12/13 - Look Stupid and Get the Shot
Me, around 17 years old
I had actually been to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History before. In 2018 my church had a mission’s trip to DC. After building a garden and cleaning up a community center I took my camera to explore DC.
Eight years later, my hair would be grown, and I took my camera again.
Last week, we talked about voice. Why is our voice important? Why am I the right person to tell this story? etc. And going into this week I wanted to intentionally shoot something interesting.
But I was met with my own doubts, “What makes a picture interesting in a museum? A place where anyone can go for free and look with their own eyes at fossils, paintings, rocks, etc.”
Picture of a Brontosaurus skeleton featured at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC
I also felt a lot of insecurity. I walked around with this giant mirrorless camera taking pictures of shark bones when there was a father using an android phone to send pictures of the same thing to his family via WhatsApp. Part of me definitely wondered, “Do I look dumb right now?” “What makes this shot interesting?
Exhibit after exhibit, I looked at a piece that Interested me: a painting that reflected the artist’s thoughts on climate change, who of my friends standing underneath a gorgeous overhead light, and a brontosaurus that reminded me of my favorite TV show, The Last of Us.
I wasn’t fully satisfied though. I just knew something had to be captured from an interesting perspective, or seen through a new light.
“Mammals” isn’t my favorite exhibit, but it does have my favorite scene.
Imagine going from room to room observing taxidermied deer, rabbits squirrels, bears behind reflective glass each with their own plaque that features their super special scientific name, but from the next room—crickets, bugs chirping, and wind blowing.
That’s when I saw a mother kneeling down to take a picture of her daughter under a tree before she stepped away and took a picture of a taxidermied cheetah in a tree with an unfortunate gazelle slumped over a branch.
I waited for the mom and daughter to pass. They saw my camera and uttered an, “oh sorry!!” As if that would help with my nerves.
Before I knew it, I was on the floor of this mammals exhibit with a 50 millimeter pointed up towards the roof while I laid on my back where hundreds of people had walked that day.
I pointed the lens up and saw the beautiful sculpture against the high ceiling. People looked, but noticed the other exhibits. I stayed there and lined up my shot.
Click.
Be intentional about the shot. Move to the left. Open the f-stop a lil.
Click.
Under expose so it’ll be easier to edit.
Click.
And that was that. No fanfare, no one pointed and laughed, no one yelled at me. They just went “Oh! a Photographer!” and carried about their way.
That was a lesson I needed to teach myself. Look stupid, be stupid, but get your shot. You never need to ask permission to do what you need to do to get your best work in, and I think it would benefit many to learn to not care about the judgement of others. Maybe someone will say something, but they didn’t that day.
So, I extend my journey, to y’all. Ask a stranger to take their picture, record yourself delivering a monologue, film yourself in public and post it onto social media, write your script and post it on reddit, organize a photoshoot with your roommate for New Years Eve.
Like I mentioned last blog:
Your voice is your essence, but you can’t begin to find that essence until you start to let go of the fear that comes with being judged.
Final edited picture of the sculpture in, “Mammals” at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.