Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Night School

Last weekend in Paris was about gaining new experiences, seeing what I could learn by travelling on my own. Sunday night I spent time with photographer Molly S.J. Lowe, on an evening photo tour organized through Photo Tours in Paris. Molly is a freelance and fashion photographer, an American transplanted to Paris. It was fascinating to hear about what she does as a professional photographer, and to hear another ex-patriate point of view. Take a look at her beautiful black and white photography at the link above.

Molly was an exacting teacher, wanting me to get the shot right in the camera, rather than relying on post-processing in the computer. Once she learned I knew what aperture and shutter speed were, we focused on the details of composition. I learned more about shooting in manual and choosing the right settings for the look of the photo at night. I learned to look closely at the edges of the frame to see what was going on. I learned that my camera viewfinder is not very accurate as compared to what will end up in the picture - and it's not even symmetric - so getting the shot right in the camera for framing takes some trial and error! I learned that it is difficult to use manual focus at night, but sometimes you have to. I learned the ins and outs of using the tripod to get a good shot. She made me pay attention to the little details, the things that make a difference, and take a photograph from ho-hum to great.

We spent three hours together shooting around the Louvre and Place de la Concorde. Amazingly, in that time I have very few really good shots, and that is just fine with me. We stayed with each shot for as long as it took to get it right, focusing on learning those little details first hand, which is what I needed. And while I have several beautiful shots, there are only a couple that I feel a connection to and want to share here. These are the ones where Molly said, "OK, set up here and let's see what you come up with..." rather than directing me on setting up the shot. These are the ones, like the fountain above, where I saw the image I wanted and she just helped me make it better and get it right. These are my view. That realization - that beyond having a technically beautiful image, it needs to also be my image - is as important to me as the lessons on the technical details.

Today's photo of La Fontaine des Mers in Place de la Concorde is straight out of the camera, no editing. I find myself itching to crop it a little bit but in honor of my lessons from Molly I am leaving it as it is, because that's what I captured in the moment. A moment I want to remember and learn from, my night photo tour in Paris.

16 comments:

  1. Love the photo, can we see the other one as well? :)
    Sounds like you've had an excellent experience and that it's given you a lot to think about which is one of my favorite ways to learn - watch, observe, learn and then make it your own :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so pleased you enjoyed your Paris trip and your night shooting session sounds as if you got a lot from it. How would you crop that beautiful picture?

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful photo! Oh, I wish I would learn things about good night shots. Promise to come to Slovenia and teach me :)... I think it's good to know the techniques, but after that, it's your soul that takes pictures (knowing the technique is a bit easier to express what you want, but it is not everything!).
    It's great that you could learn from such a great photographer...

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful experience! The photo above is gorgeous; no wonder you're happy with it. I'd love to see some of the ones she helped you set up that you don't love with a bit of description about what you were working on during the shot. I've taken some online classes, but would love to have a one-on-one photography lesson. I haven't a clue about night photography, so I rarely even try.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a beautiful shot, Kat! I'm so glad the experience was a good one! I would love to see some of your other shots as well. I'm sure the one-on-one teaching was really helpful. What else did you do in Paris?

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an amazing experience that must have been. Your shot is beautiful. as is.
    I agree that our photos must also reflect us. Beyond the technical, the vision and emotion we bring to the image. Thank you for reminding me of that. It is easy to chase after the beauty of other photographers images, we must remember to share our view of life through the lens.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds a fantastic experience you have had! Your shot is beautiful. I found it difficult to shoot water and never have succeeded in the past, especially in the night. Your site really makes me feel like going back to learn photography again. xm

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds wonderful. Wanna share your notes? :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fabulous, fabulous! I just keep looking at it....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stunning...can only imagine how much fun this was. Can't wait to see the book you are going to put together to remember this Season of you rlife. FAB Miss K!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an exciting outing! It's great to learn from someone new and refine your technical skills, but it's your vision and your creative expression. Fabulous photo. Please share more!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful shot! I'm curious what else you could possibly do to make it better. Did you take photos from your initial framing up to this one that you could share?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kat - it's fantastic! And what an incredible photo tour! This must have been so exciting! I love to learn more in photography and to challenge myself, and this night sounds exactly like that. I'm with Gina - please share more!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a wonderful photograph! I've been meaning to get out and get some night shots... alas, I am not in Paris, so I've got to plan a night walk! I got here through Shutter Sisters... and I'm hooked!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is such a beautiful photo! I wouldn't do a thing to it. I thought I had already signed up to follow you, but I guess I didn't...must've got distracted last time I was here! Couldn't find you for a few days..but finally tracked you down again! I'm following now, so that won't happen again and I won't miss any of this beauty or words of wisdom!

    Esther

    ReplyDelete

What's your view of the world? I love to hear yours too!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.