expressing the unconscious

[Frank Fremerey]

A photo that I pulled from a reality I was very conscious about. It perfectly pictures my subconscious good wishes for this poor boy and the thankfulness I felt for the woman who helped him in a very difficult situation. Here the camera was more of an extension of my feelings than an instrument of realizing previsualized content. I am sure this picture will provoke controvercial opinions.

I pressed the button an out came what I felt not what I thought. Wow.

[Frank Fremerey]

Ok. I have to play the devil's advocate my self: "Frank. Confess. This is crap. You accidentially hit the button. The boy is completely out of focus."

Answer: "I intentionally hit the button and tried to previsualize what a shot from the hip would look like from that perspective. Afterwards I really liked the outcome as it is, given the aformentioned circumstances."

[elsa hoffmann]

Frankie, I am not sure what to make of this.
My brain is looking for something in focus - other than the boy - since that is what you intended
but I wasnt there..

[Frank Fremerey]

I see a hand. I see the hand of the woman who took care if the boy when the parents failed. Let the boy sleep in her place.

The guiding hand is sharp.

[elsa hoffmann]

yes the hand is sharp - I immediately noticed it - and immediately decided the hand shouldnt be there. hence me excluding it in the comment.
Weird how one's brain works (I am referring to mine)

[Frank Fremerey]

For me letting go, not controlling the situation of the shot is hard. I gather experience. I start to dare. I am usure.

[armando_m]

Frnak

you seem to be very connected to the particular  situation , yet after reading your explanation , I still fail to see the connection from your description to the pointing finger and the smiling - out of focus- boy , the fact that he is smiling disconnects him even more  , in my opinion, from a difficult situation.

[Frank Fremerey]

I must surely gather more experieence with shooting the cam without looking through the view finder

when I read "Lessons you did not learn in photo school" many years ago there it was the letting control go

letting the unconscious take over.

this woman makes the boy happy and the ability to help makes the woman happy.

maybe this shot does not count but I am on it. I start to dare

[Fons Baerken]

you cant but express the conscious,
this reminds me of the finger pointing at the moon
so its not the finger but the moon.
 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Shooting blind yet still get the picture you had in mind requires a lot of practice, despite its seemingly haphazardly nature. Thus if you din't get what you were after, try again untill you do.

A word of caution: do have an idea of what you try to attain *before* the picture is taken. Culling images later then try to read something into the capture never really works. You can get lucky once in a blue moon, but that is not the best approach in the longer run, and won't bring your photography  and your understanding of it any further.

[Frank Fremerey]

Thank you all for helping me on the way of letting go in a sensible way. I saw the joy on the boy, unusual joy, because he had just experienced love and devotion in a way he is not used to.

Plan was simple: capture the boy's joy

I found that only from the hip perspective the shot could be had at all and did not know what the AF would do. When I saw this frame I felt: "Perfect expression of my feeling"

Now I see that this seems to be a very personal and situational thing that does not work for other people.

I need more practice in this "Technique"!

The book I was talking about:http://www.amazon.com/LIDLIPS-Lessons-Didnt-Learn-School/dp/0984225307