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Creating Fascinating Photos in Small Towns ^Featured

Written by PhotoshopData
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"Small Town, USA" is a moniker often used when debating politics and finances. It's supposed to be an idyllic setting meant to conjure how people live outside of the city. Statistically speaking, few of us live in a small town, be it in the U.S. or any other country. That makes it an excellent challenge to capture photographically.

This guide will list some of the key aspects to consider while photographing a small town. It is not intended to be limited to the U.S. as there are small towns all over the world. The goal when trying to photograph an entire town is to tell the story of the place. To do this well, you will need your senses to be open, not just the shutter on your camera.

Ask questions of those you come across. Look inquisitive, curious and open in order to interact with the town and get a feel for its flavor. Eat where the locals eat and drink what the locals drink. You're not trying to fit in so much as get a feel for what it's like there without spending decades living the life. It's a tough assignment, but can yield a great photo essay when complete.

People

People make a place and it's important to include both near and far shots in your documenting of the small town. Taking people photos is not high on the list of most traveler's favorite types of photography and a big reason is the need to ask permission. While technically not required (in the USA you can take photos of recognizable people on public property as long as you are not doing so in a commercial sense), this is your chance to get to know the town better.

What can you do to break out of the "don't ask" mold? Get to know people with your camera down first. People are easier to approach when a camera is not in their face or they are expecting a photo. Be honest and open. Tell your new friends where you came from and why you're here. Ask many questions. People love to talk about where they live especially when the audience is accepting.

Once you get to know the locals a bit more, it's time to start shooting. There are as many ways to photograph people as there are photographers, but let me distill some advice for those on the road, possibly without a full complement of studio lights.

Not everyone has to smile. If your subject isn't feeling like a broad, "life is great” smile, go with it. Maybe life isn't great and that is a piece of the fabric of this town.
Capture people in their environment. If you have a chance to chat with a waitress or cook at a local diner, take their portrait while on the job, behind the bar or across the grill.
Focus on the eyes. If all else fails, make sure eyes are in tight focus.
Use available light, but bend it when needed. Catching a farmer, complete with wide-brimmed hat, in his field? Find a reflective surface to bounce light back up under that brim to light his face just a bit. Even your flash (attached or on the hotshoe) will work when stopped down just a little.
Not every shot needs to be face-on. If the person is doing their job and too busy, try to catch them in action. Not every shot should be a studio perfect photo.

Best Known For...

This subject can be a lot of fun if the town is looking for an identity. Often you won't find anything of note in a small town. But sometimes the town wants to stick out from the crowd or put up a campy slogan to bring in tourists. America seems to have an obsessive fascination with this type of draw, with a number of books published on the "Roadside America” topic.

The largest ball of twine, largest tree, largest stumps, deepest well, largest frying pan and so on. Towns that sport these attractions often let you know when you first enter the town with proud words emblazoned onto the welcome sign. If the notoriety is not as obvious, just ask any of the waitstaff in the local diner what the town is known for.

Commerce

Not all small towns are alike and this is especially true with regard to commerce. While a stereotype can be laid upon many small towns in America, it wouldn't be true for the country as a whole and certainly not for other countries you may visit. I have been to small towns whose primary means of commerce was a large factory (which is sometimes the only reason small towns exist) and yet, I have also been to towns who rely solely on tourism to keep the coffers full.

Port towns will have fish markets. Lumber towns will have large trucks hauling timber through town. And farming towns will have more than one tractor available. Some of it may seem a bit stereotypical but the more time you spend in a small town, the more you will see how the life blood of the town is procured. Look for it in places other than the obvious. Look for it in the local school mascot or in street names. Businesses names might also correlate to the local industry.

Beyond the main system of commerce, look for the supporting industries. Bars and taverns might hold a large share of real estate if the town is in need of letting off steam at the local watering hole. If the town is in an area of vineyards, find out if tourism fills the multitude of restaurants or if the locals enjoy eating out.

Main Street

Small towns have either grown up around a Main Street and expand or sometimes have contracted back down to the Main Street. Either way, it is the heart of the town. It may be a long promenade or a short, one block wonder. Your job is to find the life on this street and convey the feeling you get when standing there. Your viewers back home won't have the benefit of the sounds, smells and feel of the street and it's your job to bring that out in your photos.

Is the Main Street new or old? Has it been worn to a fine patina or is there a shine to the buildings? Is it full of life or something like a ghost town? Take some time to walk the town without your camera at the ready. Talk to the locals and try to find some history worth noting. That drab building on the corner might not catch your photographic eye until you find out it was the home of a famous person.

Try not to shoot Main Street in midday sun. The loss of contrast and saturation will make it look particularly harsh (although this may be an effect you want to incorporate). Also, get to know if the biggest crowds are during the morning, afternoon or evening. If you can, spend at least two days photographing in the same small town to see the daily cycle play out and decide how best to capture it.

