Photographing People

Ten Tips for Images With Impact

One of the most satisfying aspects of traveling is meeting people from different cultures. Some of my fondest memories are of taking time to talk with citizens of countries I visit and learning their customs and beliefs (and their perceptions of America and Americans). I’ve been invited to dinner by a taxi driver in Cairo and met a man who has become one of my dearest Canadian friends on the bow of a ship in the far North.

I have a feeling that if you asked 100 professional photographers what subject matter is most difficult to photograph, most would say people. To be clear, I’m not speaking of professional portrait or wedding photographers, with their well-designed and lighted studios and automated software. No, I’m referring to travel photographers who want to capture the essence of the cultures they visit, that is, their people.

I’ve been doing professional travel photography for a bunch of years now, and I’m pretty often pleased with the images of people I’ve captured. So the inevitable questions I am asked are  “How do you do it? Do you have any tips for the amateur photographer that you’re willing to share?”

Well, yes, I do have some tips on photographing people and here they are (I welcome comments on this blog and any tips you might have that you would be willing to share with me and my readers).

1. Get Permission. Pros have it drilled into their heads that they need permission to use an image of a person, any person, for commercial purposes. But for the amateur the situation is different. Or is it?

I firmly believe that it is a matter of civility, pure and simple, to ask someone you do not know for permission to photograph him or her. One of my pet peeves is the rude tourist who shoves a camera in the face of someone from a different culture. Of course, if the person is performing that is a different story. But, in my opinion, people have a right to their privacy, and as a photographer I abide by that belief.

Now, permission does not have to be a signed release form. It can be a gesture- holding up your camera, pointing to it and to the subject and shrugging your shoulders as if to ask the question. Or, if you speak the language, just ask.

Bedouin, Egypt's Eastern desert

In some countries, I’m thinking of Muslim countries in particular, photographing women without permission can get you in serious trouble. At the very least you owe it to your subject to give her a chance to cover her face.

Sometimes I admit to having photographed a subject surreptitiously, to catch a special moment or expression. In that case I always go up to them afterwards, show them the images and ask if it is okay with them. Usually their smiling faces are their answer.

Otavalo, Ecuador Market

2. Get a Picture, Give a Print. One thing I like to do is either send a print to the person once I get home or else bring one with me on my next visit to the country. In Ecuador, there is a market in Otavalo where I love to spend time photographing. When I go back, I bring prints of my subjects from my last visit and now the people are excited when I return.

3. Be patient. One of the tips that I give my students at workshops is to be patient when you photograph people. Often it is only after 10 minutes of shooting that the subject relaxes enough for that unguarded moment.

4. Get to Know Your Subject. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of travel photography for me is getting to know my subjects, even if only for a short time. The people connection is what makes the travel experience shine. Before you hoist your camera, ask about the craft they might be exhibiting. As a grandfather five times over, I always ask my subjects about their family; it’s the universal glue that binds us. I can nearly guarantee that if you take the time to do this you will be rewarded with warm and poignant images every time.

5. Shoot Early. I find that a great time to shoot is early in the morning, even in westernized countries. That is when merchants set up their market stalls, when farmers heave

Otavalo, Ecuador Market

their produce from cart to table, when kids scurry to help their parents or scamper away from them. The rising sun casts a warm glow, dust is kicked up highlighting dust motes, and the grittiness of life is front-and-center for your photographic palette.

Sechelt Coming-of-Age Ceremony

6. Tell a Story. I always tell my workshop attendees that when given a choice, shoot a scene tightly. Shooting tight conveys emotion and creates dramatic impact. You do not need the entire person’s body in the image, at times not even the entire face. A child’s face from chin to forehead, lips streaked in chocolate, can be a prize-winner.

However, you need to decide before you shoot what the story is that you want to tell. Is it the expressions of toil on a merchants face, or the warm embrace of a nurturing mother? That will determine whether you shoot a tight face shot or a medium telephoto shot of the mother squatting curbside holding her daughter, or a wide angle of a bustling city square. You decide and then fill the pages of your photo book with that story.

