Risking is learning
Currently listening to: Easily Misunderstood by Samuel Jackson Five
As a way to keep myself from the inevitable packing for my new job in Kalispell, here’s a blog post on learning to take risks as a means toward growing as a visual communicator.
Last Sunday I stopped by my alma mater to shoot the end of a close and crucial basketball game. I put on my wide angle and tried to look away from the action of the game but still have the image communicate the game all the same. This image’s needs a bit more action happening in it to sell it but the framing I used had me on the right track I think. Pushing myself in these direction to shoot an event or assignment with only one lens or only looking for a specific dominant color are means that I should be using in order to grow in how I can grow and more strongly define my storytelling.
As another example, I headed to Medical Lake over the weekend to get shots of people participating in 
a Polar Plunge to raise money for the State Special Olympics. This shoot presented a few different problems, ranging from very grey, flat skies combined with bright white backgrounds to a lack of angles to shoot from. A wet suit and water housing for my camera would of been ideal but I unfortunately I own neither. I shot a few images with a long lens of people jumping into the water but quickly determined I wanted something that felt close. Had the kids actually ran past me like I hoped I would have gotten the look that would suggest how cold they felt. Obviously, my risk was focusing on a face rather than an action. But going for human connection versus an action shot is something that people can more closely relate to. More people will understand what it’s like to be really cold apart from connecting with the feeling of jumping into a freezing lake. Obviously, the risks I took in both of the above images didn’t completely work out. But you have to try, and then then try something new, and constantly repeat the process if you want the quality of our work to ever grow.
There’s always a better image out there. One that brings something completely unique to light in an equally special way. As a photojournalist, I should always be striving to discover those images.
With all that being said, it’s time to start packing and making sure everything fits into my car again. I’ll be arriving in Kalispell on Tuesday and starting work at the paper a bit later in the week. Look for a post of recent images from the new job toward the end of the week. Until then, enjoy a “push-pull” shot I got at a cultural performance I attended at Gonzaga with friends over the weekend.
