Photographer Clay

Author: The Photographer Clay

  • Vision vs sight

    Vision vs sight

    To most people the two words are synonymous but to an artist, the two terms are very different. I know we hear photographers and artists talk about visualizing a work. A photographic artist can see a subject or scene and visualize a final piece of work. New photographers often struggle with this concept especially those who were not trained in art. Experienced photographers who can visualize a piece from a subject or scene often have difficulty explaining how to achieve the ability to visualize. I get it. Being able to teach someone how to use their mind and eyes to create a view of a work of art is at best a fuzzy concept. My photography school wasn’t particularly good at teaching this concept either.

    One way I was able to teach myself how to visualize was through experimentation in post-processing and in using my camera and photography tools in manual mode. In the beginning, there were some horrible results. I won’t call them failures because it was a matter of learning. Another technique I used was watching movies, particularly old black and white classics. Many of the old directors of photography and gaffers were masters of lighting. Lighting effects had to be created at the time and not through the use of special effects. Today, we see many movies made that employ the use of color grading, one of my favorite techniques.

    The entire point of this post is to get us to consider experimentation with our gear and software. Even if the experiment results in a horrible failure, it isn’t a failure. When we work with our digital assets we can work with copies and we can always start again. Don’t look at a horrible experiment as a failure but as part of a learning process. Take it further than you normally do you just may surprise yourself with your art.

  • Sometimes less is more

    Sometimes less is more

    I see this more often with wedding and portrait photographers but it exists in all genres where we or our clients believe the photographer must take hundreds or thousands of photographs during a session. Once those hundreds or thousands are taken the vast majority must be great. I have tried to understand when, why, and how this trend began. At the same time, I photographers say to go back to film to learn to be a better photographer because you’re limited in the number of photographs you can take, yet many of these same photographers provide massive numbers of photographs for their sessions.

    I used to loath the term, less is more. I have always thought to deliver a finished product that is better than expected but I have come to better understand what often the expression means, at least to me. It’s not always the quantity of delivering more but delivering less of a higher quality. When we attempt to pack too much into a session, we often become sloppy and careless. This can include any photography we are doing. By setting a goal of coming away with hundreds or thousands of photographs maybe we would be better served by slowing down, limiting our numbers, working to obtain the best exposure, best composition, best subject. As an artist, we shouldn’t be concerned with mass production but quality art.

  • If you could have anything

    If you could have anything

    Photo by Eva Elijas on Pexels.com

    I heard this question posed in a podcast I listen to a week or so ago and I have been thinking about it ever since. The question that was posed was, “If I could grant you anything you wanted for your photography what would it be? Would you want a new camera? A new lens? To travel more?” The podcaster went on to say nothing was out of the question. But, this was a three-part question. The next question was, “why did you choose that?” and the third was, “what have you done to achieve that?” I’ve thought about those three questions since I have heard this podcast and decided it was time to talk about it.

    While I began writing this I was able to answer those questions. My answer to the first question is, I want more artistic motivation. I let my motivation falter in the winter of 2020. The world camera came under attack by a global virus. One that, at the time, there was no cure for, no known treatment, or vaccination. It became easy to sit inside and watch the world go by. Just like an exercise program the more you skip the workout the easier it becomes to skip. Motivation, once lost, is difficult to bring back as I am finding out. I still see fantastic scenes, subjects, and light. I still have creative ideas I want to work on. It’s just getting it flowing again. I suspect many of you have had a similar experience. I can even answer the third question today. I started writing this blog about my thoughts and ramblings. I recently started taking a camera with me wherever I go. The artistic motivation is coming back, slowly but it is getting there.

    Spend some time to think of what it is that you want to further your photography. Then, answer the final two questions, why did you choose that thing and what have you done to accomplish it. Let’s further our artistic journey together!

  • The beauty of the ordinary

    The beauty of the ordinary

    So many times we look for exotic locations or spectacular subjects when we can easily find beauty in ordinary things if we just look. We don’t just have to limit it to nature but we can include people and man-made objects. Beauty surrounds us every day we just often pass it by as ordinary and uninteresting. Spend time looking at the world around you rather than thinking you have to travel to far-off exotic locations or find supermodels.

    I think back to some of the exercises I did from my photography school, such as 10 different photographs of one subject. This doesn’t sound like much until you start doing the exercise. The first few you can get done quickly but as you approach the last few you may find yourself really thinking about angles, composition, light, perspective. When I performed this exercise I often found the photographs I took towards the end were the most compelling.

    Look for the beauty of the world around you and photograph it to share with the rest of the world.

  • Learn to post-process to see details

    One of the benefits I get out of post-processing my images is that I can see and refine details of an image. Sometimes seeing the details reveals a distraction such a litter or other object that pulls the attention away from my intended subject. Some of those distractions I may have missed when I originally decided to photograph a subject or scene. Some of those distractions I may have seen but it wasn’t practical to remove or correct it at the time. I don’t mind altering a scene because I prefer to depict a subject or scene as I see it in my mind’s eye.

    I encourage you to learn post-processing your images and learn to see the fine details more closely. Think of it as training your eyes and mind to see both the big things in the world as well as the fine small details.

