This Week’s LIDLIPS

13. Learning photography is just like becoming fluent in a foreign language.

14. Invest more in your education than you do in photo gear.

15. Understand that the meaning of “traditional photography” is relative and it always will be.

16. Photographers are like dogs – they come in many breeds, some are purebred, others are mongrels.

17. Learn to think of the viewfinder as optional.

Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School 13–17

13. Learning photography is just like becoming fluent in a foreign language. To become conversational in a foreign language takes a lot of time and persistence. At the beginning, you learn some words and a bit of simple grammar. You babble like an infant and struggle to write a simple sentences. Over time, you learn more words and more grammar. To be truly conversational, you study literature – both historic and contemporary. Then more vocabulary, more grammar, more speaking and writing, and more literature. You forget old lessons and have to learn them again. Then one day, you realize that you’ve actually been fluent for a while. You think and create in your new language without hesitation. Rather than translate word-by-word, you’re expressing without hesitation. The path to becoming a competent photographer is just the same.

14. Invest more in your education than you do in photo gear. I’ve taught workshops where students showed up with a bag of gear worth many times the value of all the gear I own. Yet, they hadn’t a clue about how to craft a memorable photo. At every photo trade show I attend, I am reminded that there are thousands of people who feed their families by trying to sell me solutions to problems that I don’t have. I’m also amazed that many shooters are far more fascinated with the specs on a new lens or flash than they are with learning about which books to read or seminars to attend. It’s far easier for an experienced photographer to make a great photograph with mediocre gear than it is for an inexperienced photographer with great gear.

15. Understand that the meaning of “traditional photography” is relative and it always will be. Two years ago, I was greatly amused when a panel at the Palm Springs Photo Festival largely defined “traditional photography” as being black-and-white, silver-based prints. My friend, Mac Holbert, was the lone defender of digital prints as being actual photographs. Back in my dark ages, during the early Reagan years, as a student at Brooks, we were told that someday we’d no longer need film. Given that this was several years before the introduction of the first Macintosh computer, the concept of filmless photography was truly revolutionary. A few years later, while working on my BFA in Tucson, I lurked around the newly-opened Center for Creative Photography and became adept at making cyanotypes, carbon prints and generally infatuated with 19th-century processes. At present, we are witnessing the birth of a generation of photographers who will never shoot film and will likely see any type of paper-based prints as an alternative process. I’m not sure “traditional photography” has ever existed.

16. Photographers are like dogs – they come in many breeds, some are purebred, others are mongrels. Is there a right or best way to be a photographer? I think not. I am a pictorialist – a photographer who creates images rather than takes them. I’ve learned to shape light and do so freely whenever I need to. I won’t hesitate to change or fix something in Photoshop if need be (although I much prefer to get it right at the time of capture). Other shooters are documentarians. They strive to capture images with minimal influence on the event being photographed and process them in a way that does not alter the file. When I create photographs solely as a personal expression, I am working as an artist. When I create photographs to meet the needs of others, I am a businessman. Some photographers shoot only food or fashion or sports. Other photographers shoot anything they can. None of these is right or wrong, better or worse.

17. Learn to think of the viewfinder as optional. If you don’t regularly make photographs without looking through the viewfinder, start today. Learn how your lens sees without looking. Become more spontaneous. Hold your camera up over your head – like a paparazzi. Shoot from the hip (literally). Go for the worm’s-eye view. Stop chimping the LCD after each shot. Try this. Cover the viewfinder and LCD with tape — except where the histogram shows (so you can make good exposure decisions). Then shoot for a day or a week without ever looking through the lens. I’m sure you will come up with many great images that show you the world in a way you haven’t seen before.

Previous Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School

LIDLIPS 1–12.

What is the nature of creativity? Where does it comes from? Where does it go?

