Dealing with Creative Block

By Paul Kerins | Published: May 12, 2012

Understanding Creative Blocks and How to Overcome Them.

You have heard of writer’s block, when a writer struggles with getting his or her ideas down on paper. Every type of creative person goes though different cycles of creativity including times of great frustration where their creative juices do not flow at all or just barely trickles out. For visual creatives the term is more generic than it is for writers, it is called “creative block”.

The first time you experience a creative block can be quite unnerving. For most creative people, being creative is easy and as natural as breathing. So imagine having to think about every breath, every single breath is laboured, and it is a struggle to even just breathe. It may not be as life threatening as that, but it can seem like the end of the world to a creative, especially if it is a particularly long dry spell and/or you have never been though a creative block before.

image not available 300x225 Dealing with Creative Block

I can assure you that creative blocks go away, they always do. Knowing that is key to making through a block as unscathed as possible. It is important to not be hard on yourself while you are dealing with a creative block. Beating yourself up will not make it go away faster and in fact may prolong the time it takes to recover from a block. There are productive things you can do that may work to help you get the creative juices flowing again. These are some ideas that may help you recharge your batteries and regain your creativity.

Try something new

If you always shoot outside, then do a studio shoot. Maybe you only photograph people, then change it up, go outside and photograph some landscapes. You work only in colour, then make some black and white photographs. Doing the same thing over and over again can become stale and stagnate, which could have lead you to have the creative block in the first place. Mixing it up and going outside of your comfort zone can be one of the best ways to break a creative block. Doing something different makes you think differently, and perhaps it will make you approach problems from another angle.

 

Mood board

This is something I learned a long time ago from my friend Robert Inestroza. Robert is a very talented fashion designer I met in Milan. When I went to Robert’s studio to visit him and look at his work I noticed he had a board hanging near his desk. For every collection he did he created a ” mood board ” which had assorted items attached to the board. He would stick pieces of fabric to it for the colour or the texture of the fabric that he found interesting. He also had photographs on the board that he found in magazines that had certain feeling, colour, style to it that he felt fit into feeling for that mood board. Generally mood boards have a direction to them, like a colour scheme, a certain feeling to them, or both. You could just make a inspiration board instead, if you want to have a board that is not quite as linear as a mood board, that way you can just place items on your board that inspires you instead of inspiring a certain feeling.

Collect images

I have many folders on my computer with thousands of images that I love, and have collected over the years. Whenever I am in need of a quick fix of inspiration I sift though these images to find the image that will give me the direction I need to move forward with what I am working on. Sometimes it is something as simple as the pose of a model or how the hair and/or make-up is done. Most of the time it is the light in a photograph that inspires me. I rarely save images that are poorly lit unless the subject matter is so wonderful that it not effected by the bad light.

If I have a favourite model ( photographer, actor, musician ) with a large amount of images of that person, then I create sub-folders just for them, models like Linda Evangelista, Milla Jovovich, Bettie Page, et cetera. You could always do a Google search, but if you have already built up a library of inspiring images to look at it is much easier to get that quick fix of inspiration, which may rid you of a creative block. The advantage to having a folder of pre-edited images that you love is all the images will already be great and you won’t have to look at any mediocre photographs, like you would have to do when looking at a image search.

 

Visit websites of photographers you admire

Viewing other photographer’s websites is always a great way to become inspired. Their is no lack of talented people out there with wonderful websites full of content that may give you a idea for your next production. You could also find websites that showcase the kind of photography you like, that way you will be introduced to many photographers you may not of known of before.

 

Do something that has nothing to do with photography

Sometimes you just need to do something that just recharges your batteries. You have to do something that is fun or interesting that has nothing to do with you picking up a camera. Go see a film, go for a walk, visit some art galleries. Find some new music you like, read a book, or go to the gym. These are only suggestions and the idea here is to find something you like to do, other than photography.

Personal problems

If you are going though a period in your life that is difficult and are having a creative block, then most likely it is this personal issue that are causing the creative block. You may be able to overcome the block while still in the mist of your personal problems, but dealing with those problems may be the only way to end the creative block. If it is problem you know you can handle then great, you should be able to lift you block quite easily once you have dealt with the issue, but if it is something you are having great difficultly with ( death in your family, depression, financial, relationship ), you may need to seek out professional help, so I would suggest you find someone with whom you can talk to about your problems. It is very difficult to be creative with life weighing heavily upon you.

Conclusion

Creative blocks are normal and everyone goes though them. I have always looked at creative blocks as stepping stones to a higher level of creativity. They force you to think in a more lateral way instead of a linear way, which is the more natural way for creative people to think anyways. The key is to realize what is happening , why it is happening, and to not be hard on yourself.

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Anticipating The Decisive Moment

By Paul Kerins | Published: April 3, 2012

The Decisive Moment

Henri Cartier-Bresson will always be remembered for his iconic black and white street photographs, but he will also be remembered for a famous phrase that is known by almost every serious photographer, ” The Decisive Moment ” . The term comes from his 1952 book Images à la sauvette, the English edition was titled, The Decisive Moment.

“Photography is not like painting,” he told The Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera.”

“That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photography has not only influenced my photography, but many generations of other photographers as well, including many of the greatest photographers that have lived. Including one of my personal favourites Richard Avedon, who said ” Henri Cartier-Bresson was the greatest photographer in the 20th century “, that is high praise indeed from coming from someone whom many consider to be one of the father’s of modern fashion photography ( the other being Irving Penn ). While I don’t agree with Richard Avedon that Henri Cartier-Bresson was the greatest photographer in the 20th century ( it is too broad a term in my opinion ), I will concede that Henri Cartier-Bresson was one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, and that there has never been a better street photographer in any century.

