Photos that pack a personal emotional punch

H

hulagirl

Member
Okay...I am a girl. ; And a good many of you are...well, boys. ;) ; I see lots of fabulous, technically perfect photos here and I'm learning alot and that's great. ; But I was hoping maybe we could do something a little different, and who knows? ; Maybe we'll surprise ourselves.

I'd love to see a photo that packs an emotional punch for you. ; Any photo at all...and then I'd like to hear why. ; (I find myself asking why alot lately.) If you wouldn't mind sharing, I would love it. ; I'll start.

This photo was taken 6 years ago, during a time in my life that was very meaningful. ; I had recently reconnected with my family in CA who I had been estranged from since losing my brother in about as tragic a way as could ever be possible. ; He was in my heart when I took this shot and it remains one of my favorite photos to this day. ; I call it "Free" because I exorcised some demons that day, and that is exactly how I felt. ; Like what I was looking at, was a direct representation of what was going on inside of me. ; Sometimes, when I lose my way...I go back and revisit this photo as a reminder of all that has changed within me. ; And I feel it again....free.

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I am not much of a wear-emotion-on-the-sleeve type, and I guess I can consider myself quite fortunate (knocking on wood) not to have gone through many tragic incidents that left big marks on my psyche. ; But there are still things that are powerful to me - things that can make that tingle run up the spine, or a stutter in the breath...maybe a flutter of the heart, or just a bit of water in the eye. ; Not necessarily 'sad' things - sometimes they are powerfully happy.

Here's one photo that I specifically took, and processed, to deliver the feel and emotion I wanted - the Veteran's Cemetary, with my Grandfather's stone one left of center...the shadow, the highlight edges, and the repetitive patterns for me speak to many topics: the number of people who have made sacrifices for their country, the respect for them yet the relative anonymity, the shadow of death lurking, but the light from beyond cradling them...and just my love for my grandfather, an unassuming little happy man who like so many other seniors had such an amazing, illustrious, and brave past hidden under that old grey hair - Normandy paratrooper, march through Belgium and into the occupation of Berlin:

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And on our Disney theme, this one always gets me entirely...it was one of the most powerful and beautiful tributes I've ever known, for one of the most beautiful and amazing human beings ever to walk the face of the earth:

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Justin...you are fortunate indeed. ; And I think you created a lovely post, even without great personal tragedy. ;) ;

In thinking about photography and what makes a great photographer though...I guess I've just been feeling like photographers are a dime a dozen. ; Anyone can get out there today and learn this stuff...some may take longer than others (like yours truly) but there's a certain science to it and it can be learned..not like painting, or singing, you know? ; Those things, it seems you are either born with, or..you're not.

So what sets a photographer and his viewpoint..apart? ; So many of our great artists had great personal angst...and sometimes, truly beautiful art, in the form of literature, paintings, poetry, song lyrics...etc. came out of that. ; Perhaps some had giant personal happiness and contentment too, but I think more often than not, great art comes out of great personal struggle and a need to be seen and heard and experienced. ; Some of you do it as a hobby. ; Some of you do it for work. ; And some...I believe, do it to be seen, to be heard, and to be remembered. ; It's so easy to be invisible in today's day and age. ; We hide behind computers, chat rooms, blogs. ; And often, we don't get out and actually touch people anymore.

Maybe this post was my way of reaching out beyond that. ; Straining beyond a good picture...to something that might be called art. ; And where does that come from? ; In my own very NOT manly man way...I think it comes from the heart. ; I think any of our photographs that are gonna be remembered beyond tomorrow or the next day or the next...are gonna come straight from the heart. ; I want to see what you have created, that someone ; might stand in a gallery and go...."Wow. ; I wonder..." (ps..Justin, your cemetary shot, is exactly what I'm talking about. ; I lingered there.)
 
