BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Finding Your Photographic Style or Vision

By Rob Sheppard

(c) Rob Sheppard

Right now, I at the North American Nature Photography Association annual conference in Texas. I am also helping out with the college student program, and they are a passionate group of photographers who care a lot about the natural world.

I got a question from one of my students at BetterPhoto.com about finding one's personal vision or style, and this is closely related to some of the things I have seen with the college students. A lot of photographers think about this, and I do think it can be an important part of the growth of a photographer. What is interesting is that some of the students are developing some unique ways of seeing and communicating through photography, yet I am not sure they have thought about it a lot.

I don't think there is any one way to finding a distinctive vision or style to your photos. Years ago I spent a lot of time thinking about this. Yet a distinctive style came to me more when I forgot trying to achieve one. Now I get people telling me all the time that they recognize me from my photographs, which is what a personal style is all about.

Hopefully, I won't turn anyone off by going all "Oprah" (though I think she has a lot to tell us about this). I think Oprah is actually right about how we live our lives - authentically and true to who we are. That, to me, is exactly what being a good photographer is all about and that is how we find our distinctive style. And that does require taking a lot of pictures so that you can truly respond to what is authentic and true.

One thing about photography is that it is a craft as well as an art. The more you hone your craft, the more you can use that craft in service of your vision. It is very difficult to be authentic and true if you cannot control your medium. This is why it can be difficult for a beginner to find a personal style.

Many photographers will look at style as a certain way of using photographic technology, such as black-and-white, HDR, how lenses are used to control an image and so forth. These are certainly part of photography. However, all of these are things external imposed on photography. Shooting all high-contrast black-and-white, for example, might give a "style" but it would be very superficial and would not be very satisfying (or a very positive experience) if you simply did that imposed on your photography yet you did not care very much about high-contrast black-and-white.

In many ways, it comes down to something that is perhaps a little overused these days, passion. What do you care about? What turns you on about your subjects, your photography? What makes you excited is also about what will be true and authentic to you.

(c) Rob Sheppard

Photos: The spider is an orbweaver common to the Los Angeles basin in the fall. The California poppy is from Central California (from last year - it is still early for poppies in most areas).

Editor's Note: Rob Sheppard, Outdoor Photographer magazine's editor at large, teaches many excellent online photo courses at BetterPhoto.com, including Impact in Your Photographs: The Wow Factor and Creating Storytelling Photos.

Natural Light Photography - Shooting at Twilight

By Deborah Sandidge

photo copyright by Deborah Sandidge

When I was little, I used to think the moon got caught in tree branches. I liked the way it seemed to be nestled close to the tree. Maybe it's because many storybooks are illustrated this way, or perhaps just my imagination running wild with a crescent moon.

Twilight is the magical time between day and night, a wonderful transition for natural light photography that lasts only moments.

To photograph at twilight, you'll need a tripod and a cable release, or you can use the self-timer feature on your camera. Use the lowest ISO for the best image quality. When photographing cityscapes, you may notice smaller apertures/longer exposures create wonderful little starbursts from points of light, which can add a glamorous quality to a nighttime scene.

Take a few test shots before twilight to double-check the composition. It takes a little practice to get the timing right, photograph a few nights in a row and everything will fall into place. Have fun shooting!

More from the editor: Join Deborah Sandidge for creativity, learning and fun in 4-week online photo classes at BetterPhoto.com's digital photography school: Photoshop: Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art and Digital Infrared Photography

Nature Photography Tips: Shooting Projects Near You

When Rob Sheppard was editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine, he says, "it amazed me how often folks would write in with suggestions for articles about places far away from their homes."

"I know this may seem a little flip, but it is the truth: my favorite place to photograph is wherever I am. I have been to locations in nearly every state and a few foreign locations, too. I have yet to find any place where there is not some sort of interesting and good opportunities for nature photography."

In a new BetterPhoto article, Rob shares his views on photographing nearby nature areas. Check it out here:

Nature Photography Tips: Shooting Projects Near You

Photographing Art in Nature: Icebergs

By Jim Zuckerman

photo copyright by Jim Zuckerman

To me, the most exciting forms to photograph in nature are icebergs. The combination of aquamarine and deep blue along with the snow and ice is incredible, and the forms are out of this world. I have never seen icebergs as beautiful as the ones I shot in Antarctica. I was breathless in shooting them.

These pictures don't show how cold it was, or how the wind-driven rain made the experience less than comfortable. Once a wave washed over the bow of the zodiac, and I was in the front and received the brunt of the water. Not only did I get wet, but saltwater is certain death for any kind of electronics. I was mortified, fearing the worst and that my camera would stop functioning. Fortunately, though, everything was fine and I continued shooting.

