Photographer or Educator

Stanley teaching lighting to students in YWAM School of Photography in Kona, Hawaii.  Photo by Dennis Fahringer

The first 20 years of my career I worked on staff of a communication team. I started first working in newspapers where we had a daily deadline. I then went to work for a magazine where we covered similar stories that I worked on in newspapers but our deadline was monthly.

I then worked for a university where we had weekly newspaper and a few magazines that I shot stories.  I was juggling many different deadlines those days.

Everyone I worked with on those publications was a professional communicator. While some were more word people and others more visual, together we were all trying to tell stories in ways that were compelling and drew our audience into the story.

Today, I work mainly with business people who are not professional communicators. There is a major difference in the conversations than with the professional communicators.

Defining the project

Working on a newspaper, I always knew what the story was about before I showed up to cover it. I knew when I was sent to cover a hard news story like a fire that I was to capture the who, what, where, when, why and how parts of the story. Also, it was running in the newspaper the following day.

I had to have one photo that could tell most of the story, because often that was the only space available. I was always shooting every assignment like a photo story, so if they had room they could use more photos to tell the story.

When I get a phone call or email requesting my services from a businessperson rarely is the project defined as it was when I worked in the media.

Questions for the client (sample)

What do you need covered?
What is the goal and purpose of the photos?
Where will these photos be used?
What is the feel/mood you are going for with the project?
Where and when will this take place?
What do you need from me as a deliverable?
When is your deadline?
What is your budget?
Who is my contact?
Who do I send the invoice to?

My goal is to get on the same page with the client. Often they are not sure of what they need and looking to me for some direction.

Educating the client

Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance. 
Anthony J. D’Angelo 

This is not when you tell the client what you do and what they need to give to you, this is more about asking questions which help you and the client move towards the goal.

I am helping the client understand everything we need from them to make photos that not only they will be pleased with, but most likely have a good chance to be in my portfolio.

It is not being a photographer or educator, it is being both that leads to success.

After I establish what they would like ideally, I now must help them know what I need from them to help accomplish this goal.

I would call all this information gathering part of the Pre-Production part of the project. Sometimes this can be done very quickly in a five-minute phone call or other times we need a few meetings with a team to make it work.

What I am trying to establish before the work begins is a storyboard. I want to have in my mind what the finished product should look like. Sometimes we actually create a storyboard of a few images. I always have the picture in mind of what we are shooting for, before I take on the project.

It is very easy to take a storyboard and then work backwards to establish everything we need to make it work. We work out who will be in the photos. We work out what they should be wearing. We also establish what props and location we will use. We decide on the best time to do the photography.

We also know all the places we plan to use the photos, so we can be sure the files that are created digitally will work for each of those mediums, whether it is for web, print, billboards or video for example. Each of these will help us determine things like to shoot vertically or horizontal. Sometimes we need both and so we are prepared to shoot it both ways.

At the end of the Pre-Production process the photographer and client know all their roles. Who is responsible for being sure everything is in place.

Seeing is believing


Photographs are the most reliable, the most correct recording means, and therefore they become the most important aid in educating and obtaining instruction. – Benjamin Stone

I am always shocked at how many visual people fail to show their clients examples of what they are talking about. Go to your meeting with a few examples ready.

Send the clients examples after a meeting if a new idea or direction is taken that you were not prepared to have examples for at the time.

You need to build a small database of examples that could be on your laptop or iPad ready to show. The key is to have some sort of a way to put your finger on them quickly.

I have a document with links to all my videos and multimedia for example.  I also have a database which I can pull up a thumbnail of everything I have shot. I can search this pretty quickly to have examples in a meeting.

Conflict resolution

The first few jobs you do most likely you will forget to ask a question. This is where you will have to decide if you messed up. If you did then you may have to eat some costs to make it right with the client.

The best way to avoid these conflicts is to work with a mentor who can help revue your estimates. The best place to find someone like this is through a professional organization. I have bounced many of my estimates off of other American Society of Media Photographers (www.asmp.org) through the years.

You will get a client sooner or later that will push you to your limits. Some of these clients feel they have done their job when they have maximized the relationship with you on the project.

When they start making changes you can easily stop and listen to their request. Learn to say, “I am more than happy to make these changes for you. In order to meet your request I must _________________. Let me make the changes here to the estimate and have you sign off on this and lets make it happen.”