Thanks...I generally agree on the use of anguish in art, as it has been associated thus for quite some time in all the arts. ; But I do believe there are a few rare cases of going beyond the learned, techical photography that anyone can pick up, into the realm of the artistic vision and emotion, yet without a driving emotional undercurrent or yearning expressionism. ; Of course, I mainly believe in that because that's where I fit in! ; But I also know from my many fellow photographer friends, painters, musicians, etc, that most seem to have those emotional roller coasters going on in their lives, whether suppressed and seething inside or expressed outwards and part of their personality.

I think probably moreso arts are all driven by passion - and that passion can come from many sources. ; It can certainly come from pain, anguish, lack of attention, inability to let out ones' expression, sadness, tragedy, terror, etc. ; But I think it can also come from love - be it love of another, or just love of the world and everything in it. ; A zen quality in a person, calm, happy, and at peace, also often manifests itself in a true, deep appreciation for the beauty in the most common thing, and a pure sense of joy and love of many things from the most insignificant to something as broadly general as the world itself, and how it got here. ; What has always driven my passion in photography has been the desire to capture the beauty I see, in the way I see it, and maybe to impart some of the appreciation I have for details, colors, angles, shapes, etc that occur throughout our world, at nature's hand or by man's hand, usually spiritually led. ; I may not always succeed in imparting that vision, but I enjoy trying to capture it, and that's what inspires me to keep photographing, and keep trying to see things and capture things in new ways.

There's my deep thoughts for the day!

Prettypixie,
That particular veterans cemetary is in Palm Beach County, Florida. ; Though all national & state veterans cemetaries have those same symmetries and patterns - they are very particular how the graves are laid out and the sameness of the stones...so you just need to find the nearest state veteran cemetary near you. ; Early morning or later afternoon are best to get great shadowplay. ; Playing with the exposure, especially when there's bright sun hitting the stones, can be very fun and interesting, and you can play with blown highlights or silhouettes that highlight the geometry and symmetry rather than the actual names on the stones.
 
Justin, I think that was very well said. ; Someone whose photography I deeply admire and respect has said much the same thing to me on occasion. ; Interestingly, he is also a guy, with a positive attitude and outlook on life. ; I am more of what you might call a "converted optimist" who still falls back on pessimism at times. :) ; I don't care much for drama but I do angst really well.

It helps to look at things from other's angles sometimes, doesn't it? ; I hope more of you will post photos and thoughts on this. ; I'm really enjoying it today.
 


Here's one that seems like your standard Magic Kingdom train station shot, but when you look closer, you see the flag at half mast. ; That's exactly what happened to me the Friday during my trip last year. ; I was getting ready to enter MK, going along with the usual park entrance routine when I saw the flag and realized it was September 11. ; I definitely took an emotional hit when the realization came to me. ;



This one's just catching one of those "moments" and having more than the technical information at your disposal, but the instinct to push the shutter at the right moment. ; I am by no means saying that I'm even close to having that instinct, but every once in a while I have an inspired moment. ; In some ways I wish this one had more DoF, but in other ways I think that maybe that's how he would see at this point, so perhaps it's artistically fitting.
 
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Scott..I love inspired moments. ; That is what it's all about, after all, isn't it? ; Moments that inspire us..and then we turn around and inspire others. ; At least I hope so....
 
Great shots all. ; I can't say that I have taken any of these heart felt moment shots, YET, but I'm sure I will at some point.
 
I hope you do, someday..PM. ; Of all the people on this board, seeing things through your eyes would be most interesting. ; I am sure that in your world, emotion must be held in check...but some of the best photos I have ever seen have come as a result of the heroic actions of firefighters, law enforcement, or emergency personell. ; And I'm not talking about the gory stuff you must often have to deal with. ; I mean truly heroic stuff. ; I'm sure we all remember the photo of the firefighter cradling a small child he saved from a fire..in his arms.

Talk about an emotional punch.

