The Defining Moment Part 2

Karen Turner — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 16:51:52 +0000

When I first started as a photographer, I shot all day and night, with no regard for light at all. “I don’t have time to get up before dawn and wait to see if something happens”, I thought. I got tons of harsh shadows, especially in scenery, and was constantly disappointed in my results, because the defining moment in scenery photographs is the light on the scene. That’s why I cringe when I see people taking pictures of famous places, like the Grand Canyon at high noon. I just know that when they see their shots, they’re going to be so disappointed because the pictures aren’t going to look like what they see.

There is a really pretty spot near my home where a lot of people come to set up their cameras to shoot the sunset. The gang usually gets there about two or three hours before sunset, and spend forever fiddling with their tripods and lens cleaner, and who knows what else, and then as soon as the last sliver of sun goes under the horizon, they drop their cameras and take off. I’m always stunned. I feel like screaming, “Dude, You’re Missing the Light!”, but I don’t want anyone to get mad and pop me one, so I just set up in their prime spots and shoot away. Another way of finding your defining moment is with light, especially if you’re shooting scenery. The best time to shoot is a half hour before sunrise until an hour after sunrise, and then an hour before sunset until a half hour after sunset. Any time you find yourself shooting a landscape or scenery during the day, just put your camera down, because you’re going to find yourself with blown out whites or shadows with no details and, like those days when you’re out of training, but you still think you can pound down three gold Cadillac margaritas, you’re going to hate yourself in the morning.

An hour before sunset, the light was still on the harsh side, and even though the light was directional and the shadows soft, the picture isn’t anything special, it’s just a bunch of cacti. But right after sunset, the light changed dramatically. The light has fallen off the foreground, but there is enough light there to show all of the detail in the foreground while pointing toward the real scene stealer, sunset at the Tonto National Forest. When the light left the mountains on the forest, I turned to see the last moments of sunset and shot this silhouette of the mountain, I looked around and all of the other guys had gone home! I couldn’t believe it. This shot has sold a million, billion times, and my exaggeration is minimal. So next time you take your camera out at sunset, stick around. You just might be pleasantly surprised.

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The Defining Moment

Karen Turner — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 16:41:11 +0000

You know what really drives me crazy? When you’re at an event, a family reunion, as company picnic, whatever, and some guy starts taking pictures of every little insignificant thing. Like me eating corn on the cob. Corn on the cob in one of my favorite foods in the world, but there is nothing beautiful, funny or interesting about me eating it. Yet, every single time I bring that golden sheaf to my lips, lips stretched back, gums all exposed, tiny yellow gunk in between my teeth, someone is taking a picture of it. Or at weddings. People take pictures of the stupidest things at weddings. Remember about 15 years ago, when the big rage was to eschew hiring a professional wedding photographer in favor of littering fling cameras all over the tables so that your closest friends could capture your most intimate, personal, one-of-a-kind memories? An entire generation of people ended up spending money to develop thousands of pictures of crotches and nose hairs, and nothing to remember the most important day of their lives with.

The diehards call it taking “candids”. I call that kind of photography Kamikaze photography. It’s totally meaningless. What do people do with these pictures? Line their liter boxes? Ick.

In 1948, Photographer Philippe Halsman set off to find the defining moment in a photograph. “Dali Atomicus” featured a crazy looking painter, his easel and chair, all jumping in the air while three cats and a bucket full of water flew toward them. You can check it out right here if you’re not familiar with it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc/95165918/ . There was obviously no Photoshop during those times, so every single element had to be coordinated perfectly to time with everything else, creating a “defining moment”, where everything comes together into a moment that is like no other. This is what you’re looking for in every picture that you take.

How do you capture the defining moment? The easiest way is to keep shooting after your subjects think you’re done taking the picture. Most of the time when you take a picture, the only thing on your subject’s mind is “Just take the %$#&^&* picture, already.” And that’s what they look like. They are usually talking, pulling at themselves or looking away from the camera. But after you take the picture, people relax, and you get the true life that lurks behind the pose.

This picture of Courtnie and Perrie is a nice, clean shot. The lighting is nice and you can see how strong their sisterly bond is. If that’s all you get, well, ok, that’s great, but immediately after I took that shot, I pretended that I was done, gave them “the nod”, and then ramming speed hefted the camera back up to my eye right away. I took this shot: Ooh, aah. Yes, Courtnie’s eyes are closed, but SO WHAT? This is the shot! This is the moment. There is something special here, and when you get something special, it’s time to celebrate. And when I celebrate, I eat corn on the cob.

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The Defining Moment Part 2

The Defining Moment