Category: Nikon D750

Using photography to build a brand

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / Nikon D750

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 7200, ƒ/9, 1/100

This coming Saturday, October 3rd, Chick-fil-A is opening its first store in Manhattan, New York.

My job was to capture some of the inside and outside of the restaurant. The photos will help everyone who works for Chick-fil-A get a glimpse of the new location.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/250

Here I am trying to capture the street sign of W 37ST so people can understand where this is.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/200

I then tried to let you see the other side to show how this is a residential area of NYC.

No matter how hard I tried, the single image didn’t do justice. So I took some 360º Panoramic photos of the place. Here is one from the street.

I think the 360 is a lot more engaging and helps you get your bearings as to the location of the restaurant better than the single image alone does.

Patience Grasshopper: Patience Photographer

by Stanley LearyNikon D3s / Nikon D4 / Nikon D750
Nikon D3S, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 200, ƒ/7.1, 1/100

Sunset Photos

Timing is crucial when shooting sunsets. The sun barely dipped below the horizon, and the sky is still getting light from the visible sun.

Nikon D3S, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 200, ƒ/7.1, 1/100

Nine minutes later, the sun has minimal impact on the sky.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/100

Here in Chicago, I just wanted a dark blue sky so that the city’s lights popped, but the edges of the building were still visible.

Nikon D750, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM, ISO 160, ƒ/7.1, 1/160

As the sun set, I took this photo in Seattle of the skyline. By just waiting seventy-eight minutes later, I captured this photo from the same spot.

Nikon D750, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 6.2 sec

Finally, the lights in the city are brighter than the sky, allowing them to create a more powerful photo.

Dusk Photo Tips

  • Pick your location an hour before sunset
  • Use tripod
  • Use low ISO
  • As the sun goes down, shoot lots of photos
  • Shoot good 20 to 30 minutes after the sun disappears below the horizon
 

Workshops Help Photographers Navigate the Precariat Class

by Stanley Learybusiness / Nikon D750

Business of Photography Workshop 

presented by Todd Bigelow

This past weekend for two solid days, Todd Bigelow shared from his perspective business tips to the American Society of Media Photographers Atlanta Chapter. ASMP believes that if everyone is fully informed about the photography business, this will help photographers know how to run a successful business.

The Creative Circus hosted the meeting. The Creative Circus’s mission is to graduate the best-prepared, most avidly sought-after creatives in the marketing communications industry. Unlike traditional college programs, their emphasis is on portfolios and excellent ones. In addition, the teachers are all working professionals, unlike many professors who have been mainly in academia.

ASMP wanted to be sure that these students not only have a great portfolio but understand how to run a business.

Todd Bigelow believes in the 80/20 rule where 20% of how to be successful is your portfolio, and the other 80% is your business practices.

About 23 people were taking the class. Most of the class consisted of very successful photographers with more than 20+ years in the industry. So why were they taking the class, you might wonder?

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/20

While photographers are not required to do continuing education to maintain a certificate–everyone taking this class understands that continuing education keeps them up on the latest ideas in the industry. 

Photographers join the Precariat Class.

In sociology and economics, the precariat is a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which is a condition of existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare as well as being a member of a proletariat class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labour to live. Specifically, it is applied to the condition of lack of job security, in other words intermittent employment or underemployment and the resultant precarious existence. The emergence of this class has been ascribed to the entrenchment of neoliberal capitalism.

– Wikipedia

Todd Bigelow introduced me to Precariat, an excellent description of how my career had felt for many years. Of course, photographers are not the only ones going through this, but we have joined other professions with this sense of unpredictability.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 5000, ƒ/25, 1/40

Classmates become the professor.

It is pretty standard at all the workshops I attend that the other class participants will often chime in with expertise that is just as helpful and sometimes even more than the primary instructor.

Annalise Kaylor, who has more than a decade of experience as a social media strategist and content marketing consultant, was also taking the class. She was able to help the class understand some of the social media realms and gave some great examples of how companies are using photography.

One such example was a well-known company that used a photograph with their social media buy of 2 million dollars for a one-week use on social media.

