So, I said yes to a photo walk in Seattle the other day. It would be easy, I thought, just another day down by the beach. But, alas, it was not, I should have known. Shooting among the others made me feel naked. NAKED!
On the day of the photo walk we met with a small group of really nice people at the statue park, everybody had their gear ready and we just went for it. As I took out my camera (note to self: never leave home without the big camera) and something to shoot, I just couldn’t do it. Not right there in front of others. You know how it is when you’re naked in front of people (come on, everybody has had that dream at least once), it can be quite distracting. I took my little scene away from others in order to concentrate even a little. It didn’t really work. I shot a frame here, another there, everything looked terrible and eventually I just decided to act as if I was photographing.
The only thing that was awkward, however, was me. I have never photographed with anyone else in the vicinity. Well, maybe the kid has watched sometimes but it’s different. I saw others go with apparent ease, enjoying the experience and the beautiful day. I was looking for an exit.
Then, a kid offered me a red gummi bear candy, it dropped to the ground and I figured that was my chance. I picked it up and yes, I shot a few nice frames of it just like that, on a rock.
Then Shelly gave me a dinosaur. The dinosaur and the gummi bear made a swell pair and I took them to a rock near where Wiiman was shooting his scenes. As I was setting the dinosaur and the gummi bear by the shore I fell into the familiar state of flow and everything was right.
I am not used to photographing outdoors, I’ve done it a few times years ago, but as the afternoon was upon us I had experienced a really nice day with fellow photographers, and a moment when I didn’t mind being naked.
It was a good day.
Full time illustrator, part time photographer. As such, I created blizzards with Star Wars Lego and had an influence on how The Lego Movie looks like.
Come hang out with me. We’ll shoot outside, with big cameras, and nobody else around
Do I get the same invitation? :-)
Absolutely!
I wanna join too !
I could do that. :D
Oh my gosh, Vesa! I had no idea you were feeling so vulnerable! And there I was whipping out LEGO wieners, Gollum, and warriors with pink purses! hahaha Well, I’m glad you got out of your comfort zone and took a chance with us shooting in the great outdoors in front of everyone. I love shooting outdoors and the challenge of finding just the right mini landscape for the figures, or finding the right combo of toys to go with the environment. You never know what will work, like a dinosaur eating a gummi bear!
I don’ t know if vulnerable is the word, I think naked is better. No, seriously, I am a bit shy and there were a lot of new people around, that was a lot to handle at once. I did enjoy the day, though, even if I had to put in a little extra effort to navigate through it. That is a healthy thing to do sometimes. :)
The moment when the gummi bear came up was the moment the shoot veered to a place it was not supposed to go to, I liked that.
Vesa I’m glad you hung with it and came out the other side with success. No one ever said shooting outside was easy. We have talked about it on the blog before. I think that is one reason we tend to gather in packs, it can be easier in a group. When I go out by myself, trust me I tend to find a quiet corner of the universe so I can work in peace. I think we all crave privacy when trying to be creative. And next time you join a photography photo group, be sure and bring the… Read more »
And I was just planning to change my full frame overweighted DSLR for the simple point and shoot with WIFI our naked friend was using. Blends much better in the environment :)
The smaller camera does not intimidate the minifigures as much as bigger ones do. An old photographers’ trick. :D
Each of us being just a little bit different makes this all that much more interesting. This was a new experience, it won’t be the last of it’s kind, I’m sure.