Written by stuestler on February 7th, 2010
Some of the advantages of living in the Mid-Atlantic region are the tremendous variety of recreational opportunities, from mountains to beaches and rivers and everything in between, the beautiful bounty of spring and fall, warm sultry summers.
And oh yeah – fairly short and relatively mild winters . . .
The day after our record-breaking second top-ten snowstorms in the same year, my own little corner of the world is doing pretty well.
Spent Saturday during the storm tackling the shoveling an hour at a time so that by the end of the day when the snow stopped everything was cleared out to the road. Then, about 7:00pm, much to my surprise the plow came through and cleared our street! (I was expecting it today, maybe tomorrow.)
A planned 15 minute photo walk around the block turned into an hour long meet all the neighbors you never know walk, as everyone says “hi” and welcomes the opportunity to take a break from shoveling. Events like this tend to bring people together.
Meanwhile my cleared driveway is now wet as the sun, even at 25 degrees or so, melts all the ice from the surface. And it was only 11:30. By 2:00 it’s dry pavement!
Streets are still covered in a thin sheet of snow, will probably take another day to dry up. Tomorrow’s forecast for above freezing temps, so that should speed things up. But these head-high snow banks are going to be around for a while.
Called my client in Virginia Beach hoping they had just gotten rain out of all this, but they got a couple of inches of snow. Not a lot, but enough that they don’t want their big beach-front home photographed in it. Maybe by the end of the week.
A rare event like this gives an opportunity to get photos that are otherwise simply unavailable. This will give me a little extra for the classes starting this week!
Wherever you’re reading this from, remember, you typically want to over-expose from what your meter tells you by about one stop in snow. And think about your white balance – deep shadows and overcast light tend to make things go blue pretty quickly. You can either adjust for it, or let it go and use it creatively.
Get out there and shoot now. You can’t get these shots in the middle of summer!
Posted in Architecture, Cameras, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Landscape, Learning Photography | No Responses »
Tags: architectural photography, Cameras, Creativity, Digital Photography, landscape photography, learn photography, Photography in Snow, teach photography
Written by stuestler on February 4th, 2010
Just finished a week of photography covering the Washington Auto Show. This assignment is for the client who produces the show itself, and is largely public relations oriented. We shoot the special events that go on during the show, as well as the day-to-day activities, the public enjoying the auto displays, checking out the new cars.
In some ways PR photography can be one of the most challenging to make interesting, as the subject is often someone speaking at a podium in front of a group. Sometimes the speaker is the shot – a notable who’s presence is the newsworthy event. Other times having the speaker in context with a display showing the topic of his talk helps provide creative elements for a photo.
In one of the more interesting displays at this show, one of the auto makers had a cut-away car with the body shell split down the middle. The two halves spread open revealing the interior, frame, engine and all the insides of the car. The show attendees could get in the car, with a product specialist, and the body closed, all while the specialist described the many features of the vehicle.
It looked great, and would have been an easy capture in video, but getting still photos that described the process provided a bit of a challenge. Open, the body halves and interior looked like a static display, and closed it just looked like a car. A single shot of the vehicle closing still looked like a static display.
I used post processing in Photoshop to help solve this one. I set up the camera on a steady tripod, and did a series of shots. The first was the display open, with the people inside. I then shot several exposures of the car closing, until it was completely closed. Each individual shot looked like this:
I first tried using the PhotoMerge tool to see what happened, but as I suspected it would, it just ended up with the open and closed frames merged together.
I then opened each photo in Photoshop, and one at a time dragged each successive shot onto the next. I created a Layer Mask and with a low opacity brush erased some of the area where the car was closing in the underlying frame. That was flattened and dragged onto the next closing frame, and the process repeated. The final image looks like this:
This is a process very similar to the one I use when combining exposures of architectural interiors, and with a little practice it’s actually quite simple. The students who take my classes discover that it’s simpler and quicker to do this than to describe it!
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Tags: architectural photography, Cameras, Digital Photography, event photography, interior photography, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, Photoshop, teach photography
Written by stuestler on January 17th, 2010
Wow, it’s been a busy week, with another coming right along.
Last Saturday started it off with the Kids & Parents Photo Class. The introductory class was geared toward the kids – 11 to 15 year olds – and the parents came along to share the experience and learn alongside each other. Of course, with today’s tech-savvy kids, it’s likely that they were explaining it again to the parents that evening!
