Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 1400, ƒ/1.4, 1/200

I enjoy meeting people, and finding children around the world captures my attention the most. I think it is because of their curiosity that I get a response when I smile.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

My two favorite lenses to capture these emotional connections are the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G and the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art. Since both are high-speed lenses of wide open apertures of ƒ/1.4 and ƒ/1.8, you can capture just the person and especially the eyes and let everything else go out of focus.

My mentor Don Rutledge is the one I often heard referring to the power of the eyes. He said these with the “Windows to the Soul.”

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 8000, ƒ/4, 1/100

I have learned through the years that the angle from which you photograph a person can significantly impact what you are saying and determine how much of an “emotional connection” you can make with the subject and the audience.

I blogged about the topic earlier. Here is that blog post.

While I commented in that blog post that seeing eye-to-eye isn’t always best, I tend to look for this when trying to connect the audience to the subject as their equal.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/320

Now getting eye level with a smile is always expressive; it isn’t the only facial expression that connects with the audience.

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/400

Also, it is essential to mention that the eyes that do most of the smiling in those photos show the joy of seeing you.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 1100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

Now while this little boy isn’t sure of me with that expression, the expression does capture the child’s innocence. I can see in the face the question of who are you and can I trust you?

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/2000

The other thing that happens when people look at you without a big smile is there appears to be a silent dialogue going on with the audience. I think this type of expression is relatively abstract. It makes the audience want to fill in the conversation.

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 8000, ƒ/4, 1/500

To me, a photographer’s demeanor helps to elicit responses from people. I know this because I don’t speak their language in a cross-cultural situation like this in Togo, West Africa. So all I am doing is using body language and facial expressions to get reactions to me from people.

I felt welcomed by these guys as they drove closer to me down this dirt road.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

How can’t the most demanding person be melted by this little girl’s presence and expression?

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 1100, ƒ/1.8, 1/1000

Hey, the smile will always get a great reaction, but remember your audience, and you need more to your life than just one emotion. Learn to explore your subject. Don’t be afraid of those uncomfortable expressions as well.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 4000, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

Often the beginning of the relationship with a subject may start like this before I can build the trust that lets me be able to get behind those off-putting expressions.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 2800, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

I have one tip that should help you get better emotional connection photos. Be vulnerable with yourself and open with the subjects. Take your time and remember that you must first learn to serve your issue with your willingness to give rather than take.

The only way I know to express this is I think of this as giving a hug with your eyes. Like you would do with a newborn child, be expressive and show the excitement of being in their presence.

If you are patient, kind, and a loving person to others, then the odds of you capturing the “Decisive Moment” where there is an “Emotional Connection” is possible.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/1000

This week, while teaching in the Storytellers Abroad Workshop in Togo, West Africa, I noticed some trends that most students make.

We assess the trends of common errors and address those each day. For example, one of the most common themes that almost every day starts with is taking care of the technology before trying to capture the content.

Allison Waller, a student in the Storytellers Abroad Workshop, has all these Togo children fascinated with her camera.  [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens,, ISO 3600, ƒ/4, 1/100]

Before you start shooting pictures or capturing video, you need to take care of the settings on your camera.

Here is a short list of things that I recommend that a person checks before capturing the content.

1. Set the camera resolution.
   1. Stills – I use RAW, but just be sure you have made a conscience choice.
   2. Video – I often shoot today in 1920×1280 24 fps. Again be aware of what settings you use. With video, you need to be sure all the cameras you use are on the exact resolution, or editing will be a problem.
2. Set ISO – Use the lowest ISO possible to get a sharp and well-exposed image.
3. Set Aperture
4. Set Shutter Speed
   1. Stills – Pick shutter speed that works with the focal length
   2. Video – Use shutter speed double the fps.
5. White Balance – I recommend always using a Custom White balance
6. Video Sound
   1. Microphones are as close as possible to the person 
   2. Set Audio Recording level
   3. Always use closed headphones to listen for sound issues

Once you take care of those technical settings, then when you start shooting, the content you are collecting will be useable.

Pat Davison, a UNC School of Media/Journalism professor, is teaching interviewing techniques using a translator during our workshop in Togo, West Africa.  [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 1800, ƒ/8, 1/100]

[Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/100]

Price $39.95

I can tell you a few downsides of buying a new camera. First, when it is unique, some changes will be necessary.

