PixelatedImage Blog

In 1984 Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita changed cinematic history with the greatest movie of all time. If you do not think The Karate Kid is brilliant cinema, we cannot be friends. Who could not love the simple philosophy espoused in the line on the poster: He taught him the secret to Karate lies in the mind and the heart. Not in the hands. I feel a tear coming on even as I write this.

Of all the memorable bits in the movie - I have a point that I’m building to so sit tight - is when Miyage-san begins teaching Daniel, not Karate but home renovations and car-washing with zen-like admonitions to “Paint-up, paint-down. Wax-on, wax-off.” I loved that. I immediately subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens in hopes that I too could learn Karate. It didn’t work.

Back to the point. I learned three things from The Karate Kid, two of which are immediately applicable to the photographic journey.

1. The Crane is a formidable Karate technique if you don’t see it coming. But it’s hard to do with camera in hand and has no immediate photographic application.

2. When you learn the fundamentals so well that they become instinctive, you will never have to think about them and technique itself steps out of the way when you are (a) being bullied by a guy with a mullet or (b) expressing your vision with your camera. I’ll come back to this.

3. The secret to Photography, like Karate, lies more in the mind and the heart than in the tools of our craft. It is primarily an art of expression and everything is derivative of your vision - for which you must have a mind and heart. Time spent exploring the things about which you are passionate is time spent working on your craft, whether you have a camera in hand or not.

Back to #2, the fundamentals. The photographic journey is not one taken in one step or in one day. The camera is deceptively simple and while you can certainly - to extend the Karate metaphor - start flailing and kicking immediately, it will no more make you a black belt than picking up a camera and pointing it helter skelter makes you a photographer.

There is great value in a wax-on, wax-off type of repetitive exercise. Moving your fingers over your camera and lens so often that you know each button by touch gives puts you in a place where you can think, not about the technology, but about the scene in front of you. The same is true of composition - the more familiar you are with a repertoire of compositional possibilities, the sooner you have a starting point with less wasted time and effort. This is a journey that took me nearly twenty years. And it was only then that I finally had a vision I felt passionately enough about that I would pursue this as a career.

Whether your journey ever takes you to a place of vocation, take some comfort in knowing that every frame you shoot - even the junk - takes you closer to getting the geek stuff out of the way and allowing the artist to do his thing without distraction.

If you want to speed up the process, then thank Mr Miyage for the hint, pick up your camera and work it. Blind-fold yourself and identify each button by touch. Can you change ISO or your focus point without looking, without thinking? Can you adjust your EV compensation with little more than a glance? The more unconsciously you can wield your tools, the more you can spend your time looking, reacting, and creating.

“If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an “artless art” growing out of the unconscious”
- Daisetz Susuki, quoted in Freeman’s The Photographer’s Eye

It’s just past noon on Monday and I’m only now getting to posting something. We had guests this weekend and I’m only now recovering. I usually put in more work over the weekends, just didn’t get to it this weekend so it all got bumped.

Ok, lame apologies aside, here’s something I discovered this morning while trying to organize some new projects. It’ll appeal to you if you’re visually oriented and kind of anal-retentive about being organized. Another apology: this is Mac OS-X only. I’m on Leopard but assuming it works on Tiger too. Could be wrong. For those that are left out - sorry. (Update - I’m told this is OSX Leopard only)

I like my desktop and folders to look good. I also like them to be easily identified and since I am a visual person I’ve taken to making custom icons for important files. But this morning I just wanted a down and dirty icon for a new project folder. Here’s what I did:

1. Make an image and make it square.

2. Save it in Photoshop as a JPEG.

3. Find that JPG in the finder, click it and hit CMD+i - this will bring up an info pallette with a little thumbnail at the top. Click that and hit cmd+c (Update - Follow the instructions, and the REVERSE of the image below. I mixed it up. Sorry.)

4. Find the folder for which you want this ad hoc icon, click it, hit cmd+i, find the little thumbnail as you did in step 3, click it and hit cmd+v

5. That should paste a new icon. If you used a square you won’t have transparency issues. Now just delete the jpg image and you’re done.

One of the pitfalls of photography is that by necessity we are reducing three dimensions into two. The moment the shutter is pressed and the image is created we can no longer walk around the scene and see it from different angles. The moment is frozen but so is the perspective. Once the image is made, the angle from which we view the scene is fixed, so it had better be the best angle for what you are trying to say. (more after the jump. Sorry, you RSSers are gonna have to launch a browser for this - but there’re illustrations, so hurray!)

