shooting in the comfort zone...
26/06/09 09:27
many people who are self described photography hobbyists ... don’t have the technical training or background that many photographers do but they do share a similar passion. it is with this in mind that i write this blog today. its funny because i frequently get asked about my equipment but i rarely get asked about some of my methods. by this i mean what type of shooter am i?? and trust me, all pro photographers develop crutches and habits that put them into their own "comfort zone”.
i was trained on a method referred to as “the zone system”. i won’t go into that system now but it’s a great system that one of my early inspirations, Ansel Adams, developed. however, one of the presumptions that i find challenging when trying to implement my technical training with my everyday shooting is that i should have time to set up my shots using something like the zone system! when you tend to shoot action and animals - time is usually not on your side! and conditions are always changing. so back to what i am going to call shooting with the “comfort zone”!
if you are a hobbyist or just starting out with digital photography and you are self teaching; then i urge you to think about developing a “comfort zone”. this will help you to study, experiment, analyze, and learn from your shots while hopefully producing some great images. first you need to consider what type of images you mostly shoot. are you an action shooter, do you like shooting architecture, or animals, or whatever it is determine your predominant subject interest. start there and find a comfort zone to settle into and experiment with. (i feel the need to post a disclaimer: “i am not saying that you should always shoot here. i am saying this is a good learning exercise”)
so let me give you an example. i shoot events and horses. horses are not inanimate objects, they are always moving. the events that i shoot involve action and motion. so herein lies my big challenge ... obtaining crisp sharp images of subjects that are always in motion. if i can’t get a crisp and sharp image then i got nothin! so because clarity is a huge issue for my moving subjects i choose to make all of my decisions revolving around a very high shutter speed. and so there begins my “comfort zone”. I won’t even consider shooting a horse event at with a shutter speed lower than about 600 to 800. if the light conditions pose a challenge for pushing my shutter speed at this range, well then i will compromise something else within my image and hope that its something that i can address in the post production process - like film speed (ISO in digital world).
along with a high shutter speed i also find it critical that i shoot with a ‘continuous high’ setting. my camera rips off 5 frames per second. i use all 5 of those frames that i can when i need to shoot a horse and rider going over a jump. why? because, i not only have to catch my jumper in a crisp sharp image, but i am also looking at a few other critical elements that i want in my image. for instance, is my rider’s head up, can i see the horse’s eyes? and i want the horse’s chest up heading for the sky, i want to see his feet rolled under him as he peaks that jump, and so on. so with all of these things going on in my head, can you see why i suggest you find a “comfort zone” to shoot in? when i shoot this way it allows me the freedom to focus on the composition more freely. which is something that is very important to me. i am a perfectionist when it comes to composition and i have my own style that sets me apart from other photographers.
so there are two things that i have just outlined as my priorities for shooting in the comfort zone. i start with those 2 settings and from there everything else flows.
in short - here is a brief look at shooting in the “comfort zone”
* find a predominant subject matter that you like to shoot - and shoot a lot of that type of image
* find what settings typically work for shooting that image
* once you have chosen some settings that make you feel comfortable - put these into a priority list
* always start at the top of the priority list with your shooting decisions (as an example: 1. shutter speed, 2. iso, 3. exposure metering ... and so on
* then adjust shooting decisions from there - every other setting should be much easier to identify once you have chosen your critical settings (those one or two that are at the top of your priority list) for a given type of shot
I do hope that you will consider experimenting with this type of shooting method. its not scientific, nor is it a method that is taught to us in photography school, it is merely something that i personally came up with once i switched to digital and realized that i didn’t have the “zone system” to utilize (i have since learned that there are theories published on how to implement the zone system in digital photography, but i haven’t yet experimented with that concept).
so good luck with that and i will hope to write more on this topic as i give it more thought!
i was trained on a method referred to as “the zone system”. i won’t go into that system now but it’s a great system that one of my early inspirations, Ansel Adams, developed. however, one of the presumptions that i find challenging when trying to implement my technical training with my everyday shooting is that i should have time to set up my shots using something like the zone system! when you tend to shoot action and animals - time is usually not on your side! and conditions are always changing. so back to what i am going to call shooting with the “comfort zone”!
if you are a hobbyist or just starting out with digital photography and you are self teaching; then i urge you to think about developing a “comfort zone”. this will help you to study, experiment, analyze, and learn from your shots while hopefully producing some great images. first you need to consider what type of images you mostly shoot. are you an action shooter, do you like shooting architecture, or animals, or whatever it is determine your predominant subject interest. start there and find a comfort zone to settle into and experiment with. (i feel the need to post a disclaimer: “i am not saying that you should always shoot here. i am saying this is a good learning exercise”)
so let me give you an example. i shoot events and horses. horses are not inanimate objects, they are always moving. the events that i shoot involve action and motion. so herein lies my big challenge ... obtaining crisp sharp images of subjects that are always in motion. if i can’t get a crisp and sharp image then i got nothin! so because clarity is a huge issue for my moving subjects i choose to make all of my decisions revolving around a very high shutter speed. and so there begins my “comfort zone”. I won’t even consider shooting a horse event at with a shutter speed lower than about 600 to 800. if the light conditions pose a challenge for pushing my shutter speed at this range, well then i will compromise something else within my image and hope that its something that i can address in the post production process - like film speed (ISO in digital world).
along with a high shutter speed i also find it critical that i shoot with a ‘continuous high’ setting. my camera rips off 5 frames per second. i use all 5 of those frames that i can when i need to shoot a horse and rider going over a jump. why? because, i not only have to catch my jumper in a crisp sharp image, but i am also looking at a few other critical elements that i want in my image. for instance, is my rider’s head up, can i see the horse’s eyes? and i want the horse’s chest up heading for the sky, i want to see his feet rolled under him as he peaks that jump, and so on. so with all of these things going on in my head, can you see why i suggest you find a “comfort zone” to shoot in? when i shoot this way it allows me the freedom to focus on the composition more freely. which is something that is very important to me. i am a perfectionist when it comes to composition and i have my own style that sets me apart from other photographers.
so there are two things that i have just outlined as my priorities for shooting in the comfort zone. i start with those 2 settings and from there everything else flows.
in short - here is a brief look at shooting in the “comfort zone”
* find a predominant subject matter that you like to shoot - and shoot a lot of that type of image
* find what settings typically work for shooting that image
* once you have chosen some settings that make you feel comfortable - put these into a priority list
* always start at the top of the priority list with your shooting decisions (as an example: 1. shutter speed, 2. iso, 3. exposure metering ... and so on
* then adjust shooting decisions from there - every other setting should be much easier to identify once you have chosen your critical settings (those one or two that are at the top of your priority list) for a given type of shot
I do hope that you will consider experimenting with this type of shooting method. its not scientific, nor is it a method that is taught to us in photography school, it is merely something that i personally came up with once i switched to digital and realized that i didn’t have the “zone system” to utilize (i have since learned that there are theories published on how to implement the zone system in digital photography, but i haven’t yet experimented with that concept).
so good luck with that and i will hope to write more on this topic as i give it more thought!
back on the blog...
17/06/09 10:05
♞ its been a little while since i blogged on my site. but since i decided to redesign my website the other day - i figured this is as good a time as any to start blogging again. i will likely be rethinking my strategy for the topics and whatnot that i will focus on and i do hope that you will find interest in my blog and the topics that i discuss. since my two passions in life are horses and photography, i will mostly discuss any topic that is relative to those two topics. i will look forward to hearing from all of you and hope that you enjoy reading my blog and viewing some of my work!