We all learned how much photography was not just helping tell stories but being used to gather data that allows companies to do a better job of marketing and selling this information. Imagine if you had the names of the people hiring photographers for projects. Then, you could cut down on that 80% business and spend a lot more time on the 20% of the photography and increase it.

Another person taking the class was Mitzie Goldman, who was a CPA and was able to add information about taxes.

When we talked about working with NGOs besides my own experience, we had Gary S Chapman, who has specialized in this for his entire career since the late 1970s.

I mention these classmates as just a tiny part of what everyone contributed in class. When you take workshops like this, you will learn from the instructor and those taking the class. I think of this as the serendipitous bonus factor of continuing education. Sometimes these tidbits you pick up that you had no idea might happen are the best part of the class.

Workshop opportunity I offer

This January 9 – 16, 2016, I am running a workshop with my friend James Dockery in Chiapas, Mexico.

Café Justo is a coffee grower cooperative based in Salvador Urbina, Chiapas, Mexico. You will work with one of the coffee farmers to capture their story of how the coffee cooperative helped to change their lives.

The design of the workshop is for photographers who want to add to their skill set multimedia. We will teach you how to create the storyline, capture your subject telling their own story using audio/video, create video/stills to accompany that story, and then put it together using Adobe Premier Pro.

One of the most challenging parts of storytelling is access to a great story. So we have put in place everything to help you tell a great story in an exotic location.

Register before the end of October 2015 and save $200.

Audio for DSLR Filmmakers

Another excellent opportunity for a workshop is the one ASMP/Atlanta is hosting with Michael Schwarz on Audio for DSLR Filmmakers. Michael shows how to get the best quality audio while shooting DSLR videos. Microphone selection, placement, and recording directly to the camera or with a digital recorder are critical to creating compelling motion projects. In addition, Michael explains step-by-step, simple best practices for shooting multi-camera interviews.

Here is a link to that 2-hour program on November 4, 2015.

The love of photography can cloud your judgment.

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / Nikon D750
 
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1250

There are two things I love to shoot more than anything else: Sports & Humanitarian subjects.

Both of these subjects are like an adrenaline rush for me to cover.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1400, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

I am not alone and find that both of these subjects have photographers lining up in a row to shoot them for free to have the chance to do so.

Here is a big clue to your brain cells–ANYTHING that people are willing to do for free requires you to be the very best to make a living at it.

The odds of being a professional sports photographer earning all your living doing this full-time may be more complex than playing the sport professionally. The reason is that so many people want to stand on the sidelines and do whatever it takes, even for free.

In sports, we call these jock sniffers. That may sound crude, but they want to be close to the action.

Not sure what we call them if they are willing to do whatever it takes to do humanitarian photography for free, but there are so many of these folks out there that it is scary.

In a Facebook group, there was a comment/question about covering missionaries for church organizations. Here is a small snippet:

The missions organization pays you little or in some cases NOTHING for your work after all is said and done. There are some of us who can walk away with photos worthy of National Geographic. I ask you, is it fair and right for missions groups to get all the benefits of having talented photographers shooting for them while the photographers get little or nothing to show for it? 

Here is my response


There are three types of mission organizations. 

 

1. The William Carey model of mission societies where people give to the society and then the society hires missionaries and pays them as a staff is one model.
2. Each person raises their funds. They have their supporters give to the organizations that endorse them, and they take a percentage [usually 10%], but this gives people a tax write-off. So the entire organization raises their support. Campus Crusade works this way for the most part.
3. There is often a blending of the two models where a small support staff might be staff, but the majority raise their support.

So if the person who hired you to work on the project is raising their support, then I think you don’t have a case in the traditional sense in their eyes.

The problem in missions is when everyone is not operating on the same model.

I have a capitalistic freelance business. I find clients who I charge for my services. I either must make enough to subsidize my mission’s photography, or I must charge to cover my costs.

In My Humble Opinion

Many unqualified “missionaries” can convince people to give to their cause. However, they are great fundraisers and not necessarily great “missionaries.”

I think the movement away from the William Carey Mission Societies to each person crowdfunding is funding those who are fundraisers and not missionaries by skill set.

