Removing "Noise" with Lightroom

One of the biggest advantages of digital cameras or DSLR’s over their film counterparts is the ability to switch ISO settings on the fly. ISO is the amount of light that you let into the camera’s sensor and in the days of film cameras this was accomplished with film speed, sometimes called ASA instead of ISO.

So if you wanted to shoot outdoors, you would load a roll of ISO or ASA 100 or 200 and be good to go, but if you then moved into a dimly lit building and wanted to shoot, you needed either a flash on that camera or you needed to have used up that roll of 100 or 200 film and switch to 400 or 800 to shoot well in those conditions.

With the advent of the digital camera, you can shoot outdoors at ISO 100, and then step indoors and with the flip of a switch or wheel, shoot at ISO 800 or even higher like 6400 or maybe even 12,800. The problem is as your ISO gets higher, you get digital “noise” in your photos. Noise is the little dots, speckles or grain look in your image that I am sure most everyone has seen at one time or another.

See the grains of noise in this image. I shot indoors at ISO 2000

 Some cameras are better at others at handling high ISO, low noise, but at some point even the best of these cameras will end up with noise in your images and it can make the image ugly and unusable. Luckily, Lightroom can help mitigate this for you and make this image useable again.

When you load your images in Lightroom and come across an image that has noise, this is how you can clean it up in the Lightroom Develop Module. The two big noise removal sliders are under the Detail section and called Luminance and Color.

After some Luminance and Color noise reduction notice the image is much cleaner

Here is what each does. Luminance: This kind of noise affects the brightness, but not the color, of individual pixels. If you had a picture of a dark grey piece of paper with a great deal of luminance noise it would appear similar to old-school television static with lots of light and dark fuzz.

Color or sometimes called Chroma noise: This shows up as oddly-colored pixels, scattered throughout an image, almost like someone has tossed a handful of red, blue, and green grains of sand at it. Lightroom calls this “Color” noise, but it’s just another term for Chroma noise.
Now, although you can remove considerable noise with Lightroom, you want to make sure you are careful not to use too much noise reduction as it can make the images look fake and give everything a plastic look. A lot of pros will counter some of the effects of the noise reduction by using some sharpening as well for the best results.

A side by side of the before on the left and after on the right.

 As you can see in my side by side before and after shot, the Lightroom noise reduction did help clean up this image a lot.

Comments/Questions

Using Aperture for Your Sharpest Images

An item that new students that are also new to photography get confused on is how to get the sharpest images. Often times new students believe that getting the widest aperture lens possible if they can afford it will give them the sharpest images, this is NOT true.

If you ask any of your professors or any other professional photographer, they will tell you that your sharpest images happen around 2 stops below your widest aperture. As an example, I have the Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 USM lens, but I never shoot this lens at F/1.4 as it performs much better sharpness-wise at around F/2.8 on a full frame camera or F/2 on a 1.6x crop body.

Shot on EOS 5D Classic with EF 50mm F/1.4 @ F/1.4

When you shoot with this lens wide open you get very strong halation aka dreamy look with some Chromatic Aberration in your images as well. After the dreamy look diminishes at F/2-F/2.8 you get very strong colors and contrast, which in turn will make your images really “pop”. When using a really wide lens, you don’t want your aperture smaller than F/8 because then diffraction starts to soften them again.

This sharpness is how things apply to prime lenses, which have extremely wide apertures. When dealing with zoom lens, it works a little different, on a zoom lens, the optimum sharpness range might be smaller but they are generally sharpest at their widest apertures of F/3.5-F/5.6 or even F/6.3. Now with a zoom lens as I mentioned the sharpness range is usually smaller but you can generally count on sharp images from the starting aperture to around F/8 or maybe F/10, anything past that and again you get diffraction again.

Shot on EOS 5D Classic with EF 50mm F/1.4 @ F/2.8 notice even the bokeh is better

 Now that you are more informed about using aperture to get sharp images, get out there and make some great ones!

