The Photographer: April/May 2019

Official Publication of the Texas Professional Photographers Association, Inc.

VOLUME 54- #3 Apr/May 2019

Magazine Editor

Bill Hedrick, M.Photog.Cr. 1506 E. Leach St. Kilgore, TX 75662 903-985-1080 Editor@ThePhotographerOnline.com

Executive Director

Steve Kozak, M.Photog.Cr 5323 Fig Tree Lane Grand Prairie, TX 75052 972-601-9070 Steve@tppa.org

Printing by

Complete Printing & Publishing 1501 W. Panola Carthage, TX 75633 800-964-9521 www.CompletePrinting.com

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ON THE COVER “Sacred Moment” was created by Francie Baltazar Stonestreet of Kingwood, Texas.

The image was taken on the wedding day using off-camera flash balanced with ambient light from camera left. Post production replaced the black chandelier with one captured from inside the venue to create more color harmony. The image scored 100 in SWPPA Image Competition in 2018 and won second place in the Grand Imaging Awards wedding category.

Francie is a Certified Professional Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, and Master Photographer. She entered her first image competition in 2010 and, since that time, has won numerous awards nationwide. She will also be teaching a course at the 2019 Texas School of Professional Photography.

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Positively Texas!

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TPPA Summerfest ‘19

A Message from TPPA President, Ross Benton

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June 30 - July 3 in Conroe, Texas by Steve Kozak

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Creative Jumpstarts

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Good Enough to Eat

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Texas School 2019

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Bill Weaks Obituary

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The RAID Myth

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Getting Started with Light Modifiers

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The Art of the Crop

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Challenges of Wildlife Photography

Embracing Success and Failure by Thom Rouse

Food Photographer’s Ultimate Compliment by Malinda Julien

April 28 - May 3 by Don Dickson

Texas Loses a Gentleman

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Advice for File Storage by Mark McCall

With and Without Baffles by Guy T. Phillips

In Fashion Photography by Steve Ellinger

Working with Shutter Speed and Aperture by Randy Dykstra

34 THE PHOTOGRAPHER is the official publication of the Texas Professional Photographers Association, Inc. Acceptance of advertising or publishing of press releases does not imply endorsement of any product or service by this association, publisher, or editor. Permission is granted to similar publications of the photographic industry to reprint contents of this publication, provided that the author and this publication are credited as the source. Articles, with or without photographs, are welcomed for review for inclusion. However, the editor reserves the right to refuse publication, or if accepted, the right to edit as necessary. For more information, visit www.ThePhotographerOnline.com. Send all communications, articles, or advertising to: THE PHOTOGRAPHER, 1506 E. Leach St., Kilgore, TX 75662. Phone (903) 985-1080, or Editor@ThePhotographerOnline.com.

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2019 TPPA Executive Council President Ross Benton l

Ross@StudioBenton.com

10828 Gulfdale St., San Antonio, TX 78216 (210) 804-1188

Vice-President Jenny Rhea Eisenhauer l

photographybyjennyrhea@hotmail.com

12218 Old Stage Trail, Austin, TX 78750 (512) 626-3309

Treasurer Cris Duncan

Positively Texas!

l

cjduncan@mac.com

2402 Slide Rd., Lubbock, TX 79407 (806) 781-2747

Secretary Doc List l

Doc@doclistphotography.com

6001 W. Parmer Ln., Austin, TX 78727 (512) 924-9248

Councilman-at-Large Teri Whittaker l

TeriW@teriwhittaker.com

5407 Girnigoe Dr., Houston, TX 77084 (713) 898-8017

Councilman-at-Large Robin Janson l

Robin@sockmonkeyphotography.com

227019 Sable Oaks Ln., Cypress, TX 77433 (281) 561-9816

Chairman of the Board Tammy Graham l

Tammy@locationsphotography.com

3300 Joyce Drive, Ft. Worth, TX 76116 (817) 300-0780

Executive Director Steve Kozak l

Steve@tppa.org

5323 Fig Tree Ln., Grand Prairie, TX 75052 (972) 601-9070

Texas School Director Don Dickson l

Don@DonDickson.com

1501 West 5th, Plainview, TX 79072 (806) 296-2276

Magazine Editor Bill Hedrick

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hat is the theme for this year’s TPPA Summerfest, June 30 - July 3 at La Toretta Lakeside Resort on Lake Conroe. This annual event has something for the entire family and features some of the finest program speakers, fun and entertainment, trade show, and a live, PPA style, image competition.

Photographic competitions provide an excellent learning opportunity for photographers to learn how to elevate the quality of their images through the insightful comments made by the judging panel. Everyone is invited to observe the entire process as the judges go through each image and make their evaluations.

Better than watching the competition is to actively participate in the process by entering your images. I promise, it is a whole lot more fun when you have “skin in the game.” Of course, we have a huge assortment of trophies, awards and ribbons up for grabs, but the real prize is in reaching out of your comfort zone and putting your work out there for feedback. Taking the tips and suggestions from the judges will help you take your images to a higher degree of artistry.

While many competitions have gone “all digital,” TPPA’s competition still judges physical prints in addition to the digital entries. There are a few competitors who only enter prints because they feel this gives them an edge.

They also enjoy having an actual image with that exciting gold seal on the corner.

The majority of competitors enter all digital images and we love that. But there is something about walking through the lobby of the convention center and seeing actual prints from the competition on display. We do show the digital entries on monitors, but there is something about standing face to face with a real photograph. I would like to challenge everyone who plans to enter the competition to consider submitting at least a couple of physical prints in addition to your digital entries.

l

Editor@ThePhotographerOnline.com

1506 E. Leach St., Kilgore, TX 75662 (903) 985-1080

PPA Councilors Brad Barton (Grand Prairie), Ross Benton (San Antonio), Cris Duncan (Lubbock), Jenny Rhea Eisenhauer (Austin), Tammy Graham (Fort Worth), Phaneendra Gudapati (Plano), Elizabeth Homan (San Antonio), Trey Homan (San Antonio), Robin Janson (Cypress), Mark McCall (Lubbock), Robert Norwood (Montgomery).

As a matter of fact, if you use client images in competition, consider entering a print and then gifting the print to the client! How cool would that be?

