Nature's Best :: Don Smith Photography
Exploring our incredible world one image at a time!
Do You Look Or Do You See? Start With 10,000 Hours Of Practice :: Part 1 of 3
Posted on May 31, 2014
The Crack, Zion National Park, Utah
Canon 5DMKIII, 70mm, f/16, 1.3 sec., ISO 100, Singh-Ray Thin LB Polarizer, Lexar Digital Film
NOTE: This is the first of a three-part series on the art of seeing creatively. We are all creative to one degree or another, but our vision can be developed similar to our craft skills. I don’t buy into the assumption that “you were born that way.” Like anything else in life, some people have an easier time than others in anything we do (including photography), but I don’t personally believe that I was born with any special gift. In fact, in my first serious college photo class, I got a C- and the instructor wrote that in no way should I ever consider doing photography for a living. Looking back, that was great motivation. I love proving the naysayers wrong. Hard work, lots of study, a strong self-belief and lots of love and support from my wife, Beri, was the way I improved my vision (I still work at it daily).
In Part 1, I take a look at the difference between craft and vision.
Over the course of my career, I have literally learned how to get past seeing literally (at least I hope I have). What I mean by this is that when most of us first pick up a camera, we tend to think that we have to re-create the world exactly as it appears to us. That’s fine and that is a good way to really get a handle on how to operate the camera and learn how it sees with its various lens focal lengths.
I call this the “craft” side of photography. That craft side also extends to learning how to correctly process an image (I shoot in RAW mode and process using both Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC). I can help you here also, please order my new video series: A Simplified Method to Workflow. You’ll receive 6.5 hours of training via 26 easy to follow videos. You’ll start processing like a pro within your first few lessons!
You really need to get proficient at both your camera and your post-processing; yet, craft is only half of the equation; vision (artistic vision) is the other half.
I’ve seen many of my workshop students over the years really struggle with the craft side. They are so consumed with trying to learn how to operate their camera(s) that making (notice I didn’t say taking) an image is almost an afterthought. Then, they are back at their computers trying to figure out how to properly process the image to match their vision – it can get very frustrating and confusing.
With all it takes to sort through all the craft side of the equation, it’s no wonder most photographers never really get to the vision side. I can tell you from experience, excellent craft skills without artistic vision will only equate boring images with no soul, but at least they’ll be crafted well. How do I know? Because I was one of those who thought if I just learned all the bells and whistles of my camera, then my pictures would be awesome. Well, looking back, they were awesomely boring. This was in the film days when I was shooting chrome.
Then Photoshop came along and suddenly we were the lab. Again, I dove in head-first trying to learn the beast. Still didn’t make me any better as a photographer, but at least I could process my images to my match my vision of a scene, so it was a step in the right direction.
I believe the craft of photography can be learned within a year, but it has to be practiced almost daily. In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell follows highly successful people from all walks of life and determines that the one common thread between all of these people is that they put in a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice before reaching their maximum potential. Have you put in your 10,000 hours on your photography?
You really need to get proficient at both; yet, craft is only half of the equation; vision (artistic vision) is the other half.
My first camera was purchased when I was 13-years-old (45 years ago – Yikes!). Over the past 35 years, I rarely skip a day when I am not either shooting, processing, teaching, reading or writing about photography. Some days go as long as 15-20 hours when I am teaching a workshop, shooting stock, or scouting for a new workshop.
Dawn at Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii
Canon 5DMKIII, 24mm, f/16, 6 minutes, ISO 100, Singh-Ray 10 stop mor-slo neutral density filter, Lexar Digital Media
I ran some quick math, and in the last 35 years, I’ve put in 102,200 hours on my craft. That’s not even counting the first 10 years that I owned cameras. My best guesstimate for that time frame was another 14,600 hours for a combined total of 116,800 hours and counting!
Along the way, I earned a BA in Photojournalism and English from San Jose State University, worked 23 years (and counting) for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, spent 26 years photographing MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL games, along with a host of other sports. I worked 7 years as a stringer for Sports Illustrated, and have been making landscape images since my teenage years.
I have also been teaching photo workshops for 10 years and have been shooting landscape imagery for Getty Images for the past 8 years. Eighty percent of my efforts these days are spent in the landscape realm.
All told, I have put in my 10,000 hours over 11 1/2 times (rapidly closing in on 12 times)!
I ran some quick math, and in the last 35 years, I’ve put in 102,200 hours on my craft. That’s not even counting the first 10 years that I owned cameras. My best guesstimate for that time frame was another 14,600 hours for a combined total of 116,800 hours and counting!
