someone a few months ago gave me a free Pentax ME super. I fixed it up myself and have been teaching myself how to use it, with assistance only from the handbook. I've enjoyed playing around with it and experimenting with what I like to take photos of I've discovered that I only have three true muses:
- small details of things. I've been trying to develop more of an eye for this, but I mean simple things like the close up of a rocking chair, or a grave.
- architecture. I love churches and beautiful old buildings. I'm lucky to live in a place with many of them.
- most of all, more than anything, I love photos of people. and yes of course I take pictures of friends and family. but I'm talking true, real life candids. people I know who are in the middle of conversation, people I don't know who are out in public being themselves. my biggest issue with this one is how to actually take these photos. I don't want to be intrusive or make anyone uncomfortable, but I also want the natural candid itself. where I'm unnoticed and don't have to worry about influencing how the photo turns out just by them knowing I'm there.
I struggle in general with the feeling of being watched and/or judged at any given moment. so I will often forgo taking a photo of something because I feel like people are watching me, even if it's only of an old church. this is obviously a problem that carries into every part of my life, and is in itself a silly issue. but I'm working on it lol.
in the meantime, can anyone give any tips on how to go about taking the photos I'm truly passionate about? especially of people who don't see I'm taking a photo of them. I don't even know if there's a way to do this, especially in public with people I don't know, though that is where my heart lies and what I am passionate about most of all.
I live in Canada, if that helps any. regardless, thank you for reading and listening. love you all :)
Hold your camera up more often than you need to. I love candids and want people to just carry on. I fake out a lot before taking an actual shot. It helps get people around me used to it and then they start ignoring me a bit. And if it feels right, I’ll just sit and scope around so no one knows when I’m actually going to shoot (rather than raising the camera repeatedly).
I also fire pretty liberally, because you never know what you might catch.
And if I’m with like a group of my own friends, I stay in the conversation and chat while I’m framing up a shot. It seems to help downgrade the drama/importance of ~taking~ a ~photograph~.