I had bad light for most of the day. It seems the weather has turned here and we are going into the rainy season proper. The task will get harder from here on. Less hits. A lot of walking today as I thought I’d fuck the excruciatingly slow bus service and just walk the 6-7 kilometers to New Market. Surprisingly a decent haul of 230 shots. Worked from 2pm to 8pm.
- Many technical issues mostly from the flat and low light. I was shooting 2.8 for most of the day and the small DOF reduced the margin of focus errors and so: many focus issues. The lower light probably also meant locking focus took a little longer. Many camera shake issues (even at 1/1000!). My shooting style is not very stable at all. I have to learn to stabilise at the apex of the shot.
- Flat, gray light meant a lot of flat gray shots, but surprisingly some came out quite rich. Again I suspect these are shots where there is no sky in the background that blows the AE out. I should play around with center weighted AE as I’m center focusing and not recomposing anyway. Even though the light is bad, I have to go out and shoot as much as I have been for practice, for luck, and for … umm fitness. Am losing weight.
- There is a loveliness to being able to be a flaneur and just walking, walking, walking. You get less shots and you’re obviously far more targeted (especially on the set work) but there is an elemental joy in the random beauty of the street which you can lose sometimes.
- I was far more aggressive in my shooting style and had headphones on for most of the day. I was far more a hunter than the hunted. At the key shot moment though I’m still pulling away too quickly. I need to linger and get the shots I need. I have a right to be there.
- As I wrote in the last photo note, some happy accidents at night when I was coming back home. Interesting off shoot that I may explore more. Especially if the light stays bad.
- I spent much of the day shopping, bought Fellini’s 8 ½ and Satyricon, Antionioni’s L’Aventurra, A set of Daniel Day Lewis films, Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, and Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia. I can’t believe the dvd places I found in Dhanmondi. They have a really good range. Enough to keep me very occupied for months. I’ll see how these movies affect the photography. Also sold my The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and bought Amis’ The Rachel Papers.
Why tomorrow will be better:
- Center AE to see if that stops the blowout affect.
- Try to work at f4. Although I have also been liking the bokeh of 2.8 in isolating subjects. Perhaps 2.8 for mid shots (autofocus), and 4 for close in passbys on fixed focus. It could be hard to change between these though.
- Be more stable at the apex of the shot. Actually stopping makes me very conspicuous, but that is probably what is having the worst affect. Just taking a second or two longer may be the thing to do.
- Keep being aggressive, headphones on.
- Follow up on the night work, with a visit out tonight into Farmgate. I think a place which isn’t as busy and has isolated light sources (especially car lights) will be the best environment for doing this work.
Posted 2 years ago
