I live about 5min from one of the most photographed sunrise spots here and since I got here more than a month ago, I try to capture the sunset on the weekends. For the past few weeks, the weather had been bad, so no luck. I met two photographers.
Today, the weather cleared up and when i got there, there were already about 30 photographers ready to click away, all crowding at the same spot. First of all, my first reaction seeing such a big bunch of them was "Weirdos!" It was more of a LOL moment. Of course knowing myself being one of them, I decided that I wasn't even going to try their spot. So instead of shooting a shot that had been shot thousands of times, I went onto the bridge instead and shot from there. I was the only one on the bridge.
Not sure about you guys, since I picked up my dad's SLR more than 10 years ago, I've been shooting as a "loner", in the sense that I never had friends who were into photography as well. So I am always the "photo guy" when going out or traveling. This meant I never shot as a group, never had exposure to "what others do" until much much later. Two years ago I joined a meetup group and went on a few outings with them and realized that people tend to be easily influenced by how others do it. They crowd around the same place, shooting at the same angle, often using similar focal length. They also usually stick to one type of lens.( Eg. Telephoto when doing nature, always shoot from far far away even when the subject isn't afraid of human ) I am usually the one away from the group, often shooting the group because it looks amusing.
I do wish I have friends who are just as much into photography as I do. I'd love to go out with a bunch of folks to take photos, then again, it usually ends up that everyone takes the same photos.
Here's some from the morning:
What a stereotypical composition will be like:
Me shooting on the bridge instead (just quick snap with cellphone, actual photos not ready yet!):
Other occasions:
Today, the weather cleared up and when i got there, there were already about 30 photographers ready to click away, all crowding at the same spot. First of all, my first reaction seeing such a big bunch of them was "Weirdos!" It was more of a LOL moment. Of course knowing myself being one of them, I decided that I wasn't even going to try their spot. So instead of shooting a shot that had been shot thousands of times, I went onto the bridge instead and shot from there. I was the only one on the bridge.
Not sure about you guys, since I picked up my dad's SLR more than 10 years ago, I've been shooting as a "loner", in the sense that I never had friends who were into photography as well. So I am always the "photo guy" when going out or traveling. This meant I never shot as a group, never had exposure to "what others do" until much much later. Two years ago I joined a meetup group and went on a few outings with them and realized that people tend to be easily influenced by how others do it. They crowd around the same place, shooting at the same angle, often using similar focal length. They also usually stick to one type of lens.( Eg. Telephoto when doing nature, always shoot from far far away even when the subject isn't afraid of human ) I am usually the one away from the group, often shooting the group because it looks amusing.
I do wish I have friends who are just as much into photography as I do. I'd love to go out with a bunch of folks to take photos, then again, it usually ends up that everyone takes the same photos.
Here's some from the morning:

What a stereotypical composition will be like:

Me shooting on the bridge instead (just quick snap with cellphone, actual photos not ready yet!):

Other occasions:

