Find photographic inspiration, but for heaven sakes don’t just copy it after you find it. If you happen to copy it as a self assignment just to see if you can do it….that’s fine, but then don’t pass it off as though it’s your own unique vision and work.
I see so many blogs now from so many people and the photographs are practically interchangeable. Not cool…….
I don’t really know if the world needs another 2,000 Anne Geddes wannabes out there. Be unique…..be daring….be bold…..don’t just be the same. Figure out what you’re all about and develop that….be that…..be you…not someone else.
Find inspiration in art, music, movies and other photographs. Use it as a springboard, as a starting point and put your own take on it. Don’t be afraid to fail because you’re trying new things. It’s ok if it isn’t perfect right off the bat.
It will almost always take time to develop your own individual style, but it’s worth the time and effort it takes.
Why would anyone hire you over someone else if you all look the same? You want to be your own person with your own vision…..your uniqueness will be what sells you and sets you apart from everyone else.
My stuff isn’t rocket science. I understand light and how to use it and manipulate to do what I want it to do. Other than that, I just relate to people and try to get them to actually have a good time. If I’m successful at achieving that then the shots will look real, fun, spontaneous and not forced. If I fail at it….then the shots will look overly staged and manipulated and overall like crap.
I’m still up here in Utah with 40 degree weather. Pretty sad when it’s towards the end of May. I think we’ve had 3 or 4 warm days this year….that’s it. Thank goodness I’ve had some assignments in Arizona, Miami and Los Angeles since the beginning of the year so I’ve seen a little bit of warmth and sunshine.
I shot some images for some friends the other day….it was pretty out, but the kids were freezing. Windy, cold, frustrating.
The shots turned out nice though…..in the end……that’s really all that counts.
Have you ever been in a photographic rut? I sure have. A lot of times I’ll find myself not shooting because I want to create some gorgeous, incredible image and I don’t really have anything in mind that rises to that level. So instead of going out and shooting anyway, I wait….and wait…..and wait. The funny thing is that with all the waiting….nothing really comes from it and I wind up with exactly that….nothing.
I’ve never succeeded at thinking my way out of a photographic rut….don’t misunderstand….I’ve tried thinking my way out of it 1,000 times….it just has never worked yet. Here’s the dumb thing about me though……the next time I’m in “the rut” I’ll still try to think my way out of it at first, even though I know better. Now that’s just stupid…isn’t it?
We all want to shoot beautiful, interesting, creative, one of a kind images of our kids, but sometimes if we insist on only shooting when everything is perfect and amazing we actually limit ourselves and, I think, miss out on some great photo opportunities. I find if I just do an image or series of images where I go back to basics it can help me.
There’s nothing wrong with doing a “simple simon” portrait outside in open shade or backlit. Just you, your kid, a cute outfit and decent light. Yeah, I know it’ easy and you’ve done it a billion times, but you know what? It still works.
The important thing is to always keep shooting…even when….or maybe, ESPECIALLY when nothing seems to be flowing or coming together. I struggle with this all the time. When I get to the point that I don’t have any new ideas and I sit and think….and think…and think….hoping that an original thought will pop into my head, I know I’m in trouble.
The best thing I’ve found for getting inspiration is to actually just grab the camera and a reflector and a kid and shoot….play around. When I’m actually doing and not intentionally thinking, then the thoughts and ideas come into my mind and I can move past my photographic rut.
It’s frustrating to feel like you’re just repeating yourself over and over again, but you won’t get over your frustration by refusing to shoot until you have a completely original idea in your head.
Just keep moving forward. Try new things from time to time. Try cropping completely different than normal. Shoot in different light than you’re used to. Jack your ISO rating way up there and just see what happens when you shoot indoors with a lot of noise. Break some rules. Don’t be afraid to “fail”. First of all, it’s not failure to try new things. It’s also not failure to shoot your bread and butter. The trick is to just keep shooting.
I’ve included a real basic image here……not much to it at all. It’s cute and that, in and of itself is enough. My previous post had a few really complicated images…..crazy lighting, post production toning and effects, compositing. It was a complicated image to produce, but the image itself was really simple and strong.
This image is simple in execution as well as simple overall. Don’t make the mistake of thinking a photo has to be complicated to be good…it’s usually just the opposite. Complicated for complicated’s sake is a bad road to travel. Simplicity usually leads to stronger images. Don’t be afraid to shoot simple, strong images and the next time you’re in a photographic rut don’t think your way out of it…..shoot your way out of it.
christy - Thanks, Tim. I read your post earlier about the shots you took of your niece on the Salt Flats at the crack of dawn, and I thought to myself, If I have to get up at 3 a.m. to get good portraits then it's never going to happen. :) Now I'm thinking I just need to get out of the house and play around with my camera and forget the high expectations I tend to set for myself! Now if it would just cool off enough that we aren't visably sweating all day long, I'd be set!
