Our day started off with coffee and a conversation that included topics ranging from camera settings to optimizing success rate, to a discussion that included some of Eolo's work with concrete examples of his techniques and how they lead to interesting photographs.
This was one of those conversations where I was striving to capture and remember every one of his spoken words. My notes were cryptic and my sloppy penmanship made it all the more challenging to read at the end of our day. I would end up re-writing my notes on the flight back to Paris that evening while everything was still fresh in mind.
After an amazing conversation, we moved to the street. I walked these same streets 16-years ago and forgot how beautiful Rome is. I was vaguely aware of the different neighborhoods we walked through, and the tourist sites that popped up along the way since most of my attention was centered on the concepts we discussed, and how to implement them into my workflow.
Today, all of my shots would involve zone focusing. I don't usually shoot this way and it's probably the equivalent of asking a golfer to change his grip, or a novice cook to leave the measuring spoons in the drawer and measure only with the eye. It's an adjustment that pushes you out of your comfort zone.
Simply put, zone focusing allows you to take pictures in focus with the correct exposure and shutter speed when all of your settings are optimized. This allows you to fully concentrate on composing and waiting for the right moment to take the shot. You still need to pay attention to the light as you move from shade to full sun and back into shade, and you also have to pay attention to the distance between your camera and the subject.
I can still hear Eolo's voice as he would gently remind me, "one meter" which meant I was too close to my subject, and any picture taken would be out of focus. Then another reminder to "change ISO" as our lighting conditions changed, or "eleven meters" which meant the subject across the street was too far away and would not be in focus.
At first I was constantly failing, but I was also aware of why I was failing, and that gave me hope that improvement was still within reach. I was also missing fabulous subject matter that I would have captured using my normal settings, and that made it all the more challenging to stick with this new way of shooting.
I had my first taste of success in the photo below, and I knew it before I showed Eolo my creation. It includes separation and symmetry which creates order in the scene. It's far from perfect, but several incremental steps in the right direction.