Five Photography Tips from Celebrated Pros
Everyone has had a hero at one time or another. Many people have more than one hero and in fact, one person may have several. While the top ten list of “The World’s Most Famous Photographers” would probably cause a great deal of debate, the ones chosen to look at in this article are probably in almost everyone’s list of the top photographers of all time. The best thing we can do with the collected works of the following photographers is learn from them. Most people never take the time to try to find out what motivated, moved, and inspired their heroes. If we can learn lessons from some of the best of the best in photography, we must take time to get to know what they said and then try to figure out what they mean. After we think we have a handle on that, we must find a way to apply what they said and did to our own work. We cannot be satisfied with simple emulation; we may have to begin there, but we should move past that point and begin to personalize and create individual pieces.
When you look at the following quotes, you may find things that I have not mentioned…and that is exactly the point. Just because one person places importance on a single area does not mean that it is the only area of importance or that it is the only lesson that can be learned. We must learn to examine all aspects and then translate them to our own work. Anything less will remain nothing more than a poor, cheap imitation.
Ansel Adams
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words.”
Learning to touch people in the affective domain of the emotions is one of the best ways to convey your message and your personal take. To do this you must be able to translate the emotion you feel into an image that will transmit the same emotional content to the viewer. While many might think of nothing more than compose, expose, and edit, there is more to creating images than the simple mechanics of photography. The art of photography uses the science to convey importance and futility, realism and fantasy, and stunning and horrifying images that will reach into the souls of the viewer and touch them in a way that will change them.
Before you snap the shutter, think about what you are feeling and what you may be able to do to covey the same emotion you feel to anyone who views the image you create. This is more difficult than it sounds, and while people will ultimately disagree about what your intent might have been, if you do succeed, they will agree that your images are indeed saying something…they are more than simple well-exposed and composed snapshots.
Anne Geddes
“I think that emotional content is an image’s most important element, regardless of the photographic technique. Much of the work I see these days lacks the emotional impact to draw a reaction from viewers, or remain in their hearts.”
Touching people on a deep level, revealing things in themselves, they may not have realized before, and moving and stirring them in a way that they had never before considered is a very tall order indeed. While it may seem that this quote and the previous one are the same, the similarity is only on the surface. While the one speaks to the message conveyed in a photo, the other addresses the level of impact the images contain. Striking images are striking because they speak to everyone on some level. The message may not be the same to each person, but on a visceral level, it will affect all viewers to a large degree. People are not used to thinking about anything outside of their own little shell of the world. Great images will pull them from the safe small bubble of their lives and change them forever.
Whether you take a moment or hours to decide upon what you want to do with your images, you should be sure that you are trying to connect on an emotional level with the subject. If you intend to have any kind of impact on the viewers of your images, then you must first have an understanding of the situation in front of your lens. Only then can you attempt to connect with those people in the future who will look at the images you create. In short, do not be random, be intentional and try to use your art to change people at deep levels.
Helmut Newton
“I spend a lot of time preparing. I think a lot about what I want to do. I have prep books, little notebooks in which I write everything down before a sitting. Otherwise I would forget my ideas.”
Creativity is not something that can be turned off and on like a water faucet. It is typically something that comes in its own time and in its own ways. Once the creative dam is released, the deluge of ideas can easily overwhelm you and the best ideas and concepts you have can be forgotten. We can see that Newton took this aspect of his own creativity importantly enough to have something with him to record his creative ideas so he would not forget them. We can also see that he placed a great deal of value on preparation. Most people think of preparation and lists in the sense of equipment lists, making checks to make sure one piece or another is not forgotten for the shoot. While this is not bad, it must not be the only list we make.
Do not let the only time you creative juices flow be when you are behind the camera. Take the time to be creative when you are sitting comfortably at home. Write down your ideas, mull over old ideas and let them inspire new ones. Think of ways to do things you have never done before and you will truly start to tap your creative abilities. Try not to let the fact that no one else has done it or the fact that you do not have the equipment to pull it off, deter you from being creative. Be intentional and organized about being creative and you will likely find your best ideas will come to you when you least expect them.
Annie Leibowitz
“When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I’d like to know them.”
This is especially true in a photojournalistic sense; however, it does not mean that it only applies to photojournalism. If you want to create and image to convey meaning, a message, or emotional content, then you will need to get to know everything you can about the subject. When it comes to people, you can simply pose someone in a traditional, trendy ‘cookie cutter’ pose complete with a false smile, or you can try to capture something of their essence. Look for ways to capture the true personality of the people that you photograph. Think of it as a way to communicate with people in the future about who this person is, what motivated him or her, what hardships he or she had endured, what joys were realized, and the content of his or her character.
To achieve these things you will need to get to know people. The best way to get to know them and to capture the true essence of who they are is to talk to them while you are shooting, to see the nuance in their facial expressions and eyes, the upturn of a lip or the wrinkle of the nose as it pertains to the subject matter of the conversation. When you place someone in front of your camera, you must begin to see them as more than your ‘subject’, but rather as an individual human being, the likes of which are nowhere to be found in the rest of the universe…and then capture the essence of that person in your images.
Robert Capa
“The pictures are there, and you just take them.”
After having said all the above, the one single problem that most photographers have is that they are control freaks. We like to control everything from lighting, to clothing, from poses to smiles. What we tend to forget is that ultimately we really don’t create the images, they are already there and we do nothing but capture them. While the vernacular we tend to use is one of creating images with the intent upon contrasting this with the overly-simplistic idea of ‘taking a photo’, the whole point of the art and the science of photography is to record that which already exists.
We try to do this in such a way as to accurately represent emotion, character, situation, meaning, and other aspects of our world, but ultimately we can do nothing more than take the photos that, for whatever reason, are in front of our cameras. Once we come to terms with the reality that we cannot truly control anything at all, that we cannot truly ‘create’ in the true sense of the word, then we will be one-step closer to connecting on an emotional level at the wonders that we encounter in our lives. We will begin to take true joy in the privilege we have as the record keepers and repository of the bounty and beauty of the created universe.
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