I don’t know about you but I’ve noticed that I have my go-to camera gear and settings that I use most of the time when I’m photographing flowers and landscapes. Chances are I have my Canon 5DMarkIII body and four lenses – 16-35 mm, 24-105mm, 70-200 mm and my 100mm macro lens (my favorite) with me. I’ll be carrying my tripod – and will use it as much as possible. If you look at my camera it’s likely set in Aperture Priority, ISO 100, and my lenses are all set on manual focus, image stabilization off.
This is a setup that works for me – but in some ways it also limits how I photograph. Having to set up the tripod, pull my gear out of my pack and manually focus my camera means I don’t take many spontaneous photographs. I tend to think about what I want to show in my photo, and compose based on my idea for my photo.
Several times during my trip to Georgia and South Carolina I photographed in a completely different style. I did what Brooks Jensen of Lenswork magazine refers to as Photography By Walking Around (PBWA) – where I just walked around a city or town photographing whatever caught my eye.
I put my camera and one lens (24-105mm) in a small bag, left my tripod in the car and headed out exploring. At first I was really uncomfortable photographing like this – it just didn’t feel right not using my tripod and using autofocus. But then I realized I was still creating photos that would convey what I wanted to share – I was just taking them in a different way.
At which point I just relaxed and had fun. Here are a few of the photos I took walking around Savannah’s historic district.
Marilyn Monroe sculpture at City Market, Savannah GA © 2015 Patty Hankins
Trumpet player at Forsyth Park, Savannah, Georgia © 2015 Patty Hankins
Candles at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Savannah, Georgia © 2015 Patty Hankins
Ironwork Leaves on a Garden Gate , Savannah, Georgia © 2015 Patty Hankins
Wisteria Along a Fence, Savannah, Georgia © 2015 Patty Hankins
I did more PBWA in Bluffton, Beaufort and Charleston. Keep an eye out here on my blog for more photos from my photographing by walking around. I’m sure I’ll be posting more in the weeks to come.
And if you tend to have your go-to lenses and settings the way I do – I’d encourage you to get out of your comfort zone of your usual style of photographing and try something new. If you usually use a tripod – try hand holding your camera. If you usually have your camera set in Program mode – try Shutter or Aperture Priority. You might just discover, the way I did, that there are other ways of photographing that are as much fun and as satisfying as your usual way of doing things is.
I’d love to hear what happens when you got out of your comfort zone and tried something a little different. Tell me about it in the comments below.