I've been doing a lot of thinking lately... always a dangerous proposition! Since discovering the digital camera of my dreams (see my previous post Equipment: Camera Body), I have been exploring the use of digital imaging and realizing it is in many ways different from film processes. Well, that sounded sort of obvious, didn't it! What I mean, it is different in hidden ways that you don't even realize can be different.
Aside from obvious differences — no film — no chemistry — no darkroom, there are ways of using digital capture that were too difficult or not even possible with film processes. For instance, the way we use exposure variables such as f/stop, shutter speed, and light sensitivity, or ISO (for extra points... what does ISO stand for?). And by the way, you pronounce it EYE--ESS--OH, not EYE--SO! In a complete aside from this post, I thought I better explain why I always say f/stop instead of aperture. If you have no interest, jump to the next paragraph! The f/stop is a ratio between the focal length of a lens and the size of the aperture (the hole) that lets the light through. So at f/2 on a 50mm lens, we have a 25mm aperture. But for the same f/2 on a 100mm lens, I would need an aperture of 50mm. So I tend to say f/stop when I'm talking about ratios, and aperture when I'm talking about the actual size of the hole. There really isn't any problem in using these terms interchangeably in photography. Photographers tend to know what you're talking about. But non-photographers may get confused with all the different terminology so I tend to get a little more specific when I can. Like I said, this whole paragraph is a complete aside and not that relevant. Got it? Good. But I'm still not putting up with EYE--SO! :-) With film, the ISO is set when you buy it, so this variable remains constant for that roll. So we work with the amount of light reaching the film, which can vary by how large a hole we choose to use (set by the lenses f/stop) and how long that hole remains open to expose the film (set with the cameras shutter speed). Exposure decisions are based on the light source illuminating our subject and we set f/stop and shutter speed accordingly. This is not the case with digital imaging. The sensor in the camera has some amount of light that exposes it, so you could think of it as having a sensitivity to light equivalent to a specific ISO (if you want more technical detail on ISO in the digital age, I liked the answer by Dave Haynie on QUORA). My Fuji X-T1 has 200 as its lowest ISO, while other cameras may be set at 100 or possibly lower. Cameras can have the ISO set at some maximum number (ISO 51,200 for the X-T1), but that introduces unthinkable amounts of noise in the image. The point is, I can change my ISO on my digital camera for each and every shot and use it as a variable when exposing an image, as long as I don't mind a little noise, something not possible with film. There are also techniques available in digital that were difficult if not impossible to do with film. For instance, focus stacking. This technique allows me to take multiple shots of the same scene at different focusing distances to have an incredible amount of sharpness near to far in an image. This is especially interesting with macro photography and was just not a consideration when shooting film. By using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) technique, I can take multiple shots of the same scene at different exposures, combine them in the computer, and have perfectly exposed skies and landscapes all in one image, something that would have taken filters and long hours of work in a darkroom when using film. And unlike the darkroom, software makes it easier to correct issues... to help blown highlights show detail, bring out unseen features in the shadows, selectively saturate or desaturate colors, all the while doing this with the simple movement of a slider (assuming I am shooting RAW images). RAW images are like having a negative that I can manipulate in the darkroom, but the darkroom in this case is a sunlit room and a computer, a nice comfy chair, my chai tea at my side, and no funky chemistry smell. Heaven! With more flexible exposure variables available and with the advent of lossless software manipulation, I can concentrate on what photography is really about... creating images that communicate. So this brings me to the whole point of this post... rethinking how we teach photography to new users (Really? Eight paragraphs just to get to this? I warned you my thinking was a dangerous proposition!). In the past, we taught in black and white darkrooms and spent inordinate amounts of time dealing with mixing chemistry properly, worrying about underexposing negatives (which were next to impossible to save) and basically being inundated with technical issues. These were important because any mistake in the field was compounded in the darkroom. When I taught photography, I belabored the point with my students by explaining photography was like no other art. 'Just think...', I would say, '...what it would be like if a painter was out painting a scene in opposite colors from what they saw, then came into the studio and had to paint the scene all over again with the proper colors.' That is what happens with film photography. We expose our film at some location, then have to process it properly, then have to go into the darkroom and expose again when printing. No wonder we were obsessed with every technical aspect and every decision we made. Any misstep and we had to start all over again! Digital imaging has freed us from a lot of that obsession. I'm not implying we can ignore exposure or properly working with our tools, but we don't have to be so preoccupied that we lose site of image creation. With digital imaging, I can really let go and think about why I am taking a photograph, what I'm trying to communicate, consider composition and form and texture and color combinations and just create create create! It's like a load of worry has lifted from my psyche and the pure pleasure of just being there has returned. Believe me when I say I truly love understanding all about inverse square law and basic daylight exposure and dealing with scene contrast issues. But if these things get in the way of creating images instead of enhancing the experience, they become a barrier, not a support. And for too long this barrier has been blocking our view. It's time to tear down this wall! In all my years of teaching, I laid foundations for the photographic process by burning technical aspects into the minds of my students. Composition and creation was something that came later in the semester, after rolls of film had been exposed and processed in an attempt to get the exposure down pat. It was frustrating for me when I was learning photography and it was frustrating for my students. They spent all their time exposing image after image of technically correct but lifeless work. The pleasure they had for creating images got lost in all the technique. I realize now it is a new day, with new processes and new equipment and new ways of creating images. Let