PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY.com

As photographers, it’s easy to forget that painters have been doing this a lot longer than we have. And by “this” I mean making images.

But it’s always worth examining the techniques of master painters because some of what they do — arguably even a lot of what they do — is directly transferable to the medium of photography.

The beautiful painting I’m featuring here is the work of an outstanding Vietnamese painter named Dao Hai Phong. His paintings have a very unique and beautiful style and if you’d like to see more of you can check it out here. I highly recommend that you do.

Dao is known for his bold use of colors and it’s exactly that which prompts me to write about him here. I have written before about the power of using color in your photographs. And I don’t just mean shooting in color. I mean using color.

I could go off into a long elaboration about color theory here. And certainly there are many resources on the Web if you want to learn more about it. But the bottom line is that colors are like people. You meet one, and it’s sure to introduce you to another. And some get your attention before others.

Why is this important? Because in any photographic composition, just as in any painting, the human eye will be drawn to certain colors first. Take a look at Dao’s beautiful painting above. Where does your eye go first? Continue Reading »

Popularity: 44% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’ve never quite understood how “shooting” became the verb of choice for photography. I shoot hoops. I shoot pool. I shoot a gun (well, I don’t but obviously some do). Since every one of those activities involves some sort of propelled object, the word shooting just doesn’t seem to describe what we do with cameras very well.

But enough semantics… because at least with one type of photography, the word “shooting” does come close: when we shoot through stuff! And it’s something I’ve been doing a lot of lately.

What I’m talking about is placing some sort of object between your camera and your subject - either partly or completely covering your subject depending on the degree of transparency of the barrier. In the two images I’m including in this post, you can see what I mean. I shot the image above of a Vietnamese woman working a traditional weaving machine at the annual Smithsonian Folk Life Festival on the Mall in Washington, D.C. If you’ve never been to that festival, it’s worth trying to time your visit to Washington around it, since it’s right on the mall and a lot of fun, and you can still easily get to the museums and monuments.

Anyway, a number of photographers positioned themselves around this woman but as far as I know I was the only one to position myself behind the machine where a clear shot of her would be impossible. But a clear shot was not my intent. I wanted foreground. I wanted depth. And I wanted a degree of mystery, which I think this photograph captures.

In this second image, an otherwise straightforward portrait, a semi-transparent curtain hung between my camera and the model. Again, I think it adds a great deal of mystery and lifts the portrait above the norm.

What are the risks when you want to make images like these with your camera? Continue Reading »

Popularity: 55% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’ve been away on vacation so I apologize for the lack of posts the last week or so. But I’m back, energized, and ready to go.

Some time back I brought up the issue of individual style when it comes to photography. I pointed out the advantages of developing a style of your own, including marketability. But, I confessed, I am not certain I have ever quite been able to develop what I would call a style (although friends and family disagree).

What’s interesting is just how many of you feel that a photographic style is a must. In a poll I posted, results showed that half of you feel style is essential to a photographer. A little more than a third of you “never worry about it.” And 15% say style is only important if you’re a professional photographer (presumably for the marketing issue I described).

There are several articles about photographic style on the web. One I found interesting was at Luminous Landscape, which includes an interesting quote from the late, great Ernst Haas.

“Style has no formula, but it has a secret key. It is the extension of your personality,” Haas said.

Until I read that quote, it hadn’t actually occurred to me that I may have a style after all. As a journalist for nearly twenty five years, I’ve found that I tend to gravitate toward photographs that tell a story. I certainly don’t limit my shooting to that, but the attraction is there nonetheless.

Is that a style? I think it is.

Certainly I am constantly reminded by viewing the work of other photographers that style can be a very personal expression. Sometimes it is achieved through the medium - perhaps the method of printing such as Cibachrome or some other. Perhaps it is defined by the lens we prefer. Or the camera itself. More often, real style comes through the lens every time a we pick up a camera and points the lens. The basic choice of where we point that camera helps define our style, whether we are aware of it or not.

And that touches on an interesting point made by reader Roger Kingston during my last post on this subject. Roger wrote “the idea of developing a personal style is putting the cart before the horse. We don’t develop a style; we discover it (or not) in the process of making photographs and carefully looking at and thinking about them, and living our life. A personal style comes much more out of who we are than what we do.”

Pretty interesting idea, and I think Roger is right. Although I do think it would be a mistake to think that style emerges solely out of a pristine zen-like state (and Roger certainly doesn’t argue that). There is at least some element of personal choice involved.

And to me… that choice is one more reason I love picking up my camera.

Popularity: 32% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed!