How to Keep Your Creativity Fresh

One of the many challenges for photographers when starting out as well as experienced shooters is how to keep your creative juices flowing?

We often times get bogged down with other things, children, day jobs, home and car repairs, or just plain everyday life in general and we can lose our edge. You might be shooting portraits most of the time because it is your ‘bread and butter’ or how you pay the bills but then you get into this rut of shooting the same stuff over and over again and next thing you know, you’ve lost your creative edge.

One of the things I do to try to keep myself creative is I constantly look at things with a ‘photographer’s eye’. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it helps to keep me from hitting a creative rut. I’ll look at things in my surroundings at my day job and imagine how I could photograph them and make them look interesting. I even go as far as to keep my Sony NEX 6 in my backpack all the time, not only so I can shoot any one of the hundreds of accidents I see on my way to and from work but to keep my creative juices flowing.

How would my keyboard look shot from this angle or that? What can I use that I have at my desk to create an interesting effect in my photography? I even do this when I am out shooting for my personal project, ‘Forgotten Pieces of Georgia’, I am never just shooting my project. I love railroad stuff and it’s usually popular on sites like 500px.com, so I take 3 or 4 bodies with me in the car with different lenses so I don’t have to mess around changing lenses, I can just grab a different body and shoot something new along the way.

                                   Plain RR crossing sign, I shot it and made it more dramatic

I know many students will say, “well that’s all well and good but I only have one camera body, I cannot afford to have two or three of them, they are just too expensive”. Depending on your situation, this may be true, but if you have a decent day job, I’ll bet you can afford more bodies. One of the best sources is www.craigslist.org or eBay but I prefer CL as I can meet the person face to face and test the equipment out. You need to remember what I told you in an earlier post, you don’t need the latest and greatest camera to make awesome images and I know the Professors here at AI will back me up on that one. Stop getting hung up on Mega Pixels and the latest bells and whistles and buy what works and is reliable.

I personally have technically eight cameras in my collection. I have the Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 50D, 2 Canon 5D Classics, a Canon 6D, a Sony NEX 6, the iPad Air 2 and my iPhone 6 Plus. Only a couple of these cameras are new models, the rest are up to ten years old but I still use them as they still work and take fantastic images. I also know from personal experience you can go on-line and find say a Canon T1i or T2i for next to nothing. I have seen them sell for as little as $100-$150 and whether you realize it or not, they have the exact same basic technology as the new T5i you got through the school.

If you ask anyone that is knowledgeable in cameras, especially Canon gear, they will tell you to this day that the 1D Mark II and 5D Classic take fantastic images, especially if they are clean and in good working order. The 1D Mark II is around 12 years old but is one of Canon’s first cameras with high frames per second for sports shooting and I also keep it for some studio work as I have the AC studio power supply so I can shoot without batteries for hours and hours. It’s only 8.2MP but anything 6 and higher is more than enough. I actually used it for several of my classes at AI and received compliments for my images shot with it not only from my Professors as well as classmates.

                                        Laotian ceremonial pray bowls, shot while kneeling

So shop around, pick up a spare Canon T1i or T2i or XSi for $100 or so, shoot some test images to see if the sensor is dirty, if it is clean it yourself or take it to a shop and pay $30-$50 to get it cleaned and *BAM* now you have two bodies to use.

Now that you are properly armed for anything, work on new ways to keep yourself creative. Have a 2 year old at home, get down to their level and take a look around. See things from their eyes and then shoot what you see, you’d be amazed and how you can use a simple idea like this to come up with some great new images and keep your creativity going.

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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.


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Composition

For this week’s blog post I want to talk about composition in your photography. Good composition is making sure you have a strong image without a lot of clutter or unnecessary items in it that detract from the eye of the viewer.

Good composition means your images only contain the “meat and potatoes” as it were to make for an image that the viewer looks at and says “WOW!” When I look through my viewfinder, I am trying to de-focus my eye and attention and concentrate on only what I feel will make the image strong and then move my framing to fit that scenario.

When out shooting, especially landscapes you want to simplify your image and exclude any extraneous items that are not going to add to the image’s overall composition. Many times this will mean moving around both physically and with your camera to change the view and get the exact “picture” that others will look at and their eyes will stay engaged in that final image as long as possible.

                                          Broken Fence - Canon T3i 18-55mm IS kit lens

Many new shooters think that you cannot accomplish all of this with the crop sensor camera you buy through the school. This is not true, as although I prefer my full frame cameras for shooting landscapes, you can still get fantastic landscapes with a crop sensor body. Many of the crop bodies have fantastic wide angle lenses for shooting scenes with strong composition.

Many of the manufacturers have very good to high quality lenses for shooting landscapes even on a crop sensor body. Canon, for example has a really nice EF-S 10-20mm lens that makes fantastic wide landscapes!

