Where’s the Respect?
Black and white photography gets such little respect in this age of digital photography. You might find it used in a retro style, sepia-toned wedding photo, but you just don’t see it used as much as it could even though it can be used to produce such a wonderful imagery and photographs.
So why am I thinking about black and white photography again? Well, the simple truth is that I was in a furniture store with my wife the other day. She was looking at fabrics and talking to a designer and I thought I’d browse the store for a while. Sure, I like looking at certain furniture styles and period pieces, but what I find most interesting is the artwork that has been chosen by the designers to go with each furniture setting.
Pure Design in Black and White
Typically the artwork shown in a higher end showroom are mostly about pure design, shape and color rather than anything to do with the art or artist behind the image. This focus on pure design is what makes these types of showrooms a bit more interesting for me.
On this day, this furniture studio (Gabberts) had several photographs hanging in their showroom and I came across a couple of black and whites that really caught my eye. They were abstract and you couldn’t really tell what the main subject was, but the shapes and textures and gradations worked so well together that it just grabbed my attention. They looked like abstract charcoal drawings with a very feathery use of sharpness and shading. In addition, the quality of the framing and the wide matting really made them standout.
So, we got home from the store and I started thinking about how to best create a black and white image in the digital age. In the days of film you would purchase black and white film, shoot your photos, develop the negatives using black and white chemicals and then recreate the photograph on paper that was specifically developed for black and and white prints. It was a lot of work, but I find it rather sad that this process is slowly disappearing.
How It’s Done In The Digital Camera Age
Now that I have a digital camera though, I’m learning how to best create a black and white image. Would it be better to shoot it as a black and white or bring it into Photoshop or Light Studio and remove all of the color there?
I chose to shoot it as a black and white image for a couple of reasons. First, I could make adjustments to the exposure in camera, right on the spot. With a black and white image, tone becomes the overall color and if it’s off even a little, the image quality turns out poorly. Secondly, when shooting in black and white, the way that shapes and patterns play off one another becomes much more evident. This is much harder to visualize if you are shooting in color.
It’s All About The Composition
I’ve just started to shoot in black and white again and I’ve only taken a couple of shots that I like enough to show-off, for example the one shown above that I took the other day. Sure, black and white photographs are much easier to create than they were in the days of film, but one aspect of this has not changed. Black and white imagery is an extremely challenging format when it comes to creating an interesting and well composed image from an artistic perspective. Without color, the shapes, patterns and negative space become the primary elements of the composition.
ITS#PHOTO Competition 2009 » Contests, Competitions, Blogs, Reviews
The photo competition of International Talent Support is now in its fifth year and is becoming an important observatory to find talented, creative and highly prepared young photographers, able to shoot images that can easily find their …
Gosnap Photography Forums Tutorials Reviews Photos – February …
This months photography competition is on the theme of ‘CANDID’
Vevey International Photography Competition (deadline April 30 …
The Vevey International Photo Awards is a competition of photographic projects with a first prize of 30000CHF (approx. 20000 Euros). It is organized by the Fondation Vevey, ville d’images as part of the festival Images’. …
Panasonic Lumix Award Competition | Current Photo Contests
The theme for the entries is ‘Living Planet’. The Lumix Award prizes: 1st Place Prize: A Lumix Digital Still Camera DMC-G1 and a trip for.
Wildlife Photography Competition | Current Photo Contests
The theme is “Wildlife Portraits”. A photograph of any animal is eligible as long as it was taken in the wild. Prize: Olympus SP-570UZ, a.
I have to admit that I’m a bit intrigued by all of the rules, guidelines and techniques out there for producing the perfect photo composition. I’ve talked about the Rule of Thirds in the past. I’ve also mentioned a cropping technique which I call The Feinberg Rule.
Yesterday I came across another composition method which I have not heard of before. It’s called The Diagonal Method. This rule was formalized by Edwin Westhoff in 2006 after apparently years of exhaustive research. The description of the rule makes for mildly interesting reading.
I haven’t actually applied this rule to anything I’ve photographed yet, nor have I tried to apply it to any photographs that I’ve seen. I’m merely presenting it here as another compostition technique that some photographers have talked about.
Kodak Instamatic 100
The Kodak Instamatic The Kodak Instamatic was one of the first commercially successful “point-and-shoot” cameras. The first Instamatic went on sale early in 1963.
A new series of Instamatics was introduced in 1970 to take advantage of the new Magicube flash technology. Magicubes were an improvement over flashcubes in that the need for batteries was now eliminated.
Okay, now I know you’re probably wondering why in the world would I be talking about a camera technology that is over 40 years old. Well, there’s a big lesson in all of this and you’re about to find out.
The Assignment
Move forward a few decades later. I’m in college and am taking a second level photography class that’s required in my studio arts degree. In the first level photography class we learned about cameras, how to develop black and white film, how to compose a photo and so on.
