Capturing the joy

It can be the most planned wedding or the simplest moment with kids. Something about seeing  people who are really happy stirs something deep inside. The familiarity of how good it feels to smile  is deep and impulsive.

One of my favorite photographers says you can not "capture" anything with a camera  you can only "see" something. Capture implies that the  something is intrinsically  contained in the picture taking process. I totally get he was trying to say  However some pictures seem to consistently produce a smile in its viewers. I think it can be captured and released when sometime has the courage to let their emotions flow.

How can you do it. First you have to be able to  understand  the setting. Is the joy contained in the face of the person or is it something about the  place  that strengthens the composition.  Perhaps somethings need to angled out so that all distractions are minimized. Simple is usually best, It should be what you need and nothing more. But it needs to be all of what you need.

True smiles are very fleeting things, they come and go with  speed similar to that of lightening.  Smiles held for too long are just grimaces and that  betray the lie of the moment.  So  the trained eyes have to be alert that a smile is just over the horizon as it were, ready to click when it emerges.

The most important thing you can do is be patient and pay attention.  Look at people when they are talking so that you have a clear  idea of what  makes for a good  concise moments. Begin to understand the "cadence" as it were. The Mind camera should always be alert for chances to practice.   So when your physical camera is in your hand you can have all your settings dialed in quickly without a lot of thought./ Unfortunately those fleeting moments are by definition not long.

 Take the time to understand the people, The context of the situation will open you to possibilities and new points of views for understanding  relationships may help to  clarify   better what is going on. As an example. if you see a grandfather and his grand daughter. Knowing that ahead of time may help you to decide to  shoot the grandfather from the granddaughter's point of view .  While you diminish  your options by taking her view,  the animated expressions and the naturalness  will help the viewer to  be drawn to be a participation as opposed to just  looking at a static image of two people.

Don't be so quick to delete your pictures.  I see people as soon as they take a picture   start deleting the "ugly ones" Why is  this is  a mistake.  If they are ugly why save them? 1)  no one but you will see them until you share them, so chill... 2) Memory is cheap  you can hold on and refer to rule 1 when needed. 3) Being in the moment colors our feelings about the picture we are taking. Sometimes  when you get away from the "heat of the moment" you can see things you didn't see  before. Remember  rule number 1 its okay..... Quiet smiles are often time more  true than larger ones. But those are not the pictures that stick out at first . However in those quiet glances you may actually see the spark of joy.