Comments/Questions

Post Your Work

 This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch an amazing documentary called Finding Vivian Maiers. This is a fantastic story that I personally think every photographer should watch, I don’t want to give too much away other than to say she was a woman who worked as a nanny and did photography as a hobby. She never showed her work to anyone, which is sad as she turned out to be an incredibly talented artist.

The reason I am bringing this up is not only because it is an awesome story but to also encourage all photographers to always post their work. I understand that not every photograph is perfect, and I encourage you to be your own critic first but when you do have your best images ready, you need to share them with the public. Post your work on your own site if you have one, join some of the good photography groups on Facebook, join sites like 500px.com or even the newer www.dashburst.com, which has just recently started as a new photography and creative artist site.

Blue Moon from July 31, 2015

You want to not only display your work but also be willing to take constructive criticism about your work. By that, I mean people who are willing to give you honest, accurate critics on how to improve your technique when it comes to your art, not some of the nasty people who just poopoo everything that is not their own. Another reason why I recommend 500px.com is you can actually sell your images on this site and retain 75% of the profits, which is nice and they have a very large list of legitimate, paying clients that will buy your work for various projects they have.

I also recommending putting your best work out there on Twitter, Instagram, with proper hashtags to get more exposure and it doesn’t hurt to have a Flickr account as well. I know it sounds like a lot to keep track of, but luckily, most of these sites will allow you to cross-post on the others. If you are not already familiar with Instagram, with their app on your phone or tablet, you can post an image with Instagram and then also share it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare.

My point is, you will never know how good your work is or get discovered as an artist unless you actually share it with the world! Now get out there and make some great images!

Comments/Questions

What is Composition?

Composition is the arrangement of elements within a frame, which gives you the most powerful ability to attract the eye and hold it as long as possible. Edward Weston said it best, “Composition is the strongest way of seeing something.”

Basically, composition is all about keeping things simple and excluding what isn’t necessary to make your image appealing to the eye. You want to keep balancing what you get within your frame, when you strive for simpler and simpler, it makes your images stronger and stronger.

The last thing you want is a lot of random “junk” in your images, it makes them more distracting than appealing. Every time you raise your camera to make an image you should be creating your most basic and clean composition possible. Make your you don’t accidentally pick up items in the background or even the foreground. Branches, people, vehicles anything random like that will ruin your images and take away from the subject and story you are trying to say with your work.

If you practice simplicity and exclusion you will get to the point where it will become second nature for you as you shoot. Composition is all about getting the basic, underlying structure of an image to appeal on the most elemental portion of our subconscious mind. Doing this is what generates the “Wow” factor and catches the viewer’s attention. Take the image below, I shot this interior view for the leading lines going to the back of the room. The image is simple but give your eye a sense of depth and I made it black & white as I feel it makes the composition stronger.

Interior of an abandoned building

Composition is the organization of the elements within the frame and leads to the strongest cleanest image possible. Composition is not to be confused with framing, framing is what you do by zooming in and out or moving the camera up and down as you look through your viewfinder. Many photographers don’t realize this, but framing cannot do anything to change the relationship between objects in an image. The framing part is easy and you can usually frame an image after it’s shot by cropping.

The only way to change and optimize the arrangement of the elements in your image is to change your point-of-view and moving your camera to different locations. If you want to find the best composition then you need to move around, change your position, not merely the direction in which you point your camera. Never, ever confuse composition with framing, which is simply zooming in and our or pointing the camera or both.

Think of composition as when your girlfriend comes over and straightens all your magazines, cameras, dirty clothes and other stuff you left laying around the house. To you the mess made sense and you think the same thing about your compositions, which is why men tend to have the toughest time with composition. Most people set up for a shot in the most convenient spot and shoot away, zooming in and out and looking left and right, but that’s it. They figure they can fix it later in Photoshop or Lightroom, just like they’ll clean the house next week. Yes you can clean up your house next week, but once the shutter is closed, you cannot fix composition later. The only way to make a strong composition is to look through your viewfinder and make it as strong as possible before you ever press the shutter.

