Leslie (#893) 06-14-15

As I strolled through Downtown Asheville, I spotted Leslie and her stylish hat. I love women's hats. It gives me an excuse to introduce myself, and I really DO like them. She was seated outdoors having an animated conversation with Ken. When I approached her, she was shy, but willing. In fact, she stayed shy. She is a senior at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, majoring in Political Science. She hopes to go on to Law School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Leslie kinda shrugged when I showed her the posted image. She wanted a more 'natural look,' Ken suggested that they continue talking, and I shoot as they spoke. I was not for that and went into one of my camera diatribes. “The problem with shooting when someone is speaking is that the camera sees, we perceive. While a friend is speaking, shoot a burst of 12-15 images over a few seconds. Almost every one will look ridiculous to downright freakish. You might think that you were watching her and she never looked like those unflattering images. But, in fact, she DID look like that for 1/100 second. But our brain receives a series if those images and somehow averages them out to the imagined image that we perceive. That's how political candidates show such horrible pictures of their opponents. Just catch 1/100 second of anyone giving a normal speech and he looks like an ogre.”

Ken said, yeah, we know this, we're photographers. Oh. Ken said he does general photography without elaborating – and he declined being photographed. Leslie likes photographing sports, events, and weddings. I told her that I could never shoot weddings.

“It's OK, if you choose the right bride and groom.”

“And the right in-laws.”

“Yeah.”

Once she becomes an attorney, she'd like to do professional photography on the side. Here is her website: www.pchopictures.com

After wanting a natural look, Leslie preferred this image. 

To me, it looks more staged.

Bob