Thought Piece #4

This thought piece reading focused more on the searching of ideas and inspiration. It starts off by talking about studying environment, whether it is an airport, sporting game or anything else. A big way I have been able to study my environment is by my nature.

I feel I have always been a nosy person. Being nosy means I am curious and that allows me to enjoy people watching. A few years back I took a photo at the airport overlook of a couple cuddling. I was not even there for the cuddling or people pictures but just from simply keeping my eyes moving and watching the people and how they interacted I was able to get that shot. On page 75 LaBelle brings up photographing people and their pets. This is something that does not get covered as much but should be because it shows the truth behind people. A lot of men with tough guy personas have a soft side that comes out with their animals and it shows through photographs. I love when people take pictures of me with my dog because it is also very meaningful to me to see. Pet owners do not often get candid photographs with their pet so it is always bittersweet to catch them in the moment.

Another important thing that LaBelle talks about as being important is that we should be good with statistics. Unfortunately as photojournalists most of us are really bad at math, however statistics of events or news are easy to catch onto. For me this relates the most to sports photography. It is really important to know and understand what is happening in each sport that we photograph and with the statistics that are needed to tell the story correctly. 

I like how this part of the book shows ideas and different unusual jobs that could be unique to photograph. It is someitms hard to think outside of the box when photographing so to see some ideas is very helpful. On the other hand, LaBelle talks about shooting special days. I have always struggled with this because I sometimes find certain things boring. Whether it is an event, speech or anything else if it is not a topic I find interest in I struggle a lot. When it comes to photographing events it is also hard to get different angles when there is only so much space to move around. When 10 photographers are shoved in a small room pictures are bound to look almost the same with just small differences.

Overall I would say this part of the reading was the most helpful for figuring out how to think more creatively and see things differently. It is a very important thing and not a skill that everyone has. On top of the explanations it is nice to see picture examples to help base ideas from if I get stuck in a similar situation. My favorite example was about following up over time. It is for sure hard to stay in contact with subjects but if done correctly showing the progression of a subject or event can be very meaningful. It also shows that you cared about what you were shooting and were not just in it for the money or because you had to.