All the best,

Ross Benton TPPA President

To contact any of your PPA Councilors, you may obtain their phone numbers from the TPPA Membership Directory or visit the TPPA website at www.tppa.org Complete financial information on Texas Professional Photographers Association is available to any TPPA member by contacting Steve Kozak, Executive Director, 5323 Fig Tree Ln., Grand Prairie, TX 75052 Steve@tppa.org

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April/May 2019

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

If you are not a member of Texas PPA, this is my personal invitation to you to join!

Email Steve Kozak, TPPA Executive Director, at Steve@tppa.org or call 972-601-9070.

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“The Psychology of Color” KEN BOVAT

“Posing Strategies for Newborns” AURORA DELUCA

“The Making of Merit Images” PHYLLIS KUYKENDALL

“Creating & Selling Heirloom Portraits” KELLIE RANDOLPH

“Seniors With Style” LARRY LOURCEY

“Digital Marketing for Photographers” ASHLEY SIEGERT “Photography - Sales - Marketing: How to Have It All” RUDI, RACHAEL, and CLARK MARTEN

“Environmental Business Portraits” BRYAN WELSH

“The Artist Within” KIMBERLY SMITH “Image Competition Boot Camp” MARK MCCALL

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Summerfest is a Hit Here’s Why! La Torretta Resort and Spa This resort is a family vacation destination on Lake Conroe. It features an 18-hole golf course, 12,000 square foot spa, fitness center and an impressive water park. The Aqua Park is home to La Torretta Lake Resort’s multiple pools featuring an elegant heated upper pool with an infinity edge that cascades down into a 6,400 square foot Mediterranean pool. Other pools include the Breeze Buster pool, Lay-Z River™ Rapids and the Splash Scape pool with an in-water playground, and the Pollywogs pool for the youngest of water lovers. It offers the best way to beat the Texas heat.

Dining options include the Coco Cove Poolside Grill, the Yoi Sushi Bar and the Lakeside Restaurant and Bar, just to name a few! There is a piano bar, a coffee shop and the Energie Lounge.

Check out the many dining options at the La Torretta website: www.latorrettalakeresort.com.

The kids will be thoroughly entertained at the Aqua Park, but when it’s time for some dry fun away from the pool, the activity options read like a novel. There is an arcade, miniature golf, and movie nights by the pool. They will enjoy putt-putt, a teen hang-out with video games, making s’mores and other organized activities and games throughout the day led by the La Torretta staff.

Walk-Up Workshops l Swap Shop l Vendors Row On Sunday evening, we will gather in the Convention Center Lobby for our first Summerfest Swap Shop where you can buy, sell and trade your unused gear. We will provide tables at no charge for you to sell your stuff. We will also have a number of Walk-up Workshops where you can enjoy learning from others in a casual “come and go” format. In the meantime, be sure to visit Vendors Row and find fantastic deals on everything you need for photography.

Family Fish Fry on Monday!

After a hard day of water slides, golf, hanging out in the lazy river, going to the spa and learning photography, you and your family are going to need to find something fun to do! You and your family are invited to join us at McDade Park, just a short drive from the resort, for some amazing fried fish, cooked right on the spot by our own team of photographer-chefs. It all starts at 6:00 pm and, best of all, it is INCLUDED in your registration. There will also be plenty of things for kids to do as well, so make plans to be there.

TPPA Annual Photographic Awards Presentation Join us on Tuesday at 6:15 pm for an evening of surprises! We will begin with the children’s awards for the Kids Foto Kontest. Every kid who participates will be recognized and we will announce the winners from each category. The excitement continues as we announce and unveil the winners from the TPPA Annual Photographic Competition. Tickets to this event are included in your registration. Additional tickets are available for $35 (adults) and $22 (children).

Don’t forget... Every guest room at La Torretta is a suite! The room rate for TPPA Summerfest attendees is an unbelievable $115 per night. As an added bonus, if you book your room by June 7th, you will get your La Torretta Resort Fee (normally $30) ABSOLUTELY FREE with your stay at La Torretta! Don’t miss out on this huge money-saving offer. Register now and reserve your suite at www.TPPA.org/summerfest. Just staying in your suite is a vacation in itself.

Golf Anyone?

As you enter the La Torretta Resort property, you get your first glimpse of this beautiful golf course. We know you will delight in the beauty and the challenge of the course at La Torretta.

On Tuesday, around 8 am, the 26th Annual TPPA Golf Scramble tees off. If you have never played with this group, come on out and make new friends and see what all the fun is about. Registration for this event is $65.

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Image Competition Your Chance to Shine

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he purpose of the TPPA Image Competition is to allow photographers to enter photographic images to be judged against a Standard of Excellence and to assist the entrants in preparation for PPA District or International Photographic Competition. Those who enter are eligible for awards and TPPA points that apply toward the Associate Fellowship and Full Fellowship degrees within TPPA. Although the complete rules and entry forms can be found online at www.TPPA.org/Summerfest, here are some of the highlights.

Entrants may submit physical prints and/or digital images and digital album entries. All entries must be uploaded/registered at www. printcompetition.com. Click on “Free Registration of a New User” or simply log in if you already have an account. All images/albums must be named before uploading. You will then need to deliver your physical prints and/or album to the print room in the La Torretta Conference Center by 11am on Sunday, June 30th. Image sizes and other specifications for physical prints and albums will be posted in the official rules on the website.

Also be aware that the entrant’s name shall not appear anywhere in or on the face of the entry and no entry will be eligible that has been made under the supervision of an instructor or as a class assignment. In addition, no two entries shall be of the same subject, even if the subject is not a dominant subject in the image. Once an image has scored 80 or above, it cannot be entered again at the TPPA Summerfest Image Competition.

Register for Seminar, Your Room, & Print Competition at

www.TPPA.org/summerfest

TPPA is committed to creating excellence for TPPA members and has invested in an IPC caliber station for judging digital entries. This station includes three judging monitors, a dedicated computer and software to run the competition, and the ability to project images being judged onto a big screen for the audience to see.

Some new awards have been added to this year’s competition and new rules that allow you to enter more images than ever before. All of this and more can be found at www.printcompetition.com.

The annual image competition is a great learning experience for any photographer who wishes to excel at their craft. Watching the judging itself will provide you with a new insight that will boost your confidence and broaden your knowledge of image making. What you will discover is that others who have participated for years are more than happy to help you throughout the process. But you won’t learn it if you don’t participate and the best way to do that is to JUST DO IT!

Details at: www.TPPA.org/summerfest 10

with Mark McCall We want to take away the fear you may have of entering photographic images and get you prepared for competition and to see you earning those trophies and awards. TPPA believes that participating in the image competition process and earning those PPA degrees help improve your chances for success and sets you apart from the crowd. We want to see you succeed!

