Category: Photography

Photographers be like farmers in the Springtime–Prepare the fields

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
 
 
Fuji X-E2, Fuji XF 18-55mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/4.5, 1/500

This time of year is when you can drive around your neighborhood and see a significant difference in lawn care. This photo shows just the difference spreading Weed & Feed with the watering can make in the appearance of your lawn.

Only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.
 
B. C. Forbes
Fuji X-E2, Fuji XF 18-55mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/4.5, 1/500

A few weeks ago, I tackled the problem of bare spots in my yard. Well, they are more significant than spots. There is a lot of shade, so this will always be an area that needs more work than the sunny sections of the yard.

I went to HomeDepot and bought Powermate 10. 43 cc 2-Cycle Gas Cultivator to help turn the soil with the Rebel tall fescue, pelletized limestone, & Vigoro 15m weed & feed.

Just two weeks later, you can see the results of a much greener yard in these photos.

Fuji X-E2, Fuji XF 18-55mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/4.5, 1/500

Here you can see the areas I didn’t cultivate did not produce as much grass. Some grass seed and fertilizer fell in those areas, but the difference was in the turning the soil about 2″ – 3″ that buried the seeds and helped them grow.

Just celebrating Easter at our church reminded me of the Parable of the Sower that Jesus told.

Matthew 13: 3-9
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Photographer Tips:

You reap what you sow. We have all heard this before, but what can a photographer learn from this? First, you must return to your present clients and reconnect with them. Next, you need to give them more information about you and what new things you are doing. Reconnecting with clients is like fertilizing your yard.

Now some ground is hard as a rock. So first, a farmer uses a tiller to break up dirt that has not been farmed or has become extremely hard. Next, a farmer uses a cultivator to loosen the soil in an existing planting area, weeding the area during the growing season, and mixing compost into the ground.

You may have to do a lot of leg work and go and beat the pavement finding those new clients. You may need some good examples to leave with them through your website, e-newsletter, or printed material. You may need to get friends working with those potential clients to help introduce you and break the ice for you.

Competition:

Even Jesus knew that your competition would try and sabotage all your good work. So he told a parable about it as well. It follows the Parable of the Sower:

Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

They didn’t have weed & feed in those days. We as photographers may not have the weed control to put out either, but the lesson is clear others will try and attack you at times. Be careful at trying to fix this–you could damage the excellent seed you planted.

The message is straightforward having a big harvest requires you to work the field. First, you must get that tiller and break up the harsh ground. Next, using the cultivator to mix the seed and fertilizer would be best. Finally, you will need to water the field if you expect to see a crop worthy of harvesting.

You can’t reap what you do not sow.

Telephoto or Wide-angle Lens?

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, ƒ/6.3, 1/100

Should you use a Telephoto lens or a Wide-Angle lens? Well, that all depends.

Here I walked across the street and up a small hill and shot back at all the First 100 Campers sleeping over the night in the parking lot for the Grand Opening of Chick-fil-A at Northeast 8th Street in Bellevue, Washington. The First 100 get free Chick-fil-A for a year.

I did a great job showing the campers in front of the store.

 
Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 9000, ƒ/8, 1/100

Here I walked a lot closer and shot it with the 14-24mm at 14mm to emphasize all the tents in the parking lot.

Which photo is better?

Well, that all depends on what you are trying to say. I am covering this story because Chick-fil-A is just now with this Grand Opening getting into the Seattle, Washington market.

I think the first photo shows the city of Bellevue and even the corporate offices of Microsoft just next door to Chick-fil-A. The lower photo could almost be shot anywhere because the emphasis is more about what is the same at the grand openings–tents in parking lots.

Now, if I only needed one photo, I would shoot the top photo, but I am a seasoned journalist and know to cover it completely, so I shoot them all and even more angles. Getting a variety of angles is critical when you are telling the story. The array of photos is especially true in multimedia, where you may show both with other images in a series. For example, you may talk about the campers and how this is in the city of Bellevue.

The question is not just which is best, but why not shoot both and then decide later as you figure out what you want to say? Maybe you will need both.

The Kodak Carousel

by Stanley LearyPhotography

I own a Kodak Carousel projector. For me, it was a magic lantern to the past. I loved how simple it was to operate.

