Hurricane Images Interview Demo

In the beginning I thought demo reels were a waste of time-- both as a producer and a viewer.  Showing just the best bits, there's so much more that determines whether a video is good-- story, editing, and performances.  As a photographer, I would post links to the top 20 images from a single wedding, so that couples could get a real sense of that to expect.

But lately I've decided that they do have some purpose.  Yes, there's showing your very best bits quickly and concisely, but more helpful I think is to show "boring" things in interesting ways. 

Unless your interested in the subject matter, interviews are pretty boring.  But they're also the centerpiece of many commercial videos and documentaries.  They're vital to Kickstarter/Indiegogo/MicroVentrues campaigns, tutorials, and company intros.  If you're a business owner, entrepreneur, or artists, you should be paying close attention to the quality of the interview technique.

We created our Interview Video Reel so that prospective clients could quickly see what our work, and learn a little bit about what makes an interview stand out from the technical standpoint.

Nailing Perfect Exposure in Lightroom

I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem nailing the perfect exposure for the final print, especially if that print is on paper.  Personally, I tend towards moodier images with more dark tones.  Computer monitors generate light, so images usually appear brighter on screen than when printed.  Combine my "mood" with physics of light and you can end up with seriously unhappy client.

Almost all non-professional printers (like those at Walgreens) auto adjust the exposure because of this.  So in many cases you're saved by technology.  But professional printers often don't (it's a mixed bag), and it's always better to be in control of your own exposure.

The rule of thumb I sometimes hear is to find the exposure you like, and then increase it between 1/4 and 1/2 stops when sending to the printer.  That's a good rule of thumb, but I think I've found a more precise way to ensure the skin tone in my portraits are properly exposed.  If we follow the Zone System, we know that skin tones should be between Zones 5 and 7 (depending on skin color).  I've always been annoyed that the histogram in Lightroom doesn't change when you zoom in, but it does change when you crop the image.  So to perfectly expose skin you simply need to crop in:

Then adjust your exposure watching the histogram.  The histogram is divided into four sections.  Perfect skin tones will reside between the mid point (Zone 5) and the third line (essentially Zone 7).

You can adjust the exposure while still in the Crop Mode, and then re-crop the images to taste.

Now for a quick tip:  while in the Develop Module, when you put your cursor over an area the histogram doesn't change, but the numbers below R, G, & B, will show their values.  You can quickly check the exposure by hovering your mouse over the area. 

Day 87, Learning 87: Getting the camera to focus without hunting

I love my SB800 flashes.  I have three of them, all purchased used, and I rue the day one of them finally conks out on me because frankly, I don’t think Nikon has improved upon them with the 900 series.  Both of these top end flashes do something more than illuminate your subject.  You can use them to assist your auto-focus, even when you don’t want to use flash photography.

Even the best lenses will start to hunt back and forth for focus when light levels get too low.  Cameras focus based on contrast (which is why it will hunt when pointed at a brightly lit, but blank surface).

SB 800s and 900s have an “AF Only” (located in the AF Menu on the strobe itself) that turns off the flash.  It works best when your focus mode is AF-S, or “Auto Focus Single Servo” mode.

So the next time you want to engage in some available, low-light photography but need the auto-focus to work without hunting, give it a try.

Links Friday: September 12, 2014

This week's offerings:  Ever try to make a High Key portrait with just one light?  Martin Ziaja at Lighting Rumours shows you how.  Scott Kelby's Crush the Composition video, an hour-long presentation, started my foray into video learning; worth checking out.  "Defraction" is one of those concepts most photographers put off learning.  No better teacher to turn to than Cambridge in Color for an in-depth understanding. Serge Ramelli is one of the savviest indoor architectural photographers I know.  This video covers the basics to advanced techniques.

Link Friday: September 5th, 2014

Link Friday Returns!  There are a number of website that provide free brushes and textures for Photoshop.  If you don't know Qbrushes.net, check them out.  The Strobist website is one of the richest resources around for learning about flash photography (well, it's become a little introspective of late, but the resources are still available-- and awesome).  Download their free ebook, Lighting 101.   Ken McCordall is a veteran photographer, a working man's workingman.  He's got a nice set of tutorials on his website, including this one on photographing food.  Looking for a location for your shoot?  Shothotspot is awesome for that. 

Link Friday: August 29, 2014

Another round of Link Friday!  Looking to start selling your "art" photos?  Check out Fine Art America, a service that does just that.  You may have heard of the Brenizer method.  It's an approach to creating wide-angle images with narrow depth of field using photo-stitching.  He wasn't the first to try or document this approach, but he spoke up at just the right time when photo-stitching tools were appearing right and left.  There's more than one way to create a sunbeam in Photoshop, and every now and then you need one to smultz-up that romantic image.  I have.  Here's one approach on Youtube.  Brad Trent is a wonderful commercial photographer who very generously shares in-depth behind the scenes blogs on his work.  I'd bookmark his site, but to start check out his post on shooting Ricky Gervais.