Image Competition Boot Camp runs Sunday, June 30th from 10 AM – Noon, continues from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Image Competition Boot Camp is FREE with your registration to Summerfest. Space is limited, so register early!

April/May 2019

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

“Let yourself go to the sense of being disconnected and meaningless. Let it wash over you a little bit before you come up gasping for air. Creativity is a fight against that insignificance. You have to remember that you’re insignificant, but also that you are potentially more significant than all the noise that’s being supplied to you at any moment.” - Questlove What this means from a practical point of view is: put down your cell phone, stay off the internet, and allow yourself to get bored. Allow yourself the opportunity to be bored by minimizing stimulation from all the sources of information we have available - and wait for the ideas to appear. Allow the ideas to come forth because you’re not immersing yourself in stimulation outside of your own precious creative mind.

Suddenly, a distraction from the outside will interact with your boredom and magic will happen.

BE WEIRD - We already know this, don’t we? Creative people are weird, right? Thompson cites a study from Shelly Carson, a Harvard psychologist, illustrating that when cognitive inhibition is lowered, we allow more information into our consciousness and allow more ideas to interact and recombine, resulting in creativity. One would think that concentration and focus means disallowing the irrelevant ideas to your project. But, apparently, the opposite is true. Let all ideas in and see how they play with each other... which is technically described as “cognitive disinhibition,” aka creativity. It is a characteristic of most creative people.

“If we’re always discarding our thoughts to fit in with what’s acceptable or correct or accurate, we’re not going to have ideas that leap away from the ideas that are already out there.” - Questlove

“We do not long remember those artists who followed the rules more diligently than anyone else. We remember those who made the art from which the “rules” inevitably follow.” David Bayles and Ted Orland, “Art and Fear.”

by

Think of all the stupid ideas that have come to pass: Bottled water (really?), an app that allows strangers to stay in your home (AIRBNB... Are you kidding?), or a Broadway musical about one of our nations founding fathers (by the way, Questlove was one of the producers for Hamilton).

Thom Rouse

Texas School Instructor

EMBRACE FAILURE - David Bowie said that creativity is one of the few human endeavors where you can crash your plane and walk away from it.

Yes, it’s depressing to fail. It hurts. It can rip your heart out. But your heart will grow back. Failure defines success! It is essential to creativity.

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ith the abundance of image-making technology and the vast resources of equipment and software available to us, we can do anything we can imagine, anything! That said, the crux of the biscuit is: What can we imagine and how can we propel our individual, one of a kind, imaginations? In other words, how can we be creative? Here are just a few thoughts, quotes, and references on the subject.

FAILURE IS NOT FATAL - “For starters, it can be a motivator. Smooth sailing isn’t always the best way to convince yourself to put your nose back to the grindstone. Struggle and frustration and fear can be great tools for learning to focus and recharge yourself.” Ahmir Thompson

I recently read a book by Ahmir Thompson, AKA Questlove, the co-leader and drummer of the Roots, now serving as the house band of the Tonight Show. It is one of the best, if not “the” best book I’ve read on creativity. The man is brilliant! What makes it so useful is that it doesn’t promote a single formula for creativity, but a number of wide-ranging techniques he has discovered in his own creative life and the creative lives of many others he has collaborated with or spoken to including Bjork, Neil deGrasse Tyson, David Lynch, Prince, and Usher, among many others. The Rolling Stone critic, Robert Christgau, said of Questlove, “You have to bear in mind that he’s one of the smartest (expletive deleted) on the planet!” The following are a few takeaways from the book “Creative Quest.”

(Questlove) “The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars. One of the basic and difficult lessons every artist must learn is that even the failed pieces are essential. The point is that you learn how to make your work by making your work, and a great many of the pieces you make along the way will never stand out as finished art.” David Bayles and Ted Orland - Art and Fear

BOREDOM - “When the distraction shifts into boredom, that’s the seed of something creative.” Many have cited boredom as being important to creativity and many have cited distraction as being important to creativity; and controlled scientific studies have verified both.

But Questlove’s book is the first time I’ve read anyone suggesting that the junction of the two was an important source of creativity.

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BE A TOURIST IN OTHER PERSPECTIVES - “Allow unexpected influences to shift your ideas. You can always come back to your own convictions if they’re real. But be a tourist in other perspectives.” Questlove I think this quote implies a variety of possibilities for enhancing creativity.

But there are some obvious ones for those of us engaged in image making.

A wedding photographer might hang out with a sports photographer, a landscape photographer might try some architectural images, a portrait artist with a commercial photographer, etc. I recently spent a week with photographer friends at Acadia National Park in Maine. I am not a landscape photographer, but I found that hanging with others who were and just getting out and witnessing the extraordinary natural beauty of coastal Maine was tremendously inspiring. I see differently for having been a tourist in another perspective. I created a number of landscape pieces and I know that the experience will and already has contributed to my fine art conceptual work.

CURATE YOUR INFLUENCES - Curating our ideas and inspiration is a daunting task. We are inundated with exposure to more images (more great images) than ever before. The internet and attendant social media provide access to more images than we can possibly appreciate. I personally want to see everything out there. I have a nagging fear of missing out (FOMO), a concern that I’ll miss the image that will provide the inspiration for a quantum leap in my work. But I also know that I experience image fatigue.

When visiting a museum, I typically have a two hour span when I can move among images and maintain a concentration on and full appreciation of each.

At some point however, I begin to experience sensory overload. I’ve seen too much and my ability to fully experience each image begins to fade. I have always strongly recommended that image makers expose themselves to art and images. However, curate your exposure to images that are important to you currently. Distinguish between what truly inspires you and what is nearly entertaining JUST GET TO WORK - One of the biggest impediments to creativity is simply the failure to get started. As we stare at the screen or through the lens, we tend to wait on inspiration to strike. If we simply wait long enough, nothing will happen. Often, the most creative technique available to us is to just get to work. The creativity will follow. Creativity is in the work. When we get to work, the image begins to tell us what it needs. “Inspiration Is for Amateurs. The Rest of Us Just Show Up and Get to Work.” - Chuck Close.

The artwork’s potential is never higher than in that magic moment when the first brush stroke is applied, the first chord struck. Art is like beginning a sentence before you know its ending. Creativity is a complex subject for a short article. If you’re interested on reading more there are many books on creativity. These are three of my favorites.

