Eight things worth being able to do

What They
Teach

The bench on /eyes says who to learn from. The capsules on /trips say where to go. These are the eight things in between — six properties of a frame and two ways of working, each with the light it wants and a day that practices it. Five of them argue with how I already see. That is deliberate.

  1. Frontalitya property of the frame

    Square-on, same distance, no favorites — including the dull ones.

    WantsFlat and frontal. Nothing to wait for — the evenness is the point, and an overcast sky supplies it outright.

    I gave the boring wall the same care as the good one.

  2. Let It Go Blacka property of the frame

    Expose for the light and let everything else fall to nothing.

    WantsHard contrast — a bright opening seen from deep shade.

    I let most of the frame go, instead of rescuing it.

  3. Mundanea property of the frame

    Flat, vacant, ordinary — chosen, not failed.

    WantsFlat overcast. The light that ruins everything else is the correct light here.

    I shot the empty thing on purpose, not because nothing better turned up.

  4. Negative Spacea property of the frame

    Give two-thirds of the frame to nothing, and let the nothing carry it.

    WantsOpen sky, high key. Anything that keeps the empty part clean.

    The empty part is doing the work, not the subject.

  5. Diagonala property of the frame

    Let the tilt be the subject, not the thing that happens to be tilted.

    WantsLow raking side light, which is what gives an angle its edge.

    The angle is the picture; the object is incidental to it.

  6. Intervala property of the frame

    Shoot the gap, not the thing either side of it.

    WantsLow sun that separates one repeat from the next.

    I came back with the interval rather than the span.

  7. Seriesa way of working

    Shoot the set, not the hero. One frame proves nothing.

    WantsAny — but the same light for all of them, or it is not a set.

    I came back with twenty, and no favorite among them.

  8. Exhaust Onea way of working

    Work one place past the first good frame, until it gives something up.

    WantsAny, twice. The point is returning, not the hour.

    I stayed after I had the shot, and the later one was better.