“Simplicity reveals the pure beauty of life.” ~Debasish Mridha
There’s a horse farm near my home in Colorado where they breed and raise prize foals. Every spring I get to experience the refreshing thrill of watching them grow. Willowy, awkward and unbalanced, they cling to their mothers for a short time, then as the newborns begin to gain confidence, they can be seen kicking up their heals and dancing through the fields.
The simplicity of these little creatures gives me pure pleasure.
Join me today as we lose ourselves in a magical 90 second photoshoot with these heart-warming foals. ↓
Springtime Foals Video
Note: If you get the opportunity to see young foals with their mothers, quietly enjoy and photograph them using binoculars or a long lense. Observe them from a distance. Don’t get so close that it scares or disturbs the mare.
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“Photography has everything to do with the way you see.” Elliott Erwitt
Let’s expand on Ansel Adam’s concept of ‘putting yourself into your photography.’
It’s all about observing your surroundings. By observing, you become part of where you are. You not only see more -you hear more, and feel more, because you’re in the present moment and aware.
Last post we went on a live photoshoot – ‘Sunrise with the Pelicans’, and I hope it inspired you absorb more of your surroundings.
Magic happens when you clear your mind, get out and become part of where you are.
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt
Below are a couple of powerfully effective exercises that enhance sensory and perception:
EXERCISE 1:
This exercise will help you become more in tune with your surroundings. It will help you practice the state of being in the moment and experience the feeling of relaxed, but alert, noticing everything so you can act spontaneously at any minute and notice things that others typically wouldn’t.
1.Find a comfortable spot with a notebook. Sit quietly for a few minutes and just observe your surroundings.
2. Now for 15 minutes begin listing the things you observe. What do you see? What do you hear? Are there aromas? Textures? Emotion? There will be the obvious – list those first. Then there are things that we take for granted and overlook… Details, like the bolt that attaches the bench you’re sitting on, and the ripple in the water as a leaf falls onto its surface.
3. List at least 40 items during this exercise.
Basically, what this exercise does, is help you become part of your surroundings. When you’re this close to what you’re observing, it will be you who’s reflected in your finished pieces of art.
EXERCISE 2:
So many times, we over-look the obvious, we tend to take things for granted. This exercise is to help you look at common things more creatively.
1. Pick an object.
2. Study it for a while. Squint at it. Look at it from above, below, from the side. The way light hits it. The shadows, the curves –
3. Photograph that object 25 different ways: close-up, wide-angle, shoot the shadows, the curves, from the side, above, below, details…
I shot a couple examples to give you ideas for this exercise:
And here’s another example through the eyes of my creative nephew, Morgan Jones
Whether you’re a just beginning photography, or you’re a seasoned professional, I think you might be surprised at the interesting discoveries you’ll make with these exercises.
Until next time…
~Suzette
“Go for a walk – see what you see.”
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“Inward is not a direction. Inward is a dimension.”
~Sadhguru Jaggi
Here’s a quick mid-week boost.
Many times in a day we find ourselves worrying about what others are thinking, regretting the past, fearing the future. These interruptions cause blockage so we can’t be all that we can be.
This tension exists because we reach out before reaching in, leaving our souls crying for attention.
Just for a minute right now shut everything else out and listen. What do you hear? Wide open and receptive, we can interact directly with the world with our wisdom guiding us.
Move inward to the Spirit within before you move outward to the world.
“For direction, look within.”
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Robert Adams, Author of Beauty in Photography wrote “A photographer can describe a better world only by better seeing the world as it is in front of him.”
A great photographer is a great observer. At this point when I teach this class I have the students engage in a couple exercises that enhance sensory and perception. These powerfully effective exercises will come in the next post.
Just for today here’s a short 60 second clip I put together. It’s about the magic that can happen when you get out and observe your surroundings, becoming part of where you are…
Go out somewhere this week and absorb yourself in your surroundings. Watch, listen, see.
