Learning How to See Without a Camera

"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." -Dorothea Lange.

This week, I was thinking of topics to blog about and stumbled across the above quote (and will be reading the biography discussed in the NPR article soon!). It got me thinking about how my perceptions have changed since starting the Photography program. Though I've had a camera within arm's reach for as long as I can remember, the program has helped teach me how to see differently. Now I notice changes in light temperature, city lights that would create gorgeous starbursts at a narrow aperture, and moments around me in my daily life that would previously have gone ignored. Early on in the program I would struggle to think of a subject to photograph. Now, it's incredibly rare for a day to go by on which I do not photograph something that strikes my eye!

Enough about my journey. How have your camera and your classes changed the way you see the world around you? Have you been inspired by an historic photographer's style or a genre you previously took for granted? Share your story in the comments, and happy shooting (and seeing)!

-Friday Ambassador

Work Cited:

NPR Staff. "Dorothea Lange: Drawing Beauty Out of Desolation." NPR Author Interviews. NPR, 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 May 2014.

Your New "TBT" Thursday Ambassador is here to help!

Hello, everyone my name is Mathew and I have been selected to be the new Thursday Ambassador. I have been attending AI now since last June and what a great experience I have had thus far. I am currently studying for my Associates degree in Photography. I live on the East Coast in the great state of New Jersey! I have really enjoyed photography since I was a teen but back then digital wasn’t heard of or affordable. Back then I would shoot with a 35mm Olympus camera. I worked hard to save up enough money to buy this camera used from a store. After that I was hooked, shooting many rolls of film per week. It seemed like I had to work just to develop my film.

Up until last February 2013 I never owned a good digital camera. I finally saved up enough to purchase one. I found a Nikon D600 and regained the passion I once had. Over the next few months I debated about going to school and learning all I can learn about photography. So last May I looked into it further and applied to AI, I love all the new things I have learned and continue to learn. Hopefully I can share with you my experience and help you with any questions you may have. Currently I have been shooting a lot of night photography and Astrophotography, sometimes sunrises. I will share with you a shot that I have taken this past month and I look forward to discussing some of my shots and experiences in a future blog. Feel free to message me, or any of the other great Ambassadors here.

                               

How long have you attended AI?

What are your career goals?

Sunrise, Pre-dawn colors, Sea Isle, NJ. Personal photograph by Mathew Renk. 2014.

Keep on shooting!

Throw Back

Thursday Ambassador

Your New Tuesday Ambassador is Here!

Hello, everyone!  I am Abby, your new Tuesday Ambassador bringing you insight and inspiration as well as answering your questions from the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  I have been attending AIPOD for almost two years and am preparing to graduate this December.  I went to college the first time right after high school but just wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career.  Of course I had aspirations of becoming a dental hygienist and even major in Philosophy, but they were all lacking something that I needed in a career.  I have had jobs in which I have excelled and done well at, but they were never going to make me happy because I couldn't explore my artistry.

Like many other photographers, I got my first camera for my 10th birthday and my passion for capturing photos became an integral part of my being though I had never had any experience with photography beyond the two point-and-shoot cameras.  Growing up I was fascinated by National Geographic magazines and they served to illustrate the world as I had never seen it.  It inspired a desire to take a deeper interest in the splendors and mysteries of Earth and nature.  It was not until after my son was born that I stopped making excuses for not following my dreams of working for National Geographic; I needed to set a good example for him and teach him that hard work pays off--your dreams don't come true if you don't pursue them.  He is my reason for going back to school, he why I work so hard at everything I do.

I may not be a National Geographic photographer yet, but I have come a long way since I began school at AIPOD and the level of accomplishment and success I have achieved thus far is only a confirmation that with time, dedication, persistence, passion, and determination you have the power to make your dreams a reality.  Are you pursuing a dream?  What are your career aspirations? 



Sunday Spotlight On: Editing

Once upon a time there was an art student who became undecided about her editing process. She was unsure if she should try color, black and white or the fancy filters that are sold online by the dozens. In the process of being undecided, she left images to sit and sit for days without any attention at all….