In the second level class, on day two the instructor walked into class and nodded to everyone. Then a big smile came across his face. “Class”, he said, “I would like you to forget about everything you’ve learned about exposure settings, depth of field and ISO in the first level class.”
“We are now going to learn how to take a great photo without relying on camera settings.” He continued, ”What I want you to do is to go home, place your cameras in storage, and then head out to your local Goodwill store to purchase the least expensive camera can you can find. A Kodak Instamatic would be ideal.”
“When you get your camera, I want you to go out and take the most interesting photos you can. I also want you to manipulate any of the settings available to get the best shot that you can. Bring your photos to our next class and we’ll have a class critique… we’ll see you then.”
Obviously we were a bit puzzled by this request, but we all got up and headed out. I went out and found a used Kodak Instamatic with a Magicube attached. The Magicube (also known as a flashcube) was a four sided cube, with a small flash bulb on each side. You would shoot a photo with the flash and the magic cube would rotate 90 degrees to the next unused bulb. They were simple but very easy to use.
The Lessons Learned
Now for the lessons learned. I went out and started taking a few photos. I remember how simple it was. All I had to do was point and shoot. There was no focus to adjust, no exposure setting to make or any adjustment to the shutter setting. All I had to do was worry about the image in the viewfinder.
What I did worry about was whether I was taking an interesting photo, was it well composed and, oddly enough, what are those people who are looking at me thinking about some idiot who’s getting down on his knees to compose a picture with a cheap camera.
Well enough said, this was a valuable learning experience for me. Now to answer the question of “How To Take Great Photos With A Kodak Instamatic”. What I discovered here is that it’s not really the camera that matters most when trying to take a great photo, a great photo happens when you’re able to focus more on the subject matter at hand.
Think Instamatic, Not Leica
We lose so many photo opportunities because we’re either not ready for them while they happen we’re distracted by the need to adjust our camera settings, letting that great photo opportunity just pass us by. Just think of all the great photos we’d have if we weren’t distracted. We’d never lose those great candid shots with a trusty old Kodak Instamatic.
Links To Photographs Shot With A Kodak Instamatic
1056 Penzance August 1976 – peter.brabham posted a photo:. 1056 Penzance August 1976. 1056 Western Sultan Penzance Terminus Taken with a Kodak instamatic and Kodak print film.
Instamatic Photos at PBase.com - PBase was conceived in July of 1999 after observing countless camera wielding people that take cool photos but find it difficult to share their work. The primary mission of PBase is to be the best place on the web to display photos.
1976 My First Photo – Marineland on Flickr – Photo Sharing! – This is the first photograph I remember ever taking. It was 1976, I was eight-years-old and our family was visiting Niagara Falls. My sister let me borrow her Kodak 110 Instamatic camera to take this shot at Marineland and Game Farm.
Plymouth August 1974 – peter.brabham posted a photo:. Plymouth August 1974. Unidentified Western at Plymouth Summer Holidays August 1974 Taken with a Kodak instamatic and Kodak print film when I was 13 years old.
In the digital camera age, I’m finding that it’s really easy to get caught up with all of the tweaking of settings that come with today’s digital cameras. I suppose part of this is due to the way I learn, but another aspect of the digital photography age is that you can now take a photo and immediately see how it turned out.
There is no longer the need to shoot an entire roll of film and then take it into the photo lab for processing before you can see it. No, we have entered the age of immediate gratification when it comes to our photography.
This is an entirely different mindset than we had in the film camera days. Taking a photo at different exposures (bracketing) was much more important then because you wanted to make sure that you had captured the shot at the right exposure. We were also more mindful as to how many shots we took for fear of running out of film.
I’ve really been wondering if the ability to take a digital photo and then instantly see how it turned out – makes us better photographers?
I’ve mentioned before that I really don’t get caught up with all the bells and whistles provided with cameras. I’m just not that type of a geek. I do adjust exposure and depth of field, but that’s about it.
But I’m just not convinced that going through the constant tweaking of camera settings based on the image that shows up in the digital camera viewfinder actually produces a remarkably better photograph. I do think that there’s a limited “return on time spent” when it comes to the overall integrity of the photograph itself.
Obviously there are different types photographers. Some are more technical, while others are more artistically oriented. Ansel Adams was a true technician, both behind the camera as well as the darkroom. But I really wonder how he would fare in the digital camera age. Would he spend countless hours of time in front of the computer tweaking the contrast in his digital image? I kind of doubt it because I think much of his interest was just being outside and in touch with nature.
The ability to take a digital photo and then instantly see how it turned out has really changed the landscape of today’s photography. I’m not sure that it’s made us better photographers, but it certainly has given us a whole new set of options.
