Get out there.

In slow times, I often find myself spending a disproportionate amount of time thinking about photography versus actually taking pictures. For whatever reason, I sit at the computer, read blogs, look at gear online and helplessly watch tweets cascade down my screen. This is NOT productive. There is no substitute for time spent behind the camera (or in front of it, for that matter). That being said, while taking pictures of your shoes and soda cans around the house with different styles of lighting can be fun, this is not the kind of thing that leads up to a photographic revelation, unless of course you are mastering the art of still life.

On October 22nd, hunched over my keyboard and the Club Lexus forum, I came across a thread titled, "Hot Wings and Cars..." Sounds cool, I thought to myself. That would be fun if I had a car.

I scrolled down further.

Mini-Meet
Friday October 23rd
7pm-????
Smoke Eaters
2565 The Alameda
Santa Clara, CA 95050

Santa Clara? That's a coincidence. Wait... Smoke Eaters?

That's right across the street from my dorm.

Realizing that my one reason not to attend was no longer applicable, I decided to make a ridiculous request - for someone to pick me up from my dorm and basically drive me across the street... without ever even having met me in real life. Surely this would provide my much desired reason not to attend - no transportation.

Nope. A few short hours after my request, one of the other members of the forum offered to give me a lift.

I have been wanting to shoot cars for a while, now, and this was my chance. I decided that fate had this in store for me - A wake up call of sorts. While going through my usual routine of cleaning my equipment before a shoot, I started to imagine how I was going to photograph the cars at the meet. Should I bring a full kit of flashes, umbrellas and PocketWizards? Nah, that would be overkill. Before I went to bed that night I decided on bringing one body, one zoom lens, one flash and pair of PocketWizards just in case things went awry.



Despite the ineptitude at shooting automobiles I displayed throughout the evening, I had a fantastic time. I found myself more and more interested in meeting the people around me than worried about the quality of my photos. Throughout the evening I handed out some business cards and met a few fellow photographers.

That's when I realized I had learned a major lesson.

It's not about having the best photos or gear. It's not about knowing "what the big-boys think." None of this would have happened if I hadn't given the computer a rest. I would have put my shopping cart deep into imaginary debt on bhphotovideo.com, explored the hidden meaning of a random photostream on flickr, and giggled at the connection between the hashtags #kanyewest and #balloonboy.

I would have never met the wonderful people of Club Lexus: North California, exchanged business cards with photographers already involved in the automobile industry, or experienced someone actually WIN the Hellfire Challenge at Smoke Eaters.



There's a big world out there for you to explore. Take every opportunity you get to pull yourself out of your comfort zone.

In the end, being behind the camera did help me after all - it brought me there.

Actually, Ken did, but you know what I mean.

Elliot