photo by: Dorie Griggs

You know that God has called you to do photography. You even have a great idea of using photography in a way that others have not thought about doing. It is a great idea.

Does this sound like you? Big, powerful ideas are everywhere, and the vast majority will go nowhere. So keeping your big picture in stealth mode will likely make no difference to your ultimate success.

I realized long ago that people were lining up to talk to my mentor Don Rutledge about becoming a full-time missions photographer. I believe there are even more today wanting to use their photography as a way to serve on the mission field.

They want to use their photography for social justice issues and work with NGOs.

I have been teaching photographers how to make this all happen for years. I wrote one blog post, “How to become a humanitarian or missions photographer,” that continues to be read by those searching for how to make it happen.

While I have outlined the things that you must overcome to become a photographer, there still seems to be what I call the “Frozen Chosen” audience.

While there are a few meanings to “Frozen Chosen,” it refers to Christians who sit still in worship. They are lifeless. I am using it here to refer to those Christians who love listening to inspiring messages but never implement those messages into their lives.

Why people fail to act

I have a few reasons why it is so difficult for people to act.

Analysis paralysis. Many people let questions and doubts paralyze them. They believe they can’t start on a goal until they have all the answers to every “what if” scenario. However, no matter how long and hard you prepare, you will never have all the answers to the questions you ask.

Misunderstanding of Goal Setting. Many think setting goals and objectives is writing a list on paper. Goals are about making fundamental changes in your life. Plans are not about a one-time moment but something that changes you over time.

No Destination. I remember learning how to shoot a basketball. My teachers all said the same thing. You must look at the goal and picture the ball going through the net before you shoot. Your destination needs to be precise – something you can visualize and describe to others. Without such a clear view of what you want in life, you’ll be forever changing course and falling short of your potential.

You are distracted by too many goals. You only have so much time and resources, so you need to limit your efforts to that which will be the most significant Return On your Investment. You need to be focused. Yes, you can have more than one goal, but do your best to put your effort on one at a time. Once you accomplish it, move on to the next one.

Don’t seek help. Too many people do not understand that the things we desire most usually will require stuff we do not have to attain. We need mentors, coaches, and teachers to help us on our journey. Just like we often go to a bank to get a loan to buy things like a car or house, we go to people to get their help to achieve our goals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZzZERmk05o

Boils down to Execution

I love this clip from Indian Jones where he must take that “Leaf of Faith” to achieve his goal.

Are you expecting the following steps to have no risk? Maybe that is your problem.

You see, there are usually two things that keep us from achieving our goals: 1) Time & 2) Money.

If you have the time and the money to make your dream a reality, then there is no need for a “Leap of Faith.” It is a no-brainer.

I believe God calls those without the resources to make it happen because he needs you to take that “Leap of Faith.”

Why would God call you to do something and not give you the Time and Money to execute it? Because then you could take all the glory.

Without God, I know I wouldn’t be doing this as a career. I know because I cannot explain any of my success as to my abilities. I was born with autism. I have Asperger’s Syndrome.

Autism – a mental condition present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty communicating and forming relationships with other people and using language and abstract concepts.

I cannot believe that God called me, a person with a communications deficiency, to be a professional communicator. I can attest that it has been an arduous journey, but I can also say God made it happen.

Will you take that “Leap of Faith” today?

I had a lot of fun capturing the brand new Chick-fil-A food truck tested in Athens, Georgia. It was parked in the restaurant parking lot to show their customers, hoping they would book the car for an event.

This shot was taken at sunset, with the sun setting behind the truck. To show the truck, I put one flash on the side, lying on top of some bushes, to light up the side of the truck.

My assistant pointed the second flash on the front of the truck just off to the camera’s left.

I love using the Neewer T850 with the radio remote. I can control the power output from the radio remote. I just set each flash to a different channel, and then I can vary the power from the camera—no need to walk over to the flash to make a change.

Now I have the more expensive Nikon SB-900 but have found it challenging to use in manual mode and change the power from the camera of several flashes. Also, if you barely move the camera, shooting in TTL can change the moment and how it puts out light. Having the lights set to power gives you more consistent exposures than TTL.

