Marco Ryan – Travel and Landscape photography
This is the third post in a series of four, that shares some of the detailed advice, critique and recommendations that Ami Vitale gave me during a Compelling Image Portfolio Review. Do read the other posts – Slowing Down and Having a reason to be there, because Ami’s advice is so helpful, motivating and objective, that as a result of that one hour process with her I now think completely differently about how I approach visual storytelling, and I suspect there may be some nuggets of information that you might find useful too.
This post is all about how she advised me to overcome the technical frustrations and lack of experience that I believed were holding me back.
Books such as Within the Frame by David duChemin, have helped people like me – hobbyists, amateurs, semi-pros whatever label you choose – to understand the criticality of the right blend of technical mastery (the craft) and vision – the ability to use that craft visually to express a compelling story. This mix of craft and vision is David’s sweet-spot, but I also find it helpful to think of it in a slightly different way – the science and art of photography respectively.
For me, the science of photography is the tools, techniques and rules of photography. This might be the film speed, the aperture, the lens selected, the shutter-speed chosen or the camera body used, for example. It might be the use of hot shoe flash to enhance a light source or knowing that selecting f2.8 over f16 will have an immediate effect on depth of field, color tone, the available shutter speed and the ISO required to ensure the correct exposure. Other examples might include: understanding how to meter correctly, or how to do panning shots, or what the rule of thirds is. They are all important because they allow you to execute the image technically. And there is a fairly exhaustive list that covers “how” to take the picture.
The art of photography though is the “Why to” take the picture. What aesthetic am I trying to convey with this image? What is the story we are telling and what is the right context to show? Once these are clear then you work on the “how to” – the science of executing that vision. Having mastery over the science allows you the freedom and confidence to experiment, to break the rules, to innovate. Photographers are creative by nature and use different visual effects to tell their story. They use light, contrast, color, pattern, motion, stability; They capture emotion, sentiment, empathy, compassion, humanity. They achieve this by having the skill, experience and confidence that mastery of the craft allows them. But it is the “why” they are taking that picture that will be differentiating.
In my review with Ami, we spent over 50% of our time exploring the “why” – what aesthetic was a I creating? what story was I telling? why was I there? Why had I composed the shot in that way, or selected that lens? Only towards the end of our time together did we explore where I thought my technique was holding me back or frustrating me. As I began to discuss this with her, I realized that I was being very “left brain” about how I took my images. I kept looking at everything from a very logical, procedural approach, worrying about technique. It was limiting me. For example I would think that when I had mastered metering complex lighting, only then could I advance to take shots that could utilize this technique or when I had mastered the technical aspects of panning, only then I could focus on getting great dynamic or motion shots. Ami helped me to reverse that perspective and see the technical challenges in the context of the artistic need. Most of my barriers, I realized were self-imposed. Whilst I thought I was squandering the great photographic opportunities provided to me by living in Cairo because technically I was not competent enough, ironically the reality was that I was squandering them because I was not thinking artistically. I wasn’t focused on the humanity, the story telling, the environment or the aesthetics. Until I do that, my images would not be differentiating.
If we look at the image of the young boy in a mosque (above left), you can see that the highlights are a little blown out on his shirt. It spoils what otherwise would be a very powerful image. I let the excitement of the moment – discovering this boy sitting in a shaft of light with all the others around him focusing on getting to evening prayers – get the better of me. Although I bracketed and tried different types of metering to cover my bases, I wasn’t really in full control. I was doing what the books told me to do, and I understood why I had to do that but my actions were not based on experience or deep understanding. But when it mattered, under pressure, it wasn’t second nature, and so inevitably my image needed rescuing in Lightroom afterwards – and even then I cant really overcome that clipping. Ami’s cure for this was very simple. Just get to the point where the camera is just an extension of you. Every time you leave the house take your camera with you. It doesn’t always have to be a pro DSLR, but ideally take the camera you want to become really familiar with, put an unobtrusive lens on it and go a out and take photos. So, if you are going to the supermarket, take the camera with you and practice. Seems silly? If I told you that this is exactly what Ami does when she goes to the supermarket, would that help it sound less silly? When you no longer have to look up from the viewfinder to change the settings, or to think about how something will look or feel, then you are able to free yourself up to think about “why” you are there, what you are trying to show with your image and to ensure that the tools are there just to execute your vision.
In the second image of the praying Muslim man and his daughter, I included it in the review because I wanted advice. I knew it was not an image that I would normally share as there were aspects of it that just didn’t work, but I was frustrated that I had thought so hard about the technique and still not pulled the image off. I had visualized precisely what I wanted to take. A story that showed contrasts: dynamic motion of the blur showing movement versus the static nature of the child; the devotion of religion contrasting with the innocence of youth; the additional contrast of male and female, young and old. Potentially I had achieved some of those ideas, yet we can all see that the image doesn’t really work.
Ami’s advice was not to beat myself up over the technique. Although she added it is a little unusual for someone after a only a year of photography to be able to visualize in my head the image as clearly as I had, sometimes the image just isn’t there to be taken. In this case there were a number of factors that suggested this.
Firstly, the black bag was a major distraction. It would have mattered not where I stood, from which side or which angle, the bag would still have been there and still impacting on the image’s aesthetic. I should probably have just walked away and tried taking the image on another day.
Secondly the viewpoint itself created problems. By looking down on the subject, I have allowed a horizontal line to cross the man’s head, and one to go through his body. Both are dominant and distracting. Had I moved my camera to floor level, I would have also had a solid red backdrop from the curtain, less distraction from the carpet and removed those horizontal lines. This would have created a much more interesting picture – but of course the issue of the black bag would still have been there.
Thirdly with the exception of the man that was purposely blurred, the rest of the image was not tack sharp. Hand holding a long lens in low light will always prove a challenge, but Ami suggested sitting on the floor and using my body and crossed legs as a human tripod to create some stability or leaning against a pillar – anything to help stabilize the lens.
So overcoming technical issues and frustration at my lack of craft really boiled down to 4 things:
Ami’s ability to pinpoint where I was technically and what the real barriers to progressing was nothing short of startling. She had me completely sussed within minutes! By nature I am a bit of a perfectionist and get easily frustrated when technique – the science – lets me down, because I know that for me, having the critical building blocks of the science mastered is what will allow me to really begin to express my art. I am beginning to understand that there is no secret sauce that full time photographers get given a recipe of or that there is not some secret code or answer that is shrouded in some sort of masonic secrecy. Their secret sauce is a tireless daily focus on their craft, but also ensuring that they apply as equal diligence to stimulating, nurturing and feeding their more artistic, visionary, creative side.
Ami, like others I have read or listened to, was in no way diluting the importance of that familiarity or comfort with the technology or the technique. But she is someone that – as many others will confirm – has not studied all the rules or the techniques, and is certainly not bound by them. Her focus is on the aesthetic, on telling the story. She shoots instinctively, and her advice to me was to stop thinking too much about the technical side and concentrate more on why my images should move people.
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