Wait On The Photograph

Great photo opportunities rarely just suddenly appear and even when they do, more often than not we're not ready. I've probably missed far more great photo opportunities than I ever captured and as a result I was educated a great deal about what it takes to capture the few amazing moments that do appear. I wait on them.

One of the most difficult things for a lot of photographers to comprehend is the concept of waiting for the photo. The waiting process is what defeats us. We don't like waiting, we want it now, and so we too often try to force the image. The results are usually predictable.

Over the years I could count on one hand the number of truly remarkable images I've managed to capture, but the number of mediocre images I have forced are countless. Waiting on the photograph requires us to look thru the fog of clutter that interferes with the image we are wanting to capture, to recognize the potential of what is there. It is the potential we are waiting on, not the immediate situation. Recognizing potential often means we must return again and again to the same location sometimes spaced out over months, but most certainly over the course of hours or days.

I once heard Sam Abell, a former National Geographic photographer, say about photography, "Compose and wait." What he meant by this was to see the image, but wait for the situation to develop. The situation includes waiting on the light, waiting on the action, and waiting for the right moment to release the shutter. Work the moment while you have the opportunity and build your image in layers from the back to the front. See past what is there now, and wait for the opportunity to present itself. Think in terms of Setting, Expression, and Gesture. Compose and wait on the photograph. Look for graphic details, look for angles, look for reflections, and eliminate convergences. Convergences are those places where separation of elements need to happen in order to add strength and focus to your composition.

Often it is those subtle separations that help to define the image. I've been guilty as I am sure others are as well, of trying to see the big picture without truly looking at the smaller elements within the composition. A splash of color, the angle of the eyes, the leaning against a wall vs having a small separation from the wall, the highlight that defines an important element, and the timing of the shot can make all the difference. Subtle changes, soft movements, a horizontal line, a vertical line, a curved line, random crossing lines. Sometimes these are what moves an image forward and separates it from the ordinary.

Luck sometimes comes into play but more often than not the observant photographer can manufacture his own luck by thinking through the equation of what is required to create a given photograph.