The Camera Store Blog Posts

Three Stories to Tell

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:05:40 +0000

In this article Royce Howland explores three ideas on better story-telling through photography.

In this article, I’d like to give three ideas on better story-telling through photography. Recently, while getting ready for a presentation, I revisited a pair of quotes from two famous photographers. Both quotes get it right, but each one contains an idea that the other doesn’t mention.

“A camera always looks both ways. Like all serious photographers, I have to accept and deal with this fact – the reality that my images are as much a documentation and interpretation of myself as of the subject matter I choose.” ~ Freeman Patterson

“To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs,’ I respond, ‘There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.’” ~ Ansel Adams

Between them, I believe one thing Patterson and Adams are getting at is that engaging photographs express something from the intersection of three different perspectives, or stories, that are at play: the subject’s story, your story, and your viewers’ stories. You can potentially tell any or all of them in a photograph. How you do it may make the difference between a photograph that someone looks at, and a photograph that connects and is read more deeply.

The subject’s story is one of the easiest places to start. As I’ve described elsewhere when talking about subject, composition and light, it’s frequently something about a subject that first attracts our creative eye. A subject – whether a person, mountain, flower, muscle car, building or anything else – may be naturally colorful, striking, different, or otherwise appealing. Being photographers, we often immediately think about how to photograph whatever caught our attention. Though a subject may have an easy, inherent appeal, it may be deceptive. So don’t necessarily rush to make that exposure and move on.

If you want to tell the subject’s story, make more of a connection and figure out something that isn’t obvious. If it’s a person, try to illustrate something about them – a gesture of hand, a mischievous grin, a way of moving, a pensive or intense look, their interaction with something or someone. If the subject is a place or a thing, capture something of its hidden nature, something a casual glance wouldn’t reveal. If you boil it down to a single detail, what really defines the object? Build up your awareness of whatever or whoever the subject is, however you can (from the last article: research, repeat & respond) and then illustrate it in the frame. Can you show something that says more than simply “I was there, saw this, and here’s what it looked like”? Can you portray something of the subject’s essence?

Study great portraitists like Yousuf Karsh and look at their methods of making iconic portraits. Or look at pre-eminent outdoor photographers such as Galen Rowell and how they became deeply familiar with locations and illustrated them in ways that really showed a sense of place. A given subject may have a lot of layers. It has history, a present context, and will have some kind of future. Can you photograph it in a way that brings more facets to light? Can you tell the subject’s story, rather than just show an image of it?

Telling your story is often a progression from telling the stories of your subjects. All artists, at the core, don’t just record and present reality – we subjectively interpret our experiences in the form of our artwork. One way to tell your story is to work with subjects over time and come to know them better. As you develop more insight, how you present the subjects will change. This tells the story of your evolving experience of and relationship to them. Your story may become more about your recognition and appreciation of nuances and little details; a shift from those “big bang” trophy moments (which we all love to get), to an experience that’s more real and lived-in.

This isn’t just a matter of having favorite subjects, but you may find the seeds of story in your favorites. For example, perhaps you photograph a lot of windows. Let’s further say you come to realize this is because you grew up in a cold, dark climate, and windows represent a way for sunlight and warmth to enter a room in the summer. Taking this concept, could you rework it and tell that story in literal or conceptual ways with other subject matter besides windows? If you can grab onto elements like this, they can become themes for you to weave into your work, whether subtly or more obviously.

Also consider how you think and feel about subjects, and how that might influence your photographs of them. What light do you use – is it harsher or more flattering; is it cold or warm? How do you compose the subject? Is there a sense of closeness because you’ve come in and used a wide angle lens? Or are you at a more remote distance using a long focal length? Have you altered perspective or positioned yourself in a way that implies something about how you view the subject? Is there something in the frame that anchors you as a participant in the scene – a shadow, your reflection, or eye contact?

Telling your story means building something of your experience and perception into the frame. In a way this is what art audiences are looking for; if they just want the facts, they’ll go to journalists or scientists. From artists, they want something more personal and subjective.

The final kind of story to tell is perhaps the trickiest one, and that’s your viewers’ stories. If you make photographs for anybody but yourself, then you have an audience. Perhaps you photograph subjects that are so compelling, or you have such a strong way of bringing your own story into your work, that your viewers will come to your images just for what is shown and nothing more. But I’ve come to believe there’s a very interesting body of work that can be made by telling viewers’ stories, as well. Successfully doing this can create images that connect deeply, engage viewers and bring them actively into reading the work, rather than just looking at it.