Sometimes I have to say that in order to just pop in and make a picture means that I may not have time to do the rest of the photos on our schedule. Sometimes I am saying this is additional work and I need to charge for that service.

The key to resolving the conflict is to articulate the situation and ask them what they would like to do going forward. You are letting them know how you are willing to resolve the issue and then they get to choose. Often the choice is a yes or no to making the changes.

Questionnaire

I recommend you creating a questionnaire that you have by the phone or something you could email to the client even to fill out. This is very important to ask all the right questions or you may have to be eating some costs later.

Today I have done this so many times that I am not even aware I am going through my list of questions. The conversation with the client feels like a conversation more than me filling out a form.

I am taking notes that I will refer to throughout our conversation and use later to help create my estimate.

Are you ready for the phone to ring?

Key to good photos: Point your camera in a different direction

You go to an event and if you are like everyone in the photo above you are all pointing your cameras in the same direction and at the same time.

By all means still get the “obvious shot.” What I want to encourage you to do is look beyond the main stage of an event.

Before this middle school orchestra concert all the students arrive early to get their instruments tuned.  Here I went to the area they were tuning and got really close.

Seth Gamba is the music teacher and the last time I saw someone tuning something like he is doing was early in my career. I watched the NASCAR pit crew use a screwdriver touching the block of a running engine to tune it by adjusting the timing.

Doesn’t this photo make you want to know what he is doing.  This is quite different than the obvious conducting shot.

Warming Up

While the students are getting their instruments tuned and warmed up, I roamed around and got in close for some photos that you have to look really close to see if this is the performance or practice.

All the photos above are taken before the performance. Occasionally you can see in the background things that wouldn’t be going on in the performance.  But look at how many look like a performance shot.

The hardest part during the performance is getting a good photo due to the angles you are limited to. Hey before hand I am walking all through the orchestra and taking photos.  Can’t do that during the performance.

During the Performance

One of the things that I notice in the performance shots is the musicians are looking for the conductor as compared to before he wasn’t around.

What will the 8×10 look like?

I get a kick out of seeing the iPad being used as a camera. I keep seeing and and thinking they are already seeing the finished 8×10 print.

But how did it sound?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXkTB170_1Q]
Dorie Griggs, my wife, operated the video camera from the bleachers while I was down front shooting. If you have read this far you might as well enjoy hearing them play. By the way my daughter does the first “scream” in the performance.

Color correction

I used the ExpoDisc to get a custom white balance for the best skin tones.  Here is another blog post on how I use it. 

Sports Photography: High Speed Flash vs No Flash

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12,800,  ƒ/5.6, 1/400 — Flashes used (4) Alienbees B1600 with  11″ long throw reflectors with PocketWizard Plus II receivers and being triggered by the PocketWizard Mini TT1.

High Speed Flash vs No Flash

In the photo above I used a flash with an output just about the same output as the existing light.

This is the histogram for the above photo.

Nikon D4, 120-300mm, ISO 11,400,  ƒ/2.8, 1/1000

Here is another photo where strobes were not used. I had to change to a faster lens and used a faster shutter speed.

This is the histogram for the second photo.  There are two things I notice that are different.  First of all the shadows in the available light photo have less information as compared to the photo using flash. Second the entire dynamic range appears greater with the flash, which results in less noise in the photo.

ISO 25,600

I wanted to just see what the Nikon D4 looked like at 25,600 without strobes.  Here is that result.  I am showing the same player so there is little variation as possible except for ISO.

Nikon D4, 120-300mm, ISO 25,600,  ƒ/4, 1/1250

Here is the histogram for ISO 25,600

Color Temperature

The ability of a camera to reproduce color accurately depends a great deal upon the color space with which the object is photographed.  The dynamic range of color is the greatest with Daylight or 5500º Kelvin. As you move away from this color temperature to the sodium vapor lights in this gym that are 3700º Kelvin and then must add 27+ magenta to color correct this to get a neutral grey the color space actually shrinks.  The dynamic range is less.

For the most accurate color if we had used only the strobes and no ambient light at all the color would have been the most accurate. Also, I could not have bounced the flashes off the ceiling, but would have to point them straight at the volleyball players. You see the flash that is bounced will have a color shift of whatever it bounces off. If the ceiling was red then there would be a red tent to the light.