Day 81, Learning 81: Building Intimacy and Asking Permission

Photography is an intimate, passionate affair.  Whether it’s guiding a bride by the elbow into position, eliciting a sultry smile from a model, brushing aside an errant hair, or arranging a compliant body on a couch, we are engaged in an activity that involves intimacy and trust.  As a photographer, I must connect with my client and maneuver them into a place of vulnerability, revelation, and openness.  As a theatre director this isn’t new territory-- coaxing a powerful performance from an actor is an exercise in trust, intimacy, and passion, and in some cases it requires a therapist’s touch (as an emergency crisis counselor and HIV test counselor for several years, I understand the implications of this statement).

There are blunt tools for understanding and creating this relationship, but in the end it is nothing you can “learn” in a traditional sense.  The building trust is a skill you're either born with or purchase in blood.  Combining the skill of intimacy building with photography is something I am still developing.  It is, I suspect, a life-long endeavor because not only is everyone different, but there are layers of truth and trauma in the human experience.  If you want to excel as a portraitist-- even in the commercial world-- apply yourself to this art and stick to the “bright” side.  The relationship can be abused.

As a photographer, you’re going to do something unthinkable at the end of your intimate relationship.  You’re going to ask to publish it.  Whether it’s in a professional publication (to which you were both paid to contribute) or your website, you’re going to ask to air their laundry in public.  The important part of that statement is the verb, “to ask.”  I always ask for permission, in the contract, to use their images-- and give them the opportunity to veto specific images. 

Now if at this point you’re thinking, “it’s my image, I created it,  I own the copyright, I can use it as I please,” you should understand one thing:  you’re a schmuck.  In all likelihood you have not taken an image “the world must know about.”  You’ve taken, perhaps, something beautiful, perhaps something meaningful.  But it’s made so by the intimacy and trust your subject has given you.  Your talent as a shaper of light and geometry-- even as a builder of intimacy-- is secondary.  If you understand that, then you realize you should ask permission. 

For this reason, I include the image rights in the fee for my non-commercial sessions; I offer to create a book or a framed print for them (and it’s worth it, believe me), but the images themselves are included in my session.  Always.  Many photographers may be horrified by this because their real income is derived from the delivery of images-- not the taking of them. Not me. If the images are meant for their personal use-- spouse, parent, child, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even a wedding-- I view them as the client’s, and I frankly don’t want to be responsible for archiving and licensing.  I also want my sessions to be affordable to a wide range of people, and the pay-for-print model is inevitably pricey.  Yes, there’s a class of client who will pay $200 for an enlarged print or $600 for a book, but you’re a fool if you think everyone can.  It’s a luxury item available only to the 5%.  Paradoxically, photographers who charge exorbitant amounts for their prints are often the first to proclaim that it’s not the print but the “experience” their clients are paying for-- a stance that makes no sense given what they charge for the print versus the session. 

I believe my clients return because the session is unique and the images spectacular.  Pricey prints, then, are simply ransom, and frankly I believe that in the future high fees on the prints and other products will undermine business.  Because Aunt Sally can “take” a picture and their getting sharper and more professional with every new model of camera.  She's provide them for free.  As a professional I can compete on the value of the “taking” an image, because Aunt Sally can't create the same experience as me.   But I can't compete on the value of “providing.” The images Aunt Sallie takes can be made into a book or a 8” x 10” print just the same as mine.   They may even be as special, as intimate.  So here's the short version: because I build intimacy and trust with my clients, I ask their permission to use their images. In doing so, they become the client's pictures, not mine (though I technically never relinquish copyright, only share it).  At Hurricane Images I price the value where it belongs: on the session.  And I make that session into a special event-- even when it's a professional headshot for a LinkedIn profile.

So here’s my advice for non-commercial images:

> Make your session, the “taking” of pictures, as special as possible

> Deliver stunning images

> Make high resolution and web-ready images inclusive with the package

Yes, top photographers can charge a king’s ransom for their images, but they are the 5% of photographers who are dealing with the top 5% percent of earners.  The rest of us have bills to pay, and never forget that is true for your clients.

Day 80, Learning 80: Answering the Tough Question

When I shoot a session I try to take as few pictures as possible.  My primary reason is thus:  in taking fewer, more conscientious photos I improve my skill set.  Each image is thought-out, then problem solved.  The better I get, the fewer “mistakes” I make, and the more likely I’ll be able to produce a great image under pressure with no opportunity for a re-take (such as during a wedding).  Also, I spend less time frowning at the back of my camera (which can make clients uncomfortable) and I have greater ability to show them an image on the back of my camera if I think they need a little encouragement.

I also try to limit the number of images I provide a client as much as (reasonably) possible.  I have two reasons for this:  first, I don’t what to suffocate truly great images under simply “good” ones; and second I want my client to view the images as a piece of art.  You don’t buy paintings by the dozens; why should you buy photos that way? 

This means, however, that I am often asked for the “other” photos I took.  The client, understandably, feels the because they paid for a session they are entitled to all of the photos, edited or not.  There are a number of reasons I don’t want turn over un-edited images.  First, there’s my reputation to consider.  I don’t want to be represented by my worst images unless it’s absolutely required of the assignment.  Second, when the client compares a non-edited image to a similar edited ones, they’ll begin to see beneath my work.  If I’ve removed a skin blemish (and I outline my rules for doing so here), they may begin to feel badly about the fact that they had a skin blemish.  And I don’t ever want my clients feeling badly about a session.

It’s some trial and error to figure out what to say when someone asks for those “other” images.  What I tell them is this:  "Back in the film days, photographers typically only took about 250 images, and maybe 150 of those were worth sharing with the bride and groom.  With digital we can shoot 1000 images for almost no cost (it does tax the shutter mechanism which has a limited lifespan), but in truth most of those 750 additional images are the photographer practicing in the moment.  We’re trying different compositions, different depths of field, different exposures, or trying to find the moment that best captures the emotion. A musician practices in their living room and performs in front of an audience when the work is as near perfect as they can manage.  A photographer can’t practice before the event, so we have to combine practice and performance during the event.  The real performance, however, is when we share our near-perfect images with others."

If I still get push-back, I may talk about my criteria for selecting the best images, the problems of RAW files, or even the problems with un-edited, un-curated images in general: they went with a professional photographer because they wanted to be happy with the images, but everyone looks bad in some photos because humans are capable of making some pretty strange faces.

So when I say I try to provide as few images as possible to my clients, what does that mean?  For a private session I am for approximately 40 finished images.  Events can vary greatly, too much to define. It has been as few as 40 and as many as 300.  Weddings I say 150-200 to my client; I provide 200-225.  The commercial world is completely different.  Often, those clients want just 5-10 strong choices.

Day 79, Learning 79: Maximizing Sharpness and Detail

These days we probably place too much emphasis on sharpness and detail; the masters of old certainly weren’t as obsessed with it as we.  Even while I try to remind myself that sharpness isn’t everything, I find myself justifying my obsession by saying I can always unsharpen an image, but it’s harder to sharpen a blurry one.

True sharpness is a cross-platform endeavor

I’ve known the basics of how to achieve sharp images for years, decades; but as a professional I’ve learned the importance of maximizing sharpness in a very conscious way across “platforms.”  Sharpness isn’t dependent solely upon your equipment, your focus, your camera settings, or your editing skills-- it’s a combination of all four.  So today I’m covering them all.

Equipment / Lens.  Manufacturers tout the sharpness of their lenses, and it’s a vital player in the game.  Without a sharp lens you’ll never get truly sharp, detailed pictures.  In truth, though, most lenses are pretty sharp nowadays-- or at least pretty sharp at a specified focal length and/or aperture.  Inexpensive lenses can often be as sharp as expensive ones.  No matter what you buy, it’s worth researching what others have written about the “sweet spot” for sharpness.  Typically, though, lenses don’t perform at their best near the edges of their capacity.  They tend to be sharpest between f/5.6 and f/16, and if it’s a zoom at neither the widest or the narrowest.  A few test shots will probably tell you what you need to know.

Equipment / Lens Hood.  This five dollar accessory (I use this collapsible version) can make a world of difference, even when you’re not shooting with the sun pointing into the lens.  We see objects in the world because light is reflecting-- and refracting-- off of them.  We are literally walking in a world of refracted light.  Strong, directional light on a clear day causes the light to refract before it reaches your sensor, and blurs your image.

Focus.  There’s not too much to say about this.  Your camera’s auto-focus probably does a pretty stellar job.  Certain lens-camera combinations can require fine-tuning, an option available on high-end DSLRs.  Another factor to consider is the where to focus.  In portraits, the closest eye is the common target and for good reason.  If the eyes are sharp, then the image appears in “focus” even if the rest is blurry.  This dynamic comes into play when saving a slightly blurry image during image editing.