This character in this story sounds really familiar. Matter of fact, it sounds like me! I am so bad about creating images and once I pull them up onto my iMac I become so undecided about the editing process that I just walk away only to come back weeks or months later and still no process. Here is what my workflow consists of:

1.     Plan, plan and plan

I like to get a concept when I shoot for my creative psyche down to hair and makeup, styling, location and I always need to have a theme. It makes me follow through without having to continuously change the entire shoot. I always like to have control and know what I am doing so that I can just go in, set up and shoot.

Quiana P Jackson. Untitled, 2014

2.     Shoot

So today is the big day! After I already used up a lot of time when it came to planning, I just go in and jump right into it. Although there is more that goes along with this step such as checking the lighting and doing some warm up shots, it goes pretty smooth. Occasionally I have to tell the model how to pose if she is not use to it, but I have been lucky that these last past years since moving to Hawaii, these girls know their stuff!

3.     Transfer images to the computer

This is my giddy moment because I really want to see these on the “big screen.” After I back up the images in Lightroom, my external hard drive and then onto another hard drive, I pull the images up in Bridge and select the ones that I want to use.

4.     Halt

Okay why does my workflow always seem to stop here?

5.     Halt again (a week later)

Still stuck

6.     Halt again (a month later)

Still stuck

Quiana P Jackson. Untitled, 2014 

It seems that I can never just get past step four. This never happens when I am doing my documentary work nor my photojournalism work. It's always when I am shooting something for myself to remain creative. After this last shoot that I done in March, I finally got around to editing the photos and yes I know it is now May. My problem is postproduction because I can never decide if my work is good enough, or the direction that I want the image to go in. Due to being so busy working on my thesis, I finally put the finishing touches on the selected images and I must say that I am happy with the way that I went with them. I had to rearrange my workflow to include postproduction in the planning section. If I am shooting bright vibrant colors then I know that I will work in color, and if I am shooting an emotional image, then probably black and white. In the end the image will speak for itself and let you know what it should look like.

Since my time is winding down at the school I want the new students to know that the instructors are not just here for you when you are their students. I guarantee that if you reach out to them and ask for their opinion through a phone call or email, they will give you all the help that you need. All you have to do is reach out and ask for help. I was given advice on the images that I posted with this blog from an instructor that I had months ago! He was willing to help and I was willing to listen. 

I wish that you all could see the rest of the photos from this collection! Due to nudity I had to crop a lot from the above photo.

I am your Sunday Funday Ambassador!

Happy Shooting! 

Hip to be Square

When you're planning a capture, it's vital to keep in mind what your final use of the image will be. Setting the correct aspect ratio will help you avoid cropping out essential portions of an image when you and your clients print them out, and changing up your aspect ratio can help challenge you as a photographer to come up with new compositions and keep you on your toes creatively!

Platforms like Instagram have helped change the way we look at and think about the dimensions of images. While the square composition is by no means a new idea, modern cameras are usually set to the 2:3 ratio (resulting, for example, in a 4x6" image). Framing images with a square result in mind (by adjusting your DSLR settings, shifting your camera phone to square mode, or simply planning to crop in post-production) can refresh your eye. For some examples of DSLR 1:1 aspect ratio images, see a few of the images in my Tanzania gallery. My camera settings stayed in the 2:3 aspect ratio for the trip, but a few scenes just screamed square!

Are you a fan of the square image? How about panoramas? Maybe you stick with the classic 8x10"? Leave a comment with a link to your favorite image that strays from the 2:3 ratio!

The images in this post are from my Instagram account.

-Friday Ambassador

Best. Job. Ever.

Sometimes I sit back and think how miraculous it is that we are able to capture moments in time so effortlessly, preserving memories for ourselves and our clients with a few setting adjustments and the click of a shutter. We've come so far since the camera obscura! Today, I can keep my gear charged and ready so that I can quickly grab my bag and head to the hospital to capture incredibly meaningful images. My dear friend Briana had acted as my model for Fashion Photography, so she is used to my camera and invited me to witness the birth of her daughter and photograph the first moments of the baby's life. Please enjoy some examples of what I captured below, and head over to my blog if you'd like to see more. This job can be seriously rewarding!

-Friday Ambassador

Tick. Tock.

Hickory dickory dock,

The mouse ran up the clock,

The clock struck one,

And down he run,

Hickory dickory dock.

