RMHS_downtown-2950-2

UV, volcanoes, ice ages, plagues, sudden tectonic plate shifts, tsunamis, black holes, Lyme ticks, and fruitcake, it's a wonder we critters survive at all. And don't relax; here comes 2000-SG344.

But still, here we are, celebrating life - ladybugs, snow leopards, crocodiles, angel fish, geckos, corgis, and incorrigible Aunt Ursula, all resplendently adorned in a cacophony of crazy cover-ups. 

So let's go COVER-UP hunting! Like Woodward and Bernstein, we'll root them out and expose them to the world!

Cover-ups are everywhere, and indeed, plants have them too. But adding flora to our fauna assignment just might be one straw too many for a two week exploration, so feel free to keep it simple. Or not.

You might want to focus on a single organism. Aphids, let's say. You'd want to grab your macro lens and a tripod, perhaps a small strobe or reflector to light the scene. Find a rosebush crawling with the little critters and get in close. Hey, they're not so scary after all. Amazing, actually. Beautiful, even. They're semi-translucent! Who knew?

Pets - you know we'll be seeing lots of those this assignment. But find a new and unusual point of view, one that you haven't photographed already. Make fur your subject - how can you showcase it? Need a soundtrack to work to? Ludwig Van has that covered for you - crank up Für Elise.

We have some bird shooters among us. How can you up your game? A longer lens? A blind? Tease a songbird into your hand? Or sneak up on a robin's nest with a cell phone camera?

We humans revel in cover-ups - hair on top if we're lucky, skin everywhere else, some scars to prove we've pushed a limit or two. We've earned every one of those wrinkles and splotches, as well as the ones that are still in the developer tray. Sometimes we slap some more cover-up on top of our natural covers, to cover the cover, and willingly pay top dollar for it. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not. Who's to say? The camera will if we won't.

You can't judge a book by its cover except when you can. Perhaps a cover-up reveals a truth rather than conceals it. Follow the clues, or symbols, or money, or thread until you find it. 

Metaphorical cover-ups are fair game too. Who was that masked man? How many -gate prefixes has Watergate spawned? Who cares about Area 51? But what is Area 52 hiding? Who really killed JFK? 

That's it - a simple assignment with a trillion rabbit holes. Cover cover-ups. Cover to cover. 

COVER-UP will run for two weeks, from May 8 through May 21. Run for cover, then shoot it.

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.

_DSC9449DON JOHNSON 2089399397

Splat. Red. Shattered. Slo-mo chaos.

The kids on the hot tar roof can scarcely contain themselves as they toss the watermelon over the edge. Eleven stories down a solemn wedding is taking place on the marble steps under the arch and this is the best idea ever to make mischief.

The melon gathers speed. It seems to fall forever, slowly turning like an oblong planet along its trajectory. It approaches the target - the sidewalk a few feet from the rapt guests.

Splat! Screaming! Heads jerking around! Chairs overturning! Ha ha! It worked!

Ah, to be an irresponsible kid again.*

It's an easy assumption that unexpected watermelon drops will  garner a fair share of attention.

How about your photographs? Do they have the falling watermelon effect or do they just sit in the bin waiting for someone to come by, give them all a knuckle thump, and plop one at random in the shopping cart?

There's a word for the effect of gravitationally influenced watermelons: IMPACT. We want our photographs to splat in our viewers' eye and splash all over their pressed white shirts. We want our images to be remembered longer than a conversation; their stains should be permanent.

Several basic elements go into creating photographs with impact. We delve into one or another with every assignment. Creativity, story, technical expertise, and composition are four major limbs, with many more branches and twigs to climb once we start up the tree.

For this assignment, we're going right for the bullseye, the visual splat of an impactful photograph. Do what it takes to help your image find its voice, to make it sing, to splat in someone's eye. Your photograph might be profound, humorous, delicate, subtle, touching, difficult or easy on the eyes. An impactful photograph can wear many disguises but every one has soul if its teased out.

IMPACT will run for two weeks, from April 24 through May 7.

* This example was purely fictional. Really. Well, almost.

"Leap into the boundless and make it your home!" - Chuang-Tzu

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.

Edit-2893

The best things come in threes.

That sounds like a Klee Shay rule, but since rules are for authoritarian types like nuns and librarians, we'll call it a theme instead. Or a marketing ploy (like batteries sold in 3-packs when you need 2 or 4).

Or better, a plot device, adapted for our screen play. We'll call it Photograthree.

So is it true that the best things come in threes? Let's start a list...

• ring circus
• little pigs
• stooges
• french hens
• sheets to the wind
• piece suits
• musketeers
• penny opera
• dog night
• peat
• blind mice
• feet in a yard
• d
• strikes and yer out
• alarm fire
• dollar bill
• cheers
• squares a day
• wisemen
• point turn
• legged race
• chords and the truth
• 's a crowd
• some
• ulysses everett mcgill, delmar o'donnell, pete hogwallop (extra points if you get the reference)

Sure enough, the evidence points to a certain quality inherent in groups of three. Triangles are pretty tough to break, for example, as evidenced by Bucky's geodesic dome. The USA has three branches of government to keep it upright through good times and weird. Eve had three faces, which proves there's an exception to everything.

Two wrongs may make a right but two rights can't make a wrong. Nevertheless, three rights make a left. Go figure.

We can put the power of three to work in our photographs in a variety of ways, for example number of subjects, shapes or elements, colors, entendres, or even framing (e.g. a triptych).

We may pick three primary colors to work together; they can be any three colors. Primary doesn't necessarily mean RGB or RBY. Pick your own.

Select three shapes - a circle, triangle, and a square. How do they relate to each other when pushed around a blank canvas?

Two girls and a guy. Or vice versa. Two girls and a motorcyle. Two kids and a dog. A dog, a chicken, and a mad farmer. A cat, a Freudian psychiatrist, and Kevin Bacon. Bacon, bacon, and more bacon. This isn't rocket science, unless you're trying to get the third stage to separate at just the right moment.

Three levels of meaning, or a triple-entendre joke might take a little more thought and planning to get into visual form, but the payoff could be the most fun you'll have all week. It may echo. More than once.

Break a photo up into three pieces, then put them back together in a different way. Do a triple exposure, or blend three exposures to extend dynamic range. Composite three images into one.

If you're still skeptical about the power of three, consider this. The exposure triangle has three legs - aperture, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity. Focusing has three modes - single, continuous, and manual. Metering can measure from full frame, center weight, or spot. If there is a "most important" number in photography, three has a strong claim to the title.

That's for starters. Put your three-sided pyramid hats on and come up with some triple-scoop photos. You're on third, it's the bottom of the ninth with two outs, the pitcher throws in the zone and the batter swings. It's your move.

TRIPLE THREAT will run for two weeks, from April 10 through April 23. I know, three weeks would make more sense, which is why we'll stick with two.

Extra credit: If you'd like to see a first-class street legend put the theme of threes to the test in his own work, here's a terrific YouTube viddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhViR3Iu2QE

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.
• Need some hands-on training? I teach several classes during the year through Sawtooth Photo Pros. Current class schedule is available here: SPP-CLASSES

_DOJ2436

Penk. Penk. Penk. The hollow metallic twang of aluminum bat to baseball. Every year, in the schoolyard out back, spring is announced by penk... penk... penk.

To my ear, aluminum sticks are soulless dead things, utilitarian, one step removed from metal fenceposts. Kids out there playing in the makeshift diamond have no idea how awful they are.

Until they hear the real thing. 

Pock. Pock. Pock.

The solid rebound of a wooden bat - now there's  a fine sound, ash on leather, percussive poetry, American swing, the harbinger of spring training.

Spring training. After the winter we've endured, we're ready to shake off the malaise and put our backs into some good workout basics - push-ups, squats, sprints, planks, up-and-downs, fielding drills, healthy nutrition, and the like.

Photographically speaking, of course.

Some of us still have the blahs. Maybe we've barely logged a shutter release since Thanksgiving. Remember all those aperture numbers and why they run in reverse? How your flash works? How to freeze a fastball? Not to mention the difficulty of coming up with a new idea or two.

Spring training can solve all that.

Practice workouts may start like this: equipment and sensor cleaning, battery replacement, lens alignment, aperture and shutter speed drills, focusing methods, composition and balance, psychology and attitude adjustments - even before we release a shutter. Just getting our equipment in hand and spread across a table can get us re-engaged. 

When it comes time to click the shutter, spring training rescues us there too, one exercise at a time. Our brains gets rewired a little bit each time our bodies and spirits repeat a skill, until they no longer need prompting. Before we know it, we're out there shooting again for the sheer joy of it.

Spring training is the season to practice with no pressure; to strengthen the things that work, and experiment with the things that resist.  

