What goes thru a photographers mind - Todays Photographer is Gary Simmons

Today's photographer is my good friend, Gary Simmons. I first met Gary three years ago at our local photo club... that quiet guy in the corner that always presented great images and had a stream of photos on Flickr... after a few times out shooting with him I got to know him and realised the wealth of knowledge he offers.

 

Now Gary is teaching photography for the Photographer's Lounge be coming with me to Tanzania this April for my workshop to Tanzania... a trip that he will no doubt be producing more images that will continue to impress people...

 

Take it away Gary...

 

Whenever I talk with people about photography, I always stress that photographers should be ‘making’ photos.  Great photos don’t just happen, so you need to use your brain. Picking the right time of day, right light, weather, lens, composition, editing... all these elements and more are available to us to ‘make’ a photo its very best.

 

But... Sometimes you can throw all that out the window.

Blinded by the Light - A photo by Gary Simmons


This is my favourite winter photo in my portfolio, and swings far closer to ‘taken’ than ‘made’.  I was out on a day trip with my kids to try dog sledding.  My new Canon 60D was around my neck just to shoot photos of my kids having fun, and get some practice with the new camera.  Walking back across the field, this shot just jumped out at me.  Right there, right now, just lift the camera to my eye and shoot.  I couldn’t wait to get home, run it through Lightroom and show it to everyone.

Sometimes you will spend days/weeks working on capturing the perfect shot... and sometimes not.  So keep your camera with you all the time if you don’t want to miss the easy ones!

Gary Simmons
facebook.com/garysimmonsphotography
flickr.com/gsimmonsonca

Winter Photography Tips

Here are some cold-weather shooting tips to keep your pictures good and your gear safe... and your tushy warm.

Get out there. Weather is the photographer’s friend. Don’t let the cold or snow or ice or whatever stop you. It can add visual elements to your photography that make the difference between good and great photos.

This post will give you some tips on taking photographs in the winter (tips based largely on my own personal experiences of taking really bad winter photographs). Even if you not a die hard photographer, these tips can help ensure that you're ready to grab that photographic opportunity when you see it.

Tips for winter photography:

1. Get out there. Weather is the photographer’s friend. Don’t let the cold or snow or ice or
whatever stop you. It can add visual elements to your photography that make the difference
between good and great photos

2. Bring extra batteries and keep them close to your skin. Cold weather zaps batteries. If you have at least one extra battery, you can really increase your shooting time by swapping batteries from time-to-time, taking one from the camera and putting it inside your shirt, etc., to keep it warm. Even a battery that says it’s dead or nearly dead can come back to life if you warm it up.

3. Minimize changing lenses in winter weather. You don’t want to get moisture or condensation inside your camera or your lens. You really don’t. Also be careful when bringing your camera indoors to a warm house from a cold outside. Put your camera/lenses in plastic bags that you can seal before you bring them in. That way the condensation forms on the bag not the gear.

4. Bring rain covers for your camera and lenses. Even if it’s not raining, snow is wet. If you’re out in a snowing environment, snow can fall on your camera and get it wet. This is less important with some of the top-of-the-line pro bodies, but something to consider in any event.

5. Dress in layers. Wear warm boots, socks and under garments. Wear fingerless gloves, a hat that covers your ears and a good, thick coat. Under the coat wear a shirt, and a sweater. If it warms up you can take off a layer. Also bring hand warmers and foot warmers in extreme weather. Wool works better than cotton.

6. Watch where you step. Black ice can bring you down quickly. A slip and fall can not only damage your camera but seriously hurt you.

7. Use a camera strap. When your hands are cold they have less dexterity and grip. It’s easier for the camera to slip out of your hands when they are cold or wet. Don’t chance dropping your camera.

8. Remember to breathe through your mouth when looking through the viewfinder... breathing through your nose will get condensation on the viewfinder and could cause problems by freezing up your LCD monitor.

9. When you come in out of the cold leave your camera for a couple hours and let it assimilate to room temperature. You can take your memory card out, just do not take photos for a couple hours.

10. Don't eat yellow snow. Its not nature's slushy!!!

Fun Weekend Photography Idea - Light Painting

This is a fun technique to try inside your home on a cold winters evening... or even better outdoors at night.

Light painting is an ideal way of adding light to the scene to enhance a particular object, such as a tree, home, abandoned bus, rock face, bench etc. Position your camera on a tripod, set your ISO around 200 to 400. Put your camera on manual mode, set the aperture to F9.0(ish) and set shutter speed to 15-20 seconds and to avoid camera shake, use the self timer or shutter relese cable to activate the shutter. To focus you should either auto focus on the subject using the flashlight to get a focal point and then put the focus to manual focus once this is done... or, jsut set the camera to manual focus and set the focus to infinity (that sideways "8" on your lens that you see)

During the release, light your subject with a beam of light from a torch and ‘paint’ with the light to ensure the entire object has been covered.

Photography Ideas For This Weekend ~ colour, pattern or shapes

Pick a colour, number, shape or pattern and find it in as many contrasting places as you can. I like this one because it emphasises how photographers have to try and see things in a way that others don't. Photography is the art of seeing and this will encourage you to look harder and see things in your own way.

Say you choose a colour - try to capture it on as many contrasting items as possible. That way the photos will be more interesting when viewed as a whole. Look for natural/man made things, soft/hard, moving/stationary, beautiful/'ugly'. The best photos in this project are the ones where you see something that you wouldn’t expect, or that most people would overlook.

