratified to have shared with you Allard. As a young man, say 13, I saw The Decisive Moment right around when it was first published. I knew it was being praised as a masterpiece but it just did not do much for me. And it still leaves me cold. But Vivian Meier and Allard touch something within me, Meier in mono and Allard in color. They shoot people. And to me without people all we have is scenery. I need more and I need to be able to understand it. Meier and Allard are understandable to me. Yes, I am not the sharpest knife on the tree.

Shooting the edges is great advice. I mentioned shooting some Little League. The offhand dugout shots are better that the "hit the ball" shots. I have a small project going of the local Tuesday night pinball league. They are kind and let me wander in their silver ball world without fuss. I hope to get maybe a half dozen good shots.

Yes, that is my big takeway from this thread (and Allard and - now that you mention her - Maier). Don't just get close, shoot the edges. New explorations await!

 

[boojum]

Allard, another observation: If you notice his photos and their colors there is a warmth to them. Even shots with cooler colors like blues and greens have a warmth to them. Is it his appreciation of the light, the talent of the darkroom dogs or lens magic, or something else? I like the warmer colors/lenses/compositions and tend towards lenses which offer that. It is why I like retro lenses and modern remakes of retro prescriptions.

The first Allard YT clip shows him with a Leica Q, 28mm, and his M body with a 50. Allard conjures warmth from both. He says he likes Leica lenses and shoots with them. So it is he who makes the magic, or he and the darkroom dogs/image editors. Regardless, the results we have seen are wonderful. So, how does he do it? ;o)