Tag Archives: Tutorials

Photography

The once-sought after newspaper photographer position Part 3

How do I start off this 3rd segment Assignments: ones I enjoyed?

Did I mention I met my wife on an assignment?

I photographed her for a story, one thing led to another… and this photographer rode off into the sunset with the girl.

Sports

While at the newspaper, I was often asked, “How do you get a job like yours? You get to shoot football, baseball etc?”

It made me realize how lucky I was to be able to do this for a living. Continue reading The once-sought after newspaper photographer position Part 3 →

Assignment, Photography

Photographing a belly dancer Part 3

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A change of attire for a different mood–Getting different looks for their models is often a goal for photographers. It can be something as simple as letting their hair down and introducing a colored backlight. Here is the setup for the lights.

Before you tear down the set sometimes you have to ask yourself, “What else can I try? I’m already here.”

Everything is already set up. If you have time, you might as well push the envelope and see.

That’s what I really enjoyed about working with Hadia.

She was up for more.

When she produced the paraffin lamps, I was chomping at the bit.

Now we were literally playing with fire and turning up the heat.

If you’re trying this at home, and your model has long hair, have her tie it up for safety sake. Continue reading Photographing a belly dancer Part 3 →

Photography

Skill is a combination of creative & technical ability

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glider

Remotely captured–I hitched a ride on a sailplane for this picture which was captured by a camera attached to the underside of the glider’s wing. The pilot’s friends asked if I knew how old he was. They wanted me to know he was an octogenarian, just in case. Since I know how to fly, I was confident that wasn’t a problem.

A great photographer is very tough to define.

It’s such a very delicate balance between left and right brain thinking.

There are the very creative who can set up an entire shot. They can gather the right props, with matching colors and costumes to getting the right expressions on models.

dogfightThese guys don’t even need help building sets and props.

Then there’s photographers who are just unimaginative, but they are technically very sound.

They can solve all kinds of problems however complex. If there’s a certain laser or explosion that needs to be recorded, they can build the necessary equipment. If someone sketches it out on a paper napkin, or can communicate a vision successfully to them, boy can they execute!

Which of these two you are depends a lot on your personality, interests and background.

Continue reading Skill is a combination of creative & technical ability →

Photography, Tutorials

4 Reasons to shoot in the manual mode

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lesly_side

Focused on the eyes–The eyes are what it’s all about when it comes to portraits. What happens when your focus can’t hold for both eyes when your depth-of-field is shallow? Canon 40D. ISO 100 1/60 sec @ f 1.4. Captured in available light from a north-facing window. There is a reflector just out of camera view below where  I’m standing over Lesly who is reclined on a sofa.

Automatic mode is so wonderful.

It frees you to concentrate wholly on what’s in the viewfinder.

In fact, if that’s how you do your best work, there shouldn’t  even be any display in the viewfinder to distract you from your subject in hand.

As long as you don’t make mistakes either in setting your exposure, shutter speeds, ISO, White Balance or even focusing, an uncluttered viewfinder can allow you can be one with your subject.

The reality is, everyone makes mistakes. Some photographers are just luckier than others. Those of you who are lucky, wouldn’t you want to be lucky all the time?

Here’s 4 reasons to shoot in manual mode:
Continue reading 4 Reasons to shoot in the manual mode →