Just as revisiting your previous work to see if it can be improved is good, so is revisiting favorite subject matter or places. With the wealth of subject matter and locations that most of us have access to, there is a huge urge to not revisit something or someplace we have already worked but to constantly try for something new. In a previous tip we discussed the value in revisiting our images or artworks and reconsidering the direction we took in the light of further experience and growth. We can and should extend this. Throughout the history of art, many artists have revisited the same subject matter over and over again. It might be a favorite place, subject or topic. Recurrent topics can be the self-portrait, a favorite landscape location, the same type … Read entire article »

As photographers and artists we are usually focused on the individual image or work. This is fine, as far as it goes. Indeed it is necessary for creating that stunning image. But it is not the only option. We rarely use images by themselves. In an article there will be several, in a book a lot and in an exhibition many. So while as photographers or artists we often think about the single image, we will commonly use them in collections. A collection of images or art works can just be a collection of images. But this would be to miss out on some of the real power that is possible in a body of work. And that last phrase is the key to getting more out of your images. You can … Read entire article »

Avoiding stagnation in your creativity is an ongoing task. It is very easy to settle into a rut. This is a normal but regrettable state of affairs. It is regrettable because it is so easy to do and so many ideas in our culture teach us that stability is good. Stability, perhaps yes, but stagnation no. This needs to be shaken up on a regular basis if you want to progress as a photographer. Try varying at least one thing about the way you shoot, from the lens to the subject matter, at least once a week or month. This will keep you fresh and whilst you may never want to continue an approach you try this way, you will at least have gained more experience. Plus, you never know, you … Read entire article »

It is hard to judge our images completely when we only examine them on screen. Especially since the arrival of digital, many of us do not print images as much as we used to. Images look different in print than they do on the screen. You can gain a different perspective. The key to the value of prints lies in the resolution. With any camera above around 2MP, if you view the full image on screen you will not be seeing the actual pixels, but rather a scaled down version. With higher resolution cameras you may only be seeing a full image at 16 to 20% of real size. It is not possible to judge anything like detail, sharpness or focus from such a reduced size image. This means that you must … Read entire article »

The way SLRs are being sold today may not be doing your photography any favors. Fix this by the purchase of one extra lens. Today when you buy an SLR, whether analog or digital, it either is a body only or it comes with a zoom lens. Kits zooms are usually ok lenses but with oe major limitation, a fairly small widest aperture. When I started in photography the lens that came with a 35mm SLR was a 50mm, usually f1.8 lens. Digital cameras are, in general, prone to making it hard to use one of the great techniques of photography, shallow depth of field. While the field of view may be narrower by the multiplication factor if the sensor is smaller than the 35mm frame, the depth of field is a … Read entire article »

There is no point shooting a lot if you never analyze what you have done. The process that should go hand-in-hand with shooting more is analyzing more. Analyze more means to bring more conscious consideration to all the images you look at, both yours and other people’s, and to setting aside the time to actually go through your own work with a careful eye. This ties in with our previous tip on Reconsideration is Good about the value in going through your old images and reconsidering your reactions to them, but extends it to ensure that you not only shoot a lot but sit down and have a good look at what you have done. This allows you time to examine your results, see what is working and what is not and … Read entire article »

Ideas of natural talent are being overturned by a focus on practice. Practice makes perfect. Like many skills, photography requires practice, practice and more practice. Recent research is presenting a convincing case that our old ideas about some people possessing natural talent and genius are wrong. Sure, people may have a natural predisposition in certain directions, such as strong visual skills, but hard work and practice are what makes for success, not just relying on the natural talent. All the evidence is showing that people with some natural talent will not reach their full potential, or even a tiny portion of it, if they do not practice and develop these talents. Likewise, the evidence is showing that even people with no outward signs of extraordinary talent can perform at the highest … Read entire article »

Other people’s reviews can assist you when making a purchase decision. But once you have your gear, you need to do your own testing. Reading the manuals is only the first step of getting the most from your camera gear, you have to become familiar with how it actual works in practice. This means playing with it every chance you get. That’s right, play. Life should be enjoyable and photography in particular. Here, the value of play is getting to know your gear and making your interactions with it and its controls automatic. You must test your gear for yourself so that you get to know all its idiosyncratic aspects. Make sure you test the following aspects: What ISO setting becomes too noisy for your general shooting? What ISO setting can you accept … Read entire article »

Clean images are not always what we want. So let’s dirty up your photography. If you think back to analogue photography, we often made use of very grainy film, soft focus, blur or rough forms of printing to create a particular look. There is no reason not to do the same with digital.  There are lots of ways we can get down and dirty with digital photography. The obvious areas are in terms of resolution, lens, processing and printing. We don’t always need to shoot at the highest of resolutions. Lower resolution images blown up larger than theory suggests will have their own look, their own structure. You can take this to a great extreme and blow up so large that the pixel structure becomes a core part of the work. Alternatively … Read entire article »