Settings / Aperture.  Only a few lenses are tack sharp wide open.  Strangely, these lenses aren’t necessarily the most expensive ones.  The Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 is very sharp wide open and costs $150 used.  Typically, however, you need to close your aperture two stops before you get close to maximum sharpness.  For most lenses, sharpness declines around f/18 due to diffraction.  “Diffracted light” is light that is reflected at an angle after striking a surface.  When you narrow the diameter of the aperture, you are essentially forcing the light through a narrow opening and a small portion of that light is bouncing.  A wave length that should fill one pixel of your sensor spills onto another, muddying the sharpness of your image.  Most lenses, therefore, are sharpest between f/5.6 and f/16.

Settings / Shutter.  This is a no-brainer.  A slow shutter speed allows the tremor in your hands-- or the movement of the subject-- to blur the image.  The common rule of thumb is your shutter setting should be equal or greater than the millimeter of your lens: 50mm lens, 50^th of a second.  This is (basically) true for a full-sized sensor, but the rule deteriorates quickly.  The higher the MP on your sensor, the higher the shutter speed needs to be (Nikon D800 owners discovered this in a hurry).  The real villain is pixel density-- not the number of pixels overall. The closer those pixels are to each other, the more they are affected by motion blur and diffraction.

Settings / ISO.  High ISO equals noise.  Noise competes with detail.  Yes you can reduce noise in post, but you’re also reducing the natural texture.  So if we want sharper images, shoot as close as possible to your camera’s base ISO (typically 100 or 200) and with proper shutter speed and aperture.

Editing.  There are a number of sharpening tools in a variety of software editing programs and they all adjust essentially the same thing.  What’s surprising is that they can be remarkably different in terms of effectiveness.  It’s important to understand that sharpening tools essentially increases the contrast on perceived “edges” in the image (any place there is a sharp change in color).  Lightroom’s sharpening tool works well with non-portrait images; I find it to be ugly on people.  Photoshop offers a quick sharpen tool (the triangle tool) for when the image is pretty sharp but I want to quickly hit the eyes or hair. 

I typically set the Strength between 15 and 25 to minimize noise.  More sophisticated options are the UnSharp Mask and Smart Sharpen filters.  These adjust the edge contrast and are best used with a Mask so you can paint the sharpness exactly where you want it.  The most powerful tool in my opinion, is the High Pass Filter located under “Other” in the Filter menu.  For portraits I recommend setting the Radius between 2.5 and 3.5 (though you may need to go higher based upon the image), and the Blend Mode for the layer to Overlay.  Then apply a black Mask (holding the Alt key while clicking on the mask icon) and paint in the areas of sharpness.  In my experience, the high pass filter can virtually adjust the plane of focus by as much as two millimeters if I’ve missed my focus. The eyes, as I mentioned earlier, define our sense of focus in a portrait.

Not every image needs to be in sharp focus; that’s a myth sold to us by camera and lens makers.  It’s reinforced by the fact we view images on our computers now.  What used to be a 4x6 inch image now starts at 5x7 with infinite zoom capabilities.  Most people, however, still print at 4x6.  When I pick up my camera, I’m aware that sharpness is an aesthetic variable just like depth of field and I plan accordingly.  Often I default to a “sharper is better” decision because I can always blur in post, but even then the degree to which I pursue sharpness varies.  The picture below was one of my client’s favorites (and mine, too).  I clearly missed my focus mark.  But that error adds an ethereal quality to the image, and an intimacy that wouldn’t exist if the eyelashes had been in focus.  

What’s your favorite “fuzzy” image?

Day 77, Learning 77: Damnable Lips!

Lips, those succulent provocateurs.  They can be, they are; or they can be a miserable chapped mess.  Next to eyes, they are probably the most important feature of a portrait.  Chapped lips, of course, are natural in real life-- the result of dehydration or weather.  The challenge they pose for image retouching is in maintaining a sense of gloss and glow.  Here's one technique.

First, you'll need a pair of lips.  Not your own.

These were in pretty good shape-- certainly fine for daily life, but at 100% on your screen (a situation we probably should never subject any body part to), they take on an altogether unnatural aspect.  Here's what to do.

First, make sure they are in the best shape they can be.  Clean up the make-up line and clone out any obvious specks and bumps.

Second, create two more layers for frequency separation.  The middle layer you'll apply a Gaussian blur.  Unlike normal frequency separation where you want to have the least amount of blur possible, here you want it to be thick.  For this I used 6.

Next, perform Apply Image on your top layer, just as you would for Frequency Separation.  Don't forget to select the Gaussian Blur layer, and Subtract mode (for 8 bit images).

Using your Lasso Tool, select just the lips in the top layer.  You'll want to feather this selection a little (around 5).

