Steve McCury/Magnum
Of all the different types of subject matter that photographers capture, most of us would probably agree that a compelling photo of a person intrigues us the most. Take Steve McCurry’s photo of the young Afghan girl that he shot in 1984, Dorothea Lange’s Great Depression era portrait of the Migrant Mother, or Oren Jack Turner’s portrait of Albert Einstein. Photographs like these have carried such strong visual impact over the course of decades that they have become some of the most powerful and recognizable images of our time. I’d wager to say that as much as people love the beautiful landscape images of Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell, it’s the McCurry and Lange images that we’ll remember most through the course of our lives.
Image of people speak so strongly to us for one main reason. They’re images of ourselves, or rather, us as we could have been if we had lived in the same places and under the same circumstances as the people in these pictures, at the time they were photographed. Since we’re essentially made up of the same ingredients, it’s the geographic and cultural variations that define the differences between someone who lives in Trenton and someone who lives in Kabul. If by mere chance, we had been born in a different corner of the world, it might very well have been one of us in that photo that Steve took.
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Tips for photographing inside
As outdoor photographers, we often find ourselves doubling as travel photographers, which means that sometimes we end up shooting inside. And since we outdoor types like to light and fast, we don’t always carry extra strobes or additional lighting equipment that the indoor guys like to schlep around.
However, that doesn’t mean you need to put your camera away when you duck out from under the outside world, in fact, as we all know, there’s a world of great photo opportunities to be had behind closed doors. Knowing how to make the most of lower light conditions can open up a host of new possibilities. Here are a few tips to help you deal with lower light situations.
ISO Setting: The easiest way to deal with dim light is to crank up the ISO on your digital camera. We all know that, just as with film, there is a trade off with higher grain and noise, which tends to build up in the shadows and darker midtones. Fortunately, though, digital camera sensors have improved to the point where shooting at ISO 6400 is a viable option with some bodies. [click to continue…]
There’s a certain power to showing only part of a scene. It’s one of the things that makes photography such a powerful medium. By only giving your viewers a taste of the entire subject that’s in front of your lens, you cause them to invoke their imagination and think about not only the subject in your frame, but what lies outside of the borders of your pictures.
While traveling in Spain a few years ago, I photographed a flamenco performance at a club in the old barrio of Jerez de la Frontera, which is considered the birthplace of the traditional gypsy art form. I love the intense passion of flamenco music and often listen to it when I’m at home. However, to see and hear it performed by people who have lived it their entire lives is indeed a very powerful experience.
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Portable Photo Drives offer practical photo backup solutions for photographers on the road
As much as I enjoyed shooting film during my travels back in the day, hauling around all those gallon sized Ziploc freezer bags full of film canisters got to be kind of a pain. Especially after 9/11 when airport security procedures went into overdrive.
Shooting digitally while traveling presents different challenges, namely how to back up and store your images during your trip. Chances are, if you’re on a long enough trip, or if you tend to shoot a lot of images, which we all tend to do with digital, sooner or later, you’ll probably fill up all your cards. Then what?
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I recently went to Chicago to teach the Canon EOS workshops. The thought of taking only a few items was daunting. Shooting video with HDSLR’s requires a few essential pieces of gear that may differ from the usual still shoot. Here are a few items I refuse to leave home without. I have found the camera strap to be one of the best tools that usually comes included with the camera. For most video work the strap is an annoyance. However when traveling or shooting video without permits, the strap let’s me shoot what I like to call “Tourist Style”. I have stolen so many locations this way in the past year; it is truly amazing. [click to continue…]
Traditional Singers, Ladakh, Northern India
Going on the road with your camera requires special considerations that are not always necessary when you’re shooting at home. In this post, we’ll explore some of the essential equipment of the travel photographer and some useful tips that will help make your photography experiences more successful when you’re out there in the world. [click to continue…]
