the things we remember
So, I end the year revisiting my personal favorite from 2010. It was fitting to rework this particular image, because I think within the last 2 months I have finally settled on a consistent b/w process that I like.
I've been asked if this image was posed - it was not. This little girl and her family lingered longer than everyone else out on the front grass, gazing at the dancing flames and silent chaos of the moment. Because of the look in her eyes, I kept her in my line of sight, metering and composing in my mind ("it's gotta be faster than 1/80th because kids are fast..." "gotta catch those eyes in sharp focus..." "gonna have to kneel down to her height..." blah, blah, blah) just in case the right moment struck. It finally did, and for less than 5 seconds, as her sisters soon came into view and hugged her just as I made this frame, leading her back toward her parents in sort of a family hug. I don't know if it was her house that was on fire, but she had the look of a child that would never forget that moment.
The very idea of catching an emotive scene that might never be repeated is the reason why I love street photography and candid portraits above all else. Even though rumor has it that street photography is dead - a casualty of a paranoid and litigious society - I look forward to stepping things up a notch in 2011...
the things we remember
So, I end the year revisiting my personal favorite from 2010. It was fitting to rework this particular image, because I think within the last 2 months I have finally settled on a consistent b/w process that I like.
I've been asked if this image was posed - it was not. This little girl and her family lingered longer than everyone else out on the front grass, gazing at the dancing flames and silent chaos of the moment. Because of the look in her eyes, I kept her in my line of sight, metering and composing in my mind ("it's gotta be faster than 1/80th because kids are fast..." "gotta catch those eyes in sharp focus..." "gonna have to kneel down to her height..." blah, blah, blah) just in case the right moment struck. It finally did, and for less than 5 seconds, as her sisters soon came into view and hugged her just as I made this frame, leading her back toward her parents in sort of a family hug. I don't know if it was her house that was on fire, but she had the look of a child that would never forget that moment.
The very idea of catching an emotive scene that might never be repeated is the reason why I love street photography and candid portraits above all else. Even though rumor has it that street photography is dead - a casualty of a paranoid and litigious society - I look forward to stepping things up a notch in 2011...