Used flash to eliminate hat shadow

7. Use Flash. At certain times of the day light is harsh and creates deep shadows that distract from the subject. In many cultures people, especially men, wear wide-brimmed hats that create problems during mid-day hours. The solution in these cases is to use flash to gently fill in the shadows. Yes, pros have elaborate flash systems, but they are often superfluous. You can capture terrific shots using your on-camera, pop-up flash. The secret here is to diffuse the light so it doesn’t appear harsh on the face. There are several after-market products out there that you place over your flash to smooth the light and create pleasing portraits. In a pinch I have used a tissue or a white plastic shopping bag.

8. Laugh…a Lot. Laughter truly is the best medicine and I’ve used it even in uncomfortable travel situations. Just think of how funny you look to a Bedouin or a Sengali fisherman, then lighten up and laugh at yourself. That frame of mind alone will loosen up your subjects and help them be more cooperative.

9. Move. When shooting people, move around – talk to them as you do so – and shoot from many different angles. Digital is wonderful. Did the person blink? Just keep shooting. Was the background distracting? Move and keep shooting.

Bedouin Child, Egypt's Eastern Desert

10. Shoot Wide Open. I say this with a caveat, but if the person is the focus of your image, try opening up the aperture to its maximum (f2.0, 2.8, 3.5 or 4.0). That will blur the background and cause your subject to pop off the frame. That works especially well if the person’s face or dress is able to carry the story. If the story you want to tell includes the context – a dance, the village huts, animals or a spectacular backdrop, then close down the lens (f8, 11 or 16). However, that works best when your subject is close to you, creating a strong foreground element.

One last piece of advice… always remember that you are a good-will ambassador. I prefer to go out of my way to show people of different cultures that we Americans are not so bad after all.

Lester Picker is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Maryland. He welcomes questions from his blog readers on any photography-related question.  Visit Les’ website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Shoot Early; Shoot Late

“How do you get such saturated colors in the sky?” I am often asked.

“I bet you use fancy filters.”

“Hey, you added those colors in Photoshop, didn’t you?” wink, wink.

Well, my blog friends, I hate to disillusion you, but those colors come from something called sunrise. Pure, natural, 100% organic sunrise. And to capture them you have to get up before sunrise, trek to your preferred location, set up your equipment, pray that it doesn’t rain or cloud over, and then spend the next hour shooting like a maniac.

Sandhill Cranes in Flight

While everyone else is out having a good time during the day, I’m stumbling about in a sleep-deprived daze. Then, around dinnertime, I pull out one solid excuse from my Photographer’s Handbook, and sneak away for another hour of sunset shots. That, in a nutshell, is how a pro photographer captures those magical colors in the sky.

In fact, photographers call the two hours after sunrise and before sunset the ‘magic hours.’ From the perspective of physics that makes sense. When the sun is nearly at the horizon light is penetrating considerably more atmosphere than it does at noon. That slows light down and slower light bends it toward the red end of the visible light spectrum. We humans have a proclivity for reddish colors. They seem ‘warmer’ and more pleasing and peace-inducing to our brains.

Early-Late light also has other properties that tend to transform snapshots into eye-candy. When the sun is low to the horizon it creates longer shadows. That adds depth and texture to images, especially to landscapes.

Abraham Lake Sunrise

Sunrise and sunset are appealing to photographers for another reason. They are typically the hours when wildlife is most active, so your chances of capturing that perfect image of a fox or a bear or any manner of feathered creatures rise exponentially.

If you are traveling abroad, the hours just after sunrise are terrific for photographing local markets. There is typically a lot of hustle and bustle during that period, so with a medium telephoto lens you can stand unobtrusively in a doorway and shoot people setting up their stalls and arranging their exotic wares. (If you intend to use the images for commercial publication, be sure to get model releases from the people you photograph if they are recognizable in the photo… more on that in a later blog).

