I have a rule of thumb: if more than 10 people are taking pictures of something, it isn’t worth photographing.
Maybe it’s just my aversion to crowds in general but I get really frustrated in crowds where everyone has their camera out. Chase Jarvis has said that if you are intimidated by the twelve year old next to you with an SLR, then this probably isn’t the business for you.
But, it isn’t intimidation I feel. It’s annoyance. It’s that your shot is not going to be unique. You aren’t capturing a moment that would go unnoticed otherwise.
I tried my best to get over my aversion to crowds of photographers this weekend at Walla Walla’s annual Balloon Stampede. I had been romanticizing this event in my head for the past couple weeks–morning light, big, bright objects, and on Saturday Night a balloon glow. I had pictured in my mind’s eye a small gathering of balloon pilots lighting up their balloons for a few hundred people at dusk.
Was I ever wrong.
It was a shitshow to put it mildly. Imagine a few thousand people and a announcer over a PA system telling people how great their pictures would be. Seriously, he was telling the crowd to take photos. I was standing on the rail with amateur photographers to my left and right with their SLRs and just about everyone else was firing off their P&S.
I was sick. I didn’t even get out my camera. I left it on my shoulder the whole time. It was a great show and I am sure that a bunch out people got some great shots. AND THEY ALL LOOKED THE SAME.
I want something unique in my photos. I want my photo show people something they don’t see everyday. I want to show people a different world. But from my angle, it simply wasn’t possible.
I guess this desire for uniqueness is why I became so frustrated by newspaper photography. Almost by definition as a news photog you must go to highly attended events and represent them accurately (read uncreatively).
I fled news photography to the production side of newspapers at the first chance I got–Sophomore year of highschool. I haven’t looked back since.
Give me the remote location. The mountainside. The backcountry ski trip. The splitter crack. The empty landscape. For god’s sake even a city street. But, I’ll leave the shitshows to the pros.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Andrew: I hear what you’re saying. Seriously. But here’s another thought: when you find yourself in those situations where everyone is shooting, consider challenging yourself to make a DIFFERENT picture. I’d bet you’re right, that almost all those images from the 1000 other point and shoots looked the same - big wide shots of as many balloons as possible; but that should encourage you to change your thinking… Consider really really tight shots, the seams of the balloons, the pilots hands while preparing the balloons, macro shots of the wicker baskets, or even better a photograph of 1000 tourists with their mouths open and their cameras pointed toward the sky. Best of luck.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I think my frustration sprang out of not getting a shot like the ones you described. There’s nothing worse than coming back with an empty card simply because you let your emotions get the best of you. I am always looking for new ways to spin an event since it probably is the best way to push my photos to the next level. It’s always difficult for me to pull myself from the intended focus of an event and start shooting the details. I feel like I am missing what I came for, even though I often end up liking those images more that the normal, straight shot.