Thursday's Journey Through the Past

I always think I have to link to long posts. But here's a short one.

"Oil Shots," from April of 2008.

I haven't done this in a month of Sundays. That's a pity. It just means I don't put myself in shooting situations very often any more.

My father used to call these "B-clicks," because he didn't like to waste film on them. He'd set his mechanical Konicas on "B" and pretend to take pictures with no film in the camera. But that made me antsy; I was too superstitious. I was convinced I'd see a fantastic picture go by and I wouldn't have gotten it. Fate is a trickster in my world.

But however you do it, it works. You get into the flow and after a while you don't feel self-conscious or shy any more. You're just "in it." It's a nice feeling.

Mike

(Mike is on vacation this week. But the week is almost over.)

Comments

[Dan Khong]

Having no film deliberately and pretending to shoot is better than having no film, not knowing about it and overshoot 50 frames in a roll of 36 exposures.

Enjoy the last part of your vacation.

[Sroyon]

I generally don't feel hesitant when it comes to taking that first shot, but I do feel hesitant asking permission from strangers (this despite the fact that I take a lot of street-photos of strangers, with consent). But yeah, the first one (or the first few) are the hardest. So I sometimes have a similar strategy to what you describe: start out asking people who look like they are likely to say 'yes', even if it's not the most promising photo situation. After that it gets easier.