Blog: Zen and the Art of Photography

Zen and the art of photography

Think of the photo essay as a communique. A photo essay is series of photographs with a common linear thread, theme or purpose. They can be simply pictorial, or informative, instructive, entertaining, or all of the above. In a sense the photo essay is a series of photos that demonstrates one concise thought.

Good elements of a photo essay are:

• It tells a story.
• It informs the viewer.
• It shows emotion, passion, or action.
• It offers a different perspective on an event, place, person(s), or a concept.
• It captures a moment or documents a place in time.
• And last but not least its pleasing to look at.

Editing is just as important as the photographs themselves in an essay. Use with awareness the visual lexicon you are used to as we are surrounded with visual stories. Transitions are key. Think of the transitions in movies; traditionally a “cut” within a scene and a “fade” scene to scene. Find photos that lead to one another or use transitional photos to bridge the gap. Think of the great photo essays of the National Geographic magazine, many times beginning with an overview photo and then leading the viewers deeper and deeper into the story. In literature notice consistent use of visual imagery, note the author’s transitional technique.

Tell a visual narrative. Set the scene with a very clear beginning, middle, and end. The last photo may be the most important. Try to end with a logical and effective conclusion. Practice and feel your own uniform style. For a consistent look and feel use consistent settings and qualities, for example use the same ISO throughout, all color photos or all black and white photos, or all photos toned or altered in the same way. Be mindful of horizontal and vertical shots, or high key and low key shots as these may flow better in groups. Watch and document the natural transitions of a day, or night. Compose with color light, shadow, and time. Change lenses and viewpoint often to find these opportunities. Cover your subject well. Give yourself plenty of material to work with in editing. Don’t forget the all important overview shot, then move in for the details and supporting photographs.

Know your subject, do some research if possible. Notice the human component. Photograph something that means something to you. Empathy is a very engaging and noticeable element in a photo essay. Give yourself time to get inside, connect, and even find passion for your subject, let it come to you. If possible spend several days working on one essay.

Finally in editing; limit your presentation and cut the fat. Leave your audience wanting more.

Remember the rules are more like guidelines, break them with intention, and stay flexible. Keep in mind the old photojournalist’s adage “5.6 and be there” , it may be more important to get the shot than to overwork the technical considerations, especially within an essay.

zen and the art of photography

A portrait is a photograph in which a person or persons are emphasized as the subject. The subject could be presented simply, static and extracted from any other elements or could be part of a much larger picture but given emphasis through composition or exposure.

There are no rules in portraiture other than to do unto others as you would have them do unto you; the camera can be made to lie quite easily here and the subject is in your hands. You may have to work the shot more with portraiture than any other genre in photography in order to faithfully portray someone. Good photographs of people are both of them and about them. Use your natural sense of body language and knowledge and/or appreciation of your subject combined with an intentional goal.

Focus on your subject’s eyes, both figuratively and literally. A photo may be doomed if everything but the subject’s eyes are in focus. A flat perspective (think telephoto lens) is generally better for portraits as body parts would look larger or smaller projecting or receding into the frame, something naturally heightened with a wide angle lens. A natural feeling “contrapposto” type pose adds an engaging believability with its tension in balance. Let the subject relax into their own comfort zone. Compositionally the portrait is one type of photograph that a simple straight and centered composition works very well and yet remains engaging.

Separate your subject from the background in a portrait to both simplify the composition and to separate the two in terms of exposure, lighting, and focus. Decrease your depth of field to further simplify. For the least depth of field use a telephoto lens, open your lens to its maximum aperture, ( hopefully f2.8, f2, f1.8, 1.4, or 1.2), and defocus your lens until the far limit of focus is at the subject thereby throwing away most of your depth of field in front of the subject. You can use your depth of field preview button and/or your lens may have markings for depth of focus at particular apertures to aid in this. You can also use a neutral density filter to enable you to use your maximum aperture by reducing the effective exposure. Lastly there are effects and settings in programs such as photoshop that will separate and blur the background in a portrait.

