Hero Frames
The first post in a series about the photos that kept me going as a beginner photographer.
What Makes a Day Worthwhile?
Isn’t the concept of a photo walk kind of weird? Like honestly. You commit to going out with the direct intention of taking photos. Random things, scenes, people. Then you end up doing this with other people, and sometimes feel like you’re paparazzi…for random people. It’s actually pretty unnatural. I didn’t realize this until I asked a friend who’s getting into photography to join us. She basically asked me “so you just go around and take photos?”. It sounds obvious once you’ve done it a few times. But in reality, it’s not that normal.
It’s actually something I still feel insecure about. Yeah, it’s become part of my weekly (or best effort) routine. But I still get anxious when I run into people I know outside of my photography circle. The questions come in like: “what are you doing?” “why are you doing that?” “did you get good photos?” The answers are often “idk,” “idk,” and “definitely not,” respectively.
So why do I still do it? Why am I willing to put myself out there and try to take photos randomly, going on walks, making a day out of it, without a clear end goal in mind? In my previous blog posts I’ve talked about “Why I shoot”. Photo walks are a big part of it. Ultimately, I want to continue improving and exploring this crazy, creative practice of photography.
So how do I know when I’m making progress? For me, progress isn’t about getting dozens of great shots. It’s about making each outing feel worthwhile. That’s where “hero frames” come in: any shot, from a day out of shooting, that makes me feel like my photo walk was worthwhile1.
The Reality Check
Remember those “definitely not good” photos I mentioned? I had quickly come to terms with the fact that getting photos that I considered “good” would be pretty hard to come by. I would stand in a scene or imagine a composition. Then fail quite regularly at achieving the look I wanted. I was lacking in both skill and experience. But one photo walk later, this idea hit me.
The Walk That Changed Everything
It was a solo photo walk I did in my first few months of photography. I decided, what better place to photograph than Manhattan’s own Financial District. Iconic architecture, a ton of people, and a very historic place in the city…it must be easy to get good photos right? Right?!
After almost an hour of being out, I was giving up. Each peek at my camera’s back screen, immediately after taking a photo (aka chimping), just chipped away at my confidence and hope. Walking aimlessly down the streets, I couldn’t seem to find a composition that was even remotely interesting. I tried different angles, different tropes, different photography hacks…nothing was working.
In my last ditch effort, I walked a near direct path to the next subway station. This would have me walking directly past the New York Stock Exchange building. I told myself I would only stop to try a couple more photos, but otherwise I was good to call it a day. I was giving up. As I had passed the NYSE building…I took one more look back. To my surprise, there was a scene that I wanted to capture that I thought would be remotely worth it!
It was two men on two separate benches. Both in bright neon shirts, just resting, both facing the iconic building. There was one problem…the stone benches were quite far away from each other…and I had a 50mm equivalent lens on my camera (for the non-photographers, imagine you’re using your iPhone’s camera at 2x zoom). I wanted to capture both men, both benches, and the building in the background. So I had to step back…waaaay back2. Here’s where my lack of experience comes into play. I wasn’t stepping back far enough. Every few steps I turned around and was still too close. Just as I thought I was getting somewhere…
And then it was gone. The scene was breaking apart. On one of the benches, a couple people started approaching one of the men with a neon shirt. It broke the scene that I had been observing for a bit. Until I realized what I was seeing. The people approaching were his family. It was his wife and kid, coming up to him. Moments later I realized another composition worth capturing and got this:
The Mindset Shift
Seconds after seeing the shot on my camera’s screen was when I thought of this concept for the very first time. I shouldn’t go out with high expectations. I don’t know what I’m going to encounter on the streets or at an event. I just know that trying to get one photo, one shot, one frame was going to be enough to make that whole day worthwhile! Immediately my energy and emotions of the day turned around. I felt accomplished and satisfied. I spent another ~30 minutes leisurely making my way to my subway station and trying to get a few more “bonus” frames on the way back.
How It Changed My Practice
This “hero frame” concept would be my driving force for a long while. Instead of expecting that I should be getting good photos, future photo walks had me thinking I need just 1 “good enough” one. It lowered the pressure for me and got me in a more open and motivated headspace. Each bad photo wasn’t proof that I wasn’t getting better…it was just the default. I just needed to find the one moment where I could maximize my skills and get something rewarding! After spending time looking through my archive, this is actually Hero Frame #4. I had a couple from my earlier walks and a couple after this. This was a pivotal moment for me.
This realization is actually the backbone behind this project I call “processed.photos”. These “hero frames” were originally planned as chapters of a book (who knows, I still might make that), but for now, I can’t wait to show the rest of my early hero frames with you all - stay tuned!
The Journey Continues
So while photo walks are still quite weird, it’s still essential for my process. Especially because I love to shoot street (the why is coming in a future “Why I shoot” series post). But this “hero frame” now centers my approach whenever I do go out. It gives me something realistic to target and works as chapter markers in my overall photography journey. I’m excited to continue documenting and sharing both these chapter markers and my thought process while passing each checkpoint. It’s deeply linked to the spirit of this whole project and I hope that you (yes you reading this) enjoy and follow me along!
Stay tuned for all the work I continue to tee up and please feel free to send over feedback on anything! So what makes a photo walk feel worthwhile for you? I’d love to hear about your approach!
P.S. I’m doing my best to get better at being consistent (see my first blog on “I’m not a photographer”) so I’ll do my best to get everything out in a timely manner. But if not, hope you still drop a subscription so you can get it in your inbox the second I get around to publishing!
Originally I wanted to call these my “hero shots” but I learned that there’s a different use in commercial photography. Eventually I settled on the word “frame” instead because the concept of photographic frames will resurface in future reflections (more to look forward to 😅). I also chose the word “frame” because the vast majority of my photography work has leaned towards film, where each shot is also referred to as a frame (albeit colloquially).
This experience alone was a bit of foreshadowing for so much of my future photographic practice. My later falling out of love with the 50mm focal length. My obsession with color as a photographic trigger. My realization towards how much mindset, momentum, and headspace affects my photography, etc.