One of the changes I had to go through was not having my EasyCover for the Nikon D5 to protect it for a couple of months. I just got mine last week. I bought two of the two cameras. I even made one different than the other to know which camera I was shooting. Different covers help when I need to know which camera I am shooting with due to a few things. One may be I set up one for video and the other for stills.

Another reason maybe one is set for studio flash and the other available. There are many reasons you may need to know or remember which camera is which.

One of the cameras has camouflage, and the other is black.

The great thing about getting a new camera is all the improvements, and EasyCover also made improvements over the Nikon D4 cover.

At first glance, it may look very similar, but they did listen to users and found that the Nikon D4 cover made it difficult to see your buttons. When Nikon made the Nikon D4, they improved it by creating a backlight inside the controls so you could turn on a light to see which button, but the EasyCover covered them, and you could still push them; you just lost this fantastic enhancement.

Now you can easily see your buttons on the Nikon D5. Unfortunately, they kept covering just a few, as you can see above.

Now, those who shoot with a different camera make many other covers, including lens covers. Check out all their bodies for cameras here.

A camera cover is one of the best investments anyone can make for their camera. I like to describe it as similar to my Otterbox for my Smartphone. It protects the camera.

Now, if I can get Pocketwizard to update the firmware for the Flex TT5 & TT1 for the Nikon D5, I will be thrilled.

Are you looking for a photo? How do you find what you need?

Well, most people look for photos. They need to type a few words into a search window and then look at their results.

Two main fields are embedded in photographs that are the principal places search engines look for matches: the Description/Caption and Keyword fields of the Metadata.

Image Metadata is information attached to image files that provide details about the picture. This is commonly used for title, description, keywords, and location information. Metadata can be added from the camera the photo was taken with or added by the photographer in their image editing software.

The image above is a screen grab of the metadata of this photograph using the software PhotoMechanic.

If it is just you looking for your images, then whatever you want to do to help you jog your memory will help, but that will not work for people who do not know what your image looks like.

Now there are two ways people are looking for a photograph. The most searched way would most likely be looking for a picture to be used that fits a theme. These are generic searches.

To find the photo above, they may search for phrases like: “basketball,” “men’s college basketball,” or “college basketball.”

Now, if those terms are spelled exactly in the Keywords Metadata field, then the odds are pretty good the photo will find its way to their computer screen.

“Keyword” field is limited to generic terms

Once the person sees your photo, they most likely will not open special photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, or PhotoMechanic to see what keywords were used for this photo.

They may have even used a different keyword like “competition” to find the image. Now, look at the very top image that shows the fields. A person must take some time to look at a picture, think about how the photograph might be used, and create a keyword for how someone might look up such a photo. Commas separate keywords. The words between the commas will determine if the photo matches someone’s search.

There is a second way a person will look for a photograph, and this is based on something specific like personal names. This is where a generic photo will not work.

To find the photo above, the person might search for “Eric Williams,” “Will Bynum,” or “Theodis Tarver” because they are writing something about them.

When this person downloads the photograph, the odds are very high that they will open photo editing software to read the CAPTION. This is because, most likely, they will use that information with the photograph when they publish it.

“Caption” field contains the specifics about a photo

New field

Now with the plugin LR/INSTAGRAM, you can publish your photos to your Instagram account. There is one more field that you can work in a while using Lightroom. You have to go to the Metadata and select in the pull-down menu LR/Instagram. Then you can see the fields that you want to use when posting to Instagram. You want to use the #hashtag field, and I recommend also using the caption field, which is the same as the IPTC caption field.

#hastags function just like your keywords. If they do, why don’t you use the keywords for publishing? They are missing the # symbol social media uses to signal a keyword from the caption information.

Now, if you are Social Media literate, you will know the difference between #hashtags and captions. Just remember that:

#hashtag = (keyword – #)

Why does all this work? $$$$$$$$$$ Yes, the main reason you would want to do this is so you can make your images findable on the web and then sell them. Two ways your photos are sold–Prints for personal use or Licensing an image for use [stock photography].

I use PhotoShelter to do both of these for me. Here are links to learn how you can make money with your images:

Stock Sales on PhotoShelter

Print Sales on PhotoShelter

The key to either of these is the ability of someone to find your images; they need you to fill in the caption information and the keyword information for them to find your pictures.