me be clear... Digital photography is NOT film photography with a sensor instead of film, with software replacing the darkroom and chemistry. It is a different animal altogether, and should be approached as such. If someone came to me and asked me to develop a way to teach photography, I would propose the following: 1. Talk about why we want to photograph in the first place What makes you want to take pictures, as opposed to paint or write, or dance or just look at stuff? The reasons why we photograph are just as important as the photography itself. If we don't know why we are doing something, it isn't necessarily bad, but it does show there is a weakness, and we can improve upon this in time. If we know exactly why we want to photograph, we need to realize that sets up a limit to what we are willing to do. There's a great Buddhist quote I believe applies to any learning... In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's there are few. In the beginning there are so many avenues we can take, it can sometimes be confusing, but it we go too far, we close down those possibilities and end up nowhere. 2. Looking versus Seeing It is important to understand what it is to look at something but not really see it. We need to be able to distinguish what makes something a thing to photograph, and why we choose not to photograph other things. We need to think about what the real subject of an image is, and why it has meaning. You don't want me to count the times I go and photograph a place, come back home, and find someone else's photograph and exclaim "why the hell didn't I see that?!?". The real reason is I was looking and not seeing; I was not in the moment, I was somewhere else; I wasn't focused on image creation, I was unfocused on everything else. 3. Explain how YOUR specific camera works My camera makes an image just like yours. A cell phone does that, and so does the most expensive camera on the market. But each has its own design that influences how it makes images. To make sense of camera operation, we cannot be generic, demonstrating by handout or by using our own personal equipment. It is important to work with the camera being used by each student so they understand the limitations and advantages of their own equipment. I would cover how to set f/stop, shutter speed and ISO and, in the simplest of terms, what they are for; how to set priority modes and program settings; and how to autofocus the lens. That's it. The rest of the technical stuff can come later. Now I know there are people out there cringing... what about the proper lens, how and when to use flash, the difference between JPEG and RAW, and so on and so on and so on. None of these things is vital to producing your first images. So what if mistakes are made? Mistakes are natures way of telling you in no uncertain terms (and very quickly I might add) to not do that again! By swamping a beginner with vast amounts of technical detail, we run the very high risk of losing the very motivations and inspirations they have to create photographic images in the first place. 4. Talk about Composition This is all the stuff that makes the image more than just a record. I mean, my drivers license has a photo of me on it, but I sure don't want it on my wall! Instead of talking about specific technical rules and regulations, we need to focus on broader categories — the relationship between the foreground and background; guiding viewers eyes within the image; working with shape, texture and color; creating form from light and shadow; and changing emphasis with shallow or deep focus. "Wait!", you say... Where's the rule of thirds, the "don't cut off limbs" rule, using an odd number of subjects, changing your viewpoint, and a host of other rules that I can't remember and don't care about listing anyway? The reality is, at least in the beginning, there are a lot of things to remember just to get out there and shoot. Adding a host of rules just makes it all the more complicated and we again lose site of why we are out there in the first place — say it with me — creating images that communicate. 5. Finding Your Photography Start looking at everything you photograph. What is a common theme? Are they vacation shots? Are they full of people or mainly landscapes? Do you shoot at low or high angles? Do you tend to orient your images vertically or horizontally? Do you convert everything to black and white or do you manipulate colors to create a mood? In other words... how do you communicate? Knowing how you communicate tells you what you are communicating and if that communication is getting through to others. That one lesson makes all those rules make sense, and once they do, it's easy to apply them and strengthen your communication skills through your images. 6. Tech Talk Now that we have a direction our photography is taking, we can get into more specifics about other technical issues. Note these details are AFTER we are taking photographs regularly and have a feel for what photography means to us. This is the time I find students getting interested in upping their game and wanting to go beyond the basics. We can discuss lens types, filters, white balance, histograms, dynamic range, and a host of other topics that really need some background in photography to understand. 7. Relax — Let go — Communicate Time to show our images and discuss successes and misses. Let's look at other work and see how it compares to what we do. That might mean other student photography or going to a museum and looking at paintings or walking around town and seeing how architectural forms affect the world that surrounds them. Anything that gives inspiration can be related to our photography — and should be! Did you notice something missing? I never spoke of image manipulation or software or editing. To me, that is post-processing, and although that is really important, I find too many people obsess over it to the point where they aren't thinking about their photograph in the moment. They are somewhere else, mainly thinking about software, and — at least in the beginning — this is a distraction. Let it go. Yes, I get it... thinking about how we can manipulate a scene later can be very important in our image making, but at first I believe it gets too technical and clouds our vision. We think in terms of "fixing" an image instead of capturing the moment. I would rather have a few more failures at first if it means I am really thinking about communication and why I use photography to do so. That's where the magic is, not in post-processing (although that really seems magical at times!). If we are not present in the moment, I don't care how much we post-process... we have lost something in the translation. At the very least, we weren't there when we were there! If we are going to be somewhere, why not be THERE? I was never in the darkroom when I was out shooting. Yes, it was in the back of my mind, but that is where it belonged, not in the forefront. The secret to good photography is be there, not somewhere else. So there you go. Think I'm crazy? Let me know.
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