Category Archives: Photography talk

Discussions about photography / technical related topics, vision, critique topics, etc.

Important lesson about not missing important photos

When I went to NY to visit this past Thanksgiving, which was just over 2 months ago, at the time I wasn’t thinking this feature photo would have so much riding on it. I went to Allentown PA. as part of my visit for a day, to visit my grandmother. We got her outside and I shot a portrait of her with my old Canon AE1 35mm, had a fresh roll of 100 speed Kodal Ektar loaded in. I didn’t have any lighting or reflectors, nothing fancy, all bare bones. But the point is I made what I had work, and thought to take her portrait. I’ve lost some opportunities in the past that I regret. So I’ve been guilty of it too. People you are around even on a regular basis, you never know if you’ll have another day together in this life. So it’s important to capture the good times on camera of those you appreciate and love. I can look in my old photo albums and see many examples of just that. I think it’s a real shame that some people have gotten away from the print and the album. If you are raising children and don’t have these to show them, and providing photos for them except what is on your phone or computer, as far as I’m concerned, you’re short changing them. If this offends you, it’s intended to. LOL.

I didn’t know that photo would be the last one of Granny I’d ever get. And perhaps no one else has gotten one since then either. So, I’ve lost some, as far as those I wish I’d photographed a little more, or a little sooner. But I feel like I won here by getting this photo. She passed away a little less than a month ago, from short illness. It’s a hard adjustment for the whole family, but we all agree on two things. It’s good that she had 104 years and made each year count. And she didn’t have a long illness and have to suffer, she completed her task here on earth and wants the same for us all. Whether it’s hiring a portrait photographer to capture your family together, or photographing fun shots of your friends yourself, it’s an important investment. Some whine and cry about having to pay a photographer, but if a case like this happens, they later realize how valuable of a purchase it was :) I love capturing stories and memories for my clients, it;s what I do. But I have to remember to do the same with those who are a regular part of my life as well. I hope this inspires all of you to not miss these moments. This photo isn’t just for me to have and enjoy, but is also very valuable to others in the family. You just never know.

Tips for portrait clients to prepare for a photoshoot

There are people who love the camera and immediately shine for it. And others who find it awkward and are uncomfortable with the thought of it, LOL. Many people just don’t think they are photogenic. But I think everyone is in their own way, and perfect looks are not even relevant. Anyone can be an interesting photo subject, with the right photographer who has the right skills. It’s up to the photographer to use the right lighting, angle, lens, composition, etc. to flatter each unique subject. There are many factors that come into play with headshots especially. The shape of the subject’s face, nose, tall or short forehead, hair or lack thereof, and exactly what we want that photograph to say. Whether business or corporate portrait or an individual portrait or headshot, or even family portraits. The fact that there is more that goes into it than aiming and shooting, is exactly why I never understood why some just look for the cheapest person. A well done photograph can also build peoples’ self esteem.

 

One tip I can offer the client, is to take a few minutes each day and practice in the mirror, different expressions, and spell out the vowels with their mouths, saying A E I O U, this works the face muscles and brings out some different energy and expressions. That’s one way to loosen up by the time you get to the studio. In the meantime, it’s good to communicate with your photographer about wardrobe options, etc. Look at the photographer’s work. Is there something about their work that inspires you, and do you see moods you want brought out in your own photos? All things to think about. It’s amazing how sometimes other people notice something unique about a person, more than they even notice it in themselves. Your face can tell a story. Period.

A different spin on maternity photos

There are many ways to do them, but so many I see have been done the same exact way, and that bores me. Many women are anxious to capture this look, with their child in their womb, while others are self conscious about their belly, but it’s a beautiful thing to capture if they can find a photographer to capture the intimate mood and feel that they imagined. When I think of a well done intimate and artistic maternity photo, I think of shadow play and low key lighting, with some brush light to accent the outline of the subject, and a candid mood. Not so much posed or smile for the camera expression. But more rather some implied vanity almost, vulnerability, the husband’s admiration and anticipation, or in this case, the older sibling’s anticipation and excitement.

 

In this particular shoot, it was very candid and a slice of life, as if the mother and daughter were discussing how pregnancy works, etc. And this photo showed the bond between mother and daughter, and it was all about me not leaving a footprint. Natural / reflected window light, and all natural feel. The in home setting and the use of the natural elements to me made this something unique, and beautiful.

Camera capturing what the eye sees?

A while back, I did some mentoring to a student photographer who asked me in frustration, why can’t I bring out in camera what my eye sees? I don’t really have an answer for that, because the more I do it, the more my eye becomes like the camera. And I told her this is where you have to be patient and endure plateaus as well as growth. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Wait…..everyone IS doing it, LOL! But not everyone sticks with it when they realize it’s more work and expense than they thought. This is the crossroads, where you are in it and make a commitment to yourself, or take the easy road and give up. There is no fence to straddle.

She stuck with the conversation. The camera is a mirror and the lens is the eye. So you have every opportunity to capture something in a way you want the audience to see it. The human eye doesn’t have depth of field and focus points, or even apertures the same way the camera does. If you are inside a room, and shoot out the window, the room in the foreground will be underexposed if the outside view is exposed correctly, assuming you use no flash. Or if you use ambient light to meter the exposure for the room, the backlighting will be harsh if you use it in that photo. Fstops are lens openings, the further it opens, the more light it lets in, and you also get shallower depth of field. Also, your eyes have a greater field of view, and what you see with them, you don’t have to control your compositions, as you do when photographing. As a photographer, I see light differently than the average person. I see people differently. Everything I see is how I see the photo being, not the other way around. Trying to get the camera to see things the same way the naked eye does will only bring you frustration. Think like your camera, and the better you can represent your subject matter how you desire.

Photographing boudoir sessions

This article will tell you that anyone can take a picture, but how the mood is captured, and how connected the subject is in the photo is very telling, especially with a more intimate style, otherwise known as boudoir photograph. This is why someone who doesn’t know what they are doing can create discomfort not only within themselves, but also the subject and affect her self confidence. Part of creating a successful photoshoot of any kind is establishing comfort and trust with your subjects, and it can be done quickly. Using light, angle, composition, and capturing strong features the subject has are a large part of the equation. I have discussed this subject with other Nashville area photographer friends, and these are all things we can agree on.

Keeping the mood positive and relaxed is part of it, without being TOO complimentary or vague alike. Keep direction about how they are to move or turn simple and easy to understand. In my opinion, it’s not ok to touch subjects, unless asking first. And even then it’s to help position a shoulder or hand, something that will improve the dynamic of the photograph. I usually only resort to that if I am having difficulty explaining what I want them to do, and it’s better that, than have them frustrated for communication barriers, it keeps the shoot moving. It’s the details that their significant other will love, and that they will treasure themselves. Many people are nervous about photoshoots, and boudoir shoots maybe even more so. Consideration of the client and skill of the photographer can make it a fun experience for them rather than an apprehensive mess. Here, the small of the back and curves into the upper back created an interesting line as the light followed the contours of her body. And the upper vertebrae was a nice touch as the light hit it, and thinking about the overall composition, the presence of her shoulder in that shot made the context better understood in my opinion.

Artistic and natural headshot, how and why

I recently enjoyed an artistic / boudoir photo session with Iggy, a 20 year old art model and fellow artist. The whole concept of this photoshoot was all granola, natural light and little makeup. No muss no fuss. Yet show the beauty of the woman, in all simplicity. Later I will cover the bodyscapes, but now it’s the how’s and why’s of the headshot, and what made it all work as a photograph. We were on her back screened porch working with natural light, was a semi overcast day which was perfect for this type of shoot! I chose this angle and composition to capture her jawline and eyes, and lips in it’s most flattering form. What I was seeing with my eyes was nice soft skin and hair, and so much natural, unabashed beauty in it’s purest, most natural and vulnerable form. Now the challenge was to make the viewer see that, and have their interpretation create the story in their minds. The negative space on the right works for several reasons. The composition plane, it lets her jawline and features be the dominant force in the photo…..and this way, the texture of the background enhances the photo without it being a distraction.

When it comes to texture working with a photo, especially a headshot, subtlety and / or shallow depth of field can be your best ally. The natural light also can work for or against you, which is why I used a reflector, to prevent abrupt light falloff and to provide fill. Also that allowed me to expose the subject without having to overexpose the background to expose the subject properly. My metering point would then be the subject area with reflected light. F2.8, 1/160 shutter and 400 iso, with center point focus between the eyes are the technical end of it. As discussed before in this blog about headshots…..the cropping off the top of her head was not an accident. And it wouldn’t fit in every photograph. But I shot it this way in camera, because my eye was drawn to her facial features. Doing so can help the facial features stand out more.

