... but why do you photograph what you photograph?

So... why do you photograph what you photograph?

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

Recently, I had an interesting discussion with a fellow photographer; he says he is training himself to be ready for whatever challenges by practicing how to make the best of any given location/condition when he photographs.

He says, "In photography, you can't always expect to have the ideal environment all the time, have the best light or have the best of moments to capture. "; as someone who shoots weddings often, that statement does indeed echo many of my previous shoots - sometimes, the light is just not right or the location is plain messy... or somewhere somehow, it is not what I wanted to shoot; what then? Do I just hold onto my camera and say, "Nah~ not good enough." and not take a single photo? Or should I just suck it up and say, "Well.. let's make the best of it."?

I nearly always choose the later... but what of shooting more than what you need so that you can select from a larger pool of images?

I for one... is an advocate for, "Know what NOT to shoot." For me, any photo that my client would NOT want and I myself would NOT want, I would never shoot.

To me, the "Shoot-first-think-later" mode of operation that some digital-only event photographers adopts affects the quality of the shots produced. Why? Wouldn't "shoot-first-think-later" give you all the possible photos good and bad both? After all you shouldn't miss any shots, right?

Wrong~! I have found that as soon as you concentrate on shooting you will definitely be less aware of your surroundings, less aware of what is not in your viewfinder. That is what that causes you to miss shots or to mis-represent the event to an extent. Having your eye always on the viewfinder and a trigger-happy attitude only gives you tunnel-vision... you can't see the big picture anymore, you don't have time to think out of the box and make the best of the situation or event.

That's all for today.

p.s. the images are from Guan-di and Si-Ye temples in Kuala Lumpur shot during Chinese New Year eve.