Joseph Linaschke: The Panasonic "Master Series" Interview on Pro Photo Daily

My latest interview for the Pro Photo Daily "Master Series," an interview with photographer Joseph Linaschke, has gone live. While most photographers today tend to specialize in just a few subjects, Linaschke loves shooting just one primary subject: the next one. He photographs an incredibly broad range of subjects that includes portraits, live music, sports, journalism--you name it, he's shot it. Among his more fascinating projects is a series of portraits of women battling breast cancer.  If you've ever wondered how a photographer earns a living photographing a very wide range of subjects, this is a very fun and informative interview. This ongoing series is sponsored by Panasonic and Linaschke is a Lumix Luminary. 

The Facebook Black-and-White Challenge

I was recently fingered to take part in the Facebook black-and-white challenge where you are supposed to post a new black-and-white image a day for five days. At first I resisted the challenge (I have enough to keep me busy without looking for new distractions--however fun they might be), but then the daughter of a friend of mine nominated me and it was an offer I couldn't refuse, so I accepted. It has actually turned out to be quite a fun experience and I'm enjoying going through my photo library and picking out shots that I think might convert well to monotone. The two photos above are the first two that I posted for the challenge.

There are a number of really simple ways to convert images to black-and-white in Photoshop (and probably any other editing program), including the Hue and Saturation tool (simply desaturate the image down to 0% and you'll drain all the color out) and the Black-and-White tool (it's in the menu at the bottom of the layers palette). I used the latter for the two images above. Basically all you do it open that tool and then adjust each color (now a monotone channel) in the image. If you slide the blue slider to the right, for example, the blues will get lighter, slide it to the left they get darker. Very easy.

So, if you are an old timer like me and you used to work with black-and-white films (I lived in a Tri-X world for probably 20 years) or if you'd just like to try on a new look, pick out a few images and convert them to black-and-white, you'll have a lot of fun. Thanks Melissa!

Dawn at the Mouth of the Housatonic River

I've spent a lot of time this summer shooting the sunrises at the Housatonic River in Connecticut. I've found that being out before sunrise in the darkness and then watching the day come alive with light is very inspiring--it's worth the effort. (See the previous post for some tips on shooting sunrises and sunsets.) There's a gallery of shots of the river on my main site.

Five Quick Tips for Better Sunset Photos

Like all photographers, I have always enjoyed photographing sunsets. Let's face it, with nature doing a lot of the heavy lifting for you, sunsets are almost always pretty to look at and relatively easy to shoot successfully. But there are a few tips that you can use--with almost any camera--to come up with even more dramatic results. Here are five that are always in my mind when I'm shooting sunsets and sunrises:

• Find a creative foreground subject. Sunset skies are very pretty, but they work far better if you can provide an interesting frame to hang them in--in other words, an interesting foreground. Having a good foreground helps to create more visual interest and also helps to identify where you are shooting: a sailboat puts you near the ocean, a saguaro cactus puts you in the desert.
• Think in terms of silhouettes. It's usually (though not always) almost impossible to get good saturated color in the sky and detail in the foreground, so the subjects that work best as a foreground are opaque or solid, like the tree I used here. Silhouetting your subjects also helps to reveal all of their detail.
• Hide the sun a bit. Shooting directly into the sun causes all sorts of problems with exposure and lens flare (and is also dangerous for your eyes, so always look slightly away). By hiding the sun behind your subject a bit, you avoid some of these problems by putting something in front of the sun. In this shot I was careful to put the sun right between the main stalks of the tree so that you could see it, but most of the brightness of the sun was hidden by the tree.
• Arrive before sunset. Since finding an interesting foreground is something that takes a bit of exploring, it's better if you get to your location an hour or so before sunset so that you can scout around a bit. It's a terrible feeling to have a spectacular sunset in front of you and have to panic looking for a good composition. I shoot this tree often and so when I think there might be a good sunset, I head right for it.
• Expose carefully. Even with a good camera metering system, if you aim right at the sunset you're going to get a very underexposed scene. If your camera has an exposure lock (almost all camera have one built into the shutter-release button), then aim the camera away from the sun until the sun is just out of the frame. Then hold your shutter button halfway down and recompose the shot with the sun. But remember, exposure and focus are usually tied together using this feature so be sure to focus on something specific--either the horizon or the foreground subject, whichever you want sharp.

David Kennerly on iPhone Photography

David Kennerly has been one of my photo heroes since my mother bought me his book "Shooter" for Christmas one year (a wonderful book). Kennerly won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Vietnam war (and is, I believe, one of only a few Pulitzer Prize winners from that war to still be alive). He was also Gerald Ford's personal photographer and was the first photographer in history to have almost unlimited access to a sitting president. 

I'm not big fan of cell-phone photography, but I've seen a lot of Kennerly's work shot with the iPhone that he has shared on Facebook and it's quite amazing. To create this book he spent a year (2013) traveling around the world shooting a photo a day with the iPhone.  The book contains anecdotes, essays and tips on iPhone photography. he book. In the Amazon description it says, "Along the way he discovered that paring down his formidable photo arsenal to a single, simple camera forced him to sharpen his eye and made him an even better photographer." And what a good lesson that is for all photographers: create the images in your brain and the camera will follow!

Holidays coming, great present!

