Typical Dave — The Shots That Refresh Me
These are the images that define my photography.
As the sole photographer in the family, I carry a heavy weight.
I’m the one who’s relied upon to take the shots everyone wants to see, so we all have “memories”.
The group shots, the clichéd tourism shots, the kids eating their ice-creams.
This is all great. I’m not complaining.
But I’m not in the photography game to capture these kinds of images.
And to be honest, you’re probably going to get the picture you’re looking for if you just whip out your iPhone and shoot it yourself.
I’m happy to create memories with my camera, but only as a sideline to the main event, which is as follows.
There’s a certain kind of photography which refreshes me.
It’s when I shoot what I want to shoot.
Sometimes I want to shoot black and white JPGs but don’t because someone else might want to see the image in colour.
Sometimes I want to shoot in 1:1 format but don’t because there might be part of the image someone else wanted to see which is now cropped out.
But when I shoot how I want, it brings life to me.
I had a friend (she’s still my friend but she lives up north so we haven’t seen her for years) who when she saw the kind of photos I like to take, said, “Typical Dave.”
I like this.
These are my Typical Dave shots.
Motion photography at its finest. I love the oranges contrasted with the blacks.
We’ve been to Malta several times on holiday.
On seeing my photos, my mother complained that I never gave her any reason to want to visit Malta, as I always shot these kinds of images.
To which I LOLed.
I love me a good rusty sign.
I also love clouds contrasted with sky.
Beautiful.
You hate this shot?
That’s great. I love it.
I love the fact this apparent door has no handle, and I’m also fond of the shapes of this drainpipe.
Is it a drainpipe? Surely it can’t be, as it runs horizontal. So what is it?
Oh sorry, you wanted a nice portrait shot?
I saw a better photo.
I appreciate every little feature in these images.
The placement of shadows and light. The tonality. The composition.
I know it’s not how many people would do it, but I feel that my photography is mostly an accurate reflection of how I see the world.
And that’s how it should be, right?
What are some “Typical You” shots?
If it’s OK, I’ll end with a few more Typical Dave images. There are loads more I could share, but perhaps we’ll save that for another article.
Oh, I got the framing all wrong! I’m so sorry!
