Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
The thread -- I don't want to teach grandma to suck eggs but ..... -- got me going on this.
I responded to it as follows:
"I like HCB's thought: "You don't take a photograph, the photograph takes you."
Exact quote: “A photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
I shoot what moves me.
Cheers, Jock "
Folks who hire commercial photographers don't want a photographer who only shoots what moves them; they want a photographer who will use skill and inspiration to move forward whatever the client had in mind. The probably want a photographer who can "do" lighting; which I haven't a clue about.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was involved in promoting a product that contained (are you ready for this?) a tapered element oscillating microbalance. It was a tiny glass device, about the size of a golf tee, that was capable of weighing very, very small things (like particles in the air) in real time. Further, it didn't need gravity to make its measurements. As a consequence, one of these TEOMs would be flying in a NASA mission to a comet.
Held in your hand, the TEOM didn't look very interesting. We hired Bill Murphy, a commercial photographer. He lit the TEOM, moved in close, looked, looked some more, lit some more, and produced this:
Cheers, Jock
PS sorry for the poor quality of the quick snap of the magazine cover.
I responded to it as follows:
"I like HCB's thought: "You don't take a photograph, the photograph takes you."
Exact quote: “A photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
I shoot what moves me.
Cheers, Jock "
Folks who hire commercial photographers don't want a photographer who only shoots what moves them; they want a photographer who will use skill and inspiration to move forward whatever the client had in mind. The probably want a photographer who can "do" lighting; which I haven't a clue about.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was involved in promoting a product that contained (are you ready for this?) a tapered element oscillating microbalance. It was a tiny glass device, about the size of a golf tee, that was capable of weighing very, very small things (like particles in the air) in real time. Further, it didn't need gravity to make its measurements. As a consequence, one of these TEOMs would be flying in a NASA mission to a comet.
Held in your hand, the TEOM didn't look very interesting. We hired Bill Murphy, a commercial photographer. He lit the TEOM, moved in close, looked, looked some more, lit some more, and produced this:
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Cheers, Jock
PS sorry for the poor quality of the quick snap of the magazine cover.