Ernie The Attorney

How to improve your portraits

I am rediscovering photography, as I may have mentioned recently. I got my first 35mm camera when I was about 15 years old and it's always been one of my abiding interests. For many years, I wasn't particularly good at taking pictures. But if you do something enough, over time you can't help improving bit by bit.

Photography taught me a lot about technology; cameras are complex machines and part of the process is learning to use them without having to think too much. In other words, the tech part has to become natural. For most people (me included) this has always been hard. For something to be 'natural' it has to be simple.

The new digital cameras can do so much more than the old mechanical cameras. And the software that can be used to manipulate images (i.e. Photoshop or Photoshop Elements) is powerful, but infinitely complex. That's why most people don't even bother to manipulate their photos very much. I wouldn't either, except that I discovered books by Scott Kelby, who is a great photographer and an expert in Photoshop. More importantly, he's a great teacher.

For example if you have the $79 Photoshop Elements program (Mac or PC) and you buy Kelby's $29 book you can learn to transform ordinary portrait shots into amazing shots. Here is a before and after of one I did on a quick snapshot of my brother Stu. You don't have to know anything about Photoshop Elements (I didn't) or about retouching photos. All you have to do is have the book and follow the instructions for improving portraits (or landscapes or black & white pictures etc.). If you have a digital camera and want to improve your pictures this is the best way to do it.

The first time you do it it will take 20 minutes. Eventually you'll be able to retouch a photo like this in about 5 minutes. Trust me, this is worth checking out if you are even remotely into photography.

Random observations

If you want to subscribe to my 'hidden links' click here. Occasionally, I drop an observation over here. And now for today's photography tip. Photography is about seeing (no kidding!), but not the kind of seeing that we're used to. It's about seeing 'the potential of a great image.'

Ansel Adams took great pictures and we've all seen them. What we rarely see is what the 'great pictures' looked like if he printed the image straight from the negative. I saw a book that included the straight shot of many of his well known images. They were terrible. Why? Because Adams didn't try to take a picture that would look great when printed straight from the negative. He tried to take a picture that would give him a negative from which he could (after much manipulation in the darkroom) print a great picture.

Today's digital cameras allow us to do the same thing without having to spend hours in a small darkroom inhaling chemicals. The first step is to learn about the histogram. If you don't know what it's useful for then you probably get annoyed when you see it. But, if you watch this video podcast then you'll learn that it's actually a tool that lets you do what Ansel Adams did. Well, you'll still have to work on seeing 'the great potential picture' but at least now you know that most 'great pictures' don't necessarily look great without being manipulated a bit.

If only we could use a simple tool like a histogram to manipulate Congress.

Photography - it starts with seeing

Photography, like all other creative endeavors, has a lot of hidden 'rules.' You don't have to follow the rules, or even know what they are, but if you do know the rules then most of your pictures will be compelling, or at least interesting. If you don't know the rules then the odds are against you. The same thing holds true for music, which also has some pretty definite rules.

I'm reminded of this because I find myself getting deeply interested in photography again. When I take my camera around it encourages me to see the world more intensely. Similarly, having a blog causes me to think more about current affairs (but being subjected to moronic political discourse causes me to retreat from current affairs).

So, goodbye media punditry; hello Nikon D300.

How does one become a better photographer? There are so many books and so many tips that it's easy to get overwhelmed and then confused. The first step, I believe is simple: learn to get rid of your bad photographs. Given that everything is now digital, and therefore the cost of taking pictures (at least 'film-wise') is zero, this should be a lot easier to do. But it's not for the beginning photographer.

Here are my humble suggestions: (1) if the picture is really bad (i.e. out of focus, shaky, or poorly exposed) then delete it immediately from your camera; (2) later on when you've moved the pictures to your computer, again delete any photograph that isn't perfect. But as you delete the photograph make sure you know exactly why you took a bad picture. Was the shutter speed too low? Was the sun in a position that created too much contrast? Did you use flash only to find out that it made the picture dull and flat?

There are some rules that you shouldn't break, especially if you are starting out. Usually those are the ones that keep you from making a bad picture. The 'rules' that govern making a great picture are more subtle, but they're there.

So when you find that one great picture, ask yourself what made it work? Was the composition interesting? Why? Was the background out of focus in a way that drew more attention to the subject? Did you accidentally use a slow shutter speed but found out that you were panning and that helped convey a sense of motion? Find out what technical elements made that great picture come out so well. And then remember that 'rule' for the next time you want to achieve that effect.