Setup

Here is a photo of one of the four Alienbees B1600 with the 11″ long throw reflectors. You can also see the PocketWizard Plus II used to trigger the flash. I dialed down the flash output to 1/8 power. Again with todays full framed high ISO camera chips the results are quite acceptable and the flash is less disturbing to those in the room.

This is a wider shot of the room where you can see the results of all four strobes going off.

This is the histogram for the overall shot above.

Here is that same angle with no flashes.

This is the histogram for the available light photo.

One last comparison

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12,800,  ƒ/5.6, 1/400 — Flashes used 
Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12,800,  ƒ/5.6, 1/400 — No Flash

High Speed Flash Sync

You may have noticed that the flash shots were done with studio strobes and syncing faster than the 1/250 sync speed for the Nikon D4.  How did I do that?

Here is an explanation from the PocketWizard website.

PocketWizard’s HyperSync™ feature throws x-sync out the window, allowing never before possible shutter speeds with full power flash – any full power flash.  With some camera and flash combinations even 1/8000th second is possible.   (Alienbees with the Nikon would only sync up to 1/400)

HyperSync is simply the ControlTL® system’s unique ability to adjust the timing of the flash burst so that you can use as much of the light output as possible as the shutter opening passes over your sensor.  With the systems “through-the-shoe” communication, a ControlTL transmitter with HyperSync can automatically detect the camera type connected to it as well as the shutter speed. Read more …

Photography requires pursuit of zero-tolerance

Team RV performing at the Peachtree Dekalb Airport’s Good Neighbor Day Airshow

Core essentials to success:

1. Be honest and truthful
2. Deliver on your promises
3. Stay customer focused

Most people dislike salespeople who waste their time. Not being prepared with something of value and a purpose can make it more and more difficult for you to get appointments.

If you have done your homework you will be able to leverage the customers resources from within their organization.  To do this you must know their goals and objectives.

Just imagine starting your meeting with after studying your website and some of your companies materials I understand your purpose to be …  You can ask them if this is a good assessment. If you have done your homework you know you are on target.

I want to propose something today that will help you achieve this goal.  What I am proposing will help you and this is how it will benefit you.

If the customer decides to do business with you and you deliver as you have promised, you will be able to leverage this experience to get more business.  You are proving your trustworthiness.

Overtime you will build a reputation to get more customers, but also raise your awareness with your competition.

Zero-Tolerance

Every year 32 NFL teams compete for the Super Bowl Championship. All of these teams have the best football players they could find.

Last year the NY Giants did something different than other teams had done in the past. They brought in consultants who were not football players to help them win.

Team RV, the world’s largest air show team, provides an exciting and memorable performance that combines precision formation flying and formation aerobatics.

Afterburner the global leader in Flawless Execution℠, offers three strategic quality management solutions – Equip, Embed, and Empower, a set of business process improvement principles inspired by elite military professionals and military fighter pilots that revolutionize the way you look at and do business in today’s fast-paced environment. They took their fighter pilot training and helped the NY Giants understand it isn’t about trick plays or new plays, it is about executing the plays flawlessly that will set you apart.

Many photographers I know are very much like their NFL counterparts.  They continuously are working on their skills to improve them. Just like some of the NFL teams that never are making it to the Super Bowl are photographers who are a struggling franchise.

Last year’s Super Bowl Champions are put under the microscope of all the other teams. They look for things to copy and look for weaknesses to exploit.

When you do things right it doesn’t become easier, sometimes it becomes harder.

Very Old Example

Many years ago there was this guy that rose to be one of the greatest leaders of all time.

Here are some of the things he did:

1. Healthy Diet—As a very young boy he was eating very healthy and avoiding junk food.
2. Remained pure and spotless—He was a gentleman all his life
3. Knowledgeable and easy to understand—he was well educated and also was an excellent communicator
4. Servant’s Heart—lifted up others around him

The political leaders of the day found out about his skills and had him as part of their leadership team.

He rose to such prominence that it infuriated many who wanted that power. These people spread rumors. They told lies about him in order to tear him down so they could get his job.

He was fired and thrown in jail for things he never did.

He would get out of this situation and rise again to the leadership teams only to have this happen again and again.

The reason he continued to rise is he didn’t become vengeful.  He continued to be honest and truthful. He delivered on his promises and he was focused on being a servant.

By the way the name of this guy was Daniel and you can find him in the Bible.
The men chosen to serve the king were …

“in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace.” (Daniel 1:4)

The US Army Silver Wings from Fort Benning.

Grow your business

Remember that to grow your business is not just about finding the newest thing, however this is important to know, it is your flawless execution of doing the small things right every time.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. WOW them by giving them something more. Be careful not to tell them everything you are going to do. Be sure you can go above and beyond their expectations.

Ask good questions and do all you can to get to know your customer. When you do this you will be thinking of ways to help them even when you are not technically working on their account.

Are you overestimating your trustworthiness with your customers? Research shows that customers don’t trust their vendors as much as vendors think they do.

While you may do everything perfectly, many other vendors will not. Because you are a vendor you are often tarnished by their performance. They don’t want to get burned.

Be sure you help your client know your value. You need to find ways to show them how you are helping them. Sometimes this is entering your work into competitions and showing them it is winning awards. Sometimes it as simple as asking them if their sales went up after the campaign you helped them with.

If sales went up compare this to past campaigns.  Let them know you care about results as well as they do.

Love to Buy — Don’t like to be sold

If you are like most people you like buying things, but you don’t like being sold to by a salesman.

Shoppers in Savannah, Georgia.
Shopping Tips

Now we have heard of shopping tips and here are some just as a reminder:

1. Plan your spending and avoid impulse buys
2. Don’t grocery shop when you are hungry
3. Larger is not always cheaper and smaller isn’t always cheaper
4. Buying emotionally because you deserve something is dangerous
5. Buy things before you run out—this allows you to shop for sales cycles

These tips and more are given to help people control their spending and stay within their budget.  When you are able to live being debt free you discover a peace about life that is missing when you are always just one paycheck from homelessness or bankruptcy.

When you help people make a wise investment, you are looking out for them as a customer. You need to know all the shopping tips for customers, so you don’t fall into making mistakes.

Ye Ole Fashion Ice Cream in Charleston, SC. People love to buy ice cream.
Sales Mistakes

1. Not knowing your product
2. Not knowing your competition
3. Selling without establishing the needs of the customer
4. Failing to qualify a lead
5. Neglecting to collect customer data
6. Going to market too soon with product
7. Tunnel vision on the BIG sale client

When you have bills to pay you can become the desperate sales person. This is why it is recommended that you have enough money in the bank to pay your bills for the next six months.  This cushion can help keep you relaxed and better at closing the deal.

People love to eat out and find their favorite places like Kona Taeng On Thai located in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Sales Tips

1. Face-to-face: More important than ever is the time you actually see a customer or prospect in person.
2. Find something in common. When you do find something in common this can help relax everyone.
3. Use YouTube or Vimeo. You can post short videos where you talk to people and give them some tips. This helps to give you visibility, credibility and worldwide exposure.
4. Blog. Create a blog and give a tip to help your customers. You need to do this regularly and a minimum of once a week is a good starting point.
5. Actively listen. Just listening to someone to help you find a quick way to sale your product is a mistake. I listen to what they see their long-term and short-term goals are for their business. If you are actively listening you will be asking clarifying questions that show your interest, but are helping you understand their problems. Their problems are opportunities if you have a way to solve them.
6. Become a partner. You should be helping them see you as someone who is part of their team to help them achieve their goals. When you are helping them achieve their goals you will be achieving your goals as well.

Shoppers taking a break in Savannah, Georgia.

Value Added: REALLY?

When the salesman is pitching the “Value-Added” concept, there is an assumption. The words assume you have to buy something in order to get the value.

This idea is totally dead today in sales. To compete today you have to establish value before the sale.

One of the ways restaurants and other food establishments establish value is in sampling of their food.  But no matter your industry you have to establish in some way your value before the purchase and not something “Value-Added” later after the purchase.

Sampling

One great example of how music recording artists sale their music is to look on iTunes.  Notice you can preview the music before you buy.  They are establishing value before the purchase.

In visual communications it is very easy for the designers, videographers and photographers to have enough work to keep them busy that is not worth showing anyone for future work.

I had a lady come up to be at a party this weekend and talk about wanting understand how to get more business.  She was a designer working for a small agency. I talked to her about what she was doing.

She said what most of us in the business complain about. The work they are doing is not portfolio worthy. She was concerned the longer she stayed at this job the harder it was going to be to get any other job later.

To get a job in the arts you must show the work they will hire you to do.

Personal Projects

The solution is basically a personal project. This is when you do a project the way you think it should be done for yourself. At the end of your project you will have something to show that establishes your value to the customer.

Projects will most likely involve others and I recommend finding an organization to work with, because you can trade out your work for access.

You can do it pro bono or maybe work a deal where they contribute to the costs. Your purpose is to create a body of work that will show what you can produce.

The key if doing work that someone can use is for you to truly have artistic control to show what you can do when given the opportunity. Free will help you maintain more control.

The more they foot the bill the more artistic control they deserve.

I went on a trip to Haiti and most of the time I was in a meeting.  Not very exciting, but nonetheless I was in Haiti.  This was many years ago and I just put together a quick slide show to show the photos to music.

http://www.stanleylearystoryteller.com/haiti/_files/iframe.html
Later after this slide show I explored using a digital recorder and added interviews on another project.

http://www.stanleylearystoryteller.com/Yucatan/_files/iframe.html
Now I was adding another layer to the services.  I wasn’t going to stop here I continued to add more value to my own personal projects.

I decided to create some tutorials with the computer that were then output as video.  Here is an example of this project:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5BR_5Zvoto]
I hope you are seeing the evolution. It takes time to continue to add value.

The key is to continually look for things that will give more tools to your clients to communicate their message.

I even explored and added to my tool belt 360º tours.

2
Click on the image for a Panoramic interactive image

I still wasn’t satisfied. I then went out and shot some video to add to the still images on my trip to Mexico to cover the coffee growers.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wmMSv3SoY]
WOW THEM!

If you want to get cool jobs then show your potential and your present customers what you want to do for them–don’t tell them.

I will give you a few key things that will make this work for you.

  1. Find something you have passion about. 
  2. Don’t do a story on something everyone is doing or has done
  3. Be sure to show it the way their customers might use it. 
    1. Put it in your blog
    2. Create a DVD
    3. Maybe create a coffee table book 
    4. Show it as a magazine story layout
  4. Know what you need to charge to do this type of work

Revisiting the Photo Story

The Photo Story

I wanted to revisit the Photo Story in case you missed my earlier post and also just to give some photos to go along with each of the points.  Here is a link to that earlier post.

Here are the basic things to look for in a Photo Story:

  1. Opener: Sets the scene for the story
  2. Decisive moment: The one moment that can by itself tell the story
  3. Details: Besides being like visual candy to the story, help often with transitions–especially in multimedia packages
  4. Sequences: give a little variety to a situation
  5. High overall shot: Gives a good perspective to how the elements all fit together
  6. Closer: Besides the classic shot of the cowboy riding off into the sunset there are other visual ways to help bring the story to a close
  7. Portraits: These photos are great for introducing the characters of the story
Not that long ago we had the youth leader for our church leave to go to seminary. I just took some photos to share with him as a thank you and for the church to use. While I was not shooting a major news story for a magazine even in a simple event like this the shots I was looking for was driven by the list above that I use on stories for magazines.
Opener
While this was not the first shot I took, it is a good opener. You can see the gift being given to Stephen Finkel where the youth group had signed their names and personalized this for him.  It really does the best job I think of all the photos to introduce what is going on at this event.
Decisive Moment
Just a nice moment where people are enjoying themselves at the event.

Stephen’s mother and sister are sitting at the table listening to the lady gesturing and in the background is Stephen.
These are two photos that capture some nice moments. The bottom photo is the one I would use if I had to choose between the two.  I can see everyone lined up to say their goodbyes and his mother and sister hearing how much he meant to everyone.  This captures the emotions of the event really well.
Details
They had bought a nice book for everyone at the event could write a personal message to Stephen.  This is a good detail shot to help round out the story.
Sequences

These help communicate how everyone was close to Stephen and wanted to let him know that he meant a lot to them.
High Overall Shot

The high overall shot helps give a perspective and also shows how many folks showed up for the event.  
Closer
This may seem strange as a closer, but most of the folks in this photo are now apart of the church due to Stephen reaching out to his neighbors and inviting them. They all talk about his impact on his life.
Portraits
Lane Alderman the senior pastor of Roswell Presbyterian Church.

Lane Alderman the senior pastor of Roswell Presbyterian Church.

Emily Wright Associate Pastor

Closer shots of the key players lets you introduce these characters to the story.  
There you have a quick use of the photo story for an event. Use it whenever you cover something and you will have the variety you need to keep the viewers engaged.

LCD vs Viewfinder: Couple things to consider

Nikon P7000

LCD Benefits

First of all the LCD on most modern digital cameras and even cell phones is pretty big.  Compare that screen to the little eye piece on the Nikon P7000 above and at a first glance you might prefer using it over the viewfinder.

For the most part you can display more information on the LCD than in the viewfinders.  Here you can see I have the camera set for Aperture Priority due to the big “A” in the left-hand corner.  You can also see the ISO of 100, 1/1 and ƒ/4. In addition to these settings you can see the histogram, the flash is turned off, vibration reduction is on and also infrared remote is turned on.

Also you can see the JPEG setting is on FINE JPEG. Next to it the size of the image is set to the highest for this camera, which is 10 Meg.

As you can see in this photo of me using the LCD, I must keep the camera a good distance from my face.

LCD Disadvantages

Holding the camera still this far out is difficult.  I guess you now know why almost all point and shoot cameras now have vibration reduction. It is trying to compensate for the above average camera shake as compared to the viewfinder.

Now using the viewfinder the camera now is right next to my eye.

I can now use my two hands and my head as a tripod. I push the camera next to my head and this will help steady the camera and when you do that your pictures are sharper because you are not as prone to shaking the camera.

My Nikon D4 also has a LCD like the Nikon P7000, but you will rarely see photographers using it to shoot still images.

When you are outside it is very difficult to see the LCD in bright sunlight.  I would prefer the viewfinder.

Viewfinder Advantages

  • Can use your body as a tripod since you can now steady the camera on your head
  • Can see in any situation
  • On most DSLR cameras all the information on the LCD is in the viewfinder
Viewfinder Disadvantages
If you want to take a photo above at a birds-eye l you cannot see what you are doing and the LCD will help you still see what the camera is seeing.  This is also true for low worm’s eye perspective.
Conclusion
Neither the viewfinder or LCD works for every situation.  I would always want both on any camera I buy for now on.

Tips on photographing PowerPoint presentations

How do you get the photo above and not the next one?

PowerPoint or Keynote

PowerPoint and Keynote presentations often take place in a dark room.  So if you use a flash, even just off camera you might end up with something like the photo above, where the screen is washed out.

If you are not careful you will end up with a silhouette as I have in this photo above. Hey that might work occasionally, but don’t you want to see the presenter at some point in your photos and their presentation?

Off Camera Flash using Zoom

In this photo here, with the man in the red vest, I put the Nikon SB-900 flash off to the side and zoomed the head to 200mm.  The Nikon SB-900 is on the PocketWizard Flex TT5 and on my camera is the transmitter which is the PocketWizard Mini TT1 with the AC3 to control the output of the flash.

While this is far superior to the first photo it can still be better.

Use a snoot on the hot shoe flash

In this photo you can see the speaker and the power point equally well. Now the people closest to the camera are in the back of the room where some of the fluorescent lights are on and giving that green cast.

I played with the exposure compensation on the camera and the flash.  For the photo where the best exposure works, I dialed the camera to -2 stops and the flash to +1 stop.  Since I am basically overriding the auto exposure of the camera and flash there really is no settings that will work exactly the same every time. It will for that room, but could fluctuate even then.  I just know to do a few test shots getting the settings the way I like them and then start shooting to capture moments.

I put over the SB-900 the LumiQuest Snoot to help keep the flash off the screen and only on the speaker.  It is just $23.95.

Here you can see the setup.  Now notice there are a few light leaks around the snoot kicking light back on the wall.  Not a real big deal for me in this situation.  However, it could affect you in another situation.  Just take some gaffer tape and wrap around the snoot covering that up if needed.

Shooting sports using backlighting

Nikon D4, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 28-300mm

This past Saturday I drove up to North Georgia College in Dahlonega to photograph The Citadel playing them in Rugby.  Honestly I just don’t shoot a lot of Rugby.  I can probably count the number of times on both my hands.

There are a few things I knew from shooting football that I would do to insure good photos.

Nikon D4 Camera Settings:

  • Auto ISO with lowest ISO set to 100 and highest to 12,800
  • In Auto ISO I also set the minimum shutter speed to 1/2000
  • Capturing the images as RAW
  • Dynamic-area AF 21-point
  • Continuous-servo autofocus (AF-C)
  • Focus Tracking with Lock-On 4
  • AF Activation Off (Focus is done with the back button and shutter is only fired with shutter button)
  • 10 FPS and not 11 FPS.  At 11 only the first photo is focused.
Nikon D4, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 extender.

Lens Choice

  • Camera #1: Nikon D4 with Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 and 1.4 extender.  This gives me a 168 – 420mm ƒ/4
  • Camera #2: Nikon D4 with Nikkor 23-300mm ƒ/3.5 – ƒ/5.6
Nikon D4, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 extender.

Where to stand?

There are basically four sides to pick from.  I picked the sideline where the players are backlighted.  It is extremely important to use a lens hood or you will be getting lens flare.

The advantage I see in shooting with backlight is the contrast is dropped in the middle of the day. The players are rim lit, but you are not having the really strong bright area of the face with a strong shadow.

I am also watching my backgrounds.  The first photo, while a good moment, the background is distracting. Sometimes you cannot get a clean background. There are two things you can do. Use a shallow depth-of-field and pick an angle so the background is darker and cleaner. Maybe you pick an angle where the grass is predominate, or where the background is so much in the shade it goes dark.

Nikon D4, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 extender.

What I am looking for?

In Rugby you can only pass off to your team without advancing the ball. So you must pass in general backwards.  You can only advance the ball by running (most of the time) or by kicking.  Very similar to American football in tackling and running with the ball.  I wanted to show the competition rather than a guy all by himself running.

The major difference in Rugby and American football is just about the time they are getting tackled the players are often handing off to their team mates.

If they do go down they can hand the ball back to their teammates. I wanted to show how this is done in the photo below.

Nikon D4, ISO 1100, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 extender.

Even in sports expression counts

I think the one key element that can really make a photo is the expression on the athletes faces. In the photo below you can feel the intensity of the players just in their facial expressions. 
Occasionally even the flexing of the muscles can help communicate the effort of the athlete. The key to this success is being ready, because it is up to the athlete to make the effort and you then can catch it.

Nikon D4, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000, 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with 1.4 extender.

My suggestion is to shoot some shots when the teams are warming up.  See which side of the field gives you better light on the athletes.  See what combination of lighting and background works the best and then choose this side of the field for most of the game.  You can mix it up if you like, but the point is to get the best light to capture the action and the expressions of the athletes.

Photographers need to be guided by light



Finding your Direction

The thing that affects the photographer life and work is where they point their inner compass. What do they use to guide their path?

Houston we have a problem. The problem we have today is our role models. 

As we mature most of us grow up and realize we should stop worshiping athletes—unless they’re on the field. The same is true with the celebrities. We should admire their talent, but when they do stupid things in their every day life we need to not emulate this behavior.

Adolescence 

During the age of adolescence we start to have the ability to do abstract thinking. Usually this starts between the ages of 12 to 15. This is when youth start to realize that just because a friend is attractive doesn’t mean all they do is wonderful, just as if someone who is less attractive is going to be all bad. 

When I teach lighting I start first with just one light using a grid. After teaching about getting the proper exposure, I encourage my students to not move the light, but for them to move and walk around the subject and make photos. This is one of the examples I used when teaching this concept of them moving in relationship to the subject and how the light looks different. We need to do this with role models as well. Look at them from many directions to really learn from them.
While we are starting to learn how to do abstract thought our brain isn’t finished developing. It is not until about age 25 that our brains are developed. 

A side note to this if you abuse drugs, it is the age that you started abusing them that the brain can be so adversely affected in that is the developmental age you will in many ways never grow out of–because you damaged so much of the brain cells.

Too many bad role models in photography

Today I think we have way too many bad role models in photography. I believe the digital age has hurt as much as it has helped society. 

One of the examples of this is how social media helped to connect us to the world and at the same time bullying has risen to levels beyond those of the past. People feel free to say things in the cyber community that they would never say to someone’s face in the past.

Today a person can rise to prominence within seconds due to a photo they post on the web. Within a very short time they are held up as a leader in the industry for just one photo. 

I am seeing more and more photographers rise in prominence because they are taking wonderful photos of humanitarian work worldwide. The exotic locations are helping their work to be talked about in forums and even invited to speak to conferences.

We can learn from all these photographers. The key is gleaning the good stuff and sifting away the bad stuff.  This is what we learned to do in our adolescence. I learned that going after the super models was a good way to have a disastrous relationship.  I learned that I wanted someone attractive, but there were other criteria than just looks for a mate.


Stanley’s criteria for a successful photographer role model:
  • Sustainable business model. I want to have as my role model those photographers who are able to pay all their bills and are not in debt. I also prefer that they are able to support more than just themselves.  They do not have to have children, but I want to see a business model that could support them.
  • People person. I want my role model to give honor, dignity and respect to all they come into contact with. I do not believe a jerk is something I need to emulate to be successful. 
  • Balanced life. Workaholics is not what I want to follow. I want to know how to work hard and play hard. I respect those with strong families and friends in their life.
  • Professional level work. I want to see work that is professional standards. I am also interested in seeing a consistency in their work. Having some outstanding work is good, but what is disappointing is someone who produces poor work too often.
  • Servant’s heart. I really like following those photographers who give back. They serve as mentors or are involved in their professional organizations and even their community. I am not a fan of those who are greedy and it is all about them.

I do learn a great deal from other photographers, but that doesn’t mean I want to emulate them. I even study them and their work, but not all these become my role model–but I do learn from them.

What I learn from photographers that I would not consider role models:

  • I learn a new technique
    • I have discovered from one of the photographers how to carry a set of clothing that you can ask people to wear to improve the photo.  One thing I thought was cool was the coveralls he carried to factories. He would put workers in red, yellow or blue coveralls and this helped tremendously give a pop to the photo.
    • Learned how to trigger off camera flash using a new technology.
    • How to use remote cameras.
  • Negotiating skills. I have learned from many photographers how to do a better bid for jobs.
  • Gear choices. I have learned about camera bags, lighting kits and more from photographers.
  • What not to do
    • I have watched many “famous” photographers kill a kid’s enthusiasm by not giving them the time of day when they were trying to talk to them.
    • How many photographers will use foul language when talking to a group. My comedian friend Jeff Justice helped me to realize this from his comedy workshop. He will not allow foul language when they give their performance at The Punchline” because if you cannot be funny without it using it will not make you funny. Also, his most successful students thank him because this helped them get on TV.

Summary

Just because you think someones photography is great or the places they are going is something you want to do–be very careful before making them a role model and start copying them. Don’t be an adolescent and get all caught up in their looks for instance. Look for the mate–the total package.

You need to separate the photographers who are being held up as leaders from those you make as a role model (LIGHT) and those who you can glean things from (DARK).

Outside photography: Best Time of Year

There are a few things that affect the outcome of a photograph outside.

  • Time of Day
  • Weather
  • Time of Year
Time of Day
There are 7 time periods during a day when there is light to make photographs outside

Dawn — this is the 20 to 30 minutes before sunrise. The light at this time of day has a blue color cast to them. Also, there are really no shadows to contend with in the photos.

Sunrise — There are two “Golden Hours” in the day. The Golden Hour the first and last hour of sunlight during the day. The sun’s angle will produce long shadows at this time of day. Where the sunlight illuminates appears as gold in color. The contrast is less during the golden hour, shadows are less dark, and highlights are less likely to be overexposed. The dynamic range is less than midday and therefore you can record more of the scene than other parts of the day.

Morning — The light can still be pretty good at this time of day. The sun is up and can still shine on a person’s face so that you can still see their eyes and the color is more neutral.

Midday — This is when the sun is directly overhead. The dyanamic range is great and therefore your photos are more contrasty. You either expose for the highlights and the shadows are black or you expose for the shadows and the highlights are blown out. It is very difficult to find a middle exposure to hold it all together. Since the light is directly overhead more often people’s eyes are in the shadows and you often loose the detail of the eyes. You need fill flash to show people’s faces at this time of day.

Afternoon — Very similar light to the morning, but a little warmer due to the atmosphere being warmed up through the day.

Sunset — You need to know the time of sunset to maximize the Golden Hour before the sun disappears below the horizon. The reason you see a lot of silhouettes of people and sunsets verses sunrises has more to do with people being awake.

Dusk — I like to shoot architecture at this time of day, because you can put your camera on a tripod

Weather

Time of Year


There really isn’t a “best” time of year to photograph. However, my favorite time of year is the fall.  I love the cool weather and all the color in the leaves. I also like the fall since there are more high pressure days, which translates into less stuff in the air making it where you can see further on clear days.


Fall

Spring

Summer

No matter the time, as long as you have light you can make photographs.  Sometimes shooting at the time of day many avoid will make your photos different. My suggestion is to always try and shoot the Golden Hour when you can outside and then look for other opportune moments to capture people and places in the best light for them.