Action, not words.

I discovered a long time ago after photographing countless static scenes, that I was not a "Still Life" kind of photographer. I wanted to capture action and drama in my photos and quickly realized that I had a passion for capturing peak moments. I honed my "skills" by snapping pics of my kids playing their sports. Next thing I knew, I was on a fantastic ride...

I read one of those "How many _____s does it take to change a light bulb?" things way back. It went like this...

"How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer, "5. 1 to actually go up the ladder and do it, and 4 to stand there and say, That should be me up there!"

Armed with this mantra many years ago, I took my first real steps towards reaching my goal.

Action. Not words.

What Is Real?

Photoshop almost ruined my love of photography, until I realized the true potential. 

When I sat in class for the first of what was to be three college courses to learn the vast photo editing program and the instructor showed us a finely detailed image of a New York scene made entirely in a computer and without a camera, I just shook my head in awe. "Photography is dead", I thought.

Then one evening I was out with my camera. I saw an ultra-light aircraft off in the distance heading towards me. I had a vision in my mind of the image that I wanted to create. As the small plane approached I composed the shot and snapped a few frames, but the end result was not even close to what I had imagined. Later, at the computer, I started working on a composite using two of the frames that I captured and eventually produced the final piece above.

Is it real? Not according to some in the photographic community, but it is definitely a more "realistic" rendition of my vision. Besides, what has ever been real about photography. I have always believed that if a photograph is disclosed as a composite or digital illustration, then all is good. Some of my peers have revealed that they were afraid to use Auto-Focus on their cameras because "purists" would frown upon it. I say, use the technology. I say, use it to tell your story. I say, use it whether it's real or not.

Respect

© Dan Brodie

"So let's get one thing straight, once and for all. No one---and I mean no one--gives a hoot about your photo credit in a magazine. No one!!!! The only person who reads American Lacrosse Enthusiast and gets excited about the photo credit on page 26 is you and your mother."

The preceding quote was taken from an article published on Sportshooter.com that I read a long time ago. Follow the link to get the rest of the story...

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2009


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Photo credits don't pay the bills or feed the family but if they are lacking, it does show a disrespect to the photographer.