The decisive moment

So what is the decisive moment? To put it simply it is the moment, the perfect moment. A single moment in time that is happening right before your eyes, that may last for only a fraction of a second, in which all the elements of the perfect photograph are combined. A beautiful balance of elements that may include the light, subject matter, colour, tones, contrast, lines, movement, expression, and the proper composition, all in a perfect moment of harmony.

It is usually a fleeting moment that has passed you by, even before had a chance to think about photographing it. In fact it is not something you think about at all, it is something you see and feel within a moment, and are hopefully photographing it as it happens. If you are thinking about it, then you have already missed the decisive moment.

Where is this perfect moment ?

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a street photographer so for him it was the marrying of the environment and the people within that environment. Real life in real time with unpredictable spontaneity. He once said, ” Photography is, for me, a spontaneous impulse coming from an ever attentive eye which captures the moment and its eternity.”  What I take from that is, there are always opportunities around you and if you are aware of everything that surrounds you and are observing closely what is in front of you, those moments will present themselves to you, but it is not enough to be aware of these moments as they happen, you have to be ready for them.

Is the decisive moment only for the unpredictability of real life street photography?  Absolutely not, the decisive moment transcends that notion and can be found in many fields of photography. You can have a decisive moment while shooting a portrait, a fashion picture, reportage, or in sports photography, because of the emotion, movement, and the unpredictability of people. I do think that people being in the photograph is a very important element to a photograph having the quality or feeling of a decisive moment, but it is not a absolute requirement.

The reason the decisive moment is so important to street photography is because the photographer can not control or predict what will happen, where in other areas of photography the photographer has some control, or in some cases complete control over the image that is being created. In street photography there are no do-overs, you either have gotten the photograph or you did not get the photograph, it is that simple.

man walking briskly 199x300 Anticipating The Decisive Moment

Man walking forcefully past Roman columns, Paris, France.

In street photography there are no do-overs, you either have gotten the photograph or you did not get the photograph, it is that simple.

 

Anticipation

For most photographers the decisive moment is luck. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson said as much on the subject. You can’t really predict what will happen, but you can anticipate the decisive moment by being in the moment and making sure that you are ready beforehand. So how do you do that? Well part of it is paying attention to what is happening around you, and part of it is making sure you are properly prepared by having your camera ready.

A list of things you can do that may help you be better prepared to anticipate the decisive moment.

 

  • Check your camera and lens ( make sure everything is clean and working ) before you head out to make photographs.
  • If your camera uses batteries then make sure they are fully charged.
  • If you use a manual lens then set your hyperfocal distance.
  • Make sure you have plenty of free exposures left on your memory card or on your film.
  • Be constantly aware of the quality of the light that is around you, and of any subtle or dramatic changes to it.
  • Have your camera settings preset for the current lighting conditions.
  • Be aware of your environment.
  • Be aware of how the light effects everything within your environment.
  • Observe people and how they interact with other people and their environment.
  • Be aware of movement.
  • Have your camera in your hand with your finger on the shutter release.

Conclusion

If you feel that you are a naturally observant person, and that you do see on occasion those moments in life that most people are completely oblivious to, then learning to anticipate the decisive moment should not be very difficult to learn. Otherwise you would first need to learn to pay attention to your environment, which you can easily do by just going outside and sitting down by yourself somewhere in public, like a outdoor café or at your local park and just start people watching. Don’t take any pictures, in fact don’t even bring your camera, just observe life. Do this every time you are in public, make it a exercise because you can only get good at it if you continually practice it.

When you are walking you should begin to pay attention to everything in your environment, this can be more difficult than when sitting for two reasons, because you are moving ( it is more difficult to be observant while on the move) , and because walking is a repetitive motion and can become like a meditation. People zone-out when in a meditative state, it is one of the reasons why most people are completely unaware of what is going on around them, it is because their are deep within their own thoughts. You need to have a clear head and to focus on being in the moment, it is the only way to be completely aware of everything that is going on around you. If you can learn to do this, then you will begin to see, and then you can begin to anticipate the decisive moment.

 

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Straighten Horizon Line

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 24, 2012

Three easy methods for straightening your photographs.

It is very easy to end up with a crooked photograph, especially when you are shooting hand-held. Even the most seasoned pro photographers make photographs that need to be straightened, usually this is because you are so focused on the subject, trying to a capture a moment that the background becomes a lesser priority and you end up with a photograph that is a little wonky. The image itself may be stunning, but needs a little correction in order for the horizon line of the background to be straight. In the darkroom you would simply turn the easel that is holding your photographic paper until the image appears to be straight.

Crop Tool

In Photoshop there are several ways you can straighten the horizon line in your photographs, and they are all quite easy to do. The most common way and the most similar to turning a easel in the darkroom is using the Crop Tool. You do this by selecting the crop tool in the tool bar or just using the shortcut key ” C ” on your keyboard, and then drag your cursor from one of the corners diagonally across the image, making sure to leave enough space in order to turn the crop box, but still have the image within the box. You then place your cursor just outside one of the corners and the cursor will change and you will see two arrows which indicates that you can move the crop box in either direction. You move the cursor in the direction that best suits your needs, using your judgment to know when the image is corrected enough.

Ruler Tool

The second way to straighten your photograph is to use the Ruler Tool. You will find the ruler tool in the drop-down menu of the eyedropper tool, which is just under the crop tool icon, click and hold the eyedropper tool button until the menu opens and then select the ruler tool. Now that you have the ruler tool selected just click and drag a line across part of the image that you need to be straight, then release the mouse button, and you will see a line that you made using the ruler tool. Above your photograph you will see two buttons, the one on the left says “straighten” and the one on the right say “clear“.  If the line looks correct to you then press the straighten button, this will make Photoshop straighten the image using the line you had made as a guide.  If you want to redo the line just press the clear button which clears the line and then you can redo the line.

