It's Not ONLY About the Camera

One of the things that I hear people talk about all the time is the only way to take great photos is to use an expensive camera. Although having a good camera can help with taking good photos, it’s not the only piece that makes for a great image, as a matter of fact, it’s not even the most important part.

“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” – Ansel Adams. This quote is more true than most people realize, the key to making great images is not the camera, it’s the person operating the camera. In this tech intensive world too many times people put the emphasis on the technology and not the person working with it.

You the artist are the most important part of making any great image and the sooner you figure that out, the better off you’ll be. The human eye can see things that the camera cannot and the human imagination can visualize the scene a certain way. What we do with the camera is try to translate what we see and feel into a timeless moment that others can share when they view the finished product.

                                              iPhone 5S shot using 645Pro MKII app

I do have a small arsenal of cameras that I use, anything from a GoPro Hero3+, to my Sony NEX6, to my iPhone 6 Plus, to the Canon 50D, 1D Mark II and my 5D Full frame. All of these are just tools, these are my paint brushes if you will, but they cannot make a great image on their own. I am the one that sees the scene, the image in my mind and what the final product will look like, the cameras can do none of this.

One of the things that Damon Sauer and Ted Fisher talked about this past week on the Photo Live: Get Technical was proper exposure, making sure you have the right pieces of the ‘Holy Trinity’ in photography. The shutter speed, aperture and ISO are how we make the exposure the way it is supposed to be to make the statement we want.

                                      Bumble bee on a flower, shot using NEX6 w EF-S 60mm

As I shared during this Live event, the one thing I do all the time is shoot 2 1/3 ticks below my camera meters ‘perfect’ exposure point. I do this because when I do my post production, I want to manipulate the Highlights and Shadows to bring out more details in my finished image. But again, this is a PERSONAL preference and not something the camera can do on it’s own. My cameras are tool, they do not have a mind of their own, they don’t have an imagination and they cannot visualize the finished product, only I can do that.

In this week’s article I shared two images that I shot earlier this year. The first one I took with my iPhone 5S after a co-worker told me that you cannot take a great photo with a smartphone. The second is one I took of a bumble bee on a flower bush in front of my home. I shot that one with a mis-matched set up. I used my Sony NEX6 with my Canon EF-S 60mm F/2.8 Macro lens. Both of these images help to prove my point, it’s more about you than the camera.

Comments/Questions

Night Portraits

   Since photography is literally “painting with light”, one of the greatest challenges in photography is having enough light to do your work. Many photographers buy cameras especially made for high ISO with low noise like the newer Nikons. Other photographers learn and hone their skills using off camera flash like Canon or Nikon Speedlights and still others just avoid shooting in low light situations all together.

    I am personally the kind of photographer who is not afraid of new challenges and always willing to try something new and leave my comfort zone. Yesterday I went out and shot for my personal project as well as my Professional Portfolio class. In the evening, I met with my new photo club to shoot Christmas lights in Conyers, Ga. I have not done a lot of night shooting other than night time long exposures but wanted to try something new, so in addition to shooting Christmas lights around the city, I played around with some night portraits.

    I used one of the clubs member’s son, who was with us and frequently becomes his mom’s modeling guinea pig and made him my victim as well. I did two portraits of him standing in a partially lit alley with only a street light above him and using my iPhone 6 Plus on “torch” mode with it’s LED flash on continuous as a catch/fill light. I am posting them here in both color and B&W as I think the image works either way. I am not saying they are perfect, but I think they turned out pretty good for a first time trying this.

    The point is, in order to grow as a photographer, we need to be willing to try new things and get out of our comfort zone. I know you’ve heard your professors tell you that a time or three and it’s true. To really grow and perfect your skills as a professional, you have to try, practice and experiment. Now get out there and make some awesome photos!
Comments/Questions

Best Places to Buy Photography Gear on a Budget

Frequently I hear students say that they don’t have much in the way of photography gear due to cost of ownership. It is true that photography gear is not cheap, unless it’s cheap quality and hence gives cheap results. I’ve had quite a few students ask me how I have acquired so much gear in the last 18 months and I tell them all the same thing, you have to know how to find the deals.

1. Craigslist - Craigslist can be one of the best places to get a good deal on most anything, especially camera gear and lenses. I have bought numerous pieces of gear on this site, but you have to watch out for scammers and always meet people in public places like a coffee shop or store parking lot during the day.

2. eBay - eBay is handy for buying items too as you can find more sellers on there since they are world wide. The problem is you also run into more scammers. Also since you are buying on-line, there is no way to check out the item in person and you can get burned.

3. Pawn Shops - Pawn Shops are a great place to buy used gear and they often have no clue what they have. A person goes into a Pawn Shop to pawn their gear and the shop looks at what the gear sells for on eBay and then offers the seller like 25% of the actual value. If the person forfeits and the Pawn Shop can then sell the item, it is usually months later and the shop doesn’t really keep track of the value, they just price it to make a profit.

4. Local photography clubs - Often times you can find local photography clubs and there will be members selling gear from time to time.

5. Warehouse stores - Another good place are warehouse stores like Sam’s or Costco. Here you are buying new and getting a warranty and you get the better pricing offered by someone that can leverage volume pricing.

6. Amazon - Amazon is another great place to get camera gear and anything else. They have a wide selection of lenses from Canon’s FD to EF and Nikon, Sony and others as well.