So for the next two weeks, we'll build our own spring training programs. What do you need most? Exercise that muscle repeatedly. Create your own exercises, do them daily, and keep the photos you come home with. Compare what you shoot in week two with the first ones in week one. Keep your workouts simple; the basics will never fail. Vary your workout between different topics, but do only one at a time. Pay attention, take notes, embrace the freedom to fail. Photography is not a contest in spite of the host of voices that try to convince you otherwise.

If you do the work, spring training will eliminate the penk from your life and replace it with pock. Just say no to penk. Just pock it. Smile when you hear it.

As you post your work, tell us what you're working on, how you are training yourself, and what muscles hurt the most. Someone else may pick up your thread and put it to work themselves. Spring training is contagious like that.

SPRING TRAINING will run two weeks, from March 27 through April 9. Happy pocking!

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.
• Need some hands-on training? I teach several classes during the year through Sawtooth Photo Pros. Current class schedule is available here: SPP-CLASSES

Poe Too

Have you ever used the video features of your camera? Not many of us still photographers do, even though we may make smartphone movies all the time. Why? Processing. Our little phones do all the heavy lifting for us.

Fortunately, that’s not the point of this assignment, which is motion. We don’t need to shoot video to display motion. Yes, we could punch the shutter release button 30 times per second ourselves, but we’d end up with a ton of still photographs along with carpal tunnel and painful blisters. That’s all video is - a huge stack of single frames displayed sequentially to trick us into seeing motion. But we can create "motion pictures" in many other ways, and sometimes even more creatively. Let’s explore some for this assignment.

By the way, if you want to shoot video for this assignment, by all means do so.

Suggesting motion with a single still photograph is easy; we do it all the time. Nearly all photographs include some kind of motion, sometimes obvious, other times subtle. Simply adjusting shutter speed is the simplest method of controlling the result. A fast shutter speed can trap a bird in flight or a baseball cracking off a bat. A slower speed might blur the background of a passing bicyclist as we pan to match his movement. An ultra-slow shutter with an ND filter can transform splashy waves into misty and mysterious zen calm. Camera and lens controls offer opportunity for more motion experiments than we’ve thought up yet.

Motion is relative. A speeding bullet and the passage of a shadow outside are on opposite ends of our normal motion spectrum. Both can be captured by our cameras with a little technical know-how and an application of patience. Adding a flash expands time; timelapse compresses it. Secrets of motion are revealed in each case.

Nothing we see through a viewfinder is really still. Matter is a 99.9999%* empty stage for atomic particlewaves to weave and bob their hypnotic quantum dance for our eyes. Light traveling at 186k mps bounces off surfaces and crashes into literally everything as it illuminates an apple, Fido, and that ridiculous lawyer billboard in the background. Is there any such thing as still photography?

Motion can be introspective, reflecting the photographer’s inner state. An agitated spirit will produce a different vision than one in a contemplative state. A photograph might “move” me, lifting me out of myself into another’s skin. One photograph may attract one person and repel another. Our inner sea may reflect our environment, as if walking with a happy crowd of people on a city street; or it may be out of sync, riding in the back of a temperature controlled limo listening to classical music as a riot wreaks havoc outside. And vice versa.

Motion might be abstracted - the tilt of a font, a bold color, a delicate gesture. A knowing wink may signal movement toward a shared secret, a glare may telegraph hostile intent. A line or a shape might trigger a memory way way back before we knew its name.

The most demanding and rewarding motion picture might employ e-motion. The etymology of emotion is from the Latin e- +movere = to move. If you wanna feel this assignment, you gotta move.

I have a notion that we live in an ocean of motion. Don't need no potion for devotion to motion.

We’ll shoot MOTION PICTURES for the next two weeks, from March 13 through March 26. You can wear a black beret and use a director’s chair if it makes you feel better. And as director, you get to interpret your motion picture any way you want.

Happy shooting!

*Approximately 0.0000000000000000000042 percent of the universe is matter, which means approximately 99.9999999999999999999952 percent of the universe is EMPTY space.

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.

dj-1066-2

Who is Klee Shay? 

Klee Shay is a fun-loving person whose actions speaks louder than words, doesn't judge books by their covers, is better safe than sorry, doesn't cry over spilled milk, and is dressed to kill. Make no mistake, Klee wouldn't be caught dead using hackneyed phrases, but needless to say, turns a blind eye when there's profit to be made.

Klee likes doing things for their own sake, especially if they've already been done to death.

And so on.

In other words, Klee Shay loves cliche.

You see where this is going... and yes, you'd be right.

We're going to spend two weeks exploring cliche, but not to root it out of our work. Not directly, leastwise. We'll do just the opposite - shoot every cliche in the book and have a smacking good time of it in the process.

Much of our photographic journey entails uprooting poor habits in search of real skill and truthful expression - and it's time well spent. Still, we can fall into traps along the way - traps of style, rules, competition, shortcuts, over-reliance on plugins. We eddie off into whirlpools that move fast but take us round in circles. We may get too comfortable and before long, cliche starts creeping in to our workflow. Our photos may have never looked better, but they don't move, disturb, excite, or penetrate anymore. Maybe they're too technically perfect. 

How do we know what's cliche and what's "art?" Loaded question, that. For me, it would be getting too friendly with a technique and no longer experimenting along the wild edges of the unknown. For you, it will be something else. What pushes your cliche buttons?

It's been said (and it's on the cliche lists) that the best way to fight fire is with fire. So let's apply that logic to our photography by creating a list of common photographic cliches and purposely shooting them. That should punch some good holes in our egos! For a couple weeks we'll stop taking ourselves too seriously, or seriously at all, and get out there to digitize as many cliches as we can. We're leaping off the gerbil wheel of perfection and into the meadow choked with flowers, weeds, gopher holes, red foxes, garden snakes, tree roots, and compost. And cliches. 

Let's start with a short sample list of photography cliches. Cliches come and go, but there's always a list. What was fashionable 30 years ago is cliche now, but may be fashionable again in 10 more. Who knows? So let's have fun with them

To wit:

• Obnoxious watermarks
• Over-saturated HDR
• Batman Tilt (Dutch Angle)
• Spot color
• Selfies
• Significant other in front of a landmark
• Heavy black or white vignettes
• Text overlaid on a photo
• Bokeh
• Signature watermarks
• Fake lens flare (extra points if a bride is in the shot)
• Every sunset ever
• Homeless or street people
• Safari animals
• Flowers
• Meme templates
• 500px
• National park "shoot here" locations
• Cheesy filters
• High key
• Low key
• Stock photos on white backgrounds
• Optical illusions
• Colored borders
• Blurred waterfalls
• Upside down reflections 

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Man, is there anything I shoot that isn't a cliche? At least I won't have any trouble finding photos to post.

Here's the ironic side effect of purposefully shooting cliches. By the end of our assignment, I'll predict that we are shooting less cliche and pushing boundaries more.

To make this more fun, let's work under a shared alias. Let's call our alias Klee Shay. Post a photo with the tagline "photo by Klee Shay" and see how many people get it. 

Klee Shay will run for two weeks, from Feb 27 through Mar 12. Happy shooting!

"Leap into the boundless and make it your home!" - Chuang-Tzu

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.
• Need some hands-on training? I teach several classes during the year through Sawtooth Photo Pros. Current class schedule is available here: SPP-CLASSES

wincar-62165

When I grew up, loosely speaking, common wisdom stated that we use only 10% of our brains, as if 90% of our gray matter has nothing more to do than absorb unfortunate amounts of alcohol, zone out on reality tv, or think about the 3 million ways to avoid balancing the checkbook. Nowadays, in more enlightened times (in loose-speak), it's understood that we do indeed use 100% of our brains. Hooray for scientific progress. However, only 2% of the aforementioned brain is "awake" at any given time, and under our control. The 2% bit thrives on logic and behaves like the tiny rudder aft of the USS Enterprise. Or the Titanic. The other 98% of our humming gray cells is not the ship, but the iceberg, barely acknowledged in our culture. There's a lot of spooky action in the distance between 2 and 98, the stuff of dreams, art, music, novels, imagination, quantum entanglement, creation itself. 

It's not such unfamiliar territory for us though. Remember the scene in Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' in which the intrepid explorers descend into an Icelandic volcano and stumble across an inner sea where there be giant mushrooms, refrigerator-sized insects, nonhistoric reptiles, thrills, chills, and complete artistic license? What do you think - metaphor perhaps, applications we can use here? Our own inner seas are too unvisited, unrecognized, increasingly unfamiliar. They desire our exploration; forays into the sanctum keep the waters fresh, vital and alive. So keep your backpacks well stocked as we drop into the volcano.

By the way, that 2% equates to about 2 tablespoons of brain matter, slightly less than one ounce. That's what we navigate our lives with. And we wonder why we crash into so many icebergs.

I watched a remarkable movie last week, from which some of the above statistics are borrowed. It's called InnSaei - the Sea Within, and it's high on my current recommendation list. If you have a Netflix account, give it 90 minutes of your time, and you'll be glad you did. It's a solid dose of the sort of analog reality that is rapidly eroding away to soul dust. We need it, and we need to share it.

