For my first blog post, I thought I’d confess my greatest weakness as a photographer. I suspect I’m not alone in this particularly shortcoming. I suffer from occasional bouts of DPS (Delusional Photographer Syndrome).
Here’s the pattern:
- I get the concept for a picture stuck in my head.
- I pursue that picture to the ends of the Earth, sometimes climbing tall buildings or hanging off dangerous places.
- After I get the much-anticipated picture, I find out that it really wasn’t that interesting after all.
- Said image still becomes a long-standing favorite. Not because it was good, but because, dang it, I worked really hard to get it!
Here is the first, and perhaps most egregious, example of my personal battle with DPS.
In 2008 and 2009, an extensive renovation of the exerior of the Allen County Courthouse took place. I take a lot of pictures for the folks in charge of the Courthouse, so they recruited me to do “before” and “after” pictures of the work. Since the building would be surrounded by scaffolding during the project, my imagination conjured up a great photo of the statue atop the Courthouse dome.
She’d be standing there majestically, holding court over the Fort Wayne skyline, looking as grand as the Statue of Liberty and New York City. I waited weeks for the scaffolding to get that high. Even in the face of a pretty serious fear of climbing that high, I finally made it to the 190-foot level, right at the feet of the statue I’d imagined seeing in her perch after years of gazing up at her from the ground.
As you can see, the only thing breath-taking about this picture was the climb up to get it. It’s a lovely statue, sitting there all by itself, with absolutely no context and no surroundings. It could be on the Courthouse. It could be anywhere.
But by golly, I worked like crazy to get it and thought about it endlessly. So the fact that it kind of stunk didn’t stop me from showing it to people, posting it everywhere and even entering it in a photo contest (in which I finished DEAD LAST). It was my first, undiagnosed, symptom of DPS.
Here’s another one, also from the Courthouse.
More recently, the Courthouse stained glass was removed for cleaning and repairs. I got it in my head that a picture from overhead, after the stained glass was re-installed, would be amazing. Kind of a kaleidoscope of colors and designs that would inspire millions and delight the senses.
Yeah, that didn’t work either.
I made the climb again into the Courthouse rafters and dangled myself out into the open air, 30 feet off the ground, with a remotely operated GoPro camera attached to a telescoping pole. And got this. Once again, the only thing breath-taking was the climb.
There are more where these came from. I’ve learned my lesson. Great effort invested doesn’t always equal a great photograph. Telling the observer, “But I climbed on top of a really big building to get this!” usually doesn’t change their take on an otherwise so-so photo.
My case of DPS rages on. But admitting it is half the battle, right?