Kids having ice cream on the beach
Another reason to copy him is that Parr published in 2010 in ** The Guardian ** the best article on how to take photos on vacation that we know of. As brilliant as it is brief, in it he gives some advice that he usually puts into practice himself. Of them we are left with two: do not ask people to smile for a photo and do not stop taking them on paper to avoid losing them on a hard drive (or in the cloud).
It can be a very good idea before packing your suitcase to spend some time looking at the first book published by this member of the Magnum Agency. In Have a Nice Book browse for us The Last Resort . A true legend for the great portrait he made of British workers who spend their holidays in Brighton, the Benidorm of Great Britain. The key is that he has been made looking from you to you, without gravity and with a certain humorous spark.
From ** Martin Parr **'s sense of fun we can learn that it is not about choosing from a menu of situations to obtain an image that invites laughter. By that we mean, for example, using resources like jumping in front of famous monuments or playing with their scale. Rather it's about you taking even your holiday dramas with humor.
Your camera can give you a lot of play if, in addition to trying to leave your Facebook contacts speechless by showing the luxurious hotel where you are staying, you also document the small miseries of the trip. that way Missing the plane or standing in line at the supermarket, even while on vacation, will not be so hard.
Mexico and its thousand places to photograph everything.
It is also important to understand that the most interesting thing about a place is usually the people . Perhaps that man who spoils your photo walking in front of the hyper-photographed site that you want to capture is more interesting than the very reason you are going to capture.
But, be careful, it is not about imitating in a bad way the National Geographic photographers by nagging anyone who seems to be an indigenous person. What we are talking about is that you capture the pulse of real daily life, and not the fake one, of the place you are visiting through the people . Keep in mind that behind the Mexican mariachis or the Venetian gondoliers there is a person. If you are able to see it and not stay only in the costume, you have succeeded.
Martin Parr flipping through one of his photos.
You might also be wondering how Parr achieves his typical ultra-saturated color. The trick is to use the flash, which always enhances the colors of the environment. Although you will lose discretion, it may be recommended that you use it even when you think that natural light is with you. In this way you will reinforce the expressiveness of your images. Of course, try not to disturb and if you can use a diffuser to avoid harsh lights with pronounced shadows. In this YouTube video they explain how to make one with a piece of cardboard to use even with a compact camera. A little practice before you start taking photos with it would not hurt to avoid blinding someone.
On the hunt for the skewer.
If you end up at a party in the middle of a trip and post the photos you take at it on Facebook, it's okay to read the article that Parr published on his blog about the so-called facebook problem . Because of this social network, it is increasingly difficult to achieve a spontaneous image in a soiree. But the most important thing is that you notice the great ability of the English photographer to observe the small details, those that usually go unnoticed when experiencing the traveling vertigo produced by being in a mythical place. The only way to learn to see them is that the camera does not trigger our anxiety and thus be able to truly observe . By the way, if you decide to launch into this plagiarism that we propose, keep in mind that there are already many who try it, as this Flickr group shows.