Sunset is an equally magical time to shoot, although you will most definitely run into more photographers at sunset than at sunrise. Sometimes the fight for photographic territory can be intense at sunset in places like the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Sunrise Over Tundra

Whatever its challenges, the aesthetic rewards of shooting early and late easily make it worthwhile. And don’t think you need to travel to some exotic locale. Just set your alarm and witness your own backyard in a totally different perspective.

Last year I remember being in Yukon Territory. I set my alarm for 3:00 AM to photograph the spectacular northern lights over the Yukon River. In the morning, one of my local hosts asked what I was doing up so early. I mentioned my drive up the local mountain to get a good view of the aurora. He had lived in the Yukon for five years. He flat out told me that he had only seen the lights once!

In terms of equipment I always use my tripod for sunrise/sunset because I want maximum depth-of-field, which slows the shutter speed. Add a cable release and you are set… well, almost. I also use filters at sunrise and sunset.

When you photograph sunrise/sunset, the sky begins to light up while the land in the foreground is still relatively dark. The lighter sky fools your meter into thinking it needs to close down the aperture to restrict the light hitting the sensor. That will render the foreground black, with no details in the shadows.

The way to compensate for this is to use a graduated neutral density filter. A GND filter is a piece of plastic or glass that you place in front of the lens. It is darker at the top and gradually becomes transparent about halfway down. In essence you are putting sunglasses only on the sky portion of your image. Just slide the filter until only the sky is shaded and- voila! – you have the prefect sunrise image. GND filters come is various strengths and with trial and error, and liberal use of the histogram, you will become proficient in their use. I use GNDs from Singh Ray (www.singhray.com) and Lee filters (www.leefiltersusa.com) or you can purchase them through B&H (www.bandh.com) or Adorama (www.adorama.com). In a future blog I’ll explain how to use these GNDs in more detail.

Kapalua Sunset

Singh-Ray makes a specialty filter known as a Daryl Benson Reverse Neutral Density Graduated Filter. I know that’s a mouthful, but here’s what it does that proves very useful. Let’s say you want to shoot a sunrise where the sun is just peeking out over the horizon. That bright orb will blow out your shot and ruin your image. The Reverse ND filter places a band of ‘sunglasses’ right across the horizon zone, holding back some of that light and allowing for a nicely exposed image in most cases.

Try getting up tomorrow before dawn and you’ll be amazed at what awaits in your own town or neighborhood!

Lester Picker is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Maryland. He welcomes questions from his blog readers on any photography-related question.  Visit Les’ website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Best Way to Improve Your Images? Try Shooting in Aperture Priority.

After more than 30 years in photography, I’ve come to understand that our art consists of two major distinctions. The first is creative vision, the second is technological. I’ll be writing a lot about the creative aspects of photography – the right mental attitude, the vision, the motivations- but in this blog I’ll discuss one technological issue that seems to plague amateur photographers. That is the decision to shoot in aperture priority, shutter priority or fully automatic.

I’ll be the first to admit that today’s DSLRs do a pretty fine job on automatic. Just set it and forget it. The camera’s onboard computer does all the calculations, averages out the exposure values in a scene and- voilà !- you have a nice photo. Coupled with autofocus, you will almost always come back with a decent photo.

But for a professional or advanced amateur, ‘decent’ is just not good enough. In fact, it can be the kiss of death. We look for images that go beyond decent to great, memorable, and most important of all, saleable. Average simply doesn’t cut it.

If we eliminate the totally automatic setting, then, we are left with two choices : aperture priority or shutter priority. The choice between these two may be simpler than you might imagine. Think of it this way. Shutter priority allows you to control the shutter speed. If you are shooting sports or any subject that is moving rapidly and you want to freeze the action, select shutter priority. Set your camera to the fastest shutter speed that still allows a recognizable image and the camera takes over the rest. For general sports, you would want a shutter speed of at least 1/250^th of a second or faster. To stop your daughter’s goalie soccer save, you might want to shoot at 1/500 or even 1/1000 of a second. Ditto for a NASCAR event.