What you do is awesome and I have great respect for it. ; I suppose that work and your camera do not marry well, given the nature of your job. ; Even if you tried to take it out on a day when you weren't on duty...you'd still want to jump in on whatever was happening, hmm? ; Ah well...now I ramble.

I guess it's just a long winded way of saying thank you. ; A dear friend of mine is a firefighter, and I know what you do. ; It's very admirable.
 
Hmm.. I feel a little conspicuous here, everyone's posting pictures of big moments about their children and other such things.. my first thought was of an experience I had during zoo photography shooting an animal.

Oh well, it fits the bill, it packs a personal punch to me.

If anyone has ever seen the movie Fierce Creatures, this is kind of like the scene where the character played by Jamie Lee Curtis "makes contact" with the gorilla. ; I always used to to wonder if stuff like that really happened, I mean the idea of the one magic moment where you feel a connection to a wild animal at a zoo like that.. not so much the zoo animal accidentally getting loose and scaring the pants off you part.

The story is that at the time I was just getting started with zoo photography. ; I'd acquired my first serious upgrade lens, the 70-200 F4L and I was putting it through its paces at the library, basically taking picture of everything and seeing what worked later when I reviewed the images at home. ; I basically tried to shoot all the animals, but as a cat person I tended to gravitate towards the big cats. ; Specifically the leopards, for whatever reason lions and tigers never really appealed to me as much.

In particular I found myself fascinated with the snow leopards. ; The snow leopard enclosure has a viewing window that lets you get extremely close to them. ; It's a popular part of the zoo, on busy days there can be a line of people waiting to get up to the window to get close to the leopards. ; But on this particular day there were just two people there when I walked up. ; A father and his young son. ; The leopard was sitting on a ledge positioned close to the window, a favorite resting place that lets the leopards curl up for a nap but leaves them close to the public. ; Its eyes were closed and its head was turned away from the two. ; The son was banging on the glass to try to get its attention but it didn't react. ; I started to think that maybe it was just asleep.

Eventually the father joined in, pounding on the window to try to get the attention of the leopard.

That just irritates me.. it seems like such a crass thing to do. ; I appreciate the desire to have the leopard look at you, but.. that's just rude.

Eventually they gave up and left, and I had my turn to step up to the window. ; Sometimes I talk to the animals when I'm shooting them, but at that time I was determined to be silent as a counterpoint to what had just happened. ; But I sort of mentally urged the leopard to look at me, I was ready with my camera.

And it DID! ; Right on cue it opened its eyes and turned to look straight at me for a bit.

I know that as a human I'll tend to humanize the behavior of other animals, things may not be as I perceive them. ; But to me it was a powerful moment.. it felt as if it had signaled its acceptance of me in a typically understated feline way.

Not only that, but I suddenly realized that it had clearly been intentionally ignoring the window pounding. ; It wasn't asleep after all, it seemed to understand what was going on but wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of a reaction. ; Not even an ear twitch.

For just a moment I felt close to this spectacular, proud creature. ; It was pretty awesome.

And from then on I've been a snow leopard person. ; I've got a lot of favorite animals there, I could do a list of all the critters that I've developed a fondness for over the years. ; But it's the snow leopards that I've come to think of as "my" animals. ; I keep trying to enter a snow leopard picture in the zoo's annual photography contest, I want one of the leopards to win the contest some year, but although the glass window lets you get close it makes photography hard. ; In this picture you can see several reflections, it's also harder to get a natural, wild looking shot of them due to the nature of the enclosure. ; Plus I'm a stickler for sharpness, and the even though it seems to be fairly high quality glass it still can't help but reduce the sharpness of the resulting images somewhat.

But every time I look at this picture I remember what it felt like when this gorgeous big cat looked straight at me.

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Dan...your post is exactly why no one should feel conspicous or out of place on this thread. ; Many people say "a picture is worth a thousand words". ; I believe a picture and a thousand words are a priceless treasure. ; I love photography but words...have such power.

