Posts Tagged ‘visualize’
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Much as been written on the web about waiting years and years for all the elements in a scene to come together for a “once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
That’s all well and good, and sometimes it’s true.
But sometimes a good shot is just dumb luck. Here is an example.
In the above photograph, the five subjects are completely isolated, the side lighting is wonderful, the reflection is perfect, the background is effective in adding to the “sense of place” of the image, the dog adds an extra element of interest, and the exposure is good.
I even like the way the cowboy has his leg slightly lifted, and the way we can see the cowgirl’s silhouette.
Now, I could say that I waited years for a picture like this one. But in fact, it was just a dumb luck shot.
You see, I was co-teaching a workshop in Oregon. One night during dinner, one of the participants said, “Hey, look out the window, there is a great shot.”
We all stopped chowing down, grabbed our cameras, walked out on the porch, grabbed a shot, and went back to eating our pork and beans.
This is one of my favorite dumb luck shots, and dumb luck stories – once of many such stories.
The thing about dumb luck, however, is this: you have to be prepared for when those dumb luck moments present themselves to you. Keeping your camera handy, and knowing how to use it, increases your luck. So does understanding light, compensation, and lenses.
Below is another dumb luck shot. I was just in the right place (Mongolia) at the right time (festival) in the right conditions (overcast and dusty) and in the right location.
Explore the light – and good luck 
Rick
Keep up with Rick and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: learning, prepare, Rick Sammon, Travel Photography, visualize
Posted in Articles, commentary, viewpoint, vision | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I've shot a lot of images from my car over the years, but I have to say that I really don't care for it. Yes, it’s nice that you can drive around and sneak up on your subject. Your camera is supported by the car, so you don’t have to carry your gear over your shoulder. You are sitting in a nice leather chair, with maybe a little snack sitting next to the soft drink in the cup holder.
But for me, it totally limits my style of photography. My camera is five feet off the ground and I have limited background options. I can’t get closer that the car can be parked. This was the situation when I tried to photograph a Long-billed Curlew in a field next to a road. The bird was used to traffic so I felt confident that I could drive up as close as the road would permit. I waited until the evening so the sun would be behind my back (or the back of the car), but when I pulled up, the sun was behind clouds. I fired off a few frames and got the following image.
Nothing too wrong with the image. The bird is nice and sharp. The head angle is good with the bird making eye contact.
I just was not happy with the fact that we are viewing this image from a human perspective. If I was to show an intimate perspective of how all ground birds see each other, then I had to get down to the birds' level. So I had a decision to make. Do I stay in the car and get a bunch of average images, or do I take a risk of scaring the bird off by getting out of the car and try to get down low. My approach to this dilemma is once I get the shots from the car, I then go for the more difficult shot. Most times the bird will flush, but every now and again, it can really work out. Here’s what happened when I tried to do just that.
I opened the car door slowly and made the small leap down into the ditch. So now I’m crouched down in the ditch with no idea if the bird is still there. It was so tempting to pop my head up to see, but this would be the wrong time to do that. If the bird became wary or alert, he would be looking for any movement so I waited a couple of minutes. I finally looked up through some tall grasses and saw the bird still there preening. Yes! I made it this far.
I then slowly pushed my bean bag up onto the field edge and waited another minute before lifting my lens onto the bag. Right at that moment the sun broke out under the low clouds and provided this sweet warm glow to the bird and scene. The bird started calling and would call every 30 seconds. The bird was parallel to the camera plane and the perfect distance form me. Everything seemed to be lining up.
Was this luck? I do know that good planning increases your luck. Taking a risk and going for the more difficult shot can also increase your luck.
All I can really tell you is, sometimes you just have to get out of the car.
Tags: avian, tip, visualize
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip | No Comments »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
 You may have seen Alan Murphy's incredible signature work: beautiful birds on gorgeous perches with uncluttered backgrounds, presented with the elegance of an artist.
But did you know Alan came to this country as a birder?
Growing up surrounded by the beautiful countryside of Ireland and England, Alan developed a love for birds and nature early on. He was a quick study of these birds and upon immigrating to the US in the early 1980's, Alan was thrilled to find many new species to learn about and new habitats to explore. After studying field guides, Alan wanted to capture similar images, and so began his quest to learn photography. Most of Alan's spare time became devoted to chasing the perfect shot. His artistic background cultivated his creative use of perches with uncluttered backgrounds and excellent lighting.
 Spare time was hard to come by, for as Alan was developing his photographic style, he was also starting and developing his own salon business. Today, the Alan Murphy Salon is a leading salon in the Houston area and is consistently ranked among the Top 200 Salons in America by Salon Today magazine.
For most people who straddle two careers, there comes a time when a person must choose one path or another. Several years ago, Alan followed his passion, turned the operation of his salon business over to his manager, and jumped headfirst into photography. Today, all of the talent, drive and ambition that served Alan on several fronts is now channeled into his photography business.