The problem also has been that many “missionaries” in the William Carey Mission Societies were not good at communicating their work when people visited them on the mission field. As a result, many seeing the missionary would think they were not doing enough. On the other hand, often, the visitor would think they did as much good as these seminary-trained missionaries. In some cases, this was true, but the lack of understanding of cultural differences often played into the equation.

You cannot change these models, but you must be aware of them and decide how you will respond. For example, you can create your own 501c nonprofit and crowdsource and have people give to the communications efforts of missions worldwide.

You can go and be a tentmaker who makes most of their money like Paul, one of the first missionaries and author of much of the New Testament, did as a tentmaker/missionary.

You can find those organizations that have set aside a budget to hire you because they value true expertise and understand how this will help their mission objectives.

After more comments where people still felt like organizations should be paying them who often are all raising their funds, I needed to add some more thoughts. So here they are for you.

I don’t think you will get very far with the feeling people should pay you when they are raising all their funds.

If you cannot cover your costs, state that, and they will find a way if they want to work with you. Suppose they don’t, then move on. Not paying is true with clients who offer you money, but it is below your cost of doing business–you must walk away.

There is another aspect to the discussion other than pay versus fundraising.

RESULTS

Photographers who can tell stories effectively and organizations that raise funds due to their work will be in demand.

Too many who want to do “missions” or “humanitarian” are more in love with themselves traveling and getting paid to take photos. They do not believe in a cause. Their work is average and not what people will want to share on social media. They don’t have the followings. They are irrelevant with their work, but in their minds, they are legends.

MORE THAN A STORYTELLER

You cannot just be a great storyteller these days alone. It would help if you also connected with the audience. For example, some photographers say that when they “Tweet,” they communicate with more than 100,000 followers. They are a media outlet themselves. They have so many followers because they share in a way that appeals to the audience.

They have an audience, and when they share, people get involved, and those who are blessed to have them work for their benefit. Many organizations will hire them just for access to their audience.

TRUE SUCCESS

It would be best if you had outstanding work today. That is a given. But it would help if you so had so much more. You must understand the entire process of a crisis needing people to get involved. You know what it takes to engage that audience, and you are part of a team helping them to understand all that must take place with your work to make it successful.

Photographers running successful businesses are more likely to help missions or humanitarian agencies than photographers struggling to get by. The reason is simple–they know you must make sound business decisions for something to be successful.

SUMMARY

IN ANY PROFESSION, where people are willing to do something for FREE, there will always be those who can earn a living at the very pinnacle of that profession. Here are some careers you find many people doing for free all the time:

  • Music
  • Theater
  • Sports
  • Humanitarian 
  • Photography
To get paid and earn a living, you must not just be the best technically. Many amateur golfers can outdrive many on tour. Many musicians are technical wizards with an instrument. 
 
Those who get paid are the total package. In photography, that means you understand better than your client how you can best help them. You also understand everything that needs to happen for your ideas to create a real impact for the client. Then, you can communicate and work with a client to achieve those goals. 
 
You also understand the business of the profession and know what you need to charge to make a living. Therefore, you can convince people you are the solution to their problems and that they need to pay you to help them achieve their goals.
 
You are also a person that exudes confidence that makes people know you have their back and are on their team.
 
You can own all the very best gear available. You can have the best portfolio there is in the profession. But if you don’t know what business you are in and what problems you are solving for others, you will never make it.
 
Don’t fall in love with what you get to do in a profession; fall in love with how you love to solve other people’s problems, and it just happens that photography is part of the solution.

Nikon D750 vs Fuji X-E2 with Sigma 120-300mm

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
Nikon D750, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, Nikon SB-900, Nikon SB-800, PocketWizard Transceiver TT5, PocketWizard Mini TT1, AC-3, ISO 10000, ƒ/8, 1/320

The last time I shot this I did it from shooting inside the house looking through a window. This time I am outside shooting.

The other reason I did this again is the weather was incredible at my home today. We woke up to 50º F and it got to about 69º F at the hottest today. Wonderful time to just sit and watch a bird feeder.

Fuji X-E2, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, ISO 6400 ƒ/-not sure, 1/180–off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger with flash at 1/32 Power

First I must say I can only manual focus and I never really got the focus perfect with the Fuji. I would approximate where the hummingbird would be whereas with the Nikon I was able to auto focus.

