Friday, August 3, 2012

36


Thanks, everyone, for the well-wishing and supportive messages I got wishing me luck on this photo assignment.  It was a feature story for the Baltimore CityPaper, about a once-beloved local beer -- National Premium -- that disappeared 15 years ago and is now being resurrected by a local businessman.  My job was to meet the businessman at the brewery and get a variety of shots to illustrate this.  Once upon a time I would have been apprehensive about taking this job because I have struggled so mightily to make pictures I like, using digital cameras.  For the past few years I've ended up hating the results of  pretty much every assignment I've shot. 

I left feeling pretty good about this one, though.  In Maine I'd made some peace with digital, and felt more like this would work, that I would make some photos I actually like.  It was a good experience -- the guy was friendly and, although he would pretty much just woodenly stand there waiting for me to take his picture, he would stand anywhere I asked.  After Andrea's class this time around I felt much more comfortable being very directive -- stand here, hold your head this way.  So instead of just photographing whatever happened to happen, I made some things happen, and that felt good.

So what might be funny about that experience is that the picture I like best is this one, a grab shot at the very end when he was walking out.  Which is exactly how I've always worked.  


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