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One of the basic principles of my teaching goes thusly:

Three images make the final photograph - the image you envision, the image you shoot, and the image you refine or process in the (digital) darkroom. The better you are at the second two, the closer you are able to come to the first, namely your vision.

This is important because it gives you the ground from which to make the right decisions in accomplishing your vision. I go into my shoots with a clear vision of what I want.

In this case the shoot was a weekend with yogis for a self-promotional shoot. I went in with a clear sense of the look and feel of my images. I had already created a list of adjectives that I wanted my images to evoke when finished. I wanted them full of personality, real people with luminous expressions, in a light, luminous environment. I wanted images that felt lit up on the inside because that’s my experience of many of the yogis I know. I knew from there what kind of models I wanted - genuine yogis who make a difference in the Vancouver yoga scene, and we contacted them.

I also knew what kind of look I wanted and that informed our decisions about wardrobe, back drops, lighting, and eventually, the post-process - all of which was decided ahead of time to create the best possible process that served the initial vision. We wanted clothes with texture, favourite comfortable garments that the yogis themselves wear and like and feel are expressions of their personality. We gave them guidance on the colours, using words like organic, earthy, soft, textured, and loose to further describe the look we wanted. Without exception they showed up ready to shoot with exactly the kind of extensions of their personailities - including props, which in this case included beads, jewelry, children (ok, not really props!) and a surf board.

We catered the shoot with vegetables, organic foods, and water, and made the studio as peaceful as we could knowing the more we helped our subjects feel at ease, the more “yogic” they’d look when the cameras came out.

Lighting was all Elinchrome, 2 strobes blown through a large Chimera softbox on camera left, and a medium Elinchrom Octabank on camera right. Behind the models lighting the seamless and providing some backlight were two more elinchrom strobes, bare bulbs shot into large white panels and bounced back at the paper and the models. This was chosen to give us the most etherial-feeling light, knowing we’d further punch it in Lightroom after the shoot. Here’s a lighting diagram

(click to make it bigger, or go here to get a layered psd file to make your own, courtesy of Kevin Kertz)

In Adobe Lightroom we used a number of techniques to further blow out the background and either punch the contrast, or lower it depending on the look. For some subjects - particularly those shots including children- we wanted more contrast, more playfulness (kids are wonderful, but they’re more playful than they are serene, and there’s plenty of playfulness in yoga). For the shots where we knew we wanted softer, more serene or organic colours, we chose settings that allowed some desaturation or hue adjustments to suit.

What is important is to remember this was all done pro-actively and intentionally. We didn’t just shoot hoping to “get something that doesn’t suck.” We shot with a vision for the communication of the final images and then chose the most expedient combination of techniques - some in camera, some in post - to accomplish that. Vision matters because it’s the destination that determines the choice of road map.

There is a common misconception that tells us the more lenses we have, the better spec’d our cameras, the more software we own, the faster our computers, the less constraints we will have and the more our creativity will flourish. “Just think,” we tell ourselves, our spouses, our loan manager, “with this new gear I could really create! I could finally serve my vision! ”

Rubbish. If you’re lucky someone will call your bluff. This is where the Artist and the Geek need to sit down, shut up, and get some serious counseling.

Creativity does not flourish in the absence of constraints, it flounders. Constraints not only aid creativity, they are essential to it. Consider Frank Lloyd Wright, no slouch when it comes to creativity, who said, “Man built most nobly when limitations were at their greatest.”

As photographers we begin with the constraint of the frame, and the limits of our technology, but the forces that limit our choices, and therefore force creativity, are numerous. The more you see them as a catalyst to creativity and not a problem to be overcome, the more creative you will become and the less fruitless trips to the camera store you might make. If you’re feeling your creativity stagnating and wishing for a return to that feeling of flourishing creative photography, try getting counter-intuitive and start playing with your constraints. This kind of thinking is rampant on sites like David Hobby’s Strobist - where shoestring budgets force the hand of creativity and remarkable solutions emerge.

Looking to strong-arm your muse back into action? Here’s a couple suggestions.

Pick a focal length and stick with it. Not one lens, but one focal length. Anyone caught using the 28-200mm will be disqualified. Now go shoot.

Determine ahead of time not to use Photoshop. Or determine to use only black and white or your sepia presets in Lightroom.