Hit Ctrl J to duplicate the lips onto their own layer.  Your lips will look very ugly at this point. 

On your new top layer, apply a Gaussian Blur, only this time use exactly 1/3rd the amount as before.  In my case, 2.

Invert the layer by hitting Ctrl I. 

You should have soft, glowing lips.  Now you can bring back detail by lowering the opacity to taste.

Day 74, Learning 74: Playing with Shadows

There are a number of techniques for isolating and manipulating just the shadow-- or under exposed-- areas of your image. This one is a favorite, because it you have complete control over the area and the ability to work with any number of tools.

I like the low-key quality of the image above, but her black hair disappears against the black drop.  I could have added more rim light, but that wouldn't have teased out the texture very well.  Or I could have increased the front light, but then I would have lost the moodiness of the low-key.  If I had really wanted to be finicky during the shoot, I could have added a front hair light, and lowered the more general light on her face to compensate.  If you remember your light theory, you'll recall that light is additive.  But this wasn't an advertising shoot-- I didn't have half an hour to fiddle with one shot. So what can I do in post?

First-- as always-- duplicate your layer.
Second-- you need to select just the shadow areas.  If you press Ctrl + alt + 2 on your keyboard, you'll select just the bright areas.  On older versions of Photoshop I believe it's Ctrl + alt + ~ but they changed this shortcut more than once.  If neither of those work for you, google that command with your version of Photoshop.  This will select the highlights as shown below.

 The great thing about this command is that the brighter the pixel, the more it's selected.  In other words, it's a gradation.

Third-- reverse (or inverse) the selection:

Fourth:  Hit "Q" and you'll see your selection mask in red.  The great thing about this tool is that you can use your paint brush to modify the selection.  Because I'm removing areas from the selection, I'll use the brush with Black paint.

 I want to make sure her skin tones and the richness of the black background remain unaffected, so I painted over them, turning the masked (unaffected) area dark red.

 Hit "Q" again (I often forget this step) and you'll see the new selected area; the selected portion is still a gradation: the darker the pixel, the more it will affected by our next adjustment.

Fifth:  Duplicate the layer using Ctrl J.  Now you have a new layer of just the shadow area you want to manipulate.  You can use Levels, or any other approach.  Here I did something even simpler: I changed the Blend Mode to Screen, brightening everything dramatically.

 Now you can compare the original image to the final.  Suddenly we can see texture in the front  of her hair.  We haven't lost the tonal quality of the shadow on her cheek, which was the goal.

Day 73, Learning 73: Sharpen Your Directing Skills

I describe myself as a "people photographer."  That covers a lot of ground-- portraits of all types (business, personal, theatrical, editorial), but also fashion, boudoir, wedding, and commercial. I enjoy photographing people because, quite frankly, it unnerves me.  I'm naturally introverted and not especially articulate on the fly. I photograph people because I'm both fascinated by them, and because it challenges me.  But I am good at putting people at ease and listening.  Twenty years as a theatre director has taught me quite a bit about communication.

I've written before about how to pose models, and hands, and how to coach them in a session.  Dig through the blog and you'll probably find some other advice on working with models. One of the more difficult aspects of posing, however, is communicating to the model in the moment, and being clear and assured so the subject is at ease.  That really only comes with practice, but practicing on paying clients is never a great idea.  So here's an approach to practicing your communication skills.

First, you have to know what pose you want them to be in.  I take screen shot clippings of interesting poses and put them into folder categories; I find it's the only way I'll remember what I saw a month ago.  Typically before a session I spend time reviewing my folders, or looking for new material. The next challenge is remembering those poses during a session.  In the past, I've tried writing notes to myself (and found I never looked at them); and I've seen an interesting tip whereby you transfer pictures onto the camera's card so you can check them on the back of your camera; if you've newly formatted your card, your references images will be at the top, always one click away.   Some pro's are more upfront, printing images and bringing them to the session to share with their clients.  Any of these approaches is fine, just so long as you have ideas.

Next comes the harder part:  communicating your vision to your client efficiently.  Like most portrait photographers, I advocate mirroring the pose for your client and using your hands to align and tilt the head.  If you want them to turn their chin to the right and up, you use your hand almost as if you were physically moving their face-- gesturing to the right and then up-- as you tell them what you want.  Of course, it's more challenging in a real session.  You've got a camera in one hand, a thousand things on your mind, and their right is your left.  So here's the exercise to improve your directing skills.  Pick a dozen posing images.  They can be one's you've shot or something you grabbed off the internet.  Put one on your computer screen.  Stand up.  And physically "direct" your computer-- out loud and with gestures-- into the pose.  Practice verbalizing, mirroring, and gesturing at the same time.  Aloud. An additional bonus with this technique is that it makes you deconstruct the pose, making it easier to remember.