Straighten Tool

The final way which is the way I have been doing it, is using the Straighten Tool which is in the lens correction filter. To access it click on Filter and from the drop-down menu select Lens Correction or you can use a short cut Shift+CTRL+R,
( Shift+Command+R on a Mac ). The Lens Correction filter window will open and on the upper left side you will see five different tools. Placing your mouse cursor over the tools will give you a description of each tool. The second from the top is the Straighten Tool, which should already be pre-selected by default. Just like the ruler tool you draw a horizontal or vertical line on the image, but with the Straighten Tool as soon as you release the mouse button it corrects the image. You don’t have to draw a line across the whole image, you can make a short line which might be easier to do depending on the image you are working on. After you have made the line and Photoshop makes the adjustment to the image you have three options to choose from You can cancel the action by selecting cancel. You can accept the changes to your image by pressing OK, or your can reset the image and try again . The reset button is hidden and you access it by pressing and then holding the Alt key on your keyboard, this makes the cancel button become the reset button that you then click with your mouse, you image then resets and you can then try again until you are happy with the results.

Here is a video I produced to show you how each of the tools works.

 

Model in Video Paula Patrice at Ford Models NYC

 

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Alternative Photographic Processes Part 2

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 17, 2012

Photography trends, techniques, and processes, part 2

In part one of Alternative Photographic Processes , I wrote about high dynamic range imaging ( HDR ), cross-processing, painting with light and Liquid Light photographic emulsion, which are a few of the photographic trends and techniques I have seen used over the years. In this the second of the two part series I will tell you about one of my favourite photographic processes of all time, Polaroid transfers. I will also discuss what is probably the most important tool for photographers since the invention of flash photography, a tool that has changed photo-manipulation and photography profoundly, Adobe Photoshop .

It is not just serious amateurs that like to use trendy photography techniques, a surprising number professional photographers also follow trends, sometimes to closely. When I lived in Hamburg I noticed a trend among German photographers that I had not seen anywhere else. One professional photographer had started reducing the over all colour saturation and adjusting the hue of his portrait photographs in order to have the skin tones appear to be more brown. The over all effect was quite beautiful, and he started getting more assignments from magazines and advertising agencies that wanted the look and feel of his photographs. It did not take very long before it seemed like every photographer in Germany was copying this technique in order to get work. I saw this technique everywhere, in all the magazines, advertising, and in photographer’s and model’s books and on photographer’s websites.

It was quite ridiculous to see so many “creatives”  copying each other en masse like this. I had not observed this kind of mass technique copying in many years, and I never saw it when I worked in France or in Italy.  It just seems counterintuitive to me as a creative to do what everyone else is doing. A good rule of thumb is, when you see a trend as it is happening, then you are already to late to the party. If you want to stay ahead of the curve then don’t follow photography technique trends, instead you should try to visualize what is coming next, I’ll give you a hint, it is usually the opposite of what is happening right now.

polaroid transfer 242x300 Alternative Photographic Processes Part 2

Scan of live wet Polaroid transfer print.

Polaroid transfers

A Polaroid transfer is technique of using the negative portion of Polaroid film, that you separate from the print side before it has a chance to fully develop. You place the negative on another medium, which can be fine art paper ( the most common media used ), cloth, or any other material that will accept the transfer. There are two types of Polaroid transfers, live and non-live. A live Polaroid transfer is when you photograph a subject using Polaroid film and then make the transfer, a non-live Polaroid transfer is when you use a pre-existing photographic image that you would copy onto Polaroid film and then make the transfer.

Two other sub styles of Polaroid transfers are wet and dry transfers. A wet transfer is done by presoaking the material you are transferring to with water, this softens the over all image slightly and allows for more of the negative to adhere to the material, it also helps save more of the image when you separate the negative from the material, as opposed to the dry transfer which may have large pieces of the emulsion not adhering to the transfer material when you separate the negative from the material. A dry transfer as you might of guessed by now is a dry material that is used in the transfer process. It was not as popular as wet transfers, but did have it’s own advantages. The print was sharper, and the dry Polaroid transfer has a more distressed feel to it, because the emulsion does not stick to the surface as well as the other method, which some people preferred over the more soft and dreamy feeling that the wet Polaroid transfer gives.

Polaroid transfers are a absolutely wonderful photographic technique, and every transfer is completely unique. When I made Polaroid transfers, I used a large format 4×5 Sinar camera to do live, wet Polaroid transfers. I preferred cold press rag paper, and every single one of those images is a one of a kind print. This is what makes this technique so very special. The print was all you had left after you made the photograph, as you did not have a working neg to make duplicates afterwards. So every image became special, unique and one of a kind  because of this, along with all the flaws in the prints that are inherent in this process. If you would like to see some examples of Polaroid transfers then check out, END OF THE ROID – Polaroid Transfer Gallery.

Photo-Manipulation

Photo manipulation predates the digital age and has been even been used by Joseph Stalin to remove his political enemies from photographs in which he appears with them. A process that would have taken a lot of skill and many hours of work to do a good job manually by hand. In this day and age this would only take seconds to do when using Photoshop and the end results would look even more convincing.

When Photoshop first came out it was not a tool that every photographer used on a daily basis. It was a tool that art directors and graphic designers used, and it was not common place in the professional photographers arsenal…, yet. This was because photography was still analogue, and that included the printing process. It was not until the professional photography labs started to offer digital prints and retouching services to the photographers did photo manipulation take off. Then photographers started to see the potential of photo manipulation, whether it was small things like cleaning up the skin on the model’s face, or something extreme like creating new worlds for your models to occupy.

