Cruising fer snaps

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

for all of those who are offended by "cruising fer snaps" lets just call it "looking for things to photograph". How about that.
What do you do. What do you think about. Do you take somebody along. Etc. How do YOU go about it.

[Jody_S]

I usually find locations by driving, occasionally by looking through specialized internet forums. Rarely through someone's suggestion, or seeing a photograph or video online. I usually do this with 2 or 3 cameras in the car, rarely large format though. Always alone. Usually listening to music, not the radio. I've tried a couple of times with my wife in the car, it just doesn't work.

Once I've found my location, I need absolute silence. I will often bring a couple cans of beer and some insect repellent. If I don't see a shot, I walk around or sit on a log, until something comes to me. I usually need several visits to a location before I get anything I consider good.

[Lenny Eiger]

Kevin,

I think your question is a good one. However, I think its quite broad in scope. You might as well have asked "what is a photograph."

I think going outside is good. That's a start. I think getting out of the car, as someone else also mentioned, is essential. I don't think you can actually look for anything. There are no "things". When one looks at a tree, well, we've all seen them (almost everyone on the planet) and we know what they look like. Why would one photograph one? Maybe to communicate how what a tree feels like vs what it looks like. What does it fell like to be there, once again, not "look like."

I like looking at images where I learn something. Usually something very subtle, or deep. I also enjoy being connected to the earth, and connected to the rest of humanity. The key to communicating this kind of stuff is that you first have to "understand" something. Have you learned anything on your time here on earth? Do you know anything you would share with the rest of us?

The first task is to get "present". A tree is not a simple object, its a living being. We may or may not have the skills to communicate with it but they are living and breathing. Just like us, they live "in context". They bend over because a rock blocks their path to the water source. The leaves are mind-damaged on one side. They live in their world. Same with rocks and water, and everything else in the natural world. You may not feel like you can ask them permission to take their portrait, but the practice might help you anyway. One has to be able to understand something to communicate it. And you have to get present to understand it.


Lenny

[chassis]

I experienced this situation this week. I was in the greater Toronto area, and wanted to take a photo of the steel mills in Burlington Bay. I have driven over the skyway many times, and have been inspired by the industry to the west, and the large lift bridge adjacent to the skyway. So I set out in the afternoon to "cruise for a snap".

Short story, when I drove around the area, including both north and south shores, and the causeway/land bridge, I wasn't satisfied with any vantage points. There was tons of subject material, but I wasn't moved to make an image. So I packed up my gear and headed towards the border.

At the Peace Bridge, I drove down to the park upstream of the bridge on the Canadian side. Here I found a nice view from the upstream side of the bridge, where I made a photograph. But even here, I felt more as if I was forcing myself a bit to make the photograph. I will find out tonight, when I develop the negative, how it turned out.

I believe that strong images are made by photographers intimate with their subjects. The example of Ansel Adams in Yosemite is a good one. Another example is myself photographing my family. Exceptions are possible - I have made some nice landscape images in Yosemite (parroting Ansel) and in Australia (Twelve Apostles), but consistently strong images I believe are the result of intimacy with the subject.