The Curve Ball...

I wrote this nice little write up about lighting a few days ago, with every intention on posting it...  Something to go along with our lighting theme...

However... Today I was thrown a curve ball and want to address this.

I try to infuse some humor into this blog - but this is not one of those posts.

Today I learned that a woman in our church passed away unexpectedly.  It was a shock to everyone that knew her.  I knew her name.  I knew her face.  She was always kind and said "hello" to us.

One of the first few posts I put on this blog was about an opportunity I had to shoot people at our church for their directory.

In the two months I've been shooting - every Sunday... I've had two different people pass away (unexpectedly!) that I've had the honor and privilege to shoot!  

Through my simple quick head shots I've been taking every Sunday - I met Marion.  I took her picture multiple times... all with her eyes closed!  We joked about it.  She went out of her way to say hello to my wife and I from there on out!  It was only a few short weeks ago... but that small gesture left a big impact on our lives!

I mention all this because you never know how your pictures will impact someone... or better yet, how they'll impact you!

Marion and Tim will not be forgotten.  They touched people's lives beyond what I'll ever know.  I was blessed enough to capture their faces, if ever so briefly.  Even if Marion blinked for all my shots of her.

Never underestimate the impact that shooting someone has!  

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

This little light of mine...

Light: noun 

Something that makes things visible or affords illumination: All colors depend on light.

Pretty important, huh?  ALL colors depend on light.  

pho·tog·ra·phy:  noun  

The process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemicalaction of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmicrays.

 

Why do I make a deal about this?  Simple... without light you don't have a picture.  You have darkness.  Light is the single most important aspect of a picture.

 

You need to understand light if you want to succeed at photography.  There is natural light, artificial light, a mixture of both... 

 

It's kind of a big deal... 

 

Light has three primary aspects about it, that as a photographer, you need to understand.

 

Direction, Quantity, Quality... 

 

They are each important.  Each can make or break a picture... and they work in harmony!

For this post we'll talk about DIRECTION.  We'll cover the other two topics later.

 

Direction... Where's it coming from?  This isn't like driving around with your dad, husband, brother, or other male that won't ask for them... no, no... Where is that light coming from?

 

 

This is Michelle.  I shot her a few weeks ago.  She is gorgeous; very defined features that really make her a great model.  She also has a great personality that helps too!

 

For this picture I used one (BIG) soft box at camera right.  It was about 45 degrees off the center of her face.  This is probably classified as a Rembrandt light (the small "triangle" of light on her cheek, camera left, helps classify it).

 

See where the light is coming from?  Camera right.  There is a subtle shadow on her right  (our left) cheek.  This also gave a nice highlight to her hair (which had a tint of red in it by the way).

 

This is my wife.  She is pretty.  I love her.  She looks good in pictures.

For this shot it was almost as simple as it could be - a Nikon SB900 flash on top of my Nikon D80 camera.  I pointed the flash head upward and used the bounce card that comes with the flash.  I shot it TTL.  Straight on simple light.   Notice her face is evenly lit, with only a small drop off (shadow) on her right side (our left).  This wasn't a beauty shot, in fact it was a quick "Hey I wonder if my camera is setup right" -type shot.  It was ;-)

Direction... It's important.  It's where your light is coming from.

Think about a sunset picture for a minute... where is the light coming from?  Yeah - directly in front of you! 

Our subject (Rodney) in this one is just a silhouette.  The direction of the light causes this.  It's important, and not just when using flash or other artificial light sources!

Understanding where your light is coming from can add drama to a picture.  Look back up at the picture of Michelle.  That slightly darker shadow on breaking her face almost into two pieces.  Drama.  Emotion.  Beauty!  It can take a picture and put it on the edge of chaos.

This has been a very over simplification of the direction of light.  There are books and books dedicated to light.  If you want a good read, let me know, I can point a few out to you!

Questions?  Please post a comment or two!

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Good? Great? What's the difference?

This a serious post... well, it's going to try and be... 

I've found myself in a bit of turmoil recently.  Something that has really bothered me on the inside.

What makes a great photograph?  What makes a good photograph?

Professionals, art designers, those "in the craft" can answer this.  They can tell you about the lighting you are using, the style of light you are using, the details of the picture... the exposure... why a picture is "great" (or at least good).

That's great... I strive to be there.  I want to shoot GREAT photos!