Time is running out.

It is an age old cliché, but in many ways it runs truer today than ever before.  Living in a technological age is amazing, but also comes with challenges.  Just the sheer amount of information that is created every day is astonishing.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, "There was 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003." RJMetrics CEO Robert J. Moore said in a TEDx talk recently that "23 exabytes of information was recorded and replicated in 2002. We now record and transfer that much information every seven days." (Vance)

There is SO much information created every single day, and much of it is accessible to us.  It can bog us down.  Surfing the net can be a time sucker.  Time that can (and I argue should) be used in better ways.  One of these ways is with our class assignments.

In our case, the clock strikes at midnight Mountain Standard Time. All assignments for AiO courses are due at 12am MST.  That means 2am EST, 1am CST and 11pm for PST.  I always felt living in CST time was a bonus for me. But what time zone you live in is really insignificant, you have to adjust where you are.  It is just good to know since everything is in MST, what the adjustments are for where you live.  ALL assignments, EVERY, single, one are due at 12am MST.  This set out by the college and discussion posted are automatically date and time stamped by the system.  There is no getting around it.  12:01am MST is late. 

There is a penalty for being late.  Per school policy (this is in the Course Home Announcements of EVERY class, it is always a good reminder to read them through at the beginning each time), a 10% reduction in your grade per day late can be applied.  And nothing can be submitted after the end of the week it is due.

“What’s the big deal,” you ask?  The big deal is that deadlines are deadlines.  You are given the deadlines upfront.  It is disrespectful to the instructor, fellow students and even yourself to be late.

Beyond the school environment, meeting the deadlines of assignments is a life growing skill.  In the work place, even if you have your own studio and are your own boss, you will have deadlines to meet.  There are positive consequences for honoring the deadlines and negative consequences for being late. 

In the event that you cannot avoid being late there are two pieces of advice I offer you.  First, notify your instructor as soon as possible as to why and when they can expect to see your assignment submitted.  Secondly, do not every make excuses.  Whining that your technology was slow when you were trying to get something uploaded at 11:58pm and ran into a glitch is simply annoying.  All that shows is that you did not plan well and miss-managed your time. 

There will ways be a lot of students trying to upload at the last minute, which will of course, bog down the system.  We know this, it happens every time.  Plan better and submit earlier.  The paybacks are wonderful and you will be much less stressed.

Time might be running out, but it doesn’t have to run out on you.

Hickory dickory dock.

It’s just another Manic Monday….

Monday Ambassador

Vance, Jeff. "Big Data Analytics Overview." Datamation. Quinstreet Enterprise, 13 June 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://www.datamation.com/applications/big-data-analytics-overview.html>.

lisakmorganphotography.zenfolio.com, mommysmumblings.blogspot.com

Three People You Need on Your Team!

There is so much that goes into running a business. If you plan on working for yourself, you're still going to need some help. Some of you may want to hire on assistants or go into partnerships with other photographers, but there are three key team members everyone should have.

1. Lawyer. Whether you seek out individual counsel or get covered legally through a professional organization like Professional Photographers of America (PPA), an attorney can help you draft solid contracts and will be able to assist if something happens that requires representation.

2. Accountant. Tax season makes me oh so anxious! If I didn't have someone on my team to make sure my numbers make sense and I have found all possible deductions, I'd probably end up paying way too much and thinking I paid way too little. An accountant can get you on the right track when it comes to bookkeeping, and can also provide financial advice about things like incorporation.

3. Insurance agent. Covering your gear with good insurance will save you major headaches when something breaks or is stolen. It's stressful enough to lose an expensive camera to damage or a thief; you don't want the fact that you have bad or no insurance to bring even more stress to the situation! PPA covers up to a point, but you'll likely need to up your coverage as your gear collection grows.

I also have a great banker and fabulous friends who will model for my lighting and retouching experiments (like Briana, right), all of whom have helped make my business stronger. If you've started your business or have experience in the industry, what do you think of the list? Did I miss someone vital to your team?