If you shoot landscape and nature scenes, even wildlife, I suggest that you consider shooting in aperture priority. Virtually every landscape professional I know shoots in aperture priority. Let’s see why.

When shooting landscapes, you usually want everything possible to be in focus, from nearby objects to distant mountains. That means you should use smaller apertures, say f11, f16 or even f22. Remember that the larger the number, the smaller the aperture. By aperture we refer to the round opening in the camera lens that allows light in when you press the shutter release button (the interleaved metallic gizmo that opens and shuts to create the aperture is called the diaphragm). As aperture decreases (in other words as it goes from f2.8 to f16, for example, the more individual parts of your scene will be in focus.

Moraine Lake

If you were to measure how much of the foreground and background is in focus you would be referring to the depth of field of the image. And that’s where knowing how to shoot in aperture priority comes in handy. The rule is this; as the aperture decreases in size, the depth of field increases. Think of squinting. When we squint, we reduce the opening in the diaphragm of our eyes so that the scene appears to be more in focus.

Okay, so how does this knowledge help to create better images? Let’s look at some examples. You want to take a picture of your no doubt good-looking and brilliant child sitting on a park bench. Behind your prodigy is a busy street scene. Cars are whizzing by, trees and flowers clutter the background, and a huge billboard advertising beer (with the requisite buxom cheerleader) is positioned just to the right of your child’s head.

Bedouin Girl (Egypt)

If you are shooting in aperture-priority, you would simply “open up the lens” by increasing the aperture setting to f2.8 or 3.5 or 4.0. That would seriously reduce the depth-of-field, meaning that your child’s face would be in focus, but everything in the background would be blurry. In fact, if you can open up the lens to f2.8 it would render the background a soft blur that would force the viewer’s eye to the face rather than the distractions in the background.

On the other hand, suppose you are standing on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and want a classic shot of the nearby point that sticks out. But you also want to capture the gorge itself and the North Rim. In this case you would set the aperture on f11, f16 or f22. That would increase the depth-of-field and just about everything in your image would be sharp.

Rock Solid

One final point. You may wonder why the aperture settings are so oddly numbered. The usual complement of f stops in most lenses is: f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0, f11, f16 and f22. These numbers are actual the product of the formula that calculates the surface area of the camera’s diaphragm opening. Fuggedaboudit. The only important thing to know is that each f-stop successively halves the amount of light entering the lens as you go from f2.8 to f22. Conversely, as you go from f22 to f2.8, the amount of light hitting your camera’s sensor doubles each time you increase one f-stop.

To paraphrase Ansel Adams, photography is nothing more than capturing and manipulating light. If you want to increase the depth-of-field you will be decreasing the amount of light entering the camera. So that means that for you to get a balanced shot you would need to allow the diaphragm to remain open longer. In some cases you may need to leave the shutter open so long you may need to use a tripod to nail that Grand Canyon shot. Usually, most adults can hand-hold a camera up to 1/25^th of a second without hand-shake that would blur the image. If your camera tells you that at f16 you would need to use a shutter speed of 1/10^th of a second, do yourself a favor and mount the camera on a tripod (or a Joby, a neat mini-tripod that bends in every conceivable way and is available on the Internet or in camera stores).

So, if you’re currently shooting everything in Automatic, try aperture priority next time you’re out. You’ll gain more creative control over your images and once you get the hang of it I’ll bet you’ll like your images a whole lot more.

Lester Picker is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Maryland. He welcomes questions from his blog readers on any photography-related question.  Visit Les’ website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Backing Up Your Digital Images

Here’s a little secret about all professional photographers (and I do mean all). Every one of us is paranoid. Some of us are just more paranoid than others.

Of course what I’m talking about is the pro photographer’s need to back up his or her images in the field. Each of us has our own method of doing so, depending on one’s level of comfort and relationship with God. In any case, backing up is a good idea even if you are a newbie photographer. You certainly don’t want to risk losing your images from your 3-week European family vacation.

Here are the methods I use to back up in the field and at home.

