Turn Around And Shoot

Before getting to today’s blog entry, I have a request to make. I have been working, though it is now truly a ‘labor of love’, to make daily posts and to keep this blog fresh, interesting, and, hopefully, enjoyable to read. Needless to say, I am trying to develop a readership. If you find my blog enjoyable, useful (or any other positive adjective), I would certainly appreciate it if you would pass the URL on to a friend that has an interest in photography and who you feel might also like it. Also, please feel free to comment, as it is always nice to know that there really are people out there. Thanks,.......now on to today’s thought.

There are two sayings whose points ended up combined together to lead me to make a few images that I find interesting. These sayings are, and I paraphrase, “If you take an interesting shot, turn around, because the one behind you might be even better” and “Shoot where you are and what you know”.

I have found the quote about turning around to be extremely useful. Once I do find an interesting shot and start making photographs, it tends to get my brain into an image making ‘state of mind.’ Once I get into that ‘zone’, I find that if I look around at what I had already passed up, things start to fall together and I start to see new image possibilities.

The idea of shooting what you know and where you are allows one to really explore a subject , which is one of the concepts that led to my New Year’s resolution to do an in depth study of a local state park that I could easily visit again and again (though easy is relative, as it is still an hour’s drive away).

Combine the two ideas and you get these images:

Images Taken In Downtown Pittsburgh
Copyright Howard Grill

The photos are of a building where I work one day a week. I have been spending time there for years. One day, while leaving work, I was thinking about doing some urban shooting and was contemplating what images might be had right where I was, as it was a place that I could easily get to if the lighting or weather looked interesting. Then I turned around and saw the building I had been working in for years in a 'new light'. I ended up coming back with my camera one morning specifically to take shots of that particular location.

The sayings reflect two thoughts that are certainly worth considering and that might well lead to making some interesting photographs.