Working Notes: a commonplace notebook for recording & exploring ideas.
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Photographs Greg Williams

• Taking candid photos
  • Participant
    • Interact with the target, direct them to tell a story
  • Build a first person story
  • Have them look /into/ the lens
  • Sometimes be the observer
    • humble, small body language
  • Consciously decide if you want to be a participant or the observer
    • Have empathy: stepping in, out
    • When /not/ to take a picture
  • "It's us showing the world how we /see/ the world"
  • Can direct someone to take /your/ picture
    • This is uncomfortable (for me), but can be fun
  • "Sell" your vision; go in with the intention of getting along
• Light
  • Diffusion, size of light, distance from observer, position relative to observer
  • Key light = dominant light in the situation
  • Front/side/back light
  • Most common: 45 degree angle
  • Side light is very common for creating evocative portraits
  • Greg prefers backlight, that creates soft light in front to hide imperfections, and acts as a dramatic image
  • Treat light as a gift, make the most of it -- stay in control
  • Don't need to light the subject and their eyes
• Exposure
  • Expose for your subject
  • Trust your eyes -- camera sees more constrant
  • New York is amazing because of how the light falls through buildings
• Environment
  • Be grateful for the moment -- and use it
  • There are pictures everywhere
  • Work quickly
    • Don't slow down with light meters, etc. -- use the advantages of digital cameras
  • "Make the most of what you've got"
  • Light / elements -- do they relate to/contrast with the person?
  • Add frames
  • Perspective / vanishing point / shapes that lead the eye
  • It's always about the /person/ within the environment
• Homework to do
  • Photograph while making them laugh
  • Photograph as an observer
  • "Read" the light in photographs
  • Photograph against a white and a dark background
  • Take a picture in a boring environment

— Kunal