  • Obsess over results not gear

    Obsess over results not gear

    We all love our camera gear and high-quality cameras and lenses. I see so many social media posts about photographers obsessing over gear when we should be obsessing over high-quality photographs. Gear can be important but we can get high-quality photographs with virtually any gear. I like fancy camera stuff just like many but I love great photographs more and could care less about what equipment was used to create the great images.

    A few years ago I had a conversation with a beginning photographer about using a so-called kit lens. The new photographer was asking about getting a better lens because they were unable to get sharply focused photographs with their kit lens. I explained that it was possible to get good photographs with their lens and used a kit lens to show them examples. We even did the pixel-peeping on the resulting images. We talked that it was technique and knowledge of how to use their camera settings to ensure sharply focused photographs. I mentioned that while the so-called kit lenses may not be as fast or have as robust of a build as the professional-grade lenses modern consumer-grade (kit lenses) were very good with modern glass elements and coatings.

    The advice I give photographers, especially new photographers, who are looking to get new equipment is to decide how your current camera or other equipment is limiting your creativity. Learn to use your camera equipment to the fullest and then push it further. You just may learn that it truly isn’t the gear that gets great photographs but rather the person operating the gear.

  • What is reality?

    What is reality?

    We often hear something like, “I like to take photographs that capture the scene as it exists in reality” and this is often from the so-called photographic purists. But exactly what is reality? Whose reality? There is a saying, “perception is reality”. While perception isn’t exactly reality, perception can become reality, but does it make any difference to us as artists? Yes and no.

    First of all, let me clarify something, I believe I am an artist who uses a camera to create my works. I can also be a documentary photographer when the need arises. So when I am wearing my artist who uses a camera hat, which is most of the time by the way, how I perceive a scene of the photograph is most important. I want to record how I perceived a particular scene or subject. Let’s face it, a large percentage of actual reality is boring and uninteresting. To me, reality in my photographs is what I want to make of it not what someone else perceives as reality.

    One of the masters of photography has three quotes that come to mind, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it”, “dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships”, and “when I’m ready to make a photograph, I think I quite obviously see in my mind’s eye something that is not literally there in the true meaning of the word. I’m interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without.” So, when it’s time to create remember those three phrases.

  • Do you need a photo website?

    Do you need a photo website?

    Do you really need a photography website? I have one and over the years I have moved from service to service but do we really need one? If you have a site how much traffic does it get? Do you even know or care? The service I currently use is part of my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription except that I pay for a custom domain name. It’s been a long time since I have run analytics on my photography website so I also don’t know the answer to the questions I just asked about my own site.

    For me, I may not need a photography website but rather I want one. It allows me the ability to quickly direct people who may ask about my photography. I’ve been approached by strangers on the street while I have been out with cameras and asked about my photography so I keep a personal business card with my website address. I also have acquired somewhat of a following albeit not large. I believe a website is important because it is the whole point of photography to show others the world around us and how we see it. If you don’t have a website you may consider getting one. Showcase your work you may find there are those out there who want to see what you do and you just may inspire someone.

  • The business of selling photography as a business

    The business of selling photography as a business

    Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com

    I don’t know about you but I see these types of blogs and advertisements for workshops, books, and training all the time. Starting a business to teach people how to start a business appears to be a big business. At the same time, I see lots of posts on social media about how a person has started a photography business and is having trouble with a customer and asking for advice on how to deal with a difficult customer. Seems to me we’ve put the proverbial cart before the horse. It seems to me that deciding how to deal with difficult customers should have been decided at the time the business was established.

    The reason this topic comes up is that I, like many, considered the idea of beginning a photography business but I didn’t want to limit myself to a particular genre of photography. I also realized that a huge percentage of the time to run a photography business doesn’t actually involve taking photographs. Do we, the world, really need all the weekend photography business warriors or are those business models shortlived? Trust me, I admire people who establish an actual business and make it but I don’t think it is something many photographers should pursue.

  • Have we ruined the term amateur?

    Have we ruined the term amateur?

    I believe we have ruined the term amateur. The term origin:

    Of French origin, ‘amateur’ originally denoted a lover of art and, by implication, often a collector. French sale catalogues of the 18th century were frequently of the collections of ‘un grand amateur’. By the end of that century, however, the word had taken on a different meaning in English, describing someone who practised art for pleasure and interest, but not for money, i.e. professionally. Amateur artists usually worked in the graphic media—drawing and watercolour—in which they received instruction from drawing-masters or drawing manuals.

    Oxford Reference

    Today the term is typically defined as one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science which is the second definition of an amateur at Merriam-Webster, where the first definition is still one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession. Is it that we have grown to admire the pursuit of a venture for financial gain over that of the love of it? How do we get back to a time when being an amateur at something doesn’t bring up the initial thought of not being as good as a professional. Does being an amateur make you think someone isn’t on the same level as a professional or is it just me? Should we even care how the term is perceived? Should we start new terms such as advanced amateur, master amateur, skilled amateur, or amateur because I don’t want to be a professional?

    The more I have thought about my photography journey the more I have reconsidered how I classify myself. I think I’ll start calling myself a master amateur photographic artist.