I’ve been reading this book by Bruce Barnbaum called “The Art of Photography”. The sub-title is more revealing; “An Approach to Personal Expression.” WOW! How many of you have actually considered the idea that photography can be a form of personal expression? I’m not talking about taking snapshots of things that you think are cool. I’m talking about using the medium of photography to express yourself…..and I mean YOURSELF! The more I thought about this idea, the more I came to realize that in the end, photography is a language. Just like any language, it has its own rules of grammar (exposure, depth of field, motion blur, etc), but those rules are NOT communicating anything by themselves. As photographers, we need to use those rules to actually SAY something. Therein lies the rub.
I Shot My Cat
No, not with a gun. I must’ve shot over 500 failed frames trying to take decent photo of my cat, Sweet Pea (yea, Sweet Pea….wanna make something of it?). Why is this so hard? Well, she’s a black cat for one. Black does not reflect light very well, as all you photographers know all too well. Plus, try to get a cat to sit still long enough to compose a decent shot. Go ahead…..I’ll wait. Yea, see? Well, I FINALLY DID IT!!!!!
Don’t Laugh at Point & Shoots!
I’ve been really concentrating on getting better at lighting my subjects. As a matter of fact, that subject has been consuming me. So on a recent Saturday I took a break and went to see a good friend and his daughter perform at a “caberet” style event…..he on piano a and his daughter singing. I thought of taking my Canon 5D full-frame camera, a speedlight, a shoot-through umbrella, and a light stand. This is a pretty light and easy-to-use setup, so it seemed like a no-brainer. But wait! I hadn’t seen my friend and his family for a long time, and I started thinking, “Do I REALLY want to turn this into a shooting session?”
Off-Camera Flash
Lately I’ve been practicing lighting technique, using one to three speedlights. I’m gonna attempt to give y’all the skinny on beginning flash photography, and especially why it’s almost never a good idea to slam your subject with a direct flash that is on the same axis as the lens; i.e. straight in their face. I’ll take you through a few setups, and hopefully clear up some confusion along the way. (more…)
Creativity
Do you feel that you aren’t creative? Do you get intimidated by those who you feel are more “creative” than you? I think we all feel that way at times. I know that for myself, months can go by when I feel absolutely bone-dry of any creative energy. Sometimes I feel the pressure of expectations, both from myself and others. Boy I hate when I do that! Well, I have the answer…because I know where creativity comes from and I know how to get it. This will be a short post because the answer is really simple. In fact, as adults we are almost completely unaware of how simple it is. (more…)