But there's a problem with this... these are only a few individuals that are in a circle - a select group that as an amateur I'll never have access to.

I'm left with the "general public".  You know... the monsters that made American Idol famous... or that Glee show.  The people that watch shows about someone named Snooki or The Situation.

The heartbeat of today's pop culture.  The same people that YouTube their favorite videos, tweet about where they are at every waking minute, Facebook their deep thoughts from their smart phones while they are sitting on the toilet.

I'm as guilty as the rest.  I constantly am playing with my phone like a child with A.D.D.

So this begs the question... as an amateur photographer... this is your market... your group.  And they have no idea (or care?) about lighting, focus, etc, etc, etc... 

I say all this because of this weird trend I see.

The "Facebook Syndrome" I'll call it.  I made it up - but follow me for a minute.

Anyone can post pictures of just about anything... at anytime... from anywhere.  Uploads a picture of you at a baseball game... check.  Upload a picture of you at a birthday party looking pretty... check.

And here's where the "syndrome" bugs me to death... A blurry picture of someone sitting in front of their bathroom mirror, lips puckered up, hair teased... and they get 200 comments of "how great they look".  

Others spend years dedicating to the craft of photography.  Thousands of dollars on gear... Hours of set up... Strive to raise that bar... All for what?  Nothing really... haha

I laugh (or at least type that I am laughing) because of the oddity I find behind it.  

Am I walking down a dying path?  If so... I have a few thousand dollars worth of gear I should probably Ebay away.

I suppose the same can be said about music, right?  Everyone's got their own taste.  Me... I "hate" a lot types of music.  I am NOT one of those "Oh, I listen to anything" types.  Far from it.  All my favorite bands probably died from a drug problem in the 70's.... (insert heavy sigh)

Onward I strive to hit that moment of photographic nirvana.  That perfect picture... If even only for myself... 

Who knows... maybe someday that small circle of those "in the know" can be my guiding hand...

Till then...  the only star I'll dance with is my wife.  She's my shooting star!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this - please feel free to leave a comment!

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Aim for the whites of their eyes!

Have you ever been looking at a magazine, book, ad, whatever... and thought, man - that person on the page looks great!?!

Well - ignoring the exposure and lighting for now - you know why that is???

You have to aim for the eyes!  When shooting people aim for their eyes... 


Think about it for a moment... I'll wait... 


---one minute pause---


Man that sounds just horrible.  Okay, I'll skip all the lame jokes.  Being as serious as I can be (which isn't much)... If you look through your friends Facebook pictures - they are probably a grade above a Kindergartner with a box of Crayolas.  And why is that?  


Well for one - they probably haven't read any of my blog (shameless plug... but tell your friends anyway!!!).  I attribute bad pictures to a few simple things; you can easily do these things to take better pictures.  


One... as we said... shoot'em in the eyes!  If your camera has a focal point in that nifty LCD screen - that's where you want the person's eyes at! 

 
Some cameras (most point and shoots) have that "auto focus" function.  If you are really serious about your picture - turn that off.  You may have to take a minute and look at that 400 page book that came with your camera... but... 


Seriously, turn off that auto focus and aim for the eyes.

This is a picture I recently took of our friend Michelle.  She is just gorgeous... Very striking features, a lovely smile, and wonderful eyes!  You think this picture would look good if I auto focused and the camera said "Hey, I see those dangly-ear-ring-thingys, let's focus on those!!".  Or... what if the camera had a fetish for noses?  I'm just sayin'... 

People love looking at pictures of other people... and people love to look the picture in the eye.  There are always creative reasons to not aim for the eyes... but... 


When you shoot people (insert lame joke)...  shoot them in the eyes!

 
Now for the second part...

How to hold your camera to get that focus nailed down.

So - we shoot people in the eyes... and you want the best chance at nailing the focus!  Right??  The correct answer is "YES!".

So... How should you hold your camera?  It may be one of those cameras worth a life savings, or maybe something you stole from your friend at some outing...  Surprise, a picture of my butt.  Anyway... 
 
Here's how to not hold your camera:

Why is this bad?  Well... we could talk about physics and statics and all these other engineering concepts... but... the simple answer, you are holding it out away from you.  Your arms and hands aren't that stable.  They really aren't.