I regularly created slideshows for my work, synchronizing two or more projectors to a soundtrack. The audio tape had two tracks: left and right for stereo. One track was for mono sound, and the other was for code to control the projectors.

The other day, I got hooked on the TV show Mad Men. According to the show’s pilot, “Mad men” was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue to refer to themselves.

I watched the show yesterday about the agency working with Kodak on their new slide projector, which they wanted to promote the wheel aspect of the tray.

This scene is not only a masterfully written explanation of what advertising executives do but also gets to the heart of the power of photography.

Here is that scene for you to watch.

While the power of images is used all the time by Madison Avenue to hook us on products and services, I think Don Draper’s image selection in the pitch gets to the real power of photography for the individual.

I love this speech by Don Draper:

Technology is a glittering lure. However, there is a rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash if they have a sentimental bond with the product.

In my first job, I was in-house at a fur company with this old pro copywriter, Greek, named Teddy.

Teddy told me the most crucial idea in advertising was ‘new.’ This creates an itch. You simply put your product in there as a kind of calamine lotion.

However, he also discussed a deeper bond with the product: nostalgia. This bond is delicate but potent.

Teddy told me that in Greek, nostalgia means ‘the pain from an old wound.’

It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone.

This device isn’t a spaceship. It’s a time machine that travels back and forth, taking us to the places we long to return.

It’s not called ‘The Wheel.’ It’s called ‘The Carousel.’

It lets us travel the way a child travels—around and around and back home to where we know we are loved.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/3.2, 1/220

Yesterday at our church, I took a few photos to preserve such a fun service. I shared this photo on my Facebook page, and many shared it. People loved it not just because their kids were in the picture but because of their own “nostalgia.”

I loved it because this year’s church created a unique family service. So often, parents of little toddlers feel pressured to keep their kids quiet in a “big church” here; they want the families to feel welcomed.

I have never seen this many kids at our church during a Children’s Sermon.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/3.8, 1/500

I also captured my daughter singing as part of a quartet. I was incredibly proud.

Today’s photos help me remember and appreciate my wonderful family. This photo is from Easter 2001, fourteen years ago, when my daughter was just two years old.

We might not be showing our photos on a Kodak Carousel projector anymore, but the image lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again to a place where we know we are loved.

Ever wonder what happened to your camera???

by Stanley LearyPhotography

The other day I was trying to take photos with my Nikon D4, and it would just not focus. There was a delay when I pushed the shutter until the camera fired. 

I looked to see if I had set the timer. I didn’t select it. So now I am telling myself, what the &#%!@?!? 

I had put the Pocketwizard TT1 on the camera and was attempting to fire off the camera flash.  

I can report that this took a couple of days to figure out. Not proud of how long this took. 

The problem was the flash control on the Nikon D4 was set to Red-eye reduction. To change those settings, you push the flash button on the top of the camera and turn the main command dial. See the illustration here. 

  Here are the choices on the camera for you.

I do not remember ever changing this, so this is why I had a tough time isolating this problem.

Quick solution 

Most all cameras have a way to reset the camera to factory settings. However, the time it takes to figure out what setting the camera changed may take longer than just a quick reset. On the Nikon D4, you find the two buttons with the green ●. You can find them by the ISO and WB buttons on the back of the camera. 

Just push these two buttons, which will likely solve most of your problems.

One more way on the Nikon D4 camera [most cameras have this function] is to find all your current settings and change that one item.

I am writing this blog as much for myself as anyone else.  

Here is an interesting factoid: When you take good notes, you will remember things well enough that you rarely have to look at their notes again.

It seems that writing anything down makes us remember it better. But, on the other hand, not writing things down is just asking to forget. So it’s a kind of mental Catch-22: the only way not to have to write things down is to write them down so you remember them well enough not to have written them down.

Now you may know another reason I do a blog. It helps me to go through the process of writing something down, and in the process, I have discovered I remember more things. Another thing is I now have an online database of topics I can find later when I am having trouble remembering or I want to share with someone who asks me a question.

Nikon D750 Settings

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
 

I was asked what my settings were for the Nikon D750. Here are most of those settings, but I want to be sure you know that these are not what I use every time. I do modify these based on situations.

However, this is how I generally leave the camera set.