Here’s one of the best photography tips I can give you…..Invest in lighting. I know it’s expensive, I know it can be confusing when you start out with it, but trust me…..there is an entirely new world out there for you when you have lights and learn how to use them effectively.
There is only so much you can do with available light before everything you shoot starts to look the same. Sometimes, it’s nice to just mix it up.
It seems like the latest posts on this blog have been about shooting our kids once they’re older….it wasn’t intentional, but it seems to be what I’m mostly doing this last month. If your kids are still little…..enjoy them…..it won’t be long before they are heading off to college and you’ll be wondering where on Earth the time went.
I’ve spent the last couple of days shooting my oldest son for a potential job he’s up for in the sports media department at the University he attends. He’s in the Graphic Design major and this would be a dream job for him.
He played soccer this past summer with a bunch of buddies and one of them runs the department and mentioned that if he had a bunch of good work, he’d be able to get him in. That was all Blaine needed to hear and he was busy creating “mock” ads and needing great photographs for them.
I used to shoot him like there was no tomorrow when he was a little guy and it was almost like going back in time working with him again. We did a whole bunch of soccer images with his layouts in mind. It was so much fun to be shooting him again.
I was really happy with the lighting setup I used so I shot my 17 year old in his lacrosse gear as well. He doesn’t really like having his picture taken, but was a great sport and actually had a good time, even if he won’t admit it. He loves the finished images he’s seen so far.
I also grabbed the 6 year old next door and dressed him up in his lacrosse garb as well. What a blast!
These shots were done in the middle of the day, at f-16 and 1/250th of a second. I overpowered the sunlight with my strobes. I set up a paper background and shot my subjects against that knowing that I was going to “strip” them out of the image and put them into a different scene that I had previously shot.
I also went down to Cougar Stadium the other night after their season opener and shot the stadium lights to strip into the images as well.
I know this isn’t the typical stuff you’d shoot with your kids and for many if not most of you it’s overkill, but it was fun and it was a great opportunity for me to do something cool with my kids.
Not all of these images are finished yet, some are still works in progress. The main thing is for you to be able to spend quality time with your kids and then as a bonus have something to remember it by with the pictures.
These images are a lot more advanced than the vast majority of the images I’ve taken of these 2 over the last 2 decades. I just wanted to give Blaine the best chance I could to impress these guys and get this job. My fingers are crossed.
Owning a couple of strobes can greatly enlarge what you have going on in your photographic “wheelhouse”. They are nothing more than tools you can use however you choose. Maybe you’ll use them so subtly most people won’t even notice they’re there. Maybe you’ll push them to the extreme and create images that are way out there.
Perhaps strobes are too much for you, but you want to do a little something more than just point and shoot….look at getting some good reflectors to help you manipulate the light and better your images.
The point is that lighting is just one more part of the process of learning your craft.
Okay….I’m a commercial photographer that shoots concepts and stories for a living and that’s very different than just shooting your own kids, which is what this blog is about. So why should you worry about shooting a concept or story for that matter when it comes to your own kids?
Well……because I said so. How’s that for sounding like a parent?
It just makes things more interesting. I really don’t think it’s enough to just plop cute little Steven or Julie on the floor and crank out a couple of cards worth of images of them just looking at the camera and smiling. Sure they’re cute and adorable, but your images can be so much more if you just take a little more time to think things out.
When you add a concept behind the image it becomes so much more to look at….not only will little Johnny be cute, but the picture will be saying something as well.
I’m not saying to never shoot “grip and grins” with your kids….for heaven’s sake keep doing those shots to document the stages of your kid’s life at the very least, but every once in a while try to do something more with them.
Pick an activity that your kid enjoys and shoot the build up to it, then the event and then the “post” event or clean up. Why shoot the clean up? Why not shoot the clean up….lots of times cool stuff happens when you least expect it and getting little Tiffany to help with the garbage might be one of those situations.
So….the next time your little guy or gal has a bunch of friends over to go on the slip and slide, shoot the whole thing from start to finish. Don’t grab all the kids and make them sit still and pose with those cheesy glued on smiles they learn how to give because of “school picture” photographers that get some sort of oddball satisfaction from ruining your kid’s perfect natural expression.
Those photographers really cheese my cracker so to speak…….but that’s a different post for a different blog for another time.
Push yourself, expect and demand a little more from yourself and watch your images go to the next level.
Shoot through stuff guys…..now that’s real technical sounding isn’t it? If any of you have watched the show “24″…..they do it all the time. There is almost always something very out of focus in the foreground of most of their shots.
If gives the image a little bit of mystery, a little bit of depth and a little more interest than just a straight photograph.