And what a business it is! Alan has speaking engagements throughout the country to photo clubs and birding organizations alike. His audiences are eager to see his images and learn the thought process behind them. Alan schedules intensely focused workshops, and of course, sells his images around the world.
In the last 6 months, Alan has scored cover images for the publications Birding, Birder's World, Wildbird, Bird Watcher's Digest and Wildlife. Now that's productivity!
Perhaps the most sought-after part of Alan's photo business is a spot on his workshops. Alan intentionally keeps his groups very small to insure intense individual instruction as well as consistent backgrounds for shooters. Due to the small group size, Alan's workshops sell out quickly in advance. In fact, for 2010, Alan has only two seats left for a workshop in his favorite location: the Ramirez Ranch in Roma, Texas, running April 12 to 15. You can find more information about that workshop here.
 Workshop participants come from all over the globe to learn the secrets of Alan's set-ups and perches. But if you can't afford the time, travel or cost to attend in person, Alan has unveiled his CD book The Guide to Songbird Set-Up Photography. Years in the making, this CD sheds light on Alan's set-up secrets and thought processes. The CD is full of ideas, tips and tricks you can make use of in your own back yard.
Speaking engagements, cover images, workshops and training CDs. Yes, Alan Murphy is one busy photographer!
You can learn more about and purchase Alan's CD here.
You can learn more about Alan and view his wonderful images at his website and in his blog.
You can learn more about Alan's workshops here.
Editor's note: I had been to the Ramirez Ranch 4 years in a row when Alan asked me to be his assistant on a workshop there last year. I had not planned on going back for a few years, but the chance to work with Alan and to learn his methods was enough for me to head there again. When I saw that Alan limited his group to 4 participants, I asked him if he really needed an assistant for 4 people. His answer was an adamant yes. He wanted to make sure he could be instructing his participants 100% of the time.
Heading back to Roma with Alan was a truly rewarding experience. His level of focus and his professionalism on his workshop was unlike any workshop I had assisted. In addition, I did get to learn some of Alan's techniques, seeing Roma in ways I had not seen before.
If you do get a chance to go on Alan's workshops, I would highly encourage you to do so. I'll be with Alan again this year in Roma, assisting participants and performing my duties as ranch cook and host. Only two spots are left in April. Come join us for good food, intense instruction and of course, incredible images. –Chris Klapheke
Tags: avian, spotlight, visualize
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Monday, November 23rd, 2009
All Rights Reserved
Creativity is a big concept for a photo blog. We spend so much time fighting upgrade fatigue, learning new software, working out new techniques that we often have very little time for creativity. But just taking note that we need to think about creativity isn’t enough. How do we go about it?
Everyone goes about being creative differently. What works for me might not work for you, but I’m going to just share these thoughts on creativity with the hope they will help you concentrate on something other than the next lens you think you want to buy.
For me, creativity is about removing artificial limits. And I think most limits are self-imposed. More precisely, these limits are directly tied to low self-esteem. Now I know you might be thinking, what’s that have to do with creativity? In my experience lots.
We put boxes around ourselves and make decisions that hamper our growth because often, as artists, we don’t really believe in ourselves. How many times have you thought you were just faking it? Or have you ever just assumed that you weren’t good enough? These thoughts murder your creative spirit and you get started on a more creative path when you stop that behavior.
The creative process can start to open up once you just trust yourself. If you empower yourself to try something different and give yourself permission to fail, you become more creative. Don’t make the metrics of success or failure the guidelines by which you proceed. Instead make experimentation, expression and joy the metrics.
The second big point of contact for me is authenticity in my work. If you can start to look at authenticity, rather than originality, you will become more creative. I learned this concept best by listening to John Paul Caponigro. He was talking about other art forms and mentioned that in Asia for instance, artists don’t worry about coming up with something new, they work within an existing form and try to expand it. When I read the photographic forums, the younger photographers seem to beat their chests the loudest and proclaim their creativity simply because they did something “new.” Usually what they did wasn’t new at all, but rather new to them. But it doesn’t matter. Worrying about doing something new ends up stunting creative growth. Being creative does NOT require doing something new. It requires doing something that is authentically your real personal and true vision. If you take away anything from this blog post, I hope it’s that.
Lastly, creativity is about choices. The choices can often be based on a few dynamics like tension, juxtaposition, conflict and resolution. These are good tools in a creative environment. But sometimes, you learn most of your creative ideas from pure experimentation. Free-form music – called jamming often lets musicians come up with their best sounds. Writers use free-association and brainstorming to come up with their best words. Why shouldn’t photographers use their own brand of visual experimentation to find their own visual creativity?
To sum up – if you want to be more creative, start loving yourself enough to give yourself permission to fail. In fact, better yet, don’t even worry about winning or losing. Just DO.