I know that sometimes, when shooting there are other objects that detract from an image that you really want, for example a really beautiful church steeple with a fantastic, colorful sky behind it at sunrise or sunset but there are power lines in the field of view and they sit right where it is hard to get around them. You can try moving to a different position, but maybe you cannot get that same sky from a different angle or side of the building, this is when you have to get creative. Try a longer focal length lens to get a tighter framing for the shot. It might not be the larger view that you originally wanted but at least you got the important part without the detracting power lines.

Considering limiting your objects in your view when shooting for your next assignment or shooting for yourself. You will find that your images will be stronger and you should get a better critique from that professor. Throw that final image on a site such as Student Stock or 500px and let other photographers view and rate it to see how you did, you may be amazed with the results.

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Canon Speedlites, Which One to Choose?

This week I am writing on the topic of Canon Speedlites, I apologize for not covering Nikon as well but I only use Canon as I am a Canon shooter.

As a new photographer, there are literally tons of equipment you will be buying as you work on your degree at AIOPD. Cameras, backdrops, lighting, both strobes and continuous, meters, graycards, the list goes on and on.

When it comes to lighting and especially strobes, which are one of the most popular lighting choices for photographers, you not only have regular strobes like AlienBee, but also their smaller cousin, the Speedlite.

Regular strobes are nice but expensive, especially if you need portability, as you have to buy models that can take battery packs and then the battery packs are not cheap either. The cheaper alternative is Speedlites. A Speedlite, external flash is basically the same thing as a strobe but in a smaller, cheaper package and more portable.

Speedlites, like strobes, come in different models and have different power levels and capabilities. Today, I will be talking about the three most common models of Canon Speedlites, the 270EX, 430EX II and the 580EX II.

The 270EX is Canon’s smallest external, hotshoe mounted flash. You can pick up the 270EX on Amazon used for around $50 or new for around $200. The 270EX is handy as it’s small and it for when you need a discrete flash and your camera either doesn’t have pop-up flash or you need more power. The 270EX is handy for those situations, but other than that, not really worth the money and I never bothered to pick one up as it has limitations. It cannot be turned or used for bouncing and has no zoom. It is strictly a straight forward flash.

The next and best choice for a starting flash is the 430EX II. The 430 is Canon’s slave flash and is an excellent choice for a first flash whether your camera has pop-up or not. The 430EX II is a bounce, zoom flash, so when set for ETTL it will set itself for your lens focal length up to 105mm and it will show the exposure in your camera meter, with the flash factored into the equation. You can swivel the 430EX II to 180 degrees and even tilt the head for bouncing the light off the ceiling or wall behind you. This flash comes in handy for when you need the light of s strobe but don’t want that light to hit the subject head-on. You can get the 430EX II at Best Buy for around $250-$300.

The third and final flash I have here is the Canon 580EX II. This is the most expensive of the Canon Speedlite (although the 600EX RT is out now too). The reason for this is the 580EX II is the Master Speedlite. What that means is the 580EX II has special hardware inside it that let’s is act as the control flash for a multi-flash, wireless set up. You can set the 580EX II to Master mode and then it can control other 580EX IIs or the 430EX IIs as well. This comes in handy for when you need a multi-flash set up and cannot set all the Speedlites in direct, line of sight placement so that all of them flash when the primary one does and you don’t have a Pocket Wizard, or other wireless flash trigger system. The 580EX II will run you from $350-$600, depending on whether you pick up a new or a used one.

As a new photographer, I recommend the 430EX II for most people and most uses as you can pick up a good wireless trigger system for anywhere from $50 to $400 and control the flash units that way instead of buying the much more expensive 580EX II. If you have the money to spare, I recommend the 580EX II as it’s Canon’s best Speedlite, but I would not buy more than one as the 430EX II is a cheaper alternative for slave flash units.
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Mirrorless vs DSLR

Today more and more people are asking myself and others, what’s the difference between Mirrorless and DSLR cameras? Which one is better than the other, and why do both exist?

Well, let’s start with a DSLR as most people know what they are. A DSLR is a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera system. This means there is one lens on the camera and a mirror that reflects what the lens sees and feeds that data into the pentaprism so that we can see what the shot will look like through an optical viewfinder. When the photo is snapped, the mirror flips up out of the way so the light and image hits the sensor directly and the photo is taken. DSLRs are the workhorse of modern photography, but they are heavy and can be more expensive than Mirrorless cameras.

                                         Sony NEX 6 Mirrorless camera 16-50mm F/3.5-5.6

A Mirrorless camera is one that has no mirror assembly, the light and image pass directly through the lens onto the sensor and mirrorless cameras have either an LCD to look at and compose the image with or an electronic viewfinder which feeds the image from the sensor directly to your viewfinder and eye and you see exactly what the sensor sees. This is nice because as you adjust your settings, your eye sees a more accurate rendition of what the final image will look like, but the downside is battery life and speed. My DSLR can shoot up to 1,000 images on a battery charge, where my Sony NEX 6 can only last for around 300-400 shots.