How is it possible? Most of the time we don’t know who our viewers will be, and don’t know anything about them. How can you tell the story of someone unknown? I’ve got a couple of ideas to offer here. The first one is to tell stories that are universal. We may not know specifically who our viewers are, but we know they are people and there are some universal things that contribute to all our stories. Consider experiences and emotions like love, fear, family, loneliness, curiosity, compassion, loss, tranquility, anger – these and many more are going to be familiar to virtually everyone regardless of age, education, culture or anything else. If your photograph visually portrays something that can tap into a common point of human experience, you have a good chance at a universal story that your viewers can relate to. As a thought exercise here, consider how you could photograph something that a curious and imaginative child would immediately make up a story about.

The second idea is not to try to tell your viewers’ stories directly, but to work in ways that leave openings for viewers to bring their own stories into the experience of seeing your photographs. Deliberately work with abstract concepts and symbols, so that your viewers can interpret them based on their own experiences. Show a visual puzzle, something that isn’t immediately obvious on the face of it, so viewers have to bring their own imaginations to bear to figure out what’s being depicted. Or use visual composition to show only a part of the scene or to pose a question that you don’t answer within the frame. Viewers will have to supply their own answers to fill in the blanks. These are story-telling devices that can be used in a visual way to engage your viewers.

There you have it… any time you’re fishing for ideas on how to photograph something, think like an author with three different possible stories to tell, each from a different viewpoint. What’s the story of a subject that attracts your photographic eye? What’s your own story of experiencing that place? And as you weave your subject’s and your own stories together, how can you leave the door open for your viewers to bring in their own stories? If you can combine one or more of these perspectives, perhaps it will give you a bestseller!

Royce Howland is offering a Summer 2013 Landscape Photography Masterclass with Brian Merry. The event will run for 7 days / 6 nights in beautiful, world-famous Banff National Park. We’ll talk about gear, and a lot more about creative photography. For more information, click here.

Caption: A Blackfoot dancer demonstrates a traditional dance. To avoid simply being documentary, I zoomed in tight, used an aperture of f/32 to slow the shutter speed, and intentionally jiggled the camera. I’m telling the subject’s story through the suggestion of human form, the bright colors, and the flow & energy of the motion.

Caption: Without the trail of footprints, this would just be a nice abstract photo of some ripples in a sand dune. With the angle of the light and the prints I can tell part of the story of a small creature that crossed the sand in the early morning, before the daily winds came up and erased its tracks.

Caption: By putting my own shadow in the frame and taking a perspective that appears to be almost over the edge of a moulin (a melted chute going deep into the ice), I tell part of my story of going up on a glacier and experiencing one aspect of its size and wildness.

Caption: The subject is interesting in a nostalgic way that viewers may relate to. But I’m trying to draw the viewer into the story in another way. By positioning the subjects and from the direction they’re looking, I’m asking questions that can’t be answered in the frame – what are they looking at? What’s going on to the left that has their attention while the haircut is happening?

Caption: This subject has some interesting things going on, and I definitely was feeling in a fun mood while exploring this supposedly haunted hotel. Coming across a mirror, I used the opportunity to create a visual puzzle that may draw the viewer’s imagination and curiosity into the story. How is the woman appearing reflected in the mirror but not in the hallway? Is she a ghost?

Pentax K30 & WG3 Outdoor Shoot

Jordan.Drake — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:16:17 +0000

Jordan writes about his experience at the Pentax K30 & WG-3 Adventure Shoot.

By: Jordan Drake.

I’m a Pentax fan. Pentax DSLRs are my favourite stills cameras to bring along whenever I know the camera might be in for some abuse. The weather sealed Pentax K30 is a particular favourite of mine, as it is by far the least expensive, properly weather sealed DSLR. Chris was a big fan as well, as you can see in our K30 Field Test Video. However, I had never really shot any video with a Pentax camera, outside of the short snippets I shoot for the videos to check out image quality.

