The large part of this post is going to be images that I took last weekend on a men’s retreat I went on with my church. The written part however will mostly be a description of the process I went through to make these images, but also how that process has changed over time, and how it’s teaching me to be a better photographer. This part may be rather meandering and boring for anyone who doesn’t have interest in these things, but I suppose if you weren’t interested in photography, none of this post would capture your attention. That said, I do hope you can learn something from my process.
To start with, I’m an introvert. I don’t mean that I’m shy, I mean that I can be easily over-stimulated, and when that happens, I just don’t function at optimal levels. This affects just about every aspect of my life, photography included. I contribute photos I take to the creative team at my church, and unfortunately, I’m really not well-suited to capturing that sort of environment; I love shooting with the band (in spite of the horrible light available on stage), and I can make great images there. But as far as interactions between individuals and groups of people hanging about and “fellowshipping” in the lobby or making conversation, I’m pretty much useless. There are too many people around for me to be at my best, and it’s simply not the kind of subject matter I enjoy shooting, or am good at capturing. I do try, but there it is. That’s just how I am.
Having stated all that, I do feel it something of a duty to document major church events, such as this men’s retreat that only happens once a year. Of course I brought my camera, and a few lenses, hoping to get something good. But in all honesty, over those two days we were in the mountains, I rarely felt like I was shooting anything that I was really happy with, and certainly not later when I went through what I got and reviewed it all before processing. Part of my difficulty was certainly being around so many people, as I explained briefly above. To put it really simply, I struggle a great deal when I feel that my subject is a large group, instead of an individual, or just a few people. Part of the reason I love shooting with musicians is that my subject is so clear — I know what I’m trying to capture, and I’m able to focus on that instead of letting my mind wander. I would say that I’m naturally bent toward portraiture (for varying and important reasons), and that carries over easily into shooting musical performance. I also love shooting at the wider end, and getting close, which is hard to do with groups. When I got to go off and explore with my brother Anthony I felt much more at home. But for most of the retreat, I wasn’t quite in my element.
I imported all the images into Lightroom the day after getting back, and got to working on them a few days later. And I really wasn’t very happy, at first. I try to keep the overall look of my photos pretty consistent, and have a few different presets I’ve built that appeal to my general aesthetic, so I usually start by applying those, making minor adjustments to colour and exposure, and cropping where needed. But I also end up adjusting my preset base values throughout the set as I figure out ways to improve it. The first time I went through these images, I was just disappointed, and editing wasn’t really improving things much. Until I got to a certain point in the trip, with images I knew I liked from the start. With those kind files, I never do a whole lot of editing. This is my ideal, and how I try to shoot all the time; in such a way that the image I get straight from the camera is as close as it can be to where I want to take it in post. In some situations, I shoot this way very naturally, and end up being really happy with what I get. But when I don’t start there, I often try to make up the difference in post, and that’s not a small task. If the photo isn’t good, slapping a preset on it isn’t going to fix it.
Now, a lot of the photos I took on this trip were quite literally shot from the hip. I was primarily using Fuji’s 23mm f/2, which is wide enough for me to be comfortable shooting in this way, leaning toward a “street” style, something I appreciate much more these days. Going through and editing these photos specifically pushed me in a certain direction; my photos, and the way I edit them, are becoming more realistic. What I mean is, they’re less stylistic, in the modern photographic sense. A lot of what you see on the internet these days is very dramatically processed — shadows crushed to oblivion, over-vibrant or super punchy colours, people like to add a lot of grain after the fact. A lot of young photographers are trying to create a filmic look with their digital images — and that’s fine, but not when it’s used as a crutch. All of the same principles of photography apply to digital that applied in the years when 35mm with the standard. But it’s easy to apply some VSCO Film simulation to an image that isn’t very good, and just call it “artistic.” I do this at times, and in the long run it’s just frustrating for myself, because I’m not really growing as a photographer. But as I do grow and become more mature, I find myself more and more drawn to images that look real, not over-processed. A good example of this, in my opinion, is the more recent work of Joe Greer. As Joe has got more and more into shooting street and documentary, I’ve noticed his images taking on a more subdued tone. Not that they’re dull, not at all, but they don’t look like they have layers of makeup over them. I respect Joe and his work immensely, and you should definitely check him out.
As I moved through the images from the weekend, the overall colour profile shifted more and more toward realism. And I came to like the photos more. I wasn’t trying to make them all into masterpieces. They were telling a story, and that became enough. Of course there are shots I’m more happy with than others, but that will happen in any photoset. Overall, I’m pleased, and I’ve grown. In the long run, that will make the greatest difference in my work. And if it does take a few sub-par shoots, it’ll still be worth it.
I apologise for the rambling nature of this post. It has been very difficult for me to describe this process in writing. (I should really make more of an effort to spend time with other photographers.) Anyhow, you’ve read this far, so I suppose my thoughts were intriguing enough. So thank you. I hope you enjoy the images. (Also, try and spot which ones I enjoyed making more — you may be able to tell quite easily.)
with love
— Joel
P.S. The retreat was wonderful.