Recent action and fine art shoot

I had met an artist at several local art shows that we both had been a part of.  Her name is Iggy and definitely has the heart of an artist, and is a joy to collaborate with. We have been talking for a year about working together, and we finally were able to make it happen…..as much as I hate to talk about things and not get them done as fast as I like, I quickly saw there was a reason for the delay that worked in our favor. Sometimes when creating art in a photograph or on canvas, it’s about patience sometimes. Other times it falls into place instantly. We did fine art figure study as well as hula hoop action shots that she needed. She does hula hooping with a team that opens up for different events and wanted some cool action shots different from the snapshots taken of them at actual events.

Here is how everything worked out. I have an old Canon AE1 35mm that had been in my family, and last year my uncle gave it to me. It takes the old FD lens mount all pre EF. It happened that I had Ektar 100 color film in it, and now have a wide angle lens my friend is letting me use with that lens mount. We shot some hula hoop photos with digital but just for fun, I brought out the old film camera and fired off 9 with the 18mm wide angle lens. When Iggy and I looked through them, we both agreed that 3 of the film images were cooler than the digitals. The rest of our shoot was digital and came out wonderful as well. Also, up until a couple months ago i didn’t know about this particular abandoned gas station we shot at. Not that another location couldn’t have worked but it was still an element of these photos.

Older lenses are not UV coated, so me angling the lens slightly composing the edge of the building allowed for some lens flare very easily. I know lens flare can be an overdone fad, and was once considered a flaw in a photo. But it was a cool little detail in this photo….I won’t be overdoing it and following every trend, but I believe each shoot has it’s own unique flair and style. This is a shutter priority camera, so I selected 1/400 shutter speed, and the camera selected F4 if I remember right. With the hi res negative scan a large poster can be made :D

Traveling with film cameras

I recently flew to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday and decided to bring my old Canon AE1 film camera, but was concerned about the safety of the film with the airport security scans. So I researched a little before flying, because I had a half shot roll of Kodak Ektar 100 and a new 400 speed TX black and white, and did not want either damaged. The check in baggage xray scans are stronger than the scanning at security for carry on baggage. The check in baggage scanning will damage film, so any film cameras need to be carried on the plane and not kept in checked baggage. You can ask the security agent at the airport to hand check the camera if the film speed is 800 ASA or higher, but the carry on baggage scan will not hurt any film below that. I believed in safety first and the agent in Nashville on my outbound flight was nice enough to hand check it, whereas the agent in Newark gave me a hard time…..I just said fine than scan it, (asshole! muttered under my breath) lol.On my return flight, I just had them scan it because the airport was such a zoo and it was like 5 AM so my brain was not awake yet.

 

So, sure enough, my film was unharmed. I got to enjoy photographing a few familiar faces and places during my visit, and everything came out fine. This is an impromptu family portrait of my cousin with her kids while in Allentown, PA. visiting our grandmother. By the way, Allentown has a really great farmers market at their fairgrounds!

 

Paying it forward, to those who deserve it!

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting an aspiring photographer downtown at a coffee shop to talk photography after getting acquainted on wedding wire pro forums. She asked for critique on her website as well as photography in general. I respond to those requests whenever I can, but I find that most of the people who ask, really don’t want to hear the honest answer. Which is a huge strike against them that they will ever make it in any realm of professional photography. I have only been using that forum for a few months but it’s been good because there are all different types of wedding professionals and photographers. Out of all the critique requests I have seen and responded to there, hers and one other were the only ones who really meant it when they asked for critique. Critique is a valuable part of what we do, and those too defensive and pig headed to listen to those more experienced are only limiting themselves. This girl really wanted to learn and took the critiques from everyone like a champ, which won her a lot of respect from me and her other peers. I shared in one posting that I was thinking of learning Spanish and she offered to assist on any jobs where I needed a fluent Spanish speaker, so we talked more and I agreed to meet up with her to talk shop.