InnSaei probes a single subject - intuition, how it was lost, and the critical need for its reintegration into our daily lives. The payoff is getting off the 2% dreadmill and back into the integrated 100% wholeness of artistic expression. Photography fits hand in glove with this approach as our images begin to draw not only from the technical and logical, but from the subjective and intuitive, as well. In this worldview, the power of stories, with all their weird twists, matter more than how sharp the photo is.

This can be murky stuff (until it isn't), so we'll start with an easy assignment. That is, it sounds easy, and may be child's play for some, a challenging effort for others. Unlike some assignments, however, this one needs to be practiced repeatedly rather than merely read and checked off. This is one assignment in which the work is its own reward.

So here it is, the 30/30 routine:

Pick a pleasing outdoor natural location where you can go and sit for 30 minutes, alone. If the weather is torturous, find an indoor location - but consider sitting outside even in inclement weather. You must leave any communication device in the car or at home. That means no cell phones, beepers, signal mirrors, or semaphore flags - nothing. And here's the tough one - you may NOT take a camera. You will be your own camera.

Then go sit. Get comfortable, breathe slowly, then watch, see, with detachment, without labeling. Become aware of everything in your visual and auditory range. Be fully in the moment, now. If... no, not if - when your 2% control center starts chattering at you and demanding immediate attention, treat it like a 2-year old and firmly state that this is your time and please remain silent for 30 minutes. Resume your vigil. Your mind will begin to slow down eventually, the chatter will recede, and you'll enter a contemplative state, perhaps unfamiliar, but peaceful and aware. It may take several attempts, but over time you'll experience short periods, perhaps just flashes, of super-awareness and intense concentration alternating with lengthening periods of no thought whatsoever. Don't push them, let them come and go.

If you start seeing things you'd like to photograph, acknowledge them, then let them go. Let nature surprise you; if she trusts you she will bring you visual gifts. Accept them, then let them go. You may end up with a full roll of not-photographs and each one will be perfect. The point is to be able to see potentially beautiful images and to purposely not desire them.

After 30 minutes, or whenever you feel like moving (whichever comes last), go to the car or your house and retrieve only your camera (remember, you must not have it already with you). Return to your outdoor location and let nature bring you her gifts once again. Photograph one, two, or maybe three of them. Or none. What she gives is enough so don't be greedy. 30 minutes, thank her, and go home in a state of simple grace.

If you do this several times during our two week assignment, you may very likely end up with a collection of photographs that differ significantly from your normal accumulation. Instead of looking for things 'out there' to shoot, you'll find that your quiet state of mind finds things 'in here' reflected in your outer world, not unlike a mirror. You recognize them because you've 'sean' them before. When you point a lens at something, it's reflecting in equal measure right back into your inner sea.

IDEAS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE INNER SEA:

• Watch InnSaei. 90 minutes. Just do it.
• Do the 30/30 routine every day if you can - 30 minutes watching and being, without a camera / 30 minutes with a camera, quietly shooting. That's only 1 hour per day. 
• As you sit, your attention will drift, especially at first, perhaps violently. Catch yourself, snap back to attention. Repeat as necessary. This exercise will slowly build the skill of intense concentration, like a muscle. The more you inhabit it, the easier it becomes to access at will.
• Less is more, both in mental chatter and the number of photographs you bring home. Purposely do not shoot something now and then. Absorb it now, on the spot, then let it be.
• Turn off your labelmaker. Study an object until it tells you something you can't translate or identify. Follow that rabbit trail.
• You won't know if the 30/30 technique works unless you try it. If it doesn't, what have you lost except a few hours alone with nature? Could be worse. If it does work, your vision and connection with the world will begin to perceptibly change, and your photographs will too. 
• Don't like sitting? Try walking instead. Same rules.
• As you become accustomed to inhabiting the receptive mind, you won't need to power through a 30/30 routine every day. It might take 15/15 or 5/5, and eventually you can just call up this state of mind at will. But it takes practice - it's a muscle.

THE INNER SEA will run two weeks, from Feb 13 through Feb 26. Happy shooting!

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.
• Need some hands-on training? I teach several classes during the year through Sawtooth Photo Pros. Current class schedule is available here: SPP-CLASSES

KO Backgrounds- pattern28Inside view of an antique combination lock of bank Mandiri in Jakarta, Indonesia

Pants first, then shoes.

We've been revisiting back-to-basics themes for the past couple assignments. This one follows the same stream back up the canyon to the headwaters of creativity. Priorities matter, or so they say. Let's just see about that by twirling a certain dial on our cameras.

The one on top with the green thingy and a bunch of letters. More on that in a minute. But first a few words about priorities.

We prioritize with photography every day. There's the obvious first things first stuff like charged batteries, extra memory cards, and oh $%*&$% I forgot the tripod again. Priorities in the wrong order usually result in less than desirable consequences. We may want to make good photographs but if we set ISO too high, we get noise. Shutter speed too low, we get blur. Aperture too wide, Aunt Sally's elevated nose is out of focus.

Dear Aunt Sally is hard enough to please as it is, so nose focus is critical.

Although our cameras don't have an Aunt Sally mode, if we prioritize we may get lucky enough for her to not write us out of her will.

Ok, grab your camera and look at the mode dial on top (its usual location). You'll see AUTO in green, some letters, and maybe some hieroglyphics that make about as much sense as the etchings on the inside of the great pyramid. What mode is your dial set to now?

For this assignment, you can ignore everything on the dial except the following letters:

S (or Tv), A (or Av), and M.

Ignore the P - it's just AUTO on an ego trip. Let's say it stands for Politician (to make it easier to avoid).

That leaves us with SAM. SAM's first priority is to get us off AUTO almost permanently. If you've never shot with SAM before, she's about to become your best friend. And if you haven't shot in AUTO for years, jump in and help the new Sammies. SAM I am!

S (or Tv) is shutter priority mode. You set the shutter speed and the camera will figure out aperture for you, as well as ISO when needed. If you set a slower shutter speed in S mode, aperture will automatically stop down by an equal and opposite amount so that you get the same exposure.

A (or Av) is aperture priority mode. Same deal as before, except this time you set your desired aperture and the camera does the rest of the heavy lifting. Opening up aperture will automatically select a faster shutter speed to match exposure.

Both S and A are highly useful priority modes in changing light. If shutter speed is critical to your situation (a track meet, for example), dial up S and set a fast shutter speed to stop all motion. If aperture is more important (you want shallow depth of field), A mode is a great go-to.

[TIP: If your camera's ISO is set to auto, turn if OFF. Yes, there are good reasons for ISO AUTO, but treat them as exceptions and only turn it on when absolutely necessary.]

But wait... there's one more priority mode - M for Manual.

"Now wait a minute" I can hear some of you yelling in the back row - "M is not a priority mode!" And I'll shout back "It most certainly is" while dodging the tomatoes and bottles. I don't wear this poncho and catcher's mask for nothing.

M is a priority mode and here's why - M mode makes YOU the priority. M stands for MASTER, you see. It puts all exposure choices right back where they belong - under your own creative control instead of letting the machine guess at what it thinks is right. Which it often isn't, by the way. If it was right all the time, there would be no need for an Exposure Compensation button. One major downside of depending on S and A modes too much is that you'll be twiddling that EC button/dial all the time. Extra credit if you can figure out why.

M is the best priority mode of all. In M mode, you have to figure out shutter speed, aperture, and ISO independently with no help from the camera's AI. Changing one will have no effect on another. You look at the light meter, figure out whether you want to zero it out, shoot brighter at +1 (hey, snow is white again!) or go -1 to match the dark and moody nightly news. And you have to know, on the fly, which makes more sense to adjust - shutter speed, aperture, or ISO.

M mode has a downside too - it's harder. At first. You often have to tease the magic out of a meter reading to nail that perfect exposure. The meter is lazy, and will try to tell you everything is 18% gray and boring. You'll have to fight for the extremes where the exciting stuff lives. Don't like the meter's zero-centered exposure? Push or pull your settings until shadows lift or midtones fade to black. You rule your photographic world. Prioritease.

So... the assignment in a nutshell is this:

Shoot in each of the 3 priority modes, on purpose, for a specific reason. With each photo you post, state which priority mode you used and why. Stories are always welcome; share what you learn.

IDEAS FOR PRIORITEASE:

• In A mode, shoot the same subject using every available aperture. What changes?
• In S mode, shoot the same subject using every available shutter speed. What changes?
• Each mode employs the double/half rule. What happens when you change a setting by 3 stops?
• Bracket 3 exposures, with each one stop apart. How do they differ?
• Change focusing modes (evaluative/matrix - center weight - spot) - do they affect your exposure meter readings?
• What is high key? Low key? Try each on the same subject (it helps if the subject is very well lit).
• Come up with a visual story, plan it out step by step, then shoot it.

PRIORITEASE will run for two weeks, from Jan 30 through Feb 12. Happy shooting!

