Over the last four years I have grown comfortable photographing birds, insects, and other creatures, primarily in the friendly confines of my favorite local marshland park. I am familiar with many of the best spots and I know how to use my gear to capture images when the opportunities arise.
This past weekend I stepped way out of my comfort zone when I took pictures at my brother’s wedding. It was indoors, required the use of flash, and, worst of all, involved people. I guess that it is fair to say that I am pretty insecure about my ability to photograph people. Unlike many others, I don’t routinely snap photos of people with my cell phone. In fact, I got my first “smart” phone over a year ago and have yet to take a single photo with it.
The bride asked me to take some photos, so I decided to see what I could do. One of the best pieces of advice came from my niece’s boyfriend who was seated next to me at the reception—he looked at my camera gear and told me I could afford to be bold with gear like that.
Well, things turned out better than I expected. I got some pretty good candid shots. I came away from the experience realizing that all of my hours in the field with wildlife had prepared me better for the wedding than I had realized. I’m not ready to become a wedding photographer, but I might start thinking about photographing people more often.
Here are a few shots from the reception, including a couple of my brother that I converted to black and white.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
It is good to step outside the zone from time to time.
I share the same concerns about taking pictures of people. Nicely done!
I think you did a great job. I definitely think you should challenge yourself to photograph people. Maybe you will end up as a street photographer stalking interesting characters rather than flora and fauna.
Thanks for you constant encouragement, Laura. It’s interesting that you would mention street photography, a field that has always had a strange appeal for me, but one that I had summarily rejected as something I could never do. Maybe I will give it a try. After all, I don’t live far from Washington DC, which has lots of “interesting characters.”
I did the same thing for my sister a few years ago and it was tough. Luckily they had invited other people with cameras too.
Your shots came out far better than mine!
I surprised myself with the shots I managed to get. I’m curious to see what the “real” photographer got–he had two big Nikons around his neck.
I like the b&w, that’s how I shot the the first two episodes of my public access TV show.
There is definitely something special about black and white photography, which reminds me that I have some rolls of black and white film in my refrigerator that I need to shoot some time.