Blog Introduction

Introduction

They say time keeps going, that it doesn’t stop for anyone, and that you definitely can’t turn back the clock, but what if I told you that time can be frozen, that you have the power to do so, and that you can stop the clock. You can make an ephemeral fleeting moment last forever, you can take a moment with you and keep it, and you can stop time and revisit the past. Am I saying that time travel is possible? Am I saying that I have some mystical superpowers I can share with you? As much as I wish that were the case, the answer is unfortunately no for both questions. Sheesh. Bummer I know. Sorry to get your hopes up, but trust me, I didn’t just lie to you. Everything I mentioned is still true: with a little creativity, you can stop time with photography. It’s not rocket science I swear, and as weird as it may sounds, it is actually literally quite possible. I’ve done it and you may have to, whether on purpose or accidentally, but we’re going to discuss how you can do it again and again while getting better at storytelling with a camera and producing breathtaking, captivating visuals, that make time come to a halt.

“Photography is about a single point of a moment. It’s like stopping time. As everything gets condensed in that forced instant. But if you keep creating these points, they form a line which reflects your life.”

~ Nobuyoshi Araki

I like quotes, especially good ones. Forming a jumble of words into a clear idea that can resonate again and again is powerful, and it reminds me of how photographers skillfully compose a shot by tweaking the lighting and angles, the same way an author plays with words until they are perfectly organized into a flow of thoughtful consciousness. Again, fair warning so you’re not surprised when they pop up. No need to recreate the wheel or say it better when it’s already been perfectly said. You feel me?

“The aesthetic discussion of photography is dominated by the concept of time. Photographs appear as devices stopping time and preserving fragments of the past, like flies in amber.”

  ~ Peter Wollen

Beyond being admired for how aesthetically pleasing it is, the purpose of art is to stop time and pause, even if only briefly. Pictures are powerful. They are a record of time passing, a frozen snapshot of history as a second passes, a way to own a piece of a moment, a tangible link to the past. Once you’ve captured that shot, snapped the pic, took the image… it's yours to keep. The subject and setting of any particular photo may change but the image itself does not age or warp over time. In other words, once taken a picture never changes… unless it's photoshopped.

In a way, photography is the closest thing we have to time travel. When a photo does a good job of capturing a moment, you get to be transported into a different time and place and can relive some of the memories, something that shouldn’t be taken for granted considering memories may fade, but photos last forever. This is to say that photos can defeat time, keep the memory of a loved one alive, captures a moment in time that you’ll be able to remember and cherish years from now, and preserve a moment in history for future generations.

We use photos to tell stories, to recount moments, to relive the past as best as we can, and to make a moment live beyond a certain point in time. Our memories get immortality through photography. A picture can trigger a re-experience, but nothing will replicate the real thing, not even a video; however, a camera is the best tool we have to bring time to a standstill and hold onto a second so that we can glimpse into what once was.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”

  ~ Karl Lagerfeld

Photography, at its best, is a powerful language— probably the most spoken and understood language in the world today. Pictures grab our attention, connect us, and speak directly to our emotions; they are the language of our era because it is accessible to most of humanity, and there is no language barrier in photography. In fact, visual language is compelling and can change behavior, stimulate understanding, and create a sense of urgency that will move people to action. What we can’t explain in words, we show and visually explain through photos because pictures are universal.

Because of the emotions that are expressed in a photo, you may feel the same feelings as and be instantly brought into a moment of empathy. Thus, a camera and a photo album are like a pen and a diary to preserve moments and evoke emotions. That’s the power of a photo, they have the power to move audiences worldwide, inform, educate, and inspire us without the need for a shared spoken language because they speak to the heart. For instance, flipping through a photo album can bring back countless memories, and holding a print in your hand can either make a smile spread across your face or a tear roll down your cheek without saying anything. To me, some of the best photos are the ones that stop time entirely and leave the viewer speechless, in a daze, just absorbing the moment frozen in time thinking to themselves, “wow” or “I wish I could be there.”

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Hello all, and welcome to Stopping Time with Photography! Glad you could join me on this journey we are about to embark on as we learn how to speak photography, talk in pictures, tell better stories, and capture time-stopping moments. The goal of this blog is to teach you how to stop time with a camera, see how I do it, learn from others, and develop our skills together.

I would consider myself a semi-professional photographer and throughout the blog, I will be discussing some of my techniques when I am on photoshoots, how I compose images, and some of my editing methods in order to give my blog readers a sense of my style. In the past, I have done portrait, product, landscape, and event photography.

Throughout the blog, we will explore how different lighting, angles, lenses, editing, and more can shape how you tell a story with a picture. If you are interested in photography and creative media then this is the space for you whether you’re a student, entry-level, semi-pro, or professional. We can all stop time with photography. Happy capturing!