Don’t focus on NEW – focus on authentic. Being original isn’t being new – it’s being you.
And riff. Go out there and jam. Try this and that and then invert it all. Go crazy. Do something you’ve never tried.
I wrote this post as much for myself as I did for you.
     
Tags: Creativity, visualize
Posted in Articles, Creativity | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
by scottbourne
 Copyright 1998 Scott Bourne – All Rights Reserved Did you know that color symbolism plays a big role in everything from religion to culture? Have you stopped to think about the colors in your photos and how they might (or might not) mesh with the subjects you’re photographing?
Let’s look at some primary colors and talk about the mood they help to convey.
Red is a stimulating, engaging color. It denotes action, passion, romance, energy, heat and power.
Blue has the opposite effect of red in many cases. It’s calming, quiet, peaceful and cool.
Yellow is the brightest color of all. It’s very uplifting and cheerful. In some cultures it conveys wisdom. It’s radiant.
Green symbolizes renewal and has some of the qualities of yellow in that it is uplifting. It signifies a new beginning.
How can you use this information? Be mindful of the mood that you’re trying to set. If you want to shoot a lake on an overcast day, during the cold winter, be careful about interjecting something red or yellow into the scene since those are in conflict with the calm mood. Get the idea? Feel free to share other examples in the comments section.
Tags: color, visualize
Posted in Articles, Creativity | No Comments »
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
by scottbourne
 Copyright Scott Bourne 2000 – All Rights Reserved Photography is a two-dimensional pursuit happening in a three-dimensional world. When you see flat, boring, uninspiring photos, this can be just one of the causes. The photographer may not have understood the important relationship between the foreground and the background. You can use this relationship to add interest, change perspective and depth to a photo.
When I’m working a subject, I study the background first. It’s a very important part of any scene. It can be distracting or it can help draw the viewer’s eye to the subject. But beyond those facts, the background can serve as an important linchpin for your foreground.
For instance, if you photograph a wolf on the run in the foreground, it’s very difficult to demonstrate his speed and power if he’s just frozen against a static background. If however, you slow down your shutter speed and pan with the wolf, the background becomes an important element due to the blur created by the pan. The wolf stays relatively sharp against the blur and the blur appears to move across the shot making it easier for the viewer to understand the motion that was involved.
This connection between the foreground and the background is something you might want to think about when demonstrating size, importance, depth, etc.
For example, if you use a very wide angle lens and position it very close to a small foreground object, the foreground object will appear very large in the frame and something as large as a mountain in the background will appear to shrink. This tactic can be used to great effect to tell stories, shift viewer focus, change relationships and add a new dimension to the final photograph.
I could give many more examples, but hopefully you get the idea. Think in layers. Think about how the foreground and the background interplay with each other. My goal here is to get you thinking about the part that the background plays in your images and then – to get you to think about how to combine that with the foreground in such a way as to create more impact in your pictures.
NOTE: If you want to turn this into more of an advanced exercise, take the layering concept to another level by concentrating on the foreground, background and even the middle ground. Trying to add something of interest in all three layers of the photo really adds a sense of being there for the viewer. Exploring the relationship of size, closeness, location and import between the foreground, middleground and background will help make your photos pop.
Tags: background, foreground, tips, visualize
Posted in Quick Tip, tips, vision | No Comments »
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The Dumb Luck Shot
Thursday, July 15th, 2010Much as been written on the web about waiting years and years for all the elements in a scene to come together for a “once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
That’s all well and good, and sometimes it’s true.
But sometimes a good shot is just dumb luck. Here is an example.
In the above photograph, the five subjects are completely isolated, the side lighting is wonderful, the reflection is perfect, the background is effective in adding to the “sense of place” of the image, the dog adds an extra element of interest, and the exposure is good.
I even like the way the cowboy has his leg slightly lifted, and the way we can see the cowgirl’s silhouette.
Now, I could say that I waited years for a picture like this one. But in fact, it was just a dumb luck shot.
You see, I was co-teaching a workshop in Oregon. One night during dinner, one of the participants said, “Hey, look out the window, there is a great shot.”
We all stopped chowing down, grabbed our cameras, walked out on the porch, grabbed a shot, and went back to eating our pork and beans.
This is one of my favorite dumb luck shots, and dumb luck stories – once of many such stories.
The thing about dumb luck, however, is this: you have to be prepared for when those dumb luck moments present themselves to you. Keeping your camera handy, and knowing how to use it, increases your luck. So does understanding light, compensation, and lenses.
Below is another dumb luck shot. I was just in the right place (Mongolia) at the right time (festival) in the right conditions (overcast and dusty) and in the right location.
Explore the light – and good luck
Rick
Keep up with Rick and Juan Pons at the Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: learning, prepare, Rick Sammon, Travel Photography, visualize
Posted in Articles, commentary, viewpoint, vision | 1 Comment »