Dave Black, former speaker at SWPJC

SWPJC March 10 – 12 and Student Workshop 9 – 10

“Next Year” is the common thing I always hear from people when I ask them if they are going to Southwestern Photojournalism Conference this year.

This is the 25th annual meeting of the conference. The conference has changed through the years to reflect the industry as best we can.

In 2007 and 2008, the economy was a brutal hit, and our numbers suffered because everyone’s budgets were hurting.

We added a Student Workshop to the front end of the conference for students to get some one-on-one time with our speakers. This has proven to be very helpful for students to get their work reviewed and talk to the industry leaders.

The industry has been hit hard. Last year Canon and Nikon Sales were down close to 50%. All this doom and gloom doesn’t mean there is no longer a need for photographers.

At the same time, the industry is changing the number of pictures taken last year. That adds up to more than 14 trillion photos annually (14,600,000,000,000). Much more conservatively, if only one billion people have cameras or phones and take less than three photos per day/1,000 pictures yearly, that’s still 1 trillion photos captured annually.

The need for those who know more than just how to push the button is in great demand. People know that with all these photos being created every moment for their “Brand” to be seen, it must break through with images that “Capture the Audience.”

I know I go to the conference to meet people I can hire throughout the year as projects pop up for my clients. Last year I hired many photographers for projects and continued to look for more photographers. This is where I go to find great shooters and those who see this as a calling.

Don’t wait for next year anymore. Commit to meeting with other photographers who see this as a calling. Come to Fort Worth this year and connect. Listen to some of the best in the industry tell you where they see things going for the professional photographer.

Go to the website to learn more about SWPJC.org. Then go and book your transportation and hotel. I hope to see you there.

Don’t resort to Next Year when there might not be a Next Year conference. Signup and come while we are still doing SWPJC.

Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1100, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000

Many things go into the making of a photograph. However, only one will indeed be the key to a great picture.

Exposure Triangle

The exposure triangle is a common way of associating the three variables that determine the exposure of a photograph: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. One must balance all three of these to achieve the desired result, an adjustment of one requiring adjustments of at least one of the others.

If you execute this flawlessly, you still can have a photo that lacks any connection with the audience.

Principles of Composition

In photography, the composition is the arrangement of parts of a scene to form a particular visual outcome. Design can also be about picking a viewpoint to create a pleasing visual effect. In practical terms, the photographer uses both “arrangement” and “choice of viewpoint.” 

In general, composition aims to direct the viewer to see the point of the photograph. The “point” may be an aesthetically pleasing scene or something containing a more complex story. Even a visually disturbing or discordant outcome is the result of efforts in composition. 

The finer points of a particular composition rely on a range of “photographic elements” and the “principles of photographic art” for using them.

When you execute the composition and Exposure Triangle rules together, your photos will look even better but still fall short of connecting with the audience without one more thing.

Previsualization

The greatest proponent of previsualization was Ansel Adams, and it was he who perhaps summed it up best with a single sentence, “You don’t take a photograph; you make it.” Great photographs require you to work out everything that goes into making that photograph before you take it. So how do we mere mortals go about previsualizing our shots?

The first book Ansel Adams wrote started chapter one by explaining this concept to people.

While my work cannot stand up to Ansel’s, I still believe there is a better way to describe this process of previsualization by asking a simple question.

WHY take the photo?

For example, Ansel Adams assumed no one could look at Half Dome and not be moved. Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California.

When you ask yourself, “Why am I taking this photo” you will get to the core of the element that will help you connect with your audience. This is the #1 Key to Great Photograph.

I love the two words “so that” in the Bible.

“So that” is used as a subordinate clause to show purpose or to give an explanation. It indicates an action producing an intended result or a cause having an effect. In Sentence 1, “so that” in Sentence 2, the first sentence is the action/cause, and the second is the intended result/effect. In the format “So that” Sentence 1, Sentence 2, the first subject-verb clause is the intended result/effect, and the second is the action/cause.

I push my shutter on the camera to inform, imagine, influence, meet social expectations, and express feelings.

Show & Tell

I believe that photos alone cannot tell a story. I think, at best, they can capture a slice or a moment. People need words to help understand what is going on in the photograph.

