Photography by Patrick

Photographers at Orlando Photography Workshop

The next several blogs that I will be posting will feature the photographers that attended the 2 day Orlando workshop and their photos. This blog hi-lights some of the photography of Patrick.

Patrick took this photo at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. We had an overcast day which is perfect for portraiture. This was taken with a Sony camera on a tripod. No flash or reflectors were used. Shot in the horizontal format he used informal composition to place his subject and later vignetted the edges to bring all the attention to the model. Then established rapport and got a great expression. The next photo he used a vertical format, came up close, and tilted the camera for a Diagonal composition. The diagonal makes it more dynamic. When you are in a place like Rollins College it is easy to overpower your subject with the beautiful backdrops. By concentrating on the subject and not making the background the centerpiece of the photo attention is kept on the model. Placing the eyes on the top third for maximum visual effect, the attention goes directly to the expression. Afterwards he made it into a Sepia tone image probably using Photoshop. What is nice about black and white or sepia is there are no colors to distract you from appreciating the subject.

These are just some of the great photos he took. Although the day was overcast which helped with the lighting it was freezing. Any photographer can come up with good images when circunstances are perfect. The learned photographer achieves consistantly good results no matter what happens. This is the case here. Looking at the model she looks perfectly comfortable. If I were her parents would I purchase these photos? In a heartbeat!

Trip to New York

Trip to NEW YORK CITY

My wife and I drove to New Jersey. We stopped at Lane Farms in Georgia. I love peaches but hate the peaches we by at the store so I wanted to go to the source.

We went inside and they had big juicy peaches everywhere. We bought a box for $30. We ate peaches all the way to N.J. By the time we reached New Jersey I had peaches coming out of my ears.

We took some photos inside.

Ever take a photo indoors using flash? If you want to make your background lighter or darker put the camera on MANUAL and change your shutter speed. To make the background darker use a higher speed like 1/60 or 1/125th of a second. The photo of my wife was taken at 1/125th of a second at f/4.

If you want to pick up the ambient light (existing light) lower your shutter speed to 1/30 or 1/15th of a second. The shutter controls the ambient light and the aperture controls the flash. At this lower speed look at how brighter the background came out.

Hold the camera steady. As you pick up ambient light at slower shutter speeds you will start to pick up movement so don't go too low.

I think we were in South Carolina when we came across this water tower. Pretty cool.

When we got to New Jersey my inlaws treated us to dinner and we celebrated my wifes' birthday. She is 29 "plus". I don't know what the "plus" equals. The last person that knew her real age was accidentally run over by a Fiat.

By the way, the waiter that took this photo really needs to come to one of my seminars or buy my DVD's. If he keeps taking bad photos like this he might get hit by a Fiat.

My sister ordered (and paid for) our favorite cake. A Napolean Cream Puff cake from Carlos' Bakery in Hoboken, N.J. It is the house special. Nobody makes it better. I mean nobody. $100 serves 20 people. I should have taken a photo before we devoured it. It was a work of art.

Next stop was Liberty State Park in Jersey City New Jersey. I wanted to take a photo of the Statue of Liberty but did not have time to go to Lower Manhattan or the Island itself. So I had to settle for a back view of the statue. New Jersey is a great state but has always been the butt of everyones' jokes. They even placed Miss Liberty with her back to the state. Oh well.

Now, if you have been using my rules of composition you know that this is a badly composed photo.

The photo below is much better.

I walked around a bit and came across this Monument below. It is of an American soldier of WWII carrying a Concentration Camp survivor.

Nothing that is worth anything in life is ever free, especially freedom.

Next blog will be about my day in New York City. I went to my favorite place. B and H photo. It is the most colossal photo, video, electonics store ever. Don't miss it!

In the meantime, if you should see a Fiat run for your life!

Understanding more important than memorizing

Understanding why something works is paramount if you are going to master it.

I read an article in the local newspaper about a high school graduate that received a $250,000 scholarship from Microsoft to continue his education in computer science. I can't imaging how many applied and did not get it. So why him? What could he have possibly done or said to come up on top?

I believe that many others who applied had similar talents and resumes. Something however made him unique in the eyes of the judges.

He was quoted as saying this; "A lot of people like to memorize formulas, I like to understand the logic part of formulas and how they work."

This statement is so profound that I believe it is the major reason he was chosen instead of other applicants.

This statement explains why some people do the status quo and others excel. Why some are miles ahead in a given field.

Photography is no different. I tell the story of a fellow photographer that I have not seen in at least 15 years. We went to the same workshops, attended the same seminars, and conventions.

We even had similar equipment but our photographs were different. Mine told a story and had impact. Mine quietly lured you in emotionally. His were sharp, high end snapshots. The lighting

and composition on mine were different. When we entered prints in competition mine would hang with ribbons on display and his would not. The funny part is he knew more rules on lighting and composition and camera technique than I did. He was in photography longer than I and had more experience.

One day I figured it out. He had memorized more than me but understood less. Memorizing a rule is one thing but understanding why and how it works is what separates you from the pack.

Memorizing a formula is simply the ability to regurgitate information. It is the status quo. Understanding is having a firm grip and command of the formula. It is how you excel.

When learning photography techniques it is important that you learn not just the rules but why and how they work. This is what will make you excel way beyond your piers.

Memorizing the rules allows you to copy someone

elses work. Understanding the rules lets you create your own and establish your own style.

I encourage all to learn not only the rules but why they work. This is what my seminars, DVD's and classes are all about.