In posing a client, start from the feet and work up to the eyes.  If you position the torso before the feet, people often twist themselves up.  Go through a dozen images and I guarantee you'll feel more comfortable working with a live model.  Go through a hundred and you'll be communicating like a pro.  You can try these to start:

In most real life situations you only need 5 or 6 poses.  The skill is in working in the moment to create small variations.  The talent is when those variations are based on strengthening something you see through your viewfinder-- their emotion, physical attributes, or the lighting-- and not just for the sake of variety.

Go out and shoot or go out and practice.

Special thanks to Chrystal Wing, NP Walker, and Underground Runway

Day 70, Learning 70: Making Eyes Pop

In many respects, eyes make the photograph.  They are the one thing that is always supposed to be in focus (traditionally, though there is the occasional brilliant exception).  They are one of the main characteristics of beauty.  And in all honesty, they can be difficult to capture well in pictures, especially when you're working in natural light.  Overcast days can make for dull eyes.  Converting to Black and White can also dull them. 

So here's a Photoshop technique for making them pop using Color Dodge in Blend Mode.

Let's start with the original image above.  I haven't adjusted or touched it up in any way, so it has many issues.  We're going to focus just on the eyes, though.  Being dark, they were especially vulnerable to turning dull on our overcast day.

After you make a new layer, select both eyes.  I'm going to do just one eye so we can compare.

 

 

After you've selected the eye, you'll want to smooth and feather is slightly.  There's a "Refine Edge" button near the top of your screen for this dialogue box.

 

 

 

Then copy it into a new layer.  On that layer, set the Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

 

 

 





In most cases the result is extreme and you have to pull the transparency down to between 10%-30%; in rare cases you'll need to boost the effect by duplicating the layer.  The final result should be subtle but noticeable in comparison:

See the slight boost in color and vibrance?  This is much closer to how she was in person.

Day 69, Learning 69: Approaching the Problem of Style

"To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art" ~ Charles Bukowski

Easier said than done, I think.  Good, actionable advice on how to develop your photographic style is hard to find.  Clichés, on the other hand, sprout like lawn weeds everywhere:  Style develops over time; you can’t rush it!  Confidence creates style!  Imitate other people’s work and put a twist on it!  Here are 3 ways/8 ways/10 tips to creating style!

To make matters worse, some of the top photographers in the industry have been teaching that the endless repetition of an observable technique equals style.  To me, that qualifies as fashion.
 

"Kitsch is the inability to admit that shit exists" ~ Milan Kundera

To a certain extent the clichés  are true; style isn’t possible until you’ve mastered the basics.  We’re all still learning.  Even the most accomplished photographers push themselves to create images they haven’t done before.  The basics are easy.  The intermediate skills are just that-- more difficult than beginning ones.  When it comes to style,  people often try to link the strengthening of technique to the creation of style--  you read about ridiculous exercises to improve one’s “vision” by  “spending the day photographing things that are purple.”  Like that’s going to be a big help on a professional shoot.  But since there are elements and principles of photography and form, it can be useful to practice identifying them in the real world. 

• Line
• Shape
• Form
• Texture
• Color
• Pattern

These are broad concepts and as one student-of-photography to another I can assure you that they aren’t much use until you learn to break them down into smaller elements.  Spend the day looking for one sub-element at a time.  You don’t need to drag your camera with you; use your cell phone. Observe reflections.  Identify complimentary colors.  Spot intersecting lines and curves. Locate a spot where one texture becomes another.  I'll tell you a secret:  None of the exercises will build or improve your personal style.  But they will strengthen the muscles you need to create it.

If you’re a working photographer the number one dictate is that you give your client the product they want.  Always remember that.  But once that's on the memory card, you have latitude to explore. So how do we develop style?

Examine the basic ingredients.  Style appears in the use of photographic elements and principles mentioned above.  It's also in the shape and texture of light.  Style isn’t static; it evolves.  Here are the most useful tips I’ve found to speed the development of personal style:

Style doesn’t develop on its own.  Yes, that's right:  you can take boring pictures from now until the day you die if you don’t actively pursue its development.  Time may improve your basic skills, but you’ll have to apply yourself to create an artistic vision. 

Strengthen your muscles and be attentive to what excites you.  Whether it’s practice or performance (work) pay attention to your interests.  It’s not just about identifying images that work-- a workable image may have no attraction to you.  Find what excites you.

When you’re shooting for a client, take a few for yourself.  Once you’ve met their expectations, ask to do something unusual-- new lighting, new location, new pose.  Keep your request reasonable, but ask.

