I thought I was great at capturing moments until I watched a Creative live with Tyler Wirken this week. I am on Creative Live constantly and learning all the time from the epic photographers that they bring on set. I pick up a nugget from everyone that is on the show and this time around, I learned so much about moving my feet in order to capture moments.
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” - Ansel Adams
I know that Ansel was a landscape photographer, but that quote speaks so much truth about capturing moments. I can't say I agree with everything that Tyler said on the show, but everyone has their own style and their own way that they shoot. Most people shoot in Manual mode, but one of the best photographers on the planet, Joe Buissinck shoots in P-mode.
I will not argue with the way people shoot. It is the images that will completely shut me up. You can't deny the images that are produced by some of these greats.
The thing with Tyler, there was a video of him during a wedding and you would see him working through the scene and getting into the proper spot in order to catch moments. Catching a photography of the bride laughing is not enough, he had to get the picture of the bride laughing and have the thing that she was laughing at as part of the photo as well. He would hustle his way through in order to make his photo. It may be a bit disruptive for me, but you could not deny the images that he had at the end of the day.
When you catch the moment, you catch everything about that moment and can tell the story in that one photograph. You don't take a photo of the laugh in one image and the thing being laughed at in another image. You position yourself in a manner that you are able to gather the whole scene in one shot.
There was so many moments that have been missed in the past simply because I didn't move my feet. That will be a thing of the past and there will be a whole new way of capturing the moment. Move those feet and know where to stand.