Composition - The Strongest Way of Seeing

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Edward Weston said, "Composition is the strongest way of seeing."

That's one heck of a strong photography quote - and a photo philosophy that I stress with all my students and readers.

Here is a quick example: the opening picture for this post illustrates strong/creative seeing. The picture below, basically of the same scene, does not. (Both pictures were taken on a glacier in Alaska.)



I have found that if newbie photographers simply slow down and think about composition and balance, they come up with more creative composition. 

Sometimes, getting closer and rearranging subjects/elements in a scene helps - as illustrated below.




This week, make it a point to concentrate on composition. You'll be glad you did.

Composition - the strongest way of seeing, will be my next Kelby Training class.We are shooting the class in July. Follow me on twitter, where I'll be posting updates.

Click here to see a list of all my Kelby Training classes.

Explore the light,
Rick

Guest Blogger David Turner Turns on the Lighting Tips

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Today's guest blogger is my friend, David Turner - one of the awesome instructors at the Hallmark Institute of Photography - where I have given several seminars.

Stay tuned for guest bloggers from time to time. If you are a pro and would like to be a guest blogger, shoot me an email with you idea and a link to you site.

Take it away David!

I recently photographed NFL Safety George Wilson (Buffalo Bills). We started the shoot at his hotel in NYC with a headshot. The lighting always starts with one light. I think of one light like the sun and the most beautiful time of day is sunrise or sunset so I put the light "low in the sky."

So now it’s time to find the sweet spot of the light, a strip light in as close as you can without being in the frame, then adjust up or down or side to side, feathering or sculpting. The key light is always a game of inches and needs constant attention. When the subject’s chin goes up, the light goes up, if he turns to the side, the light goes with him. If the subject turns away from the light it’s worth it for me to stop the shoot and move the light to the other side. 

So now that the front of the picture is good we can balance it with the ambient or set up a second light for the background. In this case the focus of the background light is the back of his neck, creating separation on the brown canvas. Now that the lighting is set, I can concentrate on my real job, directing and getting my subject’s expression to match the mood of the lighting.



The next shot was George leaning in a doorway. Same procedure as before, start with the key light and move it in as close as possible and start sculpting him by bringing the light around to the side creating shadows on his abs and now lowered a little to make it sexy. The front layer is good now. Turn off all the lights in the bathroom and use a blue gel on the background light to give it a night time feel.


This shot in the hallway leading into his room was lit with three strip lights that look like one. This is called shaping the light. It curves around his body and acts as a kicker which you can see on the wall behind him.


We jumped into the Location Van and the first stop was the Guggenheim.  Balancing the strobe with the ambient is the key here. The back layer was in the sun and the front layer needed to match F16 at 1/250th . So with a profoto Acute B2 Air with a silver beauty dish on a painters pole we brought the dish in as close as possible until we saw the sweet spot hit his face then feathered it down to his chest then brought the power up. Not bad for 1 light.
If you would like to see all the shots from this session please visit davidturnerphotography.com

If you would like private instruction, I am teaching this summer at the Maine Media Workshop June 28th to July 2nd. Register for this workshop by Wednesday May 25th.

And at ICP in NYC July 24 and 25.

David Turner
Instructor
Hallmark Institute of Photography
PO Box 308, At the Airport
Turners Falls, MA 01376
413-863-4038 x18   
http://hallmark.edu

Announcing Digital Delray Days 2012 - Digital Photography From Start to Finish


I am happy to announce the launch of my Digital Delray Days – a series of one-day, fast-paced and fun-filled digital photograph workshops in beautiful Delray Beach, Florida.

Here's the scoop:

• Dates: January 30, January 31 and February 2, 2012. (These sessions will be held after my Florida Photo Caravan.)

• I'll be giving a free lecture on the evening of January 30th.  Place and time TBD.

• Each session is one day long: 8 AM to Noon and 1 to 5 PM. The same workshop will be given each day. (Hang out after the workshops for happy hour!)

• I'll be your photography and Photoshop instructor.

• The groups are limited to 8 – for up-close and personal shooting and training with me.

• I'll teach HDR, model, street, outdoor, flash, reflector/diffusers, and beach photography.

• In December, I will review your portfolio on line and give you feedback. I'll need a link.

• We'll have a digital darkroom session, so you'll see how to enhance your images. I will offer some tips, tricks and techniques.



• Cost is $149.

• All meals, hotel and transportation are on your own.

• We'll be based at the Colony Hotel in Delray.

• Skill level: All... but you must know how to find your pictures on your laptop.


You'll need:
• Your camera, lenses and flash.
• Tripod.
• Laptop with card reader.
• Loaded on your laptop (in addition to Lightroom, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements): Photomatix or HDR Efex Pro. Also: Topaz Adjust. For a discount on Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro, see my Creative Plug-ins page.

To learn about HDR photography, check out my iHDR iPad app.


I hope you can join the photo fun in Delray.

If you have any questions, shoot me an email.

For an application, email Susan Sammon.

Explore the light,
Rick


P.S. Here is a behind-the-scenes shot taken in the room where I took the opening pictures for this post. Ahhhhh, the wonders of HDR photography!

Selecting Your Best Photographs Can Be A Challenge

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Several months ago, I set up my first SmugMug gallery. My goal was to select and share my 50 favorite images - from hard drives filled with tens of thousands of images. 

The gallery is just a start. More galleries to come.


Selecting 50 images was not an easy task, but after a few days, I accomplished my goal.

So here's an idea for you. Select your 50 favorite images and set up a gallery or portfolio for all to see. Show off your very best work to the world.

Now, as a personal exercise, list the pictures in order of your favorites. Ahhhhh, the task gets more challenging – because you love each image just as parents like/love all the kids equally.


(As an aside, I can't tell you how many portfolios I have review in which the photographer does not have his or her strongest picture up front. Strong sells. Strong is important. If you are going to have your portfolio reviewed, your strongest image should be your first image.)

Now try this: Write a caption for each image. This process may help you decided on the order of your favorites, or perhaps it might make you delete an image or two. Why? Because if a picture does not tell a story, it might not be worth including.

Of course, the opposite theory is true: all great pictures should be strong enough to stand alone - no caption necessary. 

I'm just putting these ideas out there to help you look at your work more thoughtfully. I was going to say "carefully," but I know you do that already - zooming in a million times on your RAW files to check sharpness, etc. :-)

One more idea on selecting your favorite images: put on some music and enjoy the process. It's fun selecting your best of the best.


• • • 

If you don't have a SmugMug gallery, you can set one up and save 20 percent the first year by clicking here and by using my code: RICKSMUG20.

If you want to set up a SmugMug site and need some help, on-line assistance is available 24/7 with SmugMug's Support Heroes – SmugMug's crown jewels. 

SmugMug has 30 of them around the world (US, Ireland, Germany, Slovenia). Most of them were customers of SmugMug before becoming Support Heroes. Many are pros in their own right, and others are passionate amateurs that do amazing work.  

They all share a love for photography, sharing photos, the internet and helping people. They work nearly around the clock, 365 days a year, nights, weekends, every major holiday. Why? Because that's when SmugMug's customers are uploading photos, using the site, etc.,

Emails to Smugmug (http://smugmug.com/help/emailreal) are typically answered in minutes to an hour or so. You'll always by a real person, a photographer, a professional, a Support Hero.

SmugMug has a group of  heroes that are specialized. They have the additional title of Pro Concierge, and when needed, they provide extra attention to the pros for workflow, color management, getting great prints, post-processing, you name it. 

• • •


Here's a shot that will be in my next SmugMug gallery: Wildlife.

Explore the light,
Rick