I love depth in imagery. I usually want my images to look as 3 dimensional as possible.
For this shot of my neighbor’s daughter I thought it would be much more interesting if I shot the image through the French door rather than on the inside of the room with Jillian.
She’s by far the cutest little girl on the planet….she comes over and visits 4 or 5 times a week to eat “white” cheese and “good” pickles…”not the icky kind.”
When we lived in Arizona we had neighbors with 2 little kids that would come over and visit us as well…..we miss them dearly…..Jillian’s visits have helped us through our “withdrawal” period from Trenten and Cadyn.
As always, when shooting 2 or 3 year olds you can’t get too technical in terms of directions……gently nudging is about all you can do. Let them have fun….see what they naturally come up with……you’ll be surprised what great images you can make just observing what a 2 year old invents on the spot.
The next time you shoot, find some different objects with varying degrees of opacity to set really close to your lens in the foreground. See what happens to your image when you shoot through it. Play around with different things until you find something you like. Shoot through windows……play around with reflections.
If you go too far with something, just dial it back a little. Experiment with different depths or distances from your lens. Try different f-stops……typically wide open, or close to wide open works best, but try stopping for a few if only just to see what it does.
Most of all…..just have fun playing around with your photos. The beauty of digital is that it costs you nothing but your time to experiment.
When they said that we’d see warmer, precipitation free weather for the next week……Blam!…..we get a bunch of snow.
Why do I bother listening to a thing these people say. Weather forecasters are the very definition of inept.
Sorry about the rant!
In any case, the snow came, we shoveled for a couple of hours and then went to work.
My youngest son stayed home from school and 3 of his cousins ditched as well.
It’s nice to know that I’m encouraging truancy in America and the non education of my family.
I just worried that if I didn’t shoot pictures that morning that even though we had a foot of snow outside, it would melt quickly once the temperature bumped up.
It was for good reason because that is exactly what happened.
These 2 images were really easy to blend together……the background was practically identical.
Same positioning, same camera angle…..easy.
So…..the purests among you are now ringing your hands of me and saying terrible things.
Oh well…….if you’re in that camp….it doesn’t bother me in the least.
I’m just trying to get a great shot.
If I have to blend a couple of shots using Photoshop then so be it.
Photoshop is just a tool.
It can’t make a horrible image a great image, but it can make a good image that much better.
It can also take a great image and with a little massaging make it amazing.
If you’re a photographer….learn how to use the tools that you have at your disposal.
The next time you’re taking pictures of your kids and are disappointed because you think you didn’t get a great shot because they don’t all look good in the same image….see if you can take 2 images and combine them to make a good shot.
So you got a new DSLR for Christmas and you’re super excited, but when you’ve used it so far there hasn’t been as much magic in your pictures as you hoped.
It’s not so surprising. Many people think that all you need to take great pictures is a great camera.
They save up their money and buy that great camera with a jillion megapixels, start snapping pictures and experience great disappointment.
Their pictures with the great camera look the same as the pictures they took with their crappy camera………only a little sharper and perhaps with better color.
There are so many variables involved in creating a great photograph….where do you start?
When learning photography………..simplify.
Pick a subject……pick one subject.
Many times people have a hard time deciding what their subject is. Is it your child, is it what your child is wearing, is it the location you’re shooting your child, is it somebody else in the picture with your child, is it their relationship with your child?
My point is this…..great photographs have one subject.
Many people will insist on shooting at F8 or F11 because it’s much easier to keep your subject in focus.
What most of them don’t realize is that they are settling for a less than great image because of that Fstop choice.
At F11 the background of your image will be pretty sharp and will compete with your subject for attention – yielding a very hum drum, boring image.
There are always tradeoffs wherever you set your aperture and shutter speeds.
You have to learn what your individual comfort zone is.
This will also help you discover your weaknesses and strengths.
If you have camera shake when you’re shooting at 1/125th of a second you know you will have to work on that.
If you can’t keep your subject sharp when you’re shooting at F2.8 then you know you need to work on setting the focus sensor a little more precisely.
As with any learned skill, be it musical, sports related or artistic in nature - it takes lots and lots of practice to get good at something, expecially something new.
It takes even more effort and consistent practice to master something.
The wonderful thing about photography is that you’ll get some amazing photographs before you actually master the craft or even before you’re really good at it.
The first time you get an amazing image is an incredible event that you’ll never forget.
Have fun with the learning process. Embrace the mistakes that you’ll make along the way. Learn from them.
Sometimes the best shots you’ll get will be the result of happy little accidents.
Shoot like crazy – it’s digital for crying out loud – it doesn’t cost you a penny to try new techniques.
It’s all about discovery – discovery of your subject as well as discovery of your self.