I’ve been spending some time checking out all of the settings on my new Nikon D40 digital slr camera. What I’m basically trying to find out is which settings have the largest impact one overall image quality. One of the first settings I checked was the image size setting because the larger the image size setting, the more detail an image will end up having.
But let’s asume that you’ve already adjusted this setting to highest resolution possible and now you are trying to improve image quality even more. What I’m finding so far is that the setting that has the next highest impact on overall image quality is the ISO Setting.
What is the ISO Setting?
A digital camera’s ISO settings are used to adjust the light sensitivity of the camera’s image sensor. The less overall light you have for your photo, the higher the ISO setting needed. The more light there is, the lower the ISO setting needed.
The issue with higher ISO settings is that the higher you go, the more grainy or “noisy” the image will be. For this reason, it’s always best to shoot at the lowest ISO setting possible.
Differences in ISO Settings
To demonstrate the differences in picture quality at two different ISO settings, I took a simple photo of a green apple at an ISO setting of 200, and then again at an ISO setting of 3200.
ISO Setting Comparison - Full View
In the above sample, you can see that there’s not a great deal of image quality difference between the photo on the left at a 200 ISO and the photo on the right, shot at a 3200 ISO, but if you look closely, you can see the noise created by shooting at a higher ISO setting.
To really show this difference off, I took the original image and magnified it (see below).
ISO Setting Comparison - Close Up View
In this photo, you should see the difference and “noise” caused by the higher ISO setting at 3200.
In my camera, a Nikon D40, the ISO setting can be changed by going into settings, and then the “Shooting Menu” option. By default, it’s set to “Auto”, but you can change it to any ISO setting between 200 to “H1″ which is the setting I used for the 3200 ISO setting in the above images.
What ISO Setting Is Best?
With most Digital Cameras, you should have access to a variety of ISO settings. Typically you’ll be able to select an ISO of 200, 400, 800, 1600. The question, which ISO setting do I use in order to get the best quality image? The answer to this is fairly straightforward.., the best ISO setting to use is going to be the lowest available ISO setting for the available light you have.
The challenge though is that you won’t likely be able to shoot at night with at an ISO set to the lowest - 200 for example - because the camera light sensors need more light in order to capture your image.
Fortunately you have some options. The first option would be to set a longer exposure time (slower shutter speed). Another option would be to increase the aperture on your camera lens (the F stop settings). The third option would be to increase your ISO setting.
I’ll go into more detail about all these settings soon, but my main bit of advice today is to learn how to use the lowest possible ISO setting on your camera. You’ll get higher quality images if you do.
This is a listing of some recently announced Digital Photography Competitions. I’ll be posting these from time to time because I think it’s a great way to push your photography to newer levels and then maybe get some attention for your photography skills.
European Design Awards » Contests, Competitions, Blogs, Reviews
The awards will be covered with extensive articles in the most influential design (print and digital) media throughout Europe. posted by: no. 2 pencil Feedbacks on this entry via RSS 2.0. Please leave a Comment or discuss via Trackback. …
Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is beginning its …
Digital Photography Now – www.dpnow.com … Entries for the world’s most prestigious wildlife photography competition open on 19 January and the closing date for receipt of entries is 27 March (20 March for postal entries). …
Deadlines Approach for January Contests
The 66th annual POYi competition is accepting digital entries in various documentary photography, multimedia, and visual editing categories. Friday January 16: Art Directors Club Awards Deadlines for the 88th Annual ADC “Gold Cube” …
Press Release :: Best of Nature Photography Show – Call For …
Amateur as well as professional photographers are invited to submit nature-photography for the jurying process. Landscape, wildlife, and nature-based abstract/impressionistic images will be considered. Traditional, digital …
Good luck to everyone!
Today I came across a decent camera book while browsing the shelves of my local Barnes and Noble. I’m kind of a book fanatic and typically I’ll just go online to buy at a discount, but today I happened to have a little extra time so I headed right over the Photography Books section.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m real sucker for any how-to book. I’ve always been. In fact, the simpler, the better! If I see a book on the shelf that thicker than an inch, I’ll likely steer clear of it no matter what the title.
In any regard, and I really hate to admit this, but I’ve always loved the Dummies series of books. I mean afterall even the title is a bit humiliating and if you drag one of these up to the checkout counter, you’d prefer keeping it hidden until it is paid for. Right?
The reality is that they are really practical books that get straight to the point without having to read the riff-raf in between. Typically they give me enough detail to get started and if I have further questions I then go online and do some research.
Luckily enough, I came across a camera book titled “Nikon D40/D40x For Dummies”. My jaw dropped because there were very few books devoted to individual camera models. Most are too general and vague. I quickly scanned the first two chapters of this book (scanning the content was easy) and within half and hour I learned more about my new Nikon D40 that I had learned from the user manual or the six hours of classes that I had already taken.
