The Most Memorable Photos Usually Lie at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone

What would normally be a day-off hoarded in front of the computer playing catchup on personal projects became a memorable Saturday afternoon photo experiment. It was memorable because it got me out of my comfort zone both photographically and socially. It’s not that I don’t like being around people because I do. It’s that I can become withdrawn in group conversation quickly and find it difficult to keep conversations going. In the past I marched on, but slowly, usually erring on the side of comfort. That is in the past and not now, however. The moment I decided I was going to take the first leap out of my little comfort box was in a text message with my friend Caitlin about mobile photography and the labs hosted by the Apple Store. The one that piqued my interest in particular was, “Disrupting the Portrait” co-created with Christopher Anderson. I sometimes find it ironic that someone who isn’t great in social groups outside of their circle is drawn to portraiture as much as I am. People are interesting, especially when caught in an off-guard moment. Those are the fleeting mobile moments that add fuel to my urge to make photographs.

Expanding the Creative Bubble

One of the beauties of mobile photography is that it frees you from a typical studio workspace and allows you to experiment and push borders towards expansive growth as a person and in the medium. I drank the blue August skies and sunshine in like sweet nectar quenching the summer thirst in Arizona. Delightful! Caitlin and I arrived at an Apple store full of people and individual conversations testing and comparing products or seeking support. We saw a representative setting up a mic by the large screen surrounded by block seats. The lab itself was quiet compared to the constant chatter going on around. This eased me into a gentle stretch that was outside my normal and helped set the stage for the social interactions and decisive moments to come (thank you Henri-Cartier Bresson and my photography professors at Arizona State for sharing this term with the mobile photography world).

Seeing with a Different Lens (and in-capture editing)

Five minutes in, the lab begins, and we’re introduced to Christopher Anderson’s “Disrupting the Lens” style of portrait photography. Basically, he makes a set of portraits, which become his initial test shots before taking objects around him like car keys, air-buds, and water bottles to frame the portrait within the frame of the camera. It’s a playful but highly effective technique to creating your own decisive moments and owning your frame. Brilliant!

Next, they equipped us with the latest iPhone cameras (on loan of course), colored gels, and told us to start scanning around for objects nearby that could be used in our projects. The items I chose to disrupt the lens included, color gels, a translucent plastic water bottle, and the gold reflective headband I was wearing.

Next we walked outside to the modern-styled square courtyard equipped with a large awning above with circular holes for the sunlight to shine through. But even before getting outside I started editing the world for what would become my next decisive moment. My experiments started with the water bottle and the light coming in through large windows of the store.

I surprised the Apple representative with this shot during one of my experiments disrupting the lens with a water bottle. I like how long he was able to hold the look for...

As I made my way outside where I found Caitlin experimenting with one, two, then all three colored gels in front of the lens in different combinations. This itself created a world of mobile photographic opportunities.

The Decisive Moment

Finally, my most memorable decisive moment was coming up, but not without its own unique challenges. The small size of the headband and golden dove pendant made it difficult for my unsteady hand to hold the object steady in front of the iPhone lens while I framed a shot I liked. Furthermore, I had to hold it steady under one of the cones of sunlight shining through the awning above. Together these tasks made quite the obstacle challenge!

Behind the scenes live video footage highlighting the obstacles I faced and how I kept going.

Alas, our shoot time was drawing to a close and it was time to go back inside to play with mobile phone post-processing techniques before the finale - public critique. Now when I hear the word critique (something I heard and participated in a lot in art school) it can still be a bit unnerving when it's with strangers you just met).

A Touch in Post to Support the In-Camera Shot

Before I move on, I want to say that I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to image post-processing. While it is good to experiment to extreme ends to see what's possible; in the end I like my final images to show subtle enhancements of the in-camera shot. If an image screams post-processing, then it becomes something separate from the original disrupting the street portrait focus of today's lab.

Personally, I prefer to manipulate the image manually in the post-processing editor (rather than the preset adjustments that come on board the app editor).

Quick note: When I first saw the option to adjust the “black point” in the iOS Photos app editor I was amazed and surprised! Apple has really stepped up their game and I imagine it won’t be long before their free Photos app editor offers more similar manual adjustments as Adobe Photoshop. Nice add, Apple!

Embracing Growth Feedback

The rush from the memorable decisive moment continued as we displayed one image on the large video board. EPIC, literally! This memorable win carried through to the brief review that allowed me to actually speak into the microphone about the image. Initially intimidated I stepped up because it's fleeting mobile moments like these that get me fired up about portraits and photography. It's the moments in between "the shots" we're used to seeing on magazine covers and such that in my opinion reveal something special about a person. Yes, she was there to help me as I was there to help her make something unique here. However, this fleeting moment reveals an expression that I could sketch again and again in notebooks and still be hard pressed to get right... And, I love that about it!

Compositionally, the elements in the scene are pleasing at least through the eyes of our group and help to support a memorable fleeting "angelic" moment with the subject.

I left the lab with an expanded zone of comfort and new tool for seeing portraits in my photographer's eye toolbox. It's never easy to go to the edge of your comfort zone, like looking over the edge of a majestic cliff. This is often where the magic lies, that something you've been looking to add in your work as a mobile photographer but could hardly put your finger on - reveals itself. We have to put faith in and trust the whole process of portrait and mobile photography where it's not always about verbally directing the subject.

My name is Danielle Deutsch, and this is one of my most memorable mobile moments. If you enjoyed this story you might also like to check out my YouTube channel where I’m actively working to produce motion picture works of stories like this.

Thank you for reading! I hope that this inspired you to think a bit differently next time you're setting up a mobile phone shot. Remember, you always have the power within you to stand up to fears that try to hold you back from your potential in showing up to grow in what matters most to you.

As William Hazlitt wrote in 1822, "where there's a will there's a way!"