power of photography

All posts tagged power of photography

Everyone Is Capable Of Making Photographs That Matter If…

Posted by scottbourne on June 16, 2013
Posted in: Opinion, Tips. Tagged: .

Everyone Is Capable Of Making Photographs That Matter If…They can listen to their heart and avoid the trolls. In this world (which from my vantage point seems to be full of more hate, despair, snark and ugly people than ever.) Photography remains a shining light. Photography, when done from the heart, can make people laugh, cry, remember, act, react, change, plan, adapt and feel.

There are those among us who live bitter, unhappy lives. They can’t do these things. They can’t move people. They can’t even get attention unless they are shouting. These haters are jealous of any success you might have, because they themselves have always been worthless failures. They have the power to change. But they won’t.

So you should shun them. You should avoid and ignore them at all cost. You should block them out of your life in every way. Even if it’s your own family, these people will destroy you if you let them. Block them. Set their email addresses to spam. Don’t interact with them. Pretend they do not exist.

What would happen if you took the energy you use now to fend off, duel with, and argue with the cowardly trolls? I can tell you what would happen. Your life would change for the better. Your photography would change for the better. You would become a better, happier person and the world around you would improve. Talk about power!

You can make a difference, even in this polarized world we live in. You can make someone’s day by making their portrait and telling them they look nice. You can change someone’s life by giving them a wedding album – something that will become the first heirloom of a new beginning – a new family. You can leave photographs that live longer than you do because they move people to ask questions, to search, to seek.

You can do amazing things with a camera. You really can. You just need to know that you have that power – no matter who you are, where you live, what color your skin, what political party you support – YOU can make a difference You have that power – despite the emotionally crippled idiot who spams your social media stream. You have that power – despite the fact that the jealous fool in your camera club constantly berates you.

You have the power. It’s in you. It is you. It’s all around you. All you need to do is believe it and have one other person believe it too. I hereby volunteer to be that person. I volunteer to root for each and every one of you who’s been told you’re not good enough or that your work sucks. I am re-dedicating myself to pulling for the little guy (gal.) I am here to tell you that if I can do it, you can do it, because I am certainly the least among you.

I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of making photographs that move people. I know what that feels like. And I want you to know it to.

The next time someone tries to get in your way remember this. They are the one who is lonely and miserable and doomed to a failed life. They want to bring you down too so they aren’t lonely. You have the choice to leave them where they belong, and move on. Or you can be taken in by their hate, envy and jealousy. The choice is yours. I am here rooting for you to make the right choice. Do it now. Do it today. And to help you see the value of what I am talking about, watch the Kodak video at the top of this post. If that doesn’t convince you of the value of photography, nothing will.

Keep me – Protect me – Share Me – and I will live forever – that is the theme of this old Kodak spot. It’s more powerful than any negative influence in your life. Believe it. Remember it. Put it to good use. I’ll be in the bleachers clapping for you.

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Capture A Moment – Before It Goes Away Forever

Posted by scottbourne on November 12, 2010
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: .

Copyright Scott Bourne 1995 - All Rights Reserved

The ability to capture a moment – That’s the magic of photography. It allows us to capture and preserve moments in time – before they leave us forever. The photograph above is one of my favorites. Not because it’s technically perfect. It isn’t. It’s an old film shot scanned before the scanners were very good. But I love the place and the peace and the mood.

Today I found out that the shot above of Paradise Falls on Mt. Rainier is no longer possible to shoot. Since Mt. Rainier suffers from severe geological activity, there are often major floods. A flood changed the landscape in this end of the park so dramatically that this shot can no longer be made. Fortunately, my shot will live on past me and people who know this place will have the chance to remember it as it was. That’s the power of photography.

The world we live in is fleeting. Our time here limited. It seems like just yesterday I was a young man. It seems like just yesterday I built my first web site; saw the first digital camera; and made my first print. But it was actually a long time ago. Time really does fly. That’s why the moments we capture with our cameras matter.

The next time you’re tempted to debate something petty like Nikon v. Canon, or film v. digital or Lightroom v. Aperture, ask yourself if that time wouldn’t be better spent making photos of the fleeting moments that occupy your life. Ask yourself who in your life you wish you could make a portrait of before they are gone.What special place does your family always want to remember? Spend time shooting, not engaging in pedantic, petty arguments. Photography is a special gift. Photography is a time machine. It is the only thing I know of that can stop time. Today I am going to go photograph three people I know who matter to me. I am going to record the moments we have together. I’ll deal with everything else later. These moments and the people they are attached to will now live forever.

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This post sponsored by the Digital SLR Store

Isolate The Most Powerful Moment

Posted by scottbourne on September 7, 2010
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: .

Copyright Scott Bourne 2005 - All Rights Reserved

While I’ve spent a great deal of time over the last two years studying and shooting video on the hybrid DSLRs, I have to admit there’s one big advantage still photography has over video – at least for me personally. That is the ability to isolate the most powerful moments.

When you watch a video, you see many moments (anywhere from 24-30 typically) per second. It’s hard to isolate in your brain one precise moment and study it.

When you view a photograph – it’s as if time stood still for that moment. You get to really, really look deeply into that precise moment in time and study its inherent power. You get the chance to revel in it. You get the chance to marvel at it. You get the chance to catalog it in your brain forever. You get to celebrate it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen plenty of moving, emotional, powerful video. But there’s just something special about still photography’s ability to capture that “defining” moment as Henri Cartier-Bresson said.

Most of you know that I love photographing birds. One of the advantages of photographing birds with still cameras is that you get to see them in a particularly intimate moment. The final flap of a wing before landing – the  capture of a fish from the lake – the feeding of a chick…all these moments “fly” by in real life at a pace that is so fleeting, you rarely see it or notice it.

Thanks to the power of photography to capture and isolate the most powerful moment, I’ve seen and studied things I never before knew existed. And one of the real advantages of that is I get to relive those moments over and over through the images I made. In the case of the photo above, we see why you don’t want to mess with a peregrine falcon – especially if you’re a pigeon!

I’ve written here before of our obligation to make sure our images are the best we can make them. These moments – these powerful moments that we capture – they are history for future generations. They are the present for us here and now, but later, after everyone who is currently reading this post is gone, the images will live on.

Make sure you remember this the next time you photograph a child or a bride or a bird or a car or a house or a sunset, etc. Remember that the capture of that powerful moment has more power than you may know.

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This post sponsored by X-Rite Color and the ColorChecker Passport