In PixSylated’s Best Web Video for February, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of  Eat, Pray, Love which unexpectedly became a runaway international bestseller) talks about the creative genius and life after the “creation of her best work, ever.” Gilbert’s insights and anecdotes are drawn from around the globe and throughout history. She shares stories of her creative journey along with those of other creatives.

I know that when I’m at my most creative, I’m not fully in charge. Apparently I’m not alone in that thought.

You Must Meet TED – Ideas worth spreading

TED, the source of Gilbert’s video, is a treasure trove of great ideas and fantastic video. Forget about cruising YouTube for laughs. Do something constructive while you practice yours skills as a professional procrastinator – watch TED.

from TED.com

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free.  More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week.

TED has published over 390 talks with more being released each week. So, if you watch one each day, you’ll need well over a year to watch them all. You can search TED’s talks by theme here and by release date here. Better yet, you can join millions of people around the globe with a free TED membership.

Need something a bit closer to the world of photography? Check out David Griffin’s talk at TED2008. Griffin is the Director of Photography at National Geographic. He spoke on the power of photography as a means to connect our world.

Many thanks to Scott Kelby who courageously let me drive his blog today. Coming up with something insightful for the legions of readers who follow Scott’s Photoshop Insider tapped all of my blog-juice over the past few weeks (hence the dearth of posts on PixSylated).

The good news is that, once I found my momentum, I came up with way more material than any rational person could stomach in one sitting. So a new feature has been born on PixSylated. Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School will now pop up on Wednesdays. Expect them to be short philosophical rambles that bounce across the world of photography.

Here are the topics for the first dozen that I posted over on Scott’s blog:

1. If you can’t be remarkable, be memorable.

2. You are NOT defined by your photo gear or your computer’s operating system.

3. Powerful photographs touch people at a depth they don’t anticipate.

4. You have to let your images go out into the world without you.

5. Cross-pollinate with photographers and other creatives.

6. Photography slices time. Photography gathers time.

7. Learning to create photographs that “look” like your world should be only a milestone – not the destination.

8. “Coopetition” is a new business model that’s here to stay.

9. Wars have been fought to protect your copyrights.

10. Your photographs have value. Don’t give them away.

11. Your photographs have value. Give them away.

12. Resist the temptation to become a pro photographer.

Read the complete article here on Scott’s Photoshop Insider.

Thanks again Scott for the opportunity. It is truly an honor. Thanks also to Brad Moore — the man behind the green curtain when it comes to ‘Guest Blogger Wednesdays’.

Fate has a funny way of reminding me that someday I will have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up (right now, I’m thinking that I want to be a sage). It was impossible for me to ignore the coincidence that the winner of this month’s Best Web Video was sent to me on the day after I stepped just within two years of qualifying for membership in AARP.

It only took 1:44 for me to realize that I’d found January’s Best Web Video winner. ‘The Lost Generation’ was created by Jonathan Reed (a twenty-something film studies major at Georgia State University). It won second place in the AARP U@50 video competition last year – in which filmmakers under 30 were to describe their life at 50 (the age when you’re eligable for membership in AARP). I checked out the other entries – none are worth even mentioning. ‘The Lost Generation’ is so creative… I had to play it twice just to be sure I understood what was happening. And then I just kept playing it… Enjoy.

Our world needs creatives and the new ideas they create. Creatives live well beyond the realms of art, music and design. I’m convinced that the greatest thoughts in science, medicine, economics and so on are sparked by bursts of creativity. Many discoveries are made through accidents. For me, the creative part is when someone recognizes the value of the unexpected result. 

So, this year I give thanks for creativity. Whether experienced as small flashes in an otherwise mundane job or lived as a lifestyle, the products of creativity are essential for our future.

Witness The Birth Of A New PixSylated Tradition… The Monthly Best Web Video

A month ago, I wrote about how my spirits were lifted from the abyss of the October meltdown by a web video of a guy named Matt who danced his jig with people from around the world. If you’ve not seen it yet, definitely click here.