NOTES:

• If you'd like to share in these workouts with other people (always a great idea), you're invited to join my Facebook Photo Assignment group where you can post images and comments, learn from others, and help other budding photographers learn our amazing craft. 
• If you're interested in bettering your Photoshop and Lightroom skills, I have an aptly named second Facebook group called Circle of Confusion. You're invited to join it, as well, but you'll need to be a Photo Assignment member first. Join both and you're good to go.
• Need some hands-on training? I teach several classes during the year through Sawtooth Photo Pros. Current class schedule is available here: SPP-CLASSES

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Last assignment, it was dark in the beginning. Then a light was switched on. Photographers sat up and took notice, raced out their cave doors to buy film, along with iguana eggs and yak milk, then scattered across the globe to record everything everywhere.

Right off the bat, one of them said, "It's all about the light" and the race was on. The faithful said "Ooooooh" and almost immediately started hairsplitting arguments about the nature and behavior of light - natural versus artificial light, incident versus reflected light, hard versus soft light and so on and so on. We've seen all the YouTube videos and read all the books, some of which were great, others meh, and a few with way too many footnotes. Our time on earth is short enough, so let's boil light down to some basic characteristics that matter to us today when we're pointing a lens at something. In fact, let's cover only one this time.

But before we get started with this assignment, let's do a couple "look versus see" experiments. Step right outside your door; we don't have to go far. Regardless of whether it's sunny or cloudy, take note of where the sun is (it will be the brightest part of the sky). We'll call this "incident light." Then look around and note everything you see - sky, hills, houses, trees, roads, snow, walls, grass, sagebrush, more snow, your dog pulling your niece across the beach, and so on, and snow. All these things are visible because of only one attribute of light - reflection. Wavelength is absorbed or rejected by the atomic structure of these objects and determines the color of "reflected light."

After your neighborhood object scan, do it one more time, paying attention to the angle of reflected light.

Light has a number of interesting characteristics - it travels at a fixed rate in a single direction and rapidly falls off in intensity. It bounces off surfaces at exactly the same angle of the strike. It refracts into colors through a prism and is absorbed and/or reflected depending on the elemental makeup of the reflective surface. A large light source casts a softer shadow than a small light source. Stuff like that.

So why start with angle? Understanding incident and reflected light angle helps us locate the sweet spot where light behaves most elegantly.

When we're asked to shoot a portrait of someone, for example, what do we consider first? Location, right? We find a beautiful or striking setting and plop our subject into it. We adjust some camera settings and fire away, maybe with natural light, or by adding some additional help. And results vary, don't they?

But what if we don't care about location? Instead, what if we place more value on what the light is actually doing, and find the one spot where it behaves elegantly, then set up the shot there instead? These spots are easily overlooked, but become apparent as we begin to understand how light behaves.

Let's say we've taken Matilda to the park for her senior photos. We find a lush grassy area with some tall dark trees in the background. Maybe even a natural shade line to have her step into. Matilda sits, poses, elbows in the grass - beautiful shot! We might open up our aperture wide and get some pretty bokeh to set her off. We're happy. We even used a reflector, just like the other 88 photographers in the same park that day. So we must be doing it right.

But since we've shot for location instead of light we failed to notice a drastic (and common) problem. Because of light's perfectly predictable angle of reflection, the incident light struck the grass, absorbed some of the green cast, and bounced it right back up into Matilda's neck and chin. Oops. Green skin. 

Matilda does not like her green skin.

So we take Matilda back to the park for a reshoot. But this time we don't care so much about location. Instead, we're looking for reflected light that complements her skin tones. We spy a light colored building nearby. It's in the park but lacks the lush grass we found earlier. We don't care. Filtered sunlight is bouncing off the wall at a 30 degree angle. We set Matilda up next to the wall in just the right spot (paying attention to the reflected angle) to catch the wall light, which is acting like an expensive and huge softbox. She turns slightly into the camera where the shadows are buttery soft and the incident sunlight makes the perfect backlight through her hair. Oh. What a difference.

This way of seeing doesn't just work for Matilda and her friends; it works for anything we shoot. By taking the time to do a 360 examination of the light, where it's coming from and its reflection angles, as well as the resulting colors, can make a huge difference in what we consider to be photo-worthy. Location is nice, but should take a backseat to angles of light reflection.

In a nutshell, the assignment is this - study the source of light, see everything it reflects from or passes through, ask how it mutates with each direction change, then use your knowledge of angle to create photographs based on light behavior rather than location. Sounds easy, right? If you're lucky, yes. But chances are it will take some retraining in how to see a scene. Remember, it's all about the light, not about the stuff that gets in its way.

IDEAS FOR ATTENTION ANGLERS!:

• Use a flashlight for a simple way to study the angle of reflection.
• Bounce a light off a white piece of paper, a tan paper, a green paper, and a black paper. What happens to the reflected light with each?
• Shoot a subject against a light wall, placing him closer and further from the wall. What happens to your exposure with each move? Is it predictable? (extra credit - look up the inverse square law)
• Find the sweet spot of reflected light (usually the brightest, most reflective range).
• Trace the path of light from the original light source to your eye. It may take several direction changes before it reaches you. How does the first reflected surface affect a secondary surface? A third?
• Use a strobe or flash with your knowledge of angle - where would you predict the best placement of your flash should be? If you find it difficult to imagine, use a ball of string to line out the angles (like they do with bullet paths on CSI).
• Measure the reflective luminance off a smooth surface. Do the same from a highly textured surface. What's the difference?

ATTENTION ANGLERS! will run from Jan 14 through Jan 29.

Happy shooting!

_DJ61603-fb copy

So let's start over.

In the beginning was nothing. The Lightmaker said "let there be light... and it was good."

Close enough. We can work with this abridged version.

Note that our Lightmaker made no mention of bad or mediocre light - it was all good. Previously, Darkness had the run of the place since before time was invented, so imagine the shock and awe that light must have caused with her sweet entrance onto the Great Dance Floor.

One swoosh and a swirl and paparazzi were instantly legion.

But let's back up yet again. In our photographic mythology, light requires a source, so the Lightmaker created an orb, a sphere which emits electromagnetic radiation, some of which we call light. Let's call it Orb A. Or as we know it, the sun.

But light is useless without a receptor - someone or some thing to receive and appreciate its existence. Darkness wasn't about to stand up and applaud, being so rudely upstaged, so some other mechanism was required. The Lightmaker solved this dilemma by creating Orb B, the eyeball.

Now isn't that interesting - two orbs, the simplest shapes to exist. One orb to transmit, the other orb to receive, each requiring the other, and the result is constant astonishment.

O~O

At any rate, we now have a handy, simple equation.

oA + oB = astonishment

The astonishing part for me is basic - neither light nor eyeballs have any function on their own; each requires the other. But put them together and... wow. Fireworks.

Oh yeah, we were going to make this practical, weren't we? Here's how.

Let's start with the Orb we all know so well - the sun. And let's use our B orbs to register Orb A's emitted light, whether it's incident or reflected. Then, knowing that we are part of the primal creative equation, start making decisions about how to make light behave. This orb-to-orb transfer business gives us enormous creative power, once we get cameras in our hands. 

For this assignment, stay as simple as possible and dispel any notion of good or bad light. If light has no such inherent qualities, it's our own psychology that's providing them. Photograph light and its effects, but do so with a bright mind and a brilliant heart, as naturally as possible. If the light's "bad" figure out how to make it "good." The creative response and process is 100% internal. It's sort of like putting on glasses backwards, or standing on one's head, but understanding that light is as much internal as it is external can be the juice that turns a snapshot into a photograph.

If this allegory doesn't work for you, go back to your own roots. In the beginning was nothing. What happened next? 

2017 is a good year to explore light and its myriad secrets. It will be a fun ride. Today we start at the beginning. Again.

Ideas for BEGIN AGAIN:

• Go out on a sunny day and find a subject to photograph, preferably a vegetable or mineral - something that won't move suddenly or talk back when you poke it with a stick. Photograph it without thinking. Then study it, look at the angle at which light strikes it. Locate and trace the shadow. Carefully photograph it again from many angles. The light hasn't changed, but each movement you make changes history (photographically speaking).
• Go out on a cloudy day and repeat the exercise. What's changed? There's little or no shadow, for one. Photograph from many angles again. Compare these photos to your first set. Do they "feel" different? Where does that feeling come from?
• Shoot the same subject at dawn, noon, and dusk. We already know the shadow will move, but something else is happening too. Do you know what it is, Mr. Jones?
• Shoot before sunup and after sundown. There is still sufficient light but not from the sun. Where is it coming from? What is its quality? Why are we so mysteriously drawn to it? What does it say about us?
• Isolate your subject by using only a spot of light. Shade everything else. Does it like being in the spotlight? Do you?
• Shoot the sun directly (but be careful). Why is it so hard to get a good exposure? 
• Instead of selecting a subject to photograph, select a variety of emotions to direct your inquiry. How does it affect what you visually frame in your viewfinder?
   

