Inspirations

James, a member of fiveminutephotographer.com posted a great comment about a photographer that inspired him, Joe Bussink. Joe has been an inspiration of mine for many years now and i aspire to on day meetng the man and thanking him for all he has done for my vision and approach.

My (edited for clarity) reply is below.

“He (Joe) is the master of capturing “moments” and I too have looked at him in awe for many a year now. I was first bought to his attention when he was endorsing Aperture for Apple.

His way of thinking is superb. Although he could nail an exposure bindfolded if he had to, he is very much a fan of the equipment he uses. I heard a lecture he gave online once and he says (I’m paraphrasing) “When you shoot like I shoot you have not got the time to be in Manual. Your cameras are fantastic pieces of technology. I shoot in P for professional. I trust my gear”.

I pointed this out to this “person” I come accross on a forum once (not here of course I love you guys!) who was spouting that only amatures shoot in P. He said (and I quote) “People like me and Joe Buissink shoot in Manual, all the time”.

He was not pleased when I provided the link to the episode.

Joe gave one lesson which I adhere to every day of my life. “You want to capture great moments? You have to train yourself to find great moments and recognise them when you see them.” I now do what he does. As I walk around (even without a camera. If I see something that would make a great moment I click my fingers or say “click”. That gets the body in tune with the mind so they act as a cohesive photographic solution.

Joe is a great man who loves his job. He has had three heart attacks in the last two years and now relies on another photographer to do the “posed” photographs whilst he lurks in the background capturing moments. He says he prefers this as people come up and ask for a photo so he points them to his partner and says “He’s the photogapher, I’m just helping”

If you ever get a chance to hear him talk either in person or online, let me know because I wanna be there. “

I’d love to hear who inspires you and why? Please leave a comment below.