Hummingbird Feedeer

This is the actual setup with the Fuji. The only difference is the flashes were switched out with the Nikon system.

Hummingbird Feedeer

I believe the wings are more frozen with the Neewer flash than with the Nikon due to flash duration.

Fuji X-E2, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, ISO 6400 ƒ/-not sure, 1/180–off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger with flash at 1/32 Power

Now to make up for the ability to lock in on focus I used a high aperture with the Fuji. To do this I just rotated the Nikon to Fuji converter. I can only guess as the aperture, but most likely around ƒ/16 or higher.

President Jimmy Carter and my fellow Photojournalists have something in common.

by Stanley LearyNikon D750 / photojournalism
 
Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 7200, ƒ/5.6, 1/500

I was blessed today to see former President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School at his hometown, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, GA.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/3.5, 1/15

To get this opportunity, I realized last week when he announced his diagnosis with cancer that I had put off hearing him teach for too long. So I immediately went to the church’s website to see when he was teaching. Here is where you go to see when he is teaching http://www.mbcplains.org/.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/250

I was there when every network was there covering the lesson. Here are some of the sound bites from today’s lesson.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/250

 After the service, my wife and I took photos with the Carters.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 10000, ƒ/8, 1/500

The Atlanta Journal & Constitution sent Ben Gray to cover the event. I enjoyed watching my colleagues work while taking it easy as a spectator.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1600, ƒ/8, 1/500

Here is the Associated Press photographer David Goldman acknowledging he is on the other side of the lens for once.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1100, ƒ/8, 1/500

Here, Ben Gray is taking a photo of the caption information and ensuring it is with the image for later when he sends this back to the office for publication. In the background is David Goldman talking about a subject he just finished interviewing.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 200, ƒ/3.5, 1/500

I ran into Ben Gray later downtown, where he was filing photos from outside the store while his family was inside shopping. He brought his family to enjoy the historical moment with him.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1600, ƒ/8, 1/500

You could see the media taking places where they could find them. For example, another photographer is editing and filing under a tree in front of Maranatha Baptist Church.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/160

The day before, I hosted the Christians in Photojournalism group at my church in Roswell. So here is Patrick Murphy-Racey, a Sony Artisan, giving us the inside scoop on Sony’s latest cameras.

In the past, Ben Gray has been the keynote speaker. Other times we have had other journalists speak. Photojournalists need to know their colleagues. We try to help each other when and where we can, but we still must also work hard to get the angle others are missing.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/140

David Stembridge shares some of his work with the group during our 5-minute shows. This time is where anyone can show their work to the group in just 5-minutes.

You see, photojournalists care deeply. They care for their subjects, and they care for the public. We care that we are informed about our fellow man.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/160

Just like President Jimmy Carter was a statesman, he was also a Sunday School Teacher. Today was lesson 698 in Plains, GA. Here is photojournalist Patrick Murphy-Racey, a Catholic Deacon who is blending the technical aspects of photography with his faith.

Patrick said, “They say you can never step into the same stream of water because the water is constantly moving. I must stay abreast of technology because when I step on the floor each morning from my bed just like the stream, I cannot expect it to be the same as yesterday.”

Today President Carter boiled down the responsibilities of the Christian as simply as “loving the Lord your God with all your heart and to also love the person in front of you, no matter friend or enemy.”

He talked today about dealing with conflict. For example, he said, “Real estate is all about location, location, location. Conflict resolution is all about communication, communication, communication.”

While President Jimmy Carter saw his calling as through public service by holding public office, photojournalists see our calling as the role of the communicator. We are helping make our world a better place to live by helping us see our conflicts and helping us see the solutions as well.

President Jimmy Carter and photojournalists believe in serving, and our ability to communicate is key to our effectiveness.

Throw Back Thursday tips for copying old photographs

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
 

Throwback Thursday

If you are on social media, you know that today people post old photos and remember loved ones. This is a photo of my little sister with our great grandmother “Mama Benfield, and me.”

Our family had a print of this, which is how I made a copy of the photo.

I put the photo on a table and, using a tripod, set the camera parallel to the table. I put two hot shoe flashes off to the sides at 45º to the table. I got good exposure and custom white balance.