What’s better on Facebook, a Like or a share?

I received a newsletter from Mark Schmulen, General Manager, Social Media at Constant Contact and former CEO/CoFounder of NutshellMail.com. He wrote about facebook "like's and shares". I thought I would just share his article below versus writing my own version...

Every relationship has its stages - Depending on your age, the first step could be a first drink at a bar, an online chat, a slow dance to “Stairway to Heaven” (do they still do that?), a blind date, or stumbling into each other in a supermarket.

If that goes well, you give the other person permission to call you (or be called by you), and keep the relationship growing through conversations and shared experiences. And eventually you make a long-term commitment to one another.

For better or worse, that’s exactly how it works with social media marketing, too. It’s all about graduating from one level of relationship to another.

So, when I was recently asked, “What’s better on Facebook, a Like or a share?” My answer was yes.

You need both to build strong relationships with your current and potential customers. And without one or the other your relationship is destined to fail.

Why Page Likes are great for your business or organization

We talk a lot about the concept of permission-based marketing, and much like subscribing to an email list, “Liking” a Facebook Page is a form of permission that lets a brand keep talking with people — or other brands who are interested in their content.

Likes are that first dance, the beginning of a relationship. They are also a social endorsement that your new fans’ friends may see in their newsfeed.

Your new fans have stated that you have an affinity for your brand. But the work is just starting because once you have someone interested in what you have to say, you have to keep up the momentum or you’ll lose them as quick as you found them (or they found you.)

Why shares are great for your business or organization

In many ways, a “share” is even better than a “Like” because it’s a much stronger social endorsement and is far more likely to get noticed in the newsfeed of the friends of the person who has shared (what we call the network effect).

It’s like being brought to a wedding or a work function. People are proactively telling the world about how great you or your content is.

On Facebook, shares usually come with a picture and a comment from the person sharing, and with Facebook’s new Timeline, this content can really jump off the page. (Not to mention that it has a much bigger impact on the EdgeRank algorithm for people who share, making it more likely that they will see your comment in the future.)

Those are all great things, but like a single great date, they aren’t any guarantee of a future relationship. In fact, having someone share your content doesn’t give you any sort of relationship with them if you don’t already have one.

You need both - The truth is, to build strong social relationships with your target audience, you need to have that great first date, you need to get permission to keep talking, and you have to keep producing great content or offers that people want to tell their friends about.

Likes are the beginning, shares are an endorsement that you are doing well, and that your fans want the relationship to continue. Your future interactions — both online and offline — are the building blocks of a long-term relationship.

Learn from other photographers but keep your individuality

You are out taking photos, just you and your camera… you are in your own personal head space, thinking about composition, the light and any technical aspects of your cameras functions.

But as much as photography is a solitude pursuit, do not discount the benefit of going out with other photographers.

You can put a dozen photographers in the same location and you will get a dozen different perspectives of the same location. Just because you have a certain way of shooting things doesn’t mean it’s the only way to get the shot. Going out with other people will allow you to watch others work, then after, over a coffee, take a look at each other’s photos and see what other people saw.

Another benefit of going out with other photographers is the benefits of seeing different post processing techniques.  Often a group of photographers would come across the same fascinating subject. As much as the photography styles may differ, the post processing would be different showing individuals own interpretations. Looking at what other photographers do with the same subject opens up your mind in what is possible.

You may also want to join a club or meetup group. In these environments you are exposed to not only other photographers; you are introduced to professional photographers willing to come and teach amateurs. You will also find out different locations that you might not know have existed. An abandoned building, a secret pond or even a studio that rents cheap space are all gems you can find out about. Getting to know like minded photographers at a club will also introduce you to different gear. Its far better to see gear being used than reading about it in a review. The majority of photographers who are part of a photography group are happy to share their knowledge and I advise you to grab that opportunity.

Get out there, meet some new people, learn, grow as a photographer… but don’t lose your individuality. It’s what will separate you from the rest.

Thank you for reading,

Kev

Photographers Ephemeris - a must have for landscape photographers

I wanted to focus on a software program that I found out about from a fellow photographer, Gary Simmons. The software is called “photographers ephemeris”. It is a free landscape photographers software that you can download at www.stephentrainor.com
 
Landscape photography is performed on a schedule set not as much by you, the photographer but by celestial elements. A beautiful shot of the sun setting over the sea can only be shot at sunset. Similarly, the phase of the moon can turn a good mountain range picture into a spectacular vista. You can find times for sunrise and sunset and all the information you need about the phase and path of the moon from almanacs and online sources. But for information relative to, say, a topographical map of your intended shoot location, in combination with sun and moon locations and times, you need the Photographer’s Ephemeris.

This cross-platform Adobe AIR application lets landscape photographers plan the best time and location for shoots. It includes celestial data integrated with precise global positioning and satellite and terrain maps from Google Maps. It will seperate the newbie photographer from the more admired photographer.

The program has a simplistic visual appeal and an easy to use interface that allows a photographer to find vantage points for dusk and dawn photography. Want to know when the sun is rising on a specific day, and where to stand to capture the sun behind a specific object… this is as easy as 1-2-3.

Built on the Adobe Air platform, this freeware program runs on Mac, Win, and Linux, so long as the equally free Adobe Air utility is installed. I would suggest, and only if you can afford it, throw Stephen a couple dollars to help fund enhancements to this great product.