When we were told about the video contest Pentax and The Camera Store were holding, Chris and I were interested in shooting a sample video with Pentax cameras. As we were trying to emphasize the ruggedness of Pentax cameras, we brought out a couple WG3s and K30s. I considered shooting with the Pentax K-5IIs, but the K30 features full manual control in video, which I think is almost a necessity for DSLR video work.

Shooting with the K30 was a lot of fun. The control layout is very intuitive, and the screen is very sharp. I did have to use a Zacuto Z-Finder to be able to gauge exposure accurately, but I found focussing to be very straightforward. I also used the very cool P&C Gearbox Cage, to make the camera easy to move around while climbing. I wasn’t sure what image settings to use, and there wasn’t a lot of information online about recommended settings, so I just shot with the flattest profile possible, with Saturation, Contrast and Sharpening turned off. I was happy to find that footage actually responded to image adjustments quite well. I would recommend slight over-exposure to keep your shadows from blocking up, but overall I was quite happy with the footage from the K30. I particularly enjoyed shooting the puddle footage, with a K30 strapped to the front of the truck. This is a shot I would never consider attempting with my more conventional video equipment.

The WG3 is a tough little underwater camera, so I treated it like I would a Go-Pro. We stuck it in small spaces, which you can see as Craig climbs past it in the footage. I thought Mark Langridge had a great idea putting the camera half in the water and having Chris cast his line right in front of it. Like other underwater cameras, the WG3 doesn’t offer manual video exposure, but I was happy to find an included filter thread. This allowed me to use a small three stop ND filter to keep the shutter speeds slower. I think the footage turned out quite nice, the I’d love to see an exposure lock option in the next version.

Overall the Pentax shoot was a lot of fun and I’m quite happy with the results. If you do stills and video in rugged environments I can’t recommend these two cameras enough. Also, if the K30 looks like a good camera for you, don’t forget to enter the Outdoor Adventure Film Fest, and you could win a great weather-sealed kit!

Pentax K-30
The K-30 is an affordable, weather resistant, dustproof, coldproof and lightweight high-performance DSLR body. Whether it’s a sandy day at the beach or a trek into the wet rainforests of Belize, the K-30 is weather sealed body and intuitive ergonomics give you the flexibility and comfortability to shoot what you want.

For your chance to win a K-30 Prize Pack, check out our Pentax Adventure Video Contest!

Pentax WG-3
The WG-3 is a rugged adventure proof camera that lets you dive deeper, climb higher and explore longer. Built for life's adventures, planned and unexpected. Capture outstanding images in any element with its brighter 4X optical zoom, Shake Reduction system and high resolution sensor. Dive deeper, climb higher, explore longer, and capture even more of your journey with the PENTAX WG-3.

For your chance to win a WG-3 Prize Pack, check out on Pentax Outdoor Adventure Photo Contest!

Pentax Cameras Built for Adventure

Evelyn.Drake — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:48:41 +0000

Find Out Why The Pentax K-30 and Pentax Optio WG-3 Cameras are Built For Adventure!

Recently our TCSTV crew organized a multi-sport adventure day with friends. We captured rock climbing, ice climbing, fishing, wood chopping, 4x4ing, puddle splashing, mountain biking and even hot dog roasting.

Not only did we set out to have fun, our adventure had a purpose too. We used this opportunity to demonstrate just how tough Pentax cameras are. We have been telling everyone how hard-core these cameras really are but as they say, "we need to see pics or it didn't happen".

To shoot the adventure, we chose the Pentax K-30 and the WG-3 to capture all the stills and video footage. We strapped the DSLR to the front of a 4x4 while trudging through rough and muddy roads. We dangled the WG-3 from dusty rock faces as our adventurous friends climbed passed and when it was all done the cameras got a nice ice cold wash. Yes, that's right. We washed the mud and dirt off in the sink!

After a day of what would normally be considered camera torture, the Pentax cameras survived and are ready to take on our next outdoor journey.

Here's what video specialist Jordan Drake had to say about the shoot: "Since I typically work with delicate and expensive video equipment, it was refreshing to have the chance to rough-house the Pentax K-30 and WG-3. It was not only fun working with the cameras, I was also impressed with how well the footage held up in post. Stay tuned for my complete take on this shoot next week on The Camera Store Blog."

