Travel & Humanitarian Photos
I’m addicted. If you’re a digital photographer then I bet you’re addicted too. At the recent Phi Ta Khon festival I saw a lot of other addicts, their addiction made apparent by the small but obvious nervous tick that all addicts display.
I’m addicted to checking that little LCD screen on the back of my camera. It’s a crutch, I know, and I tell myself I can stop any time I like but the truth is that I’m hooked.
At the festival there were plenty of photographers including several from a Canon User group. Watching them for a while it became obvious just how addicted to that LCD screen we have all become. As soon as the shutter had fired it was camera down, head down and thumbs on the control buttons. OK, there’s value in checking the histogram but we’ve only recently had that luxury and I managed to take photos OK before I even knew what a histogram was. So I’ve been working hard to kick the habit and concentrating on not seeking the reassuring kick of seeing the image preview straight away.
A couple of things prompted this decision to limit my use of the LCD. Firstly, having seen other photographers fail to capture a potentially good shot immediately after one they’d just taken I wanted to make sure that I’m not missing out too. Secondly, before the festival, I’d set myself a challenge of photographing things in sets of three where possible, thereby reducing the opportunities to peer into the LCD.
We all know about Cartier Bresson’s “decisive moment” and, as photographers, we hopefully also know the sensation of having timed our shot just right and having captured a decisive moment for ourselves. However, what if there’s more than one decisive moment in the space of a few seconds? What if decisive moments follow one after the other on occasion? There’s no reason why they shouldn’t.
Photographing subjects in sets of three helps you to look at a subject with fresh eyes. After the initial choice of angle, focal length, shutter speed and aperture is made you can seek a fresh perspective, think about how else to show the subject and find a different view for each of your next two shots. For portraits, snapping three frames increases the chances of catching a different expression and it’s interesting how many people break into a wide smile the moment after they hear the shutter fire for the first time. Keeping the camera to your eye and resisting the temptation to check the LCD offers more opportunities.
I was pleased with this picture of a lady at the Phi Ta Khon festival and it was definitely one of those moments when I felt that I’d got exactly what I wanted as soon as the shutter fired but, with my Picture Trio Challenge in mind, I kept the camera to my eye and fired off two more frames. Which is the decisive one? Judge for yourself but I think that each has its merits and would work equally as well as the others when seen on its own. However, the three together as a sequence make an even better job of showing the lady’s character and I’m sure they’ll become inseperable in my mind from now on.
So, don’t fall victim to the LCD Preview Demon and try to shoot another couple of frames when you can. It’s a hard habit to break but take it from this reformed character, it’s worth the effort.