If you can, move the objects around or have your model move and re-position themselves to make the image as strong and appealing to the eye as possible. Keep your composition in mind at all times and you will make your best work! Now get out there and work on that composition.


Comments/Questions

How to Add Images to a Discussion thread?

A very special hello from a not so snowy New England anymore. Yippee!!

This week I wanted to spend some time on something that has always been of particular interest to me and I am sure, so many more of you out there. This is applicable to almost every single class that I have taken here at The Art Institute.

That is; How to admires to a discussion thread?  How often are we asked to please post images to the discussion post showing something we captured or in reference to a photograph that we need to discuss. It is definitely part of the first assignment W1A1 autobiography.

Well today I am going to show you a very easy way to ensure that all the photographs that you find and place into your document can be copied and pasted into your discussion post without any problems. No, we will not be copying and pasting from Word.

Here are the steps that you need to follow to make sure you have no problems going forward.

Step 1:

Make sure that you have a google account. It is very easy to get. Just go to google where you can sign-up for a new account.Once you have registered and updated your profile and security settings you are ready to get going. Once you have signed in you now have your account active, you have access to a host of different Google products.

Step 2:

To create a Google doc all you have to do is click on the grid in the top right hand corner of your web browser.

If you click the more button you can locate the Docs app. and this will take you to the Google doc application. You will also be able to create a shortcut to this application by adding it this grid button for easier access at a later stage. Here I located the Docs app and clicked on it to take me to the create a document page.

I m now ready to create my first document. On this page you can click on the + (plus) sign in the bottom right hand corner of the page to create your document. A Google document allows you to compose and write your assignments here just like any other word processor. The Microsoft Word processor is the required application so many of us start there. You can create your document in Word and copy the entire document and paste it into the Google doc area. I normally use this method because I like the spelling and Grammar checking capabilities of Word. (Why would I want to copy and paste into Google docs if I can just create it in Word, you may ask?)

Well, the downside to this using the copy and paste from Microsoft Word method and pasting it into into your discussion thread; it will not carry the images over.

By copying the assignment from Word into Google Docs. all you have to do is reconnect the locations of the images. Google will ask you to reconnect the locations of the photographs. That is easily done by clicking on the placement holder for the image located on your page and then selecting the insert menu option at the top of the document and clicking insert image option, finding the photograph located on your computer.

This will add the photograph to the document and you can continue with your work.

If you do decide to use only Google then you can add your images directly your post. The best thing about using Google Docs as your word processor is that you can now make a select all option and then copy and paste the entire document directly into your discussion post.

You will not lose any of the images and everything will be pasted there. Now you can make some style adjustments if it appears incorrect. It does not copy any heading settings, special fonts or customizations to the discussion post.

Finally, if you still need to save your document, you can do this by selecting download as option and making the appropriate selection. You can download them to your computer as Word.docx, PDF, Txt and a few other options which makes it a really great tool to use.

So, now you have no excuse for not being able to post images to your discussion posts. There are some great tools out there and they make your life so much easier. Next week I will show you how to reduce the size of your PDF files so that they are not too large, (no more 100MB files) especially when they ask you to create a slideshow from Lightroom. I can reduce a 100MB file down to approximately 3.2MB if you know which options to use and you can keep the resolution and detail to all your images.

Have a great week everyone. I am preparing to shoot a photo story later today with a new musician that I found so I am looking forward to that. 

If you have any questions or would like further information about the processes that I discussed here today then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Have a super week.

Kind regards,

Denzil

How to Deal with Stubborn or Mean Subjects During Event Photography

So one of the students this week posted about some trouble they had had with people not wanting to be photographed at a local event they were shooting for one of their photography classes.

This student had really had some cranky people that they ran into during a public event and asked how to best deal with situations like this. A few of us posted our suggestions and even a couple of the professors chimed in as well with their wisdom, and when it comes down to it, Reuben Njaa had one of the best responses, “Kill them with kindness.”