Creative Quest by Questlove Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland The Artist’s Way: 25th Anniversary Edition: Julia Cameron

Thom Rouse, a Texas School ‘19 instructor, began his career as a portrait and wedding photographer in 1994. Based near Chicago, he now divides his time between commercial, fine art and commissioned fine art images with his clients as the central subject of his pieces. His conceptual fine art images utilize real world photographs, blended and manipulated to create an alternative to real world perception.

Thom also lectures and teaches workshops on topics ranging from Photoshop as an artist’s tool, visual literacy and lighting and posing for figure studies.

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The set-up is very simple: a C-stand with a background forming a sweep from slightly behind and across the table, one strobe with a small softbox with a grid set slightly below the table camera left and pointed up and across at about 30º allowing the edges of the box to light the dish.

The camera is on a camera stand centered before the table, with one shot using the 100mm macro and the other two using the 24-70mm (Note on the lens: turn off image stabilization and auto-focus. Leaving these on will cause lack of sharpness. A remote shutter release is essential). Reflector board is hand-held, directly opposite of the softbox, and as close to the subject as possible.

Camera settings: ISO is at 100 on all shots. I keep the ISO as low as possible, and always shoot on a tripod for maximum sharpness. The exposure is bracketed as I may use a shadowed image over a highlight image in post to bring in some edges or darker areas. I bracket 1/3 (plusminus). The camera is set for 1/160 at f5. The strobe is set on 1/32 power with a Kelvin setting of 5600.

I have chosen a plate with harmonious colors (but not competing), a soft good (napkin), and some older utensils that have been sprayed with matte finish spray. In addition, there is some torn Italian bread, a wedge of Parmesan cheese, a hand grater, and a bottle of olive oil on hand which may or may not be used.

The food will not be added until the table is staged and different props are added, modified, or deleted. The 12 elements to a merit print are constantly running through the back of my mind. This helps with remembering impact, composition, and story telling.

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he point of food photography is to create a desire to eat that particular food. Chefs around the world create dishes with this artistic vision in mind.

Food is not only sustenance; it is also beautiful and creates desire. Creating that desire photographically means we must recreate an experience, an emotion, and definitely a craving. We can’t use smell, touch, or taste... only vision. The vision has to carry the mind to connect the other senses.

The greens need to be fresh and green and are therefore kept in ice cold water until the shoot to keep them peppy looking. Then, they are slightly dried before being placed on the plate to avoid excess water. Placing the right shapes and variations of greens is done only around the edges of the plate, as more will be added later where needed.

The recipe for such a delicious photograph includes angle, lighting, camera settings, lens choice, and styling, with a helping of love and a little pinch of know-how. Creating these images is just following a recipe. What are you cooking? What ingredients do you need? What type of vessel to cook in? What dish to present? Mood? Styling?

The pasta has to be tall to show off the noodles, allow the greens to show and the sauce to drip in just the right places. All the food used in this shot is real and edible, with minimal food dressing. Everything is shot at room temperature.

The first step begins at the drawing board, literally. A sketch of what I am looking for includes the concept of the final image. Next, the props are chosen, including plates, soft goods, background, utensils, and support food and props. The next consideration is the viewing angle. There are three basic angles: Top Down (or Lay Flat), Into (or Elevation), or Point of View (as seen by the diner as he/she is seated at a table). For this demonstration, we will use an Elevation (or Into) shot to show off the layers of greens, pasta, sauce, and toppings.

In order to keep the pasta tall, it is cooked to al dente’ and allowed to cool, creating a sticky feel from the starches on each strand. It is easier to put in a place and have it stay. A small inverted bowl is set in the center and the pasta in place in a conical shape.

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The sauce is cooled so it is slightly thickened but still warm enough to place and have it stay. Syringes of sauces are used to place drips where we want. If the sauce is not added slowly and built up, it can be too much and then we’d have to begin plating again.

Individual vegetables are placed around and on the sauce. It is important to have each ingredient show. This way, the dish is described in both words and photographs. I photograph each progression of the dish to keep it in case it is needed for an overlay or a different layer in postproduction.

Now, the image is coming together and we look to the addition of the olive oil drizzled for extra shine and color with the final addition of the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I photograph continually during each pour of the olive oil and addition of the cheese. This aids in later editing, as oil dripping and cheese grating are not always a perfect science. Offset tweezers are often used to move small curls of the cheese to create eye movement and will syringe in some olive oil in exactly the right place.

Once I am happy with the way the shot is coming up on the laptop and check for sharpness, I move the lights slightly and the camera angles to ensure that a spectacular vision from a different perspective is not missed.

The lenses are also changed from 100mm f2.8L macro to 24-70mm f2.8L for wider shots. Shooting this photograph Top Down would not have been necessary as the height of the dish would have disappeared and the tiny details of the spaghetti would have been lost. From start to finish, this shoot is about 2 to 3 hours, not including the cooking of the recipe.

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Photographing food is absolutely my passion. My husband and I owned a restaurant and nightclub and we love sharing our love of food with everyone! Photographing food not only makes us a living, it makes us complete.

Malinda M Julien, CPP, is a second generation professional photographer from Fort Worth, Texas. Photography has always been a part of her life and her entire family now works at their studio. Julien & Lambert Photographic Services is a commercial photography company specializing in architecture, fashion, editorial work, industrial, products, and food photography. She attended the University of Texas at Arlington and says she is a “constant student of all things photography.”

Learn more about this incredible family at www.

JulienLambertPhoto. com.

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Bree Adams

Ross Benton

Doug Box

Gary Box

Ana Brandt

William Branson III

Alison Carlino

Carl Caylor

Bry Cox

Jim Cunningham

Bob Davis

Kristi Elias

Steve Ellinger

Kay Eskridge

Joel Grimes

Jeff Gump

John Hartman

Elizabeth Homan

Steve Kozak

Don MacGregor

Dave Montizambert

Sandra Pearce

Guy T. Phillips

Thom Rouse

Kimberly Smith

Craig Stidham

Richard Sturdevant

Ethan Tweedie

Mitch Daniels

Steve Watson

Jason Ulsrud

Chris Smith & Francie Stonestreet

Jamie Hayes & Mary Fisk-Taylor

Gregory & Lesa Daniel

Gary & Kathryn Meek

Rob Hull & Tony Corbell

John Wilson

April/May 2019

Cris & Deanna Duncan

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A

great photographer and friend, Bill S. Weaks, passed away peacefully at home on February 17, 2019 surrounded by his loved ones at the age of 91. Bill was born on January 2, 1928 in Silverton, Texas, and graduated from Plainview High School in 1945 where he played football and became interested in photography. He attended West Texas State College, where he met his first wife Wanda Davis (deceased) in 1949. They earned their Bachelor of Science degrees in 1951 and their master’s degrees from the University of Houston.

