Black Friday again

Another 'black Friday' is here. I never bothered to Google search 'black Friday' because the quality of our 'black Friday' is determined by our state of mind. The color 'black' or that which is referenced as 'black' have its crowd. There are those of us who live in 'black' clothes, and we will tell you that 'it works for us'. For another set of persons 'black' is the the embodiment of things 'evil'. It is all a matter of personal opinion, but black for me is expressive of some things to do with photography, and it is all good, nothing psycho, nothing evil, nothing superstitious ... so, black Friday will not impact negatively on my photography in any way. But if you are superstitious don't wear black, and keep out of the sun. Be like a vampire and stay in the dark of 'black Friday'.

I am now a rogue photographer since I no longer adhere to the 'prescribed' rules of photography. Incidentally I now see acclaimed photographers writing that the rules can be broken. They are not late with that, but may be fighting a lost battle. Film and film cameras kept a certain 'thinking' [for want of a better expression] and people in place, but the digital camera has changed all that, it has upset and overturned the photography cart. I believe that there are some folks who can't take the change and some others still want to be in things, so they towing the broken line. We have to stop fighting the photographic changes, readjust, realign, rethink and continue to live in our new photographic world. I am not saying that a good knowledge of photographic principles are unnecessary, because those laws are cast in stone, but when you say that you want to judge and critique an artist's creative expression, you got to be mad ... but then most of them are born psycho.

Recently I have been engaged in what I term as "DBS" 'drive by shooting'.  While motoring from one location to another I see landscape, scenery and views that beg for capture. A once in a lifetime scenic capture, a unique perspective. I am at a loss to apply the basic photographic principles to making each image from a motor car zipping along at 40-miles-per-hour, about 59-feet-per-second. By the time you recognize a scene and compose it in your brain, in that second, you could have passed it forever. In the case of the monkey drinking water from the pothole, we were travelling towards the subject. I think that capturing images while mobile in motion is a challenge that all photographers should face. There always comes a time in the life of a photographer when we have to shoot while in motion.

Drive By Shooting [DBS] is not like WBS [walk by shooting], as in Carnival and other street events, where everything is in slow motion, so you can stand still, steady yourself and gently squeeze the shutter button. Shooting on the pan and on the zoom is almost the order for DBS, and the photo hardware has to be able to handle that. I can't speak to point-and-shoot cameras but the Canon EOS cameras are capable. Manual focus can be implemented, but I prefer auto focus, and it works for me. Shutter speed determines the effect required, whether sharp like a tack or a bit of motion blur. I prefer tack sharp and 1/1500-sec works for me. It is pretty easy and simple. The camera can fulfill the image making requirement, but the rest of the capture is up to the human reflex, and more.

As we drive around our beautiful islands in the sun we should try and capture some of the views that cannot be captured any other way. If at first you don't succeed, try again. Of course if you can stop and back up that is the better way, but when on a safari tour this might not be so convenient, nor agreeable to the other tour participants ... but half a snap is better than no snap at all. I am still working on my DBS, and I see improvement, but without DBS I would be missing a lot of action. I contemplated getting a gyro copter, but so much RED tape is involved ... not saying that is why SKN is where it is, but these are times when we have to think and move outside the box. But sooner or later a "non local, non black" dude is coming with his gyro copter and the red tape could become invisible.

For now, let us hang loose and see what foolishness and/or stupidness will make the air waves for 'black Friday'. I am of the view that we are not out of the woods of sensationalism just yet. Pray earnestly that none of our Friday's will be black.