A simple request changed my photographic style, permanently. A dear friend of mine, Alecia Earle, asked me to take photos at her wedding several years ago. I declined. I had never really aimed my lens at anything other than the night sky prior to her request. For months it bothered me that I was too afraid to delve into the world of ‘people pics’. It bothered me so much, I simply had to at least try. Years later, I am almost addicted to portraiture, albeit unusual portraiture. Don’t get me wrong, there is no model quite as beautiful as the moon in a star filled sky, but aiming my lens a tad lower at earthbound stars has become quite rewarding. In all honesty, some of the fear of photographing her wedding came from the fact that she was, and still is, an accomplished photographer herself. It’s like having a world renowned chef taste your cooking. I wasn’t sure I would meet her expectations. Alecia is the photographer behind A.E. Photography. I guess I should be flattered that another photographer saw something in my images that made her confident I could create great pictures of her wedding. To this day she is still a photographer I admire and try to emulate. Her experience dates back to her high school days where she worked in a portrait studio learning the trade first hand. Her experience is clearly evident in her work. A master at ‘people pics’ and posing, I find myself attracted most to her flowers, wildlife, and landscape images. She is also one of the reasons I started to experiment with macro photography. I met Alecia through our work. Although a great co-worker, my relationship with her changed drastically one mundane afternoon. As mentioned before, my first love and passion is astrophotography. I love all things in the night sky. Sitting at my desk one day, Alecia entered my office and handed me a hardbound book. I opened the cover and realized she had taken several of my astrophotography images I had posted online and had created a beautiful bound book of them. I can’t remember the day before that event or the day after, but I can remember that moment as if it just happened. Should I fall prey to losing my memory in old age, I am convinced that will be one of the few memories I will hold onto forever. She also did a themed project using the alphabet. She took each letter of the alphabet and created a daily photographic series based on the day’s letter. I found myself eagerly waiting for the next letter/day. I hope she finds the time to start another creative series. Not only is she a good friend and an excellent photographer, she has also offered herself as a model for some of my crazy ideas. There is nothing more exciting and fun than to work with someone that is equally excited about working on a project together. Yes, it is a little nerve-racking having an experienced photographer as a model, but she has been nothing but supportive. I am excited to continue to work with her on my crazy ideas as well as continuing to learn from her as a fellow photographer. She is the first person I would recommend for family, couple, or wedding photography (as long as it’s not on the same day she is modeling for me). I simply love her work and get excited every time I see her post new images on her page. Hopefully, someday, I will be as good at ‘people pics’ as A.E. Photography.
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It has been argued that no idea is original. Somewhere, at some time, someone else has done it. I am proud to acknowledge that a lot of my photography ideas come from the work of other photographers. Some ideas I try to replicate as closely as possible whereas others I simply adopt a theme and change it by adding my own personal interpretation. While some artists strive for total originality, I do not, and for several good reasons. First, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If I am copying an idea of another photographer, it is because I am blown away by their work. The funny part is, if I dig deep enough I usually discover that the photographer I am copying got their idea from someone else as well. I have a long list of ideas that are born from images I have seen from other photographers. The list has been generated not by the name of the photographer, or the equipment they use, but rather by the finished product. Second, you can learn a lot by simply trying to reproduce someone else’s work. If you are trying to duplicate an image perfectly, you have to account for lighting, depth of field, noise levels, shadows, etc. Trying to get all of that right, isn’t easy, especially if the image is already complex and complicated. If you’re lucky enough, the photographer might have a behind-the-scenes explanation or video where they explain what camera settings they used and how they set up their gear to capture the shot. This typically is not the case for most images, but search for details on the picture anyway. You may be surprised. The more you attempt to recreate others’ work, the quicker you can realize how certain images were created. You will be able to look at a simple portrait and fairly quickly figure out how many lights were used and where the lights were generally located. The more you try this duplication process, the better you will become at photography in general. Lastly, by repeatedly trying to duplicate the work of others, you will start to develop your own style. You will start to combine ideas from different sources to create ideas that come from you. Even then, your ideas may not be completely original as someone has probably already done something very similar. That’s ok. Do an image search for ‘egg photography’ and you will find some very interesting images, but after a page or two, they all start to take on some similar themes. This isn’t to say that the first few images you see are more or less original, it just means the different variations on the same subject (an egg) tend to start to blend together such as broken egg images, eggs with facial expressions images, colored eggs images, etc. So, have I ever had an ‘original’ idea? Sure! I've had several ‘original’ ideas that usually plague me right before I go to sleep. It’s only later in the morning that I discover the idea has been done before in some form or another. If you’re new to photography and want to develop your own style, as odd as it sounds, plagiarize as much as you