The Art of the Road Trip (continued)

Page 3 of 3 | Back · Return to Main Articles

The Human Factor     Life on the road enables me to have numerous encounters with colorful characters. To get great pictures, you must first get to know your subjects. As a basic courtesy, it is important to ask permission before going ahead and shooting. There's nothing more offensive than a "hit-and-run" photographer.     Taking some fun shots right off the bat, without any expectations, is a good way to relieve tension. My ultimate aim is to achieve a portrait that is honest, interesting, and perceptive. I look for those moments in which a person's character comes to the surface. Manifestations of true personality pass by swiftly, and it's up to you to know exactly when to press the shutter.     I love photographing people when they are at work or interacting with others. They are much less self-conscious, and more apt to behave in a purely natural way. There is nothing like capturing the spontaneity of a boy and his grandfather sharing a joke. Looking for this kind of easygoing interaction is critical in every situation. Therefore, it's important to allow enough time for pictures "to just happen."     The Technique     Regardless of the subject matter, it is always a good idea to vary the use of your lenses, camera angles, and shooting distances. For example, shooting the same subject both vertically and horizontally will produce dramatically different results.     When photographing landscapes, it is particularly important to travel slowly, in order to discern the more subtle elements. To communicate visual subtleties successfully in an image, you should first determine your reason for taking the photograph, and then figure out the best way to approach it. I scrutinize my surroundings very carefully, and then use my camera's viewfinder to determine which elements attract me the most.     By studying smaller aspects of the terrain, you can obtain unique perspectives of a landscape. I can easily go through a couple of rolls of film photographing close-ups of the details in an interesting rock formation. I will often include foreground elements in a landscape to add depth to the picture. Including people in a scene is a technique I like to use when I want to alter the perception of a landscape by adding a sense of scale.     The High Road     Road photography has filled my mind with lasting memories that continue to have a great impact on the way I view the world. These "slices of life" I create each day have become my trademark. Lifestyles, artifacts, and landscapes change and disappear quickly. As a photographer, I see it as one of my roles to try to preserve and share these images to the best of my ability. Once an old barn falls to the ground, it is soon forgotten.     Photographs ensure that we will never forget the simple, quiet beauty that is part of everyday life. As long as there are new places to see and new roads to travel, my photography will continue to excite and rejuvenate me. Road photography is a way of life I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.     Daryl Hawk, owner of Hawk Photography (Wilton, CT), specializes in travel, corporate, and editorial photography, and is writing a book on road photography.

August 1992 Photographic	Page 3 of 3 | Back · ·Return to Main Articles
Fine Art Gallery · Bio · Portfolio ·  Articles  Speaker Presentations  · The Unconventional Traveler  · Contact Us