Shooting without thinking

[gbverde]

I'm told by my instructor that most digital photographers fall into the trap of shooting too many images and not thinking about each image enough to make it the best image possible.  He maintains that even pros have this problem.  

I recall that one National Geographic photographer tired of shooting hundreds of images daily, so as an experiment and personal challenge, he shot one image a day for 90 days, publishing a book of these photos.  The location was northern Minnesota or Michigan.  I'd like to read this book, but I can't remember the photographers name and I can't locate it on the web.

I'm sure someone out there knows this book, and I'd appreciate that info.

Also, any comments on the too-many-shots-not-enough-thought issue?

[DarkPenguin]

Chased by the Light by Jim Brandenburg.  There is also a video available about the book.

His Looking for Summer is also a wonderful book.

[BernardLanguillier]

Also, any comments on the too-many-shots-not-enough-thought issue?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=219844\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I guess that you need a brain to answer this question?

I'll give it a try anyway. Having been based in Japan for a long time, I have gotten very used to the less is more idea underlying many things around here, starting with zen itself of course.

I find that it applies to photography as well, and especially landscape photography. This came as a revelation when I started to shoot 4x5 and is still highly benefetical now that I am back shooting more digital.

The less is more has to be applied not just when shooting, but also when editing.

Cheers,
Bernard

[wolfnowl]

I think it definitely depends on the type of photography you're doing.  With landscape photography I put a lot of thought into the work that I do, and even with digital I'll often set up an image, play with composition, zoom, etc., think about it, and then decide it's not an image worth making, fold up the tripod legs and move on.  This is more important to me with 120 film when I only have 12 images per roll, but I've carried it forward to digital also.  If I'm shooting a flock of geese landing on a pond or something that has a lot of movement I'm more inclined to use a machine gun approach, shooting through a lot of images and then editing and deleting later.  The other day I was out making photographs of the kokanee salmon spawning in the local stream.  I made 131 images, of which I kept 10 and found about 3 that I was happy with.

Mike.

[picnic]

Chased by the Light by Jim Brandenburg.  There is also a video available about the book.

His Looking for Summer is also a wonderful book.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I remembered seeing his web page with the 90 photos.  Did a Google and found it again.
[a href=\"http://www.jimbrandenburg.com/gallery/90%20day%20images/chased_by_the_light.html]http://www.jimbrandenburg.com/gallery/90%2..._the_light.html[/url]

Diane

[DarkPenguin]

One thing to remember about this is that he only clicked the shutter once per day.  I don't exactly machine gun but I can't imagine having 90 frames turn out like that.

[John Camp]

If you wish to be recognized as one of the top photographic artists (not a photojournalist like Brandenburg) and have your work in museums, most of what you do is *think.* Review the photos of Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson or Cindy Sherman sometime -- they are all completely synthetic, "made-up," created just like you would make a movie. These people have total control of their equipment, including some lavish lighting equipment, but what has put them in the museums is the thought behind the work, and despite some nay-sayers, that thought is pretty sophisticated. I think Wall, especially, shows an iron discipline in what he does.

JC

[Paul Sumi]

I agree, it all depends on the type of photography that you are doing.

If you're shooting decisive moment Henri Cartier-Bresson-type street photography and you think too long about the potential image in front of you, it's gone.

But the same can be true of landscape photography and quickly changing light.

At least for me, most of the thinking in landscape photography happens in the planning and research stages.  I find that this helps me to NOT shoot willy-nilly once I'm actually on location.

Paul