Look for Graphic Elements

Once again I've fallen behind a few days in postings because I'm trying to get a book finished (by this weekend!) so that it can get to the printing plant in China on time. The hardest part about writing books, for me at least, is that I have very little time to shoot new photos while I'm writing. A typical day for me includes at least 12-15 hours at the computer--and I spend every minute wishing I was off in some pretty place shooting.

While procrastinating a bit from writing yesterday I was looking through some old folders and came across this shot that I made in Galilee, Rhode Island--a beautiful little fishing port that is worth visiting with your cameras. When I go to Galilee though, I'm often so overwhelmed by how pretty the place is that I have a hard time focusing on one type of subject. One trick I've used though is to force myself to look for a specific graphic element--textures, lines, reflections, shapes, etc., instead of a specific object or subject. I find that I create much more creative pictures that way than by saying, for example, "today I'm going to photograph a fishing boat." The reason is that while you're busy looking for a great fishing boat to shoot you walk right past a lot of more creative and intereting shots.

On my most recent trip to Galilee I decided to look for colorful subjects with an interesting shape to photograph. I was only on the fishing docks for a few minutes when I spotted these floats hanging off the side of a huge commercial fishing boat. I spent about a half hour photographing them from various angles and with different lenses and I had a lot of fun--and I got several good images.

This doesn't mean, of course, that if I find a great tuna boat or an interesting fisherman to photograph that I won't shoot them, but zeroing in on one particular idea gives me a target, something specific to look for and I find the challenge is very helpful. So, if you're out shooting this weekend, try and give yourself a self-assignment to shoot a particular graphic element and see if it doesn't make you probe your subjects more deeply and on a more graphic level.