                                          70-200mm F/4 L USM and 70-300mm IS USM

    The big thing to remember buying used gear is that you can get burned if not careful. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is but sometimes you do get lucky and the person has no idea what they are selling. I personally bought a Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM lens at a local pawn store for $200 in mint condition. This lens new retails for $900. I also bought a Manfrotto tripod at the same store for $50 and it was missing the release plate that attaches to the camera. I bought a  new plate for $7 on Amazon, the tripod with the fluid movement head turned out to be worth $500. Just remember, if you buy used, test it good before you part with your hard earned money. Meet them somewhere public for safety and test the lens or whatever it is on your own camera body to make sure it is fully operational, NEVER take the seller’s word for it.

    Good luck with buying more gear and get out there and make some awesome images!

Comments/Questions

Backup Workflow for Photographers.

Backup, backup, backup. I know that we all know these words and think about them from time to time, but how many of us really have a solid backup solution for our digital files. The honest truth is that a drive will go bad, they are not designed to last forever and if you are just editing and storing your images on one drive you are asking for trouble. You should always be looking for ways to safeguard clients important images. After all you are getting paid to produce them so you certainly don’t want to loose any of them.

            So the best practice is for you to keep 3 copies of your files. This way you have 2 copies onsite and one copy offsite. It is very important to have the offsite copy in case of fire floods or theft. And when referring to a offsite location it should be 50+ miles from your location because if you flood out most likely everything near by will be doing the same. For some it might not be feasible to keep a drive 50miles from their location so in this case I would recommend using cloud based services though they do cost yearly to have and use.

            My Workflow is to upload my files directly onto my external drive, from there I copy them to a second external drive. I don’t really have a place to keep an offsite external drive so I use a cloud based service for my third copy. By having 3 copies of all your RAW files you can be assured that you will not loose your customers flies and that can be extremely important.

            I personally use Seagate drives but you may find one that you like better. I don’t really think that there is a wrong solution just as long as you have one in place. When looking into the cloud based services I would make sure that you shop around on them because some are unlimited files including RAWs and some are jpg only. They also charge different fees depending how much space you need. When you first start up a cloud service be ready to spend hours if not days awaiting all your files to upload to the cloud. When buying external drives I wouldn’t buy them any larger then what you think you will shoot in a year. This way though you have to keep buying new ones each year they are always fresh and shouldn’t break down.

Backup Work Flow:

Example 1 Main Drive  --  Backup Drive1 – Backup drive 2A  -- Backup Drive 2B

Example 2 Main Drive – Backup Drive  -- Cloud

Seagate Drive 2014

My Time to Bid Farewell

It has been a long journey, full of triumphs and frustrations, but well worth my time and energy.  I have told the story many times that before I began the Photography program knowing next to nothing about the field only that I loved taking photographs and my dream job was to one day be a National Geographic photographer.  I may not be a published photographer yet but it is certainly in my future because I know that I have the determination, ambition, and talent to achieve my dreams.  It's going to take a lot of hard work and time, but over these last two and a half years I have understood all-the-more that hard work pays off.  

A lot has changed since I started school.  For the longest time I was decidedly a Nature photographer but through the experiences that each class and each assignment had presented me with I was able to explore my strengths and weaknesses as a photographer--not something you can easily do by learning to be a photographer by watching YouTube videos.  I still love Nature photography but I now call myself an Editorial photographer.  My goal is still to one day work for National Geographic but in the meantime I plan on working for smaller publications to get more experience, continue building my portfolio, and also build a reputation and credibility as an established professional.   

These things took two and a half years to cultivate.  My plans may change tomorrow but that's ok because in photography we never stop learning.  I had no idea what it took to be a successful professional.  Now I know that it is a lot harder than it looks and I have a more profound respect for those who have achieved success in the field.  Here are some of the best personal tid-bits that I picked up while attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division:

My historic photographer counterpart is Eugene Atget.  

During Photo History we were presented with the notion that we are all inspired by someone from history but at the time I had actually never even heard of Ansel Adams.  I thought this was ridiculous because I didn't have any knowledge of photographers whom I might be imitating.  Through more research and study I found a photographer that struck me as so familiar in style and aesthetic and it was Atget.

You cannot teach passion or curiosity.

It has to come from within.  Instructors cannot instill these attributes.  If you do not have the passion for photography you will not learn how to be passionate about it.  The same goes with curiosity.  If you do not have natural wonder you cannot be taught how to derive a deeper inquisition.

Your demonstrated time management says a lot about your personal character.

I was only ever late ONCE.  It was a response to one of my peers almost two years ago but I have never forgotten.  It is disrespectful and negligent to wait until the last minute to post assignments and/or responses.  If, and inevitably when, something goes wrong you suddenly have excuses for your late post but ultimately you cannot blame anyone or anything but yourself for being a procrastinator.  Stop waiting until the last minute because it's not just instructors who notice and classmates like me, it's your employers, clients, and future clientele who are going to see how you not only manage your time but their time and yourself as a professional.

I am going to miss school but I am looking forward to stepping out on my own with the knowledge I have gained and show the world what a great photographer I am and will be.  Its been a pleasure meeting and working with you all.  Best wishes in your futures!

Works Cited

Atget, Eugène. "(1856-1927), Stubborn horse, 1898, France." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 1 Dec 2014. 

<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/170_2983546/1/170_2983546/cite>

Atget, Eugene. "Chatillon, glycine, 1919." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 1 Dec 2014. 

<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/109_165072/1/109_165072/cite>

Atget, Eugene. "Saint-Cloud, 1924." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 1 Dec 2014. 

<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/109_165412/1/109_165412/cite>

Atget, Eugene. "Verrieres, coin...1922." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 1 Dec 2014. 

<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/109_165097/1/109_165097/cite>