It’s December so it’s time to think about some holiday presents for my family. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I considered giving my brothers, sister, and sons a Christmas present that I created with my photographs – a photo calendar. You might remember from my last post that I said, “I’m not taking great photos but I am taking much better photos than a year ago – even my wife thinks my photos are better.” And if my wife thinks my photos are much better then they must actually be good enough to put on a calendar for my family. So I went to Lightroom to find a dozen photos to use in my calendar.
If you haven’t ever used Lightroom you should give it a chance for a number of reasons. The most common explanation for using Lightroom is the power it has to edit photos – like Photoshop only a lot less complicated. But I have found that Lightroom allows me to build a library that makes it easy to find my favorite photos. So yesterday I used the collections I had created to identify the photos I wanted to use for the calendar. As I started picking photos I remembered that about two years ago my wife and I had taken trips to the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Arches. Ah-ha, I bet there are some good photos in those collections that I can use in the calendar.
But no, there weren’t many good photos even though I thought they were quite good at the time. It didn’t take me long to get smacked in the face with a very clear message – my wife was correct (and no husband who has been married more than 40 years ever wants to admit his wife is correct) … my photos are much better now than they were a year ago. But why? What makes my photos from late in 2015 better than the ones in early 2015, or the photos from 2013? Ah-ha, here is something to share on my journey. I went back to read my last post and here is the key message I shared, “I believe reflection is important in everything we learn. I have found that I am better at learning to be a photographer if I take time to reflect on what I have learned.”
And this fits in perfectly. In a sense, I have been “photographer” all my adult life. I’ve taken thousands of pictures since I was in high school and most, if not all, of my pictures were snap-shots of family and vacations and events. In the last year my pictures have become photographs, and the photographs have become much better. Why? What have I learned? And since this learning has worked for me, could it work for you? Yesterday I took time to reflect on what I have learned by going back and looking at photographs from a couple years ago. I was very surprised to find that the photos from two years ago that I rated as “good” (Lightroom allows me to rate all my photos) I would rate as barely OK. I did find that I could “clean-up” some of those photos in Lightroom. But I could only do a mild clean-up since the photos were taken in .JPG, and I’ve learned to take all my photos in RAW. I can’t explain everything that I have learned – oh my, not even close. But I can post some photos with some explanations.
OK Randy, Give us some Examples with Photos
I read a lot of photography books and some of them I read and re-read. As I learn more about photography I can get more from my favorite books the second or third time I read them. One of my favorite photographers to read is Bryan Peterson (who runs the Bryan Peterson School of Photography at www. BPSOP.com). I have read his book Learning to See Creatively many times and I just happened to be reading it again last night when I came across this quote which explains a key change in how I shoot photographs now, “When asked what kind of photographs command the most attention, my answer is always the same. They’re successful because they’re limited to a single theme or idea – and they’re always organized without clutter. Amateurs, in their haste to record the image, end up with pictures that often have too many points of interest.” Every time I read that I think about how I should make sure I implement it into my own photography. But it isn’t easy to remember, especially in an environment that is as panoramic and beautiful as a National Park. Let me give you some examples.
Grand Canyon National Park
At the end of the day when my friends and I were on the photo shoot in Yellowstone with Henry Holdsworth the sky had gotten overcast. But Henry gave us a line to remember: “When the sky is white, shoot it tight. When the sky is blue, it’s up to you.” Pretty simple idea to remember and apply when the sky is overcast. I must admit I haven’t always remembered that great line on overcast days, but when we were in the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) I never ever considered how boring the sky was because I was looking at the incredible beauty of the Grand Canyon.
These two photos are not exactly the same but taking the “boring sky” out of the picture sure does help. Waiting for the sun to cast a little light on some of the canyon could have had even more of an impact. Waiting for the right light is critical to good photos and can make some photos great – but not this one. One other thing I learned from my Grand Canyon photos is that when we are surrounded by the incredible beauty of nature we easily forget the importance of narrowing the point of interest. I like the photo below much better because I have decreased “the clutter.”
Double Arch at Arches National Park
On to Arches National Park, with many tempting vistas; Wow, look how beautiful this scenery is? And the sky is blue, so it is up to me. But did I really need all this sky and all that sage brush?
Arches National Park is really great for photography because the park is small and conveniently located (a 5-10 minute drive from Moab which makes it an easy drive for sunrise) with over 2,000 arches that are from 3’ to over 300’ wide. It’s tempting to take thousands of shots. But what makes those pictures into good photographs? Probably the most important ingredient I tried to learn in 2015 was composition and in 2013 I didn’t have many compositional skills to fall back upon.