  • Aperture Priority
  • Slow Flash Sync
  • Auto Focus – Single
  • Auto Focus – Auto set to find faces
  • White Balance A1
  • RAW
  • Matrix Metering
  • Auto ISO
    • Lowest ISO 100
    • Highest ISO 12800
    • Shutter Speed 1/500
 

I am post-processing all images through Adobe Lightroom 5.7.

 

The first thing I am changing on these settings is White Balance. I will Custom White balance most of the time using the ExpoDisc.

The second thing I am changing is the Auto Focus. Again, I will choose a single point using the 51 pts to move the tiny box around the viewfinder where I put it most of the time on the subject’s eyes.

Little bit of red better than a lot

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Fuji X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/8, 1/320

Just a dash of red in this otherwise very monochromatic photo gives it the pop necessary to grab your attention.

Notice how the same black & white photo doesn’t have the same POP as the color photo.

Fuji X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/8, 1/320

Red is one of the colors that draw the most attention in a scene. Stop signs are red for this reason, like on this school bus–your eye will see it in a location. Also, this is why the lights are red on the bus. Same as the tail lights of a car. You want them to be red when you hit the brakes so that those following will be alerted.

The lesson is simple when there is just a splash of red in the photo, you will draw your eye to that area of the photograph. If you don’t want that to happen, don’t include it in the image.

Lovin’ Nikon D750 @ High ISO

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 5000, ƒ/5, 1/250

I have been looking through my photos from the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference shot on my Nikon D750. I was shocked at the quality of the images.

The EXPEED 4 Image-Processing Engine and 24.3 MP FX-format CMOS sensor are a significant jump over my Nikon D4.

Years ago, when ADOBE improved the main processing software engine for PhotoShop, you could go back to older files and get better results due to the software improvements.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 12800, ƒ/8, 1/40

I think this happened with the new Nikon processor and sensor. While at first, I thought the images were sharper and cleaner due to the 24 MP versus the 16 MP, I think it has more to do with the chip quality for dynamic range and the new processor combination.

The pixel distance from each other is at a pitch of 7.3 microns on the Nikon D4 and 5.97 microns on the Nikon D750. This spacing improves clarity and definition. Rich and smooth tonal gradations. Dramatic character and texture.

Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 8000, ƒ/5.6, 1/30

Size Matters

It is essential to look at the photos in size you would be using–not zoomed in to 1:1.

So when I compare the images as I will most likely use them, there is an important notice of quality with the Nikon D750. When you go to 1:1, there is still an advantage.

I recommend looking at images of the sizes you usually use for comparison. For example, zooming into a 1:1 will have you cropped tight, comparing a 24 MP to a 16 MP.

If you are comparing Nikon cameras, unless you need 11 fps or 36 MP, buy the Nikon D750.

The Culling of Photographers

by Stanley LearyPhotography

When populations of deer get too great, they can start to destroy the land due to the lack of resources. There are Wildlife Management Programs around the country to control the population of deer.

Without management, you can overharvest, and it will take a long time for the population to recover; if you harvest, crop damage and deer-vehicle accidents may increase.

This process is the herd’s culling, or herd thinning.

There have been natural disasters that have helped nature to correct itself without any culling.

Humans used to have a more natural culling of our population. If you did something stupid on your bike when I grew up, then you didn’t survive. Today helmets are keeping more of us around. Some could argue that the lack of helmets helped us thin the herd.

Weld Founder Austin Mann says, “Many people call photography a profession and moving away from a 9-to-5 job.” Yet, the other day on Facebook, an advertising headline read, “Understand your camera in 10 minutes.”

Today the market is flooded with photographers, and since we do not cull the population [some may wish they could], nature has its way of natural selection or the survival of the fittest in today’s marketplace.

There is a limit to the jobs for photographers. Many will have to move on to pay their bills from a lack of work.

It is said in sailing the pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. – John Maxwell

I played trumpet for many years and even through college. I was pretty good and enjoyed playing. However, I did not have what it took to become a professional musician. I did not enjoy practicing for hours each day.

When I discovered photography, things changed. I was spending an unusual amount of time shooting or in a darkroom. I would lose track of time. I never remember losing track of time playing my trumpet.

If you lose your sense of time with photography, you might survive. But, first, you must love the work. Losing yourself to photography lets, you know this is not just fun but your passion.

