Photography

Overview

Photography — in Burbridge's practice — is composition first, gear never. The camera is a material, and in the long run, not the most important one. The light is. The moment is. The framing is. The camera is in fourth place at best.^[1]

Principles

• Light is the subject. Everything else is what the light is landing on.
• Compose in-camera. Crop if you must. Compose first.
• Watch the edges of the frame. The eye looks at the middle. The edges betray you.
• Patience over equipment. A second camera will not save an impatient photographer.
• The best photo of the day will not be the one you expected.
• Shoot it, then shoot it better. Delete the first one, privately.

Subjects

Burbridge's subjects tend toward: landscapes with weather in them, construction sites mid-pour, mountain bike trails at odd hours, and the occasional architectural detail that most people miss. Notably absent from the catalog: portraits. Burbridge has explained this, when asked, with: "I photograph the things that don't ask me to stop."

References