Thank you for the link to Josh Katz - learning resources are always very welcome, especially if they help getting the ol’ brain juices flowing!
In kind, something I have watched a lot of, and I thought might be of interest (especially after your comment about the importance of having a plan, and it sucking when the equipment isn’t right for the job) is this series called “Pro Photographer, Cheap Camera”. Basically, they get a professional photographer and ask them to do a photo shoot with the most frustratingly terrible, cheap cameras they can find. As a series it really highlights the fact that when you know your craft, there are no excuses!
It also really underlines the importance of the composition of an image. The picture itself can be out of focus; it can have light leaking into the frame; it can be grainy - but if the image is compelling, or tells a story, or has a subject that captures the imagination, this really doesn't matter. And having the most expensive camera in the world, with all the best equipment and all the fancy accessories, isn’t going to help you if you can’t get the composition right.
It also highlights exactly how much I have to learn to get to the creative (and technical) level these photographers are at!
So from your theme Devil May Care, I used inspiration from your link, and went to a great place in London called the Undercroft Skate park. This skate park is a piece of London history (commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British skateboarding"), now saved from threatened closure a few years ago.
The Undercroft allows skaters and BMX bikers (and apparently graffiti artists) a safe place in central London to practice, show off and hang out within the local community. Instead of being marginalized, disinherited and destroyed, this piece of cultural history is now celebrated and provides a permanent home on London's Southbank for this often overlooked group of people. Luckily for me, it also makes a great place to come and get some dramatic shots!
My theme for you today is Something Old, Something New. This week I felt my picture was a little bit unfinished, and I didn't quite achieve quite what I wanted - I just couldn't get the picture I saw in my head into the lens. Maybe I will try again in a couple of week’s time with a similar idea in a different location, or at a different time. Either way, I have heard that the road to success is paved with failures, so it looks like I am on my way!
So onward and upwards!
London