In the Field

First, I carry at least 12 Compact Flash cards for my Nikon cameras, ranging from 8 GB to 16GB each. Rarely do I shoot through all the cards on an assignment, even if I’m gone for two or three weeks (and I shoot RAW only). As I use each card I put it in a nifty case called a Pixel Pocket Rocket (www.thinktankphoto.com), facing backward, so I know it has been used. From that point on, my used cards are either on my person or nestled comfortable in a hotel safe.

Each night, I back up my flash cards to my Aperture software on my 15” MacBook Pro laptop and to a Western Digital (WD) 160GB portable drive. I usually carry two of these drives with me. They are incredibly small, lightweight, durable and inexpensive. Every few days, I also back up my Aperture library to the second WD drive. Backing up to my laptop also gives me an opportunity to review my images on a large screen and to gauge how the assignment is proceeding.

Paranoid, right? Well, if you’re not convinced yet, listen to this. On the way home, I make sure to carry every backup with me onto the plane (well I sure as hell am not going to trust my livelihood to airport baggage handlers!). However I divvy them up so that if my carry-on rolling camera bag is stolen, I still have one of the WD drives in my pocket and I haven’t lost the entire shoot. If my wife is traveling with me, I might give her another one of the drives to carry on board in her purse. My laptop is in its carrying case. All the original flash cards are in the Pixel Pocket Rocket, safely tucked into the camera bag. Four-way protection, ahh!

When I get home, I have the choice of downloading the originals from the flash cards to my desktop system or transferring the entire shoot from the WD drives or the laptop. In any case, I’m well protected from loss. Once I download the images and backup my office system, then I format my flash cards and the WD drives and delete the images from the laptop. Now I’m ready for my next photo shoot.

At Home

My home office involves a MacPro system. My Aperture library resides on a large hard drive. Each night it is automatically backed up onto another hard drive and once a week the entire system is backed up onto a third hard drive.

But, what about fire, flood or pestilence? Good question. I cover that base by keeping two 1 TB backup drives in a safe deposit box at my bank, which is exactly one block from me. On one of the first days of every month I retrieve those drives. I back up the entire system on one and just my Aperture library on the other.

Colleagues of mine have variations on this theme. Several make an annual back up of all their images shot during that year and file that backup offsite. Others make permanent backups of each trip or assignment onto a growing stack of WD drives. As the saying goes, God is good, but you’d better have a backup plan.

Lester Picker is a professional wildlife and landscape photographer based in Maryland. He offers one-on-one and small group photography instruction. Visit his website: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Transporting Your Gear

One of the thorniest challenges for professional and advanced amateur photographers alike is packing for a trip. Every year the situation seems to worsen. Airlines are not only more restrictive than ever, they are also arbitrary and capricious. One time I’ll be let through and on a different leg of the same trip I’ll be stopped and told I cannot take my bag onto the plane. Or I’ll be in a remote location where a bush pilot will severely limit my carry-on bag.

One not-so-humorous incident (at the time) happened on an Air Canada flight to Yukon Territory. I was told my wheel-on camera bag was too heavy. I’m used to that by now, so I always stuff my camera vest into the outside pocket of my bag. With a line of impatient people behind me, I unloaded a few heavy lenses and stuffed them into my vest pockets and strung my DSLR with a 70-200 attached around my neck. The ticket counter woman was pissed, but she reluctantly accepted defeat.

Off I went to the gate. I was still 90 minutes early, so I repacked all my equipment back into my bag. When they finally called my row, I wheeled up to board. Then I saw her! The ticket agent at the gate, you guessed it, was the same woman who had been at the counter. She pulled me aside and actually made me do the whole unpacking shtick all over again! Once aboard some unhappy fliers watched me repack again as they waited to pass up the aisle.

As an aside I have to tell you that I weigh 163 pounds soaking wet. With my wheel-on, I would clock in at under 200, max. The man who sat next to me weighed a conservative 240-260 pounds AND he carried a computer bag AND an overnighter. Does this airline weight regulation make any sense… at all?