"The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in" ~ Henry Green

Pick five words that describe your favorite images.  These should be pictures you’ve already taken.  I often ask my clients for three words that describe the image they want me to create; that way I know what I’m working towards.  This is the same principle.  Now go into your image library and pick 10 of your favorite images.  Do they fulfill your five words?  Do you need to pick new ones?  

Pick three words you don’t want people to use when describing your images.  That sounds too easy, doesn’t it?  Here’s the catch:  They should be positive words.  They can’t be “boring,” or “plastic.”  They have to be three words that someone might say they want in their picture.  Is “fun” a word you don’t want attributed to your work?  Bright?  You can’t use gloomy (that's a negative word), but what about dark or moody?  These three “not-words” should guide you as firmly as your five positive words.  And remember, you don’t have to never create images that have those attributes-- you’re pointing your feet in a direction, not cementing them to a spot.

Post Mortem to Death.  This goes back to my first point-- style doesn’t happen by itself.  Review your images; review your process for taking them.  Evaluation is constant; it should be as addictive as taking images.  At Hurricane Images Inc. I constantly dig back into old images, re-edit them, play, and re-invent.

Special thanks to Tiffany Stewart (clothing designer for the top image), Hazel Wheeler (make-up artist), and Lejon Vinge (model, top).

Why Opt for a Professional Profile Photo

 

A recent studied indicated that recruiters on LinkedIn spent, on average, 19% of their time looking at your profile image.  It was more time, actually, then they spent reviewing your job history.  So what are they looking for?

 

In part, it’s the fascination we all share with photographs: a voyeuristic peek into someone else’s life when they’re not watching.  At face value that seems unimportant.  But the truth is it’s a big part of whether they remember about you.  And they’re looking for clues.

 

What kind of clues?  Do you look honest?  Healthy?  Engaged? Vibrant?  Aware? Confident? Competent?  Any one of us can look dishonest, sickly, vacant, unsure, and incompetent in a bad photograph-- so the picture doesn’t really speak to who we are.  But for some of those characteristics your profile picture is the only tool the recruiter has at their disposal.  And it’s not just employers: it’s business partners and associates.

 

Clearly, transmitting those positive characteristics is one reason to hire a professional to take your profile picture (though of course a friend might do as well).  But it’s not the only reason.  Professional work should be self-evident.  A professional photo communicates that you value appearance and are committed to your career.  Moreover, a professional photographer knows what aspects evoke these characteristics; how to position, light, and set your background.  More importantly, they (should) work with you to make your profile picture both individual and reflective of your career.

 

Here’s what you should expect from a headshot session:  an initial consultation to clarify and fine-tune exactly the type of profile image your want to create; a 1 to 1.5 hour session; professional image editing to remove distracting elements, sharpen, and correct color; digital delivery of both high resolution and web-ready files.

 

One of the things professional photographers understand is that a photograph doesn’t naturally capture a person.  It can capture facets of the person with unexpected results (it’s one of the reasons we like to look at ourselves in photographs).  What’s more, light and physical elements can obscure important elements.  Your eyes may naturally sparkle with intensity and warmth, but the camera may not capture that on its own.  A skilled photographer can re-create that sparkle to show who you are in life.

Day 65, Learning 65: Tips for Coaching Models

Posing models is one school of expertise and I wrote a little about it here, here, and here.  What I'm writing about today is talking to models during a session.  This is especially important because the sage advice to never touch a model is very very true... even if there's a little bit of over-simplification involved.  Directing and coaching blur together, but they are two different things.  If you want your model positioned a certain way, you direct; if you want to bring out a particular emotion, you have to coach.

The first and most useful technique is to physically show the model what position you'd like them to be in by mirroring it.  This is not only quick, it makes them feel less self-conscious because you're doing it, too.  This includes both taking the same position and things like pointing in the direction.  Don't be afraid to put the camera down to show them what you want.

Because you're facing each other, your left is there right.  With practice you can also learn to give verbal directions by reversing everything.  So it's possible to say, "shift your weight onto your left foot."  If the direction is simple, they'll get it. Something else I occasionally do is turn around and look at the world from their perspective.  That way I can say, "look at that tree...."  

Coaching
These are the basics for finding the right poses and positions.  Now comes making your model relaxed and emotive.  It's hard to be on the other side of the lens, taking chances with poses that might make you look ridiculous (and be immortalized forever on film).  This is especially true if the photographer is silent.

