Being prepared for almost everything

Sarah Steffen

For me, LaBelle’s most helpful advice was how he searches for good picture ideas. It definitely won’t hurt to check the classified ad section for interesting ideas for images. I also think the concept of eavesdropping might work, too. Other parts of his writing were rather trivial, such as that you need curiosity to be a good photographer.
When he addresses the topic of preparation he also mentioned having extra cash available while shooting pictures in order to be “prepared for emergencies like coffee, phones, tips or bribes”. To my regret LaBelle didn’t describe in which situations he did bribe someone and when he would recommend to do so.
The short piece about composition was interesting. Especially when it comes to architecture, compelling patterns matter the most (to me).
The concept of blending is a nice idea, but I don’t know how this should work in real life. If a photographer takes a picture of a random person on the street, the true moment of his emotions will be gone after the person discovers that he/she has been photographed. All the following pictures will be somewhat posed. So blending might only work for the first picture.

I liked the street pictures of David Snider, especially the ones showing emotion or oddity. A picture catches my attention when I see faces that express something. When I have to think twice about a picture, it also gains in importance. The picture showing the old man in the suit sleeping on a park bench outside of a train station with his luggage – with his mouth open, he really seems to be sound asleep – is one of those pictures.