 

I asked her to bring a print book, laptop, or tablet with 10 of her best images and we’d critique in detail. One image in particular I told her needed to be her benchmark, because it was really good…..nice intimacy between the couple, nice black and white tones, and nice composition. At this stage, she is working on developing her style and keeping consistent in the quality of work….well with the others I noticed that attention to detail in the background or foreground which distracted from the subject affected the images. She had a pretty good understanding of composition which is a basic fundamental of photography…..so it was nice to see she cared about a core mechanical aspect. And she didn’t have the fix it in Photoshop attitude, she really wants to be a photographer and not some modern day hack with no regard to the craft that many people love. We discussed use of light and color temperature, composition, and looking what is around the subject (like tree behind someone’s head, lol). Hopefully those couple hours on the outdoor patio of Panera Bread downtown Nashville, will give her food for thought in future shoots.

 

I don’t look at it like creating competition…..but rather creating education for those who really have a passion for their craft, and not just those who say they do. Educated photographers mean educated clients. That makes our industry a better place. People have helped me, it’s only right for me to share something valuable with others, I really believe it pays off in the long run. As long as someone really wants to learn, I don’t mind helping them. I learn in the process and remind myself of key elements for my own photoshoots. None of us are ever done learning. To get help from pros, the moral of this story is to be teachable first. Listen now, talk later. Listen to everything, use what helps.

 

 

Words from my photographer friend about being photographed

Actually I started out asking my fellow photographer friend, Marty Copley if it was ok with him and his fiance for me to write a blog article about not only their engagement session I photographed with them, but also a little clarification about the history of the formation of their relationship. I may have been half asleep when I messaged him asking this in a Facebook message. So he took it to mean I wanted him to write a blog article about those subjects, but it all worked out great, because this gives an inside perspective directly from them! I will share this, in his words from this point forward.

First comes love, second comes marriage etcetera, etcetera.  Well, not really if you’re lucky, an engagement falls in there somewhere. At least that’s how it happened for me.I met my fiancée’ out of the blue and it was what you might call a whirlwind romance.  Within a week of meeting her, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving her.  She’s about as perfect for me as I could have ever prayed for.  In less than months, I bought the ring, she accepted, we were engaged and had the wedding date set for November of 2012.    So, in my world it’s more like ‘First comes love, then comes ring, then engagement pictures, then comes wedding pictures’ –But I’m a photographer.  –now, I’m also a fiancée’.

 
Guess what, my fiancée’ wanted pictures to document our engagement in pictures.  Did I mention that I’m a photographer?  I don’t like having my picture taken.  Go figure.  That’s how it all began.
I’ve known Jay Farrell for several years now; we respect each others’ work. Have met multiple times for lunch and swapped war stories and bragging rights and the like about this or that job or session and how we might make it better next time..  Well, having your picture taken is a serious undertaking when it’s as important as your engagement and more importantly; when it’s your wedding and finding the perfect fit in a photographer is paramount to documenting the memories that you will want to remember for a lifetime.

 
My fiancée had seen Jay’s work from our interaction on Facebook and subsequently, his website and she became a fan, and I wasn’t even jealous.  So when she suggested I talk with him about shooting our engagement session and he accepted the assignment of photographing another photographer, I was as excited as I could get about the ‘ordeal’
We met with Jay and shared ideas and concepts, which is something I always prefer to do myself before a session, and I would urge anyone to do as well when selecting their own photographer.  We came up with a few great concepts and set the date and prayed the weather would cooperate.  It did.

 
On the day of the shoot we met and went over the larger details and left the rest to timing and skill.  Through the session I have to say Jay was great.  Almost as great as I would have been! (just kidding, Jay) He was as professional as he was cordial, if not jovial!  His personality and professionalism accomplished the one thing that I try to succeed in myself, make yourself invisible, make your shots one of a kind, make the memories that the client will want to hold on to for a lifetime. Jay came through with flying colors and I didn’t ‘hate’ the experience as I had expected. I actually enjoyed it, and to my surprise, I was actually looking forward to seeing the proofs.  Honestly, I was almost as excited as my fiancée.  And that was pretty surprising to me! The proofs arrived in short order, and I was beyond pleased.  So, when Jay asked me to write something about my experience shooting with him, I was happy to do so.  And in short, what you have read is my personal account of my experience with Jay Farrell and I couldn’t give anyone a better recommendation.  If you can’t book me, you GOTTA go with Jay or you may well regret it!  Do it and you will not be disappointed?
~Marty Wayne – website www.copleyphotography.com
p.s. Stay tuned to the upcoming wedding because Jay is the only one I would trust to photography my wedding since my fiancée won’t let me multi-task.