When the Photoshop photo-manipulation trend took off it went way to far, and a lot of the work being done was just cheesy. A lot of really bad ideas badly executed. There has a been a backlash against the over use of Photoshop and photo-manipulation of any kind, and for good reason. People are tired of seeing badly photo-shopped images of middle aged actresses in cosmetic ads with skin that looks like it is made of plastic and that has no texture at all. To many mediocre photographs being worked over in Photoshop to try and save the image, instead of just making the photograph good to begin with. To many people using Photoshop badly, and who are in desperate need of training of the proper use of this very powerful tool.

One of my favourite websites does a really great job of showcasing these Photoshop Disasters, where you can see some of the worst photo editing ever done in Photoshop, with examples images showing such classic photo editing bloopers as missing legs, or too many fingers, and much, much more. The truly sad thing, is some of these worst examples of these horrible Photoshop skills comes from some of the most famous and important names in the photography industry, top fashion magazines, cosmetic companies, and fashion companies. Clients that spend tremendous amounts of money on their productions, yet overlook the final product of their productions.

There are of course photographers who mastered Photoshop on a level so high, that if you were told what they did to their images you would not believe it, even when you saw the images for yourself. There was a photographer I knew of in Italy who was quite famous, who when he photographed his models for his fashion editorials he would photograph the models in three parts, lower body, upper body, and then the head, he would then edit the photographs looking for the best shots of each section and the combine them to make a final image. His photographs were absolutely sublime, and you would never know that none of his photographs were never whole images to begin with. Using Photoshop he would put together body parts like Dr.Frankenstein, except unlike Frankenstein his work was seamless and you would never be able to tell otherwise, truly amazing photo manipulation skills.

Conclusion

In the end you should follow no one, and just do what make you happy as a creative. Experiment as often as you can, and keep mindful of not over doing any particular technique, but instead remember that photography is not just about technique. Photography is about the emotion you feel as you are making your photographs, if you can successfully place that emotion into your photographs then your photography will transcend any photography technique.

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Alternative Photographic Processes Part 1

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 12, 2012

Photography trends, techniques, and processes, part 1

Experimentation in different photography techniques is normal and is expected if you want to learn and develop your own personal photographic style. It is a good way to help you find your voice as a photographer, but over use of certain techniques and/or tools can also take away from your work. Many of these tools can be very everyday, tools like filters or Photoshop, or it can be more specialized techniques, like cross-processing, Polaroid transfers or HDR ( high dynamic range imaging ). The problem is when these tools and/or techniques are over used and become a detriment to the photograph.

I believe that most photographers generally speaking are trend followers, there are of course the leaders who first discover and use certain techniques that become popular. Techniques that are then used and abused by the general population of photographers, until the process itself become a cliche.

Over the years I have seen many of these techniques come and go, painting with light, cross processing, Polaroid transfers, liquid emulsion process, photo-manipulation, and most recently HDR. Below I describe in detail some those techniques, that I have seen over the years that were the hugely popular trends for their time. Some these processes were more interesting than others, and some techniques I was very happy to see go away.

liquid lightjpg 215x300 Alternative Photographic Processes Part 1

Scan of print made using Liquid Light photographic emulsion.

Liquid Light

Liquid Light photographic emulsion, is a really fun way to put photographs on almost any surface, rocks, glass, cloth, pretty much anything that you can think of. It is a photosensitive liquid that you paint onto a surface, and then let dry before you expose it to a negative. I worked with Liquid Light many times and the results were always amazing. I would use different kinds of archival rag paper, but mostly I used a heavier cold press paper. I also used different types of brushes to apply the emulsion onto the different surfaces, in order to see what kind of textures I could create with this process. Since it is photosensitive material you need to do this technique in a darkroom. It can be a very messy process, but it is easy to use and there is no foul smells, plus it is archivally permanent . You can read more about the liquid emulsion process at Alternative Photography.
You can buy Liquid Light photographic emulsion by Rockland Colloid directly from their website.

Painting with light

Painting with light is a very interesting technique that has been around almost as long as photography itself has been around. Many commercial product photographers have successfully used this technique, and was most popular in the late 1980s and into the early and mid 1990s. Painting with light reached it’s peak popularity when the HoseMaster Fibre Optic Light Painting Kit by  Aaron Jones was commercially available. The HoseMaster used a fibre optic light pen which you would use to paint light onto a object. You would do this technique in a completely dark, blacked out studio, using very long exposure times. The photographer would dress from head to toe in black, so they would not be recorded by the camera as they painted the scene with light. This technique gives is a very romantic feeling to the light. You can see some excellent examples of this type of light on the website of photographer Harold Ross.

Cross-processing

Cross-processing is done by developing film in chemicals that were meant to be used with another film type. The most common cross-processing was done by developing E6 transparency film ( E6 is the type of chemical used to process this type of transparency film ) in C-41 chemicals. C-41 chemicals are meant to process colour negative film. This technique creates a massive colour shift that gives the photograph unnatural colours and increases contrast. Even though I played around with cross-processing a few times when it first became popular, I never like cross-processing. There was no way to get consistent results using this technique. Even though many photographers tried to master cross-processing I felt no one ever did. Cross processing always seemed like a parlour trick to me, a way to hide mediocre photography from the eye of a untrained viewer. You can do cross-processing in Photoshop.

HDR

High dynamic range imaging is the latest in trendy photography techniques, and is unique in the sense that it is the first real technique to gain mass popularity in the digital photography age. The concept of HDR is been around longer than digital technology has, but when consumer digital cameras became popular and computer processing power became cheap and plentiful it became possible for anyone to utilize this technique. HDR is creating a photograph with a extremely wide range of tones, using multiple identical frames of the subject photographed at different exposures.

