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Greg Liss – This too shall pass

October 4, 2018

The good, the bad, the bold, the delicate, all these fleeting moments are well… fleeting. And I want to be there with my camera to record them all. Whether it’s a bride walking down the isle, the in between giggle from a model revealing her true beautiful smile, or a holiday trip with my partner, these moments tell a story. I feel a contrasting pull to dive into camera in those moments, but also to be there present and engaged without constantly living through the viewfinder or back of the screen. So my solution to capture and not disconnect in the moment…shoot fast.

Now that might sound silly, but my Fujifilm camera has helped me to do just that. With the EVF (electronic view finder) I’m able to see exactly what my image will look like even before I press the shutter. No more ‘chimping’, just quicker shooting to get the moment and keep engaged in it. That way I miss less and stay aware of what’s happening around me.

I’ve been shooting for 7 years now and feel super fortunate to be doing what I enjoy full time, along with lecturing part time at Orms Cape Town School of Photography, where I studied 7 years ago. I photograph a wide variety of genres, mainly Weddings, Events and Fashion. I strongly believe in studying in a methodical way, and even though today with easy access to info via Google and YouTube, often you don’t know what you don’t know. I found it tremendously useful to systematically learn different skills that cover a wide range of photographic genres that I most likely would of skipped over if I was just Googling what I like. So my one recommendation regarding self study, is don’t be tempted to pick and choose what to learn. Start simple and build and learn even what you don’t think is “flashy” as I have used those less exciting skills many times and been grateful for acquiring them.

My journey has not been a solo act. I have grown by having talented people around me that inspire and push me. I have a great community of photographers around me that share the same passions and struggles and it’s a great reminder that I’m not in this alone. No man is an island… surround yourself with talented people.

I’ve built my visual literacy by instead of just scrolling past dozens of images of other inspirational photographers, asking the question “What do I like about this photo?” Learning to crit and not just consume has helped me hone in to how I want to shoot.

So capture the moment, learn and keep learning and crit what you see to build an internal library for yourself. Happy shooting.