Table Of Content

Digital Photography: Book 2 The Art of Photography By Al Judge Sedona, Arizona Copyright © 2014 by Al Judge Unless otherwise stated, all images and illustrations in this book are copyrighted and the property of Al Judge. Photos by other artists have their copyright at the lower right corner. Photos in this book that are licensed from iStockPhoto.com and DollarPhotoClub.com will have that attribution with the name of the source after it. All the images in the Featured Artists sections are the property of the featured artists and are copyrighted by them. Throughout this series of books there are some images that have been taken from the Wikipedia Commons. These images are in the public domain and free to anyone to use in books, magazines, and brochures as long as the source is attributed and the images aren’t sold. I will place the note “Wikipedia Commons” on or under each of these images. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Table of Contents Featured Artists Introduction My Approach & Philosophy What to Expect From This Book Featured Artist — Richard Larssen Chapter One: Popular Photo Genres Overview Landscape Photography Cityscapes Lightning Photography Portrait Photography Photographing Performers Photographing Public Art Nature Photography Photographing Flowers Wildlife Photography Architecture Featured Artist — Elaine Belvin Chapter Two – Composition and Art The Rule of Thirds Focus Point Depth and Perspective Reading between the Lines Camera Angles Out-of-Focus Miniaturization Pay Attention to Your Background Less is More Lens Effects Backlighting Issues Symmetry Patterns Adding Drama Shooting to the Right Featured Artist — Robert Albrecht Chapter Three – Inspiration and Creativity Popular Photo Shoots Additional Suggestions Featured Artist — Darlene Jansen Chapter Four: Tips and Tricks ExpoDisk Color Checker Passport Spyder4 — Monitor Color Calibrator Tethered Capture Moveable Eyepiece HoodLoupe ND Filters Filter Wrenches GPS Tracking Memory Card Speed Vest Dirt on Sensor Lens Profiles Remote Shutter Release Extras Featured Artist — Joel Grimes Chapter Five: Lighting Featured Artist — Michelle Ettelson Chapter Six: Summary Featured Artist — Greg Chen Chapter Seven: Parting Thoughts Featured Artist — Dana Deskiewicz Glossary from Book 1: Photography Speak Featured Artists The chapters of this book are separated by a series of 2-page features which showcase the work of a number of very talented photographers. Each of these artists was invited to participate in this project because their work inspires me and encourages me to continuously challenge myself. They have all contributed out of the goodness of their hearts and a genuine desire to share what they know. There is no monetary compensation involved. I am forever grateful for their contributions to this project. The artists range from pure amateurs to highly accomplished professionals. The love of photography is evident in all their work. Art is a very personal and subjective endeavor. Every photographer will have a unique style and approach to this form of art. My images alone cannot even come close to conveying the scope of this subject, and so I have asked others to contribute and have used numerous stock photos to illustrate key points. I felt that variety and diversification are more important that showcasing my own work. I have however included many of my own images when they adequately illustrate the concept being discussed. I would like to tell you a little about each of these artists and why I wanted them to be a part of this project. Robert Albrecht is a local Sedona photographer with many years of experience in commercial photography. He has worked with many well known models and his work has been published in some of the world’s top fashion magazines. A few months after we moved to Sedona, there was a weekend open-studios tour. My wife and I visited 17 of the 19 studios that were on the tour and had an amazing experience. For me, the most amazing thing was meeting Robert Albrecht. Robert’s wife Shirley is also an accomplished artist and her studio was one of the stops on the tour. As we were leaving her studio I noticed a large image in another room. I told my wife that I was certain that there was no camera in the world that could have produced that image but it didn’t look like a painting either. As I stepped into the room to have a closer look, Robert joined me from his office. Although he was not actually on the tour, he spent close to an hour with me explaining what he had done and demonstrating photo editing techniques. That visit changed my life in many ways. I had many years of experience with film photography but was indifferent to digital photography until he showed me its potential. Photography has been a joyous and fulfilling aspect of my life ever since. Robert’s willingness to freely share his love of the art inspired me to do the same through my books. Darlene Jansen is someone that I met through my books. She read one of my books and was kind enough to send me a personal email. I thanked her for taking the time to write and told her that I would love to see some of her images. She sent a link to her site and I was totally blown away by the consistency and the high quality of her images. A few months later, I asked her permission to use a few of her images in Book 1 of this series and she graciously granted me that honor. I often visit her site for a mini-vacation when I need a break from writing. I am always inspired, humbled, and rejuvenated. When I first joined Flickr, I had trouble dragging myself away from the computer. There were so many great images and so little time. Through the thousands of images that I reviewed, there were just a few photographers that I chose to follow. I have included three of them in this book. Dana Deskiewicz loves patterns and architectural details. He is always finding new ways to highlight and bring attention to what most of us miss when we are in public places. Greg Chen currently lives in China although he lived in the US for more than 10 years. His images of China are captivating and capture the essence of daily life. Some of his more artistic images of the Chinese countryside remind me of ancient scroll paintings. Michelle Ettelson is a professional landscape photographer currently living in New Hampshire. I had been following her photostream for some time when she added an image of mine to her favorites. The image is one of my personal favorites but she is the only person to ever comment on it. It took me hours to capture and numerous attempts. It is of new growth on a bush. The bush was on the side of a hill in shade on a windy day next to a dry creek bed. Because of its location, I couldn’t use my tripod and because of the wind I needed a very fast exposure time. Just knowing that such a talented photographer appreciated this image made my day. Joel Grimes came to my attention about a year ago when I saw a portrait that totally captivated me. I studied it for hours trying to imagine how it was created. I thought that if I could ever find a way to meet the artist, I would learn something of great value. When I learned that he would be teaching several classes at the Photoshop World Conference 2013 in Las Vegas, I jumped at the chance. I was not disappointed. The experience was further enhanced by his humility