Thanks for joining me here on PhotoTip Friday. Be sure to subscribe to this Art of Living Blog as we artistically energize you with quotes, insights, and photography. ↓
“All the equipment in the world will not compensate for the inability to notice.” ~Elliot Erwitt
Last week, we began a series on ‘putting yourself into your photography .’ The first way to learn more about yourself and what message you want to send is to STUDY THE MASTERS.
It helps to see what other artists are doing. Studying others is how you can hone your work. Master photographers are good teachers, and it’s ok to imitate them – It’s ok to learn from those who have gone before you – study their work, find things that appeal to you in their images, and then go out and try those techniques on your own.
THE KEY is to make it fresh by throwing your own twist to it.
I wonder if Thomas Franklin thought about Joe Rosenthal’s iconic image of Iwo Jima as he saw this scene unfolding at Ground Zero in 2001?
Raising the Flag at Ground Zero Thomas Franklin, 2001
Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima – Joe Rosenthal, 1945
Below are some examples of how a few legendary artists have influenced my photography:
Edward Weston had a great impact on my wedding and landscape photography with his figurative work and use of line to lead the eye:
Edward Weston
Incorporated his use of shape to lead the eye.
Edward Weston
I studied the patterns he created with shadow.
Margaret Bourke-White inspired my work by her use of repetition, patterns, framing, and mood in her photography:
Margaret Bourke-White
Using her concept of repetition to add interest, frame, and lead the eye.
Margaret Bourke-White
Her framing and photojournalistic mood became part of my portraits.
W. Eugene Smith, the American photo-journalist, motivated me with his editorial photo essays.
W. Eugene Smith
Wash Day, Suzette
With my passion for horses and the Western Plains, I like studying David Steocklein, known for preserving ‘the Spirit of the West with his photography.
Stampede, David Steocklein
Winter Grounds, Suzette
…And Eliot Porter’s landscapes have been a significant influence on how I see world:
Golden Isle, Eliot Porter
Island in the Mist, Suzette
Here are some wise words of advice from a few more of my favorite influential photographers:
Annie Lebovitz: “Your portraits will always look lifeless until you begin to take portraits that communicate the life of the model. Get to know your model and say something about her in your photography.”
John Lennon -Yoko Ono, Annie Lebovitz
John Paul Caponigro, Jay Maisel
Jay Maisel: “Ditch the gear and start paying attention to color, shape, and light. As you go about your day, find little things that have an artistic flair to them. Photography isn’t always just about the knock-you-in-the-face obvious shots.”
Elliot Erwitt: “All the equipment in the world will not compensate for the inability to notice.”
Dogs, Elliot Erwitt
The Eye of Paris, Brassai
Brassai: Brassai was born in Hungary but lived in Paris for most of his life. He did his work in one city and took captivating photos of ordinary people. You don’t have to travel around the world to do photography. It can happen right where you are.
Steve McCurry: “People ask me how I can identify the best moment to take a photograph. I tell them that it is intuitive and reflexive. You’re never sure of the moment because you’re always looking and anticipating. “Fishermen cleaning nets, families sharing meals and celebrations, artisans crafting their wares, nomads continually on the move; even the most seemingly mundane activities can be inspirational when you look beneath the surface.
Afghan Girl, Steve McCurry
Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange: “Pick a theme and work it to exhaustion… the subject must be something you truly love or truly hate.”
So, whether you shoot landscapes, weddings, portraiture, macro, commercial, or photojournalistic street photography, There are artists to study and to learn from. For more inspiration from iconic photographers, check out this blog :
Remember, it’s ok to imitate; that’s how we learn. Join me next time, and we’ll talk about another idea expanding Ansel Adam’s concept of ‘putting yourself into your photography.’
Happy shooting! ~Suzette
It’s ok to imitate, that’s how you learn.”
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“There’s nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” – Ansel Adams
How many times have you photographed something spectacular – a landscape at sunset, a busy street corner, a bird in flight, but after downloading and viewing it, the image was no-where near the mind-blowing scene you remembered while shooting it?
You’re not alone.
