Today’s Post by Joe Farace
…through a combination of learning from our mistakes and a willingness to try anything (I’ll talk about the concept of “throwing it out to the universe” later) have gathered the tips and tidbits that I’ll share in these pages.—Joe Farace, from my unpublished book, “On Photography.”
This post could be considered a follow-up to one that I wrote in 2020 and while the sentiments remain the same, the genre referred to (in that post) is about glamour photography. If you would like to read it—to reinforce the concepts I mention today—you can read it here.
The headline should really be amended to say that any type of photography takes practice. Regular readers of this blog know I believe that the best way to improve your photography is by practicing. Vladimir Horowitz was arguably one of the finest classical pianists of all time, yet even he practiced every day. He once said, The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.”
It’s the way to Carnegie Hall (old joke*)
I believe that you should photograph something, anything really, each day or at least every week so you can get to the point where you don’t have to think about how to operate your camera, you just use it.
I take a camera on my more-or-less daily walk, even when shooting the oft-photographed O’Brien Park gazebo or Bingham Lake near my home, When I do I almost always learn something about the camera that I’m using either about the camera itself or dealing with the lighting conditions I encounter. I think that this “working knowledge” will result in me making better pictures—next time. This is especially true when shooting with film.
If there’s any secret to my suggestion about practicing your craft is that you shouldn’t worry about producing masterpieces every time you go out with your camera in hand. You can use that camera as a sketchpad to explore possibilities. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes these “sketches” will be successful, sometimes not, but you will learn something from an analysis of these images. As Yoda once told Luke “There is no try, just do.”
How I Made this Photograph
When I lived near Brighton, Colorado one of my favorite places to test camera for Shutterbug magazine was an automobile recycling center that was located near Erie in nearby Weld and Boulder, counties. Tip: Don’t try this kind of photography without asking for permission. In my case, I had struck up a friendship with the owner when buying parts for my Nissan Pathfinder. His wife was a photographer and an avid Shutterbug reader so she was familiar with my work and paved the way for my photographic visits.
The camera I was testing at the time was a Canon EOS 1D Mark III so I tried to find a Mark III Triumph Spitfire to photograph but had to settle for this rusty Datsun. In the USA, before Nissan cars bore their maker’s names they were called “Datsun” and this car was either a 1600 or 2000 model—sharp eyed readers can correct me‚—that has sadly has seen better days and was photographed with that selfsame Canon EOS 1D Mark III with an EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L zoom lens. Exposure in Program mode was 1/400 at f/10 and ISO 200. It was shot as a color JPEG, before my current RAW+JPEG regime—and converted to black and white using Silver Efex,
*If you’re not familiar with the joke, here it is.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat Joe to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here.