Today we got to the real stuff. The last few days of instruction have been preparing us for today and the next couple: now we begin photographing our stories.
After our morning critique and exercise (shooting portraits of one another), we went out today to photograph our first assignment. The groups went in three directions with Fred and Arthur’s groups heading to a family candy/piñata business, Sarah’s group visited a funeral flower arrangement shop, a cemetery, and a couple shoe-shine stands, and Will went to a busy vegetable market. Everything we’ve been learning and practicing would be put to the test today as we photographed in extreme lighting conditions and frenzied action while trying to interpret complex subject matter. These guys have been working hard and definitely have a handle on things but the first assignment day is always a bit of a test. Some of the students are more reserved, some don’t know where to start, and sometimes the subject is grossly unfamiliar. In an evaluative sense, this is when we see how they will respond to the sounds, sights, smells, and temperature of the spaces on location. And they did great! They made graphic compositions of a cleaner tending to the cemetary. They found movement and gesture in the shoe shine guy. The created movement to add depth to images at the flower market. All of these techniques are advanced and show an advanced strength in composition. Based on today, we feel pretty good about the slideshow already, and it’s only Tuesday!