I read a story about a man who would shoot with ANSEL ADAMS in Yellowstone National Park. He said, “Although I stood right next to him and photographed the same landscape as Ansel, I could never quite duplicate his photographs. There was something about his images that made me feel the scene we had been shooting.”
Yellowstone, Ansel Adams
This has been a universal struggle with artists since the invention of photography: how to ignite the senses.
Ansel’s answer to this struggle:
“Although my photographs are of landscapes and the great terrain, there are always two people in those photographs… myself and the viewer.”~Ansel Adams
What did Ansel mean by this quote? What did the companion photographer see in Ansel’s work that wasn’t present in his own?
SOUL. – The ‘myself’ element.
“The single most important component of a camera is the 12 inches behind it.” – Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams knew that it wasn’t the quality of the tool that creates a memorable photograph but the mind controlling it.
A great photograph is more than just ‘clicking the shutter.’ It’s about
What you’re experiencing within you when you click the shutter, and
The ability to communicate that experience to the viewer.
A great photograph captures the spirit of what you’re seeing. It reproduces the sensations of the moment –- everything surrounding you that prompted you to want to shoot a particular scene.
Did you feel a light mist in the air and smell the freshness of rain? Could you hear the heron’s wing skim the water? Did you sense an overwhelming calm?
Misty Morning, Suzette
More than likely, just clicking the shutter won’t communicate the feelings and emotions you experienced while shooting, hence the disappointment when seeing the initial picture. Post-processing is when you have the opportunity to ‘put yourself’ into the image and help the viewer receive the full impact of your final piece.
I know. Some photographers say a great image should come directly out of the camera with no augmentation. But guess what? Even Ansel manipulated his images. He was known to spend a lot of time in the darkroom, editing his prints, ‘putting himself’ into the photo.
Ansel believed that it’s up to us as photographers to lead the viewer to what we want to communicate. Lead them to the message, even if that means changing the brightness and contrast of various parts of a photo – deepening, lightening, leading the eye.
Ansel Adams, 1944
Ansel said, “You ‘take’ a picture, but you ‘make’ a photograph.”
Here’s my point today. It’s ok to enrich your photos to help communicate what you want your viewers to see and feel. It’s ok to tone down and amplify areas of the image, adding to the sense of sound and taste, texture, and motion.
The keys are:
Knowing yourself in relation to:
Your surroundings and then:
Translating the mood to the viewer
Stay tuned for the next few PHOTO-TIP FRIDAYS for ideas, exercises, and techniques on how to put yourself into your work!
The last few weeks PhotoTip Friday has been about how to put more mood in a photograph. So far, we’ve covered lighting, color, storytelling, and evocation. Today is about leading the viewer’s emotion through depth of field – where to place the focus.
As photographers, we can help the viewer participate in the message of an image by leading their eye to the intended focal point. Below are 4 ways to create depth of field:
Open up the aperture on your camera (the wider the aperture the more blurred the background)
Use the ‘portrait’ setting on your I-Phone (it works amazingly well!)
Shoot through an object.
Manipulate the image in post-production with photoshop.
I’ll be showing all of the techniques above in later blog posts when we start doing live shooting and photoshop tips. Today is about the effects of focus.
My friend Rick Lemke posted a timely, beautiful image of a shamrock flower on his Facebook page this week that epitomizes depth of field. With the way he masterfully isolated the flower from his background there’s no question as to where we need to look for the subject. Rick’s technique also created a pleasing ‘bokeh’ effect in the background which is the way the lens rendered the out-of-focus points of light.
Blurring parts of an image works well to lead the viewer’s eye to the subject, and it can also effectively be used to send a message, make a statement or tell a story. The slide-show below shows a few examples of the effects from directing depth of field.
Next time you’re out shooting, play with a few different types of focusing. Blur the foreground, blur the background, blur the whole image, blur it some more. You might be surprised at some of the results!
George Lucas said, “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” This is true in photography, too. We have full control of what realities we want the viewer to see within the depths of our work.
