Lessons Learned: Journalism Style Art

On my first trip to Mono Lake, I arrived at the South Tufa parking lot an hour or so before sunset. As I picked up my camera bag and tripod, I noticed another photographer with a tripod slung over her shoulder. Two cars down a couple exited, then picked up camera bags and tripods. Then another, and another. I'll bet by the time the sun actually set, there were between two- and three-dozen cameras on tripods pointing out over the tufa towers! Most of them had been in place for at least 30 minutes.

It was my first encounter with...The Tripod People! My background is in journalism (writer/editor) and photojournalism (providing relevant images to accompany my stories), and I apply the skills I learned then to my fine art effort. As a result, I explore a new location, constantly changing camera angles and directions with each passing whim of inspiration, and shooting almost contstantly. My goal is to discover the beauty of every location and bring home a collection of classic or unique representations of it...in other words, to completely cover the event.

The Tripod People are different. They go out with a single preconceived image in mind, and that's their only goal. They set up, wait (with AMAZING patience, ignoring the new photo opportunities as the light changes magically around them) for their preconceived image to appear. When it does, they're successful. When the light or subject matter doesn't cooperate, they go home empty-handed, never having seen (or captured) the true beauty that WAS there.

So there you have it. My prejudice against tripods. Although I spend of lot of time braced up against trees, rocks or tufa towers - and a lot of time holding my breath - to keep the camera steady enough to produce a sharp image, I'll reserve use of a tripod for those rare moments when I have a specific image in mind that requires it.