Llewellyn Berry
Capture the Casual Moment
Posted on March 3, 2011by Llewellyn Berry
I guess it’s not a secret that I no longer have a camera. Stuff happens and I believe it happens for a reason… well, enough of that for now.
No camera and of course there are countless pictures I see as I scan my everyday. That’s just the way stuff unfolds. You make plans to go out during the day. It’s raining and instead of staying in and watching old movies, you say no and make plans for the museum. Of course, before you leave you check the listings and find that all of your all-time favorite films are playing non-stop on TCM.
Anyway, right now I’m in New York City and I’ve been all over Manhattan and Brooklyn and it has been like a movie unfolding scene by scene for me to photograph and write about and just enjoy now and later on film. Um, no camera.
This brings me to those of you who do have cameras. Keep that instrument with you at all times – especially when you visit friends who live in houses or apartments where you’ve noticed the light is particularly striking.
I am at my wife’s daughter’s home in Brooklyn. I was standing in the kitchen this morning and their cat was sitting in a stream of sunlight (I bet you know where this is going, huh?). I had my cell phone (remember, no camera) and I said what the hell, I’m going to take this picture. I turned the phone to the camera setting. The camera came up. I raised the camera up and the cat got up and moseyed on out of the sunlight and into her little hut. I think I heard her giggle and saw her thumb her nose at me as she went in it.
Anyway, keep your camera at the ready. There are so many casual pictures out there that in time become extraordinary because you pay attention to light and composition and you are not afraid to take the picture – capture the moment that YOU feel. That is the important thing – YOU feel it.
I’m not suggesting that every Tom, Dick, and Harry will FEEL a casual picture and later on find they have captured a masterpiece…but some will and you won’t know unless you take the picture – capture the moment that YOU SEE and YOU FEEL.
I was visiting my friends the Byrds Lora and Kimble. Lora and I were just chatting. She offered me a glass of wine. She joined me and we continued chatting, laughing. They were such great company (they moved to Delaware).
As she held the glass of wine, I raised the camera (I was shooting color for some reason that day) and captured a moment that I saw and that I felt. I love the picture. It’s simple; simply composed. I love the colors in it; they are muted and soft and relaxed and they say a lot about a moment that meant something to me and perhaps may have a universal appeal.
Hands Holding a Wine Glass
Washington, DC
1982