Use the two ingredients of light and time. Lighting is key in a portrait. Think of the size of a light source, (relative to the size of the subject) as the determining factor in the quality of the light; hard or soft. A larger light source will be softer, a smaller light source will be harder. Choose your lighting as a mixture of both to add depth to the tonal values. To change the effective size of the light source on a sunny day you would simply move into shade,(subtractive lighting). Be aware of the color shift in shade. Use a large light source to fill the subject and retain detail in the shadows. use a smaller light source directionally to emphasize three dimensional form. It’s helpful to pick one source as the “key” light if using more than one. If searching for a light source and not finding one remember; nothing beats a single large window.

What are you portraying? A subject in their environment? Beauty? Are you illustrating a personality? Do you want a candid or something posed? Do you want a natural pose or something contrived and dramatic? Where do you want to set the tonal values for mood, high key or low key?

Look at the effect your camera position has on the appearance of the subject. Viewpoint is important in portraits. Move the subject, lights, and/or yourself to effect large changes in the photograph. Look for significant details and focus in.

zen and the art of photography

A still life is about visual observation itself. Typically they are arrangements, but they can run the gamut from simple abstractions to extravagant fabrications. They can be mixed media, montages, and scans. In a real sense any subject whether it is a portrait or fashion, architecture or a landscape could be approached as a still life.

When photographing a still life be conscious of your perspective. Do you want flat perspective using high contrast abstract textures to attract and engage the viewer’s eye, or depth by actually leading the viewers eye in and through the image? Choose to make your composition dynamic or static. If working in color use color as a compositional element.

Intentionally choose to separate or isolate the background from the subject or to use the background as a compositional element in the photo. Silhouettes as subject or mixed within the composition can be very effective in still life photos. Use subtractive lighting, such as black cards blocking the light, to further enhance three dimensional form and shadows as linear compositional elements. Use and feature the two ingredients light and time.

Notice how the direction and the size of your light source affect your scene. Use a larger light source for softer light. Use a smaller light source for harder light. Bracket exposures and use the LCD screen to refine your choices. If using flash try combining with ambient (existing) light. Changing the shutter speed will not affect the flash exposure, so you can use this to control the ambient light exposure separately. Flash is it’s own shutter speed. Use your aperture setting to control the flash exposure separately. If using on camera flash you can control your flash’s power settings in your camera’s menu. If using off camera flash and a further reduction In power is needed move the flash back. Doubling the distance will result in a two stop reduction. Light exposure falls off rapidly with distance so only small adjustments may be needed.

Again, use a tripod! you get to take your time with a still life.

zen and the art of photography

Composition and perspective are key points in a landscape photograph. Use them with intention. The very nature of a two dimensional photo flattens perspective. Sometimes without you noticing. Use the graphic elements within the photo to manage this. The graphic elements of a photo, made up of such things as the framing, lead in lines, positioning using the “rule of thirds”, the visual balance (or imbalance) of the visual weights of objects and colors within the photo all tell the viewer’s eye where to go.

What do you want to portray? Do you want to extract and simplify by creating a flat form, emphasizing texture and using static composition? Or do you want to amplify a feeling of depth and lead the viewer’s eye through the photo using a more dynamic composition? Take a moment to think about these choices and previsualize the photo you are about to take. Remember photography is a two dimensional art form and you will have to use technique and viewpoint to add a sense of depth and to avoid unintentional graphic mergers within your composition. Extract only the visual elements you want by selective emphasis; you may have to climb around a bit to find the right viewpoint. Remember: a high viewpoint will naturally have a high horizon and a low viewpoint will naturally have a low horizon.

Use the LCD screen and the histogram as a sketchbook and a meter. Work up to the photo you are looking for. Don’t forget to regard all four edges of your viewfinder. Try using the “highlight warning” on your LCD screen as a compositional aid warning you of potentially overexposed areas near the edges of your frame which could potentially lead the viewer’s eye out of your photograph. A strongly weighted foreground is often a nice visual anchor in a landscape photo. Try a vertical composition if you’re not seeing anything horizontal, Look for a fresh viewpoint. If you’re still not seeing anything don’t forget to turn around!