In Native American culture, animal totems are very important. ; I know some people will think it's silly..but I looked it up because I was curious. ; Here's what I found:

There exists within the Snow Leopard Soul a tremendous reservoir of inner strength, ; determination and the awareness of the ~Shadow Self,~ which they will face with quiet determination and perseverance. ; Equally, they are able to see both the shadow and the light of Others, a skill that can assist those who are not offended by their penetrating insight.

For one who draws this Totem to them, truth, honesty & integrity are cornerstones of their fundamental being.

Snow Leopard’s message is the power of silence. Snow Leopard knows the power of silence, ; mindfulness and paying attention. It teaches us to be silent, alert and ready when opportunity presents itself.

Your personal emotional punch....was a whisper. ; You didn't miss it, because you were listening.

I loved your post, Dan. ; I hope you'll take mine in the spirit in which it was given.

ps...I hope you don't mind but I used your snow leopard as my desktop. ; It's a good reminder that sometimes I just need to be silent and listen. :) ; Not always so easy for me.
 
I've let this go a while but I wanted to respond on the totem animal thing.. but first off thanks for the positive responses.

About totem animals.. ; Okay, the back story is that, as I recently admitted again, I'm prone to go to events like sci-fi conventions. ; As I always feel the need to stress they are as obsessively geeky as you'd think, but.. they're still not necessarily what you'd expect. ; One interesting thing I've found is the way these fan-cons tend to embrace some altie type subjects. ; If it's an alternative to mainstream trend chances are some of the people that attend these things embrace it, and sometimes they put on panels about the subject.

I've been to two panels about totem animals. ; This is really hard to explain, I don't believe in the concept for a second. ; But the thing is... ; I like it anyway. ; Some interesting people were doing the presenting, and their stories and advice were fascinating. ; I guess the best way I can put it is that I attend these things to listen to what they have to say to see if any of it would make sense to me, if I could use any of it for my personal philosophy even if I don't entirely believe in the base concept. ; So far I haven't really found any useful concepts, but I'm still fond of those people. ;

And the next time I attend one of these things I do have a question. ; I don't know that I've been visited by any animal spirits, as such.. but I have noticed that I frequently have birds in my dreams. ; Yet I'm not particularly interested in them. ; My interpretation of that is that it's some sort of a symbol handed to me by my subconscious that I haven't figure out yet. ; But I wonder what the totem animal people would make of it.

I'm also kind of interested in the idea of a specifically defined personality type, like the way the snow leopard soul was defined. ; I don't know if I can entirely say that it's accurate of what I think I am.. ; I'm alternately quiet, or not. ; Observant or oblivious, and so on.

But I realized something. ; That IS what I tend to be or what I wish I was when I'm in the full on photography mode. ; I'm not as observant as I'd like to be, I especially need to work on it when I'm trying to shoot animals in the wilderness (or at least what passes for wilderness around here). ; But, well.. I thought about it and I do sort of think of myself as on the prowl when I'm in serious photographer mode. ; Even in Disney World, if I'm on a night photography jag I'm serious, I'm on the hunt. ; My subject isn't so much the fleeting moment as the right angle, but I'm still hunting for it.

I prefer to be on my own, I find companions distracting when I'm in this sort of mode. ; But it's more than that.. the better photo experiences have this quality about them, the peace, the solitude. ; This has actually been a problem for shooting people, my approach is all wrong, when I'm in the zone I'm also in a sort of intensely anti social mode, my limited attempts at shooting people in costume at conventions has largely been a failure because I find interacting with people intensely awkward when I'm trying to be a photographer.

Once a big cat keeper approached me when I was shooting the snow leopards to tell me that they thought that the female might have been pregnant. ; It turned out to have been a false alarm, I think, but the point is I had this chance to talk to a big cat keeper, to ask some questions and learn things.

But I didn't. ; I wasn't in the social mode.
 
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