If you hold that camera up by your face (aka, to your eye)... you have your arms supporting it and your face... and guess what your face is attached to??  That's right... your body... if it's not... you should be reading a different blog right now.  Just sayin'... 


Okay... 


So you got that?


Aim for their eyes... and stabilize that camera!


As a side note, I used a tripod to shoot Michelle.  Sharp pictures are fun to look at, blurry pictures should be deleted!!




- jermz


www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Delete is your friend

Ever watched that show on A&E called Hoarders?

It's pretty intense really... People just holding on to junk.  Garbage.  Stuff they just can't get rid of. 

If you're like me - you stop and wonder how people get that "out of control".  You may even feel sorry for them (I know I do).

They just collect all this stuff and won't let it go!!!

Luckily those of us in the "civilized" world don't do that... or do we??

Blurry... Nice... We love blurry pictures

Welcome to the digital age - where "they" tell you it's free.  Just take pictures until your thumbs explode and your memory cards are full of the 13,000 images you took of your kids birthday party.  Just snap away!

Download away, put them on one of your hard drives, your memory stick, leave it on your camera's memory card.  It's free... What's the harm!?!

First off... Don't hoard horrible pictures!  STOP IT... KNOCK IT OFF!!!

Do you really want to keep 12,948 pictures that are blurry, poor lighting, exposed with a Crayola set, or just plain bad??  Really?  You like looking at garbage pictures?  

You my friend are a hoarder... in the digital age!

I realized recently that I was hoarding bad pictures.  I had a hard drive full of garbage I didn't need.  Missed focus, poor lighting... just bad shots.

"I might need a random shot of ___________ someday".  Really??  You need a blurry grainy picture of you and your friends out dancing at some random club?  Really??  Seriously??

Good for you... Delete your garbage!  

Let's do it together... I just put 3707 files into my digital recycle bin... over 11 gigabytes of crap... 

3...2...1... Delete!!!!  Refreshing I might add... 

Don't keep garbage, it's gross... what will your friends think?

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Giving Back... For Free... The Gift That You Want to Keep Giving...

Giving back.  It's not like re-gifting a fruit cake from Aunt Helen.  Or the gift that keeps on giving... yeah... well... there's a joke or two about that too...

Anyway...

Today's lesson is pretty simple:

Don't be afraid to GIVE BACK.

Recently I was asked to do some shooting at my church (with a camera of course... sheesh).  I mean the Holy Spirit can get you crazy... but not stupid...

The concept is simple - shoot people for a directory at church.  Get their name and snap away... Other than trying to match names with faces (thanks Honey!), it's really pretty simple.

Sure, some people would say "that is beneath my talent" or "that's dumb, you're doing it for free".  Yeah... free... and "wasting" my time downloading and cropping the pictures too.

But guess what... that's what it's all about.  I will be shooting hundreds of people.  Sure the shots aren't glamor shots by Deb... But that's not the point.  The point is helping where there is a need with something I like doing - and can do.

On the business side of things - you never know what this could bring.  Someone sees you acting professional with "professional" gear taking pictures... well... If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... I'm just sayin'... If you don't do it because of the "giving" spirit, do it for the free advertising!

Don't be afraid to shoot some things for free.  I'm a big fan of that whole "paying it forward" thing. 

As a side note - if you go my church and need your picture taken, I'll be the guy with the camera up front shooting away like mad.  There's two of us, I'll be the guy who seriously needs a tan!

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Photoshop and Owning an Iron

So tonight we're going to cover a touchy topic with some "professional-type" shooters... 

It's a topic that I think can really separate good pictures from GREAT pictures... 

...attention to detail and Photoshop.

I shoot in the digital realm of life.  I don't know how to process an image on film.  I have no clue.  The extent of my film processing knowledge comes from Hollywood movies (Seven, Red Dragon, ManHunter, etc...)

Yeah... deep right?

So is using Photoshop "cheating"?  It's sort of like asking if using Microsoft Word is cheating... you should be using a pencil and paper!!!!  Yeah - tell your boss, teacher, family, the psychiatrist that one... "I don't know why yellow makes me so sad"...

So no... Photoshop is not cheating.  It's all perspective and art anyway right?  Sure, sure... there are circles of people that get to "judge" your work... and let's be frank - the world is full of people that can't tell the difference between a JoeyL shot and one you took at the bar...  But still... unless you are photojournalist... don't be afraid of your computer... well, okay... fear the machine, it's probably going to take your soul anyway... but don't be afraid of Adobe Photoshop.

