What if you don’t have enough room, or are shooting in a smaller studio, Can you still make this work?   Short answer is, Yes.  OK, ready? Here we go  To get the best results you should use a focal length of 70mm and longer.

• Change the f-Stop to the lowest setting you have available on your lens* (this is that 2.8 or 1.4 that you hear people talk about, a kit lens only goes as low as 5.6 which does give the same effect but not as dramatic).
• Adjust your shutter speed to match the new f-Stop, you probably have to make your camera shoot faster as there will be more light going through the lens because we changed the f-Stop.
• Focus, compose and shoot
• You should now have a more blurry background

Remember the farther the background is from your subject the more blur effect you get.  You can also add more background blur by getting closer to your subject … just keep the corners in mind and don’t cut off people’s head 

Happy shooting

* Keep in mind that some lenses, yes even the good ones, lose their sharpness at their lowest and highest f-Stop settings.  Always test your lens to be sure by taking a couple of images and look at them on your monitor, not on the small LCD screen on the camera, and check for sharpness.

A group of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have empirically identified a small core group of trans-national corporations which wield disproportionate power in the international market:

AS PROTESTS against financial power sweep the world this week, science may have confirmed the protesters’ worst fears. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.

The study’s assumptions have attracted some criticism, but complex systems analysts contacted by New Scientist say it is a unique effort to untangle control in the global economy. Pushing the analysis further, they say, could help to identify ways of making global capitalism more stable.

In terms of numbers, they found that:

From Orbis 2007, a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide, they pulled out all 43,060 TNCs and the share ownerships linking them. Then they constructed a model of which companies controlled others through shareholding networks, coupled with each company’s operating revenues, to map the structure of economic power.

The work, to be published in PLoS One, revealed a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships (see image). Each of the 1318 had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What’s more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world’s large blue chip and manufacturing firms – the “real” economy – representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues.

When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a “super-entity” of 147 even more tightly knit companies – all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity – that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. “In effect, less than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network,” says Glattfelder. Most were financial institutions. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.

Revealed – The Capitalist Network that Runs the World   [New Scientist]

The next season of workshops is finally here.  Thank you to all of you for keeping in touch and inquiering about the workshops.

This season our workshops are bigger better and more specialized.  We want to bring you the full experience … from the shoot to the editing.

More info?  Please see the workshop page

I recently had a long chat with a great Toronto artist, Fabrice, and we discussed composition for hours and how we had come to learn what was a natural process for many around us.  Here is a complete guide for you from our shared experiences, and well over 40 years (combined) behind the camera.

• Go through Photo-books

I can’t emphasize this enough.  Studying composition from the works of contemporary as well as classic names in photography is an absolute must.  Even if you are naturally gifted, it never hurts to see what other photographers have seen and interpreted from their environment.  Maybe you don’t even follow in their foot steps but it’s good to know which road they’ve taken.  I open a book every morning and through the day when I need to refresh my thoughts I look at some of my favorite images to give my creative muscle a boost.  Just don’t get lost in that for hours and hours, which can happen.

Used book stores and large retailers often have great books on photography for sale to help you enhance your library of images, resources and ideas.  Life still publishes specials with great images, as well as the following magazines

Photo    /    American Photo    /    PDN    /     Dossier   /    Black & White photography    /    Photolife and many many many more.

• Learn the rules of composition

http://www.guidetofilmphotography.com/film-camera-composition.html

http://www.photosecrets.com/photography-composition.html

(I found these ones had great examples and easy to absorb information)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_%28visual_arts%29 (this link has a more in depth look at composition)

• Take workshops

We have all at one point or another come to a point where we need to learn more about our craft.  Over the years I have apprenticed and assisted other photographers and taken many many many workshops to improve my skills.  With the introduction of digital photography and it’s availability to the general public, more people now have the chance to “create” pictures.   Learning the finer points and techniques is what distinguishes a seasoned professional and an amateur photographer.

Now workshops come in all sizes, shapes and colours.  Find the ones that offer you the most bang for your buck.  Remember that workshops are not just for shooting but also a great place to learn and ask questions.  Good workshops are well organized,  use professional models and stylists and offer a combination of teaching and shooting.   Personally I have learned most of my lighting skills, posing, relating to subject, facial and body analysis and digital workflow at workshops I have taken over the years.  I was lucky to apprentice with some great photographers and assisted a lot in my younger years.  The experience and wisdom of pros is worth it and if you participate with an open mind and absorb as much a you can, you will see results.

Be well rested and eat a good breakfast before heading out and make sure to check your equipment the night before.  Nothing is worst than running out of batteries or forgetting something at home.  Make a check list and go through it, the same way you do before a shoot.