BEGIN AGAIN will run for two weeks, from Jan 2 through Jan 15.

Happy shooting!

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But let's settle in on just one musical attribute today - the semibreve.

The semibreve is the musical notation for a whole note, the longest note now in common use. Anyone can sing or play a whole note, so it's very inclusive, safe and warm, and good for warding off all these frosty nights. Raise a glass and sing.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day could be considered a semibreve, a time to take a deep breath before diving headlong back into the daily tempo of hemidemisemiquavers (otherwise known as 64th notes). This week is a good time to reflect, retrieve good memories, deeds, and successes, and to discard conflicts, miscues, and stumbles before considering new resolutions to break. The semibreve is our private period of wholeness.

Therefore, there's no official "assignment" except to be at ease, to consider the photographic journey we've taken the past 12 months, to share some unseen images if we're so inclined, and to tap our tuning forks to listen for the tones of 2017. It's a time to be wholly open to revisiting our best and worst photos from 2016, and to imagine what we'll create during the next 12 months. 

This assignment will be shorter than usual - less than a week - as the clock is reset for the new year. New Photo Assignments (as well as Circle of Confusion topics) will be posted on the first and third Mondays of each month, so they'll now both sync up. Look for them at approximately midnight every other Sunday night / Monday morning. And whenever possible, there will be a tighter link between PA and CoC topics.

2016 was the year of NIA, the ineffable, the inner landscape. 2017 will continue our upward journey but with renewed focus on practical matters too (not that the ineffable isn't practical, mind you). We may see more hands-on projects like Tinfoil Hat and extra events like Coffeetalkenwalks that everyone can participate in. And as usual, we'll throw down a few jazz notes just because we can.

Meanwhile, be semibreve. May all your notes be harmonious.

SEMIBREVE will run for five days, from Dec 28 until Sunday, Jan 1, 2017. 

_DSC8484-c2DON JOHNSON 2089399397

It's December, and we've arrived at the gates of our own Bethlehem after a yearlong journey of inward-focusing photo assignments. There has been an underlying theme, you see, a reason for all of them. Remember ostranyenie, touched in the head, hidden, mumble tracks, memory leak, heavy light, or the one that whacked almost everybody - photosynthesis? The thread that held them all together, the map that led us here, is the ineffable, the unlabeled, the presence of the present. It's the "it" that's virtually impossible to put into words, yet we employ thousands of them in its pursuit. Aren't we an odd persevering lot?

When we're touched by the oneness of wonder, we know it, don't we? We feel connected, in tune, in awe of what is. But when we try to describe it to someone else, it never translates well, does it? It's ironic - wonder is a direct connection to All That Is and a uniquely private affair at the same time. It's like sticking a fork into an electrical socket - now that's a direct experience that can't be shared because you're paralyzed! Later, you could describe it to someone but they'd have zero clue until they did it themselves. No doubt that's why some kind, sharing genius invented the taser.

Lens People have a big advantage when it comes to sharing and spreading the sense of wonder. Photographs don't need words or explanations to directly transmit a feeling, a mood, a concept, a message without interference from one soul to another. Photographs bypass our addiction to language, especially our modern dialects so infected with misdirection, double entendre, propaganda, and dilution. A camera fully sees What Is, simply and without comment. Our goal is to see that same way - judgment free, witnessing each moment as a brand new act of creation, and to facilitate that awareness to someone else. The more we get out of our own way, the more the Way is revealed.

There is an apropos Latin phrase that sheds some light on our condition as we approach our annual season of reflection and renewal. It goes like this:

"Nascantur in admiratione."

Loosely translated, it becomes "Let them be born in wonder."

Doesn't that describe what we're seeking? We see it often in babies and young children as they discover something greater than themselves for the first time. And if we haven't killed off our own curiosity and openness, we occasionally experience such expansion in ourselves, too. But it needs constant care and feeding, and as we age it becomes easier to forget where we left the watering can.

To be born is to be willing to trust, love, and care - and wonder is the environment in which trust, love, and care thrive. Sounds like the perfect soil for photography, right? Do we trust what we see, love what we do, and care about the outcome? 

We are all too aware of how badly the world craves more wonder at the moment. Let's give birth to it with our cameras. Find it where it lives; let it lure us out of our own shadows into the light. As we temporarily turn off the medium of language - tv, radio, magazines, papers, internet - we will find wonder still beating beneath the noise. Wonder hasn't left us; it's we that wander. Be still, quiet, waiting, and relieved of the stress of thinking. Watch, observe, feel, and listen at rest. Then click the shutter as wonder sidles up behind you and kisses you on the cheek.

Merry Christmas, one and all. Unwrap your present of presence.

NASCANTUR IN ADMIRATIONE will run for two weeks, from Dec 14 through Dec 27.

Edit-1297-light breakfast_flat_3000DON JOHNSON 208-939-9397

Yay! It's play time! No more photosynthesis!! For now.

Nothing serious for the next couple weeks - we're going to channel our inner kindergärtner and do fun stuff. Complete with a nap at 3 pm (bring your own blanket), and a snack before recess. We'll track mud into the house, crayon the walls, get cookie crumbs in the sofa, and let the dog chase the cat when mom's not looking. 

But before you do anything else, get up, walk through your house and make sure you have a kitchen. Good? Alright. You never know.

A typical kitchen is a gold mine for photographers. It's full of props, light modifiers, things that go whir and knives to chop them all up with when things don't work out. Some kitchens, like ours, even have running water! I'll bet that would be awesome in the outhouse.

Since you're already in the kitchen, check to see if you can locate these three common articles. They'll come in handy later:

• a roll of aluminum foil
• a roll of wax paper
• a roll of plastic wrap
   

If not, put them on your shopping list for tomorrow. We like happy families, so it's probably best to have your own private supply. We don't want to read in the paper about your significant other going nuclear when they find their tin foil wrapped around poor Fido, or worse, Baby Kate. See, there's a great reason to have your own.

That's just for starters. In addition, you get to use anything you find in your kitchen. For example, forks (useful for road decisions), spoons (which often run away with dishes), copper pots (excellent tripod weights), microwaves (dry your camera fast!), and a refrigerator to keep the wine bottles chilled. Partially empty wine bottles make excellent photographic still life models, especially in odd numbers like 3 or 7. Well, maybe not so still; they tend to move around a lot as they get lighter. 

There are only two rules for this assignment:

> Every shot you make for the next two weeks will require the use of at least one kitchen item. The item may or may not appear in the photo, but it must be utilized in the making of the photo.

> At least one of your photos needs to feature the use of aluminum foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap. [Photoshop filters that emulate these things don't count. You must use the real deal.]

Some things to do with foil wax paper, or plastic wrap:

• Make a tinfoil hat, of course! Extra points if you wear it in public.
• A crumpled foil or wax backdrop
• A bright foil reflector or soft wax reflector
• A foil funhouse mirror
• A foil bokeh wall
• Roll up a snoot (to limit direction of flash output)
• Moody or hazy lens filters (use a full wax paper piece or cut a hole in the middle)
• Paint on plastic wrap with a colored marker - shoot through it
• Form figures and shapes with foil
• Punch holes in foil and light from behind
• Make a pinhole camera
• Wrap a fish
• Flag and limit light with Cinefoil (a versatile black foil)
• Waterproof your camera by wrapping it in plastic (surprisingly often much better than expensive covers and wraps)
• Wrap a tree, a car, a model (make sure she can breathe!)
• Safety warning - wax paper is flammable so don't be stupid. Also, don't lay across train tracks. Or run with scissors.

And so on. The same logic, or lack thereof, applies to all kitchen items. If you haven't had enough photosynthesis, create a photo with a fork, leftover coffee grounds, and that tub of coconut oil on the upper shelf. You forgot you bought that, didn't you? Now we're talking. 

TINFOIL HAT will run for two weeks, from Nov 30 to Dec 13.

Happy shooting!

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Photosynthesis.

Wikepedia defines photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that can later be used to fuel the organisms' activities.

Phhht. We know that photosynthesis is really about photography - it has "photo" in it fer cryin' out loud.

But ok, maybe photosynthesis is a valid description of photography too. We do a lot of light energy conversion, do we not? Which fuels other activities, like lens purchases, pre-dawn bushwhacking, strobe setting, post processing, monitor calibration, happy hour, and of course our favorite, banging our heads on a table in frustration.

But there's more!

Synthesis is a powerful catalyst that can reveal new levels in a photograph. Synthesis is the "combination of ideas to form a theory or system" or "the process of combining objects or ideas into a complex whole." Well now, what a beautiful description of photography! It's what we do every time we lift a camera to our eye or develop an image in Lightroom. We are creating something new from a variety of raw materials.

That little word "combination" is important. Synthesis is not compromise; it doesn't require that something be thrown out or sacrificed in order to make a mediocre agreement. Instead, synthesis creates something "other" from its sources and that "other" is transformative, sometimes revolutionary.

