Since March of 2009 I have been keeping a notebook of clippings from the photo magazines I have subscribed to, at present they are Popular Photography and American Photo. I strongly recommend this for everyone; it's a great way to stay inspired and keep things to try around. Popular Photography is geared towards tips, techniques and gear, American Photo is more of a chronicle of photography in America, featuring photographers, their work and stories and the culture in general. I also recommend Digital Photo Pro, though the covers and feature articles can be what I consider smutty, their articles are really outstanding.
I also though a few articles from Digital Photography School have been pretty good this week, so if you haven't been there yet, let me point you to them more directly. We'll start with the clippings, though.
This month's all come from American Photo. The first is a line from a Joe McNally article about using a single flash for portraiture: "...in the natural world, as we all know, there's only one light source: the sun. And Mother Nature does just fine with it. Photographers, take note." This is the second article I've read in nearly as many months that talk about using flash to emulate the sun. Makes sense, no?
The second is a quote from Robert Voit, in an article on his work photographing cell tower "trees": "I'm not so blue-eyed as to think that I can change anything in the world with my pictures...It's just big fun to point out these things that go on in our world. The craziness is so funky, you don't need Photoshop." Not only do I agree, but anyone who tells me I don't need Photoshop gets kudos from me!
Next is from an article on Sandra Phillips, senior curator of photography at the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art who said, "The language in which we have framed photography—we 'catch' a subject or 'shoot' a person—has a kind of aggressiveness that hasn't been fully understood. And I discovered that in the 19th century, when the camera was made portable and small enough to conceal, there was an immense wave of people making photographs without acknowledging their subjects—much like with cell-phone technology now." I think this is just how photography is, and will likely always be, but it is interesting to think of how we can de-humanize our subjects and turn photography into something cynical. For me, this will be something to guard against.
Another quote came from Kevin King, inventor of the Radio Popper: "...I was always willing to stop to find out, 'well, how hard is it really?' before deciding I couldn't do it. You might discover the solution is a lot easier than you thought." I need to apply this thinking to all of life, but it certainly couldn't hurt my photography!
Lastly, their winner of the photojournalism category for photos of the year is Jen Judge, whose picture of a nurse with a Haitian child with cerebral paulsey really struck me. No words for this one, just incredible images!
I don't feel that my clips from Popular Photography are worth posting, but they did have some great images to showcase highly recommended lenses that have caused me to add them to my wish list, like Nikon's 24-70 f/2.8 ED and their 14-24 f/2.8 ED. Did I say "wish list"? I meant the "when I win the lotto list".
For you zoo frequenters, there was a great photo of a lion that won the December photo challenge, taken by Martin Knippel, who said that "the animals always look so bored. It's a challenge to give them a spark of personality." So next time you're at the zoo, take that challenge for yourself.
This month's challenge is to take a household item and turn it into an abstract photograph. I'm working on this one.
As for those Digital Photography School articles, the first is one for all you who are curious or on the fence about shooting RAW files instead of jpeg's. I can tell you, once you do and see the benefits in your editing, you won't go back! However, if you don't edit at all then you may want to stick with what works for you. Either way, check out this article for some thoughts on the matter, some tutorials and free editing software.
There was also an excellent article on enhancing your creativity. Since one of the recommendations is "break the rules", I think this one is for those who know and follow the "rules" already, so if you don't, don't take this as license not to learn them!
This might be my favorite article today, one on how to stop being a "luck photographer". It involves a lot of "learn" and "try" points, so be prepared if you're serious about starting to take pictures "on purpose"!
The last and most recent is another on boosting your creativity, excuse me, your "creative mojo". This one is a bit more practical, and will encourage you to get out and shoot.
I hope these are helpful; they are to me!
-JMo
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