Cars parked amongst the tools and tents of a temporary paddock are not photogenic. No sir.
No matter how hard the sun shines, milking those morsels of creativity in a ramshackle village of mechanics, buffet lunches and camper vans is a hard task. Once you’ve shot one nose of a racer poking out in to those blazing rays, you’ve shot them all.
Well, that’s what it feels like to me anyway.
The glorious weather up at Donington Park was superb to be out in, providing some much longed for contrast and highlight that is often lacking so at UK circuits, yet despite the wonderful rays and heavy shadows, seeking out tit-bits of symmetry, detail or difference was bloody tricky.
As I lapped the paddock, beady eye at the ready and in between the occasional ice cream, It got me thinking about the longevity present in photography, and how creative can you actually get, before all you do is repeat what you’ve been done before.
I find it becomes more and more difficult, even when you are varying your application to new methods.
Technically, there are only so many ways to manipulate a camera. You may shoot fast, shoot with depth or with a slow shutter. The equipment you use has limitations that you have to manipulate, but it will always only be able to produce particular results.
You may also have noticed that many photographers are all about a particular style, even the world renown pros have a recipe for success that they stick to more or less – if it ain’t broken as they say.
This applies to us all. Even established professional do it; all apply a style, perhaps two or three even, and present their ‘vision’ consistently in their galleries, fooling us into thinking that each gallery is unique – but are they actually that unique?
For us keen amateurs, once you’ve found a style, setting or crop you like, the temptation to return to it is strong, especially if you’ve had success with the likes. A panning shot is always a panning shot; regardless of orientation or whether you shoot through, above or under something at 100th of a second or half a second.
So is it art? Is it actually creative as it’s all very repetitive and repetition isn’t creative at all.
Yet we all do it. We go out and endeavor to relentlessly capture images of wild blurs and bokeh views over and over again.
Why, I scream, falling to my knees! WHY!?
The search for the killer image? The perfect shot? An impossible task and as with all art, all ‘creative’ channels, it’s always subjective.
That’s a bit of a paradox; we create images to satisfy others; rinse and repeat.
So it can’t be art, can it?
The aim of true creative photography is to be a pioneer, to generate scenes and discover techniques that no-one has shot before. Star Trek style. Trying to find a unique edge to this photography malarkey and then apply it delicately so it’s not overused or plagiarized by others is the hardest part.
Even Ansell Adams took images of a specific variety, and he was a visionary. He didn’t even have instagram.
As my experience grows, my steadily developing opinion is this – Your eye and skill in spotting, composing and presenting an image, determines it’s attraction to viewers and hopefully a bag a few plaudits, no matter the style.
The techniques have to be employed,yes, but that not where the creativity in photography lies.
The creativity is in the scenes and telling stories. I hope you like them.
A great question, and one I think we’ve all wrestled with. There’s being an artist, being a photojournalist and the hybrid grey area in between.
There are photographers with such a specific style that you learn to see races through their eyes. Their look is unmistakable. If you like that look, you’ll find the differences between races by looking long and close at their work. They are the artists. And their look reigns supreme.
There are the photojournalists, too. That’s the school I originally came from. There’s room for creativity, but that goes out the window when it comes down to making sure you absolutely get the shot you need.
But I’ve been most interested in exploring the hybrid space, lately. Setting my creative/artistic approach to a race based on a photojournalistic study of what’s around me. I’ve been hitting the stands more and more and looking at the view the fans see. I’ve been shooting the feel as much as the view. I spent a lot of time isolating cars and shooting the “it’s a lonely world for a racer” look. But that’s not cutting it anymore.
Fans/viewers look at cars and drivers differently depending on the series/race/track. If they can see the whole track or wide swaths of action, I shoot wider and try to capture what that race actually looks like to real people on the ground. Where tracks limit sightlines and people are forced to focus narrowly, I try to capture what they are seeing. When I’m in areas that fans can’t access, I try to look at them as they would look at them, and put my spin on that. Where series are all about drivers and not cars, I can’t just rely on a winchy 1/15 pan to save my ass.
I go through phases where I like to shoot in certain ways, but it fails me at times. Shooting super-wide and super-slow is so much fun, but at a track like Talladega, it makes little sense. Shooting tight and slow is fun, but at a track like Sebring you’re doing everything and everyone a disservice.
All this is a long way of saying that my bills are paid by reportage but my reputation is built on my style. And I am earnestly looking for the right blend of accurately capturing the race as it is seen and capturing it in a way that is unique to me. My 2018 guiding principle has been trying to blend the overall visual esthetic of the race with my observations in hopes of bringing an elevated look that viewers can easily relate to.
So much more work yet to do, but really enjoying the journey.
Hey Rip, Cheers for the input! You mentioned a key factor in all of this creative ramble…the fact that many need to pay bills. Is it worth the risk of trying to break creative boundaries and risk unhappy customers? I don’t know, as I have no customers. Your in a far superior place to answer that.
What I do know is that I wouldn’t feel comfortable experimenting as I do currently, but as I’m not that interested in the photo-journo side of imagery, perhaps defining a style is the way forward. I think I still have a way to go with that yet. Good thoughts though. Cheers!
Like you, Rich, I have no customers. Yet. My hope is that someone will like what I create and ask me to do it specifically for them. Maybe even in exchange for some money. 🙂
Until that happens, I am at the track with my camera because I want to be there. My photos are for me. I share those that I like and if others like them too, that’s icing on the cake.