Slow observation
Foster Coffee
There are many places that have cool branding and nice tag lines but it is really special when a company’s branding actually matches what they practice. Foster Coffee in Owosso, MI; Flint, MI; and soon East Lansing, MI are a perfect example of this. They genuinely foster community.
They invited three commercial photographers, Me, Leigh Ann Cobb, and Marek Dziekonski to come speak about how we all work. As I was preparing for my talk, I realized that I could spend the whole time talking about different commercial shoots I have been on or talk about one simple concept.
I skimmed through some of my client work but then quickly went on to talk about the idea of observation. Commercial photography allows a lot of control on a set. One can be in charge of the casting, the lightning, the mood, and the tone. Nearly everything is in a photographer’s control and the goal is to create the vision in their head. When a photographer is not taking pictures it is so important to be practicing slow observation skills. It’s human nature to take in the world around us but the practice of slowing down that observation to look at the things in between make the world of a difference.
Here is an example of slow observation: this past summer, I was hanging out with my friend Jason. We were next to an ice cream shop and I saw a guy walk up to us with really cool tattoos; he was holding a perfect looking soft serve ice cream cone. I perked up at this sight and asked if I could pose him for a photo. While I was getting his consent and trying to get this photo, Jason pointed out that I was missing out on a woman eating ice cream in her blue car. The light was falling perfectly on her ice cream cone and it was a gorgeous scene of summer. I think a good photographer is able to step back from a situation and take in more than everyone else is noticing. Being open to observing these little in-between moments is what makes someone a good photographer. These skills in turn make us better commercial photographers when we do really have the control of a shoot set.
Except for the very last photo all of these photos were shot by Joe Matteson.
After this talk everyone a few of the attendees joined me outside for a photo. I shot this on my Hasselblad with a 50mm f/4 Zeiss Distagon lens. I usually have an 85mm lens on this camera but this wider lens was perfect for this group shot.