Festivities

This aspect of small towns might take some planning or just dumb luck. Summer months are often high season for festivities and this is when the true character of the town can be seen. Is it an art festival or an oyster festival, complete with people walking around dressed up as large bivalves? Is there a large poetry slam scheduled in the winter or lumberjack competition in the summer?

While fortunate timing is always handy, doing a bit of research online and over the phone can help tilt the odds in your favor. As more and more small towns are setting up websites listing important information, don't trust each town to have up-to-date information onine. This is when phone contact can still come in handy.

Call the local chamber of commerce first, assuming the town has one. If they are looking for visitors, they will have one and it can usually be found with a simple phone directory search. If no chamber can be found, a local library is probably your next best bet or a town or county office. From there any decent business is game, including real estate agents, banks and of course hotels.

Once at the festivity, try to gather when the big events take place so you know how to pace your day. It can be tiring spending all day at a county fair if the real party doesn't get started until 7pm and you showed up at 8am. Pace yourself if you have the time. Festivities will be a great time to get more people shots and everyone is usually in a relaxed mood, making shooting easier.

Seasons

We might not all have the luxury of being able to return to a given small town in each of the seasons. If your small town is some place close and you have the ability, make a point of heading back in each season to see how the town has changed, how the light has changed and how interacting with people has changed.

In most cases, Summer can be a busy time and might be full of tourists, depending on the location. By contrast, in the colder winter months (thinking outside of the tropics now) residents are more prone to stay at home and the town is more deserted. Crowds that regularly gathered outside to enjoy sunshine and a chat with friends might now be flocking to a coffee shop and a warm fire place.

If you only have one shot at visiting a particular small town and won't be back in other seasons, concentrate on how that season shows itself in the town. Clothing is a good way to show season. Monsoons in certain areas of the world present not only their own obstacle in shooting, but their own story. Are their flowers out or is the vegetation in retreat?

Commonalities

Commonalities are often overlooked for photography when traveling. By commonalities I mean what about your hometown can you find in this small town you are visiting? What brings the two together, even if in small bits.

Most often these commonalities are mundane and overlooked, especially if you are accustomed to finding them in your everyday life. Photograph them in this new context, often surrounded by new and different objects. Objects and subjects that fall into this group can be mailboxes, a movie theater or even seeing advertisements for your favorite brand of makeup. Hairstyles and modes of dressing can also be more common than you might realize.

Sometimes these objects are obvious, like the ubiquitousness of Coca-Cola throughout the world or seeing Toyota trucks almost anywhere you go. Large corporations and their logos, such as Nike or Adidas, as well as sports, especially soccer or football.

Some other commonalities to look for, even if they are the same as where you come from:

Banks
Post Office (or mail/post boxes)
Library
Fire Station
Schools
Police
Diners/Restaurants
Bars/Taverns/Pubs
Cars
Flowers
Trees
This list can go on for quite some time. Find things in your hometown if you need more inspiration

Nightlife

Here is a time when knowing the local culture can pay off. To start with, ask around about what type of nightlife there is and make sure to ask a wide age range if possible. A lot of small towns are fairly quite on weekday nights but on off days things liven up.

Don't forget though, that your objective may be to show the reality of the town, instead of just the side you enjoy best. If you are a party animal, you might not think about shooting the town nearly deserted at 8pm but will gladly head to the local bar on a Friday night to catch a rowdy group letting loose after a week of work.

Also check community bulletin boards (on the streets and online) to see what the week ahead will bring. It might be a laundry list of bowling or bridge leagues or maybe reading groups and community meetings. It might also be far more entertaining than you imagined. Remember, with night shots you might need to bump up your ISO so be aware of inducing unwanted noise.

Activities

What does this small town do on its days off? Activities can run the spectrum from school sports to rodeos to knitting groups, and are what sustain the town when it's not working. In certain regions the activities can be specialized and tell a story all their own, such as ice skating on frozen lakes or beach volleyball tournaments.

Shooting activities, such as sports, can be a challenge in itself if you are relegated to the stands with everyone else. This is not always a bad thing as the stands, and those occupying them, will tell as much of a story as the people playing the sport. Be sure to turn around and shoot the crowd to capture the excitement of being there.

Religion

Be it in the Bible Belt of the U.S. or the shifting sands of Morocco, small towns are often steeped in religious influences. It might not be your religion of choice, if you have chosen, yet it is important to understand the town through this prism. Ignoring it altogether leaves out a strong part of the story.

The simple thing to do is simply shoot a service at a church, mosque, synagogue or other religious institution. But go a bit deeper. If you can get invited to a religious meeting or ceremony, take the opportunity (and be sure to ask a few people if photographs are permitted as different religions have different rules). The mood on holy days will also be different than work days. Dress and gatherings will also change and it is a good opportunity to find out what brings the community together.

This list is meant to help get you started in uncovering what life is like in a small town and a few different ways you can use your photographic skills to uncover and highlight it. Start with this list and expand to include topics that are important to you before you head out on your next journey to the less populated areas of a country.

Last modified on Saturday, 30 July 2011 17:38

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