The custom white balance is to counteract any color bounce from the room.

Then I took a stack of photos and copied away shooting in RAW.

My grandfather R. Knolan Benfield
My grandmother Emma Hartsell Benfield
My mother, Bonita Benfield Leary
My sister Emma and my Dad David Leary with me
My sister Emma, my grandfather “Daddy B,” and grandmother “Nana B.”

I brought all the photos into Lightroom. I kept them in color and made adjustments using the sliders. Here is the first photo.

After I made all the adjustments using Temp and Tint, even for contrast control, I switched the photo to Black and White before exporting.

The good news with all this copy work is now they are digitized and searchable.

After I exported the images as JPEGs, I opened them with PhotoMechanic, which I prefer over Lightroom when working in metadata, and identified each photo in the caption. So now, for the first time, we know when for example, my mother had this photo taken of her.

Now on PC or Mac, when you search for “Bonita Leary 3rd Grade,” this photo will pop up in the search even if you don’t have the software to see the embedded text.

As you scan old slides and negatives and then make copies of your prints, be sure to add the text so they are searchable, and in the future, your family will know the who, what, where, why, and when for the photos. Identification will make them even more valuable to the generations after us.

Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro on Fuji X-E2 and Nikon D750

by Stanley LearyNikon D750

I have had this Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro for a while and use it occasionally. I was curious today about what this would do on my Fuji X-E2. I knew the results I was getting with my Nikon full-frame cameras, but I just shot the Nikon D750 to show you the difference in the crop factor more than anything. I shot all the photos as close as the lens would focus.

Fuji X-E2, Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro, ISO 200, ƒ–wide open, 1/8

Since the lens is attached to my Fuji X-E2 with the Nikon G AFS lens to Fujifilm Fuji X-Pro1 X-E1 Adapter Aperture Control Ring, I wasn’t sure what the exact ƒ-stop was due to the extension tube factor. So I probably added a stop.

I set it up this way. First, I shot the photo using the 10-second timer delay.

Fuji X-E2, Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro, ISO 200, ƒ–closed down, 8 sec

You can see the photo is better than a one-to-one ratio. I only shot two pictures with the lens. One wide open and one closed down.

Now to get a comparison for the crop factor, here are the Nikon D750 photos.

Nikon D750, Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/15

The extension tube put the lens further from the film plane on the Fuji and thus created an even shallower depth-of-field than the Nikon D750. The second factor is the cropped effect.

Nikon D750, Nikon AF 60mm f/2.8 D Micro, ISO 100, ƒ/57, 6 sec

You can also see the exact ƒ-stops and notice that even with the D750 shooting one ISO slower than the Fuji, the shutter was open much longer due to the extension tube.

I was using a tripod to keep the camera still. With the Nikon D750, I used the Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control Infrared to trigger the camera. I chose the “Remote mirror-up” setting, which lets you lock the mirror up and take a photo. You press it once, and the mirror locks up, and then a second time to take the picture. Here is an earlier post on this technique.

If you have other lenses for a DSLR, then get a converter and see what those lenses can do. The cool thing with a mirrorless is that you can see what you are getting and get the lens critically focused since you can see the results before you click the shutter.

Announcing Multimedia Storytelling Workshop with Coffee Farmers in Mexico

by Stanley Learymultimedia / Nikon D750
 

I am putting on a multimedia storytelling workshop in Chiapas, Mexico, with Cafe Justo’s coffee growers from January 9th – 16th, 2016.

I hope you consider joining me and learning how to tell a story by doing all the processes yourself with the guidance of James Dockery and myself.

Here is James working in one of the edit suites at ESPN. [Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/7.1, 1/30]

James Dockery, ESPN Video Editor | James works as a lead video editor for ESPN and operates his own business in Charlotte, NC, where he is a photographer/ videographer. James has been a photographer for over 30 years and a videographer for over 20 years.

Here is James’ website for his photography business outside of ESPN http://www.jamesdockery.com.

While James, as you can see, is well qualified to teach the subject, the main reason I have partnered with him is his personality. James is such an optimist and a person who has a lot of energy and is interesting to be with. The students feel James’ passion for teaching as he spends time with each person being sure they are getting what they need to complete their projects.