Balance the composition of colors in your photo the same way you would compose any element; dynamic or static, by having equal or unequal visual weights, in this case to other colors or tonal values. Use the two ingredients of light and time as subject matter. Use shadows, reflections, and silhouettes as compositional elements to lead the viewer’s eye or to frame the scene. You can always find a frame in nature.

In manual mode try the spot or center weighted metering modes to intentionally set tonal values within the scene. Or use a handheld meter, but remember meters are reading for 18% grey; a middle value. “Stop down” to make a tone appear darker or “open up” to make it appear lighter. Remember also that at any given exposure you have a range of equivalent exposures: opening up one control and stopping down the other results in exactly the same exposure, only the qualities are different. The controls, shutter speed and aperture, are an inverse proportion. For an example of how the qualities might change; a higher shutter speed would be sharper due to less movement but at a cost of less depth of field. And a smaller aperture (the larger numbers; f16, f22, ect.) would have more depth of field but at a cost of using a slower shutter speed. So you must choose the “best” setting. Do you want sharpness from the foreground to the background or do you want limited depth of field to emphasize one aspect over the other? Maybe you want to show movement with a slow shutter speed. This is a beautiful effect with moving water in the scene. Sometimes the “best” exposure may be wildly different than what the meter suggests. Most sunset photos are 2 or three stops underexposed.

Many DSLRs can be set to “bracket” exposures automatically. For example the camera would take one picture as metered, one picture one stop underexposed, and one picture one stop over exposed each time you press the release. The landscape shooting modes in DSLRs may limit your options unless you know what it is doing by default. Check your manual. Most will use nearest subject focus, turn off the on camera flash, increase sharpness and boost saturation. If your camera has one, find the depth of field preview button. This is a very useful visualization aid as it “stops your aperture down” it shows you the actual depth of field of your chosen aperture. Without it you’re looking through your lens at its widest aperture (always the least depth of field) which may not accurately represent the photo you’re going to get.

Too many exposure choices? Wing it and use the liberating “sunny f-16 rule”. In manual, just estimate the exposure in your head by looking at the scene and using this guideline: the exposure on a sunny day should be very close to f-16 at the nearest shutter speed number to your chosen ISO, for example at ISO 100 the shutter speed would be 1/125th, so F-16@1/125th. The odd unexpected over or under-exposure may be an epiphany.

If you use a program such as photoshop plan ahead how you will adjust or manipulate the photo later. You may want to bracket shots to use as additional layers or you might plan to boost or lower saturation later. Shoot with these factors in mind. Remember a consistent technique yields a consistent style and a compelling personal point of view.

Filters such as a polarizer for managing reflections and a neutral density filter for exposure control, (enabling less depth of field or a slower shutter speed) are great to have on hand. And finally, use a tripod! You get to take your time with landscape photography.

zen and the art of photography

“Painting is self discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” Jackson Pollock

The world is brought about by our ability to discover it.

How would you define these words?

• rendering
• perspective
• juxtaposition
• balence
• rhythm
• pattern
• context
• foreground
• background
• silhouette
• movement
• viewpoint
• point of view
• portray
• color palette
• reflection
• shadow
• edges
• high key
• low key
• arrangment
• abstraction
• field of view
• depth
• selective emphasis
• unintentional mergers
• consistency

zen and the art of photography

“A practical aesthetic framework to benefit working artists who desire to critically analyze their own work and to better appreciate the work of artists they admire.” See: Monroe Beardsley’s ICU theory (Intensity, complexity, unity)

Rendering: intentional use of technique and material.

Reference: to the masters, history, society, culture.

Revelation: something revealed, a unique view.

Resonance: a lasting universality.

Zen and the art of photography

Digital photographer Stephen Johnson has said that digital photography is still in its Stone Age. Ways of working are still being discovered and are in turn driving design potential. The image may look the same through a digital camera as through a film camera but the LCD screen coupled with the histogram readout are a new way to meter and a new way to previsualize your photo. To say “the camera never lies” has always been a bit of a misstatement but without a negative to verify an image who is to say and how do you prove, what is truth in a photograph? A personal point of view in a photo may now be more important than ever.

