Portfolio Production

When it comes to photography, production is definitely my favorite aspect of the creation process, mostly to do with the fact that it's the stage where you're actually creating the work you'll show off later. It's also a bit of a stress reliever in a way, since I'm not actively thinking about what I need to do for my project. I'm instead looking around my scenery for anything that catches my eye.

Going out in public to photograph people usually makes me nervous that I'll look weird or creepy in some way, so I tend to spend the beginning of my shoots wandering around and taking photos of other subjects. This usually consists of things like buildings, animals, or other natural objects.

This image happened to be an ominous alleyway, which can be some of my favorite places to shoot.

 

Once I gather up more courage and get into the groove of photographing again, I start to expand my horizons a bit and step out of my comfort zone.

Usually my next step up is cars or bikes riding by. They can be great because they capture the essence of urban life, but can also be slightly irritating. Their constant movement means you have to really commit to a shot and time it just perfectly. Other times, you may be trying to photograph a completely different subject, but some cars drive by that either get in the way or mess with the composition of the shot. But for the most part, they're not so bad.

One shot I tried to get during one excursion was a shot of some city buildings in the background with a car in the foreground. I took several pictures with different cars passing by to see which ones worked with the shot the best.

Here's some of the different photos I took.

And this is the one I ended up using, after some editing in Lightroom.

When I finally get to photographing people, I usually try not to interfere with whatever they're doing so I can capture them as genuinely as possible. Even though I try to go out looking for these people, sometimes the opposite happens where the people come to me.

On one of my latest trips downtown, I was simply walking along the street looking for things to photograph, when these two friends sitting on a bench saw my camera and asked if I could take their picture. I was slightly surprised since no one had asked me this before, but I figured "Hey, why not?"

Once I think I've taken enough photos, or when it's getting dark outside, that's when I think it's my signal to head back home. But many times I've found great opportunities for photos on my way back to my car. This photo was taken while I was on my way to the parking garage where my car was. I just so happened to notice a perfect line of white cars waiting at a red light, and luckily still had my camera in my hand, so I jumped at the opportunity. And thank goodness I did, cause the light changed and the cars drove away mere seconds after I snapped the picture.

This will always be one of my personal favorite photos I've ever taken.