Dave Surber Interview on MAP Daily Master Series

My most recent interview for Motion Arts Pro Daily has gone live and the subject is Dave Surber, a really interesting still and motion photographer. He has worked on everything from commercials and television productions to video newsgathering and mobile events; he’s also been the DP on several feature films and just finished working as DP on the Team Nike series, a 12-episode collection of black-and-white shorts about the Nike World Basketball Festival Tournament of Champions. His most recent collection of shorts, the Big City Hustle series, is a very cool look at some fascinating New York creatives. Check out my interview with Dave, I think you'll find it a very entertaining behind-the-scenes look at a successful young filmmaker.

Super Moon over the Housatonic River

I shot this a few weeks ago as the "super moon" rose above the Housatonic River. The moon was hidden by clouds when it was at the horizon but the sky cleared as the moon rose. I shot this with a 70-300mm Nikkor lens at 300mm (450mm on my Nikon body). I shot the image in RAW and adjusted the white balance slightly toward blue in the conversion. My best advice for exposing the full moon is to use minus exposure compensation to keep the moon from burning out to white. I used -1.33 stops of exposure for this frame. There's going to be another big moon in September, so go find a nice foreground and be ready at twilight--the moon usually rises just as the sun is setting.

For Robin Williams...

My new book on color is now available

My new book on color The Photographer's Master Guide to Color is available on Amazon--and it's about a month early, which is great. I started the book just about a year ago and finished it this past winter. The book covers a lot of ground and begins with a survey on the history of color theory, starting with the earliest cave painters and their attempts to mix colors and then goes into some detail about Sir Isaac Newton and his creation of the first color wheel. The book then takes a fairly detailed look at the way that color can be used, exploited and manipulated in color photography. It is, in short, a pretty comprehensive look at the subject of color.

I think the most interesting thing in writing this book was the research that I did before I actually began writing. It was a very hot and humid July when I first started the research and I spent about two months on my couch in front of a fan reading every book I could find about color and color theory. While I thought I was already pretty well versed in the topic before I started my research, I learned so very much--and it's a fascinating story. There is nothing like having an excuse to focus on one interesting subject for a long period of time.

I've also just been told by my publisher that the book is now available for pre-order in the U.K., New Zealand and in Australia!

I've published so many books on photography that I've (seriously) lost count, but this is one of my favorites and I'm happy to see it become available. I hope you enjoy it.

Approach Shorebirds Slowly

I'm lucky that I live near a lot of beaches and close to a tidal river so there are always a lot of shorebirds to photograph. While a lot of photographers think that having huge telephoto lenses is the key to getting close to this kind of wildlife (and long lenses will certainly make your life easier), the truth is that shorebirds are very accustomed to human company and they'll tolerate your presence more than you might think. The trick to getting close though is to approach slowly and appear to be moving somewhat randomly.

Don't just hop out of the car and make a beeline for your subject, for instance.  Instead, get out of the car slowly and stand beside it for a few minutes. Then, gradually make your way closer to the shore by walking in a somewhat circuitous route--edging closer and closer. And try to appear uninterested in your subject: never look directly at it, avoid eye contact and try to look at the ground, the sky--anything but the subject. Hesitate every few feet until you're close enough to shoot but not so close that you'll scare off your subject. All animals have a "circle of safety" where they feel secure and as long as you stay outside of that distance they will accept you as a reasonable risk. You can tell the instant you've crossed into that circle because the bird will stop hunting, will pay more attention to you, or may just up and fly away. If that happens, make a mental note of the distance and use that information next time.

Getting close to any wild animals, and shorebirds in particular, is a matter of patience and letting your subjects gain confidence that you are not an immediate threat. In shooting this egret I parked the car about 40' away and was able to gradually move to within less than 10' in under 20 minutes. Once I reached what I felt was the bird's safe zone, I stopped moving and just became a part of the background. I was able to shoot for nearly a half an hour while the egret fished.

Having fun with the new "Oil Painting" filter in Photoshop CC.

I've been playing a lot with the "Oil Painting" filter that I discovered in Photoshop CC. I started a subscription to Photoshop when I got my new Mac Mini and I'm kind of enjoying not having to buy the software. This filter is a blast and very addictive--it allows you to apply an oil-painting look to your images very simply. But click the photos to see the full effect--you really can't see it on a phone or as a small image. I'm sure lots of people think it's tacky and it probably is, but I love it anyway. Lots of fun! Cool.

Kittens video

Just Published: Read My Benjamin Von Wong Profile on DP Review

Recently I've begun writing for the wonderful DPReview website, certainly among the biggest and best photo sites in the world. My first published piece is a profile of the amazing young Canadian photographer Benjamin Von Wong. Ben is not only an incredibly talented, creative and hardworking artist but he has quite an inspiring story to tell: he quit his day job as a mining engineer just over two years ago and in that short time has won client and fans all over the planet. His behind-the-scenes videos, showing how he creates his amazing images, have had nearly two million views on Youtube! Ben's photos are a wild mix of surrealistic vision and hyper-reality and he uses every creative device at his disposal, including walls of fire, elaborate costumes and sets and a broad range of very talented models and actors. But what will blow you away most of all is the fact that the vast majority of his images are created right in front of the lens--there is almost no Photoshop!

My DPReview profile will run in two parts and the second part will publish on Mach 15, 2014. Also, be sure to check out Ben's own site for galleries of his wild photos. By the way, the cool photo here is a self portrait by Von Wong--photographer, visual engineer, storyteller...and fire spitter! (Photo Copyright Benjamin Von Wong, courtesy of the photographer.)