Anyway, what is a serious photographer to do? First a deep, dark secret. I probably have more photo bags in my office than my wife has pocketbooks! Seriously, over the years I have accumulated more over-the-shoulder, around-the-waist, wheeling, backpacking and sling photography bags than Imelda Marcus has shoes. But, if my wife is reading this, I swear I need them all, Hon!

I very regularly use the following:

• Think Tank Airport International V2.0 Rolling Bag
  
• Think Tank Speed Demon
  
• Think Tank Speed Freak
  
• Think Tank Airport Check-In
  
• Lowe Pro Nature Trekker

Along with these basics, I have an assortment of dedicated side packs, pouches and lens cases that fasten to the sides of the bags.

Obviously, I single-handedly keep Think Tank’s business in the black. But, although their products are expensive, to me they are worth every penny. They are incredibly rugged and ingeniously well thought out, probably because their designers are also professional photographers. They also have some of the best security features in the industry. Go to www.thinktankphoto.com for more info. While at their site, be sure to download a copy of their free helpful publication on how to travel with camera equipment and tips on how to get through airport security.

My Lowepro (www.lowepro.com) is my go-to bag for backpacking into rough terrain, where I may have to bring several days of equipment. It never ceases to amaze me how much cra… I mean, gear I can pack into that thing. I usually add a side pouch for water and another for snacks.

I always pack my tripod in my checked luggage and pad it well. Since I exclusively use rugged Eagle Creek luggage (www.eaglecreek.com), with their roomy interiors, I always take one of my Think Tank waist packs with me, place it in the luggage and pack it tight with my clothes and some other camera accessories. Then, when I get to my photo location, I have a daypack to use as needed.

Let me know your photo equipment travel tips. In a later blog I’ll share with you what I carry in my backpack for remote shooting.

Lester Picker is a Maryland-based wildlife and landscape photographer. He welcomes photography questions to his blog. Visit his website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Shoot Tight!

How would you like to increase the dramatic impact of your photography by an order of magnitude? I’m not exactly sure what that last phrase means, but it sounds impressive. This is what I do mean, though. If there is one photographic technique that can put your images on steroids, it’s shooting tight.

By shooting tight, I’m referring to zooming in on the subject so that you remove distracting elements and instead highlight its most salient feature(s). Take the photo below as an example. I shot it on one of my trips to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. In and of itself the photo is ‘okay.’ It’s a textbook example of the giant Galapagos tortoise, the same ones documented by Charles Darwin in the 19^th century. Therein lies the problem with the image. Like a textbook, it’s b-o-r-i-n-g. It would be fine for a biology text, but it lacks punch. Zero drama.

Now take a look at this image, shot the same day. See the difference? Notice the emotional impact?

The same concept holds true for the following images. The Nazca Booby was photographed in the Galapagos and everyone else I was with photographed the mother and bird as a whole, as I initially did. Some even shot the scene wide angle to get in the rocks and water in the background, thereby making it hard t see the mother and chick at all. I managed to squeeze off a few telephoto shots of the baby alone and I like the effect (hopefully my editors will, too).

This next series really show two images with entirely different effects. However, I just wanted to show how shooting tight can result in creative applications that may not be immediately apparent in the wider image. I took this initial shot for a series on amusement parks. This was taken at Salem Willows in Massachusetts.

The tight rendition is the stuff of kids’ nightmares, a bas relief of Chucky.

Finally, shooting tight works wonders for people shots, but I’ll leave that topic for another day.

Les Picker is a professional photographer living in Maryland. He is happy to address specific photographic questions from his blog readers. Visit his website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Photo Accessories for Seniors

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a senior photographer. Not senior as in jobsite seniority. I’m old. Maybe even ancient (well, 60 no longer seems as old as it did when I was thirty).

For us photo geezers, I offer the following: my favorite accessories that I employ in the field, whether I’m shooting landscapes in Ecuador or wildlife in Africa. I’m a professional photographer, so use or modify these suggestions to suit your photographic needs. And, send in your own suggestions which I will post on my site and credit to your experience and wisdom.