We have full control of what realities we want the viewer to see within the depths of our work. ~Suzette
Thanks for joining me here on PhotoTip Friday. Be sure to subscribe to this Art of Living Blog as we artistically energize you with quotes, insights, and photography. ↓
“Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of the dreams.” ~ Paul Gauguin
Color is symbolic and it directly influences the soul, but it’s all in how it’s applied. Henry Haskins said “The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette”.
How does this relate to Photography? We can also use color in photography to elicit a feeling or circumstance, and it’s the technique and application to our work that will make the difference in what we want to emote in the image.
For instance, black and white vs. color, the use of high key vs. low key, the color itself, and even the amount of saturation can become symbolic in an image.
Below are some examples of this.
Hi-key vs. low-key can send different messages↓
Hi-key can send a message of pleasure.
While low-key one of despondency.
Low-key can feel ominous.
Hi-key characterizes fresh and pure.
A black and white image can send the message of melancholy, while color can emote pleasure. ↓
Black and white can paint a melancholy mood.
Where brighter fresh colors emote pleasure.
Black and white can illustrate innocence and purity.
…vs. a deep warm color can give the feel of protection.
Or exhilaration vs. despair.
Monochromatic black and white gives a feel of unity and connection.
…and stark intense contrasting color can describe disconnection and despair
The overall color, or combination of colors themselves can render a relational statement. No words necessary.
Similar colors give a relational feel of harmony
Intense color sends a message of discord.
Temperature dictates temperament –
from soothing cool…
…to raging heat.
An increase of saturation to an image can be used to make a statement or can signify an increase in emotion such as vibrancy, euphoria, or chaos.
And the absence of color can bring anything from a cold and desolate emotion to mystical and angelic.
Sometimes just popping the color a bit gives more strength to the image:
And then there’s always the option of what message to send in an image. Playing with color and black and white can render different meanings:
Trying an image with both color and black and white can shift the mood of an image. Hope vs. destitution, for instance.
Sometimes the shift in color just gives a more pleasing artsy effect.
What mood or message do you want to send in your image? The options are endless. Just play, but whatever you do, remember the opening quote: “Be colorful. The world needs your prismatic soul!” ~Amy Leigh Mercree – The world needs everything you have to offer.
Later on in these blog posts, I’ll be giving some fun techniques on playing with color in photoshop. Right now we’re learning how to put MOOD into photography, so stay tuned for the next PhotoTip Friday.
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“Color can encourage or discourage, and it can summon desire or disgust.” ~Suzette
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller
What is it in a photo that makes you linger? Sometimes the response isn’t about artistry or even technical excellence, but because the photo triggered a memory or aroused an emotion. The last few posts have been about how to add more mood and impact to your photography. A compelling image isn’t always what we see. Sometimes the impact comes from the feeling it conjures.
Robert Capa’s immortal D-Day shots are technical disasters. They needed a lot of darkroom manipulation to get a print, but they’re some of the most powerful images every made because they evoke emotion.
Another classic example of stirring emotion is Steve McCurry’s ‘Afghan Girl’. There’s something about her eyes that stops us in our tracks. They’re scared, unsure, but incredibly beautiful. This shot can also bring about disturbing emotions.
Or Thomas Franklin’s iconic flag-raising photograph taken at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001
And a more current, very touching image from the 2020 Pandemic by Go Nakamura
“Nothing speaks louder than an evocative photograph that stirs the imagination, tugs at the heart strings and engages the mind.” ~Mark Carwardine
An evocative image leaves no need for words. A story telling image makes us stop and wonder: what just happened? What’s going to happen next?
To create these types of images, go out – put yourself in situations of timely importance, become aware of circumstances happening all around you – Observe. Anticipate moments.
I’ve had the privilege of photographing weddings and portraits for many years, and learned that the most cherished images are ones that are spontaneous and real. Even when I’m not on a professional photo shoot, I try to stay aware of little slices of life happening around me and watch for suggestive, symbolic, or reminiscent points in time.
Here are a few examples:
Be evocative…
Tell a story…
Have fun out there and we’ll see you on the next Photo Tip Friday when we’ll cover the emotion of COLOR!
