15 Dec 2016

Photoproject: 100 visits to Seri Huamark Market (days 41-50)

After 40 days and 2 lenses used so far, I decided to change to a new lens that covered new focal lengths, one that would offer me possibilities I did not have before, going long for the first time to try new approaches, so I switched to the telephoto zoom Lumix 35-100mm, a lens I had not used in quite some time and that I hoped would allow me to see things in a different way from the previous shorter lenses.

Day 41, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 41b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 41c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 41d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Recently I realised that I had started taking more pictures every day and I was relying more and more on the motto "later I will find out the best one in the computer", but this approach didn't really work, for I spent more time in front of the computer than in the market taking pictures, so I promised myself to follow a new motto from then onwards: shoot less and more carefully and keep post-processing to a minimum.

Day 42, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 42b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 42c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 42d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 42e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
It's funny how people approached me more and more filled with curiosity as days passed and started asking me questions about why I was going there every day, what were my intentions and making small talk with me to have an insight into my motivations. The development of my relation with the vendors has followed a very interesting pattern: from disinterest to mild curiosity to open nosiness. We will see where we go from here on!

Day 43, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 43b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 43c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 43d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Having a longer lens allowed me to try some new things I hadn't practiced before, such as a more conventional portraiture with shallower depth of field, or focusing on smaller or more distant objects that were out of my reach before, and it was interesting to discover corners and details that had passed unnoticed to me in the previous 40 days. Even in a relatively small place such as this market there are always new things to find out, and this keep things fresh despite the repetition and limitations.

Day 44, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 44b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 44c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 44d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Even having a new lens and despite the different perspectives that it brought to the table, I felt a bit bored for the first time, a bit worn-out, and a feeling of "I have seen it all already" started to appear for the first time. I had the impression that I was starting to repeat things and that I was not able to find new scenes in each of my visits, and at times this brought my motivation a bit down, but I never let that spoil my mood and I continued ahead nevertheless, trying my best each time.

Day 45, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 45b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 45c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 45d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 45e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 45f, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
New themes continue to arise organically during my visits, and the latest addition has been textures, details that convey the pass of time and the past life of the market through the stains that are left behind.

Day 46, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 46b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 46c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 46d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Not only the vendors of the market started showing me their curiosity more openly, buy they also started posing for me and even asking me to take their pictures, checking them afterwards, shaking my hands, requesting me to pause my walks to eat with them in casual conversations. One tip that I learnt through my interactions with people during this project: engage with people whenever you have the chance to get a better understanding of them and to establish a bond that will bring more soul to your images, but at the same time stay longer and eventually they will go back to their normal chores, ignoring you, which will give you the chance to capture them candidly again.

Day 47, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47f, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 47g, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
From a technical point of view, I shot in fully manual more and more often and this made me get more comfortable using manual with the help of the histogram, and I can consider this as a personal victory already, since it was one of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the project: learning new things and getting more proficient with the camera.

Day 48, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 48b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 48c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 48d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 48e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
These last 10 days the number of pictures I have shot have ranged between 64-109; I didn't have any day with a very high number but I didn't have days with few images either, they have stayed quite consistent.

Day 49, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 49b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 49c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 49d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
I mentioned before that, for the first time, I felt I was starting to repeat myself and everyday was harder to find new scenes and arrangements to shoot, but that did not discourage me and I continued visiting the market almost on a daily basis; I only skipped 2 days in total so, despite everything, half-way through the project, the pace has continued advancing at full speed and hopefully I have energy enough for the remaining 50 days!

Day 50, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 50b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 50c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 50d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm
Day 50e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

22 Nov 2016

Photoproject: 100 visits to Seri Huamark Market (days 31-40)

After 10 days shooting with the Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm I really enjoyed the flexibility it gave me, and also the fact that is the widest lens that I have, wich is very helpful in close spaces such as this market, so I decided to keep on shooting with this same lens for another ten days.

Day 31, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 31b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 31c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 31d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
As a novelty from previous weeks, I started developing the habiot of looking up to the ceiling and crouching down to shoot at floor level to change perspectives, though these new approaches didn't necessarily work out well and many times I didn't get any sucessful images with them, yet I still think it's important to be as wide-eyed as possible, never discounting any options, and this proved to be a good exercise to train the eyes to be alert to all surroundings.

Day 32, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 32b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 32c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 32d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
As days passed, I became very familiar with the light and shadow patterns of the market at different times of the day, and rather than wander around the market to find unexpected scenes as I had mostly been doing so far, I started chasing these "hot spots",  staying at them until the scenes unfolded naturally in pleasant ways.

Day 33, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 33b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 33c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 33d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 33e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
The promise I made to myself not to use burst anymore has been mostly fulfilled, and I only resorted to it once in 10 days, in a very tricky shot where I had to be very precise with the timing due to the shallow of the light area. I consider, therefore, this mission accomplished, since I'm much more precise now with my shutter timing due to avoiding burst, yet I use it when I consider it's absolutely helpful or necessary. Despite this, the number of shots that I took surprisingly increased, and ranged between 62 and 181.

Day 34, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 34b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 34c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 34d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Despite the apparent contradiction, the more I go to the market, the more invisible I become, because I'm more and more familiar to them and they stop noticing me walking around their stands and just keep on doing their own business without minding me at all, which is a blessing, for I can continue with my daily stroll without disturbing them or bringing too much attention, which would detract from the spontaneity of the images.

Day 35, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 35b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 35c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Related to my previous paragraph, the people who only work at certain hours and don't know me as much as others do are more reluctant, suspicious and rough to me when I'm in the vicinity of their stalls. In those cases, I just smile and keep on walking. I always follow this simple rule that has proven very helpftul time and time again: never take a picture than is not welcomed by their participants, there are plenty of opportunities around so just move on and find something else to capture. No picture should come before basic courtesy and manners (we are not talking photojournalism here, where the line could be blurry, but street photography).

Day 36, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 36b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 36c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 36d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Since I know the market so well by now, I can focus more on "working the scenes" than on looking for them, so my routine has slowly shifted and, rather than walking so much, I concentrate in less scenes every day and stay at each one of them longer to try and catch the right moment.

Day 37, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 37b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
When I started this project, the main objective I had in mind was simply to bring back the motivation and enjoyment of photography through self-discipline and commitment; becoming more proficient with the technicalities was always a distant second, but I never had any idea whatsoever about what I would like to do at the end of the 100 days, for that was not one of my main concerns when I started. However, and in a very organic way, some small ideas have started developing as the project advances, but I won't comment on them yet, since they are only "ideas in progress", so to speak, and might change or never happen at all, but it's interesting to see how once yo start the engines, things get a life of their own and start taking shapes you hadn't anticipated. Let's see where all this goes!

Day 38, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38f, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38g, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 38h, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Another first since I started this project: I used the off-camera flash at last! The results were mediocre at best, but again, I don't really care, I'm not looking for immediate results, I'm just practicing and trying new things to see how and if they work along the way. The more techniques one knows, the more possibilities open and the creative output can only grow as a consequence, so one humble advice: always welcome failed attempts!

Day 39, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 39b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 39c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 39d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 39e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Another 10 days came and went in the blink of an eye, and in this new section I only skipped one day. There are no signs of slowing down or any drop in my motivation to continue ahead with the project so far, and that makes me very happy, for that was, probably, one of my biggest concerns when I started, not to be commited enough to carry it through and bring it to an end. That is not happening at all, at least for now, and that alone is a reason to celebrate. Almost half way through!

Day 40, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 40b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm
Day 40c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm