People in Motion

Today, I went to go take pictures of a family friend's daughter. She's an ice skater, and I've always loved watching ice skaters because what they do seems incredible. They're so graceful, too. It's really, really neat to watch them. She was only practicing, but I wanted to take pictures of her anyway. The mom asked me if there was any particular theme to my assignment, and almost without thinking I said, "I enjoy people in motion."

And really, I think taking photographs of people moving are one of the better things I do. I take photos of the frisbee group I'm a part of. Some of those photos are funny, others look awesome, and others are complete duds (out of focus shots suck). But they're interesting subjects because they're so dynamic. They move, all the time. And this fascination with people in motion explains why I like watching certain sports so much. I love watching swimmers. Really, that one is because I'm a swimmer myself. But I love watching swimmers swim, because all the strokes are so different, requiring different skills. I'm fascinated by butterfly swimmers. That's the hardest stroke for me, but it's so cool to watch.

I like watching the guys I play frisbee with, because they're so different. Some get good verticals, others dive, others run. If you can take a picture fast enough, they're in the best poses. Sometimes it looks like people are flying, or they're levitating the frisbee. Or you catch the funny moments where people barely miss catching the frisbee.

I like watching dancers because they move so much. They look graceful, and I'm always trying to figure out how people do moves. I love watching pirouettes. I'm horrible at them. Funny how I love watching what I'm so bad. Can't do butterfly, but love watching it. Can't do more than a single pirouette, but I love watching dancers do pirouettes. With dancers, if you catch the right moment, everything looks put together so wonderfully. 

So when I took pictures of the girl skating, I hoped to catch moments where she looked graceful and looked absolutely stunning. And I did. Sometimes it's a shame I've occasionally got to watch things through a lens, when I'm so in love with the way people move.