Synthesis doesn't just happen; it requires things or ideas that differ from one other. Let's simplify and suggest that synthesis requires two opposing forces to create a third. Visual tone for example - black and white. Synthesis of the two, if perfectly balanced, results in neutral gray, or "Kodak 18%." OK, you could argue that neutral gray is compromise, not synthesis. But if unbalanced a bit, we get shades of gray, and we know how delicate and varied they can be. Nobody would call black and white photography a compromise; instead, a master of the zone system has the capacity to create powerful, emotive work by synthesizing highlights and shadows in just the right locations and amounts.

The color wheel is built upon the foundation of synthesis. Mix two primary colors and you get a secondary color (blue and yellow result in green). Mix a primary color with a secondary color and you get a tertiary color. Add black and you get a shade; white and you get a tint. And so on. It's why there are so many freaking colors and so hard to zero in on just the right one. Each new color has a mood, a feel, a magnetic attraction (or repulsion) that is more than the sum of its parts.

Mix a rectangle with a triangle and you get a nearly infinite number of "complex" shapes. Throw in a circle and the Taj Mahal happens. Or the female form. Or a 1963 Corvette.

Synthesis can be reverse-engineered, too. The most complex shapes, colors, tones, chords, or ideas can be broken back down into their original components. They can be reshuffled into new shapes, colors, tones, chords, or ideas. Musical synthesizers create new bleeps and blats with knobs and sliders. So does Photoshop. One hits the airwaves; the other, Instagram. 

What happens when you unleash synthesis into the atmosphere of ideas, cognition, emotion, creative art? Relationships, politics, religion, scientific discovery, family dynamics, or which socks to wear all stretch our boundaries of this that and the other thing. We rubber band our way through every day in our real lives, inventing new coping mechanisms, pushing artistic boundaries, daring to fail. We're not the same person today we were yesterday. And tomorrow? We'll photosynthesize it as we go.

So then, how can we apply synthesis to photography? Here are a few ideas. I know you'll come up with more and better ones.

• Photograph something simple, then photograph its opposite. Think about what the opposite really is - maybe it's not what you first think. Put those two photographs side by side and study them for awhile. Be patient, wait for some idea to emerge - maybe just a thread - that taps the energy from both images. Use that energy to create a third. Don't think too much, just use that energy to play and create.
• Think of synthesis as a triangle. The two bottom points are the opposing forces. The top point is the synthesis, the "new idea." Start at the top and work down into the opposing components. Is something revealed you didn't notice before? Make a photograph of each point.
• Consider actual photosynthesis. The sun, a giant superheated yellow ball of screaming atoms emits invisible rays that strike the earth's soil, warming a tiny humble seed that a few weeks later blossoms into a giant yellow sunflower. How weird is that? Nowhere along the process could a sunflower be predicted. But it's here anyway, daring you not to believe it. So prepare to be constantly surprised with synthesis.
• Butterflies. Same deal. Except even weirder.
• Remember a dream. What didn't make sense? Dig into that part - it's probably the third point of the triangle and has something to tell you. It would make a pretty cool photograph, wouldn't it?
• Run with scissors... no, don't do that. I didn't say that.
• The yin/yang symbol is a brilliant symbol of synthesis. Two opposing halves create a new and unbroken whole, yet is in constant changing motion. A bit of the positive exists within the negative, and vice versa. Positive and negative space plays a similar role in a photograph. Create a photograph where the whole would fall apart if one element is removed.
• Baseball is synthesis on a grand scale, and it has hot dogs and beer. Damn. Cubs win.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS will run for two weeks, from Nov 16 through Nov 29.

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• Simplify the background. Clutter loves background undergrowth. Eliminate clutter by moving yourself, the camera, stuff, use a different lens... etc. Do whatever it takes to create a clean background for your main subject to dance in. No main actor likes to be upstaged by unnecessary understudies.
• Place your subject carefully in the frame. Allow it space where it can attract the most attention - perhaps by light or focus. Remove everything that competes with your subject until you've removed too much. Then one at a time, start replacing your supporting actors.
• Depth of field. DOF is one of the easiest ways to isolate a subject. With very shallow DOF, it doesn't matter how cluttered the background it - it will disappear into bokeh. But that brings up other issues, like tone and color. A subtle shift might make all the difference.
• Light (intensity and direction). Maybe your subject would benefit from the spotlight approach. Or perhaps sidelighting sets it off from everything else. Or a gel to change hue. Backlight a bride. Wait for a cloud to pass or the sun to peek around a crag. It really is all about the light, so place it where you really want it. Don't settle.
• Look for what doesn't fit and accentuate it. A nun on a skateboard, a tough guy crying, a red fox in white snow.
• Spot color. Yes, spot color is a cheesy, bad cliche most of the time. Except when it's not.
• Motion. Pan a fast moving subject with a slow shutter speed. Or freeze it with a fast shutter speed.
• Point of view. Shoot from the ground up, or from high down. Upside down. Look behind you - it's Bigfoot. Darn, not fast enough - you missed him.

_DSC7275DON JOHNSON 2089399397

• Use another art form as a catalyst as you shoot - music is a highly effective one. Listen to different musical genres - how do they affect what and how you shoot?
• Do the opposite - leave your cell phone and watch at home or in the car. Listen intently to everything around you as you shoot. Get lost in it.
• Go to a nearby park and look for "hidden" items you may not have noticed before - animal tracks, litter, insect damage, fallen leaves, color variations. 
• In your next portrait session, look for the brief moment when your subject's guard goes down. Capture what they normally keep hidden - it might be a micro-expression, body language, or an unexpected transition. 
• Hide an object in a series of photographs. How long before someone notices?
• Shoot several images using the same unifying concept or theme. Have the group guess what it is.

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• Do a thought experiment: Identify a "shipping label" that affects your life for better or worse. Who wrote the label? Are the instructions clear? Are they meant for you or someone else?
• Do you have a mislabeled box that should be marked Return to Sender? Do it and photograph the result.
• Stop naming or labeling the things you photograph. Instead, follow a feeling, mood, shape, color, sound, etc. to its destination and photograph that instead.
• Open the door and accept your gift. Visualize it. Photograph the "aha" moment.
• Shut off your internal chatter. Don't make your photograph until you "hear" silence.
• When you experience a "Message Received" moment, stop and absorb it. Give it all your attention. Don't photograph it (you'll use it later).
• Recognize the small "gifts" with equal gratitude - sometimes they matter more than the big ones. 

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• Adjust the K temperature in-camera, which will give the entire image a universal color cast. Try the lowest number, then increase in stages to the highest. How does the overall mood change?
• Shoot an 18% gray card using different K settings. What happens?
• Identify the "normal" Kelvin temperature range for the following: sunrise, noon, sunset, post-sunset, indoors under fluorescent lights, indoors under tungsten or LED lights.
• Is outdoor noonday K different in summer than winter?
• Google "Kelvin Color Temperature" for some great explanations and helpful charts for your explorations.
• Don't forget to set your white balance selector to your desired default position (usually Auto) when you're done experimenting

• In Lightroom, you can adjust color temperature for just part of the image. Make half the photo orange and the other blue using the gradient tool.
• Use the Auto WB function in Lightroom to correct the color cast for each of your in-camera experiments. What happens to the K values for each? Try the eyedropper on the gray card. Any different?.

_DJ30498

• Don't think so much. Or think more - whichever is the opposite of what you normally do.
• Shoot a whole session out of focus, on purpose. Look for hidden, dreamlike shapes and patterns. Follow that muse to the end. 
• Over-saturate an image. A lot. Pour on the paint. Pour it over your own head and laugh like a kid. Splash it on someone else until they're laughing too. 
• Take a cliche, like spot color, and take it further than you've ever gone before. The more ridiculous, the better.
• Shoot crooked, tilted, upside down. Don't correct it.
• Shoot a portrait with a 4-second exposure. Handheld. Process. Mat, frame, and hang on wall. Pretend you purchased it for $10k from a prestigious art gallery. Tell everyone else the same. Watch their reaction.
• Don't understand Photoshop? Over-exaggerate and tell yourself that you do. Then randomly do stuff as if you're the world's greatest expert. Don't be at all concerned about results.
• Use Lightroom's lens correction panel to distort rather than correct. Hint - it's stupidly fun.
• Use PS CC's new facial tool in the Liquify filter. For ill effect.
• Shoot with the "wrong" lens.
• Still stuck? Take a break and go do something else for awhile. Bowling. Chukar hunting. Ballroom dancing. Tightrope walking. Shoe gazing. Movie marathon. Dentist. 

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• Shoot purposefully in broad, bright daylight. Hard, hot light is beautiful too.
• At noon, shadows still exist! Look for subjects parallel to the ground. Shoot sideways.
• Create compositions using hard shadows.
• Shoot high key; shoot low key.
• Practice exposing for backlit scenes (use your spot meter). 
• Put a subject in shade and blow out bright highlights on purpose.
• Shoot up (into the sun) or down (away from the sun) rather than horizontally (perpendicular to the sun).
• Process in B&W for high contrast.
• Shoot a silhouette.
• Scrim your subject to soften the light.
• Bounce light using a reflector.
• Shoot through a prism.

