Intuition, Exposure, and the Decisive Moment
This was presented as a session at the LSI Conference and Annual Meeting in Wetzlar in October 2023.
Introduction
When I started testing for Leica back in 2008 it was a solitary business, there were several of us testing, but we reported back to the relevant product manager at Leica. These days it's a much more sociable affair, with a forum where we can discuss the issues between a number of photographers. There are some professionals and one or two dedicated amateurs. We discuss how we take images and how we set up our cameras. As a result of this I've come to think a lot about the actual process of taking a photograph. I've also realised that most people are very much set into one methodology (which they use for everything), but it's remarkable how different that is between one photographer and another.
In this talk I'd like to discuss this, and to suggest some methods of shooting as a result. If I do my job properly you might come away with some new ideas to inform your own photography.
Some Scattered Ideas
My Father
When I started taking photographs in the late 1960's my father said to me "Take a ranging shot, then think about the composition and exposure carefully and get it right". That seemed like a good idea, but over the years it has become increasingly the case that the first shot is the best one, and that the minute I start thinking about the details I lose my mojo.
Returning to Film
These days lots of people have returned to film. One of the reasons often given is that it has helped them to 'slow down and think about their photography again'. Although I think it's great that film has had a renaissance, I'm not so sure that this is a good reason to use it! My favourite young film photographer (Kit Young https://www.kityoung.co.uk/) only shoots film which he develops and wet prints himself. He can shoot up to 15 rolls of Tri-X a day.
Robert Doisneau
The French Humanist photographer and pioneer of photojournalism with Cartier Bresson and others famously said: "If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time" When I first heard this I thought it was funny, and of course Doisneau and many other photographers take consistently good photographs, but the more I've considered the remark the more significant and relevant it seems. Most of us can recognise that good photograph instantly - especially when it was taken by someone else. We can gather huge amounts of information instantly, without thinking about it at all (that comes later).