What makes you click?
How do you take photos? What makes you click? Why do you press the shutter button at some times, and not at others?
In a certain episode of the podcast 'The Candid Frame' by Ibarionex Perello, the question is asked how you take photographs. I can't remember which one, so if you really want to know more, go listen to it, but beware, there are already more than 500 episodes
Before I go on, I'd like to say a few words about this podcast. Ibarionex interviews a photographer every week and these hour-long conversations are very worthwhile. The podcast exists for more than 13 years and all episodes can be listened to via iTunes or Spotify. You can also download a special app or listen via the browser at https://www.ibarionex.net/thecandidframe . Supertip!
Anyway, the question is how to photograph.
By this I do not mean which camera settings you use or what type of camera you use. It is about what you observe. What do you pay attention to? Do you look primarily at the composition, are you drawn by colors or do you see a story in a photo?
If you analyze your photos, you will see what triggers you to take a photo. Maybe you have a folder on your computer with your favorite images or you make a book every year with your top photos of that year. Flip through it and think about why you took that picture. What drew your eye?
How does this work for me?
I almost exclusively take black and white images. My camera is even set up for this. So for me it is not the colors that draw my attention in the first place, although I do avoid certain colors because I know they do not work in black and white (blue and red for example). I am more drawn to a certain composition, to the patterns of lines. But often I also try to see the story in the picture. That is because I usually work on projects and try to give the photos themselves an extra layer.
Last year I started thinking more about what attracts me in photography. I noticed that outside of my projects, usually in the form of a mentorship, I took very few photos. So I started a project to find out what kind of photos I make. That project is still running and I get a lot of pleasure out of it. It also creates great images that work really well in combination with other images.
How does this work for you?
And how do you take your photos? Do you already know what triggers you? Take a look at your older folders in your computer. Maybe your way of looking at things has changed unconsciously over time.