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• Pick something and shoot it from every angle you can manage (left, right, above, below, in front, behind, inside, outside.
• Shoot a series using the same subject. Take it with you into different environments.
• Improve on a design element - leading lines, shapes, balance... pursue until something 'happens.'
• Take a look at Edward Weston's 'Pepper No. 30." Why do you suppose it was called No. 30? What was he after? Pick up a few peppers from the market and try it yourself.
• Shoot out of focus on purpose. And again with "wrong" shutter speeds. These tend to create "textures" that carry a mood or feeling. Can they be incorporated into another image?
• Ignore standard exposure rules. Shoot high or low key - does it alter the mood?
• Listen to music while shooting (in your home, or on a walk with earbuds). How does it change your perception? Does it focus you or is it distracting? Try a variety of music.
• Put on some instrumental music (better yet, play it yourself) and make up your own lyrics. Use those words to inspire a photograph.
• Shoot an action scene in burst mode. Study the differences between frames. Which ones mumble and which one emerges into a lyric?
• Don't delete "bad" photos. Let them stick around long enough to review them. You took them for a reason which seemed good at the time - what was it?
• If you're too serious about your work, lighten up once in awhile. Shoot careless and sloppy; allow room for surprise.
• If you're too careless and sloppy about your work, tighten up. Dig in until you fix what's wrong.
• Look up some musical terms - how do they apply to photography?

*Read the full Jeff Tweedy interview here.

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What's the best way to learn the art of photography? Obviously, there's no single answer. If there is a character trait that applies to all photographers, it's insatiable curiosity, but the process of making photographs can differ greatly from person to person - from 8-lane superhighway to tortuous goat trail. We're not all built of the same stuff and we don't all want the same thing. Some are voracious readers and can absorb text like a sponge; others are visual and non-linear and can't sit still any longer than the 30 second setting on the shutter speed dial. Most of the world has gone digital but film and darkrooms still have stage time. Some shooters consider accuracy and sharpness to be holy grails; others use cameras to paint like Van Gogh.

One shooter's style may be another's worst nightmare. HDR, high key, B&W, street, fashion, sports, infrared... there's a long list of turn-ons and turn-offs to wade through to find your own way.

The photographic age has produced any number of masters along the way, from the pioneers who invented a new technology or world view to the new creatives who bend technique and vision to incredible extremes. Now, in our age of instant access, we have a window to them all. We have a varied educational menu to pick from - from expensive schools to online blogs, with fresh (and stale) information flowing at us in torrents. With a bit of effort, anyone can develop his or her own MASTER CLASS syllabus.

That's the easy part. Just because we have access to brilliance doesn't mean it will rub off on us every time we watch a YouTube tutorial or spend a few mornings with Creative Live or drool over the front page of 500px. We still need to do the work, get our hands dirty, dig deep, compost the soil, eradicate pests, prune bad habits, and water the little green buds (to butcher my favorite Being There analogy).

Who are the classiest photographers? It's a wide and widening field, but there is a common core. CLASSY MASTERS leave a vital legacy. They master the technical craft, then break new ground and struggle against status quo, exploring where no one has gone before. They are often misunderstood in their own time. A few make a fortune; most live purely for art. But every classy master I know is uncommonly curious and works his butt off to sail beyond, over the edge of the world, to create his own photographic Eden. Classy masters are not followers but challengers of convention. Ironically, as they develop their unique and visionary styles, they become the idols that the next wave looks to for inspiration and answers.

At some point in our own artistic journey, we come to a crossroads. We can take the easy way out and adopt a style or look that requires little or no sweat (presets, Instagram). Or we can choose to suffer and clamber up the goat trail, grappling with our own worst natures of laziness and instant gratification. The masters do that, one painful step at a time. If we do the same, will anyone know the difference? Sure, it's easier to cheat these days than ever because of the low cost of automated post processing. But bottom line, no amount of processing can repair a lazily executed idea or sloppy composition. The choice between copycat and master still exists (and always will). While there is a place for paved roads, plugins, and presets, the goat trail should always beckon. No one else carries your backpack. You take in only what you can pack out. You make the photographs that emerge in your own inner darkroom.

Our goal is to love and learn from classy masters all we can, but not be satisfied with the ragged translation to our own work. If we want to excel, an honest look in the artistic mirror should be the first priority every day. If we don't like what we see, we keep at it until we do.

Let's approach our assignment this way:

1. Make a list of masters that matter to you. They may be photographers, painters, writers, musicians, or other role models.

2. Choose one and dig into why he, she, or it matters. Is it the style, substance, message, color, emotion, etc. that moves you? What keeps you coming back?

3. Do some online or library study of your chosen master. Find out what makes him or her tick; get under their skin. What new ground did they break? How did they do it? Now that you know, do you respect them more or less? How does it relate to what makes you tick?

4. With a particular master in mind, go make some photographs. Try to channel them into your work; chances are high it will spark some new ideas. Pursue them. Allow yourself to fail. Delete freely. Recognize magic when it happens.

5. Share your photos on Photo Assignment, but perhaps even more importantly, share what you've learned about a classy master with the rest of us. It might be just what someone else needs to hear right now. 

Here's a highly condensed list of CLASSY MASTERS that have mattered to me, and why. If you don't have any of your own, feel free to use them as a sparkplug. Listed in no particular order.

• Richard Avedon - stunning personal b&w portraits, full of character and soul. And the lighting - wow!

• Bill Cunningham - eccentric NY Times photographer (he died this week). There's a great documentary on Hulu.

• Garry Winogrand - crazy cool street photography with the boldest composition ever.

• Yousuf Karsh - powerful low-key b&w portraiture.

• Jerry Uelsmann - master darkroom illusionist; he's largely responsible for me being a photographer at all.

• Diane Arbus - her bravery scares the carp out of most people, for good reason. It was even too much for her.

• Jay Maisel - bold color and minimalist design elements make for unforgettable images.

Clearly, two weeks of studying classy masters won't bring anyone anywhere near their level. But it should provide some fuel to our own inner fires and maybe give us a glimpse of some personal potential we didn't know was there. Photography is all about exploration, after all, and studying the masters is a powerful way to make the leap into the creative jungle with some healthy trail mix.

CLASSY MASTERS will run for two weeks, from June 29 through July 12.

Happy shooting!

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"I remember when... " 

• Look online through some old photographs. Do they transport you to another place and time? Are they honest? Do you think they represent what the photographer intended? Why or why not?
• Look through your own early photographs and ask the same questions. Do you see a progression through time? Do your most recent photographs contain more "present" than the old ones? Are some of your photos "universal" - would someone from a different culture understand what you're saying?
• Look through your photos for "fake memories," that may not be fully honest or engaged, perhaps misrepresenting some thing or someone. How would you feel if someone took a photo like that of you?
• Prevent memory impairment by putting the camera down to watch, listen, talk, engage. 
• Curate and archive. Go through your photos and get rid of the dross. Keep the ones that speak to you - they are the honest ones. They don't have to be technically perfect at all - pay most attention to your emotional response.
• Print some of your photos. Chances are you'll react differently than looking at a monitor or phone screen.
• Practice discretion. Don't post every picture you take. Share the ones that will create meaningful memories.

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• Obviously, look for things that move - fast or very slow, big or small. All is fair game.
• Consciously slow yourself down, mentally and physically. Eliminate distractions (cell phone). Breathe evenly. Fully engage with your subject. When random thoughts pass through your mind, dismiss them, and re-engage your concentration.
• Don't take a hundred shots of the same thing. Wait and take one. Rinse and repeat. When the moment reveals itself, release the shutter, not before. If it doesn't appear, move on.
• If you're traveling, get out of the car. Back up, turn around. If you see something interesting, don't tell yourself it will be here tomorrow. It won't.
• Pay attention to detail. Examine every corner of the viewfinder. Nail your exposure and focus. 
• Not in the right place? Move yourself.
• Select a fast shutter speed to stop action cold. 
• Play with slow shutter speeds for intentional blur. Pan a moving object.
• Select the best focusing mode for moving objects. Usually (not always) it's Continuous mode (AI-Servo).
• If you're adventurous, try manual focus or a focus trap.
• Use a quality tripod. It's the best physical "slowing down" tool ever invented for photographers. You'll love one good one and hate ten cheap ones.
• If the scene is static, your camera can do the moving.