We learned this concept in Kindergarten when we had a “Show & Tell” day at school. The objects your classmates brought into school needed them to tell us why they got them to school. Without their words, we didn’t understand.

Now the best part of “Show & Tell” was that the visuals gave us a great deal of information that the words alone couldn’t do as well and briefly did as the visual.

Here is the formula I think works well for photos that communicate:

Ask Why

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Previsualize

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Take Photo

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Add Words

Ask yourself why I want to take this photograph. For example, how is the situation affecting me, and what do I want the audience to understand that I am experiencing?

Once you know the answer to WHY you must use all your photographic skills to best capture this moment, this “previsualization” is understanding how the best shutter speed, aperture, ISO, composition, and lighting, all controlled by me, can be used to capture what I want to communicate.

I then execute the previsualization and make the photo.

Last we know that the photo by itself will make the audience ask a question. What is going on here? They will need more information to be sure the message is not left up for interpretation. You will then need to marry the photograph with words to complete the communication process.

Example

I think this is a compelling photo, but I want to know more. Now compare this same photo to one using it with words:

Together with the words, the picture completes the communication process.

Now I am not saying put words on photos always. Captions under photos work just as well.

Use the caption to tell the reader something new. When readers look at the photo, they’re usually confronted with some form of emotion and information (based on what they see in the picture). The caption, in turn, should provide the reader with a piece of information they were unaware of from simply looking at the photo. In short, the caption should teach the reader something about the image.

Now go forth and make photos!

Last night I took in Gilley’s of Dallas with a large group. At the end of the night, I was really pleased with my ability to shoot everything without a flash.

The reason is the Nikon D5 has such a wide range of ISO. ISO 100–104200 can also be pushed to 3 million ISO.

Since there was a lot of line dancing, I wanted to crank the shutter speed to a minimum of 1/250. The stage lighting was lighting the people in front, and then the rest of the place was incredibly dark in comparison. However, the dynamic range of the Nikon D5 did a great job. I could pull out all the shadows in Adobe Lightroom from the RAW images.

Now when the people jumped up on the mechanical bull, I needed to capture this without everyone being blurred. No problem. I set the camera to my Sports Settings.

These are the settings that I use on my Nikon D5 for shooting most all sports action. Nikon has made it pleasant to allow photographers to save these settings, so they do not have to remember every little setting they like to use for a style of shooting.

If you go to Menu and under the camera, the icon picks the first item, “Shooting menu bank.” I have chosen B, which is my sports menu.

If you toggle into the “Shooting menu bank,” you can rename those settings. Once you choose one of these settings, everything you do to change the menu will be saved in that menu bank. I recommend trying all my settings and then tweaking them to your preferences.

When shooting sports, it is prevalent for the lighting conditions to change instantly. While the football player runs toward you, they may go from shade into direct sunlight. For this reason, I let the camera do some of my thinking.

Go to the camera icon and look for “ISO sensitivity settings.” Select this, and you will then see this menu:

I turn on the “Auto ISO sensitivity control.” Then I set the minimum shutter speed to 1/4000. You could pick something else. I used to shoot at 1/2000. The ISO setting is what you see in the smaller window below the menu. I set this to ISO 100 and the “Maximum sensitivity” to ISO 102400.

While I am in Aperture Mode shooting, the camera will always pick 1/4000 shutter speed. If in sunlight I am at ƒ/4, the shutter speed may go as high as 1/8000 at ISO 100, but as the scene changes and the athlete is now in the shade, the camera will automatically drop to 1/4000 @ ƒ/4, and then change also the ISO up until I can still shoot at 1/4000.

The only time the shutter speed will dip below 1/4000 is if the ISO peaks out at 102400.  If my aperture is wide open, the camera is doing everything I would have done manually, but faster than I could ever adjust the camera. That is how you get more shots than the guy next to you.

Here I am letting BOKEH create the mood for the nightclub. Shooting at ƒ/1.4, let that background go to a silky smooth out of focus while directing your attention to the man in the foreground.

I love the Nikon D5 because it lets me capture anything I can see with my naked eye.