Exposure | Photography Magazine

EXPOSURE VOLUME 3

ISSUE 6

PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE

Five Camera Settings: Every Photographer Should Know

People & Portrait Photography Interview with Jim Zuckerman

CONTRIBUTORS PHOTOGRAPHERS

WRITERS

KRISTIN CAPP was trained as a classical violinist at a young age but discovered photography in college.

She is coauthor of the book Keeping the Embers Alive: Musicians of Zimbabwe (Africa World Press) and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

MARK BELAIR is a drummer and percussionist living in New York City. He has recorded with jazz greats Bill Evans and Joe Lovano and has performed with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Fulcrum, Harvard Review, Mudfish, and the South Carolina Review.

IRA J. HAWKINS is a student at California College of the Arts and a preschool teacher. He lives in Oakland, California.

CAROLINE KRAUS is the author of Borderlines: A Memoir (Broadway) and a contributing writer for PBS. org. She lives in Mill Valley, California.

MATTHEW LAPISKA says his camera, his bicycle, and his wife are his pillars of stability. He lives in Astoria, New York.

GARY MATSON lives in Sunnyside, New York. He has lived in every borough of New York City except Staten Island, though he was woken up there a number of mornings.

CHRISTINE SAARI lives in Marquette, Michigan, and spends springs on her family farm in Austria, where she was born.

LISA BELLAMY’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in TriQuarterly, Fugue, and New Ohio Review.

She has won the Fugue Poetry Prize and received honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 (St. Martin’s Griffin). She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her daughter, who is a vegan, and her cats, who are not.

ANNA BLACKSHAW is a writer and documentary photographer who lives in North Carolina.

04 08 15 Five Camera Settings: Every Photographer Should Know

People & Portrait Photography

BetterPhoto Photography: Interview with Jim Zuckerman

These five tips will help you to navigate through the minefield that is a new DSLR camera.

People pictures fall into two categories: portraits and candids.

Like many of our BetterPhoto online photography class instructors, Jim Zuckerman is self taught.

30 45 58 A Diver Captures Bermuda Below the Surface

Basic Night Photography

Why We Do It: Photographers and Photo Editors on the Passion That Drives Their Work

Weldon Wade spends most of his time underwater working as a commerical diver off the coast of Bermuda.

Night photography is a different animal than shooting during the day, but in the end, it’s still all about composition, lighting, and camera settings.

The people who make up today’s thriving photographic community are our eyes to the world.

Five Camera Settings: Every New Photographer Should Know Will Nicholls

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The first time you pick up a camera it can be pretty confusing. With all the bells and whistles crammed inside even entry-level DSLRs nowadays, knowing where to start is anyone’s guess. Teaching yourself, through trial and error, is one of the best means-tested ways to come to grips with your camera and learn how to use wwthat I think every photographer needs to know about when they get their hands on a DSLR.

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Live View Stops Mirror Slap

That satisfying, reassuring “clunk” sound you hear when you press the shutter button isn’t actually the shutter firing on the camera. In fact, that is the mirror moving up and down to expose the sensor to the world.

But that relatively aggressive motion of the mirror can introduce camera shake into your images.

It’s something you might notice if you’re shooting a long exposure, but there’s an easy way around it. Switch the camera into Live View mode, forcing the mirror to raise permanently (until you turn off that mode) so that you can see the image on the LCD screen. This means that when you do actually press the button, only the shutter itself is moving – no need to worry about that mirror thudding up and down anymore.

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Auto ISO and

Manual Mode Helps You Learn

Lots of photographers stay in Automatic mode because of the fear of missing images when they switch to Manual mode. To remove this fear, try shooting in Manual mode with Auto ISO enabled. This means that the camera is still in control of one of the three factors affecting exposure (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) so that it can balance out the settings with the ISO. But now you get to control the aperture and shutter speed yourself, changing them aroundto see what effect they will have on your photo.