can. Even if you’re a seasoned photographer in a certain style and want to branch into other styles, try re-creating images of others whose work you find interesting. True photographic plagiarism is taking someone else’s picture and putting your name on it. Sadly, this happens all too frequently. But if you adopt the philosophy that photography is about capturing moments that can never be re-created later on, it becomes literally impossible to plagiarize anyone’s picture by simply trying to re-create it. So if originality is undetected plagiarism, be an undetected plagiarist! The following non-exhaustive list is a compilation of individuals that have influenced my style of photography and post processing to date. Most of these individuals have their own websites, Facebook pages, or other sites such as 500px, Tumblr, and YouTube. You will probably not have any trouble finding these individuals online. The top of my personal favorites list is probably Evan Sharboneau – a.k.a. the Photo Extremist. Forget family portraits and cute kid pictures, this photographer is about making people stop and ask “how in the hell did he do that?” He is probably the most creative photographer I follow (and at such a young age). From what I gather, he began his passion for photography while in high school. He has some ‘how-to’ videos as well as some ‘best-of’ compilations. If you like his work, I can personally vouch for both his ‘Trick Photography and Special Effects’ and ‘Photography Masterclass’ series. In addition to detailed pdf files, you also get several hours of video tutorials. Although I think he is an accomplished general photographer, I specifically follow him for his more creative and outlandish ideas. For learning the basics of using a camera and when and how to use certain settings, I find Mike Browne the easiest to follow. Aside from his entertaining accent, I love how he explains concepts in very simple terms and gets right to the point. He has several videos on a vast array of techniques and also has recurring FAQ videos that I enjoy as well. If you’re new to photography and want to find your way around your camera, find his basic videos and start from there. You won’t regret it. He also does some photographic equipment reviews that are helpful as well. One of the few photographers I watch almost immediately when he releases new material is Gavin Hoey. Another photographer from across the pond, Gavin Hoey works with Adorama TV and frequently produces short videos on both composition and post processing techniques. What I like the most about his work is he explains why he makes certain adjustments. The simplicity of his ideas combined with the minimal post processing adjustments makes you feel like you can replicate his work relatively easily. The only downside to his Adorama videos are the brief commercial interruptions for photography equipment. He also often provides his own Photoshop brushes free to download from his site for non-commercial use. Photography is a universal language. How do I know this? One of my favorite photographers for unique modeling ideas is Alexander Heinrichs, whom I assume speaks German. I do not speak a lick of German but I have used his work for inspiration on more than one occasion. Alexander Heinrichs combines wildly creative shoots with gorgeous models creating images that are incredibly visually stunning. He has several ‘behind-the-scene’ videos of his work. In addition, he describes the shoot in detail at the beginning of each video. I only know because I have discovered I can translate his videos with an app on my smartphone. You need daring models if you want to try your hand at emulating his work. Fortunately, I have found several models that are more than willing to help me out with crazy ideas. For astrophotography, I find Forrest Tanaka my favorite. He actually does amazing work across all types of photography, but I get the most from his videos about capturing objects in the night sky, especially with telescopes. He also walks through the post processing as well. He covers everything from selection of telescopes, to attaching your camera, to tracking objects in the sky. If you have any desire to try some serious astrophotography, start here. Be warned however, astrophotography using a telescope can become very costly depending on your setup. Unlike most other types of photography, astrophotography depends a lot on factors such as light pollution, the weather, cloud cover, and the fullness of the moon. You can be all ready to capture a unique event, like an eclipse, only to be thwarted by stormy weather. There are two sources I consider my ‘go-to’ for Photoshop help and explanations. The first is Aaron Nace from Phlearn.com. He makes Photoshop look easy! He explains what to do and how to do it. He is the reason I tried using a pen tablet for retouching photos. After a steep learning curve of a couple of months, I cannot imagine using Photoshop with anything other than a pen tablet. What I like most about Phlearn is they will show you multiple ways to achieve a desired outcome and which method works best. I routinely visit Phlearn when I have a Photoshop issue that I cannot figure out on my own. The other Photoshop source is Marty Geller from Blue Lightning TV. I am convinced this guy created Photoshop and is just parading as an avid user. I have never found any other source that is so versed at using Photoshop. Not only does he walk you through how to use Photoshop to edit images, he also is incredibly versed at the use of text in Photoshop which I think gets overlooked by other photographers. The only downside to Blue Lightning TV is that he routinely refers to A LOT of keyboard shortcuts in explaining how to do things. Not being as well versed in these shortcuts, I find myself stopping the videos often just to keep pace with the tutorials. However, don't let this stop you. The results are nothing short of amazing. These are by no means the only sources I go to for photography help and inspiration. I also follow Froknowsphoto, Snapchick, The Strobist, Houa Vang, the House of Immaginare, and local favorite Dave Dugdale just to name a few. In all honesty, my inspiration comes from almost everyone and everything. From the most simple and unassuming moments to the moments created on purpose, there is beauty!
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