If you are interested in learning more about your camera, be sure to look for any book devoted to your specific camera model. They can provide a wealth of information that could save you a ton of time. I recommend the the For Dummies books if you can find one for your camera.
Post from: Digital Camera Notebook
I’ve covered the “Rule of Thirds” well enough already (How To Take Interesting Photos, Rule of Thirds – An Observation). As mentioned before, from an artist’s perspective I consider the “Rule of Thirds” to be more of a guideline, rather than a so-called “rule”. This rule is not something required for each and every photo that you take.
I would like to mention another composition technique that I learned during my undergraduate days in fine arts. This one was taught by one of my favorite painting professors, David Feinberg (work), an Associate Professor for Drawing & Painting at the University of Minnesota. I’ll call this the Feinberg Composition Technique #1, although I think he would find this a bit funny.
What the Feinberg Technique #1 is, is a guideline for where to crop (frame) photos and other 2D visual imagery like paintings, drawings, etc. It’s used to balance a composition within a set area so that it doesn’t look like it’s off-balance or has too much open space (negative space) on one side of the image compared to the other.
Here’s an example of how this technique is applied. If you look at this photo, you’ll notice a couple of things. First, there is no alignment to the “Rule of Thirds” grid (the bottle isn’t aligned to the one third grid). Secondly, you’ll notice that the main subject, the bottle, is tilted and off-center. This in itself would normally cause some tension in the image.
With these two details in consideration, you still get the sense that you’re looking at a well-balanced composition that seems to work just fine.
So what is it that makes this photo look like it’s balanced and properly cropped? Well, it’s actually nothing to do with the main subject at all, but rather everything to do with where the background elements are touching the edge of the image. Basically, where the photo is cropped.
The Feinberg technique measures each point around the edge of the image and then compares the location of those points to the opposite edge. If they match up, you end up with better cropped image. Let’s look a little more closely to how this works.
If you look at the photo to the right, you’ll see where I’ve marked the points at which certain objects touch the edge of the overall image.
Each colored arrow is related to it’s counterpart on the opposite edge of the image. For example, the top purple arrow is almost exactly the same length as the bottom purple arrow. The length of these arrows represents the distance from the image corner to the point where an object touches the edge of the image.
The goal with this Feinberg Technique #1 is to learn how to crop an image or photo so that each point(s) has an equal counterpart (or spacing) on the opposite edge.
An important item to consider here is that the measurement of these points don’t always need to originate from the same edge as it’s counterpart. For example, the purple arrow is measured from the left edge of the photo. With a different image, you could crop the top from the left and the bottom from the right. You just need to make sure that they are equal in length.
This photo could be tightened up just a bit more than it is - compositionally - but I think you get the point here. When you’re framing your photo’s or cropping them in a photo editor, try to see if you can employ this technique. It’s a very useful technique when you’re not really sure how to crop a more complex photo.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
While searching Google today, I noticed several web postings, on other sites, asking if there was a viewfinder available for specific cameras that would display a “Rule of Thirds” grid for photographers to exactly align their primary subjects when they take a picture.
For some reason, this question really intrigues me because it hints at a misunderstanding for why the “Rule of Thirds” grid even exists. It’s almost like some feel that the only way to correctly compose a photograph is to always apply the “Rule of Thirds”.
It just made me pause and think a bit about some of the great photo’s I’ve seen in the past, especially the ones by well known portrait photographers like Richard Avedon or Yousuf Karsh. Just take a peek at these and see if you can apply the “Rule of Thirds” to these photographs. For the most part you can’t.
In fact many of these portraits are perfectly aligned from side-to-side. Definitely not the “Rule of Thirds” at play. BUT the important aspect here is that a few of these portraits are intentionally aligned just off-center just to provide enough of a hint that the subject is off-balance visually.
Placing a subject exactly in the middle of a photo gives the viewer an impression that the subject is perfectly balanced and stable, as if they were perfectly balanced on a tight with no signs of unsteadiness. Move the subject slightly off-center with nothing to balance it on the other side, and now that same subject begins to look unstable. As a viewer, it tends to make you feel a bit uneasy about the subject.
I wasn’t around the conversation when the “Rule of Thirds” was first discussed, but I do understand the premise behind it. Basically, there are some photo’s that you do want to balance perfectly in the middle, there are probably an equal number of photo’s that you do not. Knowing that difference, is the difference behind an average photo and great photo.
The “Rule of Thirds” is really more of a guideline to break the habit of always centering subjects in the middle of a photograph. Obviously it’s a hard habit to break, and requires a little more thought before taking that photograph. The “Rule of Thirds” is really more of a guideline, rather than a rule and realizing this difference is something that I think we can all learn from.
Source: Digital Camera Notebook
