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last night my husband and i went with about 100 other people to a lecture given by Esther Beaton. i had never heard of her before, but loved the photography on her website.
Esther's presentation consisted of her showing (using power point), many photos she has taken over the years. some in 35mm film and some from the last four years in digital.
with each series of photos she showed, she talked about where the photos were taken, why they were taken and offered to tell us how they were taken.
i have known all along that i love hearing the stories behind photos, love adding words to them. it was great to hear her talking about little anecdotes as she came across images that triggered her memory.
i think she talked for just over an hour and a half and then there was questioning time where the audience could ask her anything they liked. only three or four questions were asked - i wanted to ask so much but it feels kinda daunting amongst a whole crowd of photographers. so i stayed quiet and just listened.
anyway, one of the things she talked about was taking 'Photo Stories'. having one topic and then taking a whole range of photos, and then adding writing.
i.e. one photo story she shared was based on the Funnel Web Spider. she took photos not only of the spider in its home habitat, but also set up images where the spider was going to walk into a shoe, where it was on the doorstep of a house in the evening, where the spiders were in pots in a science lab (they have venom that was being taken to create an antidote), where the spider was eating etc. she researched the spider and then planned many shots that she thought she might like to take, and planned the lighting also. the publisher asked her to write words to go with the images, so she did.
she took way more photos than she knew the publishers would use, she kept the rights to her photos and was able to use other photos in the same series, with another 'story' written by a scientist, in order to publish them in another magazine.
it sure gave me more food for thought. i never thought about sitting down and planning a series of shots in this manner.
i'm sharing the idea because with Ike having visited recently, perhaps somebody here might like to do your own Photo Story. i hope someone does, i'd love to see and to read your perspective.
oh and if you've never been to a photographer's lecture, i recommend them. not only do you get to enjoy looking at other photographer's work, but you also learn new ways of doing things and in this fast paced digital era, learning and change is part of the photographer's lot, methinks.
rosesm
Esther's presentation consisted of her showing (using power point), many photos she has taken over the years. some in 35mm film and some from the last four years in digital.
with each series of photos she showed, she talked about where the photos were taken, why they were taken and offered to tell us how they were taken.
i have known all along that i love hearing the stories behind photos, love adding words to them. it was great to hear her talking about little anecdotes as she came across images that triggered her memory.
i think she talked for just over an hour and a half and then there was questioning time where the audience could ask her anything they liked. only three or four questions were asked - i wanted to ask so much but it feels kinda daunting amongst a whole crowd of photographers. so i stayed quiet and just listened.
anyway, one of the things she talked about was taking 'Photo Stories'. having one topic and then taking a whole range of photos, and then adding writing.
i.e. one photo story she shared was based on the Funnel Web Spider. she took photos not only of the spider in its home habitat, but also set up images where the spider was going to walk into a shoe, where it was on the doorstep of a house in the evening, where the spiders were in pots in a science lab (they have venom that was being taken to create an antidote), where the spider was eating etc. she researched the spider and then planned many shots that she thought she might like to take, and planned the lighting also. the publisher asked her to write words to go with the images, so she did.
she took way more photos than she knew the publishers would use, she kept the rights to her photos and was able to use other photos in the same series, with another 'story' written by a scientist, in order to publish them in another magazine.
it sure gave me more food for thought. i never thought about sitting down and planning a series of shots in this manner.
i'm sharing the idea because with Ike having visited recently, perhaps somebody here might like to do your own Photo Story. i hope someone does, i'd love to see and to read your perspective.
oh and if you've never been to a photographer's lecture, i recommend them. not only do you get to enjoy looking at other photographer's work, but you also learn new ways of doing things and in this fast paced digital era, learning and change is part of the photographer's lot, methinks.
rosesm
