The Digital Photo Guy

Why Composition Matters

…it is seldom indeed that a composition which was poor when the picture was taken can be improved by reshaping it in the dark room. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

I was shocked by a recent poll that found most amateur photographers believe composition is their strong suit. In my experience, composition is everyone’s weakest skill. How many can honestly say their photographs are as impactful and insightful as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams or Galen Rowell? The photos I’ve seen in workshops and online forums tend toward ordinary and uninspired.

Here’s a rejected photo from a recent shoot. Working with two new models in a genre (steampunk) that I had never even heard of, much less photographed, I was shooting fast and trying to keep up with the models’ concepts. This was a good idea (Megan protects the fuel supply a’la Mad Max) but poor execution due to poor composition. Notice how I cut off Megan’s right foot, scabbard and sword tip. With practice, it’s easy to nail the focus and exposure but composition changes with every photo.

In this next photo, the Center of Interest has changed to the intensity in Megan’s eyes. It’s no longer about telling a story but imparting emotion. The composition is about Megan’s eyes. I could have used a shallow depth of field and blurred the background because none of it matters, just the look in her eyes. The square formed by Megan’s right arm and sword work to frame her face and force the viewer to look into her eyes.

These are all compositional decisions I had to make during the shoot. Some worked, many failed and the rest needed Photoshop to guide the viewers’ eyes to the Center of Interest.

Composition is the single most important element in any work of art. To quote Ansel Adams, “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” Don’t let your sharp photos fail due to a fuzzy concept. Register today for Gloria Hopkins’ Composition webinar on Wednesday, April 20. Know how and why each and every element in your photographs contribute to the impact of the photograph.

Public Service Announcement

RSS will make you smart, rich and sexy. OK, maybe just smart. RSS will certainly streamline your on-line life and save you time by only showing information you want. For those who don’t know about RSS, here’s a short primer.  Once you set up an RSS reader, the next step is to make it automatic so you don’t have to check e-mail for notification. This article explains how to do that.

I recommend RSS because it makes it easy to keep up with my posts as well as news on other sites. I’m a news hound, I love keeping up with various news outlets to be sure they’re all reporting consistent information. Before RSS, I had to check many news sites each day. With RSS, each time a site is updated, I’m automatically notified. Many sites also allow you to tailor the news you want. You can specify all world news but no drivel about Lindsey Lohan. You can get immediate notices about Japan or healthcare reform but exclude news about Hollywood.

In other words, RSS lets you customize your own news report. In the mix, you can ask to be notified each time I update my website. That assures you never miss anything. Look for the RSS icon on my site and set up a reader today. You’ll save a ton of time and never miss an post.

Old Guyz Rule! (Except When They Don’t)

Did a shoot this past weekend that definitely took me outside my comfort zone. Anyone here ever heard of steampunk? As one of the models explained to me, “It’s how people in the 1800s might have imagined the 21st century.” Yeah, OK, is this a hint that she thinks I was around in the 1800s?

Here, I used a single Canon 550EX on-camera with a Stofen Omnibounce diffuser. The strobe was set to 1/4 power in Manual and bounced off a very low (dingy) white ceiling.

For my newbie readers, this is a good example of why I like to shoot in Manual Mode. In this shoot, I wanted a dark, edgy look with enough depth of field (DoF) to keep everything sharp. Had I relied on the auto exposure (AE) meter, the image would have been brighter, not in keeping with the dark, post-Apocalyptic theme. More

Why Manual Flash is Sometimes Easier

This past weekend, I photographed Celestina, Pinup Model, Makeup Artist (MUA) and Hair Stylist. This was the third time I’ve photographed her and I should have the lighting down pat by now. Yet, I still managed to make rookie errors that ruined many images and will require a reshoot. BTW, notice the cool NBA blouse. That’s Natonal Bowling Association, not basketball.

First, the excuses. We only had two hours so I was rushed. Celestina was delayed getting there so now we only had 90 minutes. I tried two poses which required moving the backdrop and wasted more time. And, the biggie: I took a shortcut and let E-TTL handle the intricacies of a four-flash set-up. This isn’t to say E-TTL couldn’t have handled it but it takes a lot more smarts on my. I would have been better off manually setting each flash instead of letting E-TTL try to figure out what I wanted.

Here’s a finished photo of Celestina striking a pinup pose. I wanted a white background in the tradition of true pinups. The BG isn’t pure white as I wanted but it’s better than the original (after the jump.) My first thought was to mask Celestina and drop in a white BG. I immediately realized that was a dumb idea because of the fine hairs where I was backlighting her beautiful red hair. More

Learning to Print on a New Printer

Physically installing the Epson 3880 was a snap. The hardest part was finding all the little pieces of blue tape manufacturers seem to love to hold down various moving and mechanical parts. I have to admit, Epson does a pretty good job of identifying all the locations where the tape can be found. Some spots are pretty ingenious and actually require reading the quick start guide.

For the first test print, through the USB port (the 3880 is also network ready,) with a known, good print, I chose the photo of Celestina (left.) I set all the color management settings to what I thought were the proper settings and let ‘er rip. Oops! The colors were all wrong. After a few more tries, I printed to the old Epson R1800 to be sure the file was OK. Even with some serious clogs, the R1800 was much closer to the screen. Celestina’s red hair looked just like it does to the left and her green dress wasn’t blue like the 3880.

Scratching my head, I decided to postpone the test print and hook up the network connection. This turned into an unmitigated disaster as I didn’t read the manual. After a day of frustration, I decided I didn’t really need the network connection since I’m the only one who will print to the 3880. I just wanted to hook it up because I had paid for it! More

Death of an R1800

My Epson R1800 has been a real love-hate affair. When it’s working, I love the rich, vibrant colors on Calumet Brilliant Luster paper. When it clogs, which is frequently, I hate the stupid printer and the idiot who designed it. I’ve had this printer for over five years and I’ve produced wonderful prints which have hung in galleries and sold enough to pay for itself. But, factor in the emotional toll of not knowing when it will throw another clogging tantrum and I’m ready to chuck it off the roof. Well, it saved me the hassle by finally dying last week.
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I stopped by Fry’s Electronics to look at an R1900. As I hemmed and hawed about an R1900 and the dinky 11ml (milliliter) ink cartridges (see comparison to left,) it struck me that an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 with 80ml cartridges dropped my ink costs down to 75¢ per ml versus $1.27 for the R1900, a 40% savings. That pushed me over the edge. Before my wife could say, “What the *$%+!” I threw down the plastic and walked out with a $1295 printer. My rationale was as follows: More