A simple HDR photograph would have three identical photographs made of a scene, one image would be exposed for the highlights, then a mid-range tone exposure, and finally a exposure for the shadow areas of the photograph. Then all three images are merged into a single image, that has a much wider tonal range than is possible in normal photography. If you have done any searching for HDR images then you might have notice that there are very few HDR photographs of people. This is because you need to make at least three identical frames of the subject at different exposures. Most HDR photography is done with a camera on a tripod with subjects that don’t move or blink. If you see a portrait described as HDR it is most likely another process called tone mapping. They do have similar look and feel, but tone mapping can be done using only a single image.

Most HDR that I have seen is badly done, this is because the light and/or subject matter was not good to begin with. Many photographers use HDR as a way to get around using bad light, or as a method to make a bad photograph look more interesting. HDR in skilled hands with the right subject matter and good light it can be quite effective and beautiful in a surreal kind of way.  If you are interested in learning more about HDR photography then check out Trey Ratcliff’s website stuckincustoms.com for tutorials and many examples of HDR photography.

Part 2 of Alternative Photographic Processes, Polaroid transfers and photo-manipulation.

 

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iPad Portfolios vs Print Portfolios, The Pros and the Cons

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 2, 2012

Digital portfolios for photographers, there’s a app for that.

The other day a friend of mine informed me that “all the models in New York City were no longer carrying around print portfolios and were instead were using iPads for their model books”. I wrote her back to say “I don’t think I like that”. This is simply because I love print books, but it does not surprise me that more people are using iPads as portfolios. In fact I remember several friends of mine who were professional photographers that use to carry around their heavy, full size, 20 inch desktop replacement laptops to show clients their photographs instead of using a print portfolio. They did this because it was a new, cool way to display your work and to stand out from the other photographers.

I can understand why models would love to use a iPad over a print portfolio, it weighs almost nothing and you can just stick in your bag and go. On a long day of model castings carrying around a iPad would defiantly have very few drawbacks for the model, plus they can use their iPad as PDA for their agenda to keep track of casting times and as a map to find their castings, and as entertainment while waiting at castings. The only potential problem I could see would be the battery in the iPad running out of power mid-casting, but that would be most unlikely since the iPad has a reported battery life of approximately 10 hours.

think portolio 300x184 iPad Portfolios vs Print Portfolios, The Pros and the Cons

So models now use iPads for their portfolios, but should professional photographers also use a iPad for their portfolio instead of a print portfolio? I thought about both the iPad and the traditional print portfolio and the benefits of both as well as any negative points I could think of. I did some research and then I distilled down all the information to a simple list of the pros and cons of a iPad portfolio and the traditional print portfolio.

Pros of a iPad Portfolio

  • Portable ( very light, small and fits in most carry bags )
  • Inexpensive ( compared to a print portfolio )
  • Easy to replace ( compared to replacing a print portfolio )
  • Great for spontaneous showing of your work. ( you can have it on your person constantly )
  • Photographs do look better on a back-lit screen.
  • The ability to easily and quickly tailor your portfolio to fit a client.
  • A decent amount of portfolio apps available for consumers to choose from.

Cons of a iPad Portfolio

  • Limited choices of presentation styles. ( you are limited to the layout of the app’s template )
  • Electronics break.
  • The experience is not much different than looking at a website. ( I would even say it is more limited )
  • iPad sweatshops.
  • Needs a source of power.
  • Apple’s environmental record.
  • Easier to fake tears-sheets.

Pros of a Traditional Print Portfolio

  • Real tears-sheets.
  • Real prints.
  • Look and feel of a beautiful book.
  • Size, and quality.
  • Every portfolio can be unique and custom made.
  • Easier for a group of people to look at your work at the same time.
  • The true quality of the your work is shown in the printed book.
  • More professional.

Cons of a Traditional Print Portfolio

  • Heavy ( my print book weighs 4 pounds about 1.8k, a iPad is 1.33 pounds about .6k)
  • Misplaced, stolen, or a lost tear-sheet book can/may be impossible to replace.
  • Acetate sheets need replacing and are easily dirtied and scratched.
  • It is not fun or easy to add and remove pages from a print portfolio, and frankly it is a pain in the butt.
  • Expensive ( I estimate that my print books cost $2000 each. )

Fake it til you make it.

If you are moderately skilled in design, and in using any graphics software, then you can fake a tear-sheet. I have seen many fake tear-sheets in the print portfolios of models, stylists, hair stylists, make-up artists, and even photographer’s books. Mostly it is people using their own work and doctoring it up to look like it was a published work. It is not plagiarism, but it is a shady practice, and false advertising. People who do this will love using their iPad as a portfolio, because it will be a lot easy to fool people in to believing that they are published photographers.

With print portfolios it is much more difficult to pass off fake tear-sheets as the real thing, because it is very difficult to fake the look and feel of the paper that magazines use. Since the kind of people who use fake tear-sheets think that other people will be gullible enough to believe whatever is put in front of them, then it is reasonable to think that people that use fake tear-sheets are stupid, since most people in the magazine and advertising worlds would see a fake tear-sheet in seconds. Most of the people who think using fake tear-sheets is a brilliant idea are most likely to lazy to forge a reasonable fake. Generally I can tell if a tear-sheet is fake just by looking at it , but all you have to do to see if it is a real tear-sheet is to look at the back of it, most fakes will just be blank on the back.

Quality

Models, stylists, hair and make-up artists need only concern themselves with the quality of their own work, they don’t need to worry about the quality of the printing. For professional photographers this is a very important part of who we are. It is common knowledge that back-lit photographs on computer screens do look better. The very same photograph, printed may not have as great a impact. It is a completely different media, and professionals who do hire photographers, like art directors, publishers, art buyers, creative directors, and photo editors do know this. They may like viewing your work on a iPad, but chances are if they are serious about hiring you, and they are going to use some kind of printed media to display your photographs in their ad or in a magazine, then they will want to see a print portfolio before hiring you.

