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February 13, 2006

Photography angst

I've been spending several hours the past few days browsing various photography galleries (ranging from cosplay photoshoots, sports, to weddings)... and it made me realize that my skills haven't improved this past year.

I can't describe what I feel that my pictures lack, because I don't even know myself. Maybe a sense of "soul" or emotion? I guess this self-evaluation got started when I read some message board thread on wedding photography advice... there was one comment that particularly struck me: "Anybody can hide behind a tree with a zoom lens panning the crowd to take a great candid shot."

The context of the comment was: professionals need to know how to pose their subjects quickly and effectively. Part of me feels that this doesn't apply to me as the whole point of the photojournalist style is to tell a story or capture a moment without disrupting the photographee(s).

Maybe I'm just rationalizing but no matter the case, the question then becomes: do my pictures tell a story? Or are they simply snapshots? Maybe I'm just getting bored of shooting the same style and content and need to mix things up... perhaps that means going out on random photo outings around the city or posting my pictures in a place like pbase.com, with lots of pro photographer traffic so my chance of getting constructive critiques increase?

...I can't believe I wrote a whole entry on this crap! Haha...
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On an entirely different note: I'm really looking forward to WCC this weekend! I'm seriously contemplating attending Urbana 2006 this year, too! I have never attended Urbana before, but after hearing so many awesome things about it from friends, this seems like a great time/opportunity!

Posted by stevelee at February 13, 2006 02:21 AM

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