23 Comments
Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

I often tell people, that after you learn all the basics; the hard part is throwing it all away and just shooting for the gut. I agree man it's important to be lose and free with you photography, being to structure doesn't allow for your true individuality to shine true (in my humble opinion).

Great story, equally great shot. I need to try that 21.

Cheers 🤙🏼

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author

Well said, John. Thanks for sharing.

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Mar 25Liked by Gajan Balan

Loved this story and sharing the moment! I think you did a great job transporting us there and always appreciate a little backstory with a photograph.

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Thanks Peter ✌🏾

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Great article as always Gajan.

And yeah, moment/story, light, and composition... usually in that order.

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That's usually how it falls for me as well, haha. Thanks for reading.

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Great reminder. I’ll looking forward to the big reveal in the next few months!

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It's gonna be a fun one, for sure.

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Nice article and true to life. Sometimes the composition is serendipitous and that's where the true magic happens. Nice you were able to capture that shot. I once had a photography instructor who used to look at a picture and say "there's your money shot".

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Thanks for sharing, Aisha.

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

I had a similar revelation at a wedding once. I was forced to crank up my ISO way higher than I was comfortable with (due to almost no lighting on a dance floor), and lo and behold the images turned out just amazing. They were grainy of course, but being able to capture moments i might have missed was well worth it. That was a huge perspective shift for me, and after that I would experiment so much more at weddings, sometimes letting the camera pick most of my settings just to see what would happen. There's always room to experiment and learn!

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Yes! I have a tentative article on not treating ISO as this big, holy thing. Technology has come a long way and we should leverage it to tell the best story. Thanks for sharing ✌🏾

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Mar 25Liked by Gajan Balan

Looking forward to reading that one!

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

I like the most of the story that you just got in the car to take the picture.

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author

There's a whole paragraph I could've given to that as well. Maybe next time.

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Great article! I feel like this is where just going out and taking pictures of anything and everything everyday really helps with composition naturally.

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author

Absolutely!

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Of all the cameras to accidentally engage a high shutter speed on, the M11M is the safest. I find that the instinctive composition comes after a lot of time shooting street though, you have to have the will to take the shot, the wisdom to tell you that some of these moments are never planned, and the established mental calculus to get at least some of the technical elements right. Nice shot.

Additionally, I think some people have composition instincts from other visual arts too. If you are lucky enough to know one of these types of people, give the a camera on full auto and follow them around for a day on a photo walk.

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You're right, that Mono sensor is something else. And thank you for sharing.

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Good thoughts. I agree entirely that over time you develop an instinct for composition. I sometimes find that I only recognise elements of a composition I like after the fact, when I'm looking at an image on screen. I think too that we learn to see the world 'photographically', unconsciously framing the world around us even when no camera is present.

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Well said, Olli. Thanks for sharing ✌🏾

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Mar 24Liked by Gajan Balan

Great article and an awesome reminder that it’s about the content!

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Thanks for reading, Doug ✌🏾

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