The original shot of Double Arch isn’t bad. But is that sky necessary and what does the sagebrush add to the photo? In 2015 I’ve worked at cutting out distractions and clutter; thank you Bryan. And Henry taught me to pay attention to the edges to avoid drawing the viewers attention away from what you are trying to get the viewer to focus upon. In 2013 I didn’t have any idea what I was trying to get the viewer to focus upon; Hey this is a great environment, enjoy it like I am enjoying it. For the revised photo #2 I have taking out the blue sky at the top and most of the sagebrush at the bottom. That cropping decreases the distractions and helps focus the viewer on the texture and contrasting colors.
North Window in Arches National Park
The Windows Section in Arches is amazing. You can walk around the North and South Windows to place the sunrise and/or sunset to highlight the beauty. In 2013 I didn’t realize how important exact sun placement was for composition, but I did get there for sunrise and was amazed at the desert environment. There was sagebrush all around with gnarled juniper trees that looked like they were hundreds of years old. Oh boy, will those juniper trees add to my photographs. Well, maybe.
There were beautiful wispy cloud and a deep blue sky in the background with great texture in the juniper tree. But the photo (above) was too busy. There are all those wispy clouds; should the viewer focus on the clouds? And those roots and all that sand in the foreground; should the viewer focus on the foreground? I think I wanted the viewer to focus on the arch but honestly I can’t be sure. Cropping out much of the sky and the foreground (below) seems to help. And the juniper tree limbs have some leading lines to the arch. This photo is still pretty busy without a clear focus point. And you know what? I hope that reflecting on this photo will help me when I am taking photos in the future. There needs to be a clear focal point and the composition needs to lead the viewers eye to that point.
Balanced Rock in Arches National Park
Certainly composure is one of the most important aspect of my photographic improvement in 2015. But I would be remiss if I didn’t address what I have learned about Lightroom from my colleagues at the Teton Photography Group (TPG). Back-in-the-day I thought of post-processing as “cheating” where the photographer changed how the scene actually looked. But one of my first memories from the TPG was when someone asked if I had ever worked in a darkroom and if I had burned and dodged a B&W photo. If it were OK to make changes to a B&W photo in a darkroom, would it be OK for color in Lightroom? I didn’t need to answer that question and a few minutes later I was convinced to always shoot in RAW.
There is a slight compositional difference between the photo above and below. But the most significant difference is in the “pop” in the photo below. There is a slightly better composition in the photo below with a better foreground and the tall rock on the right gives some balance and framing. But the key is the deep blue in the sky and red and clarity in the rock on the sides and in the foreground. Honestly, the photo below actually reflects the color and clarity of that early morning in 2013.
Near Double Arch in Arches National Park
Not only does Lightroom allow us to crop and add saturation and clarity it also allows photographers to clean-up problems like spots in the sky (I’ve gotten better at not allowing spots but they happen) or lens flare.
I’m not quite to the skill level where I can clean-up all the lens flare, but I’m learning. I can’t say the photo below is a great shot, but it certainly is an improvement. And if I were to be there today I would have waited for the cloud in the lower left corner to have moved more into the center of the blue sky between the rocks. I’ve learned a lot in 2015.
What did I learn to Make the Jump ?
Where should I start. Let me start by saying I believe I have made a huge jump in the past year. I can’t pin-point the one or two variables that have brought about most of the change but I can give you a list of the four or five ingredients in the journey that seem to have made the most improvement. Will these help you to have a better journey? I can’t say for sure but I would sure like to hear from you (in the comments) to tell me and the readers, what has worked for you. Here are my top 4 or 5 explanations:
Time behind the Lens – “The dozen” almost all pointed this out as key variables in their growth, and I fully agree. I must admit that being retired has given me the opportunity to have time behind my camera and post-process on my computer. Everyone has the same number of hours in a week but some of us have an easier access to those hours.
Composition – You can read books and take photography and art classes to increase your understanding of composition. And I have found that Bryan Peterson’s comments about avoiding the clutter is maybe the most helpful single idea to remember. But maybe that is because I live an hour from an incredible National Park. Keep it Simple Silly (KISS) works but it is easy to forget when the view seems so beautiful.
Take Time to Reflect on Your Past Photos – As we grow as photographers it is likely that our photos will improve – but will you recognize that if your wife/husband/friends don’t mention it to you? Going back to my past photos and seeing that in 2013 I rated some as 4-star photos was eye opening. I’ve realized I am a better photographer now, but why? Reflecting on those photographs from 2013 helps me to recognize what I have done to make my photos better.