Stand out from the crowd

The cool factor of the iPad will wear off just like it has with every other technology before it, and as more and more photographers use their iPads for their portfolios, the pendulum will swing back to traditional print portfolios. Lets face it, we photographers are gear-heads and love trendy…, well anything, but when to many people jump on a band wagon the leaders will find yet another way to stand out from the crowd.

The viewer’s experience

I do think iPad portfolios are good in a pinch and are great for a spontaneous showing of your work, but I find the experience very similar to looking at a website, and many clients will think that too. Presentation is everything, so handing a beautiful leather bound book to a client would have much more gravitas than passing them your iPad. Turning the pages of a big book also has a wonderful natural tactile feel to it that adds to the viewer’s experience. A large, beautiful custom made book with finally made prints of your photographs has a impact that a iPad could never have.

I recommend

There are many places on the web or in brick and mortar art supply stores where you can buy print portfolios, but you may have seen the link on the side of my blog to my friend Heiner Hauck. I have five print portfolios and Heiner has made four out of the five for me. I highly recommend you check out his website and contact Heiner if you are in the market for a new print portfolio. Each of Heiner’s portfolios is beautifully made by hand to your custom specifications, in Berlin, Germany, using the highest quality materials. Here is a link to Heiner Hauck Portfolios. This is not a affiliate link, so I do not make a single dime on any sales from his business. I am just a happy customer, plus Heiner is a friend, a great guy who does beautiful work.

Conclusion

The ultimate way to get the client’s attention is with a portfolio book full of beautiful tear-sheets, as it has a clear message, that this photographer is a published photographer, and a iPad could never do that. Bottom line is if you are a photographer and you already have a iPad or thinking of getting one then yes check out this list of portfolio apps below and buy the one you like, and make a iPad portfolio. It is always a good thing to have another useful tool to help you show your work to people, but the traditional print portfolio can never be replaced and is as important today as it always has been.

Portfolio apps available for the iPad

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How to Photograph People using Direct Sunlight

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 2, 2012

How to use direct sunlight to make your portrait photographs beautiful.

Ambient light, studio light, available light and the most important light of all, star light. That gigantic mass of hydrogen and helium we call the sun that produces 386 billion billion ( not a typo ) mega-Watts of energy, that is created by so many nuclear fusion reactions per second that we don’t have a number big enough to count them all, which is awesome when you want to use a really low ISO setting on your digital camera.

Using direct sunlight in photography should be simple enough, right? Nothing to plug-in and no cords to trip over, just point and shoot. Well…, simple does not necessarily mean easy. The only thing simple about using the sun as your light source is that it is a single light source. Understanding and utilizing the basic tried and true rules of photographing people in direct sunlight will make you smarter and more attractive, plus you will make better photographs. Okay it won’t make you smarter, but you will make more beautiful photographs, and that my friend is sexy.

kornelia 238x300 How to Photograph People using Direct Sunlight

Kornelia photographed during golden hour.

When not to shoot direct sunlight.

The rules are pretty straight forward when it comes to shooting people in direct sunlight. The closer the sun is to it’s zenith ( the sun being directly overhead ) the more harsh the light becomes, and the more likely you will be in need of a reflector or fill light to soften the shadows. Professional photographers don’t shoot in direct sunlight at midday when the sun is at it’s zenith. They would instead seek out softer ambient light in locations that shelter from the harsh sunlight conditions of midday. Or they could just go for a long lunch, and wait until the direct sunlight at the location is of a high enough quality that it becomes acceptable to them.

Use fill light.

If you have to shoot at midday in direct sunlight then it is best to work in a location that offers a natural fill light. Some examples of this might be a light coloured sandy beach, snow, or a light coloured concrete floor. You could also use a fill flash
( off camera flash ) and under expose the light of the flash fill by about a stop or two depending on the type of results you want to achieve. Otherwise have a assistant use a fill card to reflect light into the shadows to soften them. Sometimes putting down a large white sheet in front of your subject, just outside of camera view will do quite nicely as a fill as well. All of those suggestions will help soften the shadows caused by harsh direct sunlight. Be careful of bad fill light, it can look as unappealing as a harsh shadow does. Think of fill light as another light source, to much or to little makes your photograph look bad. Find a balance with your fill light to complement the main light in order to make a good photograph.

When to shoot direct sunlight.

To really make your subject look their most beautiful, you should ideally be shooting in the first 2 hours after sunrise or the last two hours before the sun sets. Commonly called “Magic Hour” or “Golden Hour”, and for good reason. The shadows are long and soft and the light warm and rich. People also prefer to be photographed at these times too as it is easier on their eyes, so they will not be squinting nearly as much as they would at midday. Photographing someone at the crack of dawn has a down side though, puffy morning face. This is something that effects even young professional models, so the more time your subject is awake before you shoot the better, so their face can de-puffify ( I just invented that word, yay me ). After the sun sets you can continue to photograph your subject for 10 to 20 minutes, or as long as there is still ambient light. Often the light can even be more beautiful after the sun has set. Just be quick about it and check your exposure often as the light’s exposure levels changes very rapidly in those few minutes.

Use the environment.

When the sun is long past it’s zenith but still prior to the golden hour you can photograph your subject and be confident that you are getting good quality light if you are paying attention to the light and how it affects your subject. Using a fill light or reflectors only if needed. I personally only use reflectors as a last resort myself, instead I try and use the environment, and/or the position of my subject and/or my point of view, or a combination of all of these to find my light. Whatever it takes to get the photograph. By environment I mean using what is around you, a body of water, a dirt road, a white or light coloured wall, all act as good natural fill lights and reflectors. Positioning of the subject relative to the sun is also quick and easy way of controlling the light. Changing the type of direct sunlight is as simple photographing your subject back-lit or side-lit. Use of back lighting in direct sunlight is often my preferred way of using direct sunlight. Just meter and expose for the face and everything else will fall into place.