Remember:

• Rendering is content; the technical aspects of you photo are also part of its content. Use with intention. (thank you A.D. Coleman)
• Regard the whole frame; not just the center.
• Don’t forget to turn around; the photo you’ve been waiting for might be behind you.
• Light and time are the two inescapable ingredients of a photograph; use them both, always.
• The size of a light source relative to the subject is the key to its quality; large=diffuse, small=contrasty.
• The sunny f-16 rule; to shoot in manual without a meter start with an exposure (based on a sunny day) use the nearest shutter speed to your iso. ex.ISO 100 would be 1/125th@f16.
• F5.6 and be there; the old journalist’s adage reminding us the moment captured may be more important than the exposure and focus. (thank you Robert Capa)
• Use the LCD as a meter; review and refine exposure.
• Use the LCD screen as a sketchbook; review and refine your composition.
• Look at great photographs; to take great photographs.
• Chance favors the prepared mind.
• You are also the content of your photos.

Zen and the art of photography

Scientists say what we see is “all in our head”. Our minds “resample” or fill in what isn’t really there and constantly adjust for what is. But a photograph is a two dimensional object, a distillation of reality, and an extraction from the chaos of distracting elements. To take a successful and intentional photograph we must see as the camera sees.

“If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, its as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.” Richard Avedon

“I never liked photography. Not for the sake of photography. I like the object. I like the photographs when I hold them in my hand” Robert Mapplethorpe

Find:

To gain control over your DSLR locate the following controls, settings, and preferences in your photographic system:

• Find and load your full camera menu, some menus are abridged out of the box.
• Manual mode (yes this is the big time, for photo 2 we will be shooting in manual!)
• Auto focus menus, off, and manual focus controls.
• Metering modes (matrix, center weighted, spot, ect.) and in viewfinder.
• Viewfinder exposure scale, metering, aperture and shutter speed indications.
• The maximum and minimum apertures of your lenses.
• The depth of field preview button (if your camera has one)
• The multiple exposure capabilities of your camera if applicable and controls.
• Bulb shutter speed if applicable.
• White balance settings and controls.
• Your computer monitor calibration preferences.
• your printer profile and preferences.
• And finally, manual “full stop” settings and controls of your camera and lens (look for f5.6, f8, f11, f16, ect. and 1/15th, 1/30th, 1/60th, 1/125th, ect.

Zen and the art of photography

Description: This class will take over where digital photo 1 left off. We will explore further into the aspects of composition, exposure, lighting, filters, special equipment, and image adjustments.

Objectives: We all see the world through our own personal filter. I hope to teach you to photograph with intention and with your own unique point of view. Through four assignments and two field trips we will explore ways to capture the image you see in your mind’s eye, and learn to see as the camera sees, to pre-visualize and develop skills for thinking ahead in your photographs. Then will bring it all to bear in photographing and editing your photos into a concise photo essay. We will also discuss methods to add dimension to your photographs and explore ways to make your photos more engaging, how to draw a viewer’s eye in and keep it there.

Assignments: the still life photo, the landscape photo, the portrait, a technical push, and the photo essay.

Schedule:

Week 1:

• introductions, questions and personal goals
• Review of photo 1 ; camera controls, exposure, white balance, files.
• composition 1
• assignment 1: the landscape photograph.

Week 2:

• Questions
• Review of assignment 1
• composition 2
• lighting and exposure 1
• Assignment 2: the still life photograph

Week 3: field trip: how to expose and compose the photos you see.

Week 4:

• Questions
• Review of assignment 2 and field trip 1
• Lighting 2; camera controls, artificial lighting and exposure
• Assignment 3: the portrait photograph

Week 5:

• Questions
• Review of assignment 3
• Special considerations in digital photography
• Assignment 4: a technical push

Week 6:

• Questions
• Review of assignment 4
• the photo essay
• Assignment 5: the photo essay

Week 7: field trip; practice and meditations on the photo essay

Week 8:

• questions and answers
• Review of assignment 4 and field trip