Shutter Sisters Crosspost: Getting It "Just Right"

I just finished reading Everyone Is Beautiful by the lovely Katherine Center a few days ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could relate to the main character on so many levels, but one pleasant surprise I got from the book was a peek inside the process of old-school film photography. I'd say this coincided quite nicely with my recent foray into the world of plastic toy cameras.

And that got me thinking about the courage it takes to click the shutter on a film camera, lacking the instant feedback of an LCD screen. I realized that with digital, I can look at a photo I'd just taken, and if it's approximately what I was going for, I just tell myself I'll "fix it" at home in Lightroom--crop it, change the angle, etc.

When I took the photo above, I decided to try to get it "just right" then and there. Now, "just right" happens to be a pretty subjective matter when it comes to photography, and that's something we each have to decide for ourselves. For this specific photo, I knew exactly how I wanted it framed and at what angle, and instead of taking one or two shots that were merely useable, I took the time to concentrate on what I wanted in that photo, and after several tries, I got the exact composition I was looking for.

I believe there is a time to Just Shoot It, and I also love to Shoot From the Hip. Now, however, especially since I'm going to be working with film some of the time, I would like to work on more mindful shutter clicking. This will probably be difficult for a shutter-happy individual like myself.

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A version of this post appeared today on Shutter Sisters.

Comments

[tina]

just right indeed! love the composition here. also love the location, just steps from my house! :)

[Katherine Center]

Hooray! Thank you for posting about Everyone Is Beautiful on your gorgeous blog! I saw this post on Shutter Sisters, but i'm just now finding it here! Thanks again for the kind words--and happy summer!