Be specific with your models:

• Soft smile / Big smile / Smile with your eyes / Don't smile
• Part your lips a little
• Raise/lower your chin
• Look towards/away from me/down and to your left

Encourage to your models:

• That's good/great
• Nice, Excellent
• Beautiful
• You look great
• Just like that
• A little more

Warm them up:

• Shake it out
• Wiggle something
• Make a pucker face
• Make it a gesture-- run your fingers through your hair

Create emotion:

• Think of: your favorite part of your partner/ your favorite dessert
• Remember lying out on a sunny day/watching the rain fall

There are endless scenarios for creating emotion.  Consider them before the shoot and choose the ones that match your client or the emotive quality your creating.  When shooting for a theatrical production (such as the image above) I often have them pick a line from that moment and repeat it over and over again.  With inexperienced models, having them do a gesture that ends in the pose you want can appear more natural than having them hold the pose.  In theatre, I often combined both those techniques.

Day 62, Learning 62: Your Reflector is About Everything

I told you about the #1 Best Tool you can buy which can dramatically improve your photography skills; and the #2 Best Tool you can buy (also for self-improvement but with an added bonus of being useful for things like being your own second shooter and night photography).  Now I'm going to introduce the third best tool you can own besides your camera: a collapsible reflector.

Right about now you're thinking you should skip this entry and read something more intelligent-- hey, I surprised myself by deciding to write about this simple tool. But while on a shoot the other day the fashion designer said she'd never seen a photographer reverse the cover of the reflector before.  None of the photographers she worked with paid any attention to the color and intensity of the reflected light. So I guess someone needs to champion this remarkably simple tool.

There are actually six different uses for a 5-in-1 reflector.  I have two of them (a 32" and a 60") and this $15-$30 dollar tool is capable of mimicking almost any light modifier under $200.

The Black Side:  This is for subtracting/blocking light.  On a bright overcast day you can place it to one side of your subject to create a subtle shadow or fill side for their face.  You can also use it as a flag to block light from a flash or other light source.  And at 60" it can function as a black backdrop for a head shot..

The Silver Side:  This is for reflecting light back at the subject to remove shadows.  Being silver, it produces almost a 1 to 1 ratio of light, reflecting about 90% of the light it catches.  This also makes it a great tool for bouncing your flash back at your subject: the Silver Side (and the White as well) can function as a portable wall in open spaces.  It's the most powerful reflecting surface, and with power comes some limitations.  One a bright sunny day it may be too bright, blinding your model and flattening the scene.  That's one reason why people will choose....

The White Side:  This is a softer reflection.  It loses about 2 stops of light in the bounce, which can make for a great fill if positioned close enough.  It's also easier to control and softer than the silver.

The Gold Side:  The gold side tends to be in between the white and silver in terms of light intensity. It also has a warm glow that can be quite beautiful on some skin tones and in low-key photography.  You have to be careful, though, because on other skin tones it can look yellow.

The Translucent Disc:  This is the most neglected tool your reflector has, and one of the most versatile.  With a 60" reflector, the semi-transparent material can create a patch of mobile shade for taking pictures outside in bright sun.  You no longer need a tree for shade (but you do need an assistant).

The Translucent Disc:  The 6th function of the 5-in-1 reflector is utilizing the semi-transparent disc as a shoot-through scrim.  When the light from your strobe hits the surface it spreads out, creating a large, soft light source.  While there are professional-grade scrims of different density and quality that can produce a better quality of light, your humble reflector is surprisingly good.  See the image below and judge for yourself.

 

 

One of the remarkable things about this simple set-up is how even the light is from waist to forehead using a 32" reflector in the simplest flash set-up imaginable.  The best thing is that it works equally well with a 60" reflector and a single strobe, producing an even light from head to toe.

Day 59, Learning 59: Posing Couples

Working with couples offer their own challenges and rewards.  They amuse themselves while you fiddle with your camera settings, which is nice; they also bring their own intimacy and mood to the shoot.  But they can be challenging, especially if one person is uncomfortable in front of the lens.  Here are a few ideas for working with couples:

• The more points of touch, the greater the intimacy.  Work with hands, foreheads, hips, cheeks, and noses.
• Lead them through a sequence of moves in one position: 
• Start facing each other; put your forehead together; rub noses; now, roll your head out to face the camera; give her a tickle; caress his cheek.
• When walking, go slow.  Make sure the hands/arms aren't awkward or swinging widely.  If they are, hook their thumb in their pocket
• When facing forward, make sure their weight is on one leg versus equally balanced (it's more natural and relaxed); bend arms and legs to create angles
• When sitting, start by placing one person, then the other.  Don't have them "sit on the bench together."
• Don't be afraid of giving specific direction, even as detailed as "look at his hand."

Just like in an individual session, make sure they're having fun, give them lots of verbal feedback and encourage, and occasionally show them the image on the back of your camera.