Aug 23, 2011 | Field Reports
It must have been the first or at the most, the second crit at school the very first semester of the very first year. A student put up their image up on the screen and it was this little, itty pity image. I scratched my head, the instructor just stared. He took the slide out of the carrousel and looked at it, it was all taped up with silver tape leaving this little aperture. All Steve said was, “What, you couldn’t have moved closer, changed lenses?”
I seem to have earned quite a reputation for many things, one of them is having a thing against cropping an image. So I’ll say this right off the bat so you don’t have to read any further if you don’t want to, what anyone does with their images is strictly up to them! I am not the photo police! But when photographers show me their images and ask for comments, then they will get my comments and when I see an image has been cropped (yes, I think it’s really easy to see), what screams through my head is, “Couldn’t you have moved closer or changes lenses?”
Back in the day when I started, submitting prints was on its way out, submitting slides was in. When you create a print, you naturally have to crop an image since paper is not the same ratio as a 35mm slide/neg. Since I printed up a storm, I had to crop and learned how to be successful at shooting for that crop knowing I would be cropping when printing. The print would be the final presentation of my vision. Once printing went away and all I shot were slides, then composition was still done in the viewfinder but that was it. There was no cropping to be done, it was all done.
When sending slides to photo buyers, taking your image and applying the very obvious silver tape to “crop” the slide in the slide mount stuck out like a sore thumb. I remember one conversation with a photo buyer complaining about a photographer who had done just that, sent in their slides cropped with silver tape. All the photo buyer could say was, “You have any idea how stuck those images were in the slide page?” That wasn’t an impression I would ever want to leave with a photo buyer, I could get right in the viewfinder or slides covered with stickem. So what does that have to do with this day and age and digital?
Yeah, you can set a preset with the Crop Tool in Photoshop and crop all day long. And unless you make a print 24×30, you probably won’t see any possible quality loss from cropping. So then why do I not crop my images still? It’s just one of those benchmarks I took hold of that signifies a photographer as, a photographer. It goes along with getting the exposure right and the image sharp when you go click. You compose within the viewfinder and get it right when you go click.
When I look at the work of those who I hold in high regards, Jay Maisel, Joe McNally, Dave Black, Joel Sartore, Wayne Lynch and others, they do all their cropping in the viewfinder as well. I’m sure there are a lot more and there’s a reason for that standard. Arranging the elements in the viewfinder so the subject pops and the rest of the elements support the subject while telling the story, well, isn’t that visual story telling? That’s my definition of photography. There are definitely pros and cons to this standard. The pros are the workflow is simpler and faster (important when you’re in the business of selling images) and quality assured. Cons, the biggest one is it makes taking the photo one helluva of a lot more challenging when you know you’ve gotta get it right when you go click. And when you don’t have it, you don’t go click.
You might have heard I don’t like my images cropped even when they are used editorially. That’s true, I get kinda serious when an photo buyer wants to edit my click. I mean, why buy the photo in the first place if you don’t like it? If you got a copy of my book Captured, rest assured those images aren’t cropped either. I was very blessed in that I had the best in the biz, Jess laying out the book honoring my no cropping request. In those regards, I am totally, completely, out there on my own. I am a nut! And that’s the whole point!
Just because that’s my standard, it does not mean a single other photographer has to follow it. But if you ask me about your photo, heads up. It’s my own quest in being a better photographer, to get it right when I go click. I rather love being able to say, “What you see is what I saw in the viewfinder” when it comes to the crop (landscape & aviation images are often finished in PS. Wildlife images are not). When you don’t give yourself the option to “fix it in post,” photographers push themselves. This always make a better click and the story telling, the subject, that passion of that click becomes clearer and clearer. We all must find whatever the tools, techniques and personal vision at the camera and the computer that work best for you. For me and my photography, that means using my feet and lens to put in the viewfinder what it is I want to communicate to you the passion I’m feeling at moment.
Aug 17, 2011 | Field Reports
With our very successful DLWS coming to an end this fall, we are flooded with emails and phone calls asking, “What’s next?” Well, we the glitsie website isn’t ready and we have no fancy email to be send. And while we are very honored and pleased with folks wanting to join us, we need to stem the questions. So I put a little thing up on Google+ which just brought in more questions. Bottomline, who cares about a website, give the folks what you want, here’s the info about our first K&M Adventure. (THANKS to ALL who are asking!)
Hosted by Kevin Dobler & myself, the dates for our first K&M Adventure is 22-27 Feb, 2012. You will arrive in Las Vegas which is the airport we will be picking folks up from and taking them back to. Transportation to & from the airport as well as for the week is provided. We are staying at The View and have the best rooms reserved giving those who want to, the opportunity to do time lapse / stars trails (and we’re there to teach you how) as well as sunrises and sunsets. We have no set agenda, that’s one of the trademarks of K&M Adventures, we chase the light but that will over the course of the workshop take us to Monument Valley & Antelope Cnyn at the very least. If you’ve seen any of my Kelby Training videos, Romancing the Landscape, then you know that I not only have an intimate knowledge of Monument Valley, but many who call it home are dear friends. That get’s us some amazing photo opps.
