Photocrastination

 

What one factor ruins more good photographs than any other? More than wrong exposure. More than missed focus. More than camera movement. What is it? It's procrastination. A close second is failure to carry your camera.

There are many reasons why we might pass up a good photo opportunity, but one of the most common ones is hurry. We have to get somewhere and we don't think we have time to stop to make a photograph. Another reason is inconvenience. Or maybe I should call it laziness. We see the photo, but we also see it won't be as good if taken from where we are. We'll have to move a bit, maybe walk a little distance to get in best position for the shot.

Probably the number one hindrance to good people photography is fear. For that matter, fear of being open and vulnerable is the greatest hindrance in most human relationships. Fear often shows itself as an inertia which suggests all kinds of reasons why you shouldn't take the picture now. Later will be better. The light will be better. The people may be more receptive. You don't have the right camera. Or the right lens. Later...but not now. If you want to make good photographs of people, you must put aside your fear and inertia by an act of your will and begin to photograph -- now. Not later -- now! 

High on the western side of Pigeon Mountain is a small enclosed valley -- known in the southern Appalachians as a "pocket." Someone told us about it not long after we came to McLemore Cove, and of course, we wanted to see it for ourselves. Driving back along the gravel road that led to the Pocket, we passed a cornfield where an old man and his wife were picking corn. It was Fred "Coon" Hise, then in his 80s, and his wife Myrtle. We stopped and they came over to talk with us, their arms full of corn and their faces full of simple goodness. The scene was overwhelmingly reminiscent of a famous 1930s FSA photograph of an Iowa farmer and his wife holding the products of their farm. I had my camera; I could have taken the picture; but somehow, I didn't. I've missed many shots in my career as a photographer, and some I regret more than others. But this was the one I regret more than any other.

As the little signs that people used to hang on their office walls admonished, DO IT NOW!

Copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone