Month: August 2014

Everyone is a photographer—only a few will be pros.

by Stanley Learybusiness
 
Nikon D2X, Sigma 120-300mm w/ 1.4 converter, ISO 200, ƒ/5.6, 1/750

Everyone is a Photographer

Almost everyone that I know has a camera. In the past few years, I would say that most of my friends’ photos are with their camera phones.

Before camera phones, people took pictures, but now having that phone with them all the time has made it not just easier to take photos. I would argue that more important than just the ability to take a picture, the one contributing factor to more photos being taken today than at any other time in history is our ability to instantly share them with the world.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/6.3, 1/1000

Every photo isn’t good.

Just because your photo moves you doesn’t make it a compelling photograph. Why?

Everyone’s photos help us to remember. However, some of the things we experience are pretty emotional, and having a photograph to help trigger that emotion we felt the first time we lived through the experience does not mean that other people will be as moved emotionally.

Some photographers consistently make photos that move people emotionally and are storytellers. These photographers can capture a moment that creates interest in an audience that wasn’t there. The images pull people to them and engage audiences around the world.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/60—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The Flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the output of the Flash.

The grass is greener on the other side of the fence

“Everyone wants to be a rockstar or a photographer” is a quote I have heard. These are two mediums that emotionally move people.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/60—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The Flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the output of the Flash.

Around age 14, we begin solidifying the musical taste genre that we will be playing over and over throughout our lives. We love to play our favorite music because it helps to take us to our “happy place” and soothes our souls.

Photographs can do the same—take us to our “happy place” and soothe our souls.

So not surprisingly, many of us would like to help others find those happy places and feel like maybe we should be either musicians or photographers.

Gut Check

When I was studying to be a social worker, I learned that one of the things we should help people examine in counseling is whether they are running away from something or running to something.

Running away from something could be a disaster in the process. But unfortunately, most people I encounter that want to be professional photographers are running away from their lives. They are extremely unhappy with their work.

They seek the recognition in their jobs that they see given to musicians and photographers. However, a dirty little secret is that many musicians and photographers want to leave their profession for similar reasons.

A good gut check for finding out if you really should be a photographer is if your photos consistently stir people’s emotions. The key here is that people will want to talk to you about the subject you captured, not about your camera.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/2500—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The Flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the output of the Flash.

Wired that way

There is a certain amount of healthy Obsessive Compulsive Behavior you possess. If you are looking at your work and realize that you could have done something else to make it better, then you are exhibiting some of the qualities of the artist needed to make it professionally.

Suppose you look at your photos and see that technically they are fine, and you can’t know why you are not winning all the awards. You are not in touch with reality. Remember, musicians and photographers at the top of the profession emotionally move their audiences.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5.3, 1/500—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The Flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and is triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the output of the Flash.

Seeing from another person’s perspective

Young children before the age of 8 seem cognitively unable to take the perspective of another person.

If you want to be a photographer that uses photography to communicate to an audience, then you need to be able to see from another person’s perspective.

Take a simple test for yourself. Take something that you know well. Simple as how to make a pot of coffee from scratch and then talk through this as if you are teaching another person. Surprisingly many people struggle with this ability.

I remember one time, an adult who was a genius but lacked some basic skills called my mother and asked her how to sew on the button. The next day he came to our house because he still couldn’t do it. Well, my mother didn’t tell him to cut the thread from the spool. So everything was correct except for this step.

Sometimes you have a slow audience. I will see this used as a humorous skit on TV every time. They will have someone tell a person how to do something they cannot see, and the person doing the task cannot know the person instructing them. What follows usually is pretty humorous, but it will illustrate that teaching someone a simple task is very difficult.

Pictionary and Charades are games that can be fun to play because they can be funny when we are trying to communicate.

You need to be someone who consistently wins in Pictionary or Charades, for example, before going pro, if there was such a category for these games.

Do your photos communicate? Are people asking you to take pictures from them because they know your images will help them reach their audience?

If the only reason you want to be a pro is how it makes you feel, you need a wake-up call and a good slap across the face.

Checklist to be a professional photographer.

  1. Your photos emotionally move total strangers all by themselves
  2. You are rarely satisfied with your photos
  3. You have an insatiable desire for a subject other than photography
  4. People are asking you to photograph something for them regularly
  5. If you want to be an independent photographer, you know and understand the skills to run a business.
    1. Know your audience
    2. Market to that audience
    3. Know your numbers for expenses to make a profit
    4. Willingness to do what it takes to find work

Great Photographers are like Great Fishermen

by Stanley Learyphotojournalism
 
Alaska [photo by Don Rutledge]

Fishermen know the habits of fish and know they are creatures of habit. So they work hard to be in the best spot to drop their lines to catch fish when they bite.

There is a lot of waiting for the fishermen. I have sat for hours waiting for nibbles; then suddenly, you can catch fish as quickly as you can put the line back in the water.

Waiting takes a lot of time for the fishermen. The photographer spends time waiting for people. However, too many people live by the saying, “Be picky with who you invest your time in; wasted time is worse than wasted money.”

Dominican Republic [photo by Don Rutledge]

I think many, especially myself, for the first few years of my career, didn’t spend enough time on a subject when I had the time.

If I could boil down to one of the most significant differences between Don Rutledge and other photographers, I would say his photos were better because he had more patience and worked situations longer than anyone. But, unfortunately, he would be waiting so long that many writers and people who traveled with Don would say he would disappear into the room’s woodwork.

 
 
Oklahoma [photo by Don Rutledge]

Looking at Contact Sheets

I wish I could share the contact sheets of Don’s work, especially his coverage of Bailey King. But unfortunately, I don’t have easy access to them.

You would see situations with slight variance back to back and over time, then there would be about two or three lovely images, then maybe a frame or two more Don would move on to a new situation.

The difference between Don’s contact sheets and everyone else is how consistently Don would stay with subjects and then have an outstanding shot. You could almost look at the last 3 to 5 images in a series and always pick a winner.

Today I watch many photographers relying on their LCD on the back of the camera. They look, and if they think they got the photo, they move on.

Brazil [photo by Don Rutledge]

Don would ask me what I saw and why I started taking those photos when he saw some, and I moved on to a new situation. What is it you noticed that you were trying to capture? Then he would ask why he didn’t stay long with the problem.

Over and over, I watched Don review the photographer’s contact sheets, and the constant theme I heard over and over was that you need to stay longer on the subject and let it happen. So if you feel like you saw something, you will most likely see it again.

Creatures of Habit

People are like all animals. We are creatures of habit. Dave Black knows this all too well with professional athletes. They work so hard and are creatures of habit that they will go through the same routine repeatedly. So he would study tapes of athletes so he could anticipate their actions.

Don Rutledge [photo by Ken Touchton]

Don wanted to capture moments better, so he studied other photographers to see what tips he could pick up. It was common for Don to call up a newspaper and ask if he could ride along with some of the photographers while they were working.

While Don picked up some tips, he was also surprised at how often photographers rushed through assignments. One time they were covering a factory when the president asked if they would like a tour to see how they make their product. Don wanted to go on the tour, but the photographer he was shadowing didn’t want to stay. They left the place so the photographer could go and sit at a restaurant and drink a cup of coffee.

When Don told me this story, he told me this happens more often than he could remember.

The other day Mark Sandlin and I were catching up on memories of Don when this tidbit about Don came up. Mark pretty much talked about the same memories, but they were his of Don.

Maybe the one essential thing Don did better than everyone else was spending time with his subjects long enough to learn and capture those moments that encapsulated the person. He was so good at capturing a person’s character in a photograph.

The other thing that happens when you wait like a fisherman for a great photo—your compositions are stronger. You compose and wait for the characters to be the creatures of habit. You can anticipate just like the fishermen.

Maybe this is why so many fishermen enjoy certain fishing spots—they, too, become like a composition.

France [photo by Don Rutledge]

“What you invest your time in defines who you are,” said noted author & speaker Todd Duncan.

Don Rutledge spent his life investing in subjects with his camera telling their stories. His photos changed people’s lives. So many readers of the stories he produced would feel a call to help those in the stories and people like them. The photos also blessed the subjects of the stories by changing their lives forever.

Don’s investment in people changed their lives for the better.

Photographers digital has divided us.

by Stanley Learyphotojournalism
 
Christians in Photojournalism July meeting in suburbs of Atlanta, GA

Staff photographers have always had a built-in community in their workplaces. Freelance photographers had some community through their professional labs and camera stores in the days of film.

In the days of film, even when you processed your own film as a staff photographer or were a freelance photographer dropping your film off at a professional lab, you could interact with other photographers.

Just as indoor plumbing did to the watering hole and air conditioning to front porches, digital photography eliminated the informal gathering of photographers.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. …”

Most still photographers work alone as compared to motion photographers who work in teams on film projects.

When you work with freelancers, you learn about depression. Once I have built a good relationship and can be open and honest with freelancers, many of whom suffer from depression.

A lack of solid relationships is a critical risk factor for major depression and addiction. At a minimum, going into an office every day requires you to shower, get dressed, and at least nod to a couple of people. Unfortunately, freelancers are in danger of having less sustained human contact.

Freelancers go through feast and famine periods. As a result, they have less access to the health, retirement, and insurance benefits that may help traditionally employed folks sleep a little better at night.

Jason Getz shares some tips and wisdom he had gained after the Atlanta Journal & Constitution let him go as well as Phil Skinner and Johnny Crawford when they downsized their photo department from 10 to 7 positions at the end of 2013.

We had a meeting of Christians in Photojournalism at my house yesterday, and three photographers who lost their jobs this past year at the Atlanta Journal and Constitution were there. We all enjoyed seeing each other’s work and listening to how everyone learns to adjust to this ever-changing industry.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

One of the things that Jason, Phil, and Johnny talked about after losing their positions at the AJC was the loss of a built-in community. So now they must be intentional and reach out to friends.

There’s an App for that

One reason social media is so successful is that we all crave community. For example, CIP uses Facebook to announce our meetings, and I know some photo clubs that use an app called Meetup. Meetups are neighbors getting together to learn something, do something, and share something.

I think the more you have in common, the better the community can be for you. Combining faith and work is an excellent way for freelancers to build a strong community.

Johnny Crawford shared with the group his new direction of pursuing teaching photography. He is working on his master’s degree to open up more doors for him to teach.

Building the informal into the formal

One of the best things about the days we gathered around the local lab and camera stores was the informal serendipitous moments. For example, you may see a photographer working next to you on the light table while editing. I remember this often worked spur conversations, and I learned a lot during those moments.

When Christians in the Photojournalism group meet, the 5—minutes we give to everyone who comes to share their work with the group is the highlight.

Sometimes people are looking for help on a project, and many times they share a recent project.

Jason Getz shares a pleasant surprise of getting to fly in a helicopter with the groom at a wedding in Savannah. 

Formalize the informal

I encourage you to find a group where you can be in dialogue with the other photographers. It would help if you had a place that accepts you as a person and let you share your work, and you get to see their work. In addition, you need to be able to ask questions and share your insights.

Check out our group as a possible group to join at Christians in Photojournalism.