The Nomadic Photographer

Kapuaiwa Palm Grove at sunset, Molokai, Hawaii.

What is the story?

Many people ask me how many good photographs I get when I go out shooting.  Back in the film days this question was framed ‘Jonathan, how many good photos do you get per roll of 36 images?’ Now, with the 36 image roll of film irrelevant, they simply reframe the question to ‘What’s your ratio of good photographs to bad?’

It took me a long time before I could articulate an answer to that question that didn’t leave me feeling strangely drained and awkward.  Not because I didn’t have an answer – at that time in my life I knew exactly how many good frames I was averaging per roll of film, and could return that figure as accurately as a cash register printing a receipt.  I just never liked the connotations of my answer – whatever the number was.  I never liked the idea that one of the metrics of how good or bad a photographer I was could somehow be measured by how many good or bad frames I captured on a roll of 36.

A number of years ago I was talking to Dewitt, and, probably feeling competitive that afternoon, asked him what his ratio was of good photographs to bad.  He returned my question with a knowing smile and just let enough silence fill the space after my last words fell quiet to make me feel like I had just asked a police officer pulling me over for doing 90 in a 45 if I had done something wrong.

When Dewitt broke the silence he said “You know if your asking that… you’re asking the wrong question.” Feeling a little like young Luke Skywalker learning the force from master Yoda I said, “Well what is the question I should be asking?” And Dewitt answered, ‘The question you should be asking is not how many good shots I got, the question you should be asking is ‘did I get THE shot’?” He then went on to say, “You either get the shot or you don’t get the shot – it’s as simple as that.”  The light dawned in my mind and I swear I saw Dewitt’s camera levitating ever so slightly on the table behind his chair. “It’s not how many good shots I got, the question is, ‘did I get the shot?’”

I find that every time the answer to that question is NO, every time I fail to get THE SHOT,  it is because  I couldn’t see clearly – even if the shot was right there in front of me.  There are many names for this.  Cartier Bresson described it as the decisive moment.  Rikki Cooke describes it as what turns his head.  Chris Rainier describes it as a feeling in the solar plexes.  All words describing the same thing – excitement.

So what do I do when I have that feeling in the solar plexes?  When my head is turned to pink light gracing palms in the sky?

My process can be summed up in three words.  Ask, See, Do.

Asking – What is the story here?  Or as Rikki says, What is turns my head? What matters in this scene and what doesn’t? And do I have permission?

Seeing – Seeing the story in my mind’s eye. Seeing the shot at my core level.

Doing – Seeing the story in my camera.  Not letting the technology and the technique cloud my vision – but rather, augment my vision as an extension of the excitement I feel for the scene in front of me.