We went over the basics of using their cameras – point & shoots – and a little on light and composition. Next we all went outside and practiced what they learned. Then we came back in the classroom and looked at some photo editing techniques, using software like Google’s Picasa.
The parents told me that the kids went home and took photos all afternoon!
That was followed up during the week with the first of two Home Photography Clinics, this one held in Potomac, Maryland, aimed at professionals in the real estate industry who take their own photos for their listings.
While I still make my living as an architectural photographer, it’s obvious that every photo of every home on the market doesn’t justify a budget of hiring a professional like myself. Many clients over the years have asked about how to take better photos themselves, so I’ve put together a two-day workshop to teach some tips and techniques for improving their photos, without all the expensive and complex equipment that I use.
We started with camera basics – many people at this level are using their cameras on the totally automatic settings, and just taking the camera off “the green” and learning how to control it yourself goes a long way towards improving your results.
We talked a bit about equipment – at least an entry-level SLR is really best – plus adding a wide angle lens and a hot shoe flash to allow bouncing and diffusing light.
And of course using a tripod! I’m a big proponent of using a tripod for just about any photo situation you can. It makes it much easier to get sharp pictures in any condition, and frees you up from worrying about too-slow shutter speeds and too-high and noisy ISO’s.
Then we talked about the qualities and colors of light, and how they all play a key role in the success of a photo. Light should always be the first consideration, not an afterthought.
We followed that up with a look at some basics of composition and design elements, like the Rule of Thirds and using lines – especially the power of diagonal lines – to move the eye through the picture and capture the viewer’s attention.
The first day finished up with some considerations and techniques especially useful for architectural-type shooting. We talked about perspective distortion and parallel lines. And about how to tame the typical ultra-high contrast lighting situations found when photographing interiors.
The second day began with the participants practicing the techniques learned on day one. I hold the workshops in a house to give the students an opportunity to try these techniques right away and ask questions.
Finally we went over some very useful post processing methods that make life in the digital age so much easier.
Shooting in RAW is the first thing to consider to make the process of adjusting images on the computer easier and more efficient. This is another reason for choosing an SLR – even most of the entry level models have RAW capture, while only some advanced digital and few point & shoots allow this.
White balancing an interior space illuminated by mixed light sources can be a time-consuming and complicated task with film and even when shooting JPEGS in camera. With Raw processing it becomes a one-click process, with maybe a little slider adjustment to fine tune things. True, some RAW processing software like Adobe Camera Raw allows white balance adjustments on JPEGS, but this feature is often not found on the more economical entry-level programs.
While critical perspective control is still best done with specialty PC lenses (or a view camera), the ability to quickly adjust for keystoning in programs like Photoshop will instantly take photos of both exteriors and interiors up to a level far above the average real estate listing snapshots.
And the ability to bracket exposures and combine them in post-processing is a tremendously useful means of overcoming too-contrasty lighting conditions. With a bit of practice it soon becomes a quick and simple method of taming extreme highlights and shadows, without the greater learning curve and specialty software required for true HDR images.
Everyone who participated was truly excited to start using their new-found skills, and this week we’ll repeat the workshop with another group in Northern Virginia. Those students are already calling with eager questions and requests!
Posted in Architecture, Cameras, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Photoshop, Technology, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: architectural photography, Cameras, Digital Photography, Fill Flash, Flash, helping young people, interior photography, kids, learn photography, photography workshops, real estate photography, travel photography
Written by stuestler on December 21st, 2009
The workshop pace picked up on Friday and into Saturday, culminating in the presentation of the project designs to the client, Hospitalito Atitlan. The client was blown away! The group came up with five different potential designs, and the hospital is trying to decide which one to use. They are all outstanding works.
After the client presentation just about everyone relaxed at a party along the lakefront. Unfortunately, it was about that time that some evil bug got hold of me. I won’t go into details on the chills and my other experiences of the afternoon and evening – let’s just say the bug had me confined to quarters for the duration, and I missed the party and the final dinner that evening.
What a great group though – after the dinner everyone came up to my room to check on me and say goodbye. We really come together like a family at these workshops, and the last day is an emotional mix of elation over the success of the week and the sadness that it’s over.
After a long day of travel on Sunday I arrived back home in Maryland, and picked right up on Monday where I had left off on shooting an annual report for one of my clients. Then, just to really make the point that I wasn’t in Guatemala anymore. The now famous “Blizzard of 2009” embraced us this weekend here in the Mid-Atlantic.
What a dichotomy – one Saturday walking through Santiago as Christmas festivities were in full swing, complete with a palm-leaf tree in the town square. The next, just a week later, buried in 20” of snow!
It makes the prospect of the next Design4Kids workshop in June that much more inviting. We’re considering a “Master Class” for the more advanced, experienced Fotokids. Keep tuned here and at www.Design4Kids for more to come on this workshop. And if you have the talents and experience to share – in photography, graphic design, marketing, entrepreneurship – seriously consider in joining us as a volunteer mentor. There’s no way I can fully describe the incredible fulfillment and richness of emotion that comes from working with these kids.
Feel free to contact me for more info.
Posted in Candids, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: candid photography, Creativity, Digital Photography, helping young people, kids, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, teach photography, travel photography, volunteer
Written by stuestler on December 10th, 2009
Back in the classroom this morning with an explanation of depth of field and using the aperture for creative control. We worked with “the girls” today on the photography side – it just happens that the girls in the group have less photo training, while the boys are more experienced, and we’ve divided the class into beginners and advanced.
After a short in-class presentation and a few examples, we went outside and practiced the techniques – definitely the best way to really learn and understand how to do it. Everyone loves the opportunity to play and experiment with the camera.
Then back inside for the next lesson – fill flash. We did double photo sessions with the same group today while the other group was doing screen printing on the graphic design side, and will do the same tomorrow with the boys working with us on photography.
It was a natural segue from aperture to understanding the use of fill flash both indoors and outside. It’s natural for beginners to simply use flash as the primary light source and blast away. Once you see the subtle natural results from balancing flash with available light, you really begin to get excited about the possibilities for creative control.
The kids really got into shooting photos of each other with the flash – they played like paparazzi and stars! This group is an amazingly talented bunch of kids, and they devour every new concept we present them.
The afternoon was project work. The concepts are set and the posters are really coming along. Only a day and a half before they present the final designs to the client.
Tomorrow we’ll see how the boys do with depth of field and fill flash. The girls have set the bar!
Posted in Cameras, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Portrait, Technology, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Cameras, Creativity, Digital Photography, Fill Flash, Flash, helping young people, kids, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, teach photography, travel photography
Written by stuestler on December 9th, 2009
Today the group took a break from the teaching and project work and went for a day trip across the lake to Panajachel. The largest town on Lago Atitlan, Pana, as its often known, is the tourist and ex-pat mecca of the Atitlan area. This makes for a busy and photo-op rich environment.
One on Pana’a attributes is that all three of Atitlan’s volcanos – Vuncans Atitlan, San Pedro and Toliman are all visible from the town’s harbor. Heading up into town and all streets are predictably lined with shops offering local clothing, jewelry and all manner of souvenirs. It’s a colorful gauntlet, and if the shops don’t entice you the street vendors are always there with their offerings.
But we weren’t there to shop. Bree Hankinson, who runs the Fotokids program in Santiago, created The Amazing Photo Race for the kids (and the mentors). We teamed up in teams of three and went out into the town to solve a cryptic list of photo assignments. It made for some very creative thinking and rewarding inter-cultural teamwork between the kids and mentors. Not to mention some interesting interpretations and translations of the photo list!
Tomorrow its back to class and work on the project.
Posted in Cameras, Candids, Creativity, Digital Photography, Portrait, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Cameras, candid photography, Creativity, Digital Photography, helping young people, kids, landscape photography, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, teach photography, travel photography, volunteer
Written by stuestler on December 8th, 2009
We began the day with the less experienced kids in the group, and introduced them to the basics of exposure control – aperture, shutter and ISO, and the relationships between them. These kids have worked with digital point & shoot cameras and have a respectable grounding in composition, and this shows them how to get consistent, predictable results in their photos.
We had them shoot a bracket from -2 to +2 and then showed them how to import their images into Lightroom and make adjustments to their photos, recovering much of their under- and over-exposed frames.
It’s exciting to see the lights come on when the concepts sink in and they “get it”. Ana, one of the girls from “the city” (as Guatemala City is know down here) observed that the shot she liked best wasn’t the “correct” metered exposure – recognizing that having the skills to control the exposure allows you to interpret your image the way you visualize the final result.
Next we repeated the two classes with the more experienced members of the group. While most of them claimed to understand the use of aperture and shutter, it was clear that they all had only a little experience in applying the concepts of manual exposure control in their photos. Once they realized what they really can do by making the camera do what they want, they got totally into the process as well.
Tomorrow is an “excursion day” – no structured classes, but rather a creative play day, with activities that allow the kids to apply and practice the concepts and techniques they’re learning this week. Can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Posted in Cameras, Candids, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Photoshop, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Cameras, candid photography, Creativity, Digital Photography, helping young people, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, Photoshop, teach photography, travel photography, volunteer
Written by stuestler on December 7th, 2009
The third Design4Kids workshop began in earnest today in Santiago de Atitlan, Guatemala.
After the travel day on Saturday, staying overnight in Antigua, and the half-day drive to Santiago de Atitlan on Sunday followed by the opening introductions, today saw the first full day of the workshop.
The group traveled to the Hospitalito Atitlan, the clients for this workshop, to meet the doctor and staff and discuss the design project. The workshop will focus on designing a poster or series of posters to create awareness of diabetes and it’s consequences among the local population.
Not only does Guatemala have the dubious distinction of having the highest number of amputations from diabetes complications in the world, but the disease, its causes and methods of prevention are not widely understood by much of the population
The rest of the day was spent creating a pan for the project and assigning teams who will work on several potential options for the client.
Tomorrow the classes begin, with workshop director Jeff Speigner teaching graphic design, and Eric Lolkema and I teaching photo techniques and post production. Everyone is excited and ready to get to work, and this promises to be another fantastic week.
Posted in Cameras, Candids, Composition, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Cameras, Creativity, Digital Photography, helping young people, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, travel photography, volunteer
Written by stuestler on November 28th, 2009
I’m making the final preparations for the third Design4Kids workshop in Santiago de Atitlan, Guatemala. Leaving in just a week! Eric, Jeff and I have become the core group of instructors there, and we’re really coming together as a team. Naturally it helps that all of us have the same passion – teaching the skills we have to give these kids an opportunity to develop a career path and success for themselves.
The kids come away from the week with much more than new technical skills. They learn how to work with a client and create a project from conception to delivery. They develop abilities that will help them grow in every area of their lives. The creative processes that they learn and develop through photography and graphic design give them insight into creative problem-solving thinking that they’ll use in everything they do.While it’s certainly a good thing to give people something they’re without and will use up right away – food, medicine, and the like – it’s a tremendous feeling to give them knowledge that they will use to become self-sufficient and productive for life. It’s truly “teaching them how to fish” rather than just giving them a fish to feed them for a day.
The more I teach, the more excited I am about teaching becoming a greater part of my life. Both at the workshops, and also in the classes I conduct back here at home, it’s a fantastic feeling to see how much enjoyment and value people receive from what I have to give. I’ve added a parent & kid class in January so that young (11-15 year old) people & a parent can learn some photography basics together. It’s already filling – really popular!
I do intend to post more frequent updates from Guatemala this trip. Keep checking in, and spread the word!
Posted in Cameras, Creativity, Digital Photography, Learning Photography, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Creativity, helping young people, learn photography, people photography, photography workshops, teach photography, travel photography, volunteer
Written by stuestler on November 8th, 2009
Finally! After four months, I’ve uploaded the photos from the June Design4Kids workshop to my website. Much of that time was waiting for the site to be up and running. Take a look at www.stuestler.com – look around the site and let me know what you think.
In case you haven’t seen my earlier posts on the workshop, Design4Kids is a group of volunteers from the photography, graphic design and marketing world who volunteer and get together to teach creative, business and life skills to groups of young people in Guatemala.
We’re affiliated with Fotokids, a non-profit organization teaching photography in several programs within Guatemala and now Honduras. Every six months a select group of these talented young people are selected to come with us to Santiago de Atitlan for a week-long workshop, where they actually work with a client to produce a marketing or promotional piece.The goal of the workshops is to help the kids develop the skills and knowledge to operate their own design studio. That is now a reality, in the form of Jarakamba – a studio with offices in Santiago and Guatemala City.
We’re less than a month away from the next workshop, scheduled for December 5th thru the 13th. We’ve all been working tirelessly to prepare a program to help the students succeed, and the excitement is building. Check in for new updates as the day arrives!
For more information:
www.design4kids.org
www.fotokids.org
Posted in Composition, Creativity, Learning Photography, Travel, photography workshops | No Responses »
Tags: Digital Photography, helping young people, kids, learn photography, photography workshops, teach photography, travel photography, volunteer