Right Angle Viewer (RAV). As far as I’m concerned this is a must for the over-fifty photographer. You attach the RAV to your viewfinder and voila!, you don’t have to lay on your stomach to get a shot of that rare flower. RAVs rotate so that you can use them in landscape or portrait mode. They’re great to use with a tripod when photographing wildflowers or insects. Tip: since the RAV optics do not factor into the actual photo (that’s what the lens mounted on the front of the camera is for), you don’t need to buy the one made by your camera manufacturer. You can get one for half the price from secondary manufacturers. My favorite is www.hoodman.com.

Knee Pads. Don’t laugh, knee pads are the greatest invention since sliced bread for seniors. Try kneeling for ten minutes photographing those cute sea lions in the Galapagos. The lava rocks will gnaw at your kneecaps and you’ll feel the stress on your knees for days. Sure I look like a dork, but if I’m comfortable in the field, I usually bring home the goods. Try on pairs at Home Depot or Lowes.

Photo Gloves. These are lightweight, rubber-coated gloves that keep bulk to a minimum and grip strength at a maximum. You can’t go wrong with the ones made by LowePro.

Plastic Reading Glasses. In the field I use cheap plastic frames with polycarbonate lenses, less than $20 at the local drugstore. I always carry an extra pair with me, since without reading glasses I can’t read a damned thing on my LCD screen.

Tripod. I hate to admit it, but aging has taken its toll on my joints. I used to be able to handhold a 70-200mm lens all day and still get sharp images at 1/50 of a second at twilight. No more. Now my tripod is my #1 photo tool. Tip: buy one of the carbon fiber tripods for their reduced weight. Then put foam pads on the upper leg sections so you can carry it balanced on your shoulder without pain.

Diopter adjustment. Lots of folks either forget or don’t know that you can adjust the diopter setting on most mid- to high-end DSLR cameras to customize it for your eyesight. Thebest way to use it is to set your camera on a tripod and autofocus on a book jacket propped up on a table. Take the shot and be sure that the focus is tack sharp. Now look through the viewfinder without changing any setting. If the book does not look tack sharp to your eyes, adjust the diopter wheel until the image appears perfectly sharp to you.

Your suggestions, please… I welcome suggestions from other senior photographers out there. Please let me know what you use to make photographing easier for you. Until then, use sunscreen and drink lots of water (ibuprofen helps, too!).

Les Picker is a professional photographer living in Maryland. He is happy to address specific photographic questions from his blog readers. Visit his website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

SHOOT HIGH-SHOOT LOW!

I don’t mean to be sarcastic… no, I take that back. I do mean to be sarcastic. Here goes. There is no rule that says you must hold your camera at eye level, in a standing position, with the camera in landscape orientation every time. There, I said it!

As a professional photographer and former editor, I figure that about 98% of all photos taken by amateurs are in landscape orientation. That, in itself, would not be so bad. But when you couple that with the dreaded eye-level perspective, the results are often dull and uninteresting, true snapshots rather than exciting photographs.

If you’re primarily into snapshots, that’s fine. There’s nothing like a snapshot of the Pyramids (if you can get one without shops and hawkers that encroach ever closer every year) or the husband standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon (“Go ahead, Honey, keep backing up… a few more steps…”). But to get truly unique images, to move beyond snapshots to true photographs, try this technique of the pros; Shoot High and Shoot Low.

The main take-away to this tip is to move away from what I call the plane of conformity. Since most people take a picture standing up, try photographing from a crouched position or from your knees. I took the photo below on Navajo land in Utah. While others stood around photographing this interesting tree, I laid on my stomach and shot this from root level. Maybe the shot works for you and maybe it doesn’t. Art, after all, is subjective. But the image is not the typical one you would see associated with this particular view. To my eyes the image benefits from the down-low perspective.