Note that all of these pictures were taken with a 14mm ultra-wide-angle lens. I was very close to the icebergs - just a few feet away. That's the secret in using a wide angle. Using the ice as a dominant foreground element made it disportionately large, and that gave the scene added drama. I was very glad that the weather was overcast, because the blue colors of the compressed ice and the amazing colors in the water were more intense in the soft light.

This is the opposite of what you might think. Had the sun been out, the contrast would have been too harsh. Shadows would have been very dark and the highlights on the ice might have blown out ... meaning complete overexposure with no texture or detail. That's the last thing you want in a picture.

Editor's notes: Photographer and author Jim Zuckerman teaches many excellent online photography courses, including Developing Your Creative Artistic Vision and Eight Steps to More Dramatic Photography. BetterPhoto's online digital photography school offers several courses in photographing art in nature.

photos copyright by Jim Zuckerman

Aerial Photography with a Fisheye Lens

By Deborah Sandidge

photo copyright by Deborah Sandidge

My favorite place on a airplane for aerial photography is the window seat. I like to see the ever-changing sights, landscapes, cityscapes, and the most beautiful skyscapes. I feel a little trapped at times, but it's always worth the view.

This photo was photographed using an 8mm circular fisheye lens, which captured the surrounding window and gives the image a sense of place. The image was optimized in Photoshop using Lucis Pro.

Note: Deborah Sandidge teaches at BetterPhoto.com digital photography school online photo course: Photoshop - Enhancing Digital Images and Creating Works of Art

Street Photography and the Pursuit of Light

By Ibarionex R. Perello

photo copyright by Ibarionex R. Perello

Recently I was in downtown Los Angeles scouting for the "Wandering in the Company of Strangers" workshop that I conduct along with Emilio Banuelos. It's been a while since I wandered the in and outs of this part of LA and it was like falling in love all over again.

Though most of my work has focused on Broadway, I ventured out and explored Spring and Hill and Olive and discovered an amazing collection of eye candy for the photographer. Not the least of which was the quality of the light. Most of Los Angeles is very flat, and this is one of the few parts of town where you get the benefit of shafts of light passing through tall buildings and spot lighting bits of street. The newer glass and steel buildings often serve as reflectors illuminating much older buildings or street scenes with a gorgeous quality of light.

I saw this fellow (above) while I was crossing the street. He was illuminated by the reflection of light of a tall building across from him. We said nothing to each other as I made a series of images of him. I'm looking forward to seeing what the other photographers at the workshop produce themselves.

Editor Notes: Professional photographer Ibarionex Perello teaches several online photo courses, including The Pursuit of Light and Portrait Photography Using Available Light. Also, the BetterPhoto photography school offers online photo workshops devoted to street photography and people photography.

How to Take Better Pictures: Previsualize!

By Brenda Tharp

Ansel Adams talked about previsualization in photography, right down to the point of knowing what size he would likely print the image as he was making it. That’s because he knew that certain elements were best viewed larger or smaller. Fine detail was seen better when printed large, while simple graphic elements could work printed smaller and still be seen/understood.

I have used this idea for a long time, when deciding what size to print an image. When I would lay out my 35mm slides on a light table, you could instantly tell which pictures would work smaller, as you could "read" the image pretty well with the naked eye. But the images that needed to be viewed with a loupe to see more were ones that usually ended up printed larger, for the detail to show up effectively. This is one sort of previsualization and it makes sense to me. It’s something that many photographers overlook, when deciding what size to print an image. While not a hard/fast rule, it does make sense that certain pictures shouldn’t go smaller than a certain size to be effective.

Another type of pre-visualization is thinking about what you might do to the image after capture. And by that I mean what sort of treatment, if any, will you give it? We have at our fingertips all sorts of processes that can take a picture to another level - painterly, illustrative, etc. What we choose to use should be based on what we want the picture to express. I wouldn’t, for example, want to do a solarized effect as I don’t think it would express anything close to what I wanted! That said, playing around can be great fun, too.

photo copyright by Brenda Tharp

When I was photographing this Buffalo Bill "look-alike" in Montana a few years back, I knew instinctively that it was not going to remain a color picture. The bright colors were distracting me from the old-time, or timeless mood that I wanted to express. So while composing, and exposing, I was thinking in terms of monochrome. I knew that the tonal contrast was there, because I have learned to pre-visualize for black and white.

In my classes, workshops and in camera club judging, I’ve seen many a "flat" black and white image that was converted from a color picture that didn’t have enough variation in tonal contrast - i.e., the color hues were too close in tonal value when converted. With the developed ability of what sort of contrast is needed for proper rendering of a monochrome, and developing your skill at converting, you can get great results, however.