For Thanksgiving, I’m offering this video up as a testament to the power of thinking beyond the boundaries of the normal. As a photographer, I have never seen anything like this. It’s live-action, graffiti animation. The images were not created in post-production. They were painted and photographed frame by frame. No powerful message. Just raw creativity. Enjoy!

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

You can learn more about the artist and find links to download hi-res versions of MUTO on BluBlu.org. If you really dig it, click on his link to make a donation. Hey, just go there. It’s an incredibly creative website.

Thanks to Ed Z, who commented on my article about RadioPoppers, I came upon the video in Ed’s blog – which is worth checking out.

In the midst of all this, the following came to me quite innocently. Amy received the link in an email. Call me tired. Call me emotional. The first time I watched it, goose bumps covered my arms. I’ve watched it a  dozen two dozen times since. Smiles break out whenever I show it to friends.

I’ve been lifted up and reinvigorated. Our world truly is an amazing place filled with people of all shapes, colors and sizes. I believe (again) that our current tribulations will pass. Thanks to a guy named Matt and his friends in 43 countries.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

If you have fast broadband, click here to watch a High-Def version.

Like many great movements, it started as a simple idea and spread like wildfire. Read the story here. If you want to download a legit personal copy for free, click here.

What’s this have to do with being a photographer? Nothing and everything at the same time.

Dove’s Evolution of Beauty video was released just over 18 months ago. By my tally of the various posts on YouTube, it has been downloaded by more than 10 million viewers. I’ve watched it at least 30 times. If you’ve not seen it, think of it as an hour-long documentary rolled up into 60 seconds. Click on the screen below to watch it now.

As a digital photographer, I’m captivated by the process that transforms the girl-next-door into a billboard princess. Make-up, hair, lights, camera, Photoshop. The video shows it all.

As a husband, brother of four sisters and father to three sons, I’m haunted by the same process. Does driving pixels in this manner, bring us closer together or dull our perception of what’s really meaningful?

Evolution was produced as part of Dove’s campaign for real beauty – which promotes self-esteem among young girls, older women and people of all ages in between.

The next time around Dove was less subtle with its social commentary (and they left out the Photoshop tutorial). Check out Onslaught.

As a testament to the power of the original Evolution, the piece has been produced in other languages, parodied ala ‘The Man Show’ and roasted ala ‘Saturday Night Live’. Onslaught had been used as canon fodder for environmental commentary and social commentary against Dove/Unilever. Without diminishing the impact of Evolution or Onslaught, I think all of this side-commentary is healthy and useful as well.

As for The Evolution Of Beauty… it all started with the magic of Photoshop and a large team of willing professionals. The photographer in me remains enchanted, the husband/sibling/parent haunted and the intellectual provoked. How about you?

It’s almost too hard to believe… the 500th ‘What The Duck’ comic strip is approaching. Second only to the invention of Photoshop, WTD is what keeps the photo world in a stable orbit. Aaron Johnson proves virtually every day that even the dark side of photography can be hilarious. Check in frequently or, better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed and get each new WTD strip delivered automatically.

Need a unique gift for a fellow photographer? You can help support WTD and drive a bit of humor back into the world of photography by purchasing WTD prints and merchandise. Signed and personalized strips are $20 each. The ‘Rule of Nerds’ is a soft-bound book with all of the strips from the first year. You’ll find loads of WTD caps, shirts and other gift items as well.

A daily dose of ‘What The Duck’ might not make your photography any better. It will, however, put a smile back on your face.

If you missed the circus last February, the release of The Moment It Clicks created quite a stir among armchair critics on Amazon. Many among the enlightened, myself included, praised Joe’s unique style of writing (part memoir, part photography how-to). Others were critical because Joe does not provide step-by-step recipes for each of the amazing shots in the book. Nevertheless, The Moment It Clicks climbed straight into the stratosphere on Amazon and topped out in the Top 10 one day — not for photography books, but for all the books sold on Amazon. It was right up there, sandwiched between two selections from Oprah’s Book Club. Mrs. Joe must have been so proud. Today, some three months later, sales remain strong with Top-5 ranking in photography books and Top-500 for all of Amazon.

I’ve had the good fortune to take Joe’s week-long Santa Fe workshop. I’ve had the greater fortune to work with him as a location assistant on the pre-launch Nikon D3 marketing shoot last summer (think beautiful babe and elephant in the middle of nowhere or acrobat hanging from a red silk banner against a mysterious sunset). I’ve sat through his presentations at Photoshop World in Vegas and at PhotoPlus in New York. You’d think I’d have had my fill of this guy, right? Not so. My copy of The Moment It Clicks arrived the day it was published. I read it cover to cover. Then I grabbed the highlighter and the sharpies for my second pass through. A third time anyone? Yep.

So how do you customize your McNally? You gotta pimp it. I’m talking a big coil binding, laminated covers and graffiti on nearly every page. The bennies are huge. Your McNally will take up more room on the bookshelf. It will be easier to get back to that nugget of wisdom you’re thinking of. You’ll stop fighting with the gutter when admiring the extra wide pix. Feeling envious? Read on.

How To Pimp Your McNally In Five Easy Steps.

Step 1 – Sand Off The Original Binding
Seriously, use a disk sander to remove the spine and all of the glue that holds the pages together. There will be no question about your enthusiasm for your McNally at this point.

You’ll end up with a pile of loose pages:

Step 2 – Laminate The Covers In Heavy Plastic
Head to the nearest office superstore and tell the clerk that you need the covers encapsulated in 10-mil plastic. I had my edges trimmed to an eighth of an inch.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of laminating the covers is that you can now use this masterwork of McNallyisms as a coaster for your morning cup of java.

Step 3 – Bind Her Up With A Nice Coil
Trust me on this. An inch-and-a-half plastic coil is the Cadillac you need for this project. Don’t skimp by using a skinny comb binding. The big, fat coil lets the pages flow smoothly. Your McNally will now lay perfectly flat on the table. Or, you can fold the cover back completely for a more comfortable read in bed. {If you’re totally OCD about pimping your McNally, check out the extra credit section at the end.}

Step 4 – Boldly Break Out An Assortment of Sharpie Markers and Neon Highlighters
One of the great joys of Joe’s book is that he does not spell it all out. You have to want to learn. You have to work at honing your craft. So round up the Sharpies and draw the lighting diagrams. Grab a highlighter and mark up the text you find most relevant. When you’re done, there should be graffiti on nearly every page. Now you have the McNally those whiner critics on Amazon wanted – but this way feels better because you earned it.

Step 5 – Use Adhesive Flags With Impunity
Joe in a tie? Those who know Joe know how unique a moment that is. Apparently, even the Metropolitan wanted to sit down next to Joe and get his picture taken. I’ve flagged a number of pages with these cutesy adhesive strips so that I can quickly return to moments like this.

Extra Credit Section – Print Out the Online Section As Double-Sided Spreads
There’s an extra chapter available online at Peachpit Press. You can download it as a PDF for free. {Hint: Look for the “Register Your Book” link.} Now those with OCD, like me, can proceed to the extra credit section. Use Photoshop to chop the PDF spreads into single page bites for printing. Then lay them out in InDesign and print them on two-sided paper. You can insert the entire chapter right at the end of the book {the pages will be just a bit smaller}. Hey… I said this was the extra credit section. It’s not meant to be easy.

Congratulations – You’ve Pimped Your McNally
When you’re done, you’ll have a McNally that’s about twice a thick as when you started. You’ll also have a McNally that’s a heck of a lot easier to refer back to on the fly when you need a quick reminder. Are you smiling now? I thought you would be. If not, we know who you are.

Need more McNally to feed your obsession?
Subscribe to Joe’s blog and you’ll get installments direct from the horse’s mouth.