                                        Canon 5D Classic Full frame camera 17-40mm F/4 L

DSLRs have a wider range of lenses to choose from and a much faster Auto Focus system then Mirrorless cameras too, so most any serious photographer is going to shoot with a DSLR. But Mirrorless cameras do have their place and they keep getting better and better all the time. If you shoot nothing but landscapes and portraits, you can get by with just a Mirrorless camera and they do come in both crop sensor models like my NEX 6 as well as full frame models like the Sony A7 series and the Fuji X100 series.

So, which platform is right for you? Only you can decide that. Like I said, if you need fast AF and a wide selection of lenses and want to shoot sports you will want to go with a DSLR, but if you shoot non-action like landscapes and portraits only, certainly give a Mirrorless a try. Mirrorless cameras do also tend to cost less, you can get a new Sony A7 series for a little over $1,000 for a brand new full frame model, where a DSLR full frame will run you $1,800 to $7,000. You can even go to a company like Lumoid and rent a Mirrorless for 3 dys and try it out for yourself. How is the image quality? Check out the two images I post here. One is shot with my Sony NEX 6 Mirrorless and the other with my Canon 5D Classic using the same scene for both images. Which one looks better to you if either?

Now get out there and make some great images!

Comments/Questions

Should I Upgrade My Gear?

So many times I get questions on whether or not a student should upgrade their gear. “Should I go buy the latest body or lens or upgrade my entire camera platform with a new brand?” If you are asking these questions then the answer is NO.

The T3i (now T5i) camera that students get through the Art Institute is an awesome camera and the 18-55mm lens that comes with it although one of Canon’s inexpensive lenses, takes awesome photos. When it comes to gear if you need a fast 70-200mm F/2.8 to shoot sports of your kids then you will buy it, providing you can afford it and the spouse doesn’t say No.

One of the greatest hangs up that photographers have is always wanting to upgrade their gear when it’s not necessary. They think they need to have the latest and greatest at all times but if you play that game you will be broke and spend less time taking photos and more time learning your new gear.

Now, if you are rich and want to always have the latest gear then by all means, go for it, there’s an old saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” But if you are asking me or anyone else if you need to upgrade your gear than you are just looking for an excuse to buy something that is not needed and trying to justify the expense with your significant other.

I personally shoot with older gear myself. Why, because I love to shoot full frame and they are the most expensive bodies. I currently use 2 Canon 5D classics, a 1D Mark II, a 50D and a Sony NEX 6. All of my cameras are older, the 5D classic came out in like 2007, the 1D Mark II came out in 2005, the 50D was new in 2009 and the Sony NEX 6 was new in 2012 I believe.

                                          Female Bald Eagle, shot with Canon 50D and 70-200mm F/4 L

A lot of people have the newer 5D Mark IIs and Mark IIIs but they have more money to burn than I do. I make awesome money at my day job but, I figure, until my photography gets to the point where it pays for the newer gear, I will stick to what I have. The 5D classic, if you read up on it, in comparison, takes better landscapes than the Mark II or Mark III. The newer bodies have more bells and whistles and high megapixels, but if you know anything about photography, megapixels means nothing once you get past 6 anyways.

So, in conclusion, if you are asking “Should I upgrade?” the answer is No. Spend more time shooting, less time worrying about what the next photographer has or the hype of sales people and learn to use what you have. The quality of your images has less to do with your gear, and more to do with whether or not you know how to use it. Remember this quote by the great Ansel Adams, “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!”

Now, as my mentor and friend Professor Jill P Mott says, “get out there and make some great images”!

Comments/Questions

Fill Flash

    Fill flash is using your flash to fill in darker parts of your image already lit by other light. I like to use it for all my people photos outdoors as it makes for better, stronger images.

    Adding fill flash to your images is easy, just turn on your camera’s flash and automatically get the results shown here. You don’t need to fiddle with any settings; just press the Flash (bolt) icon button and your camera does all the rest of the work, no camera pops up the flash by itself, so you have to turn it on by yourself and the camera does the rest.

    When shooting outdoors, fill-flash lights up people’s faces so they aren’t drowned in shadows and also puts highlights in their eyes so they look alive. Additionally, fill-flash lightens shadows and adds details to darker areas, while preserving the highlights. When shooting in direct sunlight, fill flash helps to make your images better, especially when the subject is back lit.

                                                            No Fill

    Using an external Speedlight is better than using the pop up flash built into your camera, mostly because the add-on flash has more power, which means greater distance and more fill light for your images. I recommend the 430 EXII if you are a Canon user and the SB-400 if you are shooting Nikon as these are two of the best units for fill-flash and these units are less expensive than the SB-500 or 580EX II which generally run around $500-$600.

                                                          Fill-Flash

    Fill-flash also helps with making your colors render more vivid and natural. When shooting with the flash alone I often feel that the shots seem to have a blue tone to them, which is why I use either a slight orange gel or an orange flash diffuser to make the light warmer and the colors stand out better. To have more or less fill flash, use the +/- to increase or decrease the power output of the flash and alter the overall light, which in turn changes the way the image looks.

    One last thing to remember is when using fill flash, make sure you take your ISO off auto, especially if using the pop up flash as the camera will set the ISO to the lowest setting, which means if you are shooting indoors, it will be too low.
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