Exploration is the key.

As photographer with over 40 years experience and an instructor for the last 12 years I am often asked how to create great photographs.  Now this is a loaded question and I know that I am a good photographer but far from great.  So I am constantly looking at photographs and reading articles to try an improve myself as well.  Through the years I have heard and read many things and I have finally come to what I think is the key to improving and creating great photographs.  I believe it is exploration.

What I mean here is that one has to explore the medium in all aspects.  This starts with pre-production which varies with different types of photography but is generally the same, one must research what one intends to photograph.  Here you are exploring all the factors that you need to create your photo. Locations, times, story, technical aspects, lighting, equipment and so on are key components that I have noticed that the best photographers utilize more then the rest of us.  By researching and exploring the endless possibilities they create the photo's that make other's stop and go WOW.

For me major exploration has been a few and far between this last few years as I have focused my efforts on my family.  So I now spent my time pursuing my own personal photography and sharing what I learn and discover with others.  Lately I have spent time exploring the capabilities of the iPhone and the apps available for it. This has given me new possibilities with my own photographic art.

I also have taken to exploring the city which I grew up when the family is busy with school and other activities.  Although I have lived here for 49 years, there are many areas that I have never visited.  Today I parked at the end of 14th street and walked across the Glenmore Dam for the first time.  As I walked I was looking for interesting photographic opportunities.  I walked down the stairs at the far end and found myself at the base of the dam.

The first image was taken using the Hipstamatic app which I have been exploring lately.  I knew I wanted to use the BlackKeys B&W film and wanted to see what the Salvador 64 lens would give me.  Now no matter how much you research there is something to be said for random chance.  This is what this particular lens does as it gives a double exposure but randomly chooses the positioning of the second exposure.  So in some ways I got lucky for my Instagram 366 photo for today as the randomness gave me an image I really enjoyed.  I love the reflection that was created and the way the reverse image complimented the main.

The following images were taken using the iPhones native camera and then post processed using snapseed getting results that I knew I could achieve.  I wanted to do some more Black and White photo's and found the conversion in snapseed gave the look I wanted for each of them.

I kept the color for the last two images as these were shot on the top of the dam and as the sun had created some wonderful reflections of the building and the pipeline.  I used the drama app to enhance the silver look on both.

The value of "Likes"

We all share photo's with the hope that our peers will "Like" them and perhaps share them.  So if you post to Instagram, Tadaa, Streamzoo or any other site where viewers can rate or "Like" do you get discouraged when your numbers are low?  I have been researching this for the last few days using my various photo sharing sites and have drawn the following conclusions.

First, no mater who you are the average likes to followers is between 2% and 6%.  I checked some of the more well photographers compared to the average person and found that this number was true for each for most sites.  The only difference was that the well known had over 100,000 followers but averaged about 6,000 likes on their posts.  The average person has around 500 followers and averages about 25 likes.  In both cases about 5%.

Between Instagram, Tadaa and Streamzoo, Tadaa seems to buck this trend with the likes running closer to 25% based on the number of followers.  This could be due to the fact that this community is more active in users sharing photo's they liked with their followers and that these photo;s show up in your stream.  With Streamzoo you have to visit a separate section to see photo's that people who you follow gave a shoutout to.  Instagram offers no way to share or shoutout photo's you or those you follow deem worthy.

So are likes important?  In the long run, probably not as these sites do not drive traffic to your personal web-site which is where you want people to go to.  They do give you an idea of who is viewing your work and it is always good for the self-esteem when you do get them.  I know that it always gives me a boost when photographers I respect like one of my photo's.

Below is my Instagram 366 photo for today which I shared on all three of the above sites. True to form I have received 15 likes on Instagram (where I have 509 followers), 18 likes on Tadaa (201 followers) and 8 likes on Streamzoo (355 followers) after posting it 2 hours earlier..  I found this very fascinating and wonder why someone would choose to follow a particular photographer and then never "like" their work.  Just a little food for thought and perhaps another blog entry.

The boys love to be part of my photo of the day.

I arrived at the boy's school today and met Luke by the front door.  He asked me if I had taken my photo of the day.  I said I had not and he told me to come to the back of the school as there was a puddle left by yesterday's rain that was beautiful.  I went to the back and he pointed to the puddle and so I asked him what was beautiful and what I should take the photo of.  He said the leaf in the water would make for a nice photo.  So I took a couple of shot's and showed him then we left to go home.

Later when I was looking at the quick snap I made I saw a simple beauty in this leaf.  I worked a little bit on the crop and added some vintage filter to give me this final result.  It is so nice to see that through this project that I have my boy's now interested in photography and observing the world around them more closely.

A night at the library.

Last spring I was approached by the Calgary Public Library to give some lectures about photography.  SO I developed two sessions for them. "Phone Camera Artistry" and "Black and White Photography - from Traditional to Digital".  Tonight I gave the last lecture on B and W photography to a nice sized group at the Alexander Calhoun Library.  It was a lot of fun and I hope they will ask me to offer the presentation again in the new year.

On my way out of the library as I loaded up my equipment I took notice of a variety of lighting around the facility. Now I have not attempted to many night shots with the iPhone but I saw a variety of possibilities around me.  I shot the following series of the lights along the stairwell (today's Instagram 366 photo) as well as the lights along the pathway.

Below is a photo of the room after I set up for my lecture and before anyone arrived. I brought a selection of my B and W photographs I have taken over the years, my 8x10 camera and my sunlight machine so I could demonstrate how a palladium print is done. I thank the Calgary Public Library for giving me this opportunity to speak about one of my passions. I also look forward to my final two lectures on Camera Phone Artistry, the first this Saturday October 20 at the Memorial Park Library at 2:00 pm and the second on November 29 at the Thorn-hill Library at 7:00 pm.

I wrap up today's blog with a photo of Luke and his Rainbow Afro circus wig.  He has always said he wanted curly hair like his brothers, today he got it.  Photo post processed with Snapseed, Smoosh and RealCamera+.

Day 655 and counting.

It was another beautiful day here in Calgary, especially for the middle of October.  As I walked home from the boy's school I was looking at the school zone sign and liked how the yellow looked against the clear blue sky.  I got down low to eliminate some trees in the background an took the shot with the iPhone.

Today though I decided to just use Instagram for the post processing as I knew the Kelvin filter would give a look that I wanted.  I think it worked well.

A bloom a day.

I purchased an Hibiscus plant this summer and we have been blessed with a bloom each day.  Even as the weather changes outside this plant flowers and brings a sweet scent to our living room.  Now one of the reasons I do not like to cut or pick flowers to photograph is that once you do they don't live much longer. Even if you stick them in a vase they have a limit lifespan.  However each Hibiscus bloom lasts just one day and then falls away, so I was not to worried when I decided to cut this one of and use it for today's subject.

After clipping it from the plant I took it to the studio where I placed it on a black piece of plexiglass and place a black card behind it.  I then used my Alien Bee with a small Chimera softbox to the side and slightly behind as my light source.  I took a number of photo's (both with the iPhone and the Canon 7D) and chose the top image for my Instagram 366 photo for today.  These two are from the iPhone and post processed with both Snapseed and iPhoto.  I like the graphic design elements of both.

Now I have chosen not to share my favorite taken with my 7D as I had what I think was a terrific capture and I am planning to enter it in the HIPA awards competition ( http://www.hipa.ae ). This is the second year of the competition and the synonym is short for the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photo Awards.  My good friend, Martin Graham Dunn, is active with this award and it is open to photographer's from all over the world.  This years main theme is "The Beauty of Light" as well as Black and White, Emirates and General.  The prizes are outstanding and prize money is $389,000.  After seeing the results I had from tonight's shoot I am happy with the results from the 7D and am planning to use one of the shots as a submission for this competition.  I hope you will check it out as well.

Down to the wire.

Today was one very busy Saturday.  I had a lecture at the Shaganappi Library on Black & White  photography and then taught my wedding photography class at SAIT in the afternoon.  Both sessions went great and I think all the participants learned and enjoyed.  I then rushed home to get Cool ready for a performance by his Cantare Choir group for an anniversary banquet.  Once I got home for the evening I needed to take a rest and then around 11:30 I realized I still had to create an image for today.

Now I have a collection of cameras and other photographic Knickknacks.  These are two from my collection.  The yellow guy is the Club Penguin photographer and was my Christmas gift from Luke last year.  The other is the Quantas koala which I received on a flight to Australia back in 1989.  I positioned them with one of my vintage cameras behind and shot this photo.  A little post processing in Snapseed and I got what I think is a nice photo.