It’s Got To Speak For Itself.
I’m not going to be in the room when fans view my images. The picture has to speak for itself. No matter what your experience of that day, no matter what you went through to get that photo, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to someone who’s looking at that photo, unless the photo carries the experience.
For a shot to really work, it’s got to be successful pictorially, informationally, and emotionally. Face it, we’re emotional creatures – and as photographers, we want fans to love our images as much as we do.
When I’m out in the field, I think like a fan. The best quality a (paying) fan brings to the table is dispassion. It sounds cruel, but they don’t give a rat’s ass if you had a bad day, or two of your lights went bad, or if the model didn’t cooperate. All they care about is the picture : does it speak or does it not? Thinking like a fan has made my images better because I don’t go easy on myself. I had to become my own toughest critic.
This image of Cheryl Faust is one of my favorite shots of the year (2011). No explanations are needed. Cheryl brings an intense style of sexuality to a shoot. This is where “just go click” comes into play. Get the angle, lock down the camera on a tripod and get your point of view. There wasn’t a whole lot of directing necessary. She owned the shoot!
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