Breaking Out The Creative Juices

June and I have been in a dry spell where we didn't get out to photograph much at all beyond what can be found in our yard.  Last night we tossed the cameras and tripods in the car and headed to the mountains to see what we could find to photograph around sunset.  It was a great evening where the juices started to flow again.

When we drove through Johnson City and the way to Unicoi the temperature was 88 degrees.  By the time we reached Beauty Spot on Unaka Mountain, the temps had dropped to 73!  Much nicer!!  When we arrived we discovered more cars than I had ever seen up there.  There were many people enjoying the cool mountain air and spectacular mountain views.  Most appeared to be college-age and I think we were the oldest by about 30+ years.  No worries.  We picked our spot and waited for the show to begin.

June's Sunset Photo

When we think about sunsets we hope for a beautiful scene like June's photo above.  I'm proud of her photo.  It was the first one I posted after getting home around 10:30.  But there are many ways to photograph a sunset.

One way to change it up is to shoot wider.

Wide-angle 14mm (21mm full-frame equivalent)

Maybe use that same wide-angle lens to emphasize the foreground while including the sunset in the background.

Maybe swapping out the lens for a telephoto zoom to include just part of the sunset.

46mm (69mm)

66mm (100mm)

104mm (156mm)

By swapping to a longer telephoto zoom lens I can zoom in on just parts of the sunset.

177mm (266mm)

400mm (600mm)

400mm (600mm)

Too often we shoot from the same spot using the same lens and the same focal length.  Don't let this habit squash your creativity. These photos are just an example of how changing the lens and focal length can result in vastly different photos of the same subject. 

Breaking the Macro Habit

When I think about making photos of flowers a Macro lens usually is what I have in mind.  A Macro

Trillium photo taken with an 80mm Macro lens

is designed to make very sharp photos while focusing up close.  When using a Macro lens and the camera on a tripod, a photographer can make some awesome photos of flowers.

Using a Macro lens for flowers might just be a habit to break.  Today I started with my 80mm Fuji Macro and added an extension tube that allowed me to be able to focus even closer.  After wandering around the yard for a while I decided to put the Macro up and get my favorite fun little lens - the Fuji 35mm f/2. 

The 35mm focal length is equivalent to a 53mm on a full-frame camera.  That means, the 35mm is my "normal lens". A scene viewed through a normal lens appears to have the same perspective as the way your eye sees it.  This is a very small lens, making it fun to carry around.  It also has a minimal focal distance of less than 14 inches.  It has a bigger depth of field, making it easier to get sharp photos without a tripod. It's a fun way to break the mold and try something new.

Here are some photos I took today using that normal lens.  They are all hand-held.  Some are cropped.  All were using the Fuji Velvia film simulation which gives them vibrant colors.

f/2.8

 The dogwood photo includes some of the background, making the pink flowers stand out.

f/3.6

f/2.8

Crop of the previous photo

f/2.8

The point of this illustration is to say we shouldn't let our photographic gear constrain our creativity.  Use a wild angle for a close-up, use a big zoom for a landscape, try using a Macro lens for portraits.  Let's use our "safer at home" time to be creative.

Use Limitations To Unleash Your Creativity

Over the years I have gathered quite a collection of cameras and lenses.  So much so that when June decided to try her hand with an interchangeable lens camera I was able to give her a mirrorless camera and three lenses.  This is my backup camera and three lenses that I no longer use but never got around to selling.  Not counting the three lenses I gave June, I have six lenses covering focal lengths from 12mm to 400mm (18-600mm in full-frame terms).  Because I use a cropped sensor mirrorless camera system I can easily carry all those lenses in a single backpack.  I pretty much have unlimited flexibility with which to create my photos.  I found this flexibility was putting me into a creative rut. I was relying on my collection of lenses to come up with a good composition. 

Don't misunderstand -- each of those lenses serves a different purpose, from fast wide 12mm lens for night sky photos to the 100-400mm zoom for wildlife photography.  Sometimes I would use a lens that is typically not used for a given style of photography, such as using the 100-400mm zoom for landscapes, but most of the time I was relying on a zoom lens to compose the photo without making other efforts to be creative.

Recently we took a couple trips to Knoxville Tennessee, Michigan, and Indiana.  For a couple outings on those trips, I took only one lens - a 35mm f/2 prime (no zooming) lens for my Fuji XT-3 mirrorless camera.    I recently added this lens to my collection because the 35mm focal length is close what our eyes see (normal lens) and the wide f/2 maximum aperture allows me to shoot in low light conditions and to blur the background in my photos.  It's a tiny little lightweight lens on a small mirrorless camera that doesn't attract much attention or weigh much at all.  I can carry it all day long and no one pays much attention to the little camera and lens.

f/2 at 1/50 sec, ISO 800

By limiting myself to a single focal length I had to compensate by moving around to get a good composition.  The wide f/2 aperture allowed me to shoot in dark places I couldn't with other lenses, such as the bar, but at the same time, I had to think about creatively using the depth of field.

f/4, 1/1600 sec, ISO 4000

f/2, 1/10 sec, ISO 400

I found myself having to look around and find new perspectives.  While waiting outside a gift shop, I found a whirlygig that had some cool shapes.  I could use the f/2 aperture to blur out any distracting elements in the background.  I focused on water dripping from a pipe.  I found a single yellow petal from a Sunflower in a bed of red leaves (I didn't put it there, this time.)

f 5.6, 1/90 sec, ISO 320

f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 200

Sometimes the 35mm focal length worked out, such as the bridge photo.  Other times I had to work to create a pleasing composition because of physical barriers that kept me from being able to stand where I wanted, such as the boat and lily pad flower and the red/orange flowers where I had to cut off the left petal.

f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO 200

f/16, 1/120 sec, ISO 640

I found that I enjoyed my single-lens outings and found some creative photos that I might have missed if I had relied on my arsenal of lenses.  My new photos don't look like the thousands I have already taken.  By restricting one area, I have opened up my creativity and made photography fun.

Give this a try.  You don't have to restrict yourself to a single fixed focal length lens.  Restrict yourself in other ways -- only make photos that contain a specific color.  Only do portrait orientation photos.  Limit yourself to a specific aperture or shutter speed setting.  You might find you have more fun while learning to be more creative.

Here are a few more photos from those single-lens days.

f/5.6, 1/105 sec, ISO 400

f/5, 1/150 sec, ISO 200

f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO 160

f/2, 1/50 sec, ISO 1000

f/4, 1/45 sec, ISO 160

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

According to The Phrase Finder, this proverbial expression dates from the early 19th century.

An early version comes in a piece by the English writer Eustace Budgell in the newspaper The Spectator No. 605, October 1714:

"Imitation is a kind of artless Flattery."

The version of this proverb we know best was given by Charles Caleb Colton, in Lacon: or, Many things in few words, 1820:

"Imitation is the sincerest of flattery."

As photographers, we all imitate each other to some degree. We will see a photograph that we like in a magazine or online, and want to know where and how it was taken. When we are out shooting with each other and see a photo on the back of another's camera, many of us will step right up to the same spot and try to imitate the photo.   

The photo below is a good example. Back in August 2016, I was shooting with some good friends at Exchange Place in Kingsport.  I walked into the blacksmith shop to find my friend and talented photographer Jim Haverstock making a still life photo of miscellaneous objects found in the shop.

I really like the photo he was making and being a poor still life photographer I wanted to copy his creativity. I don't think our photos are exactly the same, but I surely took advantage of his talent when making mine.

I made the photo below before that same long weekend of shooting with friends. After I showed the photo several of the others wanted to know where I took it and could we go there with our cameras. Their photographers were not the same as mine but I was flattered by their imitation.  

In school, we are taught that copying from others is not a good way to learn and is not allowed.  In photography, watching and copying others is a great way to learn. When we shoot alone, our creativity is limited by our own experiences.We can make the best photos and improve the most when we are out shooting with others.

The best way to find other photographers to shoot with is to join a local camera club. There are several in our area:

• Eastman Camera Club in Kingsport TN
• Twin City Photo Club in Bristol TN/VA
• Highlands Camera Club in Abingdon VA
• Johnson City Senior Center Next Steps Photo Club

Colby McLemore in Knoxville maintains a good list of regional clubs.

https://www.colbysphotography.com/photography-camera-clubs-groups/

Find a group, join up, then copy each other. You will expand your creativity and improve your photography.

When Nature Doesn't Provide, Get Creative

As an outdoor / landscape photographer, I'm at the mercy of nature.   The wind, light, clouds and other conditions, can make really nice photographs.   More often than not, the conditions are not all that conducive to making good photographs.  Such was the case this morning at Warriors Path State Park.

I had gone there to scope out photography opportunities for a photography class I'm teaching.   My students will meet me there Saturday morning and I want to have some idea if I should take them left or right in search of photographs.  I wandered around for a while not finding much to capture my attention.  At one point I found this branch sticking out of the surface of the lake.  I tried to create something in the minimalist style and came up with this.

Not much there to get excited about.   Then I recalled throwing pebbles into the water to create ripples, making a scene possibly a little more interesting.   Lucky for me the lake shore was littered with round rocks perfect for tossing in the lake.   The results weren't much better.  Then I tossed a bigger rock in the lake and the splash caught my eye.

What if I zoomed in and captured the water splashing up?  The sunlight was coming from the side, making the splash brighter than the reflections in the water and highlighting the texture of the water drops in mid-air without being too bright. It was only me doing the tossing and shooting, but I had plenty of time and rocks.   I would toss a rock, put my camera up to my eye, guess where the rock would hit the surface and try to time the shot just right.  Let's just say I played the law of averages - take enough photos that one or two may work out.   People out for their morning walk at the park probably shook their head and the crazy guy with the camera down on the lake shore.

Here are the results of my creative rock tossing.

Bass jumping with mouth open

Jumping Leaf

Water Fountain

Man Looking Over A Wall

See The Face?

All were taken at 200mm, f/4.5, ISO 400 - 800.   Shutter speeds varied between 1/250 and 1/800.

In the end, I had fun and created some fun scenes to photograph.   Don't let conditions keep you from shooting.   Go out and see what you can find and maybe even create some really cool conditions for photography.

Why I like some of my photos more than others

June and I got to spend 3+ days with some great photographers who are even nicer people last weekend at the Shaker Villiage near Harrodsburg, KY.   The reason for this gathering of friends was to spend time together and of course take lots of photos.   Personally I came home with over 900.   Hey that's only about 300 a day, which is not that much considering.

I'll be working through those photos over the next few weeks.  I've already shared a few on facebook.  I want to share four more here today.

The Hallway

Brooms

Spiral Staircase

Lemons

While I'm happy with all four, I like two better than the other two, and it's not because they are better photos.   I used none of my personal creativity on the last two.  They are shots everyone in the group took and are copies of photos taken by dozens if not hundreds of photographers before me.  For the Spiral Staircase photo we took turns going up the two floors and shooting down.  We all pretty much made the same photos.  If placed side by side I don't know if I could tell mine from the next guys.  They are that similar.   The Lemons photo was an attempt to copy a beautiful photo made by Bill Fortney years ago.  We have all made it and added it to our portfolio.   These are not bad photos. Taking these help me to learn what goes into making a good photo.  I'm glad I took them and can share them with others. They are just not my photos.  To me this feels like the photography equivalent of paint by numbers.  There is none of my personal creativity involved.

The first two I made all on my own.  No one said stand here and make this shot.   As far as I know I may be the only one to get these shots this past weekend.   Photographically they are not as good as the Spiral Staircase or Lemons photos, but they are mine and that's why I like them better.   I feel much the same way about iconic landscapes.   Most everyone who goes to Zion National Park stands on the same bridge and takes the same afternoon photo of The Watchman and the Virgin River.  Go ahead and google it and you'll see what I mean.   

There's nothing wrong with taking the iconic shots or attempting to emulate great photographers like Bill Fortney.   In the end I take photos because I enjoy the creative process and that creativity is what makes my photos something I treasure.  My advise is to take those iconic shots, learn from them, enjoy them, but make sure you make your own creative photos.  Those may be your favorites!