Don't forget to look for the quite moments in between peaks of action
In going over some of the reader comments on this blog, I came across this line from another photographer, who is intrigued by the process of photographing the quite moments that lie outside the action. Commenting on Jacob Blickenstaff’s recent concert photography post, her exact words were: I also like to shoot the breath being taken just before the big note forced out of a sax, or hands poised over the keys ready to play, or the in-between moments.
The term that came to my mind when I read this was “The calm before the storm.”
Whether you shoot rock climbing or rock and roll guitar playing, or any other activity for that matter, don’t forget to look for those moments right before the action begins, or in between segments of high activity. These are the revealing moments when your subject usually lets down their guard, and when most bare glimpses of emotion shine through. This is when the levels of introspection and previsualization are often at their peaks. This is when you’ll see the the fear and internal struggle of your subjects as they mentally prepare for what they are about to do and gather the strength needed to pull off the skills and effort needed to accomplish the activity they’re about to undertake.
Once they head out onto the sharp end of the rope and the big action begins, they won’t have time to emote anymore. Muscle memory, adrenaline and concentration take over and guide them through the fire until the next lull, when they can relax, take a breather and momentarily let their guard down again.
Of course these are the moments of peak energy, which are usually the moments that we go for with our cameras. By all means, work hard to capture these moments as well, just don’t forget to look for the quite moments in between.
In short, once you get on scene, never stop looking and don’t stop shooting until it’s all done. Even then, don’t stop, you never know what might happen in the aftermath.
Thanks, Martha for providing inspiration for this post.
Happy shooting.