Where people are looking in your images offers you another level of control. We are very sensitive to where people are looking. Consider how disturbing it is when you are talking to someone and they look away from you. We are very keyed into people’s eyes and we can use this in our photography. One of the things we can try to control with an image is how the viewer’s eyes travel around the image (we’ll cover this in a much longer article on the site soon). If you shoot people then where they are looking is very important. A subject looking straight at the camera can be very striking. When the subject (or subjects) is not looking at the camera but elsewhere, the direction they are looking creates a major line in … Read entire article »

Optimal growth and development occurs when you are outside your comfort zone. The concept of a comfort zone is a useful one. Your comfort zone encompasses everything you already know, can do readily, people and places you know, and such. When we are within our comfort zone we are, as it goes, comfortable. It is a nice place to be, except when you are trying to develop. Outside of your comfort zone is everything you do not feel comfortable doing, techniques you do not happily use, aesthetics you do not like, as well everything you do not already know, understand and have integrated into yourself. If you are interested in growth and development, whether artistically, photographically, in business or in your personal life, you need to step outside of your comfort zone. By … Read entire article »

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by choice that we actually do nothing. There is a fix to this. Choice is a wonderful thing, it is the freedom we crave and so many in the world do not have. Yet choice can be a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to creativity. Whether we are a photographer or a digital artist, most of us are presented with so much choice. We have a range of lenses to use, and even a substantial choice of focal lengths with just one zoom lens, exposure options, processing techniques, subject matter and much more. This can be great. But if you are like me, there will be times when you are overwhelmed by this choice. Where do I go, what camera and lenses do I take, what … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 6 Photography, along with other art forms, has so-called rules: rules of composition, color theory, and so on. Rather than being called rules, they really should be called principles. Part of our growth as an artist is to know these principles. Study of composition: ideas of rhythm, mass, line, form, contrast, repetition and position is a core part of our education. Likewise color theory and ideas of symbolism is color are important. We all know of the rule of thirds, but there is benefit in knowing how this is merely a simplification of ideas of sacred geometry and the golden section. All these and more should be part of your study, not just in the beginning of your creative path, but throughout it as we all forget and … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 5 For many of us there is such a rush to new creation of images that we do not reconsider our old ones. Especially for those shooting digital, but even for film users, there is a perpetual focus on our latest images. We may do a lot of work on an image but then put it away as we move on to the latest work. We may also shoot so much that an individual image gets dismissed in comparison to more obviously strong images, and left untouched. The history of photography has shown some photographers who, rather than doing this, develop a lifelong relationship with an image. They come back to it time and time again, re-evaluating, re-considering and re-working an image. Over time, such an image relationship builds … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 4 When you shoot off-tripod, just how flexible are you? Shooting on tripod is for when you want to really work, carefully, a single position for a while. Shooting off tripod allows us huge freedom of movement, yet many of us do not make as much use of this as possible. Apart from photographers with mobility issues, the rest of us should be using this freedom to move around, up and down, bobbing and weaving like the best of boxers until we find the particular position to shoot from, shoot and then do the same exploration again. Shooting off tripod is the freedom to move. Shoot verticals and horizontals (portrait and landscape orientation), squat down and slowly rise up to full height to see how altitude affects the shot, … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 3 Most of us do not use a tripod anywhere near as often as we should. But this oversight is easy to correct. Tripods have other benefits than just supporting the camera in very low light. They can help to make images sharper even at hand holdable shutter speeds, take some pressure off of your arms and aid with controlled motions, like panning. One of the biggest benefits of using a tripod is that it slows your shooting down and allows you to setup a shot, step back and consider the camera in context with the scene and then shoot with consideration. The fact that you can lock the exact position and then consider, adjust, reconsider, and so on as much as you want gives you a huge … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 2 You cannot create photography (or any other form of art) for a fictional, ideal customer or buyer. You can only create for yourself. Now obviously if you are shooting commercial photography for a client you must please the client. That is a different situation and shooting to please the client is a core part of the job.  And a job it is in that situation. But when you are creating images with no single, definite customer in mind, you need to concentrate on only pleasing yourself. This is especially true of the fine art photographer and the hobbyist. Why is this? Because one of the keys to creating strong work is maintaining the integrity of your images. You can’t do this if you are second guessing yourself and … Read entire article »

ImageMaker photography tip number 1 Shoot what you love and what you hate. Anything you are ambivalent about, leave. Emotions are powerful and two of the strongest are love and hate. When you are passionate about something your emotions will be strong. The strong emotion you have (either way, love or hate) will eventually lead you to stronger images. When we have wishy-washy feelings about a subject we risk creating wishy-washy images. We also want our viewers to have a strong reaction to our images. Love the images is great. Hate the images with a passion is also great, because we have made a lasting impression. If you are building a reputation in your photography, effectively branding yourself, awareness of your name is important. All the people who hates Andre Serrano’s ‘Piss Christ’ … Read entire article »