It has been a short while since I have felt passion and motivation in my street photography.
It’s not for a lack of effort. I have been out there, well, maybe only three or four times to be honest, and each time I have felt something missing whilst I’ve been out there… a feeling which was confirmed when I saw the images after uploading them.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily believe that not really liking any of the day’s images means that the day was not a success. I am far too familiar with the realisation that being out there does not guarantee what we perceive as good results.
My recent issues extend well beyond whether the images were good enough or not… or do they?
If I really liked many images from those shoots then would I feel the same way about my photography?
Are there other causes affecting my outlook on my craft?
Well, I have a very busy job, there’s the day-to-day life matters outside of work, and oh, I’m currently in the worst physical condition of my life!
Now, I know that being fit and healthy can positively affect your outlook and possibly enhance your experience out there on the street, however its not a pre-requisite.
Good pictures can be made by physically unhealthy people… haha.
Look, I don’t really know what the ultimate cause, or causes are, but I do know that many obstacles in life are more often than not just temporary.
And, should photo shoots yielding unsatisfactory results be considered as life obstacles?
I think not, surely.
So where to from here?
At some point there will be a positive day which will change my mindset about my work, right?
In order for that to happen, there has to be some form of plan, a method, a challenge perhaps?
It is times like these where the focus has to be a little sharper, with a little more intent… spraying and praying won’t get it done!
Ok, so it was time to get this sorted, but how?
Well, to be honest there was no grand plan, I kept it relatively simple.
My plan was to follow the light (hooray, no insight there, genius!), focus on getting as many layered images as possible and most importantly, just be happy being out there with no super expectations.
So, I saw a sunny weather pattern appear in the forecast and decided to head onto the streets late one afternoon to set this thing in the right direction.
Now, I didn’t have a lot of time, therefore I decided to restrict my walk to within four or five blocks of the Sydney CBD, and pretty much central.
I began with a few warm-ups.
After hanging around the Town Hall precinct for a little while I headed north along George Street to see what the light was doing at a few busy intersections.
As some of you know I love the pictures of old time Sydney adorning the boards guarding people from entering the many construction sites in Sydney at the moment, and I enjoy shooting people as they move across these pictures. I really like these three examples, especially the depth created by multiple people in the last one.
Sunny days like these enable pockets of light to appear in certain spots, as they appear in-between buildings, in turn providing plenty of scope to isolate people to a large degree.
From time to time you’ll find ways to create something a little cheeky and humorous, such as this fella and his haircut as he passed by the barber shop sign.
And this one, where I captured the guy as the liquor bottles on the tram lined up with the movement of his arms, as if he was skulling the drinks!
I often enjoy capturing scenes like these, where it appears as though they’re at an intersection and people are giving way to others.
Couldn’t resist this group of office workers as the guy on the bike was racing by… I love the depth in this picture.
Here’s some more random pictures that I made as I took one last look around the Town Hall precinct before I was done.
The beautiful rumble of this Harley-Davidson Street Bob!
So, my message is to focus on what is important in your life. If something is important enough to you, and there appears to be obstacles, then take a step back, breathe and you’ll discover a way around the obstacles.
Thank you for reading the blog. I hope that you enjoyed it.