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• Turn off autofocus and focus manually. The area of focus is critical and it's much easier to control yourself rather than letting the camera do it.
• Use a tripod or other camera stabilizer. The tiniest movement can throw your focus off.
• Aperture matters - a wide aperture may result in razor-thin area of focus; even a small aperture may have quite shallow DOF.
• Use Live View if your camera provides it for tighter focus and to preview DOF.
• Manipulate light using a reflector or flash. Move the light source around to find the sweet spot; look for definition and interesting contrast.
• Defocus on purpose - an intentionally blurred macro photo can make for a beautiful abstract.
• Focus stacking - for extra credit. Take multiple photos at different focus points and blend them in post-processing.

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• Pick up an object and hold it for as long as it takes to know it well. Let it inform you how it would like to be displayed. 
• Before photographing a large subject (e.g. landscape, clouds), sit and feel it, touch it with your mind. Put yourself into the scene mentally, let your imagination wander, daydream. Once your inner and outer landscapes are in balance, make the photograph.
• Explore texture. Run your hand over things to identify characteristics. Observe how light reveals or obscures texture.
• Photograph people in love. Touch is usually a big component. :-)
• Photograph the act or moment of touch - hands on things, otters splashing in water, grooming a horse.
• Display someone's character without including the face. Does it touch you differently than a standard portrait?
• Reach out and touch someone. Develop a meaningful connection, and only then make an honest photograph.
• Look up synonyms for touch - physical contact, percussion, kiss, abut, feeler, embrace - and use them in photographs. 
• Search out phrases with touch in them - touch football, touch and go, touched in the head, soft touch, Midas touch.
• Explore an object with eyes closed. What can you learn about it merely by touch?

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1. Avoid ROT. If you do nothing but that, you've already earned a passing grade!
2. Examine your own work. Pull up a batch of your photos and try to identify your habits, both good and bad. Are you in a rut? Could you refine a good habit?
3. Pick a design concept or tool from the lists below and experiment with it. Expect plenty of mistakes. If you're not seeing mistakes, you're still in a comfortable rut.
4. Tell us which design concept you're experimenting with. Push the envelope. Go too far. Pull back. Discover what works through perseverance.

• The Golden Ratio is flexible and fluid, using curves and geometry found in nature. Tip - when cropping in Lightroom, press the letter O key to cycle through grids, including the Golden Ratio.
• If you're in for a real challenge, attack Dynamic Symmetry, a more complex grid system using diagonals and angles, aiding in visually dynamic placement of shapes. ROT cannot do this! You'll run into terms like gestalt theory, armature, arabesque, root rectangles, baroque lines, coincidence, and gamut for starters. Don't let the terms freak you out or try to learn it in two weeks. Just knowing they exist will pique your interest for further study and over time you'll naturally start seeing more like a painter. Interesting historical note: Dynamic symmetry was Cartier-Bresson's stock in trade and what he did with it in street photography will blow your mind once you understand what he was doing. 

• Shapes - simply move things around on your visual canvas until they 'feel' elegant, tense, comfortable, challenging, etc. - to match your intent.
• Focal point and line - select your main subject, then draw the eye to it using lines - straight, curved, inferred.
• Area of greatest contrast - the eye will be drawn here first. Place it in the 'best' possible location.
• Diagonals - ROT fails miserably with diagonals. Compose using angles. 
• Balance - Offset a small dark object with a larger light one. Where can they sit so the image doesn't 'tip over'? 
• Positive and negative space - how much of each is needed to support each other?
• And so on. There's a long list of composition tools and ideas out there. What do you like?

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1. B&W - Remove all color, add contrast, and process your image purely for shades of gray. Try some dodging and burning! 
2. BOKEH - Open aperture wide and get close to your subject to throw the background out of focus. Bokeh may or may not occur. Why? 
3. LEADING LINES - Draw the viewer to your subject with the use of line, either real or implied, straight or curved. 
4. EMOTION - The best images tell universal stories, and emotion is the most powerful plot device.
5. ONE LIGHT - Limit your scene to illumination by a single light source. Engage interplay between light and shadow.
6. TWO COLORS - Too many colors can often overwhelm an image. Shoot something using only two complementary colors.
7. SYMMETRY - Reflections, mirror images, geometrical balance - lots of options here.
8. NIGHT - The world's a different place after dark. What does it look like to your camera?
9. MACRO - Get close, then closer again. Push your lens to its closest focus limit.
10. FORCED PERSPECTIVE - You know those photos of a guy holding the sun in his palm? That's forced perspective. This one's for fun so go nuts.
11. FIGURE AND GROUND - Negative space is as important as positive space. Make them work together as one.
12. DECISIVE MOMENT - Click your shutter at the peak of the action or at the moment of maximum emotional impact. This one takes lots of practice, so carve out some extra time. Like years.
13. FREEZE MOTION - We're talking fast shutter speeds here (1/1000 sec and faster) with fast moving objects. 
14. BLUR MOTION - Slow shutter speeds (1/30 sec and slower) with moving objects. Lots of options here - panning, light painting, tossing camera into the air (just make sure to catch it).

* NOTE: I post WORKOUT SESSIONS here for those who don't like Facebook. To get the maximum workout value, consider joining my private "Photo Assignment" Facebook Group where the same assignment allows you to share images, ideas, and feedback with many other members. It's a great group and I'd love to see you there!

Here's the link: FACEBOOK PHOTO ASSIGNMENT

© 2016 Don Johnson. All rights reserved.

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Speaking of flu shots, sometimes a photo needs a little extra shot in the arm, ya know? It's exposed well, we've got a killer subject, but something is missing, that little spark... it just needs... what?

Prop-o-ganda!

You know, a stage prop, something portable that our scene or model can use, lean on, sit or stand on, pick up, look at, play with or throw. A prop can provide that missing zing.

Props. If you really want to understand them, take 3 minutes and watch this mother of all prop scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSWBuZws30g

OK , so I lost a couple of you who squirreled and went off to watch the entire movie, but hey, it's a classic so all is forgiven and we covered for ya with the boss during your absence. You did bring us all popcorn, right?

What do props really do? Why would we want or need them? And how big a storage unit do I need to rent to store all this stuff?

A prop may be a helper; it can prop up an image (collective groan). A prop behaves like an adjective or adverb. A prop is Best Actor in a Supporting Role. A prop is photo sauce, a late night comic's Snerd. 

A prop can illuminate a scene, give voice to a setting, illustrate an idea, be a metaphor for something unspeakable. Props help amplify a characteristic or identity. A kid with a basketball or a suitcase may forecast something about them, as does a pack of cigarettes rolled up in a white Route 66 t-shirt sleeve. 

A prop's mileage may vary depending on the context. A glass of water in the desert, an old dial telephone in a modern movie, a smoking gun in a swordfight - the scenes wouldn't be the same without them.

Props can be the thematic link in a photo series. How many ways can you employ a red chair? A Travelocity gnome? A pair of sneakers? 

A prop might even be a sly symbol for yourself, a pretend avatar, pseudonym, or alias. A prop might go places and do things you'd never dream of. Props carry no emotional baggage, answer to no one, love what they are, and do what they do. Also, props carry on mischievously at night while we're sleeping, as evidenced by all those times they're not exactly in the same place we leave them.

We can hide behind props (smartphones) or use them to reach out (dumbphones). What's the right prop for the right situation? What's the wrong prop for the wrong situation?

Props can create a caste system; they can socially stratify. Take the camera, for instance, our clan's favorite prop. Honestly, don't we sometimes rank each other by model, lens, strap, bag, or megapixel?

Props. What would we do without them?

So let's make some PROP-O-GANDA. Here's how:

Select some props to use for the next two weeks, ideally a small number, like 3. You may use one, two, or several props in any one image - your choice - but the idea is to create a series of work using the same props. If your image does not employ a prop, it may be interesting but it won't be PROP-O-GANDA. 

Put on your propeller hats and head out into the world searching for adventure. Your job is to find it before it finds you.

PROP-O-GANDA will run for two weeks, from Nov 4 through Nov 17... happy shooting!

© 2015 Don Johnson / ArrowrockPhotography.net

NOTE: "Workout Sessions" mirror the "Photo Assignment" group on Facebook. You are invited to join us there in order to fully participate with our members, sharing photos and ideas generated by the bi-weekly exercises. If Facebook isn't your thing, please post comments and links to your photos here - we'd love to see them! Happy shooting!

© 2015 Don Johnson

So... that time has finally arrived. I'll be posting the most current assignment on the same two-week schedule (with occasional one-weekers) here on the Arrowrock Photography blog. Although readers won't be able to share their photos like the Facebookers do, I invite everyone to leave comments and links to sites where your photos can be seen. I'd love to see them!

To provide a bit of a twist, our assignments here will be called "Workout Sessions" and will be accessible from the front page "Blog" tab.

The archive of all past Photo Assignments currently resides only on Facebook and are available to all members of Photo Assignment. I am working on Volume One of an upcoming book which includes a number of the most popular exercises.

Stay tuned - coming soon!

Don

Crane (my fiber art wife) and I (the photo guy) have collaborated on several pieces for this show. I take the photo, she prints it on a huge piece of cotton sateen fabric, then sews a couple miles of dimension and flow into it. I could walk into each one.