Project 8: recording a sequence

Shoot a subject from the moment when you catch sight of a possible photograph to the final best image you can make of it. Describe why you moved on to the next viewpoint.

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I identified a man drinking a beer out side of a pub as a potential subject and took several photographs of him from the opposite side of the street.

The first shot. Just took a picture without thinking much. The man's face could not be seen.

The second shot. Just pressing the shutter button while waiting for something to happen. On the bottom right corner, a car came in the frame, which was distracting.

The third shot. Still waiting for something to happen.

The fourth shot. A car just passed when I pressed the shutter button.

The fifth shot. Still waiting, and realised that the horizontal line was not quite straight.

The sixth shot. The horizontal line was straighten, but cars came into the frame again.

The seventh shot. Finally I could see his face, so stopped taking photographs.

Now I feel I should have put the man slightly off-centre in the frame. Also his face is actually a little bit out of focus. The focus is on somewhere around his right hand.

Although I found that this project was difficult to conduct, I also found that this project is quite useful because of the following reasons:

1. I learnt the importance of preparation to take photographs.

Especially on the street, interesting things suddenly happen in front of me but, if I start to take an action after I recognise the scene, it's already too late. The moment has already gone. So, it is important to be always prepared for shooting mentally and physically. It wouldn't be easy, but something to keep in mind.

2. I also learnt the importance of looking through the view finder in order to find a potential subject.

I often stop trying to find a subject on the street if the scene looks boring. However, I realised that an ordinary scene can look very different, quite often much more attractive, through the view finder. As the text book says, it would be something more experienced photographers can do without looking through the view finder, but at least for now I think I need to look through the view finder as many times as possible to find a potential subject, even if the scene did look boring or I found nothing to shoot at first.