In photography, there are just certain things that we have to learn to deal with and overcome and one of the toughest is cranky subjects when trying to complete a shoot. Human nature is a sometimes funny thing and one of the oddest quirks that people have is not wanting to be photographed. Some of the Native American tribes as well as other more “primitive” groups of people felt that the camera would steal their souls and they would not be able to get into their Heaven.

The best way to deal with people that yell at you that you cannot take their picture when you are at a public event is to just apologize and not take their photo. Many times, you can change their mind by explaining that you are a professional just doing your job or in your case, a student doing an assignment. Often if you carry yourself as a professional with an air of confidence, you may just convince them to let you complete your assignment with them included.

                                          Concession worker at Gwinnett County Fair 2014

If being the confidant professional doesn’t work you can just apologize and move on. You need to learn to develop a “thick” skin as a photographer as we are not a profession that is truly loved by all. Often a few kind words and an apology and just move on are the best ways to deal with difficult and cranky people. I have found from my own personal experience that having some sort of professional credential helps a bit.

I am not saying that you have to run out and join a group like NPPA, but I did and I upgraded from their student to their Professional membership. Why? Because I not only get a free freelance photojournalist listing in their directory for potential clients to find and hire me, but I also am able to get a photo ID from NPPA with my professional membership that to me is pretty sweet! The IDs are not free as they are produced by a third party company for NPPA but I still feel it’s worth it as it shows you are a professional and most people know that NPPA has to do with news and news outlets.

I wear my photo ID lanyard when I am out shooting for my personal project and it also helps keep the cops away when I am shooting in posted areas or just in general. Is it a fool proof get out of jail card? No it’s not but sometimes a professional credential of some sort is all you need to convince them that you are someone that knows what you are doing and that you are not there to hurt anyone with your camera. You would be surprised how many times I have had people spot my NPPA ID around my neck and they ask me, “which newspaper are you shooting for?” I just told them I was a freelance photojournalist and that was usually sufficient. Some pros will actually make up the name of a phony newspaper and even go as far as having business cards made up with the name of their phony newspaper on them. I have not decided to go that far yet but again, your mileage may vary. I did shoot a local event for Editorial Photography class at a place called Corn Dawgs and there was a lady there giving free hay wagon rides with her tractor. She was’t into the idea of her photo being taken until she found out I was doing it for a class assignment. She just didn’t want to end up in the local paper when she didn’t “look her best”. Once I explained it was for a class assignment, then she said, “Oh, well then shoot away.”

                                           Lady giving hay wagon rides at Corn Dawgs 2014

This post is some of the best, straight forward advice I can give on this subject. The key here is to not be discouraged, work on that thick skin and get back out there making great images.


Comments/Questions

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

Wide-Angle Wednesday: Is that spot on the lens or sensor?

Corina Scoggins "Good Morning Saturday" 22 Feb 2014

Good Morning Fellow Photography Classmates and Faculty!

I’m excited to be back in a photography course this term and as expected I have been shooting my little heart out. I recently purchased the Canon 100mm Macro USM lens and I have been trying to achieve the awesome macro shots we have all come to see in macro photography. Below is a mystery rainbow that appeared on my living room ceiling yesterday morning. I'm still wondering what caused the prism to appear, but I used the macro lens to capture the image. It must be noted that my home faces North and South, and the light coming into my home was defused by window blinds. Maybe it was a fore shadow to brighten my day because as you read on, you will see that my day didn't pan out so well.  

Corina Scoggins "Magic House Rainbow" 25 Feb 2014

Yesterday while out shooting for the upcoming assignment I had a moment in which shut down the use of my camera. I had been shooting for three hours when I started to notice spots in the images. I do a lot of outside shooting and from moment to moment I tend to switch out lenses constantly. My biggest worry has always been dust getting on the sensor or on the lens. 

