Making the ordinary interesting

(Click on photos to enlarge)

​​When searching for other-than-human things to photograph, I’m not usually drawn to the same objects or scenes that others often find appealing. Rather, I’m more attracted to the ordinary - things other photographers might never consider shooting. What I love photographing is the nondescript, the unremarkable, the plain. Things lacking visual appeal. It’s with these sorts of subjects that I can apply my trade, which is trying to make the commonplace interesting. I do this by playing with subject positioning, camera placement, camera angle, focal length selection, depth-of-field, lighting, and, sometimes, prop placement. In addition, and as important, I’ll be thinking about what can be done during the editing process to improve and enhance the final image. I find this kind of photography far more appealing and challenging (in a good way) than merely recording the pretty things I come across.
 
Let me address that last point for a moment. I’m certainly not criticizing photographers (amateurs or professionals) who enjoy shooting sunsets, architecture, or animals in the wild - the visually stunning that easily catches the eye. I understand the appeal. But for me, it’s being able to take something most people would consider not worth shooting and coming up, hopefully, with a quality photograph.
 
I think many photographers don’t consider the possibilities of photographing the ordinary. They don’t realize the wonderful images that can result... something that certainly makes sense if they’ve never done this type of shooting before.
 
For me, this type of photography involves two general steps:
 

• Locating things to photograph. The photographer must develop an eye for recognizing appropriate subjects. Doing that takes patience. It’s primarily a matter of taking lots of test photographs to determine which objects or scenes will produce the best results.
• Using the items in the arsenal listed above for setting up and taking the photographs. For example, the photographer must decide where to place the camera, what lens focal length to use, the depth-of-field setting, post-production techniques to consider, etc.

 
After a while, I think the photographer will become more comfortable with this process - both with selecting the objects or scenes and using the camera and editing techniques to mold them into appealing photographs. Then, instead of avoiding the mundane, they’ll embrace it, knowing they can transform their subjects into wonderful images. It’s really a satisfying feeling - coming up with quality photographs that started with something very ordinary.
 
Below are images created using the above steps.

Realizing these street lights and crane could produce an engrossing photo, I searched for somewhere to stand where all the elements would be visible, with none being blocked by another. I was lucky that the poles, from my perspective, were all different heights, making them more interesting than if they had not been. Additionally, I was fortunate to have beautiful fluffy clouds as a backdrop. The lamps, which hadn't been turned on yet, were lit using Photoshop.

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​It’s important to look straight up, from time to time, when out taking pictures. I was wandering through the Connecticut State Capitol, looking for my next photo possibility. Nothing was catching my interest until I looked up. After seeing this ceiling, I knew I had my shot.

​This was taken at the Connecticut State Library. The floor was made from some sort of translucent material. When I turned off the lights, the entire aisle became lit with this striking warm, soft, low-angle illumination from the floor below. In addition, I think the sea of booklets and the length of string binding each one is quite fascinating. I did not white balance the image, preferring the light's natural warm tone.

​I thought this bent, no-parking sign was intriguing. But, I felt something more was needed to add context to the sign. I realized these two buildings could be used for that. So, moving close to the sign and using a very wide-angle lens setting, I framed the shot to make the buildings appear to encompass the sign.

​Before walking into this coatroom, I had thought little about the kind of wonderful shadows a few ceiling spotlights (which I removed in Photoshop) and a bunch of empty hangers could create. It's the length of the shadows - and knowing the much smaller hangers produced them - combined with their random patterns on the wall that, for me, make this a dynamic image. As in the library shot above, I did not white balance the image, preferring the natural warm tones of the spotlights.

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