When I first started making pictures I would anxiously wait for the film to come back from the lab. I was often disappointed because it looked like the whole roll looked like copies of the same picture. One of my mentors suggested that maybe I should get a new lens. I asked what lens, he said I should get a “sneaker zoom” lens.
I was puzzled. This was a new one on me. “Um, what is a sneaker zoom lens?” I asked. My mentor laughed and said I needed to start moving around more. He said, “You know, get closer, move left, move right, kneel, get up on the table if you have to. Anything to get your camera in a different position.”
He explained that I should avoid taking pictures when the view would be what most people see. He picked a shot of some flowers from the stack. I thought the color was great. He told me that my boring flower pictures could have been great if only I had gotten down at or below the level of the blossoms.
He explained that exciting and interesting photos usually showed the subject in a way that is different from the way we usually see it. I made my flower pictures standing up and shot down on them. He said they were boring because that was the same view anyone would see just walking by. My attempt at capturing the beauty resulted in a boring snapshot.
He pulled out some of his images and showed me some pictures he made. I could immediately see the difference. There was a sense of excitement and intimacy that was missing from my boring attempt.
He got his camera much closer and was probably lying down on the ground shooting up towards the blossoms.
He told me that a sure fire way to avoid boring pictures was to get closer. And when I thought I was close enough, get even closer. I tried his advice. My pictures started getting more interesting when I started putting on the “sneaker zoom” and got closer to my subjects.
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