A few months ago, I saw a series in National Geographic that kinda blew my mind at the time -- Conserving Hunters by Willliam Albert Allard. A couple days after I saw it, I got assigned a poorly planned reshoot for a localized feature we did on hunting.
I went out and met the Schroeders --- Mike and his five sons, ages 9 to 17 --- to go hunting. A previous attempt by another photographer yielded photos that did not make editors happy so they sent me out on a soggy morning to tag along. I never had the chance to talk to them before that morning when we met up. A reporter set the date up for us and this was a mistake. Because of a deadline, this was the last possible day for us to do this before the story was set to run, so the Schroeders were told to show me around where they hunt. Basically, I shot a hunting demo.
[I know, this one has a ridiculous resemblance to one of W.A.A's photos. While I of course kept his essay in mind the whole time I was with the Schroeders, I never made any intentional attempts to emulate him.]
Drawing up a wish list was inevitable. I wished I had more time. I wished this was an authentic endeavor. I wished the goulashes that Mike lent me weren't 5 sizes too big so I wouldn't be stomping around like a goober. I bet William Albert Allard wasn't sploshing around apologetically giggling while he was shooting his assignment.
I went out and met the Schroeders --- Mike and his five sons, ages 9 to 17 --- to go hunting. A previous attempt by another photographer yielded photos that did not make editors happy so they sent me out on a soggy morning to tag along. I never had the chance to talk to them before that morning when we met up. A reporter set the date up for us and this was a mistake. Because of a deadline, this was the last possible day for us to do this before the story was set to run, so the Schroeders were told to show me around where they hunt. Basically, I shot a hunting demo.
[I know, this one has a ridiculous resemblance to one of W.A.A's photos. While I of course kept his essay in mind the whole time I was with the Schroeders, I never made any intentional attempts to emulate him.]Drawing up a wish list was inevitable. I wished I had more time. I wished this was an authentic endeavor. I wished the goulashes that Mike lent me weren't 5 sizes too big so I wouldn't be stomping around like a goober. I bet William Albert Allard wasn't sploshing around apologetically giggling while he was shooting his assignment.
2 comments:
that first image is really nice
I second that...makes me want to kill some nature
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