• Look at your subject from different angles

We have all looked at photos of ourselves or people we know and at times have thought or said, I don’t like my face from this angle.  For portrait photographers it’s important to know and understand that people’s faces look different in different angles and that’s Facial analysis.  (Subject for a future Blog)

New photographers make a simple mistake; sticking to one angle of view of their subject.  This limits not only their creativity but also what might happen accidentally with the changing position of your lights or even the movement of your subject, at least for people and moveable things.  Better yet you can move around the subject keeping an eye on the background to keep the composition.

“The biggest mistake of amateur photography is not focusing on the subject. If your subject is a grainy wood door and door handle, move the camera closer to get it. No one needs to see the rest of the room because it is largely unimportant. Beginner photography also suffers from a direct, eye level viewpoint. For a picture of the door knob, don’t photograph it straight on – try looking for different angles to use. The door handle photograph will likely be much more interesting from a perspective that you normally do not see.”  http://www.guidetofilmphotography.com/film-camera-composition.html

• Personal projects

Last but not least is the personal project.  There are times when we need to exercise our creativity or simply keeping the active creative mind busy with a project to keep it happy.  Personal projects can range from doing a documentary to shooting still life in a studio, portraits of interesting looking people, flowers, bugs, people’s shoes … what ever really comes to mind.

I found this site yesterday that I found really interesting.  The artist has included some great images, simple, well composed and each one has a story.

http://www.amuseumofmyown.com/gallery.html?gallery=Exhibit%201%20%22Who%20Am%20I%22%20Eric%20Weiner&folio=

Personal projects also tend to get you out of creative blocks.  It happens to everyone from time to time and visual artists are no exception to it.  A fun or simple personal project allows you to go and play … just have fun with your photography and soon your block is history and new ideas come rushing in

A great reunion and from it was born the idea of teaching again.  I have to add a quick bit of history here.  I ran a language school in Toronto with My wife Tomoko for almost 4 years and we had a great run while it lasted and I have missed teaching ever since.  So needless to say that the opportunity to teach again, and the subject being photography realllllly got my attention.

4 months and a dozen workshops later and we are rolling well.   I always believe that offering quality is the most important thing for a client, be it a photo client or a workshop participant.  We hire and use talented, experienced models, makeup artists, fashion and hairstylists.  We aim to provide educational, fun and interesting workshops while keeping the costs reasonable.

Our next gig is at a Luxury hotel on Jan 22-23rd with three published glam models in an executive Bi-level suite that offers some really wonderful sets to shoot in.  We have a fantastic team of makeup artists and hairstylists that are joining us as well.  It promises to be one hell of a day

Take a look at their link and if you have time and are in Toronto,  join us.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by.  I will have more images up soon from workshops and other personal series I am finishing.

Maz

http://www.meetup.com/torontophotographic/calendar/16027151/

Smoke allows each of us to see the images it offers in our own unique way.  To me these images each have a part of the story.  Smoke is not what you may think. It’s the representation of the fragile nature of life and all things that surround us.  How easily we would dissipate, just like the last wisp of smoke from a candle.

http://ambientlight.ca/laws.php

Hope you find it helpful … if you know of any other sites that cover copyright laws please add the link in your comments   It would be much appreciated.

Happy shooting

*************************

Let me say right off the bat that this is a simple rant.You’ve been warned. I hope you’ll stick around, read this and pass this message on the next time you hear a photographer complaining about their gear – or their lack of it.

I am constantly amazed by some of the stuff I read online. People complain about everything. They’re mad because they have to shoot with last year’s camera. They feel offended because they didn’t win the last photo contest. They’re irate that they had to wait in line 10 minutes at the camera store to buy a lens.

These are all first world problems people. The next time you feel like complaining about stuff like this, try taking a look around you.

The people in the Gulf of Mexico have just had their lives turned upside down by the BP oil spill. People are losing everything. Wildlife is perishing.

Two weeks ago in Arkansas, dozens were hurt or killed in a flash flood that took infants downstream screaming for their mothers.

In third-world countries around the globe, mothers worry about how they will feed their starving children.

Yet we complain about not having enough money for the 1.2 lens and settling for the 1.8 lens instead!

Perspective – it has a special meaning in photography. Why can’t we apply the proper perspective to our “problems?”

I’m using “WE” here because I too have complained about small things. As I grow older and face new challenges associated with my circumstances, I learn more and more to be thankful for what I can do. I spend less time worrying about what I can’t do.

So my charge to all who read this is simple. Why not focus (pun intended) on what you do have? Why not focus on the opportunities that are within your grasp. Instead of being mad that the guy next to you is eating steak while you eat hamburger, remember that there are many who’d love the hamburger.

If you waste time complaining about what you don’t have, I’ll almost bet my bottom dollar that you’re not making the most out of what you do have.

Go out and photograph with the gear you have today AS IF it were the best gear around. Go photograph the local park AS IF it were Yosemite. Change your mindset and I’m betting you’ll change your results. For the better that is.

Scott Bourne, July 7, 2010