Sometimes a response isn’t about artistry or even technical excellence, but because the photo aroused an emotion. ~Suzette
Lighting. This is a topic I’ve been studying for 25 years, and I’m still learning. It will always be an endless pursuit for me. So today, let’s narrow it down to how light affects mood, and how you can add emotional impact to an image.
Photography literally means painting with light, and as Rembrandt, Thomas Kincaid and Michelangelo painted emotion into their masterpieces, you can paint mood (Impact) into your photography with the creative use of light. Without it, it’s just a picture.
Scroll arrow right and left to see the impact of light.
We’re going to get into some creative shooting techniques today, but first let’s get a tiny bit technical.
There are 6 main SOURCES of light:
Sun
Flash
Continuous
Spot
Ambient (moon, candle etc)
Reflective
Light creates 4 major EFFECTS:
Illumination
Silhouette
Shadow
Accent
Light effects the 7 ELEMENTS OF ART:
Line
Shape
Form
Texture
Value
Space
Color
A great photograph is made when all three of these come together to create impact. For instance, when the sun creates a shadow to activate spaceor a spot creates an accent to form line or a candleilluminates to enhance shape.
With all that said, below are some EXAMPLES of each effect of light:
Effects of ILLUMINATION :
Direct afternoon sun (horse)
Filtered sun
Window light
Continuous
Diffused flash
Flash
Ambient (stage lights)
Reflective
Incandescent
Effects of an Accent lights:
1. Window light (man’s profile))
2. Flash
3. Continuous
4. Spot light
5. Ambient (fire)
6. Afternoon sun
7. Filtered sun
8. Reflective
9. Direct morning sun
Effects of SHADOWS:
Window light (dog)
Ambient (incandescent)
Filtered sun
Sunset
reflective
Direct Sun
Spot
Continuous
Flash
Effects of SILHOUETTES:
Sunset (teepee)
Filtered sun
Direct sun
Window light
Ambient light (moon)
Spot light
Flash
reflective
Continuous
The above images are examples of the use of light to paint and sculpt mood. Light has a direct influence on everything it touches, and as you start watching light you’ll begin seeing differently as you move through the day.
Below are 10 simple exercises to expand your awareness of light, and help you start experimenting and using this awareness for mood and impact.
Shoot an object at sunrise, noon and sunset, note how the light, color & shadows change.
Observe and shoot shadows expanding, disappearing and growing again as the sun moves across the sky.
Shoot an object, making the impact of the shadow the main focus of attention
Shoot an object directly into the sun or a window light to create a silhouette.
Photograph a person with a flash or spotlight to ‘sculpt’ from 5 different angles: front light only, ¾ light only, side light only, ¾ back light only, and full back light only. Observe how each angle changes the details of the face.
Do an indoor shoot of an object or person using a candle, flashlight, window, computer screen or some other ambient light as the only light source on a subject.
Do an outdoor night shot of an object, using the moon, fire, candle or some other ambient light as your only light source.
Do an outdoor night shot, using an off-camera flash or spotlight to illuminate your subject.
Use a spotlight or the sun to create a rim (accent) light and notice the interesting line it makes.
Watch how light falls on people, objects and buildings. Make ‘photo notes’ on what impact light has on objects. Make a ‘photo journal’ and enter these exercises in your journal noting the times of day, what type of light source was used.
Elliot Erwitt, one of the most prestigious photographers in the world, once said, “All the equipment in the world will not compensate for the inability to notice.“
If you want more dynamic images start noticing light sources around you. Pay attention the way light affects EVERYTHING, and how it enhances the mood of your photography.
Want to add even MORE mood? TELL A STORY through the image – or make it SUGGESTIVE. Stay tuned for the next PHOTO TIP FRIDAY!
~Suzette
As Light can enhance the mood in your photography, your OWN light can enhance the mood of life around you.
Watch for my newest book “THE ART OF BEING ALIVE ” coming March 20th!
The Art of Living 