In 1955, Bill opened his photography studio and maintained it for nearly sixty years. He taught seminars in over forty states, Mexico, Canada, and England. He also taught over forty portrait, wedding, and commercial courses at the Winona International School of Photography as well as the Georgia Winona School, the Triangle Pennsylvania Institute, the Mid-America Institute, the North Carolina School of Photography, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Texas School of Photography. Weaks also served on the faculties of Amarillo College, Texas Tech University, and Wayland University.

As a photographic judge, Bill served all over the United States and internationally. For over forty years, he was one of 15 jury chairmen who enforced national judging rules for the Professional Photographers of America. He held a Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman designation and accumulated over 1000 service merit awards from the PPA during his lifetime. Bill was honored with an Associate Fellowship by the American Society of Photographers, a fellowship by the Texas Professional Photographers Association, and received the PPA National Award in 1994 for meritorious service and contributions to the Texas PPA and the Southwest Professional Photographers Association. He was a past president of the Texas PPA and the SWPPA. Bill’s clients included Jimmy Dean (a lifelong friend), Jimmy Dean Sausage, Geigy Chemical, John Deere, Pioneer International, Cargill, Dow Chemical, WalMart, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and many advertising agencies. He sold over thirty photographs to Eastman Kodak for use in their national advertising campaigns and had an invitational exhibit of photographs at the Kodak Gallery in New York City. He also had photographs exhibited at the International Photography Hall of Fame and had the privilege of photographing President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and General Douglas MacArthur. Bill was especially sought out for wedding photography and portraits and was well known for his breathtaking images of life in Texas and West Texas cattle ranches.

As an inventor, Bill received a patent for the Weaks Polaflector in the 1970’s, a system for polarizing light to aid in restoring photographs. In 2014, Bill’s work was honored and displayed at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University. Many of his photographs are now a permanent part of that collection.

Those of us who had the great privilege of knowing Bill Weaks will always remember his genuine smile, his easy-going manners, and his knowledge of photography. He was a mentor to many and a friend to countless others and will be truly missed.

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by

Mark McCall

M. Photog. M. Artist, Cr., CPP

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ile storage is the 2nd most important item in any photography operation after your camera. Having a dependable storage plan is critical to all photography based businesses and should be thought out carefully. Fortunately, it’s not as expensive or tedious as we tend to make it. I remember taking apart my first computer, an Intel 286 running Windows 2.1x, about 1986. I remember thinking, “Wow, 20 MB of storage. I’ll never need another hard drive.” Today, that wouldn’t even be enough space to store a single image from my camera.

I worked in newsprint back in the early ‘90’s. We were already archiving the daily newspaper on magnetic Colorado Tape Drives which resembled huge 8 track tapes and held only 250 MB. We were just beginning to use electronic pagination in those days, slowly migrating the newspaper to digital production which required a storage system. Tape drives were the way to go in the early days of technology. However, the downside to magnetic tapes is that they weren’t stable. They were sensitive to changes in ambient temperature and could fail over time simply from age. Think of them as an oversized music cassette tape popular in the 80’s. This was very early technology.

In the mid 90’s, we began to migrate to Zip drives which could go as high as 750 MB. They were square, plastic drives that could be written or accessed with a reader that plugged into individual computers or a network. Zip never achieved the popularity of CD’s for storage due to cost.

Eventually, CD’s became the storage media of choice due to cost. Whatever we used, “back up” was the name of the game.

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Nowadays, we not only require massive amounts of storage space for your digital images, but a quick and easy way to get to those images later on. RAID systems had been in development for a number of years starting in the 70’s but didn’t get worldwide acceptance until the 90’s. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or independent) Drives.

Oddly enough, redundancy wasn’t the reason RAIDS were being developed. the reason was speed. Engineers figured out that information could be retrieved quicker if spread across multiple drives. Redundancy was later engineered in through RAID levels.

RAIDS consist of a stack of hard drives that store images on one of two levels: (1) RAID 0 - Mirroring, or placing the images on more than one drive at the same time. (2) RAID 1 - Striping, or placing part of an image on one drive, then part on another drive. There are many other levels but we are listing the two in the interest of simplicity. We’re also not mentioning SSD drives. This is merely platter style hard drives.

The upside to RAIDS is that it offers a Mark’s preference of off-the-shelf, USB or Firewire, powered external drives for file storage. centralized place to put your images for quick retrieval, and minimal maintenance. Space is usually massive which means they can run for years without new drives being added or swapped out. Another advantage work on extremely large PSD’s from external drives as well as doing batch is that they offer redundancy, if configured correctly, and are supposed to Photoshop work from these drives. be able to repopulate themselves if a striped drive fails (I’ve heard success and failure stories).

The larger the drive, the longer it takes to fill them up, the higher the propensity for failure. So get the smallest capacity you can find. It’s still But here is where the real danger of RAIDS lies. Hard drives, the central a cheaper, more secure option than a RAID. When the drive is about 90% component in RAIDS, fail from either heat or use. The heat comes from full, shut it down. Buy another. Put a sticker on the drive stating the months use, so the very act of using the RAID is what destroys it. Every day that that are on it. Power it up only when seeking a file. This keeps the mileage goes by, the propensity for failure goes up. With RAIDS, that’s a lot of off the drive, which is what would have eventually killed it. days.

With this system you’re not powering up the drives that contain the wedding from 3 years ago, to back up a senior session today. Simple. I have In all fairness, this applies to all hard drives. But RAIDS have the dubious every digital image I’ve ever captured since 2000. And can get to it in 5 honor of being marketed, sold and used as a catch all “use me every day minutes or less without a catalog or spreadsheet. That includes client work, forever” concept. This is bad. At what point in your car’s history do you print competition and family images. stop having faith in its reliability? I’ll bet it’s not after 1 or 2 years. No, it’s at year 5, 6, or 7. The same thing goes for RAIDS or anything else with A few tips that will help with file security... moving parts. The longer it’s used, the higher the propensity for failure.