Shoot faster. Give yourself an assignment and go fast. I mean really fast. Ludicrously fast. The faster you go the more you short-circuit the logical/analytical and force your intuitive side to kick in.

Pick a theme and shoot it. Green. Round. Wet. Texture. Horizon. Sign. Anchored. Free. I don’t know, make something up. The point is not the the theme itself but the constraint it forces upon you, helping you to find new ways to see, prohibiting you from looking in other ways. It focuses you.

Shoot out of focus for a day to help you concentrate on general shapes, light, and colour, rather than specific subjects.

Spend a day shooting anything but the Rule of Thirds.

For every image you make, turn around, 180 degrees, and make another one. Introduce the constraint of serendipity.

Come up with another one all by yourself and share it in the comments. Share the love.

The venerable David Hobby, single handedly responsible for keeping sales of Nikon SB-800 flashes and Pocket Wizard remotes well above average, has just released his 8-disc Strobist Lighting Seminar set.

There’s some whining and complaining going on about David’s choice to focus on content over production value, and some about the $139 price tag, but the 200,000 readers of Hobby’s Strobist blog can’t all be wrong - the man has made a niche for himself teaching strong, simple off-camera lighting. If you’re interested in putting yourself through an off-camera lighting bootcamp, this is a phenomenal deal. Read more about it here.

Running dry? Looking for inspiration? Here’s a simple solution: increase the inputs. Watch something inspiring or educational. Read something you wouldn’t otherwise read. Attend a workshop. Go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and pick up a photography book by someone you’ve never heard of who shoots in a style you’d never shoot.

Here’s some suggestions:

Western Canadians who haven’t taken a NAPP seminar have a chance to see Ben Wilmore (left) in Vancouver and Calgary on June 9, and 10 as he presents his Photoshop CS3 for Photographers seminar. Details on the NAPP website here: Vancouver - Calgary (Oops, looks like there’s one in Ottawa -June 06 - and Toronto - June 16 - as well. Follow the links for details)

If you’re in or around Ft. Erie, Ontario on June 07, I will be presenting my Know Your Stuff workshop and would love to see you. More info HERE.

There’s a great video of David Tejada shooting a commercial assignment on oil rigs in Colorado - if you’re interested in seeing how he works and why he does what he does, his videos - all of them - are worth the time. The video is on the Strobist site HERE.

George Jardine has an interview/podcats with Steve McCurry on his site HERE. While there be sure to check out his conversation with Jay Maisel, Seth Resnick, and Greg Gorman HERE as well.

Finally, if you want some solid learnin’ in your own living room - Kelby Training is having a Memorial Day sale and selected DVD’s are 50% off. Follow THIS LINK for details.

I’m shooting a commercial assignment out of town for the next two days, so I’m writing this on Thursday, see you next week. For my American readers, enjoy your long weekend. Go shoot something you love.

I’ve already told you about what a great value Kelby Online Training is. NAPP members get it for something like $17/month for unlimited access to some really great videos.

Scott Kelby announced yesterday that David Ziser’s new class has been posted and this morning I watched the whole thing from beginning to end - not because I have ANY desire to shoot weddings again, but because this first class is about 15 Ways To Improve Your On-Camera Flash For Wedding Photography. I think it wins the award for most verbose class title, and I can’t vouch for whether there are actually 15 ways. But if you’re looking to brush up on your on-camera strobe techniques, or haven’t considered trying to use on-camera strobe to make images that don’t look like crap, you’ll some good ideas from this.

After a while the advice I give to new photographers begins to sound similar. Here’s my top ten list for photographers who are just getting their feet wet.

1. Study the Masters.
There’s no quicker way to skip a couple rungs on the ladder than to seriously study the work of photographers who’ve had a lifetime of shooting. Classic photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, Yosef Karsh, or Ansel Adams. Recent photographers like Freeman Patterson, Steve McCurry, Phil Borges, Jill Greenburg, Ami Vitale. These lists are embarassingly short and lean heavily in favour of the stuff I like; find stuff you love and study it. Why does it work? What sets it apart?

2.Histogram!!
Get an understanding of exposure. In the old days it was grappling with the nuances of Ansel Adams’ Zone System, now the digital age is on us and you’d do really well to learn everything you can about histograms and what they tell you about your exposure. Photography is about light and learning how your camera sees and captures light is crucial.

