Capturing, no wait, Creating the Moment

I have been doing some speaking engagements with local camera clubs, mostly because they asked me to come in and talk about my work. And there was a discussion in one about the difference between capturing the moment and creating it.

I guess you could make an argument that any image that did not have a set up or physical production is a capture. And, any time there is production involved it is a created moment.

Maybe it is vanity on my part, but I believe that I create the moments in my images, whether there is external production or if it is only internalized.

For example, the image above was created during a walk through at a conference center in Ohio. We were moving between sets and stopped for lunch. I saw the wall sconces and grabbed the camera and tripod. Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting down with the art director to a splendid turkey sandwich.

It was an unplanned stop but everything else about the image was thought out. I was even considering how the image would look as a banner or printed piece. I captured several frames from different angles to see how the camera was "seeing" the light. But, I created the moment through my on the spot planning and thinking through the composition and lighting.

Maybe it is all just semantics. And, I mean no offense to the wedding shooters who "capture the moment" all the time. If they are doing it right (and those I know who do it, do do it well), I still think they are "creating the moment".

Moments of Surreal

Sometimes, an image just appears in front of me. It becomes one of those moments that I may use as a visual guide for a later image or a reminder of an image I may have created years ago and still like.

In this particular instance, my family and I took a trip to the New England Aquarium. Just another family adventure. On a lower floor somewhere, one of the tank exhibits was being changed. There were no signs, no notices or anything. Just two sets of legs standing in an empty tank.

Whoever the legs belonged to, they must have been having an indepth conversation. They stood completely still for long enough for me to take several exposures, including this one with my oldest checking out the "behind the scenes" view.

Several people walked by with one of two reactions. They either noticed me with my camera aimed at the empty tank and hurried through or they stopped at the tank and looked at the card over the top of the exhibit, as if trying to find which fish silouette the legs represented.

Ironically, a sketch book of mine from a couple of years back has several similar ideas that I have never produced. Maybe it is time to dust off those ideas and bring them to life!