1. Quarantine memory cards until after the job is delivered to the client.

When backing up to a RAID today, you’re spinning up the same set of 2. Unplug drives from workstation at night (even if auto-shutdown). disks that contains that wedding from 2 or 3 years ago. The disks spun up 3. Have a second or even a third place for your images besides an every time you copied to them. external hard drive or RAID. CD, DVD or cloud storage. Medium doesn’t matter as much as simply having a place for them.

A dear friend of mine suffered a RAID failure. I’d warned him about the 4. File your images chronologically rather than by type. File by

danger many times, but he was convinced it was the most secure system he January, February instead of by Wedding, Portrait, etc. could buy. The manufacturer of the device had a great reputation. Not only was he unable to retrieve any data from any of the 5 discs in the RAID, the manufacturer was unable to retrieve them as well. Five years of weddings, portraits, senior session right down the drain. Not one image came off that failed RAID. Mark McCall is a Master So what options do we have as photographers? What’s available that is Photographer, Photographic more secure?

Craftsman, and Photographic Artist from Lubbock, Texas. He is a Past My procedure is simple. I’ve always recommended off-the-shelf, USB President of the Texas Professional or Firewire, powered (having an external power cord) external drives, Photographers Association and in the lowest capacity I can find. In my opinion, external drives offer the recipient of the National Award from lowest cost vs. benefit per mb. However, it’s getting harder and harder Texas, among other honors. He will to find drives smaller than 3 TB, although I prefer the 2 TB or smaller. once again be teaching the Print You’ll give up a bit of read/write speed with the plug and play drive, but Competition Boot Camp at TPPA not enough for it to be a problem. You might not even notice. I regularly Summerfest ‘19.

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#1

DON’T BE BAFFLED BY ALL OF THE DIFFUSION A Quick Look at Using a Light Modifier With and Without Baffles and Diffusers

With Baffle but No Diffuser Notice how the shadows along crayons and Sharpie® have softened. Shadows are also softer on Blickman’s face.

First image – no baffle or diffuser Taking a look from left-to right, in the first image and you’ll see hard shadows beneath each crayon and below the tip of the Sharpie®. Looking at Blickman, you can see a very distinct shadow from each edge of his face and hips. Blickman also casts a strongly defined shadow onto the Styrofoam® ball, as does the ball onto the drawing paper.

Guy T. Phillips

Texas School Instructor

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ost softboxes come with at least one baffle, diffuser, or in some cases, both. So why use them? To illustrate the effect accurately, we’ll use the same exposure in each image; ISO 400, 1/125, f13. The light 90° left of camera is using a 36 inch Westcott Rapid Box Switch Octa-M, metered to f11. The fill light behind the camera is using a 32-inch Westcott Convertible Umbrella - Optical White Satin with Removable Black Cover, metered to f5.6. The camera and lights have been kept in the same position for each image. Our model is from the new CPP Technical Evaluation Kit. Let’s call him “Blickman.”

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No Baffle or Diffuser Notice hard shadows beneath each crayon and Sharpie® and Blickman casts a strong shadow.

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Second image – baffle, but still no diffuser Let’s place the Inner Baffle within the Rapid Box Switch. For this model of modifier, the Inner Baffle is attached using the elastic tabs and snaps to secure. We’ll need to re-meter, since the baffle density is rated by the manufacturer at 1-stop. Note that I’ve metered from just above Blickman’s head, and the exposure remains the same, yet look at how dramatically the shadows along the crayons and Sharpie® have softened! The shadows are also softer as you look across the Blickman’s face and hips, as is his shadow onto the ball and paper.

Thinking about the clients you serve and how you choose to create an image, which look would be more suitable? You may need or prefer the hard lines from image 1, or your subject may require the appeal of the softer effect in image 2.

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#3

With Baffle and Diffuser Notice how the soft shadows across Blickman’s face and hips and how faint the shadows are across the crayons, etc.

Third image – baffle and diffuser Not all mofiers will need or have both an inner baffle and an outer diffuser. For example, the inner baffle is not included with Westcott’s Octa-S or Strip 1x2. But let’s see if using both a baffle and a diffuser makes a difference. We’ll need to re-meter again, with the diffuser density rated at 1-stop (2-stops total when used with the inner baffle). In image 3, metering was once again taken from just above Blickman’s head.

Do you notice how the soft the shadows are across his face and hips, how the shadows are faint across the crayons, ball and paper? Have you noticed the progression of the background has changed over each of the three images? What did you notice about the hot spots on Blickman’s right forehead and shoulder?

Just as before, consider the look your clients need and deserve. As you gradually soften the shadows, do you gradually increase their satisfaction?

We owe it to our customers to provide them with creative work that uses the necessary tools to set that work apart from the ordinary. Try it yourself and see what a difference it can make.

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Steve Ellinger

Texas School Instructor

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ne of the things that always amazes me is the enormous volume of information available on the internet on any topic imaginable. Photography is no exception, and a random query on any photography related subject yields a massive source of information. But is the information good, accurate, or reliable? There is a popular saying that Abraham Lincoln stated: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” Well, in this case he was right!

Advice on the “right” way to crop photos is, shall I dare say, mostly wrong and outdated. That’s blasphemous, say the self-proclaimed experts who follow the rules and eat Wonderbread.

Most of you know me and my writings and know that I shoot fashion and agency testing exclusively. Nothing else. And in MY genre of photography, the bland, boring, Wonderbread style of photography that is typically taught will get my work rejected, round filed, or placed in the black hole of the delete folder. Nothing helps convey a final product like the PROPER crop.

We have all heard the instructors or read the articles that state: don’t cut off limbs, don’t give the subject a crop haircut, crop at eye level, crop in camera, use the rule-of-thirds, use the golden ratio, don’t center the subject, tell a story, crop consistently, and on and on. Ok, I’m going to say it now, BAD ADVICE! That is unless you are doing the “line them up like cattle and press the shutter, one after another, and another, and another.” Enjoying that slice of Wonderbread?

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model as the main subject to potential clients for ad campaigns, etc., to see if the client likes the models overall look. This is done by showcasing the model’s strongest attributes, such as face, legs, eyes, or whatever is the strong point, and adding dynamics to the pose with movement, etc.

Models need to be able to move fluidly, and I need to show that even in a still photograph. In promoting the model, I do not want a busy background, no clutter, mottled backgrounds, no fake bookshelves (i.e. as in the unlevel Olan Mills backgrounds I still see), and certainly no distractions like smoke or obviously cheesy effects.