Try slowing down the shutter speed, or narrowing the aperture of the lens, safe in the knowledge that auto ISO will do a pretty good job at balancing the exposure (unless you slow your shutter down a lot). Being able to

experiment freely like this will help you to get a practical knowledge of the exposure triangle and how it works.

Disable Area Autofocus Modes

The first thing you should do is disable any Area (zone) Autofocus modes. This is where the camera picks and chooses where it focuses, as it will rarely be at the point you would want. Instead, try using single-point focus. This allows you to be precise and line-up the black square over the target area in the scene.

If you were taking a photo of a dog, for example, it’s much better to focus on the eyes than to rely on the camera to find that spot for you. Most likely, the camera would be focused on the end of the dog’s nose – not very good for an impactful shot.

Mute Your Camera

If you’re shooting in JPEG file forAs a wildlife photographer, one of the mat, and not raw, then the White really annoying things to hear in a qui- Balance choice you make in the camet hide or nature reserve is the beep era does matter. If you’re shooting of someone’s camera. Whenever I get raw, you can adjust this later during a new camera, it’s not long before I post-production. dive into the menu and disable all of the autofocus beeps, menu selection Why not Auto White Balance? beeps, and any other noises the cam- I find that it never gets things right. era might feel so inclined to make.

Colors always look much flatter and dull, whereas the daylight or cloudy Not only is it pretty pointless, it could presets add an immediate punch to alert an animal to your presence! So, your shot. Try it, and you’ll probably wildlife photographers, don’t do it. find things really do change for the better.

Pay Attention to

the White Balance Setting

The White Balance setting is one that can totally transform your images in a second, but it’s one that most people ignore for quite a while and just leave in auto mode.

You can also look at the manual White Balance setting (measured in degrees Kelvin) if you want to have a much more fine-tuned control over this setting.

Hopefully, these five tips will help you to navigate through the minefield that is a new DSLR camera. There are of course so many more things to know, and that’s where Digital Photography School can help you, of course. But these are some things that I think will make life easier for you as a new DSLR user.

“White balance setting is one that can totally transform your images in a second”

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People & Robert Caputo

People pictures fall into two categories: portraits and candid. Either can be made with or without your subjects awareness and cooperation.

“The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects.”

However near or far your subject, however intimate or distant the gaze your camera casts, you always need to keep in mind the elements of composition and the technique that will best help you communicate what you are trying to say.

Get Closer

The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects.

In some cases this means that the center of interest—the subject—is just a speck, too small to have any impact.

Even when it is big enough to be decipherable, it usually carries little meaning. Viewers can sense when a subject is small because it was supposed to be and when it’s small because the photographer was too shy to get close.

Don’t be shy. If you approach people in the right way, they’ll usually be happy to have their picture made. It’s up to you to break the ice and get them to cooperate. Joke around with them. Tell them why you want to make the

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Portrait Photography

picture. Practice with people you know so that you are comfortable; people can sense when you aren’t.

There are several ways to be unobtrusive. The first thing, of course, is to determine what you want to photograph.

Perhaps you see a stall in a market that is particularly Settings—The Other Subject colorful, a park bench in a beautiful setting—whatever has The settings in which you make pictures of people are attracted you. Find a place to sit or stand that gives you a important because they add to the viewer’s understanding good view of the scene, take up residence there, and wait of your subject. The room in which a person lives or works, for the elements to come together in a way that will make their house, the city street they walk, the place in which your image. they seek relaxation—whatever it is, the setting provides information about people and tells us something about If you’re using a long lens and are some distance from their lives. Seek balance between subject and environyour subject, it will probably be a while before the people ment. Include enough of the setting to aid your image, in the scene notice you. You should be able to compose but not so much that the subject is lost in it. your image and get your shot before this happens. When they do notice you, smile and wave. There’s a difference Candids: Being Unobtrusive between being unobtrusive and unfriendly. Another way You may want to make photographs of people going to be unobtrusive is to be there long enough so that about their business—vendors in a market, a crowd at a people stop paying attention to you. If you are sitting at sports event, the line at a theater. You don’t want them to a café order some coffee and wait. As other patrons beappear aware of the camera. Many times people will see come engrossed in conversations or the paper, calmly lift you, then ignore you because they have to concentrate on the camera to your eye and make your exposure. In most what they are doing. You want the viewers of the image cases, people either won’t notice or won’t mind. But be to feel that they are getting an unguarded, fly-on-the-wall judicious. Don’t keep firing away and become a nuisance. glimpse into the scene.

