The 7 Common Habits of Remarkably Talented Photographers

This article by Tiffany Mueller is on Lightstalking. Tiffany Mueller is a professional music and fine art photographer. She has been published in multiple publications including magazines, art journals, and various photography books. She blogs at Life Is Unabridged.

One of the best ways to improve yourself is by observing the habits of those you find to be inspirational and talented. In doing so, we hope to learn what it is they have done that helped them achieve success. Of course, there’s no set route to the top of the photography game, but if you were to do a case study on the habits of some our favourite photographers chances are you’d find some very similar habits among them.

Dedicated photographer by paukrus, on Flickr

Click Here: The 7 Common Habits of Remarkably Talented Photographers

 

Natural Light Portraits

We run a course on Portrait photography that teaches how to use natural light rather than having to rely upon flash. This is a popular course because most people would like to take better portraits of their family and friends but find the process daunting. We approach every aspect of this, first the technical, how to manage light, how to use the camera and what accessories you might need to get the best results. Then we look at what you must do as a photographer to get the best out of your subjects. Some of this is covered in this article on Lightstalking

For some photos, nothing beats the natural beauty of ambient light. When used correctly natural light can create soft portraits that bring out great looking skin tones and display a seemingly perfect balance between shadows and highlights. As limiting as it may initially seem, shooting with natural light can offer a pretty diverse range of lighting styles.

How to Find The Perfect Window Lighting

There can be a learning curve to using natural light effectively, especially when shooting indoors where your options may be more limited in regards to finding usable light. It goes without saying you should locate a room in your indoor space that is home to a window…..MORE

Here are a couple of images from our current course.

©Tony Haupt

© Anna Indrzejczyk

 

A Portrait Photographer’s Guide To Coaching Clients

Lightstalking is a site that offers lots of advice and ideas for photographers. Often we find that what their contributors writes about directly echoes what we teach in our classes so we feel we are in touch with what Lightstalking has to say. This article by Tiffany Mueller, a professional music and fine art photographer, she blogs at Life Is Unabridged,  is about helping clients to pose better when they are having their portrait taken.

In our Portrait Photography course starting on June 6th we spend quite a bit of time explaining how important this is, we give tutorials on how to pose people and how to show people how to pose, that sounds the same thing but it isn’t. You might not be lucky enough to live in Oxford and so have the chance to attend one of our courses so this article by Tiffany will be of help.

©Keith Barnes   Portrait of John Duggan

Click Here: A Portrait Photographer’s Guide To Coaching Clients

The 7 Common Habits of Remarkably Talented Photographers

From that other excellent antipodean photography blog, Lightstalking, we get this article by

Tiffany Mueller,  a professional music and fine art photographer. She has been published in various publications including magazines, art journals, as well as photography books. She blogs at Life Is Unabridged.

I think I probably agree with everything here so read on

One of the best ways to improve yourself is by observing the habits of those you find to be inspirational and talented. In doing so, we hope to learn what it is they have done that helped them achieve success. Of course, there’s no set route to the top of the photography game, but if you were to do a case study on the habits of some our favorite photographers chances are you’d find some very similar habits among them.

Here are some of the greatest photographers ever just in passing ©Magnum photographers

Click Here: The 7 Common Habits of Remarkably Talented Photographers

 

Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras?

Once there were compact cameras and DSLR cameras, then we had bridge cameras and now MIL cameras If you don’t know what is being talked about these are examaples The Panasonic Lumix G Series ,the Lumix DMC-GH2,  the Sony NEX and the Olympus Pen Series. Pentax is also taking grip on the market with it’s oddly designed Pentax K-01.

Here Tiffany Mueller  at Lightstalking explains what, how, why

While not an entirely new technology, mirrorless cameras manufacturers have been enjoying a steady rise in interest of the compact cameras among amateurs and professionals alike. Initially marketed at serious amateurs who were looking for more from their point-and-shoots, but were not interested in a DSLR, the mirrorless camera, has helped fill a gap in camera technology. Their lightweight design offers users the comforts of carrying only a compact camera and their DSLR sized sensors produce images which rival some of the most popular DSLRs on the market..….MORE

How to Come Up With Ideas for Your Own Photography Projects

One of the main points I teach is that it is difficult to just go out and take photographs. But if photography is your hobby that is what you are supposed to do, take pictures. This means that many times cameras only get an outing when their owners are on an outing, a walk, a visit to the seaside, a picnic, the zoo, name any activity that is a diversion from normal life and photography can be part of it, well maybe not going to the movies or the theatre but just about everything else. But if photography is your hobby then you need to be doing it more often than the occasional family trip out so how do you know what to photography.

I have taught on our Intermediate Photography Course for many years that themes and projects are a way of getting to use your camera on things that you might otherwise have overlooked. I have worked on different themes for more than 30 years, I always have a number running but some have staid the march of time and have entertained me for decades and always will.

This is what Tiffany Mueller at Lighstalking starts her article with

“In this modern world, where nearly everyone has a camera of some sort, it can be difficult for a photographer to stand out in the crowd. Coming up with photography project ideas that are both creative and unique can be a daunting enterprise. If coming up with a project of your own is becoming a struggle, here are few tips to help get started.” read the rest of this article here

Tiffany makes many valid points and I agree with all she has to say but there is one thing I teach that might help you to work out what matters to you and what you can turn into a project.

Write down everything you care about, everything that interests you, then cross off from that list anything you could not photograph in your home town. So if you passionately care about polar bears and live in Oxford that would be one you would cross off your list. Eventually you will have a shortened list of the things you care about and are interested in and which you can photograph. These things are the basis of your projects or themes list and where you need to start photographing. You could do the same with photographers, write down those that you really like and then cross of any that you might have difficulty emulating, Ansel Adams and Yosemite Park might be difficult from the home counties, but Ralph Gibson’s graphic architecture might be possible.Then go out and find the images your favourite photographers might have captured.

Ansel Adams

Ralph Gibson

Click Here: How to Come Up With Ideas for Your Own Photography Projects

The Secrets to Successful Black and White Portraits

This article on Lighstalking by Tiffany Mueller  gives sound advice on getting better black and white portraits. We run a very successful Black and White digital photography course that covers all this and more, details are here

“Black and white photographs can portray a higher level of timelessness than color images. The lack of color also gives us a better sense of the time and mood behind a portrait.  Because of these characteristics, black and white photography has maintained a strong presence in portraiture. Since the eye perceives black and white photography differently than color photography, the process behind creating compelling black and white portraits is also a little different.” Here are a few pointers to get you started:

©Keith Barnes

Click Here: The Secrets to Compelling Black and White Portraits