Today’s Post by Joe Farace
I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same—Martha Graham
At the workshops and PhotoWalks where I teach, the number one question I hear from attendees is about how to obtain proper exposure. You would think that with all the automation that’s built into today’s sophisticated cameras that would be the last question they would ask but instead it’s the first.
How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?
I think that the best thing you can do to increase your skills in obtaining what, for you, is the best exposure is practice. I think the same suggestion holds true for improving your overall photography skills.
Seven-time Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax still practices his instrument four hours a day and I think that a few of his tips about practicing could easily apply to photographers as well, so here they are:
Listen to great performances. If you don’t already have a favorite photographer you should have, at least, one. Pick up a few books about the history of photography at the library and see which photographer’s images speak to you—and some will, I promise. Then select other books by or about that photographer, especially ones showing how their style may have evolved over time. Don’t copy their work but be inspired by it. Many times, I’ll post images here or on Instagram (follow me at @joefarace) that are homages to other photographer’s style. Maybe some of them will appeal to you.
Get a partner. While I tend to be a lone wolf and not just about photography, shooting with a friend, especially one who uses the same kind of gear, can help you learn and improve. You can swap lenses, maybe cameras and watch how each other works. How much you learn will surprise you plus it can be fun. Shooting infrared with my friend Barry Staver is a treat and inspiration just to watch how this amazing photographer works is both instructional and inspirational.
How I made this photo: It was shot while my friend, Peter K. Burian, and I were walking out of dinner at the Ponce Yacht Club in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was made at night around 9:30 PM as a test of Olympus cameras well-known IBIS system. There were a stack of crates nearby that I used to steady my hand and camera for this long hand-held exposure. The camera used was an Olympus E-3 Four-thirds system DSLR and Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 lens (at 27mm.) Exposure was 0.4 sec and f/3.5 and ISO 2000, with noise somewhat mitigated by the Dfine plug-in.
Try another instrument. Mr. Ax also likes to play timpani, while I will reluctantly drag out my Canon EOS digital cameras from time to time, if only to appreciate my Micro Four-third gear more, it also to lets me see it’s limitations, no matter how much I love the smaller system. I also occasionally shoot film cameras including my Leica M6 TTL and revel in the same experience of photography I had when I started out oh-so-many years ago. If you’ve been following my recent posts, you know that I plan to do more film shooting—a lot more—in the future.
Experiment. To me that’s where my interest in infrared photography comes in. Last year in prime infrared season, my friend Barry Staver, I went to McCabe Meadows to shoot the Panasonic Lumix GX1 that was converted to infrared using LifePixel’s HyperColor filter. It was after that experience when I began to experience the avalanche of colors that LifePixel shows on their website and I can’t wait to do more with this camera/filter combination this coming IR season.
Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s out-of-print but new copies or used copies are available from Amazon, as I write this.