I recently read a thread in a local photography group about this very issue. The recommendation was to change the lens and take a shot. If the spots were gone, then the spots are coming from the previous lens. If the spots were still in the image, then chances are something is on the sensor. Luck was not on my side; the spots continued to appear on the images. This forced me to have to wrap everything up, and head for home.

Corina Scoggins "Hawk at Happy Hollow" 25 Feb 2014

Knowing our little town doesn’t have anyone who specializes in cameras, I knew I would have to solve the issue myself.  With the Internet at my fingertips, I started the search for recommendations. If the Internet wasn’t available, the best recommendation would be to pull out the book, but I simply searched Canon sensor cleaning to find the help page on Canon.com. 

Majority of DSLR cameras have a built in sensor cleaning. I knew my camera had built in sensor cleaning and if I simply would have turned off the camera; the camera would have commenced to clean the sensor. Of course during the moment, my concern was getting home to solve the issue. Little did I know the issue was solved upon turning off the camera. With the looming deadline for the assignment, my mind was not focused. Not having a backup camera, my fear was the assignment would not be complete with the images shot on Sunday and Monday. So I continued to read on to figure out how to fix a problem that had self-fixed.

Corina Scoggins "MP Memorial Grove" 25 Feb 2014

If the initial sensor cleaning had not corrected the issue, Canon recommends two methods. The first recommendation was to use the rubber air blower technique. The second recommendation would be to take the camera to a Canon Service Center. I followed the instructions for the first recommendation and proceeded to use the rubber air blower bulb I had purchased many moons ago and glad I had it available. Other options are talked about on the help page but are NOT recommended by Canon, yet they do write about these options. 

Thankfully the issue was resolved and I will be bearing the frigid temperatures to finish shooting for the assignment due. I’m glad the camera didn’t have to be sent to Canon, but the Girl Scout in me has me thinking if I should purchase a backup camera. Nothing new, something used but most importantly a camera that could be used just in case. Additionally, I really need to better plan for desired shots that will limit the changing out of lenses. Below I have included the links to both the Canon and Nikon self help in regards to sensor cleaning. Hopefully you will never have this issue, but just in case, it’s best to “BE PREPARED”.

Canon Users

Nikon Users

Alright, why didn't I share the images with the spots? I could simply state that I had NO images with spots! Yes it's true, I freaked out about something that didn't exist. Here is the portion of the story in which I left out above. Everything written is exactly what occurred, and the spots I seen had nothing to do with my camera sensor or lens. The spots I was seeing all of a sudden was on the viewfinder! Now I do have to assume that the spots appeared while I had walked away to my vehicle and left the camera on the tripod. I say this because I had not noticed these spots until I walked back to the camera and started to shoot landscape. After everything was said and done, my mood was a little tempered for making such a rookie mistake. Today I can admit that it's a comical moment, and why not share with everyone on PSPN. Punishment for seeing spots and jumping to conclusion...temperatures in the teens. 

Well I hope today's blog will be a guidance in how to deal with spots? Even if spots had appeared in the images, chances are you wouldn't noticed them until you imported the images. If your seeing spots, clean the viewfinder first. Import the images to confirm if the spots are truly an issue on the images. Then proceed with the instructions to fully resolve any issues. 

Question of the Day

Have you ever jumped to conclusions while out on a shoot?

Share your comments, suggestions, and stories below

You're Wacky Wednesday Student Ambassador

Corina

Honey, Where did I save those files?

Normally I would include artwork on the blog but this topic is important and I don't want you to be distracted by any shinies.  If you have taken any photo class at the Art Institute, I am sure you have heard this from your instructors, but it is IMPORTANT and it needs to be said again...

BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP! 

Do it.  Don't forget.  Make it part of your work flow and don't blow it off because its a pain in the but, or it takes too long.  If time is an issue, get you work done earlier so you have time to backup your files.  Why is it important?  I'll tell you why...hard drive failure happens.  It happens when you least expect it and when you can least afford for it to happen.

