Notes 2009 David duChemin Within the Frame, The journey of photographic vision. DEWEY 779
--cf gif from sample kindle ebook; bonus PDF chapter, peachpit.com/withintheframe
blog, http://pixelatedimage.com flickr.com/withintheframe [cf flickr.com/groups/withintheframe]
16 As you press the shutter, ask yourself, “What is it about this person, this place, that compels me to capture this image [speaks to me]? Am I capturing this in a way that most clearly communicates that?”
23 subject MATTER (physis) versus your SUBJECT (at heart/intention): Kashmiri man vs ‘family’
24 […bus sprays road puddle] –all ways I can better shoot wetness. It’s an image of people in the rain, but it’s *about wetness.
38 [Gear is Good, Vision is Better] …we become addicted to the *how of photography, and when that happens, the *why and the *what suffer.
40 it’s when the artist and the geek/technician are both held in tension that our vision has the greatest chance of being realized.
46 [exposure triangle: ISO + aperture + shutter] Pick the first, then find the best compromise between the remaining two… based on your vision.
85 [photo essay recipe] establishing shot, medium shot [the story is about…], detail, portrait, moment [wow peak], closing up
92 [eye catching elements list] large >small elements, light >dark, warm >cool, focused >blurred, 3 perspectival >flat, isolated >cluttered, contrasty >dull, oblique line> straight, recognizable >abstract, human/living >inanimate objects.
169 Shoot the things that catch *your eye [group these to discover your themes; connect the dots]
171 [context rooted] …how much time you allow yourself to see it, to soak it in, to listen to the place. The longer you take, the better you hear it.
173 The more levels on which a place engages and captivates you, the more compelled you are –and the more able you are –to photograph it.
175 [travel] shoot between 5 and 10 a.m… 4 and 10 p.m shooting again, depending on the time of year.
178 [streamline logistics/risks to focus on place/subject] …we aren’t in the moment. We lose… our receptivity. We stop being attentive, even when we are trying so hard. Too hard, in fact… stuck on transmit instead of receive. [cf novelist’s ear for real dialogue; patterns; relationships in flow/process]
193 [landscapes] …the interplay of light, weather, and land… a truly excellent landscape can give a sense of the scope, beauty, and feel of a place…
194 [identify your intention/subject] Is it about color? [light? History? Texture?] Focus on that… simply and powerfully [mpz Strunk and White: active , robust English composing habits and sentence building]
198 [emotion of place] moody? Is it luminous? …Now make an image that says so.
203 [edge-cut sun: go to shadow interface on ground for exact spot; (f)stop down to lessen starbursts]
244 [Afterword. Vincent Versace] …we start to focus on the technical rather [than] on what truly makes a photographer, which is their voice [mpz handwriters]… We look for the tip or the quick trick rather than pursue making magic. We learn to make sharp photographs of fuzzy ideas. The poet finds himself imprisoned while experiencing the technical revolution.
…best photographers are the ones who do not take photographs, but have learned how to let the photographs take them. They allow themselves to be moved…
245 Focus on finding and exploring your voice first, discover what it means to see rather than merely look.