Shooting with Other Photographers – Remember that I did not bring my photos to my first visit to the Teton Photograph Group. I thought their critique would rip my photos to pieces. But I was wrong. At the time I had never gone out on a photo shoot with anyone; I was probably worried I would look like a fool. But in the last year I have changed my attitude and approach completely. I would love to go out with a fellow photographer every week and it would be a huge bonus if we could sit down and share the photos we took with one another. To do that you need to find a peer you are comfortable with to take photos, AND are willing to share your photos and ideas about what is good photography.
Building a Peer Mentor Partnership – Through the TPG I have found a photography partner. Mario and I try to go out for a shoot at least once a month to talk about photography, find places to take good sunrise photography shots, and share our photographic experience and preferences. In many ways we are very different: I’m probably 30 years older than Mario and we come from very different cultures. But we share one thing that is usually the topic of the 3 or 4 hours we spend together early on Saturday morning – we love to take landscape photographs. Neither of us are expert photographers but we can learn many things from one another. That we can help one another makes us peer mentors.
Randy’s Goal for 2016
There have been many experiences that have helped me improve as a photographer in 2015. Two key variables were the Teton Photography Group and creating this blog – both made me think and reflect on learning how to be a better photographer. I hope that my blog may have helped you to think about how you might become a better photographer. I’d like to conclude 2015 with a new suggestion for becoming a better photographer that could help anyone but I am specifically addressing it to anyone who lives within about an hour of Jackson WY. I’d like to start a Peer Mentor Program within the Teton Photography Group.
As a educational psychology professor I started a peer mentor program for my students. About 25 years ago I had a significant number of students who were having a lot of trouble in my class. At the end of one semester I talked with a group of students about helping out by offering small study groups for the students who were doing poorly. Within a couple years I had a couple dozen exceptional students leading study groups in which every student was enrolled – they were called peer mentor study groups. For the next 20 years I studied the impact of peer mentor learning – and boy did it work. I would like to apply what I learned about peer mentors to the learning of amateur photographers.
If you are in the Teton Photography Group and are interested in participating, please get in touch with me at risaacso@iusb.edu. The plan at this time is to work the Peer Mentor Photography Program into the Informal Critiques this winter/spring. But I may also be able to extend this to folks who can only participate on-line, so if you are interested please let me know.
Any comments on this post, or any 2015 post, would be greatly appreciated.
Randy, I like what you have discovered about yourself and what the process of taking pictures. Yes, I agree that in photographs there is usually too much clutter. Your second or cleaned up shots I like much better. Kudos to you. I too am learning from your post, although I am not as avid a photographer as you were. When I entered the Army (drafted in 1968), I became extremely interested in photographer and purchased my first 35mm camera. Looking back at the slides I took, there are many I still like (my photographer son who finished his M.F.A. at the School Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has used them as collages or in altered form in some of his own photographic work.
Keep up the good work and keep the study groups going. Shared learning is a powerful tool. By the way, count me in as one of your “relatives” for your photo calendar. 🙂
Alfred
As always, thanks for your comments. I have really enjoyed being a photographer this year and never would have expected to improve like I have. The cause of my improvement in photography is fairly similar to improvement in most cognitive task: practice, reflection on what caused the improvement, informative feedback, and willingness to work with others. Improvement ain’t easy but how to do it makes sense after-the-fact. Pass my blog address off to your photography son (Paul?). I’d love to get some feedback from him.
This post really called my name! 2015 was largely a waste as far as my own efforts in photography went. My camera was used far too rarely, and when I did take it out, my efforts were often half hearted. The resulting images were uninspired, far from some of the creative work of several years ago. So unlike you, I feel like I have lost ground. But that isn’t all bad. I feel challenged by your words. If I can focus on your bullet points and get back out there, I know there will be some good captures ahead. Now if I could just come to terms with post processing I might get somewhere!
Betty, thanks for the kind words. I am glad my words were challenging since that is always the goal of a teacher, to challenge all their “students.” At first I was also challenged (actually frustrated is probably a better word) by post-processing but I have grown in that area also. I found Scott Kelby’s book (Lightroom 5; Book for digital photography) to be a helpful aid in time of need and taking a face-to-face class to be even better. Both were WELL worth the time and $ since overcoming that challenge helped me improve all my photos and let me see what I needed to do with composition etc.
Great article, Randy!
I have been to workshops where we have been told to plan on spending 2-3 hours at a location and be sure to turn around and take in everything because a great shot might be behind you.
I didn’t realize I was so “brave” to bring photos to be critiqued to that first meeting!!!