Photography

I have blogged, lectured and argued for many years that a camera is nothing more than a tool that solves a given photographer’s problem. A camera brand is not a symbol of loyalty to one kind of photography, nor is it some kind of credential for membership in some kind of “club.” The sooner each photographer starts to figure out what their particular challenges are, and which camera works for them to resolve those challenges (regardless of brand), the sooner they will start making the kind of photographs they want. Recent experience has taught me that I need to start talking the same way about the laptop computers that photographers use for digital image processing.

Yesterday was the deadline for the BlackRapid R-Strap (RS-5) contest. We had a numerous amount of really outstanding entries, some of which were featured half way through the contest. So you're all probably itching to know if you've won or not. Click Read and Discuss to see if your image made it.

As some of you may know, I was a combat photographer for nearly 12 years. When I retired from the service, I joined the American Legion. It's the largest veteran's organization that was established by military veterans back in 1919 to mentor and sponsor youth programs such as the American Legion Baseball League. My Legion Post 166 hosted a huge tournament and we all raised money to pay for the event. Since my talent is photography, the Post asked if I would set up a booth to make portraits of the atheltes and sell prints to help raise additional funds.

Shooting portraits can be a challenge—but the kind folks over at LightenUpandShoot and the B&H Event Space teamed up to try to help attendees of a recent Photo Safari. Starting in the West Village of New York City on a bright sunny day, the safari visited some hot locations such as Washington Square Park, Cooper Union, and Thompson Square Park. So just how did this event help to make people better portrait shooters?

This tintype photo of Billy the Kid, created around 1880, was just sold for $2.3 million in June 2011. Was it because the picture was taken by a famous photographer? Maybe the famous Civil War photographer Mathew Brady? No, this tintype photo sold for $2.3 million because of the cult of personality of one of the most famous Wild West outlaws of all time. Plus, this tintype is the only surviving photograph of Billy the Kid. The combination of the rarity and the cult of personality compound each other to create a photo of exceptional worth.

Two questions occur to me. What is a tintype photo? And why is Billy the Kid so famous?

In the classroom, I encourage my students to become familiar with the way they work. Understanding our working methods and process makes it easier to navigate the ups and downs of that process. For instance, under what conditions do you work best? Do you work on multiple projects at once, or do you complete one at a time? When are you most motivated? When are you least motivated or inspired? How do you deal with hitting walls or roadblocks? Do you like to experiment, or do you prefer full control? Recognizing these repeating conditions—and how we react to them—makes us more efficient and adept at maneuvering the creative working process.

Headshot by Athena Photography.

Back in college, I learned a term in cinematography class: Mise-en-scene. To sum it up in short, Mise-en-Scene is everything that goes in front of the camera (or affects it) in that particular scene. It has to do with various elements such as the lighting, costumes, backgrounds, foregrounds, positioning, props, etc. Then it hit me: If film crews put so much effort into storyboarding to make sure that everything is perfect, why don't most photographers apply that same careful effort to photography?