Here James is working with a student going over her project. [Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 500, ƒ/1.8, 1/100]
James loves pastries, making the best of friends with the workers at the local coffee and pastry shop on our trip to Lisbon together. [Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 4500, ƒ/8, 1/100]

James and I enjoy sharing our experiences with workshop participants. We discovered getting each person as much hands-on time doing a project and walking alongside them as they work much better than a lot of lecture time.

 
Be sure to go to the website, read more about it, and sign up. I am looking forward to seeing you in Mexico.

Photography Boot Camp is a great way to learn photography

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / Nikon D750
Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 5000, ƒ/25, 1/40–off camera flash with Alienbees B1600 powered by Vagabond and triggered using the Pocketwizard system.

Many people will talk about being Baptized by Fire when they take on a new responsibility. New responsibility is when you sink or swim, as one might also say about a new job.

A new IT industry movement is called “Coder Boot Camp.” 12 Weeks To A 6-Figure Job was a piece first published in December 2014 but continues to get traction.

One fan of these programs is President Obama. In March, the White House announced the TechHire initiative to help communities recognize, and hire, boot camp graduates in order to close the famous “skills gap.”

“There’s a lot more we can do together to make sure that more Americans benefit from a 21st century economy,” Obama said to the nation’s mayors. “Folks can get the skills they need in newer, streamlined, faster training programs.”

According to a recent report on NPR:

These programs promise, for several thousand dollars, to take people and in a manner of weeks, turn them into job-ready Web developers.

Virtually unknown just four years ago, today at least 50 of these programs have sprung up around the country and overseas. Collectively, the sector has taken in an estimated $73 million in tuition since 2011.

And the top programs say they are placing the vast majority of their graduates into jobs earning just under six figures in a rapidly expanding field — filling a need for practical, hands-on skills that traditional college programs, in many cases, don’t.

Photo by Robin Nelson

Since 2006 I have been part of a Photography 12-week boot camp that provides similar training for those wanting to know photography.

The students in the course I work with each year in Kona, Hawaii, do nothing but this one class for 12 weeks. The more I heard about the “Coder Boot Camp” on NPR while driving, the more I realized this is what we have been doing in that class.

Patrick Murphy-Racey, Sony Artisan Associate, takes a moment to talk with Lily Wang at a workshop about the Sony mirrorless camera system. [Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/250]

I do not think a boot camp replaces a college degree. Multiple impact career advancement and promotions; however, having a bachelor’s degree can be a significant factor. Employers often view a college-educated employee as motivated to learn, able to meet deadlines, and have problem-solving and communication skills. In addition, many management and administrative positions require a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

What a boot camp does that a college degree doesn’t always do is train you in those efficient skills you need each day in the profession.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/100

The multimedia workshops that I am now teaching have no tests and grading. No one cares in the industry if you graduated Magna Cum Laude; they want to see your portfolio. The boot camp experience is where you will spend a lot of time hands-on and producing, just like you would on a real job.

The difference between the job and the boot camp is the coaching and teaching that comes with the instructors. They will review your work and help guide you to help you produce a portfolio that, without the instruction, would have taken you a much longer time to do on your own.

Photography has very few Boot Camp Programs where in 12 weeks, you get the practical skills to start working as a professional. The School of Photography program that Dennis Fahringer runs in Kona, Hawaii, with the University of the Nations is the only one I know. We design it for Christians who want to use photography in ministry/missions to impact the world.

There are shorter workshops that will teach a specific skill, as I do with my Multimedia Workshop or Lighting Workshops, where you learn in a short period a skill.

+/- Photography Boot Camp

  • The most important key element about attending a Bootcamp was a COMMITMENT to and PASSION for learning the technology. You will get a great deal out of the program if you bring an insatiable desire for knowledge.
  • You realize that a portfolio will get you hired, not how many classes you have taken.
  • You take on all the projects with the desire to redo any part of the process until it is portfolio worthy.
  • If you are not carrying your camera around most of the time, this is a good clue you might not benefit from this program.
  • If you find spending 8+ hours a day doing nothing but photography too much, then you need to avoid this.
  • If you have trouble dealing with criticism, this isn’t your profession. While no one enjoys a fuss, the person with a passion realizes they need to get better and welcome the complaint rather than recoil.