They will mind. You can also set the camera on the table with a wide-angle lens pointed at your subject and simply Exposure | Photography Magazine

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press the remote release when the time is right. Modern auto focus and auto exposure cameras make this easy to do as well.

Anticipating Behavior

An important element in people photography is knowing your subjects well enough to be able to anticipate what they are going to do. It’s the only way you are going to be able to get pictures of it. If you wait until you see it, it’s too late. The key is to watch people carefully. Always have your camera ready. If you’re going to be shooting in one situation, set the aperture and shutter speed in advance so you don’t have to fiddle with them while you’re shooting. Watch people through the viewfinder. If you’re paying attention, you’ll sense what’s about to happen.

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Predicting Relationships

though there is not, of course, any Within the Frame photograph made by a human that is A great deal of people photography completely objective. Candids with is understanding human nature and consent, made when the photogbeing aware of how people usually rapher is actively engaged with the react in given situations. If someone is subject and the subject is conscious sitting in a café he will usually look up of this involvement, are very differwhen the waiter approaches. People ent. Photographs are records of the will generally smile when they see a photographer’s relationship with his baby or open a present. Crowds rise or her subject. In consensual candids, when a batter smashes a ball that the relationship can be either obvious looks like it’s headed for the seats. (the subject looks directly into the Think about the situation you are pho- camera) or subtle—the relationship tographing and how people are likely is implied because the image feels to act in it. Then prepare yourself for more intimate. We sense that the the moment. photographer was physically close to the subject and that the person was Candids With Consent aware of being photographed.

Unobtrusive candids seek to be flyon-the-wall images that catch people Engaging Your Subject going about their business seemThe first order of business is to ingly unaware of the camera and the engage your subject. This is where photographer. This yields images that we all have to learn to overcome our are more toward the objective end of shyness and approach people in an the objective/subjective continuum, open and friendly manner. Be up

front about who you are and what you’re doing. Don’t just barge into a scene with your cameras blazing. In fact, it is usually best to leave your camera in its bag when you first approach people, so as not to frighten them. Take time to engage the person in conversation, just as you would if you didn’t have a camera.

Remember the Golden Rule. Think about how you’d feel if someone approached you and wanted to make a photograph.

How they did it would determine how you would respond.

Approaching Unfamiliar Cultures

“Photographs are records of the photographer’s relationship with his or her subject.

In consensual candids, the relationship can be either obvious... or subtle.”

One of the keys to success in photographing cultures different from your own is doing as much research as you can before you go. Talk to people who have been there and get their recommendations. Find out if there are any taboos about photography, and if so, what they are. Another key to success is to be sensitive to local customs and the different reactions people may have to you and your camera. Learn a few simple phrases in the local language so you can at least say hello to people and ask if you can make photographs of them.

Some people have no problems with photography, and you should treat them in the same courteous and respectful way you would treat people at home, by engaging them and seeking their permission. Others have objections to photographs being made of certain individuals or groups. Some people object on religious grounds. Some feel that you want to make fun of them, to show their poverty or some other aspect of their lives to the world. Other people believe that when you make an image of them you are stealing their soul or in some other way taking something away from them.

They are right, of course. Photographers talk about capturing the essence or spirit of a person or place. We do take something, and we profit by the taking. You should always respect people’s feelings and beliefs. There are selfish reasons for this—you don’t want to be beaten up or thrown in jail. But the main point is that people are always more important than photographs. You don’t want to abuse people, and doing something against a strongly

held belief is abuse. And the photo- graphs would probably not be very good anyway.

