written by: David H. WellsHere are some ideas to help you make better travel photographs: 1. Arrive early, stay late! The best parts of many events often happen before or after the main event. 2. Ask yourself, why am I taking pictures? Do your photos record a mood, hold a good memory, or simply as a marker of your presence? 3. “Work” the situations. When I am working, I may only photograph a few situations but I work those in many different ways till the image says just what I want. 4. What is the best position or angle? I often try to get Read more »
written by: David H. Wellsphoto technique and Photo Synesi (photosynesi.com) have teamed up to offer subscribers a discount on an individual portfolio review by David H. Wells based on the assignment “A Personal Project”. Subscribers can get $9 off * a $19 Snap photo review. To get your $9 off look for the special code that begins with PTPS on your mailing label. Digital subscribers will find their code on the email that announces your dig- ital issue. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today at phototechmag. com ! WHAT TO SUBMIT Submit ten photos from ONE personal project via the Photo Synesi site. After registration, Read more »
written by: David H. WellsWhile getting paid to be a photographer is certainly one measure of accomplishment, in my experience, the ultimate challenge for a photographer is the personal project. To appreciate this, remember how the first step for many serious photographers was to develop the skills to successfully photograph/capture any kind of subject. The next step for some was to go pro and get paid for doing photography. Making a set of images which tell a story from your point of view, under your own direction (rather than to just satisfy a paying client) is a process that is even more challenging and Read more »
written by: David H. WellsMost people think of freezing a moment in time as the best way to make a great photograph. Using a high shutter speed to stop action is one way of conveying time in a photograph, but other ways, when used correctly, can be just as compelling. Panning and blurring are the other ways to convey a feeling of time in a photograph. What do they have in common? They both involve slower shutter speeds. The art of panning is all about moving the camera with the subject, so that it appears sharp and the background becomes blurred. An example of Read more »
written by: David H. WellsI photograph a lot at twilight at the end of the day. It is arguably my favorite time for photographing. The other time of day that I love photographing is in the early morning light. Though most photographers talk about afternoon light as their favorite, I am not one of them. I like the afternoon light as much as the next photographer, but twilight and early morning, those are the best. The ideal twilight photograph has magical color in the sky, usually, blue or purple though sometime it can be orange too. This sky usually plays off of an equally compelling Read more »
written by: David H. WellsHistograms and digital imaging…hearing those words puts most photographers to sleep, which is too bad. With a little attention and practice, any photographer can understand and use histograms to give us the best exposure possible for digital image files. A histogram is a graphical representation of the distribution of data, commonly used in the world of statistics. It is, according to Wikipedia, one of the basic tools of quality control. In photography, it serves the same purpose, with the horizontal axis telling us how the tones of our images from solid black to solid white are distributed. The vertical axis Read more »
Copyright & Model Releases
written by: David H. WellsModel releases and copyright seem to be the source of more confusion than almost any other aspects of commercial photography. Though the law in both areas is quite well established (in the U.S.), all sorts of new and insidious ideas are being bandied about on the Internet, which are to the detriment of photographers (as well as morally and legally wrong). Most of what many people read (and say) about model releases and copyright on the Internet is dubious. I am not a lawyer. So do not consider this legal advice. But I am a photographer and a teacher. As Read more »
written by: David H. WellsI have been photographing seriously for almost four decades. Over those forty years I have honed in on the one thing any photographer can do to improve their photography. It does not involve a new piece of gear or imaging software. Rather it is simply to learn how to “work” the situations they encounter when photographing. What do I mean by “working” a situation? I mean taking many pictures of the same situation till you get the one you want. I am not talking about snapping blindly as you go. I am talking about using the various photographic tools available Read more »
written by: David H. WellsUnderstanding histograms is the key to getting a good exposure in digital photography. In this podcast, I walk you through the basics of the histogram. I show images of histograms (and scenes I have photographed.) Understanding histograms is the key to mastering exposure, which is at the heart of good photography. Follow the link to watch the instructional video/podcast by David H. Wells: http://thewellspoint.com/an-introduction-to-histograms/