3. Big Lenses Are Not Just For Shooting Small Things.
Learn to use one lens at a time. Go out shooting with one lens, and only one lens. Learn it’s characteristics. How does it compress elements within a frame (or expand them). How do different aperture settings affect depth of field and what does that look like with this one lens? Start with a 50mm, then play with a wide angle lens, then a telephoto. If you’ve got a zoom lens, stick it on one focal length and leave it there. No cheating. Shoot for a week, or a month, with one lens.

4. Compose Yourself.
Study and understand composition. Start with the rule of thirds, by all means, but if that’s as far as you get in understanding composition you’ll be cheating yourself out of knowing WHY elements work well or don’t work well within a frame, and you’ll lose out on knowing how to control elements within the frame to tell the most compelling story you can. You must know how the eye moves through the frame and why if you hope to lead a viewers eye through the frame.

5. You are Not Your Camera.
Learn the gear so well it becomes intuitive, then forget it. The sooner you abandon the stupidity of the Canon vs. Nikon argument and the obsession with pouring over gear catalogues, the sooner you’ll rise above the masses of mediocre hobbyists and learn to make great photographs. Cameras and gear are really important, I get that. But put more time and money into actual photography, not gear-lust.

6. Shoot Everything.
And lots of everything. I believe it was Cartier-Bresson who said rightly that your first 10,000 images will be your worst. So get them out of the way. Shoot the stuff every beginner shoots. Imitate the masters. Shoot ducks. Shoot sunsets. Shoot people. Shoot crappy artsy experimental stuff. Just shoot lots and lots of frames. And be thankful you’re living in the digital age, because I spent every penny I earned from 14 year old on film and processing.

7. Get Closer.
Robert Capa said that if your photographs aren’t good enough you aren’t close enough. Get in there, get close. Use the whole frame. No painter uses just the middle spot on the canvas - they go edge to edge. Fill it.

8.Be Fully Aware of the Frame.
Now that you’re filling the frame, make sure every single element matters. Shoot intentionally. Be aware of every element within the frame and how it relates in two dimensions to the other elements. Be very conscious of the frame before you press the shutter.

9. Tell Me Something, Make Me Care.
Make me care. Bring something new to the table. Shoot bubbles for all I care. Or flowers. Or lines. But do it compellingly - show me something new - or something old in a new way. But make me care. Please.

10. Get Comfortable in the Darkroom.
There are three images that merge to become the final print; the image you envision before you raise the camera, the image you shoot, and the image you refine in the digital darkroom. Each of these should be a refinement on the previous. The more comfortable and capable you are in the digital darkroom, the more successfully you will be able to create a print that matches your original vision. Vincent Versace says Photoshop should be an emery board, not a jack hammer. Photoshop doesn’t make a crappy image great, but it can make an already good image much better in the same way that custom lab can great an exceptional print with a negtive that a one-hour place would only make a good print from. You are your own lab, so learn the craft.

Bonus

11. Shorten The Curve
The learning curve is only as steep or as long as you allow it to be. There are some phenomenal books, seminars, associations, and teachers out there. Loosen up the gear addiction and put some of your money into learning. Get a mentor, read a few of Scott Kelby’s books, join the NAPP, get a video tutorial, attend Photoshop World or a lecture by a visiting photographer. The internet is great, and there are lots of good blogs out there - but none of them are a substitute for really focussed learning from people who really know their stuff and how to teach it.

In terms of light, digital camera sensors are incapable of seeing the kind of range that the human eye can see. So in a scene with heavy highlights and dark shadows, the human eye can process both and retain details in the light and shadows. The camera can’t yet do this. So in these situations we expose for one and lose detail in the other. Or we shoot 2-5 images at different exposures and combine them. To that end, two resources for you. If you’ve no appetite to really get into the nuts and bolts and just want the groovy look that HDR techniques can create, then the first one is right up your alley. If you like the real deal, then look at the second one too.

Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom Killer Tips is a blog/podcast that I check about once a week. Content doesn’t seem to change much more than that, and it’s often a little too rudimentary for me. But there is no question these NAPP folks know their stuff and are good educators. I digress. This week there’s a video tutorial on what Matt calls a “surreal edgy effect” and what I would call a faux hdr illustrative look. Have a look at the video HERE.

If you want to take the HDR look further and explore true HDR imaging, then Ben Wilmore is your man. Ben wrote the imposing Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques book and is an excellent educator - he recently released an online class - HDR Mastery - through Online Expert Training. The course requires PhotoMatix Pro software, which is why I have yet to sign up - but if you already have the software or just have to learn this stuff, I can’t think of a better guy to learn it from.