I am a lifelong learner and realize that every few years, I must dive deeply into something new that I need to learn. The deep dive might be a class to learn new software or going to a workshop to learn about a new piece of gear. Whatever the case, I realized long ago that I will never know all there is to know about photography and that I can always learn something new.

I have a one-week Bootcamp in Multimedia Narrative Storytelling in Mexico with Coffee Growers. Click here to learn more.

 

Fuji X-E2 with Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8 vs Nikon D750 with Nikon 28-300mm

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/14, 1/160–Three Alienbees with one on 30″ x 40″ Softbox

Today I was shooting food. Here is one of the shots of some cookies. With the Nikon D750 I shot this with large overhead 30″ x 40″ softbox and two other flashes just filling in a little. Shooting with the studio strobes I was not able to really shoot super shallow depth-of-field.

Fujifilm X-E2, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, Nikon AI Mount Lens to Fujifilm FX Mount Camera Adapter, ISO 3200, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

To shoot shallow depth-of-field I shot the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8 on the Fujifilm X-E2 using the Nikon AI Mount Lens to Fujifilm FX Mount Camera Adapter. Since the Fuji is a smaller chip I was shooting more like a 127.5mm ƒ/1.8 lens.

To keep the color as accurate as possible in both photos I custom white balanced using the ExpoDisc. With the Nikon D750 I used strobes and the Fujifilm I use available light of the modeling lights of the strobes.

I like the shallow depth-of-field shot with the Fujifilm better.

The lesson is simple shoot a variety using all your gear when you need to get images to impress your client.

Shooting portraits in the middle of a department store for a workshop

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
 
 
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 10000, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

BEST BUY® DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
Today I taught a workshop at the Best Buy 850 Cobb Place Boulevard Nw, Kennesaw, GA 30144. After a brief overview, we divided into two groups. We would rotate from Portraits and Low Light to Sports and Macro.

Andrew was the first model that each of the students shot.

We were in the TV section, which can get pretty dark the farther back you go, which we eventually would do.

This photo was a typical first shot for most of the students. Guess what the first lesson was teaching? Use your feet and get closer. I shot the top photo as an example and asked them to compose their shot this way first. Even after they shot their second photo, most still were too far back.

Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 10000, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

I then shot this photo and showed them the person doesn’t have to move, but you can clean up your background. I am shooting these at ƒ/1.8. They were to shoot wide open and then take a photo at ƒ8 or even ƒ/11 to compare their backgrounds.

Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 7200, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

I even went behind the subject slightly to show even more angles.

I also taught them how to set the white balance other than using AWB [Auto White Balance] by choosing a preset like Tungsten, Daylight, or Fluorescent. Then I showed them the best way was to do a custom white balance. Here are earlier blog posts that cover this for you.

For even more blog posts, just put your topic like “White Balance” in the search field at the top right of this page to search my blog for even more posts.
 
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 6400, ƒ/1.8, 1/500
We then changed groups and models, and I repeated the same information. Here I moved the model to a different location to get a plane wall behind her and used the existing track lights in the ceiling for the lighting. Again, it looks like I did this in a studio.
 
We talked about keeping the eye closest to the camera in focus as a tip.
 
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 6400, ƒ/1.8, 1/500
I also talked to the group about having one shoulder closer to the camera rather than perfectly squared up for a more flattering photo. But, as always, these are guidelines and not complex fast rules.
 
Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/3.2, 1/160
I also showed them how to make an environmental photo by pretending this model was the leader of this department. This example was to help them know when they may want the more cluttered background. To help make the lady stand out, we had her closer to the camera and not just close to the environment.
 
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 4500, ƒ/1.8, 1/500
After they made the “environmental portrait,” I asked them to leave her where she was and to move around and make a portrait. Here I walked to her side, cleaned up the background, and used a shallow depth-of-field.
 
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 5600, ƒ/1.8, 1/500
Then I walked to the other side. I found that the students only started to grasp the idea of using their feet to recompose after I showed them. Slowly they began to explore and look for better images.
 
No strobes and shot all this in the busy Best Buy store showing how it is thinking about what you want to capture and not just a magical camera setting that will make them better photographers.