Together On The Land Tour 2011

This summer a friend of mine asked if I'd volunteer to take photos for an alternative housing tour that he was going to be involved with through the Valley Community Land Trust. First of all, I was flattered that he thought of me, and second of all, I was excited to combine my interest in alternative housing and architecture with my love for photography. It also seemed like a great way to expand my horizons in terms of being a freelance photographer (that sounds strange, is that what I am?). So, obviously, I agreed.

Photographing this tour presented a couple of challenges that I've looked at as ways for me to grow as a photographer. Something I've always struggled with is photographing people candidly enough so that they don't feel awkward. I've found that it's important to get everyone used to your presence (the sound of your shutter and your lens in their faces) early on in the event, but this is something I certainly haven't mastered. Another challenge was taking dynamic photos of sometimes static situations- oftentimes the group would be standing in a circle listening to one person talk, and it's hard to get more than a couple of dynamic shots out of that sort of situation. Also important is your positioning in relation to the subjects you're photographing, and I've learned that it's important to feel comfortable enough to move around to get shots from different angles. Again, something I haven't mastered...

I came out of the event feeling really excited to have been able to participate in it, but ultimately a little disappointed with my results. I got a few good shots, but I couldn't shy away from the feeling that I'd probably disappointed VCLT. The photos have been posted on their website here. It's been a few weeks since I've thought about them, but I finally checked the site to see if they were up, and they were. Glancing back through them now, I think I may have been too hard on myself initially. The photos got the job done, and there seems to be a decent variety in terms of the type of shots I captured.

If I could do it again, I'd convince myself to get more comfortable earlier on and to ignore the feeling that people are annoyed that I'm taking their photos. That's always been a huge issue with me, and I know it won't go away overnight, so all I can do is continue to work on it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

When I'm less sleepy, I'll come back to this entry and update it with what lenses I used. I'll also talk about a dinner I photographed for the Valley Alliance for Worker Cooperatives that my incredible roommate Rebekah put on, which was a much more challenging thing to photograph dynamically, and I'm still pretty disappointed in myself for the results I got. Sometimes I miss autofocus... but I still wouldn't change out my lenses for anything. More on that later. Also to come: ideas for series of photographs.