After you learn to toss out the poor photographs, and keep the excellent ones, your pictures will generate more attention. Oh, and if you look closely at some of your 'marginal' photographs, you may find some worth saving. For example, a poorly composed photograph can sometimes be cropped in a way that makes it more compelling. So as you review your 'bad pictures' look closely to see if you find 'the good picture' hidden inside the bad one. Like the title of this post suggests, photography is all about seeing things in a certain way. You need to train your eye to be more discriminating.

One of the best books to start with is John Hedgecoe's Photography Basics. Yes, he's an expert and his photographs are all absolutely compelling. But the best way to train your eye to understand what makes a great photograph is to study great photographs.

Better picture taking

David Pogue's 10 tips for taking better pictures is invaluable. I subscribe to the notion that flash should hardly ever be used.

My most recent brush with fame

I got a nice email last week.  It was from a fellow named David who lives in London and works for the Economist magazine.  He wanted to know if he could use a picture I had posted on Flickr in an upcoming article on Panama.  He mentioned they would pay me £160 (which is a little more than $300).  Naturally, I agreed. 

Unfortunately, they wound up using someone else's Flickr photo in the article (the online version does not have the photo).  I'm still reeling that a photo I snapped from a moving car, using a modest little digital camera I bought at Radio Shack, nearly earned me $300.  That was almost twice what I paid for the camera.  And the photo was hardly one of my better efforts.  Oh well, they didn't use my picture anyway, so it's all "water through the canal" as they say back on the Isthmus.

Banning Photos in Subways

As you can tell from the image banner at the top of this weblog, I like subway photos (the one in the banner was taken in Paris). The trick to getting a cool photo in a subway is to set your camera shutter speed on 1/15th of a second and steady the camera against a pole while you take the picture (with the subway moving, of course). The slow shutter speed is what allows the train's movement to be captured. Better hurry, if you want to try this in New York though.

The NYC Subway authorities are contemplating banning all photography in subways. Guess what the rationale is? If you said 'terrorism' then you've earned a gold star that you can stick on your forehead. If you are a NYC subway authority then you should get fitted for a 'dunce cap.'

Photos from the ABA Tech Show

Buzz Bruggeman took some great pictures at the 'Blogger Dinner' on the Wednesday night before the ABA Tech Show. I had my camera too and managed to take a few shots. I've culled the best of the photos and made them available here: ABA 2004 TechShow Photos.

Digital Photography - Soup to Nuts

Digital photography is here to stay. The pros have figured out that it's cheaper to shoot in digital (no film costs and no developing costs); and they get immediate feedback on their pictures, which makes it easier to experiment with picture taking. Of course, for the rank amateur the immediate feedback is good because it lets you know if the shot even came out at all.

If those weren't good enough reasons to take up digital photography, then how about this? Digital photography means never having to sort through and catalogue negatives and slides. You just put the files in your computer and organize them there.

So the first thing that people who take up digital photography will need is an organizing scheme. If you are an Apple computer user then you have iPhoto. If you are a Windows afficiando then I suggest you try Picasa, which is a $30 program that many people think is better than iPhoto. It's free to download and you can try it for 15 days before you have to buy it. Another good choice is the new program from Adobe called Photoshop Album 2.0. You can download a trial version that has limited capability. The full version will cost $49.99, which seems a little steep for something that just lets you organize your photos. But if you want to manipulate them then you'll probably want Photoshop Elements 2.0 by Adobe; if so, then it might make sense to buy the two programs together, which will give you a discount ($129 for both instead of $150 if purchased separately).

Anyway, after you have a program for organizing your pictures, you'll want to be able to manipulate them. You can do a little bit of manipulation (i.e. fix red eye, or change brightness) in both Picasa and Photoshop Album 2.0, but believe me --if you are serious about your photos-- then you should take full advantage of the computer's ability to create a 'digital darkroom.' In other words, you need to consider Adobe Photoshop. But not the full-blown version; check out the $99 program called Photoshop Elements 2.0. You can do pretty much everything that you would want to do in Photoshop, and you don't even want to know how much Photoshop costs.

The thing about Photoshop Elements is that it is so sophisticated that you can easily become overwhelmed. Therefore, I recommend a good book that will tell you exactly how to do everything that you would want to do to your photographs, and which explains it all in an easy way. For this you need Photoshop Elements for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby. With this book, you can smooth skin blemishes, change people's hair color, create stunning black & white photographs, whiten teeth, make eyes sparkle and many other effects that are truly stunning. And the author gives you step-by-step instructions. The book is a steal at $30, and is easily the best investment you will ever make.