The price for instruction & transportation (once in Vegas) only is $1995. Half is due on registration and the other half is due 30 days out. Information for reserving your room will be provided once you reserve your spot in the workshop. Lodging & food not include in the price.
What do you need for the workshop? Utmost is an adventurous spirit! We’ll be up early and out late shooting and in between, we’ll be learning, laughing and working on images. This will be the most laid back, jammed packed workshop you’ve ever been on! Computers & camera gear are highly recommended and a packet will be sent to you with specific information some time prior to the adventure. We have two openings, call 760.924.8632 if you’re up for the adventure!
Aug 17, 2011 | Field Reports
What one of our attendees had to say about Photoshop for Shooters
WOW! What a great weekend I had. Learning, shooting and learning some more and making new friends. I think you have a hit with your new series of classes and will be talking it up to friends. You took me to new depths of Photoshop which will open up an entirely new area of editing for me. Oh, the hotel was a really nice place too!
Thanks again for the great teaching and hospitality.
Warmest Regards,
Tom Walker
Here it is plain and simple, I want to help folks with their photography and the vehicle we’re going to use in this class is Photoshop to help improve your captures! And we’re going to do that by using Photoshop to learn how to be better at the camera and the computer. We’ll talk camera settings and lenses, curves and exposure, Silver Efex Pro and lenses, HDR and composition. They go hand in hand and knowledge of both is so important I feel to get what you see and feel reaching the heartstrings you’re sharing your photography with. And that’s the end game to all of this, grabbing heartstrings.
One of the unique things we provide you is a 14pg Location Shot list. We want you to shoot while you’re here but shooting is not part of the class. So to encourage this, we provide ideas of places to shoot, when to shoot there and how to find it for shoots around the Mammoth area. One of the locations we provide info to for you to shoot at is Bodie. This class offers this and so much more!
Wanna learn more….click here…or simply call WRP @760.924.8632 or 661.204.1506. Next workshop is 8-9 Oct, 2011 (couple of seats open).
Aug 17, 2011 | Field Reports
This has been a common question that last few days since I posted 150 Google+ invites. The answer for me is quite simple. It’s where I’m finding unique content and conversations I can’t find elsewhere on the web as easily, quickly or cleanly. I don’t use social media to find clients for my photography, I use it to find others often of like mind to discuss “things” that pop into my mind (and that’s a scary proposition!). I’ve heard the positive and negative from folks about Google+ and to be honest with you, since it is technically free (except for your time which is important), exploring a medium where you can find information like the above from Scott you’re not going to find elsewhere, what have you got to loose?
Oh yeah, the copyright thing. Those on my FB wall know that I’ve talked about this a lot. Google+ have left windows open for posting images if you’d like, but I’m still not a fan of using any social media as a showcase for my images. That’s why I have a website. You have to understand that as soon as your image leaves your hard drive, there is always the risk it will be stolen (and I know that 1st hand). On the flip side, what the hell good is taking photographs if they never leave your hard drive? They can only make an impact when they are shared. So then it adds up this way. You take photographs and intend to be true to the craft, you are always risking theft. You can minimize the theft possibility, keeping honest people honest, but that’s it. Bottomline, give Google+ a looksie, you just might like it. Here are some Google+ Invites in case you wanna try it.
Aug 16, 2011 | Field Reports
B&W photography is one of the most romantic way ways to visually communicate. It is also a medium that confounds most photographers. A new book is out by John Batdorff, Black and White, From Snapshots to Great Shots that might just answer your questions blocking you from making the most of this medium. What John does a great job is taking you from click of the shutter to click of save! One of the highlights I think is he takes you into finishing with LR & Silver Efex Pro (my favorite). You have to take this complete approach to B&W for visual success.
Here’s where I think John excels with his book. He goes over the subtle details that I feel really make the difference. For example he shows very well how to use Silver Efex Pro Control points to pull out subtle detail that otherwise would get lost or be painfully hard to pull out later in post. You might be wondering why I read this book and more importantly, did I learn something? I read the book because you never have all the answers. And yes, I did learn something and in fact, multiple somethings. Now what exactly I learned, well you need to read the book to understand that. You won’t be disappointed!
Aug 16, 2011 | Field Reports
The Atlantic is running this marvelous series, World War II in Photos which historically is quite something (too bad we don’t seem to learn too well). Last week they posted The American Home Front in Color and it’s a great view! The story of how this great country came together to make a difference is visually very powerful!
After looking at the images for the history they tell about, I went back and looked at the photo photographically. Man, did those photographer work incredibly hard to make those images happen! They didn’t have TTL Flash control, they couldn’t chimp, they had to work with film, FP Shutters and flash bulbs! They had to physically move that flash or close down that aperture or both to make that flash shot. The black backgrounds are a dead give away they were working in wild conditions. As photographers we owe them a big debt of gratitude and as Americans, a big thank you for recording our history!
