Photographer Coach

Black and white? Who would ever want to photograph a richly colored Autumn leaf in black and white? (That’s a rhetorical question). There was something about the way this wet maple looked the other morning on the hood of my car that just screamed “Monochrome!”

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Someone asked me the other day, “How can you get great contrast in a color photograph?” My answer was (and still is), “Sunny day and bright, fully saturated contrasting colors.” Short of that, you’re going to have to do a lot of work with a photo editing computer program.

It’s quite easy to get great contrast in a black and white photograph, provided the image is made up of mostly black blacks and white whites (not innumerable shades of grey between). Upping the contrast is generally very easy to do with photo editing software, your main concerns being 1) loss of shadow detail and 2) burning out the highlights. Color is a bit more difficult, what with there being all those, uh, colors. When you stop and think about it, its kind of unusual to see much naturally occurring contrasting color. Perhaps this is why we find deciduous leaves so much more interesting in the Fall than at other times of the year! Read the rest

Author: Amy Arbus
Publisher: Welcome Books
Year Published: 2006
Rating:
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On April 28, 2007, Amy Arbus did a lecture and book signing at the photography Gallery 339 in Philadelphia. For some lame reason, I did not attend the lecture. I did, however, go there and buy the book with the intent of getting her to sign it. Read the rest

Pentax K100D
6.1MP Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera
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The low cost competitor enters the DSLR market! The obvious question: “Are we still to consider it so?” Not really, as it costs the same as its competitors in the consumer-grade DSLR market. Pentax has never had much snob appeal or cachet. However, the lenses have always been great and the (film SLR) bodies workhorses. So let’s see how the digital version measures up! Read the rest

People portraits are tricky. What’s key to a successful one? Well, aside from technicalities, its all about respect and interest. Respect your subject and show interest in who they are and what they do. You’d be surprised how many people will let you photograph them!

I shot this image in a thrift shop. A very photogenic couple was testing out a sofa and I was hunting for people portraits for a book I’ve since written. I told them they looked great together and asked if I could photograph them for the book (it always helps the creative process if you carry your camera everywhere!). They gladly agreed and I came away with a great shot and an introduction to the band “Sunsplit,” in which the couple play. Read the rest