Pentax K-30
The K-30 is an affordable, weather resistant, dustproof, coldproof and lightweight high-performance DSLR body. Whether it’s a sandy day at the beach or a trek into the wet rainforests of Belize, the K-30 is weather sealed body and intuitive ergonomics give you the flexibility and comfortability to shoot what you want.

For your chance to win a K-30 Prize Pack, check out our Pentax Adventure Video Contest!

Art of The Portrait Workshop For a Cause

Evelyn.Drake — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:46:43 +0000

For the third year in a row, Dan Bannister is doing his Art of the Portrait workshop.

For the third year in a row, Dan Bannister is doing his Art of the Portrait Workshop, a one day workshop in his studio that's become a very popular annual event. This is the only opportunity you'll have to learn from one of the busiest commercial photographers in Canada. Dan's workshop is limited to only 8 people and all the proceeds go to support the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

In the morning session, Dan will review some of the equipment and techniques he uses to create stunning portraits for fashion and lifestyle clients. He'll discuss how to use natural light, reflection and shadows to sculpt beautiful portraits as well as reviewing some broad concepts about people photography that will help you improve your work.

After a short lunch break and discussion, you will break into small groups and work with models and the studio equipment to create your own portraits and problem solve various scenarios.

This will be a very full and busy day with lots of opportunities to discuss all aspects of portrait photography, lighting, styling and workflow.

All proceeds from the workshop go to support the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

Dan Bannister is a Canadian commercial, fashion and editorial photographer. Dan shoots everything from annual reports for some of the largest companies in North America to advertising campaigns and fashion for clients all over Canada and the US.

Portraits of South Sudan Pt. 2 The Elders

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:08:24 +0000

Robert Scott shares portraits from South Sudan that he shot to help raise awareness on the need for water in this developing area.

Calgary based photographer Robert Scott shares portraits from South Sudan that he shot to help raise awareness on the need for water in this developing area.

"It’s important to state that the main reason why my camera and I were excepted into the village was that I was introduced to the village elders to explain my presence and to ask permission. I was immediately brought in as family. The elders of the community are highly respected and they speak for the entire community. As soon as I had their blessing my trigger finger couldn’t keep up."

Click here to read Robert's blog post and to view more of his photographs from this project.

Robert Scott is a landscape and portriat photographer in Calgary. He hosting a seminar at The Camera Store classroom called: Landscape Photography: Death Valley on May. 11th, 2013. Click here for more info.

Pentax Adventure Photo & Video Contest

Evelyn.Drake — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:52:51 +0000

Upload your photo or video of any outdoor activity for your chance to win great Pentax prizes!

To show just how durable, fun and capable Pentax cameras are; we gathered some adventurous friends, drove down miles of treacherous roads and had some good times out in the mountains. All this, while capturing the action in some less than friendly conditions. We hope you enjoy watching the video as much as we enjoyed making it.

This isn't just about us though, we'd love to see what adventures you have! In partnership with Pentax we have both a photo contest AND a video contest, both with awesome prizes. Keep reading for details on how to enter.

Show us your outdoor adventures by entering the Pentax Outdoor Adventure Photo & Video Contests Between May 1st - June 30th, 2013.

PHOTO CONTEST:
Upload Your Outdoor Adventure Photos to Win One of Three Pentax Optio WG-3 Prize Packages! View full details and upload your photo on our Facebook page!

VIDEO CONTEST:
Share Your Outdoor Adventure Video Footage as a response to our YouTube video for a chance to win a new Pentax DSLR!

DEADLINE:
The deadline for entries is June 30 2013 at Midnight (Mountain Standard Time)

THE PRIZES

The Photo Contest Prize Pack:

The winner from each photo category will win a Pentax Optio WG-3 Prize Package Which Includes an Apex 30AW Camera Case from Lowepro and an Original Joby Gorillapod.

The Video Contest Prize Pack:

Pentax K30 with 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 WR Prize Package with a Lowepro Flipside Sport 20L and a Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom. The Runner-Up Will Win a Q&A Skype Session with our TCSTV Crew Jordan Drake & Chris Niccolls.

Portraits of South Sudan Pt. 1 Women and Water

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:27:03 +0000

Calgary based photographer Robert Scott shares portraits from South Sudan that he shot to help raise awareness on the need for water.

Calgary based photographer Robert Scott shares portraits from South Sudan that he shot to help raise awareness on the need for water in this developing area.

