Hands steady around my camera, I inhale holding my breath and “click.” Looking at the screen of my Nikon I see an immortalized instant, not half-bad compared to all the other slightly blurred images I’ve taken. I am far from a professional photographer but I like the concept of photography. Looking through the lens and dictating, this precise moment must be infinite, is empowering to say the least. It is a moment you create in a blink of an eye. Like the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words,” an entire narrative defined by a moment.
As an English student, I can say that it takes time and practice to get a good 1000-word essay. I’ve learned it is the same for a photograph, there are many elements that go into creating the precise image. What is your focal point? How is the lighting and the angle? How grainy do you want your image be? There are many factors, beyond the single click of a camera, defining what your image says.
I took the image above a few years back when my friend and I adventured around San Francisco taking snapshots of anything we found remotely interesting. I had taken plenty of mediocre images and was simply having fun attempting to capture a memorable moment. Taking a look at my friend I found it curious how she held her camera angled, as she surveyed the area. We were definitely not professional photographers but she possessed a certain sense of authority. She held her camera as an extension of herself, a tool to capture her perspective. The same way a pen becomes an extension of ourselves when we write.
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