It's not even a real shop... 

So this is Cal.  I shot Cal (with a camera, duh!) recently.  Cal was looking for modeling type shots.  I love this one!  The intense stare, the crossed arms, the simple white shirt... a very commanding look.  I'd hire him... if not just out of fear of him hitting me... Great shot (my opinion)... right?

Let's see where this bad boy started out at...

Oops... Seriously, take a minute and look at both of them... A little creative Photoshop and one of them I'd hang on my own wall... the other one... yeah... well... yeah... 

Photoshop my friend... Photoshop!  

This leads me to one final point... BUY AN IRON!  Or better yet, pay attention to the details in your shot.  I knew I was going to crop the top off and play with the colors and saturation.  What I blindly did not take into account... the amount of wrinkles that would show up in my thrown together backdrop.  Hours... HOURS spent fixing that... sheesh... I could have been done with the pictures in a day or two... but instead I spend hours fixing my severe oversight!

Buy an iron... pay attention to details... use Photoshop... and HAVE FUN!!!!

 

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

Wait, you only took 10 pictures?

I recently have had the honor of shooting at a local "hang out" for my church.
 
The District
 
It's a great place to hang out with good friends, listen to some music, have a coffee, dance maybe, and try and shoot people… ehh, with a camera.

The recent theme for the evening was "A Masquerade Ball".  They had "ballroom" style dancing (complete with dance instructors) and of course those cool masquerade masks!  A great night!  

There's a problem I've found when you show up to a coffee shop / dance party / music lounge… Yeah… To get that cool neat atmosphere they drop the lights down low and when the party jumps to ELEVEN - laser lights galore and smoke machines...  

Very impressive - unless you have a camera in your hand and want something better than just a simple point-and-shoot shot with no background in it and boring yucky flash - or something that resembles The Blair Witch Project and epilepsy combined. 

 

So… this grab-bag of fun can be a headache - and a real blessing when you nail that shot.  And there's the problem… you are going to drop the ball more than you get the touchdown.  If not, send me an email, I need all the help I can get!!!  I think I snapped off about 200 frames of digital that night.  Maybe 50 of them are really useable. 

Maybe…?

Out of those… probably only 10 are really the "keepers"… You know, the ones that you are really proud of that if you were trying to start off in the world of photography you'd add to your portfolio (for now at least)… 

And there in lies that blessed catchy-twenty-two…
 
You show off the 10 great pictures and people immediately wonder - "Wait a minute, he was here for 3 hours shooting everything… he ONLY got 10 pictures??  Where's the picture I know he took of me dancing…???"  Etc, etc, etc… 

...Or… 
 
You throw up 200 pictures (most of which give people nauseous headaches instantly) and you get deemed as "that guy".  You know, the person who spent the gross national income of a small South American country on camera gear… and your shots look like Ray Charles was at the helm.  Full steam ahead captain, I can't see the iceberg anyway - I'm blind!

 

Heed the warning… and suffer the questions… Only show your best work!  Maybe even the "good" shots if that's the case - but leave the blurred, the missed focus, the poor lighting, the bad cropping all out the picture (get the pun… ha-ha).  Right now at least one person is laughing at that joke… Ehh… anyway… 

If you want people to remember your work as "good" or "great"… Only show them "good" or "great" pictures!  Leave the boring pictures to everyone else!

- jermz

www.jermzphotography.zenfolio.com

You like which picture? THAT ONE!?! Really!?!

There's an interesting phenomenon I have started to notice in this world of "amateur photography".  When you start showing off your work it is amazing the responses and comments you receive from others.  Typically I deal with people that are "less than amateur".  This is not a slam on them, they just do not have that drive or ambition to do what it takes to get better pictures.  A point-and-shoot is enough for them.

What I am always surprised with though… are the pictures people seem to almost fall-in-love with.

 

I took the picture above only a few weeks after I bought my first DSLR camera.  I had literally no idea what I was doing (still don't).  I was dialing shutter speeds and apertures without a care in the world… and a memory card full of garbage.  

--We'll call it practice.--

In my head I had this idea of this deep red door on the outside of one of the most impressive churches I have ever seen (Kirk in the Hills).  The shot is very simple.  Ambient light on a very overcast (and cold!) day.  I had only my 18-55mm kit glass on the camera.  I just sort of point-and-shot my way through it.