Pure and simple is what you need. Mind on the model, folks. It is amusing to see the amount of clutter and distractions on social media by well-trained photographers who clearly know how to technically take the picture with perfect PPA lighting, etc., but fail miserably in background and crop. The photographer only sees the technical aspects of the photo, the model only sees herself, and the stylist only sees the fashion she designed or created.

A good fashion and agency testing photographer must see everything and successfully conduct the orchestra of visual effect.

By now you are thinking, “I only do senior photos and weddings, so none of that applies.” My clients prefer what they always see.” Let me suggest that if you take your already excellent technical skills as a photographer (and I gather that if you are reading this publication, your skills ARE excellent), apply the proper creativity and purpose, and think like an artist and designer, even YOUR type of photography can jump to the next level!

Steve Ellinger, CPP is a fashion and agency testing photographer, speaker, educator, and practicing architect in Abilene, Texas. Steve will be teaching his class: “The Fashionable Side of Photography,” at the Texas School of Professional Photography in April.

Seldom is the reason WHY we crop taught. Let’s take cropping to a much more professional level. In my line of photography, the crop outcome and technique is used to typically do one of two things, promote the model, or promote the fashion. It’s best not to confuse the two, and as a photographer knowing how to do that is critical. Fashion should not be boring, and neither should the images be that are used to sell the fashion.

Style, creativity, proportion, scale, line, texture, symmetry, etc., are just a few of the design elements that the fashion AND the photography thereof should contain.

Let’s look at how a proper fashion photo should be cropped. As is with most everything, psychology plays a part in what we do, and why.

Properly cropped, a fashion photograph will draw one’s eye and emotion to the ward, or whatever fashion items is being promoted. Do this by cropping very tightly TO THE ITEM BEING SHOWN. It is not to feature the model, or the background, or the nice rock out-cropping or whatever. I am still to this day, “reminded” by well-meaning PPA experts that “Ellinger, you cut the tops of their heads off too much, or you cropped too tightly, or leave some real estate around your subject.” With all due respect, that is fine for weddings and senior pictures, but fashion is a very different ball game, practiced by few, and frankly those rules are just wrong. A very tight crop (yes, even giving the subject a haircut) draws the eyes and emotions to the fashion being presented. An off-center crop adds the dynamics that fashion design needs. The rule-of-thirds? How about the “rule-of-sixty fourths”? Why not? We are supposed to be artists.

THINK like an artist with the camera!

The second approach in fashion and agency testing is cropping and composing to promote the model and is less about what she is wearing.

Often agencies use simple comp-card images that primarily show the

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We obviously cannot expect to photograph polar bears in south Texas, or lions in Alaska. You have to do the research to place yourself in position to see something awesome. As Nat Geo Photographer Jim Richardson once said, “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.”

Let’s start with the camera preparation. The best photographers spend 90% or more of their preparation time on getting “there” and getting the story. But that’s because they’ve perfected their craft to a point where controlling their camera is second nature. Your camera is a tool, or an instrument that you must master. A concert pianist doesn’t simply “go” and set the piano to “auto.”

They master their instrument by learning the tonal scale and chords and then practicing until they can produce a masterpiece.

The same goes for your camera. You must learn how to use all its features and how it interacts with the surroundings. The more you use it the more it becomes second nature. As much as I know about this profession, I’m constantly learning more and alternate ways of doing things.

The Exposure Triangle - Understanding what each of the controls of an Exposure Triangle does in a selected environment is crucial for success. Then, understanding how our camera meters light is central to understanding how to manipulate those controls. Let’s talk about the aspects of each control in regards to wildlife photography.

First, let’s look at shutter speed or “exposure duration.” Shutter speed is needed to control movement. It can be used to freeze a scene or to blur it, implying to the viewer the sense of motion.

For most wildlife photos, you typically want to get your subject (or at least its face and eyes) tack sharp. Accomplishing that depends on the scene. Your first consideration is… “Is the animal moving?” Let’s take the simplest case where the animal is primarily stationary or at least stopping still for moments at a time. This could be as easy as just setting up shutter priory mode and dialing in a value. But what value? Being outside, the environment is ever changing. The sun could be coming in and out of clouds making the lighting look like a roller coaster. The animal may be near trees or other objects that create shadows. More than likely, the animal is a bit away from you so you are having to use telephoto lens. All these factors should go through your thought process “before” you find a 2000 pound bison staring you down.

by Randy Dykstra

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veryone has seen the shows, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Nature, Planet Earth and many more. Who cannot hear Marlin Perkins’ or David Aattenboruogh’s voice and not think of wonderful scenes of wild animals. People are amazed at nature photos found in publications like National Geographic. The world of animals entices a myriad of photographers. But what does it take to get great wildlife photos?

Being a nature and wildlife photographer, I’ve often been asked that question and my best answer may be to recite a quote first attributed to Arthur Fellig. “F8 and be there.” Although many have their own interpretations of this, mine is not in the literal sense. To me, it means “being prepared for your work ahead.” When a wildlife moment occurs, you can’t be fiddling with your camera controls re-adjusting them for the perfect exposure.

You must be prepared ahead of time for the scene you are anticipating. Then, you must put yourself in a position to encounter the scene.

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speed should be 1/200 sec or faster. Now, let’s add in adrenaline at seeing a remarkable scene and the knowledge you may just be bringing home the next Nat Geo cover. All of these factors, for me, will cause me to double the focal length value before finding the reciprocal, thus the above situation now requires 1/400 sec or faster. But what happens the moment the animal decides it’s tired of your posing instructions? You have to deal with motion.

Consider for our purposes in keeping an image sharp, that motion is relative to the movement the light is moved across your sensor. Each point of light will create a tiny circle of light on your sensor and, depending on the focus point, the circle may be small and crisp or larger and moving.

With that said, wildlife photographers often hand-hold their camera system just for the convenience of moving it around at a moment’s notice.

Most seasoned photographers have heard of the hand holding reciprocal of Focal length guideline: Your minimum/slowest shutter speed should be no more than 1/focal length in mm. If you have 200mm lens, the shutter THE PHOTOGRAPHER

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To have the sharpest image, you want to minimize the motion so a single point of light is contained within a single pixel. If a longer duration is allowed, the movement smears the point of light over adjacent pixels, causing blurring. Several factors change the relative motion: 1. The closer the object is to the camera, the faster its image moves across the sensor. This requires a faster shutter speed to freeze the action.