I started with a B&W conversion, then continued by toning it with a sepia hue, and then added a Sketch light pencil from Topaz’s Simplify. The processed image (above) is more timeless, the feeling that I wanted to capture. I can’t bring back Buffalo Bill himself, but I can create the feeling of an old-time picture of him, thanks to software techniques! Here’s what I started with as a color capture, for reference:

photo (c) Brenda Tharp

Editor's notes: Would you like to give your outdoor photography a big boost? Then join Brenda Tharp in one of her Internet courses - Creating Visual Impact and Travel Photography: Capturing a Sense of Place - through the BetterPhoto.com online school of digital photography.

Travel Photography Tips: Photo Opportunities Missed

By Jim Zuckerman

photo copyright by Jim Zuckerman

I learned a long time ago that when you see a travel photo opportunity, don't pass it up thinking you'll come back to it later and take the picture. Almost certainly, it won't be there. It doesn't matter what it is, if you don't make the effort to capture the moment, more than likely it will be gone forever when you decide it's finally time to go back and take the shot.

A case in point is this photograph from India. I was leading a photo tour and my group and I were driving past this temple complex in Jaipur. I spotted this group of women on the balcony and I thought to myself it was a great shot, but we were on our way to a restaurant about 3 blocks away.

I knew it would be a lot more convenient to reach our destination and park, and then after lunch walk back to the temple to grab the shot. I also knew, though, that this scene could very easily evaporate. Upon our return the graphic architecture would still be nice to shoot but the women might not be there. So, I asked the driver to stop in a very inconvenient place and we all got out of the vehicle and quickly took the picture.

It pays to push yourself to get the shot. A missed opportunity sticks in your mind forever, and you remember the incident with a bittersweet sting.

Note: For more travel photography tips, check out Jim Zuckerman's online photo tutorial: Eight Steps to More Dramatic Photography. In addition, BetterPhoto.com's digital school of photography offers photography instruction in all sorts of exciting subjects and for all skill levels.

Travel Photography Tips: It's All About the Light!

By Brenda Tharp

photo copyright by Brenda Tharp

I was packing up recently to leave my cozy hotel room in Escalante, Utah, when suddenly I saw this great chair and shadow. The warm Autumn sun struck the adobe-colored stucco walls and added such a richness to the scene.

I was trying to get out of “Dodge” in a hurry, so I first grabbed the Canon G9 and made a few pictures, but it wasn’t enough. I had to have this on the larger, more ‘serious’ camera. So packing the car had to wait while I set up the tripod and found just the angle I wanted.

I’ve had many times like this where the light is what really made the picture - not the subject, necessarily, but the light and the way it defined the subject. The pictures below are other examples of how the light defined the moment for me.

Sometimes, it’s the graphics, the contrast, that defines the picture. Other times, it’s the way we are drawn to the light.

Whatever it is, it is magic when it happens, and I just say “YES!” and press the shutter release.

photos copyright by Brenda Tharp

Blog Notes: Give your outdoor photography a big boost in Brenda Tharp's online photography tutorials: Creating Visual Impact and Travel Photography: Capturing a Sense of Place. Also check out BetterPhoto's school of photography and online digital photography courses.

Do Your Best Photography: Commitment to the Craft

By Ibarionex Perello

Photo copyright by Ibarionex Perello

The famous Czech photographer Ladislav Sitensky passed away recently at the age of 90. In reading about him, it was reported that he had made over 500,000 photographs, 50,000 of which had been published. He began photography at the age of 14. If you assumed that he had produced the same number of images each year from that young age, he would have created the equivalent of 6,578 photographs a year. Any way you crunch the numbers, that's impressive.

The only way one gets better as a photographer is by shooting. Reading books and magazine articles, surfing the Web for camera and lens reviews, watching videos are all well and good, but it eventually comes down to getting up, walking outside, and making photographs. And as I often tell my students, it's about the willingness to go out there and make a lot of bad photographs as you explore and try to understand what you are seeing and reacting to.

Athletes like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong may have all been more with a natural talent, but that talent would have been meaningless had they not put in the time to to harness that talent and learn skills that allowed that to take advantage of those innate abilities. So, it is with the photographer. So, it is with me. I'm not putting myself in the league with those guys, but it's the awareness that the process is the same.

The difference between those that take full advantage of their abilities and those that don't is simply doing the work necessary, in other words commitment.

If this is one of the things that I know I do well and that I can become even better by making more time to practice it, why choose not to? It's a question that I think most of us don't ask often enough, because if we did, we'd realize that the only one standing in the way of us growing as artists is ourselves.

Reading about Sitensky, I see a wonderful example of what living a photograph life looks like. It's a beautiful thing to see and be reminded of.

Additional notes... Learn directly from professional photographer Ibarionex Perello! He teaches at BetterPhoto's digital photography school, including these online photo courses: The Pursuit of Light and Portrait Photography Using Available Light.