I have personally had 2 incidents when I have had irreversible hard rive failures.  First was a couple of years ago after I returned from a deployment.  I had all of my images saved on an external hard drive.  That hard drive had accompanied me around the world and back again with no issues.  Then one day it just wouldn't spin any more.  If this had been a copy of all of my data it would have been fine, but it was the only copy.  Not fine.  $2300 later and I was able to recover all of my data.  This is not the way to go.

More recently, and by this I mean last Thursday, I lost files again.  I was in the process of moving files and images to my new Mac.  Some how I managed to format my external hard drive (so I could have the proper file system for the Mac) without verifying that I had a second copy of the data on another hard drive.  The last time I made a full backup of my files was in late October of last year.  OUCH.  I lost almost a year's worth of images and to make it worse I did it myself.  It wasn't hard drive failure, it was plain old human error.

Now that I am done kicking myself, I am looking at realistic file back up options.  I have a dropbox account, but it's not big enough to hold all of my data.  The same goes for Copy.  Its bigger but not big enough to hold all my data.  The other option is to use an external drive with Time Machine on the Mac.  Another option is to get a set of external drives configured in RAID 1. 

I haven't decided yet what option I am going to go with, but I am sure it will be a combination of multiple options.  What is your backup solution?  How do you fit it into your workflow?  Let me a comment letting me know, or feel free to ask a question about backup options.

Creating Art On-Demand

Saturday Ambassador

AI photography students come from all walks of life; some are embarking upon their first occupational journey, while others are endeavoring to enhance an existing career. Still others have re-evaluated their priorities and are pursuing an entirely new profession. Regardless, you are here because you have decided to utilize your artistic potential beyond the ordinary and learn new skills or strengthen existing ones.

Creating art is a labor of love. It arises from inspiration, emotion and innate talent. Perhaps, you have previously been moved to capture a remarkable natural scene or been asked to photograph the family for a holiday card. Maybe you enjoy shooting local sporting events for fun or documenting the antics of your pet. It is likely that you rely upon your own inspiration to create these photographs, but how do you approach a project that was contrived by someone else?

For many students, the concept of creating art on-demand is a rather unique experience. Advertising and promotional images, commercial portraits for album covers, magazine spreads and myriad other types of art are often based upon the ideas of a client or publication. The photographs you create may be subject to specific layout restrictions which may dictate which areas of the frame you can use, which colors will not interfere with proposed text and so forth.

               

Reflections of Schneider in Spring, 2012, Deva Mayorga-Malone, Digital Photograph

The Extra Mile, Schneider National Carriers May 2012 Newsletter Cover

At the very least, you must present imagery that conforms to your client's expectations. If your client is a bride, for example, she has every right to expect that you will capture all the important aspects of her ceremony in a manner that is not only technically correct, but artistically perceptive, as well.

Assignments in many classes are designed to challenge you to create within defined parameters. Although it can be frustrating at times, this is a valuable skill for every photographer to possess. If you pursue commercial photography, working as part of a team effort may define your role as a photographer. If you shoot retail portraiture, you will understand how to determine and deliver that which best suits your client.

Two questions commonly arise when students first probe the concept of art on-demand:

§  How do I make this type of art my own and still meet the client's requirements?

§  How do I achieve inspiration for such a project?

To address the first question, when you have developed a style that is uniquely yours it will be evident in just about any work you produce. Also, you are the photographer, so consider how you can mesh your vision of the project with the parameters that have been set. For example, if the client or art director is intent on a specific mood in the images, your ideas for lighting and color scheme will be instrumental in achieving it.

Inspiration doesn't have to come as a bolt from the blue; you can help it along by studying the work of other artists or discussing ideas with others. These things can help you to formulate a plan for your approach, which can be refined as you develop the concept.

Although your photography should always be sensitive to the needs or desires of the client for whom it was created, it should also express who you are as a photographer and artist.

~Saturday Ambassador