In a similar vein, my wife and I were hiking Hawaii’s spectacular Napali Coast on the island of Kauai. At an overpass, everyone else on the trail took a photo of one particular scenic view. Each person would approach the lookout, bring the camera up to their eye and shoot the very same shot. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, since you’ve captured that memory forever. But, whenever I see people taking the same exact photo, I turn around and look the other way. I look up, I look down. In this case, I spotted the sun backlighting these philodendron leaves, high above my head.

For this close-up of sea lion pups playing in the Galapagos, I laid down in the sand for twenty minutes, shooting away while the pups frolicked. Sure my elbows and clothes got wet, but I came away with a series of shots I wanted.

A similar thing happened with this shot of marsh grasses. I had to lay down on the boardwalk of a nature center at sunrise to capture this image.

Here’s another Shoot High-Shoot Low tip. When photographing kids, get down to their level. I took this shot of a boy playing marbles in Luxor, Egypt. Had I stood up and shot eye level, the shot would have lost out. By crouching down and pointing my camera up at the boy, I got a marble-ous perspective on the game (ok, I never said I was an expert punner).

So, next time you’re out photographing, be bold, be adventurous. Shoot High-Shoot Low. Heck, just shoot. I think you’ll be happy with your results.

Lester Picker is a professional photographer living in Maryland. He welcomes questions about photography addressed to his blog. Les also gives one-on-one and small group workshops for aspiring and intermediate photographers. Visit Les’ website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com

Want Better Photos? Use a Polarizing Filter.

If there is one question that amateurs most often ask about my images, it’s: “How do you get those clouds to pop out so much?” The alternative question is how I get the blue skies to render so… well, blue.

The short answer is that I use a polarizing filter probably 80% of the time when I’m shooting outdoors during the daytime. It’s the not-so-secret ingredient that pros use all the time because our editors, and people who buy our images for their home or office, want to view landscapes where the colors are nicely saturated and clouds and skies are delineated.

A polarizing filter works by taking scattered light and filtering it so that you have more parallel rays getting through to the camera’s sensor (or film, if you are still using a film camera). You don’t need to know all the physics, but the effect is powerful. See the accompanying photos that I took on a recent trip down the Colorado River and you’ll get an idea of how a polarizer can improve your photos.

If you are willing to invest in a polarizer, make sure you buy what is known as a circular polarizer. A circular polarizer consists of two pieces of glass that rotate relative to each other. You can dial in just the right amount of polarization to suit your creative vision. Polarizers also cut through some of the haze that ruins images on hot, humid days. Polarizers can also help make reflections more prominent.

Like any photographic accessory, polarizers have limitations. Due to the physics of light, they are most effective when they point 90 degrees away from the sun. As yopu face toward or directly away from the sun, they are pretty iseless. And they have drawbacks. First, they are expensive. A good one for a DSLR will set you back at least $100 and can go up to $200. They also reduce light transmission by one or two stops, which can either help you capture that special image (think blurred water over a waterfall) or hinder your efforts. They also add a certain hassle factor, since there will be times when you are out shooting and as light conditions change you will invariably have to be screwing the filter on or off.

Every DSLR can accommodate polarizers, since the front of lenses for DSLRs have a screw thread. Unfortunately, due to the sheer variety of point-and-shoot cameras, few manufacturers make polarizing filters for them. In fact, a good polarizer could conceivably cost more than an inexpensive or even a moderately priced point-and-shoot. But even if your point-and-shoot does not accommodate screw-on polarizers, the good news is you can still use one. A cool feature of a polarizer is that you can hold it up to your eye and rotate the outer glass and you will see the effects immediately. Now, without changing the relative position of the polarizer, just hold it right up to your lens, point and shoot. I guarantee you will see dramatic improvements in your landscapes!

Lester Picker is a professional landscape and wildlife photographer living in Maryland. He welcomes questions from his blog readers on any photography-related question. Les offers one-on-one and small group workshops for aspiring to intermediate photographers.  Visit Les’ website at: www.lesterpickerphoto.com