Photographer Robert Bennett has a passion for all things photography. He has been around the camera since he can remember with his grandmother being a professional photographer since the early 1900s and his father and brother all being interested in photography. One could say it runs through his veins.
The Delay Public Library is proudly hosting Bennett’s series, “Vintage Gallery of Speed”, which features historic race cars and how they have evolved through the decades.
Bennett focused on using the photographic technique called panning, which involves catching a fast-moving object, like a race car, with a relatively slow shutter speed to make the background and foreground blurry while the focus remains on the car. He decided to use this technique to give the photos and cars a form of speed. “I tried to capture the sense of motion with these photos because, although you are not getting the sounds and smells of the racetrack, I tried to get that sense of motion.”
Every photographer has a different style of how they compose their photo. Bennett described his photographic style as traditional and natural. He aims for his images to feel like the viewers is the scene of the picture. In the series “Vintage Gallery Of Speed” Bennett has half his images in color and the other half in black and white, stating he prefers the black and white renditions because it gives the impression that these photos are older, like the race cars being modeled.
Bennett is a prolific photographer who enjoys dabbling in, portrait, landscape, black and white and night photography. He interestingly described his thought process while creating his art, “I always tend to look at pictures as print, what would it look like on a wall? So, composition, the light and the presentation are probably the three things that stand out in terms of my mindset in photography.”
Bennett explains that it is a challenge to anticipate the time and conditions that can affect the opportunity to attain the perfect image. However, if the planning is done correctly and the appropriate tools (like having a specific lens) are used, having the patience to wait for the right moment might earn one the ultimate snapshot. Given all the hard work behind capturing an image Bennet’s favorite part about being a photographer are the results obtained from the process and the emotional response from looking at his picture. “To me the impact that it has on somebody that sees it, if it sticks to you or really gets your attention or if you say woah, to me that’s a good photo, it says something.”
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