Think about your point of view.

Your point of view will also affect how direct sunlight looks on your subject, for example; if you are doing a back-lit photograph, you could be using your subject’s body or head to block the sun. When you start to change your perspective ( this could be as little as few centimetres give or take a centimetre ), you could create some lens flare from the sun coming out from behind your subject and hitting your lens. Lens flare will change the dynamics of the image, plus the flare will soften the image. You will have to play, and try different situations depending on the quality of the light you are working with, while paying attention to your subject’s strength and weaknesses.

Conclusion

Experimenting with direct sunlight, using the tools and ideas from these past few paragraphs will help you produce better photographs with more beautiful light, just keep in mind that patience may be the key to getting higher quality light for your portraits. Not shooting because the light is still harsh and waiting a hour or more till the quality of the direct sunlight is softer and more beautiful will be the difference between a good photograph and a amazing photograph.

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Ambient High-key Beauty Lighting

By Paul Kerins | Published: March 2, 2012

How to do ambient high-key beauty lighting using only one light source.

The most beautiful light is often the simplest, coming only from a single light source. In this beauty photograph of Emma that light source was a large bay window that was behind her, and the light was simple indirect ambient sunlight being channelled though the window. Ambient high-key beauty lighting is quite easy to do in a close-up beauty photograph like this, or for a portrait photograph.

The most beautiful light is often the simplest, coming only from a single light source.

 

 

For this photograph I was in a daylight photography studio in Paris, and the window was a large bay window with a northern exposure. Which is the best place to have your window in a daylight studio because you will never get hard direct sunlight coming into the studio, only soft ambient daylight, all day long. The advantage to this is a nice even light source that is very easy to work with.

Ideally the studio should not be on the ground level, but on the second floor of the building or higher with no other buildings or trees close by. The reasons for this is to have no obstructions that may affect the quality of the ambient sunlight coming though the window, and to have no colour shifts from the light being reflected off the ground, trees, or the surfaces of other buildings. All you should see though the bay window would be open sky, if there are trees or other buildings hopefully they are far enough away that they will not effect the quality of the light.

Ambient high-key beauty lighting, and set-up illustrations.

Along with the photo of Emma to show you the quality of the ambient high-key beauty light, I included two illustrations to show you the lighting set-up. The first diagram I made, showing you from the photographer’s perspective of how the set would more or less look, and in the second image a top-down version that I put together using the Online Lighting Diagram Creator .
These illustrations are not exactly how I set up the shot. The reason for this is because I almost completely enclosed Emma in a tent of reflectors, and it was not really possible to illustrate this set-up and still show the model, but it is a very close approximation to what I did do in the set-up to give you the general idea.

Reflector placement

The large ( 4ft x 8ft or 1.22m x 2.44m) white foam-core panels are in front of her, at a distance of approximately one metre away ( about one yard ) both are angled in at forty five degrees to reflect the back-light from the window onto her face, the panels are very close together, but with enough space between them that I can compose the photograph without the foam-core coming into the edges of the frame in camera. Above the model is another smaller panel of white foam-core sitting on top of the large panels. Finally there is a another small white foam-core panel between the model and the large panels at about waist level also at a forty five degrees to reflect the light upwards.

exposure

The exposure for this high-key photograph is quite straightforward, but made even easier by using a hand-held incident light meter. I always control the light in three places to find my exposure. The light source(s) ( that would be the window in this case ), the light falling on the model from behind, and the light falling on front of her. I set my exposure to the light falling on her face, but I make sure that light behind her is over exposed ( brighter/stronger ) between one and half stops to two full stops. It can be slightly less or more light than this, but I find that over exposing the light by 1 1/2 to 2 stops to be the sweet spot for high-key light.

Other tips for foam core

You can also paint one side of the foam core sheet with a flat black, that way you can use it as a gobo ( Gobo is a photographic term, and is short for go-between, a gobo is used to block light in photography ) as well. The easy way to have foam core sheets stand on their own is to use duct tape to tape two boards together so they can stand on their own by opening the sheets into a L shape or a V shape. If space is a issue then using light-stands and clamps is the way to go. In professional rental studios I have seen stands for reflector boards that are made out of wood or metal, that are low profile and have slots to perfectly fit the foam core sheets into, but those stands are heavy and clumsy and are far better suited for proper photographic studios and not for location work or home studios.

Where to get foam core

You can buy foam core sheets at any big box building supply store in large sheets that are 4ft by 8ft and the best thickness is about 2 inches. You can also thinner card as well from art supply stores, but it is more economical, longer lasting and much more durable to buy the thicker foam core sheets. Foam core sheets are very light and easy to move around on set. The only down side to buying these large foam core sheets is transporting them, you will need a transport van or large estate car ( station wagon ) in order to move them, or you could have them delivered.

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How to Convince Your Client to Choose the Best Photographs

By Paul Kerins | Published: February 9, 2012

Convincing the Client, How to Convince Your Client Which Photographs are the Best Choices.

I personally have no idea how many images I have created to date, let alone how many photographs I have edited to find the best ones; several hundreds of thousands at least. In the past scouring over contact sheets fresh from the lab with a loupe, a red grease pencil and a cup of strong coffee. More recently editing choices on a computer screen using colour coding to select the best choices on my Capture One Pro  RAW conversion software, while drinking green tea out of my pirate mug, which is not really a mug so much as it is a milk dispenser with a really cheesy Jolly Roger flag on it. You spent a lot of time editing down your choices of photographs, and you have selected what you believe are the best pictures. So how do you convince your client which photograph is the best choice? Being a good salesman is only one of the ways to convince a client to choose what you think are the best photographs. There are many things you can do in order to sway your client to your side when it comes to selecting the best images from your photography production.

