April 6, 2017
Interview with Scott Mowbray co-author of the book The Unforgettable Photograph
Mike Carruthers:
With digital technology more people than ever are taking photographs. But truly great photos still elude many of us. What makes a great photo?
Scott Mowbray:
Well a great shot in the end is one that you emotionally react to. I mean it’s really about shooting the moment and not the person in that sense.
Scott Mowbray co-author of the book The Unforgettable Photograph…
What we respond to in our lives are all those moments that happen through the day as opposed to this stiff moment when you’ve posed somebody and they stand there feeling uncomfortable. When you end up a shot of a moment but the moment is a moment of discomfort – that’s not what you want. A great photo is one that captures really sort of the essence of your life.
Scott co-wrote the book with photographer George Lange who has a great way to take posed group photographs.
You don’t want them in front of a busy background get them in front of something simple – take that picture. And then he’ll walk up and shoot really close to them, shoot individual shots of 1 or 2 people just interacting and much more relaxed. He’ll step back then and say, “Hey guys let’s take this 1 more time.” And I guarantee that 2nd group shot is much better because the moment now is a moment of relaxed interaction rather than that kind of stiff posed thing.
Getting up close to the subject will almost always make a better photograph.
You get into their personal space. And if these are people you know they usually don’t mind you doing that. And I’ve watched him holding hands of people that he’s taking pictures of. And if it’s a 2 foot tall kid he drops to his knees and takes that picture at their eye level.