In Photoshop, I knew even less about what I was doing.  I had no work flow.  No plan.  No final outcome intended… just click this.  Saturate that… etc… 

Everyone seems to love my "Door to Eternity" shot.  My own loving mother has it hanging in my parents living room.  My 90 year old grandfather has a copy.  People just seem to love this shot… 

I like it.  I took it.  But for the life of me - I don't get it… It's just a door and some steps…

 

An amateur photographer buddy of mine and I were out cruising the side roads of Michigan one day late in the fall a while back… we came across this barn on the side of the road.  A small hike into a neighboring (read: wet!) field and a few weird looks from cars passing by… and then the shot!  I had to remove a power line that was in the shot, but overall a little color saturation and the shot is as it was.  This one is hanging in my parents living room in a larger format.  Mind you, my mother doesn't just hang anything in her house!  If she didn't like it, it would be hidden back in one of the bedrooms or even the dreaded basement!  Nope… front room for the world to see!

It's just some old barn and a half dead tree…

 

I posted this one on Flickr a while back after my wife and I went on a wonderful trip to Bar Harbor, Maine (go there, it's amazing!).  We had just hiked up some "nature trail" for what felt like an eternity.  Something about the moment, the lighting, the view… it was just "magical".  It may sound cheesy and lame, but truth be told… it was… well… magical (probably more a sign of the lack of oxygen to my brain after all that climbing… but…).

People loved the exposure and the way it felt… To me… the picture never captured that true beauty I remembered.

The point is - you never know what "other" people are going to take away from your pictures.  What they are going to see and remember...  A picture is worth a thousand words right?  Or a million… or sometimes just one (garbage… haha).

This becomes true when you start shooting for people, events, etc…  I've shot a few people now - guess what - my favorite picture from the session isn't always their favorite picture… and that's what makes photography a great thing!

- jermz

www.JermzPhotography.Zenfolio.com

No... Look over there!

Ever tried shooting a sunset (or sunrise)?  Okay, let's face it - no one wakes up early... so we'll stick to a sunset.  

You know, you are sitting there overlooking some pond, lake, whatever... The sun is dropping fast, and the sky is alive with all that beauty God put up there.

And there you are... you followed the rules for landscape photography...

You have your tripod, you turned off your flash, and you even wait for that magic moment that occurs a few minutes after the sun has actually set and the sky is just screaming with a level of awesomeness... 

So what's the problem?  Oh yeah, did it occur to you that there are no less than 10 other people out there shooting the same sunset?  Okay, so probably 4 of them have a "point-and-shoot" camera so the sky lights up for that brief second of camera flash... a temporary beacon for the alien landing party!  Four other people think their cell phone is enough of a device to capture that moment and remember it (heck, it'll even end up on Facebook so everyone can say "Oh, that's great - you should shoot my wedding").  If you like sunsets that were colored by Ray Charles... I'm just sayin'...

So you may have only 1 or 2 people "following the rules" for sunsets...

Well... here's a neat concept... don't shoot the sunset... well, not directly... 

See the world has all this awesome color in it (especially during that magic sunset moment).

The picture above was shot on top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine (great place by the way!).  And I broke all the "normal" rules.  The sunset was to the right of this picture... but it was boring.  There were literally 20 people up there snapping away... flashes blinding God.  I happened to spot the clouds, turned the tripod and started shooting.  I love this picture.  No one else that night has this shot!  No one!  Score one for me (I need all the points I can get!).  The sky is so smooth looking - and those darn clouds ruin it!!!  I love it!

So what's the point?  If everyone is looking right, what is going on to the left?  If 10 people are shooting from eye-level, what happens if you drop down to your knees and shoot?  See the world in a different way!

This picture (above) was shot at Niagara Falls (on the US side).  The falls are somewhere behind me a few hundred yards as I was shooting this... There were hundreds of people at the falls snapping away... all that white foaming water.  You see about 3 seconds of one of those snap shots and you're done.  I like the feel of this one - gives a bit of suspense to the feel if you ask me.

One more sunset... no one was around?  Why?  The sun had "gone down" and it was cold out... I want to get a spoon and eat that sky!!!

- jermz

http://jermzphotography.zenfolio.com/