You may be asked to pay for photographing certain people. My advice is to comply with such requests. You pay for a postcard when you travel, why not for an image you make? It is usually not much money to you, but may be quite a lot to the people you want to photograph. If you do not want to pay, you can always move on.

The Casual Portrait

Wherever you are with your camera, always be on the lookout for those moments when a person’s character shines though. If you have a formal portrait session with someone, make some frames of him while he straightens his tie or while she brushes her hair before the formal sitting.

Walk back to the car with her and shoot her on the street.

If you are on a spring picnic with the family, look for that moment of bliss when your wife leans back, sated, to enjoy the caress of the warm sun. If you’re on the street, look for the impatient expression on a pedestrian’s face as he waits for the light to change. Always be on the lookout for the telling moment. Every person has a story, and every picture should tell part of that story.

Environmental Portraits

Portraits are about people. Environmental portraits are about people and what they do with their lives. They are about the kind of house a person lives in and how they decorate it; about what kind of work they do and where they do it; about the surroundings they choose and the things they surround themselves with. Environmental portraits seek to convey an idea about a person by combining portraiture with a sense of place.

Group Portraits

Group portraits are hard to do well, and the larger the group, the harder they are. It’s not easy to get a good, telling photograph of one person, and the problems are compounded exponentially with groups. We have all had the experience of trying to get the family or the ball team Exposure | Photography Magazine

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to pose for a picture. Just getting all of them arranged so you can see their faces is hard enough. Then, of course, you want an image where everyone looks good—no one’s eyes closed, no grimacing. Making group portraits takes imagination, patience, and diplomacy. Use your imagination. Find a way to relate the group to an environment that expresses something about what kind of group they are. Do it literally, humorously, dramatically, or by complete contrast. Get ideas from them.

Familiar Subjects

Our family members are the people we photograph most frequently. We record the momentous occasions and the occasional moments. Albums full of baby pictures, first steps, Little League games, Halloweens, Thanksgivings, and weddings mark our passage through time. These photographs are our memories made real and are probably the most important pictures we will ever make or have.

You should apply thought and technique just as rigorously, if not more so, to photographing your family as you do to any photo assignment. There is no better group on which to practice photography. No others will be so trusting or willing to indulge your ever present camera, your fumbling around with lights, and your mistakes. When you are photographing strangers, you either get the picture or you don’t. There is no going back to a fleeting moment. With your family, you can work on getting a similar moment again, and again, and again.

Hands and Other Details

The hands of a farmer, a pianist, a baker. The feet of a ballet dancer, a long distance runner, a place kicker. The belly of a pregnant woman, the bicep of a weight lifter. Hair caressing a pillow, fingers clutched in prayer, a peering eye.

The details of the human body make great photographic subjects, either as expressions of ideas or emotions, as graphic shots, or as a way to say something about an individual. Whenever you are photographing someone, try to think of details of their body or dress that would get your message across in an indirect way.

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Are there particular parts of their body or items of what they wear that are important to what they do for a living or a hobby? Does some part of them really stand out? Can you find a way to abstract what you want to say about the person by using one of these elements?

The point is to use your eyes and your imagination, whether you want to use detail and abstraction to say something about an individual or about the beauty of the human body. If you are making photographs of details of the human body, you will be working intimately with people and will have to direct them, tell them where to pose, and how.

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BetterPhoto Photography: Interview with Jim Zuckerman DENISE MIOTKE AND KERRY DRAGER

Like many of our BetterPhoto online photography class instructors, Jim Zuckerman is self taught. Jim is a book writer, photography teacher, photo workshop leader, and world traveller. Jim’s images are stunningly beautiful, filled with color and life. In this interview, he talks with us about he became a successful photographer.

You are a successful photographer and writer, but I know that your intended career was as a doctor. What compelled you to make the switch?

