A couple of conversations I've had recently about photography I've found interesting. One was about all the flowers at the bottom of Smock Bridge. This person said I must be in my glory and wanting to go there and photograph every day. The other involves an assignment coming up where I have to photograph a parade of Tall ships on Lake Erie. Everyone seems to ooh and ahh at being able to photograph that. And then when I tell them I get to go on a boat to get up close to each of the ships everyone just seems to envy me. But truthfully, neither one really interests me much. If I'm assigned to do something I try very hard to make good photos but I want a story to tell. So that means i need a person or a group of people. I like to capture faces and if that doesn't happen I want there to be some sort of peak action or some sort of cool composition or light in which a person is in the midst. The tall ships, I really don't think a scenic of tall ships will satisfy me, oh they might be beautiful, but I really want to get a person reacting or working on the boats. I'm trying to actually get myself on one of the ships and not just a boat along side--I think this is where my story will come. Last week at the FMX bike event at the fair I was able to get excited about the event because the people in peak action did tell a story. And then at the kiddie pedal pull--I had to wait for it, but I got it--it was about the expressions and heart of the competitors. Thats the stuff I like to photograph. Meadville Tribune photos by Richard Sayer