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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-21-2012, 12:37 AM
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Except my head. It is very pointy.
<8-)
But I digress. The point of any exercise is to flex one's muscles, physical and mental and probably spiritual if we last long enough. Ever learnt a musical instrument? Ever played scales endlessly? Why bother with that tedious theoretical exercise? It leads nowhere -- except to knowing where notes are, and playing arpeggios, and eventually Rogers and Hammerstein write the DO RE ME song, etc.
All these photographic exercises do is (hopefully) help one think & see & photograph in different ways. But why impose such limitations? So we can learn to be escape artists, to tear down our (mental) walls. Suppose you have a 4-string violin. Is Bach's AIR ON A G-STRING too limiting? Suppose you're surf guitarist Dick Dale. Is playing MISIRLOU on just the A-string too limiting? Limits make us work.
I could argue that great music is no longer created because musicians have too many tools that can do almost anything. So instead of thinking up (creating) new ways to make strings (for example) evoke our emotions sonically, we need merely plug in a desired digital sample. I'll even suggest that in-camera effects give photographers too many tools for manipulating images without working at it.
Enough for now. Time to stick my head back into the point-sharpener.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-15-2012, 03:36 PM
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And that's exactly the point. (That, and becoming familiar with gear and practices we might otherwise neglect.) Too much capability isn't always good. Too often, if we have the tools to do anything we want, we end up doing nothing worthwhile. That's why I sometimes overgeneralize that an AF zoom is good for taking pictures whilst an MF prime is good for making pictures. Just that little limitation is enough to force concentration.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-02-2012, 09:05 PM
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Good idea! And how about tilted frames? TFOTD, right. Stay at 45 degrees.
Thanks! (Thumbs-ups are always appreciated, heh heh.) Some other tricks:
* Color of the day (COTD): Only shoot red, or blue, or yellow stuff, etc.
* Vantage of the day (VOTD): Only shoot straight up, or straight down, etc.
* Body of the day (BOTD): Only shoot one person's body. Maybe not your own.
I'm sure y'all can come up with other possibilities. As I said, an xOTD can last more than one day. But the point of these limitations is to force some new visions, different ways of seeing and thinking and approaching the world. The color-vantage-body exercises, well, y'all could cheat a little, eh? But sticking with one lens or one setting is self-enforcing. You WILL think creatively! Or else.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-02-2012, 06:12 PM
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Some of y'all may recall my LOTD (lens of the day) strategy. I have a zillion lenses. Rather than stick to my favorites and neglect the rest, I play LOTD. I'll stick some lens (maybe chosen at random) on the camera and use only that one lens for a day or ten. This allows|forces me to see from specific viewpoints, within specific limitations. And some of the LOTD glass become favorites, whilst others head for the sell pile.
Sometimes I take it even further. I've wandered around for a couple days with just an M42 300/5.6 lens mounted on a no-infinity-focus M42-PK adapter. That forces me to look for subjects in a 6-degree field of view, at distances between 2-150m. I truly see stuff that I just wouldn't notice otherwise, because I *must* look in that narrow range.
But more possibilities exist. I'm not limited to lenses. Here are some 'daily' exercises:
* Aperture of the day (AOTD): Whatever lens(es) you use, stay at f/4 or f/22 or wherever. Control DOF by proper placement of camera, subject, surroundings.
* Shutter of the day (SOTD): Set the dial to Tv and pick one speed and stay there. Control exposure with only aperture and ISO adjustments, and lighting.
* Mode of the day (MOTD): Try lesser-used dial settings -- Green, TAv, M, whatever. B can be fun. So can X, which locks you into a 1/180 second SOTD.
* Distance of the day (DOTD): Fix the focus at some point and leave it there. Move to get interesting shots. I do this with enlarger lenses on macro tubes.
* Filter of the day (FOTD): Shoot B&W with a digital set or an optical filter mounted. Use only Magenta or Green or Cyan or Red or Blue or 'IR' or whatever.
Working within limitations fosters craft and creativity, allows|forces us to see in different ways, exercises the muscles betwixt our ears. Maybe keep a P&S in your pocket for shots you stumble upon and don't want to miss; otherwise, work within these limitations. You'll be glad you did.
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