"My job was to document the people and their condition in order to raise awareness and then ultimately financial support from you in the hopes that we can bring fresh water to these people as soon as we can. A fundraising gala will be held this October in the hopes to raise $12,000 U.S for the construction of the well. I’ll be posting more information as the event nears."

Click here to read Robert's blog post and to view more of his photographs from this project.

Robert Scott is a landscape and portriat photographer in Calgary. He hosting a seminar at The Camera Store classroom called: Landscape Photography: Death Valley on May. 11th, 2013. Click here for more info.

Call for Camera Donations

Evelyn.Drake — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:03:41 +0000

Your retired digital camera can take on a new life, and help save lives.

Your retired digital camera can take on a new job, and help save lives.

2.5 billion people in the rural developing world use crude open fires to cook meals.The consequences of this are enormous: 1.6 million women and children die annually from upper respiratory disease related to indoor cooking smoke.

BURN Design Lab designs stoves that are optimized for regional fuel supplies and cooking requirements. More than that, they provide mentoring & training so the stoves can be mass produced locally.

The positive effects of using effiicient, clean burning stoves are numerous, including:

Drastic reductions in toxic and CO emissions.
Reduced demand for fuel. A single $20 stove can save 128 trees from destruction and additionally save a family 1300 hours per year in fuel gathering.

Burn Design Lab's will use donated cameras to document their work in the field and the lab. Photos & video are an important part of sharing the story, both for education and fundraising.

Drop off your used (but functioning) digital cameras and lenses to The Camera Store by June 30th, 2013 to support this cause. (Please include batteries, chargers and any other accessories you have available)

"BURN Design Lab is a nonprofit organization located on Vashon Island, WA whose mission is to save lives and forests in the developing world through the design and commercial distribution of clean burning cookstoves. We bring together the best minds in product design, engineering, and manufacturing to develop user- centered, aspirational products. BURN’s research and design center creates the tooling and manufacturing processes to enable mass production of our stove designs in developing communities."

Follow BURN Design Lab on Facebook.

Canon Rebel T5i Hands-On

Jordan.Drake — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:23:20 +0000

Chris takes a look at the Canon T5i to see what's changed this year

The Canon Rebel line have always been excellent entry level cameras, so Chris and I were eager to check out the specs on the latest camera. We discovered quickly that the T5i is essentially a Rebel T4i with a new kit lens. We felt that the shortest TCSTV review ever was the appropriate response, and here you have it.

The video was shot with the Sony FS700, and the Canon 24mm F1.4, 100mm F2.8 IS Macro, and the Sigma 35mm 1.4. As has been the case lately, I used the Metabones Speed Booster to adapt the lenses.

Fiilex LEDs for Portrait Photography (With Rob Caleffi)

Jordan.Drake — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:44:18 +0000

We check out the incredibly flexible LED lights from Fiilex.

Some of my favourite tools in our TCSTV video kit are Lumahawk LEDs, which have allowed us to have portable, color adjustable lighting that we can bring anywhere. My only issue with the traditional LED panels, was that could not be modified in the way that our old hot lights and HMIs could be. Often, I wanted a tight spotlight for my hair light, and it was near impossible to get the right look with our large LED panels.

Enter the Fiilex P360, these are wonderful LEDs that accept not only Fiilex modifiers, but also the entire line of Profoto accessories. I was already sold on the system for video work, but Chris and I were curious how the lights would perform for still photography. To that end we brought in Rob Caleffi, a wonderful portrait photographer who had been utilizing constant light to brilliant effect for years.

The results can be seen in the video above, I think they speak for themselves. My major issue while shooting the video was that all our lights were being used to photograph Christina, our model, leaving me to fight for any scrap of light I could find to illuminate Chris. This is where my beloved Metabones Speed Booster came into play, as it allowed me an exposure of F1.0 when used with the Sigma 35mm F1.4. As a result, the depth of field in this video was shallower than I’d usually want, but at least Chris and Rob can be seen in the darkness.

I’m certainly a convert to Fiilex system, and if you think it could improve your work in stills or motion, I’d suggest checking them out. We just added a set with modifiers to our rental pool, so if you’re local and want to get more creative with your lighting, there’s no excuse not to give the Fiilex a shot.