As a guideline, as an object’s distance away from the camera doubles, you can decrease your shutter speed by a stop and vice versa.

2. The Focal length of your lens affects relative motion. A longer focal length means a smaller “Field of View,” meaning an object does not need to travel as far to move across the full frame. This translates into faster motion on the sensor. As a guideline, if you double the focal length, you must double your shutter speed to maintain relative detail.

3. Pixel density reduces the distance the point of light can travel before blurring to an adjacent pixel. Total megapixels is not a factor but the density into which they are packed is a factor. Most crop sensors, 20 MP or greater, have higher densities than 36-50 MP full-frame sensors.

All crop sensors over 20 MP and full-frame sensors over 40 MP are currently considered high density. There is no true guideline for this, since sensors are so different. Just remember that high density sensors require a faster shutter speed to maintain same relative level of blurring (or non-blurring). However, the resolution increase more than makes up for this drawback.

With all these factors considered, here are some guidelines for starting points for your initial shutter speed setting for moving objects with a 300mm lens. Remember, these are NOT hard and fast settings and that you should test and adjust to get the best sharpness for the current environment and conditions you are photographing.

Animals walking = 1/800; Animals running = 1/1250; Birds in flight = 1/2000; Fast erratic flight =1/3200 Each of these are then adjusted for the above-mentioned conditions.

Remember it’s always better to start off a little faster than needed and slow down than the other way and miss shots due to motion blur. However, this has to be balanced with the other controls as we will discuss later on.

With experience, you will be able to accurately gauge your starting point.

All this said, that magical moment when wildlife occurs in a blink of an eye, you really don’t have time to adjust and test before the moment is gone. You have to do your homework and practice and ingrain settings into your brain, and have them prepared and set prior to the euphoric moment happening.

The other side of the coin is Aperture. All but the very beginner of photographers know that aperture is a way of changing the amount of light that goes through our lens. Apertures are indicated by f-stops and that number is actually in the denominator of a fraction (1/number) and so it seems as if the numbers are backwards. Large apertures are f2, f2.8, f4, while small apertures are f16, f18, f22.

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Aperture and shutter speed have a reciprocity relationship. In order to maintain the same exposure, if you increase shutter speed (make the duration shorter) you have to “open” up the aperture (make the hole larger to allow more light through the lens). A by-product of opening and closing the aperture is that (optically) this changes how much of an area is in acceptable focus. This area is known as “Depth of Field” (DOF).

Aperture is the main component in changing DOF. Controlling DOF helps us create isolation or not. The larger apertures (f2, f2.8, f4) are sometimes called “isolation exposures” because they create a narrow DOF which can be used to “isolate” your subject from the foreground and background.

The small apertures (f16, f22) have been called “story telling exposures” since they provide a large DOF and all of the environment is in focus showing you the whole story. Then there are the middle apertures which well-known photographer Bryan Peterson refers to “Who Cares” because using these typically means DOF is not a major concern.

DOF is one of the most often misunderstood terms in photography. Many people mistakenly think DOF refers to the quality of the background or what is called “Bokeh.” DOF is the area of acceptable focus on either side of the focus plane. While aperture is the main control of DOF, there are other aspects which change DOF. The focal length of your lens affects DOF. The longer the focal length the less depth of field you have. Distance to your subject is also a concern. The closer your subject is to your lens the shallower the DOF. All of these factors need to be considered when making an exposure decision.

The problem comes about in the reciprocity relationship. We already discussed that typically we want a fast shutter speed to freeze motion and prevent any blur, which means we need more light through our lens with a larger aperture. That results in reduced DOF. We also want to try to fill the frame with the subject. Filling the frame means either moving closer or getting a larger focal length lens, both of which reduces our DOF. For example, a 200mm lens at f6.3 has almost 30 feet of DOF at 100 feet distance but only a little over 7 feet DOF at 50 feet. Get a larger focal length 500mm lens at the same f6.3 at 100 feet the DOF is about 4.5 feet.

Move in closer to 50 feet and DOF is barely more than one foot.

Typically, we want to have a relatively large DOF... enough to keep most of the animals in focus... and so far all we’ve done is reduce the DOF. This is where the balancing act comes in setting up an optimal exposure with acceptable DOF. I like to look at my subject and see how big it is and what environment is surrounding it. If the environment is not distracting or, better yet, helping to tell the story, I’ll tend towards a deeper DOF. If, however, the background is busy and distracting, I’ll tend to use a shallow DOF but enough to focus the majority of the subject. So, if you want a fast shutter speed and a storytelling aperture, you had better hope for a lot of light. All this and we aren’t even going to discuss diffraction yet.

But “wait,” you say, “there are three sides to a triangle.” That is correct.

ISO is the third leg. ISO started out as a standardization of the sensitivity of emulsion based film. With the introduction of digital sensors, it became a standardized scale for measuring sensitivity to light. Stay tuned and we will discuss this and more in a future article. continued page 38 April/May 2019

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ISO is the third part of the triangle. As shutter speed is increased, the amount of light recorded on the sensor goes down.

Increasing the ISO will offset this but with other considerations to be explored in the next article.

role as tour guide and mentor, Randy also specializes in the post processing side of photography, via his Lightroom and Photoshop skills. He shares these skills through classes, training workshops, and speaking engagements. His photography is also available for purchase.

Randy also shares his knowledge via social means. He is Vice-president of the North Austin Photographic Society, organizer of two successful Meetup Groups, and administrator to a very large and active Facebook group. To find out more about his photography tours, workshops, and classes please visit his website at https://www.rdykstraphoto.com/.

As a photographer, you need to know your camera and learn when to switch modes to provide you with better results. This only comes with use and practice. Summing this all up, shutter speed is the wildlife’s photographers best friend and worst enemy, it can freeze your image sharp, but it robs you of light. As with all photography, decisions are made to isolate subjects or to tell a bigger story. But in order for these decisions to be made requires the knowledge of how the tool in use (your camera) operates and reacts to differing conditions and light. Hopefully, I’ve provided you with a few insights and that you learned a few things that will help you with your next foray into the field. Remember, go out and try different setting and practice taking shots with them. Before long, you will be coming back from every trip with several “Wall Hangers.”

Randy Dykstra made a lifestyle decision a few years back, and turned his life-long passion for photography, the great outdoors, and science into a thriving vocation. He now leads incredible photography tours to exotic locales, educating and inspiring photographers of all skill levels. In addition to his

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