Jay Maisel, Bernie Boston, Hugh Morton, and George Tames. Our famous photographers in my book. I took this photo at the Southern Short Course in the 1980s.

Jay Maisel tells his students to “always carry your camera.” He goes on to tell them he can tell who will not make it—those not carrying their cameras all the time.

“In this world, you’re growing or dying, so get in motion and grow,” said Lou Holtz.

Time to assess

Where are you now, and where do you want to go? How are you going to get from here to there?

I know many photographers who wanted to go from no video skills to adding these to their skill set. Hey, I took the NPPA Multimedia Immersion Workshop. I invite you to join me in Romania this summer for a Multimedia Immersion Workshop. Here is the link to the Storytellers Abroad Workshop.

I will be glad to help you see the way from here to there if this is the path you want to choose.

I believe that a passion for photography is better than having a passion for the story. For example, Eugene Richards went from a social worker to a social activist and finally realized that photojournalism was the most powerful way to help people.

Discover your passion, and it will help give you the answers to the big questions. Why go there? A D Why not stay here?

You may also discover that you don’t have a passion for this, which is a good discovery. J st move on to your love, and you will be successful–if you nurture it.

Student’s 1:3 Lighting Ratio results

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
© 2015 Stephanie Leilani

These are the students’ assignment results, where they were to create a 1:3 lighting ratio on the subjects. They could add a background color or just white. They could also have fun, but they had to demonstrate the 1:3 lighting setup.


Assignment Description:
1:3 lighting ratio. This photo uses classic lighting.

Items:

Softbox
This light is your leading light. Get a light reading with just this first. The light should be 45 degrees off the axis of the camera and 45 degrees above the subject’s eyes.

Subject
Your subject should have the main light lighting only part of the face, and the shadows should be just a little to show the 1:3 ratio.

White backdrop
Keep the subject a few feet from the background, and do not use more lights to light it.

(D)SLR
Choose the lowest ISO. Use a portrait lens of 50mm if you don’t have a full-frame camera can work. No more than 100mm.

Octobox
The Octobox is your fill light; get just a reading of this 2nd. Be sure it is 1/2 the power (1 f/stop less) than the leading light. After this is done, get a 3rd light reading of both lights, which will be the setting for the camera. It can be level with the eyes, but you may have to move up with glasses to avoid glare.

© 2015 Benjamin Marsden

 

Disaster strikes due to a mistake

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 

I was tired of working at my computer when helping a friend who asked me to help fix their jump drive. It needed to be formatted.

Well, it just wasn’t working at first. After a few tries, I finally formatted it, and since I was used to just clicking the drive and clicking go in a moment, I accidentally formatted my external hard drive instead.

Panic struck as I realized what I had done and what I potentially had lost. The only good news was I had just put this new 2TB hard drive into service a few weeks ago.

The worst-case scenario was I lost images I had not posted to my cloud servers, which were all the camera RAW files. Once I finish running them through Lightroom, I post JPEGs and keep the RAW files in several places.

Everything was gone, and I hadn’t had a chance to create a backup on some of the files.

 

Frantically I tried to use my PhotoRescue software, but due to the newer Mac 10.10.1 operating system, it wouldn’t work.

I then found Data Rescue 4. I had to run a deep scan, and it took 24+ hours to scan the 2 TB hard drive. I recovered 95%+ of the hard drive. The only thing is the folder and organization weren’t as I hoped, but all the RAW files and JPEGs were there.

Couple of points that you need to know to recover the most. First, if you make a similar mistake, I make the stop and immediately do not use the hard drive until you have recovered your files. Second, formatting is terrible, but shooting more images and writing those to the hard drive is even worse.
 
 
On the Mac, open system preferences and then click on Energy Saver.
 
 
Change the Computer Sleep to never when running the program. Could you put it back when you are done? I made the mistake of not doing this, so when I set it to run overnight, after about 15 minutes, the computer stopped running and went to sleep.
 
While I would love to say the moral of the story is never to do this, there are times you too may be so tired and not thinking straight and make a mistake as bad as I just did. However, there are solutions, and this is one that worked for me.

Word choices are as confusing as foreign language and often worse

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/5, 1/80

Circle of Confusion at best or Linguistic Chaos

Using jargon and acronyms from your industry with someone not familiar with that jargon will alienate rather than alleviate, creating a barrier bigger and harder to fix.

