Everybody’s a photographer

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These days, nearly everybody carries a camera with them everywhere all the time. Everybody’s a photographer. But not everybody is a “Capital P” Photographer.

In the Arb
In the Arb, a roadside view in Bellingham’s Sehome Hill Arboretum.

I read A Photo Editor, a photography blog, from time to time and today I came across a block of text in the sidebar that intrigued me so I clicked through to the source. It was an interview with Aaron Schuman, an American photographer, writer, editor, and curator who curated Krakow Photomonth.

In the course of the conversation, Aaron says something that I think we all know somewhere deep in the back of our brains but don’t necessarily think about.

Aaron continues …

Schuman was writing about fine art photography,you can get more information on his site but I think his comments are equally applicable to portraiture, weddings, commercial, editorial, and any other kind of photography.

I just finished teaching my quarterly iPhone Photography class at Whatcom Community College last week. One of the things I try to get my students to understand is to think about what they’re trying to accomplish in a photo. I ask them to STOP: Slow down, Think about what they’re photographing, Optimize the composition, and only then Press the shutter release.

Tower Steps
Going up? Going down? Think about what’s going on in the frame before you press the shutter release.

Do you think about what you’re photographing when you pick up your camera? Does the photographer you hire?

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