-Friday Ambassador

Sunday Spotlight On: Being Inspired To Do What You Love

I have made it a point to make it known that I love photojournalism and documentary photography. I find myself on National Press Photographers Association's website daily looking at what other photojournalists are doing. Some of my favorites are Lynsey Addario with her strong composition and subject matter, James Natchwey with his ability to inform with his stunning visual graphics, and Tin Hetherington who will be forever my hero. I had the pleasure (even in wartime) to meet Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger when they were filming Restrepo while we were in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. There was not a day that went by that we had a break from direct fire. I lost many friends all while hoping that I was not the next casualty.

I was a Public Affairs photographer while deployed, aka "Combat Camera." My job was to document the things that was going on there but nothing sparked my love for photojournalism until I saw "Tall Tim" as we called him. I knew then that was my last deployment and I was going to follow my dreams and become a professional working photojournalist/documentary photographer.

My husband is still active duty and I got the idea to focus on who he was as a soldier. When we hear about a soldier dying for their country we get a sense of sadness, but at the same time we can only thank them for their service to our country. Who are these people who died for the sake of that flag? I wanted to photograph my husband first to start a series of portraits for soldiers to put a face and a personality to their name. I wanted to capture their personalities and their smiles to show that they are not just trained killers but are humans. With my husband I felt like it was important to show what soldiers go through while deployed or training to deploy. It is not like a video game. Much goes into staying alive. I know. I have done it for three deployments. This week I started my first session, one a Marine and the other a Seaman. In the future I hope to photograph more.

SSG Jackson. 2013. Quiana P Jackson

SSG Jackson. 2013. Quiana P Jackson

SSG Jackson. 2013. Quiana P Jackson

The reason I chose this as my blog topic was because sometimes we settle for series that are only a dozen or less images. I say, go hard or go home and create an ongoing series. My war days are over but there is still a war going on and there is still a military. Until then, I will carry on with my series until I no longer have any subjects to photograph.

Inspiration can come from anywhere!

I am your Sunday Funday Ambassador! Happy Shooting!

5 Ways to Get Out of Your Photography Funk

Much like writer's block, photographers can face the dilemma of having no idea what to shoot next. Maybe you live in a small town where you think nothing really happens, have a full-time job that makes it hard to get out and shoot during the day, or maybe you're a parent who feels that all you've shot recently are your kids because they are with you all the time. Whatever the case, you need a boost of inspiration to get out of that rut!

1. Finding people who share your passion for photography is a great start to getting out of your photographic funk. Check out the post about connecting with other photographers for ideas on local groups to join and forums to follow. Being part of something like a Meetup group can get you out shooting things you never would have thought of on your own!

2. Working with a new subject for portraits can re-inspire your love for lighting and bring out new emotions in your images. For classes that focus on the human form you are required to seek out different models for each project, so why not start utilizing Model Mayhem now and put out the call on social networks for people who thrive in front of a camera? Being a pretty shy person myself, I know it can be intimidating, but in order to run a business you're going to encounter all kinds of people, so getting over your fears now will help you succeed in the long run.

Tip 5: Take on a personal project!

3. Attending a party? Check with the hosts to see if they would like you to bring your gear. This can give you practice in event photography and amp up your enthusiasm. Make sure that you don't only play the role of photographer, though, because you are first and foremost a guest! The hosts will appreciate your documentation of their efforts, but they also want you to have fun (and may not realize that for many of us, taking pictures is the most fun of all!).

4. A great way to find out what's going on in your area is to check out community bulletin boards, both physical and virtual. It can be surprisingly fun to shoot something like a 5k run/walk or a town fair. Even a farmer's market offers a host of interesting subject matter (just be sure to ask before you start shooting someone's wares). If there's any sort of event going on, there's something for you to shoot.

5. Taking on a personal project can greatly improve your schoolwork. Picking a weekly theme will get you to look at the world around you differently, even on a simple walk with your dog. Sometimes these projects can start as personal but become something you explore further in class. For example, I wanted to revisit childhood memories as a way to create images for my parents. I ended up exploring this idea for class and was able to receive feedback on editing and effectiveness of my compositions to make a much better project than I would have had on my own.

Being a photography student is about challenging yourself and getting out of your comfort zone to become a better photographer. Don't limit yourself to what's easy: explore new locations with other photographers, work with new people, and bring your camera EVERYWHERE because you never know where you will find inspiration. If you have more tips on getting out of a photographic funk, leave them in the comments!