Word Choice

I grew up in a Southern Baptist Bubble. I used words in our bubble that were well understood when we said them. Here are some of those words:

  • Sin
  • Sanctification
  • Existentialism
  • Inerrancy
  • Predestination
In the circles I grew up in, I knew people that could quote scripture every other sentence, and they did!
 
I always wondered whether everyone around me understood what they were saying or just dropped words to sound impressive. Today, most of them were trying to impress more than truly understanding.
 
Today I find when someone starts down this road of a club language to be very divisive and offensive to me.
 
Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/8, 1/500
I think this is the reason so many nondenominational churches are growing. They tend to use the more familiar language of the marketplace versus a club language.
 
I was working with an NGO which happens to be run by Christians, but they want to get non-Christians involved in their social justice projects like digging wells around the world.
 
They asked for my feedback on a 3-minute video. Twenty seconds into the video, the subject talked about why they were involved with the organization. Then, they dropped the first club language word, “Kingdom of God.”
 
Immediately I could feel my body wanting to get up and leave. But unfortunately, the NGOs were unaware that the words alone were creating a barrier and doing just the opposite of what they hoped to accomplish.
 
Tips
 
First, learning to evaluate your language to see if what you are saying with words is connecting with your audience is tricky and requires practice. You need the help of trustworthy friends who will be frank with you. It would help if you had them hear or read your jargon and give you some feedback.
 
Now, if your friend grew up in the same bubble as you, the odds of them helping are less likely. The best feedback is from someone in the audience you want to reach that culturally would not be aware of all your language jargon.
 
Second, this might sound like it goes first, but in reality, as you are confronted with what you are trying to say with this word and being forced to use other words, you will realize you might not know your true intentions in your thoughts. So often, we say things that make people feel comfortable. However, if you are trying to elicit a response and not just put people at ease, you may have to think about your message.
 
Third, you need to realize also that even if you use all the correct words, things like psychological and emotional barriers might exist with the audience. They may prematurely judge your words and interpret something you are not saying before you finish your thoughts. The audience may not be paying attention and be distracted by something else in their life. They may distrust you, and anything you say isn’t heard.
 
There are just many more reasons than your words that communication breaks down. You should, however, make it your goal to word your conversations so that the audience understands them and opens up to hear your messages. So practice your messaging with a trusted friend, so your language helps you communicate more effectively.

Great photos are about a visual pause

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/14, 1/320

Enjoying a picnic overlooking a scenic vista is the same reason I am stopping to take a photo. The picnickers are enjoying the moment.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 180, ƒ/14, 1/250

Here my friends Lily and her husband Philip enjoy looking for whales migrating off the coast of The Big Island.

Now driving down the road and just looking out the window might be closer to the video, but stopping and pausing is how a still image allows people to savor the moment visually.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 720, ƒ/22, 1/250

Driving north from Kailua-Kona, we stopped at Hawi Renewable Development Wind Farm. Lily’s hair is getting the wind treatment just like the windmills.

I am making notes in my head about locations like this one. I am noticing how the light affects the scene for this time of day. What if I could come back at sunrise or even sunset? Would that improve the stage to have more visual impact?

In other words, is there a better time of day to hit the visual pause button to stop and enjoy the scene more than this moment?

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 110, ƒ/6.3, 1/250

Every morning here, I wake up to this scene. I walk past it on my way to breakfast. It is so peaceful; this is why I wanted to capture this and hold this memory forever.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 250, ƒ/8, 1/250

I enjoy watching tourists as they experience new locations.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 560, ƒ/8, 1/250

I encourage you to be like a tourist sometimes in your hometown. Those things you walk by every day can be things that, just as you pause to enjoy, will make others appreciate it just as much.

Is the photo better when I show the people on the stairs better to give a perspective, or is this closer shot better?

Sometimes we need to spend more time absorbing our surroundings to pause our bodies to allow us time to feel peace and examine why this brings so much joy to our lives.

We cannot expect a photo from a moving car to compare to the one where you stopped. But, acting like the friends having a picnic stays long enough to allow the scene to permeate you. It takes time to decide the best lens, angle, and composition to capture something that genuinely moves not just you but others.