Avenues with Views – #amazinglocations // Vantage Point

Story telling comes in many forms and takes on many roles: The children’s tales told through colorful books, the stories told through movies, the adventures of a lifetime via biographies. I delve in the medium of storytelling through the use of photographs. I personally believe that the moto “a picture says a thousand words” is inaccurate. A photograph actually conveys so much more than a group of words can ever hope to convey. It conveys emotions, stories, action, scenery, beauty and so much more.

There are various tools of storytelling and they all serve different purposes. The camera is one such tool, it allows me to capture stories in the manner I want them told. An intriguing new technology is that of L16, a multi-sensor camera that allows the user to create a 50mp image that is made from the combination of images collected from the 16 different sensors within the camera. Like any other tool, the user is as important as the tool itself to be effective. Therefore, the right combination of tools and skill can yield exceptional results.

I personally used a Nikon D750 in combination with Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art series lens to capture this photograph. I can’t stress the importance of the right tool enough. Sometimes the right tool is the one that you have on you. By extension, the best camera is the one that you have on you.

Photographs can depict emotions, they can tell stories that would otherwise be forgotten, they can make you cry, they can make you smile, they can create a sense of horror when they tell the sad stories of human suffering, they can literally change the course of history as they did when the pictures of the Vietnam war were published. This alone tells you what a photograph is capable of.

The Brick Kilns in Pakistan // Vantage Point

Sometime you look for vantage points, sometimes a vantage point finds you. This was one of the latter occasions where a vantage point found me as I was travelling from Hyderabad to Karachi. I was on my way to the airport as I looked out the window of the car. I saw desolate fields on the way where brick kilns were burning away as they churned out brick after brick. As I stopped the car and got down to take a photo, these kids came running towards me from the surrounding fields. Their curiosity was aroused by the stranger pulling up near their houses and taking photos.

They smiled and giggled at the strange stranger holding the huge camera and formed a semi-circle around me. This was the vantage point I was looking for and I immediately snapped this photo among others. You can head on over to my blog here: Travel Diaries to check out the rest of the photographs from this #vantagepoint.

The photograph tells the story of hardship and toil that these kids face as their parent labor at the brick kilns. Being unable to afford the simplest of commodities like water and clothing, these children still smiled at the stranger who had pulled up. This photograph gave me hope and misery in the same frame. It filled me with sorrow for conditions the kids lived in. If you are interested, here is a link to a charity that works towards improving living conditions for these children.

As a wedding photographer located in Edmonton, I have found that capturing emotions on the day of the wedding is the key to creating masterpieces of art for my clients. This was not something I was born with but developed over several years. These are some tips that might help you.

1. Look for the moments:

This is something that comes with practice and pre-planning. An example of this would be where you suspect that the bride will cry when her father gives her away on the altar, keep your camera ready and aimed at the scene and capture it the moment it happens. Shot gunning the moments will be unlikely to get you the emotional shot. It is more likely to get you shots that you will probably throw away. So anticipate moments and capture them as they happen.

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

There is no substitute to this one. Practice makes perfect and that is extremely true for photography. I would suggest starting photographing with an older film camera as it teaches you how to anticipate moment and also makes you patient. It teaches you about principles of photography, the rules of composition and the ability to ensure that you nail the photo every time you click the shutter.

3. The Vantage point

Being at the right place at the right moment is the most important of all of these tips. When you anticipate something momentous is going to happen, place yourself in the best #vantagepoint so that you can to nail the shot. This ensures that you are not moving around when the moment happens and also allows you to practice the shot beforehand (I call it “dialing the settings in”).

Hopefully the next vantage point finds you!