Recap: if you buy an organizing program like Picasa or Photoshop Album you are effectively spending $30, especially if you get the latter with Photoshop Elements ($99). Then you just need to get Scott Kelby's book for $30 and you're all set. The total investment is $160, but remember you aren't ever going to buy any film or pay for any development costs.

What about printing you ask? Well, I'd just upload the photos to Ofoto, which is owned by Kodak (other simliar services are offered by Shutterfly, PhotoWorks and PhotoAccess). After you upload them you will have a copy online that you can always order high-quality prints from. And after you order them, they just show up at your house. So you save on gas too. Or you can buy a color photo printer, which these days are pretty effective and not too expensive (approximately $150 - $200 for a low-end, quality ink-jet). Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon seem to have a lot of choices in this price range.

Finally, after you master the art of uploading photos and ordering prints you might want to explore another possibility: getting a bound book of your special occasion photos. Apple's iPhoto includes this feature automatically and makes it ridiculously easy. I created a photo book from my recent trip to Paris in about 20 minutes and then clicked a button, and 5 days later I got a high-quality coffee table style book delivered right to my home. Everyone who sees the book is blown away. Of course, I always use it as an opportunity to rave about how great Macs are, but the truth is even Windows users can create quality photobooks by using MyPublisher. Supposedly, this is the company that Apple uses for the books you order through iPhoto. The books aren't cheap, but they are worth it for those special occasions like vacation photos and special family moments.

So what are you waiting for? Go get a digital camera and ditch the world of film. Unless you are a serious photographer (i.e. you lust after Hasselblads) then you are way better off with a digital camera and some powerful organizing and editing tools.

Digital Photography Book Recommendation

Even though I love technology and computers, it was with great reluctance that I took up digital photography. But once I discovered how much easier digital photography is I quickly ditched all of my 35mm equipment in favor of a Nikon CoolPix 5000 camera. Now that I've switched I can't figure out why every amateur photographer with a 35mm camera doesn't make the transition.

Digital photography means you get immediate feedback on pictures you have taken, so you don't have to pay to develop pictures you don't like. In fact, it really means not having to print many pictures at all (and you spend almost nothing on film and developing). You pretty much only print the pictures that you really like; the rest you just keep on your computer to display to unwitting friends and family members. Organizing the photos on your computer is easy if you have a Mac, because it comes with iPhoto. But Windows owners will probably be just as happy with a program called Picasa (free to try for 15 days and then $30 if you want to keep it, which you will).

Most amateur photographers will be happy with just a digital camera and a program that organizes the photos. More serious photographers will want to be able to manipulate their photographs. Remember, Ansel Adams didn't take pictures that looked great when printed straight from the negative. His skill was taking a photograph from which a great print could be made, and his skill in the darkroom was the thing that brought to life his greatest photos.

Everything that the great printmakers of the past could do in their darkrooms can now be done with a program called Photoshop, which retails for about $250. But you don't need to spend that kind of dough to own a top notch "digital darkroom." You can do pretty much everything that you would do with Photoshop by using Adobe's $80 consumer level program called Photoshop Elements 2.0. But the problem with using this program is that it has so many features that, unless you are very skilled in using Photoshop, you'll get confused. That's what happened to me. I figured out how to use a few features of Photoshop Elements, but I knew that I was only scratching the surface of its capabilities. Every once in a while I'd pick up a book on Photoshop Elements, but the book was not arranged in a way that allowed me to easily learn how to do the things that I wanted to do. In short, none of the books I found was designed to teach the everyday photographer how to use Photoshop Elements in a nuts & bolts kind of way.

Then I found Scott Kelby's book: Photoshop Elements for the Digital Photographer. If you own a digital camera and a computer then you owe it to yourself to buy Photoshop Elements along with this book.

Kelby tells you how to do things like "soften skin" in a selective way, which your female subjects will find pleasing. He doesn't waste time giving you a lot of background. He just shows you exactly how to perform the task you want to perform. More importantly, since he teaches advertising photographers and other highly skilled artistic types how to improve their digital images, he is familiar with techniques that these people use regularly to enhance their photographs. So, for example, he shows you how to "brighten" a subject's eyes, and how to whiten their smile. He also tells you how to use Elements' "photomerge" feature, which lets you stich together a group of photos of, say, a skyline into one panoramic photo (i.e. you can create very wide-angle shots without a wide-angle lens).

I could go on, but what's the point? If you own Photoshop Elements then you need this book. Trust me. The $30 sales price is laughably cheap. I wish more software instruction books were written like this one.