I fell in love with photography and had to do it. I couldn’t imagine medicine making me any happier than I was when I was taking pictures.

What sorts of steps did you take to learn photography?

Classes, workshops, books?

I am entirely self-taught. I read photo magazines and then I tried all the techniques I read about, mostly in the

special effects arena. This was decades before Photoshop, of course. I didn’t get seriously into nature and travel photography until I bought my first medium format camera in 1980.

When did you know

you finally “made it” as a professional?

There was never a moment in time when I considered myself successful as a professional. The realization that I was actually making a good living in photography gradually crept up on me over the course of many years.

Do you remember your first photography sale?

Yes. I sold a photo of a dog sled race taken at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The photo sold for $25 for the cover of Palm Springs Life Magazine, and it ran in the January 1971 issue.

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How did you get your first book deal?

My first book deal happened by getting in through the back door, so to speak. A long time friend of mine had a contract to write a book for Writers Digest Book and didn’t have time to work on it. He asked me if I’d like to co-author it, and I said yes.

I ended up writing the entire book and then it was canned because the publisher felt the market had changed for this particular subject. The editor at WDB had never seen my work, and when he did (he met with me because he felt so bad about canceling the book) he asked me what books l’d like to write. I gave him three ideas, and over the next 4 or 5 years I wrote all three of them for him.

What do you like MOST about your professional life?

What I like most about my work is that photography leads me to wonderful places, beautiful sights, and enriching experiences.

For example, in February I was photographing wild macaws and poison dart frogs in Costa Rica, in March I was shooting white horses charging through the surf in France, and this month I was amidst dozens of roseate spoonbills in a small boat in Tampa Bay, Florida. In June, I’ll be in Norfolk, Virginia photographing tall ships.

I’m never bored with my work. If I spend a week shooting nature, I love to come home and work in Photoshop to make visual magic that was impossible just a few years ago. It’s all still exciting to me after all these years.

What do you like

the LEAST about running your professional life?

What do I like least? ... hmmmm I don’t like how stock photography has changed. It feels like we photographers are getting squeezed out of the business. I don’t like photographers selling their work for one dollar or less. It cheapens our work and, in the long run, hurts everyone.

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Your career has spanned the transi-

tion from film to digital. What do you consider the biggest advantages of

on the fly is great, and the ability to manipulate our images in Photoshop is a dream come true for me.

shooting with a digital camera over a film camera?

The advantages of digital are enormous. The immediate feedback is invaluable in allowing us to immediate adjust exposure, and to show clients (or models) the photos on the spot.

Negotiating airports without worrying about x-rays is a huge benefit, and the savings in time and especially money in not paying for film and developing is incredible. I estimate than in the last two and half years since I went 100% digital I’ve saved about $50,000.

The latitude of exposure in Raw is fantastic, and the ability to shoot many images on a flash card (without changing film) has enabled me to miss fewer shots. Changing ISO

My first love in photography was special effects, and what we can now do is beyond what I could have ever conceived.

What quick advice do you have for

I did that in the 1970s when I saw a landscape book by David Muench. I realized his pictures were much better than mine, and I determined what the differences were. For example, he was shooting at sunrise and sunset, and I wasn’t. As soon as I started shooting in that kind of lighting, guess what?

My photography got a lot better.

someone who wants to improve his

At BetterPhoto, we often get ques-

The number one thing someone can do to immediately improve their skills is be an honest self-critic. If you can accurately assess your mistakes, then you can correct them the next time around. Also, compare your work with photographers that you admire.

Determine what the differences are between your work and theirs, and then go about addressing those differences.

come “Professional Photographers”.

or her photography skills?

tions from people who want to be-

What advice do you have for some-

one who says they want to pursue a

career in photography? Is there a key to making a name for yourself?

No, there is no key. Just a lot of persistence, trial and error, and hard work. You must become as good at marketing as you are in shooting.

Submit your work to every conceivable photo buyer you can think of, and then just don’t give up.

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