and genuine desire to help others. He freely shares his techniques and experience and is open to discussing his ideas with anyone. I am very honored that he agreed to participate in this project. Elaine Belvin is a very talented photographer who recently joined the professional ranks. Sedona is a city of artists and particularly photographers. It is difficult to stand out in this environment, but she does. I first saw her work at the Sedona Art Center and had a very nice conversation with her. Her husband is also an accomplished photographer and their work was on display side-by-side that weekend. Everyone that I knew who had attended the show was talking about their work. Richard Larssen is an amateur photographer living in Norway. He exhibits his work on a number of photo sites. I saw his images on Pixoto.com. Pixoto.com is a site where you can test your images to see what others think. If you submit images for “dueling” your image will be displayed next to another image in the same category. Pixoto members review and select the better of the two. Eventually you earn points and recognition for winning duels. To date, he has posted 115 images and won 409 awards. This is no small accomplishment. Richard uses Sony Cameras. Although I usually talk about Canon and Nikon since they dominate the DSLR market, Sony has a sensor with a wider tonal range than the other brands. This expanded tonal range creates better images when there are very dark and very bright items in the same image. This is particularly noticeable in night scenes with reflections — Richard’s favorite genre. Introduction The first book in the Digital Photography Series, Mastering Digital Cameras, was all about understanding camera equipment. Book 2, The Art of Photography, is about creativity behind the lens. Although this topic will be less technical than Book 1, it relies on a strong foundation for maximum benefit. This book assumes that you have read Book 1 of this series or have an equivalent understanding of digital cameras and related equipment. Terms that were defined and discussed in detail in Book 1 will not be defined in this book. I have included the Glossary from Book 1 at the end of this book for quick reference if you need to refresh your memory on a particular photographic term or concept. If you are not proficient in using manual settings, you might find my book Mastering Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO to be very helpful before diving into this book. This series of books is quite comprehensive but also appropriate for absolute beginners because no previous knowledge of photography is required. In this book, we will be talking about the types of images you will want to capture, how lighting might affect those images, and things to consider when setting up your shot. We will also be talking about tricks and tips that will improve your results. In Chapter Two we will be talking about composition and how to make your images more impactful. In Chapter Three we will discuss where to find inspiration. Spread throughout this book, between chapters, are short articles by Featured Artists whom I admire. This will give you an idea of the diversity of opportunities that await you as well as hearing first-hand what inspires these artists. They are not all professionals but they are all very talented and dedicated to the Art of Photography. My Approach & Philosophy For me, time is my most valuable asset. I only have so much left, I don’t know how much is left, and I really hate wasting it. With that in mind, I really appreciate it when I read a non-fiction book that is content-dense. By that I mean, very little wasted rhetoric. A certain amount of non- specific dialog is necessary to establish rapport with readers, but then I get anxious to learn something and hate fluff and colorful banter that doesn’t enhance my learning. Because of this personal bias, I tend to write books that are content-dense, even when they involve real-life stories to illustrate key points. This book is no different. My goal is to help you move from your current level of photographic expertise to total control and confidence in the most efficient way possible. Throughout this book, I will often use initial caps, all caps, bold fonts, and italics for emphasis. With so much content, I want to be certain that key points are recognized as such. I can’t guarantee great works of art by tomorrow, but I can give you the tools to achieve that goal in the time it takes to read this series of books. That is not to say that this series alone will teach you everything that you need to know about Digital Photography. I know some very successful Master Photographers who still read about photography every day. So if they are still learning new things after 30 or 40 years in the profession, there is a limit to what I can actually cover effectively in a series of books. With that in mind, I have tried to cover the most important information in enough detail that it will accelerate your learning significantly. After writing my first draft of Book 1 of this series, I read some best sellers on the topic. I wanted to be certain that I had something to bring to the party. The thing that seemed to be most absent in other books was visualization aids. Like most people, I understand things by visualizing them. I form an image in my mind when people explain something and I use that image to follow the discussion. If my image is erroneous, I will have a difficult time following the discussion. If I am unable to modify my mental image enough to get the points being made, I go elsewhere and research the topic until I have enough information to complete the puzzle. In my own personal journey in the world of photography, I have discovered that photographic terms are commonly used without definition and that parts of the camera are often referred to as if we are all technicians who could repair a camera in our sleep. I have decided to take a slightly different approach than others have in writing these books. I believe that if you understand how a camera works, everything else about photography will make more sense. I could simply tell you that you need a large aperture setting when you make portraits of your spouse and kids. I could also tell you that you need a small aperture setting for your landscape photos. This is what most books on photography will tell you. But what if you understood why these settings work so well and had a mental image of how these settings affect the light entering the camera? With this understanding, every image that you capture will teach you something of real significance – not just give you a vague idea of what works and what doesn’t. If you have read one of my other books, such as, Mastering Digital Cameras or Mastering Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO you are well prepared for what follows. If on the other hand, you are not familiar with manual settings, you may have difficulty benefitting from Chapter One images. With the use of numerous images, I can make the discussion less technical. This should improve communication and give you a solid base for moving forward. I promise to make it as painless as I possibly can. Until you understand a camera, you will not really understand how to use it to its fullest potential. You will be learning by trial and error and “shooting in the dark.”