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Lessons from Morocco
Techniques
27 February 2008 09:44
Dave Waterman visits Morocco with his former student, David Noton, to see if there are any new lessons to learn
Back in the eighties I was a part-time tutor at Gloucester College of Art and Technology (GLOSCAT, now Gloucester University). One student really struck me as having what it takes to really make it in the competitive world of photography: David Noton.
After college, I hired him as my assistant, but after that, we lost contact. Then, six years ago, after seeing his picture credit in a magazine yet again, I googled him, found his website and phoned him – he was on location in the middle of a jungle in Sri Lanka.
Fast forward to December 2007 and I find myself accompanying David on a trip to Morocco – a country I know well, as I’ve been organizing photo safaris there for more than ten years.
So what did I, David’s former tutor, have to learn from two weeks on location with my former student? Quite a lot!
The learning started early – when I met him at the airport. For a photographer who spends six months a year away from home, he had with him an essential travelling accessory: Wendy, his wife. They’ve been an item since his student days and as a state registered nurse, Wendy has many useful travelling skills – not least changing the wheel of our 4x4 when it got a puncture in the middle of nowhere!
Another useful aspect of having a travelling companion is the extra baggage allowance this offers: that extra carry-on bag is worth a lot more than its weight in camera gear.
David has been digital for three years now, using a Canon EOS 1Ds mkII plus a range of seven lenses. He says he makes fewer exposures now, not having to bracket as he did with film. Also, it’s a real bonus not carrying round 50 rolls of film and risking losing everything through the x-ray machines. Nowadays he stores his photos on 14x 4Gb cards and a mobile hard drive, backing images up onto DVDs via his laptop. But now there’s the downside of having to carry power leads, battery chargers, card readers, international plugs and requiring access to mains electricity… To think that in my day all I had were two Nikon Fs and four lenses between them!
But it’s not all about gear really. David believes the key to great pictures is in making a thorough recce. Whenever possible our evening and morning photo sessions were recced the day before with a compass (built into David’s watch) so we knew exactly where the sun would rise or set. Location and the quality of the light, says David, are two other essentials to create images that will take your breath away.
Our itinerary for the trip covered 2600km, from the beautiful blue village of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Volubolis and beyond – the cities of Fes and Marrakesh (a must), finishing up at the coastal town of Essaouria. Chefchaouen proved a treasure trove of people pictures – all made especially photogenic thanks to the village’s ubiquitous blue walls. David tried with some success to get a different perspective, using a slow shutter speed and panning with his subjects, producing images reminiscent of expressionist painters.
By comparison, Fes was a disappointment owing to an inversion above the city (a cap of warm air which trapped in the haze and black smoke from the pottery kilns) so the quality of light was very poor. However, our pictures taken at the ancient tannery at first light more than made up for it.
Early morning at Volubolis – an ancient Roman city – was equally magical. I tried a four-part panoramic join (using Photoshop Photomerge) and I’m pleased to report it worked. An evening shoot here was also successful: we spent an hour waiting for the sun to dip into the right position, and willed some storks nesting nearby to take flight across the sun at the same time. Luckily, it all came together nicely.
I was once told by an eminent photographer (I think it was Mike Busselle) that you never really know, until you use a tripod, just how sharp your lenses are. David takes this several steps further. Not only does he use a tripod, he also uses mirror lockup and an electronic remote release, plus (wait for it) he even hangs his Lowepro back pack under his tripod as ballast.
He’s so methodical, it’s impressive. David’s routine is: pick location, set up tripod, select lens and filter, make sure camera is level (with a spirit level), close the camera bag and – always – put it on your back before looking through the viewfinder. This last is in case he wants to change position and in some parts of the world, keeping your kit on your back is the safest place for it.
Marrakesh was all we’d hoped for. The souk is a goldmine for people pictures and the dyeing area gave us a splendid display of graphic colour. However, the central square, Jemma el Fna, is always a disappointment. You approach a likely character , raise your camera to your eye, and in less than a nanosecond the subject is holding his hand out for payment. It absolutely kills that ‘decisive moment’ Cartier Bresson so cherished.
Our last stop, Essaouria, produced some interesting images, mainly of seagulls, with the town as a backdrop. Fortunately the tide was with us, unlike a day or two previously when we’d recced a delightful fishing village, only to find on our return that the tide had gone out…
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. So what did I take home from my two weeks with David and Wendy? One thing’s for sure. Even after 23 years of travel photography, David still hungers for the photographic holy grail: an image possessing such wonderful light that stirs the very soul and leaves you speechless.
Stock photography might seem simple – take a few holiday snaps and there are a dozen online ‘agencies’ that will take them. But this only dilutes the market. One always hopes that photographers with a genuine love of image-making and the determination to produce truly breathtaking pictures will win in the end. David Noton is one of those photographers – every bit as determined as he was back in 1985.
David Waterman
Andalucia 2008
www.davidwatermanphotography.com