Find A Bridge – Get A Hoodie

One of the challenges all amateur photographers have compared to commercial photographers is it’s up to you to find the photo. Where commercial photographers often get told what to shoot, amateurs are on their own. It’s up to us to load our cameras and pick a lens and then find or create an image. It’s up to us to find meaning even excitement in what we do.

For new photographers this concept of designing a photo or even a whole project and following through to its conclusion can be a daunting task. And, it’s one of the reasons I so recommend photo walks with other photographers.

Whether you’re new to photography or a season pro going on photo walks with others is a great way to lessen your stress over shooting and find new ways to bring more creativity and purpose to your art.

But maybe it’s time to step into your own work and design your own project.

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of videos from the Adventure & Art YouTube channel of Ben Staley. Ben is a long-time commercial photographer and he is a wealth of information when it comes to shooting.

Case in point is his recent video “Over 200 Portraits. One Bridge. Ten years of Practice“.

Here Ben talks about shooting portraits under a basic concrete bridge using natural light with his models often wearing a simple hoodie. It doesn’t get any simplier than this and yet here’s Ben creating real art which any of us could do.

Do you know where there’s a bridge that spans a roadway and has no vehicle traffic underneath it? I can think of several in my own hometown of Oakville, Ontario.

Do you know a friend or relative or maybe a fellow member of a photo club who would pose for you? Sure you do.

Do you have a digital camera with a kit lens or a 35mm film camera with a 50 mm lens?

Ben will tell you in his video that it’s not about the fancy new camera but it’s about doing the work – of getting the “reps” in – and going out over and over, day in and day out as much as you can.

You need to hone your skills.

Let Ben show you how to get started by “creating the vibe” and “setting the pace” and get out there shooting.

(BTW Ben used the newly free Affinity software to print his latest photo book.)