23 Comments
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John Hendrick's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

Well said, John. Thanks for sharing.

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Peter Fodero's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

Thanks Peter ✌🏾

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CraiggerC's avatar

Great article as always Gajan.

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

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Gajan Balan's avatar

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

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Mark Juliana's avatar

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

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Gajan Balan's avatar

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

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Aisha Kabani's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

Thanks for sharing, Aisha.

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Arsalan Alim's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

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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Arsalan Alim's avatar

Looking forward to reading that one!

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Arne's avatar

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

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Gajan Balan's avatar

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

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Amy Fisher's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

Absolutely!

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Adam Muise's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

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

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Olli Thomson's avatar

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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Gajan Balan's avatar

Well said, Olli. Thanks for sharing ✌🏾

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Doug Golden's avatar

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

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Gajan Balan's avatar

Thanks for reading, Doug ✌🏾

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