Interface of Capture One Pro software. Loupe on contact sheets and a pirate mug.

Educate your client

If your experience in editing photo choices far out-weights that of your client, then part of your job is to educate and explain to them in layman terms the reasons for your choices. I always believed that the client hires you because of your expertise in your field, and because they love your photographs. I also believe because of this the client has to trust in their choice of hiring you to be their photographer and to trust in your opinion and experience. So communicate with your client and do it in a way that is clear and to the point. When a clients understands your reasons for your selection of a certain image over another, they will be more inclined to pick the photographs you like best.

The client’s experience level compared to yours

Some people may be harder to convince than others. Much of this will depend on their experience level compared to yours. A seasoned art director versus young photographer for example, guess who is going to get their way. That does not mean that the young photographer should not try to convince the art director if he/she truly believes that their choice is the superior one, not at all in fact. It just means it may be more difficult and that the young photographer should be better prepared before explaining why his/her choice is the correct one over the client’s choice.

Personal taste is subjective

You know your photography better than anyone else, so how do you convince your client which photograph is best? This can be difficult, since personal taste is subjective and the client’s particular needs may not be fulfilled by your selections. It helps to be on the same page as your client even before the production begins. You can do this by understanding your client needs, by asking your client in a pre-production meeting what is it they are looking for, and what do they want to see in the final product.

 

Personal taste is subjective.

 

 

Here are some tips on what you can to do during a production, to help you build trust and confidence with your client, making it easier for the client to see what you see in the final choices you made and understand why you picked certain photographs over another.

1.Fix it immediately.

During the production have the client take a look at some test samples of the work from the beginning of the situation and as you are shooting, that way any changes that need to be done can be taken care of immediately instead of having to re-shoot later. If the client is happy and confident during the production then later in post-production it will be easier to convince the client which photographs are the best choices.

2.Explain why it won’t work.

If there is a layout that needs to be done but you disagree with the client on the execution of it, then you need to explain why it won’t work, this is part of your job. You need to be able to explain clearly to the client so they can understand why you think it is not the best way to shoot this layout, and then you have to try and sell them on your idea and hopefully sway them to your side. Presenting to the client final photo choices of a bad layout that you known you could have been done better to begin with will not make your life easier.

3.Do it your way.

Unfortunately some clients won’t be so easily convinced so you may have to do the layout the way they asked, but you should also do it your way as well. Then, when you select the first edits of the production before the actual final images are chosen it gives the client a chance to see both motifs side by side. This will be your last chance to explain to the client why they should use your version of the image over theirs. Should your idea produce the vastly superior image it will then sell itself, if it is more subtle than that, then you may have to point out the reasons why it is the superior photograph in order to convince the client that it is the correct choice for them.

4.Have the client commit

When you have set up a layout to be photographed and the client says they are happy with the test image, then have the client sign off on it. Professional photographers use to do this with Polaroids, a client would sign the Polaroid when they were happy about how the layout looked, then the photographer would continue the production by shooting with film. You can do this without Polaroid film by having a portable printer on set to print a copy of one of the test images and have the client sign off on the print, or you could send a email to your client with a attached photograph and have them send a reply email with their approval of the layout before you continue shooting.

5. Create storyboards.

Something else I do that helps the client see why certain photographs are better than others, is to do a storyboard. When you are doing more than one layout for the client you can do side by side comparisons of the series of photographs that you have made by putting the photographs into a storyboard. That way the client can see how the photographs fit together as you move the photos around to see what images work and what images are the throwaways. When shooting editorial I do this with the fashion editor to get a feeling of the flow of the shoot, to try and imagine how the story would look when published in the magazine, as we are shooting the production for the magazine.

6. Break the choices down.

People like choices, so give it them. What I do is I break it down in to three choices per motif.
First choice being the very best, my first pick and hopefully the obvious choice for the client. The second choice is usually very close in quality to the first pick but has some flaw that I may have to point out to the client so they can understand why it was not my first choice. The third pick being slightly more flawed than the second but still a technically good image that I can be happy with.

7. Be confident

When editing down your choices take your time and be critical of your photographs. The best photographs always jump out at you so it is easy to find those images. You will have to spend more time and energy finding the best second and third choices. When you are happy in your editing choices and can back it up with confidence, convincing the client becomes effortless because your confidence in your photographs will be a big selling point to the client.

Conclusion

You won’t be able to convince all your clients every time to use your selections, but you can increase your chances of convincing your client to use the images that you think are superior by using some or all of the suggestions I made in this article. The most important things I hope you take away from reading this is to make sure you are happy with your editing choices and have your client trust in you as their photographer. I can not stress enough how important it is that the client trusts you, it makes your life so much easier during the production, and in post-production when you are working with the client on final photo choices.

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Beautiful Minimal Design Photography Websites

By Paul Kerins | Published: February 3, 2012

Paul Kerins Photographer featured on Creative Design Magazine.

Creative Design Magazine,  a design resource magazine, just posted a article on their website 55 Beautiful Minimal Design Photography Websites . I was pleased to see my main website Paul Kerins Photographer was featured in the article. I would like to say welcome to all the people who found their way here from Creative Design Magazine. I hope you enjoy your time on my website. Below is a quote from the article that Creative Design Magazine published.

 Minimal Design is very popular in website design. Web Designers love minimal designs because it is good for search engine optimization but it can also look beautiful. In the past we compile several compilations of minimal website designs. Today I thought about doing a minimal design compilation with a website theme in mind. In this post you will find a huge list of beautiful minimal design photography websites.

I always loved simple clean elegant design. Photography websites that are minimal and beautifully designed have inspired me greatly and influenced my design choices when I was designing and building my website. It nice to know other people appreciate it too. Thanks to  Loveish Kalsi, who is the owner of Creative Design Magazine for the feature.

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