Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="BackdoorArts" data-source="post: 397236" data-attributes="member: 9240">(My apologies to Pretzel because I posted the "no comment" thing as an edit and he likely didn't see it - my bad).OK, I'll start...I started 2014 with one goal - Slow down, "see" instead of just "look", be ready to take a photo at any time, and when you see a shot take the shot, even if it means stopping what you're doing and/or turning around in the car and going back to get it.  And I did just that.  I was amazed at the things I saw to photograph, and the quality of the photos I was getting.  That inspired me to "see" even more, which in turn got me more opportunities to grab a shot.  There is a photo from early 2014 that frames this entire goal and what I was able to achieve following this rule, but that's not what I want to show.  Because as I started shooting more and more, I started noticing patterns in my shots, and frankly I noticed that while I was always thrilled with what I was shooting, and was definitely growing as a photographer, my photography wasn't stretching me as a person.  I was playing it safe because I was always shooting stuff and not someone, and I really liked shots of people.  Once in a while I'd grab someone when they weren't looking, but always at a distance and always surreptitiously.Then, on a Saturday morning in July, I decided I needed to change that.  So I grabbed a pair of cameras and headed off to the Easton Farmer's Market, a place I'd shot a couple weeks prior, but this time with one goal - Photograph People!!  There were lots of interesting faces there - I knew, I'd seen them, and as I wandered around my heart pumped a little harder as I raised the camera and took a photo of someone I didn't know without their permission.  Yay for me!!  But still, it was never overt, never obvious, and always without them noticing.  But there was this one guy.  A great looking character hunched over a cup of coffee that looked like he would rip my head off if he caught me taking his photo without permission.  SERIOUSLY!!  So, I was going to leave without taking the shot, but then I thought about the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year (which is why I mentioned that part first) and turned around, walked up to him and asked, "Would it be OK if I took your photo?"Bam!!![ATTACH=full]131268[/ATTACH]The stern, gruffness that I had hoped to capture disappeared in an instant as he said, "Who, me?!", and then beamed at me with the best crooked teeth I could ever hope for.  In that moment a timid nature, rural decay and landscape photographer was joined by someone with a love for street photography and shooting the human condition, forever transforming what I now "see" with the camera.  And, as an added bonus, in processing this image I stumbled on a technique blending B&W and color layers that I've since refined in a way that allows me to go from subtle to extreme manipulation of textures and luminosity - but that in and of itself has nothing to do with why this is my "Best photo of 2014"</blockquote>

Verification