An epic, fascinating day of shooting, where expectations were mere chaff to be thrown to the winds. But it didn’t start out that way. I shot at Moghbazar, Gulistan, and Newmarket from 12pm to 7:00pm. 318 photos.
- I left early in the day, but it was one of the most frustrating start to a working day ever. It took nearly two hours to get to Moghbazar because of traffic jams. Packed in like fleas, we sweated in the local bus heated like a roasting tray. Waiting, waiting. It set me into a really non productive mood. It took 50 shots (an hour) to settle down and even then I thought I was shooting badly. But, I made a decision to work through it. I had faith that if I just kept going it would work out. And slowly it did. I celebrated the good shots, and it pushed me onwards.
- Initially I was shooting street shots as there weren’t that many interesting faces I wanted to get really close to. Gulistan really does seem to be the place for that. Other areas of Dhaka are a bit anodyne. Certainly not in comparison to the west.
- Things started heating up in Gulistan (god I love that place). Interesting face, combinations, happenings. I’ve realised that if the sun isn’t there it’s just not going to work. I can never get a a photo that I can use when the person is looking away from the sun. The competition to be picked as a decent photo is so severe that less than perfectly lit isn’t an option. This is a sweet, sweet problem.
- I was surprised by how many acceptable, interesting photos came out. Some emotional, charged photos came out and when I came back I was happy.
- There were problems however. Some of the most emotional photos weren’t that great aesthetically. Also, I felt like the emotional photos were cliched, I didn’t know what they were saying that was different or new. The job now is editing.
- An interesting phenomenon was that I did multiple passbys. Doubling back and going back to a situation over again to have another go. I need to do this more as it resulted in some interesting new perspectives, and often resulted in the one usable shot.
- I’m still not connecting as much as I’d like with the subject. Sometimes I feel like I take the photo and run. I’m slowing down a little, smiling a bit more, but I could do more.
- The f4 aperture is working well for DOF.
- Exposure is a little hot sometimes. Going to center sampling isn’t going to solve the problem as it will expose it even higher. Using exposure compensation isn’t going to help either as the next shot often exposes well as there isn’t as much sky in the back ground.
- Ran into some problems with having too low an ISO when entering a dark space (like a bus) or the shady side of the street. I have to be far more aware of light levels.
- I’m so deeply in love with the square format. I don’t crop smaller, I only crop off the sides. But there is a harmony to the square format that I love. It also means the largest photo can go up on the blog.
- My posting has been going well with, on average, 3 posts per day. I have some established categories now, Aphorisms (small sayings), Photo Note (either photos from the day, or a photo and some text illuminating an aspect of life here), Shooting Notes (rundown of the day, and the 2 or 3 best photos. Along with that are links to interviews, videos, and articles that I’ve been reading. I also post some infrequent essays from time to time. I’m getting great feedback on the blog, and people can see how much I’ve been working.
Why tomorrow will be better
- Be far more aware of low light levels and keep ISO levels up. Also more still shooting would be a plus. Need to think about this more. Need to take a day out to just concentrate on shooting methods and coming up with effective drills.
- The keeping on working philosophy is the one. I can’t believe I’m only realising how effective it is to just keep going. Even the most hopeless situations must be kept with. We are so bad at predicting what will come.
- Will use the headphones to kick myself into the mood. I do feel guilty that I’m shutting myself off from what’s happening a little, but it’s ok for awhile.
- I will have an invisible camera and wear pants which will make the work far far easier.
Posted 2 years ago