Here’s the bottom line. I can teach you the craft. I can teach you the aesthetic side of photography (the vision – though that takes much longer). What I cannot teach or help you with is PASSION. I can’t put in the time for you – only you can do that and everyone does it differently.
Passion is what stirs the drink so-to-speak. Passion is what will push you daily to achieve your first 10,000 hours. Perhaps many of you reading this have already surpassed that point – if so – congratulations. Now get going towards your second 10,000 hours.
The cool thing is that your journey will never end as long as your passion burns. I really can’t explain why, after all these years, I still have the passion. I do have some thoughts on that subject though and I will share them with you in Part 2 of this series.
One thing I do know is that when I was young, I focused (pardon the pun) far too much on technical and not enough on learning how to see. Once I started to put my attention towards that goal, my images began to change. No longer was every image a grand view of exactly what I was looking at; my images became more intimate like this image of Zion’s Crack that you see here.
I realize most of you reading this have a job or school and a ton of other responsibilities. Well, even though I do this for a living, I also have a family and the time constraints of running my business.
Yet, like you, I have to look at my calendar and carve out my shooting times. I’m fortunate in that half of my office time is spent outdoors scouting locations and waiting for the right light. My actual shooting time is probably less than you think. I work in very small windows of opportunity. Yet, I maximize the time I do spend in the field with adequate preparation. Then of course, Mother Nature can change on a moment’s notice. As a pro, I still have to come back with a good image.
So get after it. Don’t feel like lugging out your 35mm gear? How about taking a walk around your neighborhood with your smartphone (challenge yourself to find an image in your everyday surroundings). You will be amazed what this will do for your creativity.
Yes you can teach yourself how to see creatively. Come back for Part 2 and I will share more on how I accomplish this.
Free Video Sample :: Chapter 19 – Introduction to Luminosity Masks
2014 Photo Workshops – Complete List
2015 Photo Workshops
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Hardware Discounts
MindShift Gear rotation180° Panorama rotating day hiker backpack
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Get In Touch With Nature’s Rhythms
Posted on April 9, 2014
End of Day, Waianapanapa State Park, Hana Coast, Maui, Hawaii
Canon 5DMKIII, 24mm, f/22, 0.6 sec., 100 ISO, Singh-Ray Thin LB Polarizer, Singh-Ray 2 stop hard-edge GND
There’s something about the primeval force of water that continually draws me to make different interpretations of it. A couple weeks ago, I co-taught Gary Hart’s Maui workshop. We were told by some locals that Maui was experiencing its wettest winter in 10 years!
I knew water was going to be a central theme for the week (hey, drought or no drought, we were on an island)!
This first image took a while for me to spot. I love using slow shutter speeds as a wave recedes. The incoming water doesn’t seem to have the same appeal. But as the water crests, then pulls back, it creates a multitude of design patterns.
At first, I got into the water, but the depth of the water overwhelmed any natural elements in the resulting images.
I felt the image needed an anchor point, something my viewer’s eye could lock on to and anchor the streaking water.
Then I spotted this lava rock and the fun began. Using a wide angle lens allowed me to get close. I lowered my tripod and just played as the water washed over the rock, paused, then rushed back to the sea. A 2-Stop GND balanced the sunset-lit clouds with the dark foreground.
These are the rhythms of nature that I am writing about. As I mentioned, it took some looking and thinking about what was I trying to convey here. Thankfully I saw it – the designs and patterns the water was producing – emphasized by particular shutter speed.
Crashing Waves On Lava Boulders, Ke’anae, Hana Coast, Maui, Hawaii
Fuji-XT-1, 116mm (in 35mm: 174mm), f/4.2, 1/1000th sec., ISO 100, polarizer
With this next image, I need to state that I rarely photograph scenes during the middle of the day (the light is just too harsh and contrasty on a clear day for my taste), but just couldn’t resist capturing the crashing surf at Ke’anae while on a drive to Hana (of course we had to have lunch first at Aunty Sandy’s – awesome banana bread)!
During my edit, this image just jumped off of Photo Mechanic’s browser (Lightroom 5 can’t read the XT-1 files yet) as the form of the crashing wave incredibly mimicked the shape of the lava rocks. Background shadows allowed the wave prominence in the image and the beautiful turquoise of the foreground wave made it complete for me!
NOTE: Lightroom 5.4 has just been released and will now read Fuji XT-1 files! Click here for download.
BTW – as much as I love the new Fuji XT-1, the company claims it is the “fastest autofocus available.” It’s good, but my Canon 1DMKIV and 1DX are superior. Perhaps they are making the claim it is the best in its category but they don’t tell you that.
As for my emotional connection to this image of water, hopefully it is clear that I was captivated by the sheer power of the waves exploding against the lava. If the image doesn’t convey that, then I have failed.
Iao River, Iao Valley State Park, Maui, Hawaii
Canon 5DMKIII, 80mm, f/22, 2.5 seconds, 200 ISO, Singh-Ray LB Polarizer
My final image of water (though I made many more) is a simple tight scene of the Iao River captured with a slow shutter speed.
It took me a while to find the composition I wanted. I know I needed to keep the tiny leaf as an anchor point but it was more difficult than I thought getting the rocks to work in harmony.
When I am struggling visually, I try to reduce the elements in my frame to simple shapes and lines. Sometimes I squint to see the way the camera sees.
When I squinted for this image, the shapes of the mid-ground rocks stood out as a curving and reoriented C-line. The curve worked in harmony with the curves of the water and the foreground rock helping tie the frame together. When I looked even deeper, I saw another C-line formed by the rocks in the top-left of the frame.
My students ask me every now and then, “what shutter should I use to photograph water.” Unfortunately there is no magic bullet number. Capturing the speed of the water is a combination of: the water’s speed, focal length, your distance to the water, and shutter speed.
Thankfully we have LCD’s that can show instant results. For a scratchier look, I could have selected a faster shutter; while a slower shutter would have added to the water’s silky look.
To achieve my emotional connection with this scene, I chose a shutter that would allow for a flow somewhere in between scratchy and silk.
Free Video Sample :: Chapter 19 – Introduction to Luminosity Masks
2014 Photo Workshops – Complete List
2015 Photo Workshops
Software Discounts
Photomatix Pro 4.2 type in code at checkout: donsmithphotography 15% discount
Topaz Software type in code at checkout: SMITHPHOTO 10% discount
Helicon Focus click on link to receive 15% discount
Hardware Discounts
MindShift Gear rotation180° Panorama rotating day hiker backpack
Exploring Visual Concepts – Flow
Posted on November 18, 2011
Canon 1DsMKIII, 24-70mmL @ f/16, 3.5-second timed shutter, 100 ISO, Singh-Ray Vari ND Duo, Lexar Digital Media.
Flow as a concept is simply a means of allowing the viewer’s eye to move through the frame. In Part 4 of this series, I discussed relationships between elements and the importance of allowing for pathways to move the eye through the scene. When I talk of flow, I relate more to the concept of visual movement, either through the careful placement of elements in our frame or by allowing for literal movement such as in this scene of the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean. Flow can transcend an image from a literal capture to an artistic interpretation. Instead of simply capturing a series of waves and a setting sun, I opted to drag my shutter (3.5 seconds) with the help of an 8-stop neutral density filter to allow for the waves to soften as if a painter applied brush strokes to a canvas. In that amount of time, the sun held relatively still and the scene transcended for literal to interpretive. The final image relayed more of my feeling about what I was photographing rather than simply capturing reality. The final image also imparted a sense of softness and sensuality.
But flow doesn’t have to be limited to just water. I have created images where I allow clouds to move and paint the sky, foreground flowers to bob and weave and paint my sensor’s canvas and grasses to wave and paint my foreground. But can we create flow with objects that are not moving? Of course. When it comes to doing this, I look for lines and shapes in nature that direct and move the eye through the scene. In a recent image I captured at Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, an inanimate scene became alive with motion as I matched a foreground element with the bend in the Colorado River below unifying the two planes of my scene. There is flow between the foreground juniper snag and river, and there is flow in the U-shapes of both elements.
Canon 1DsMKIII, 16-35mmL @ f/16, 1.5-second timed shutter, 200 ISO, Singh-Ray Slim Polarizer, Singh-Ray 2-stop hard edge GND.
In order to open our minds to the possibility of flow, we must stop looking at the literal; instead, we need to start thinking in a more creative manner. I try to reduce my scene to shapes and lines – simplify. I tend to cross a bridge mentally where I am no longer seeing reality (trees, rocks, streams, etc.) but instead, I’m seeing movement and interaction between elements. Then the game is on. It becomes more about finding unity and harmony between these elements. Relationships is a key here. If elements don’t relate, I simply cannot make an image. Once the pieces of the puzzle connect, then compositions start to come together and flow is an end result.
In this final image, I literally saw sunflowers, but a persistent wind prevented me from freezing them, so I let them dance! I feel this resulted in a better image.
Canon 1DsMKIII, 300mmL @ f/7.1, 1/13th second shutter, Singh-Ray Neutral Polarizer, Lexar Digital Media.
Nature's Best :: Don Smith Photography 