The Difference Between Video and Photographs
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, F Stop Beyond by Host Ron Dawson, and I heard a photographer talking about the difference between video and still images in a way that really caught my attention. The photographer asked, “How many times do you typically watch a movie?” The answer is usually ONCE. If you are really intrigued, you might watch a movie several times, but that would be more unusual than the standard answer of ONCE.
Now, when you look at an intriguing or exciting photograph, how many times might you look at that? 10, 20, 100 times perhaps. If it is a portrait of someone you love you may look at it every day of your life and appreciate it each time you see it. The photographer talked about how photography CREATES AN ENDURING MOMENT. Wow, an enduring moment. What an outstanding way to describe a photographer’s challenge. I’m not just “Capturing an image” or “capturing a moment in time” as many digital photographers describe what they do. As a photographer your goal is to create an enduring moment.
This reminds me of a photograph I took some years back. It was a picture of the finish of the last day of a trek across the state of Michigan on horseback. The riders started at a camp that touched lake Michigan then when they completed a week of 50 mile endurance rides across the state it ended at Lake Huron. The tradition at the finish was to go into the lake with your horse to celebrate the ride. It was great fun to watch as many of the horses had never encountered waves before. One rider’s helper during the week was a grandmother and she was encouraged to join into the fun by coming into the lake with horse and the rider. Two other people helped her to get out into the water (she was very unsteady in the light surf) where the rider was standing with her horse. When they got to the rider for only a moment, they all joined hands and raised there hands in celebration of the accomplishment. I captured that joyous moment in a spectacular photograph.
Several months later, I had an opportunity to watch video recaps of the week including this spectacular moment. Only it was not that spectacular in the streaming moments in video. That spectacular moment was there and gone and there were other moments to view. The power of the moment disappeared in video. It was a small blip and then it was gone. Now I know how to describe what I do with photography.
As a photographer I create ENDURING MOMENTS which can be enjoyed again and again and again by viewers. This is of course not a criticism of motion pictures or video, but it is a significant difference for sure.
Do you have an example of an ENDURING MOMENT; a photograph that can be appreciated over and over and over again?
Related posts: