Practice, practice, practice....

Like so many things, photography requires practice. If God has given you the talent and desire to serve Him with photography, or any blessing that can be used to advance His kingdom, you should strive to refine and use those talents regularly. Since this blog is focused on ministry through photography I would like to make some suggestions on ways to hone your skills when not on a church assignment.

Share with those in need:
Do you know a single parent, young couple, or family struggling through these tough economic times? Paying for portraits is not going to be a priority when the money is tight, but in the years to come, being able to look back and share pictures of those earlier times can be a tremendous blessing for people. If you have the equipment, consider offering someone a photo session for free (but treat the job like you're getting paid). Include a few prints for them - Walmart and others will print a respectable quality 8x10 photo for under a few dollars. Maybe you have an old frame that you can mount one of the pictures in for them.

This will be a blessing for you too! I have found that people that are willing to let you take their photos (without having come to you first), are usually willing to give a little more of their own time to let you try new things, so try some different lighting, or a different pose or composition. Don't abuse their time, but don't be afraid to ask...you both might be rewarded with a unique and special photograph.

Start a Project 365:
Maybe you don't feel comfortable with portrait photography yet, but you still need to get regular practice. You might want to consider starting a "Project 365". It may go by other names, but essentially you set a goal of taking at least one picture everyday for one year (365 days). Many people start these at the beginning of the year, but you can start any time. In fact, I'll be starting one on February 1st of this year. If you are short of ideas, there are plenty of sites that provide weekly ideas/topics to provide inspiration. Here's a link to a weekly idea list (click here). The idea is to share these photos and commit to the daily shot. If posting a daily photo is too much for you to commit to, try a weekly plan (or Project 52).

Join a Camera Club:
Most every town, or county, has at least one camera club. These are an excellent resource for learning and inspiration. They also provide regular opportunities to participate in contests or photo outings. These are great ways to get a lot of practice, with the side benefit of getting quick feedback and support. In Brevard county, we have a fairly large camera club, and I don't believe it is very expensive to join (Brevard Camera Club).

Photo Walks:
Photo Walks are when a group gets together and walks around an interesting part of a town (park, zoo, etc.) and photograph people, architecture, and other items of interest. Usually the group will arrange to review the day's photos together. This provides feedback from fellow photographers, and can spark inspiration as you see how others have photographed the same areas. The group doesn't have to be large or well organized. It can be as simple as a group of two friends going out together for the afternoon. The key is to share with each other, and get/give that feedback that will help you grow as a photographer.



What do you do to keep up your photography skills? Have you done, or are currently doing, a Project 365? How did it go? If you are, share a link to your 365 album!

Photoshop - Basic photo touch ups

Article Submitted by Gary Howell

I use Photoshop on every photograph I take.  The most important lesson I’ve learned, however, is that Photoshop is not used for correcting a poorly taken photograph, rather it’s used for making very small touch ups to an other wise great photo.

If you ever find yourself trying to “fix” a photograph using Photoshop, stop, get your camera, and retake the photo.

Below I’ve listed the basic steps I use on every photograph.  These steps are not necessarily what every photographer needs to do.  The touch up steps you’ll take in using your photo editing software will depend upon the camera you use and how well you use it.

I increase the contrast to somewhere between +5% to +15%

I increase the color saturation to somewhere between +5% to +20%

I lighten or darken the image (depending on need) by 2% to 5%

The example image below shows that only small adjustments are needed.

The image on the left is the original.  The image in the middle had the contrast and saturation increased by 15%.  The image on the right, had the contrast and saturation increased by 50%.  When an image begins to take on an unnatural appearance, you’ve done too much.

Click to Enlarge

Unfortunately, this is often a common mistake.  I’ve seen oversaturated photos in many places, including a calendar where the artist had oversaturated the photo to the point that the sky had a purple hue.  To avoid this mistake follow a simple rule, increase the contrast and saturation to the point you think the photo looks good, and then decrease it just a little bit.

Photographing an outdoor baptism

A Baptism is an important event for any Christ follower, their family, and their church. On a regular basis CCM provides new, and recommitting, Christ followers an opportunity to be publicly baptized. We like to capture these moments to share with the rest of the church. This post provides some information on the how we photograph these events.

All of our baptisms are held outside, either at the beach or at a public pool/aquatic center. To document the day, we will get shots of the venue showing the active areas of the event. It's  good to get a wide angle shot that shows these areas in a single shot and provide a reference for the viewer.

This shot was taken using a wide angle lens and the camera was held high overhead on a monopod. I used  the timed shutter release to activate the shutter after it was raised.

Raised Monopod Shot

This shot is very unique, as it was shot from a kite mounted camera

Kite Mounted Camera

When capturing the crowd, there are two things we like to see. The first is the size of the crowd, especially if there is a large crowd. A church body is always encouraged when they get to see the impact that God is having on the church community, and seeing a big turnout is a big encouragement. The second thing we've learned is the crowd is the place where people connect with each other..families are together, friends are greeting and encouraging each other. The key is to be constantly scanning the crowd for shots like these.

Praise and worship moments

Connecting with the church family

Family moments

The shots that have the most impact are those moments of emotion that can tell the story in a single image. It's critical to get in close-up face shots for this. So much emotion is conveyed in the expressions on people's faces. Here are a few samples.

Tears show the emotion

The look of Peace

The look of Joy

Finally I wanted to discuss some of the technical challenges, along with the techniques we use to get the shots.

Lighting:
The biggest challenge is the lighting. Our baptisms usually occur early in the morning when the sun is low in the sky. When the baptism is at the aquatic center, the sun is well positioned to light the faces of those getting baptized. At the beach the sun is coming from behind and requires a little more strategy. There are two ways to overcome this problem, but both require the photographer to get a little wet. One way is to use fill flash, which of course requires the photographer to be fairly close to the subject. The other is to try to change the angle between the sun, the subject and the camera. This can be done by moving out farther into the water and shooting from the side, but may require the baptizer/baptized to change their angle towards the photographer.

Using fill flash with sun behind subject(s)

Lens Choice:
My "go to" lens for this is an 70-200 zoom. It allows me to get in tight while staying at an unobtrusive distance. It is still important to get a good angle on the action and be close enough to fill the frame with subject. This lens covers 90% of the shots. The other 10% are taken with a wider zoom lens, like a 17-55mm on a crop frame camera, or a 24-70mm on a full frame camera. The wide angle is used primarily for the wide crowd shots.

Camera Settings:
For us, these are sunlit events, and there is plenty of light to use low ISOs, fast shutter speeds, and reasonable aperture settings. I usually shoot in Aperture Priority so I can adjust the depth of field for the scene. I use "One Shot" focusing for the crowd shots, both close-up and wide angle. For the actual baptizing, I switch to "Servo" to track the action better.
  

The best camera is the one you have with you!

This is a statement that has been promoted all around the photoblogosphere. I think the statement makes an excellent point. Today's point and shoot cameras, and even the cameras built into your phone, are capable of taking very good photographs if used correctly. Though creativity, from a technical aspect, may be limited using these cameras, you can still capture post worthy and print worthy images. I would expand this statement  to say "The best camera is the one you have with you, AND know how to use!

Here's a video by a well known photographer in support of this concept. This is a promotional piece for a book and iPhone App, but I think you'll be impressed at the photos people are taking with their phones.



Cell Phone Camera
Below is a shot taken on my cell phone of my favorite dog Blue (I don't really like my other dog). I don't think the average non-photographer would be able to tell this came from a cell phone.

Cellphone Camera Shot (click to enlarge)

The trick is to understand the capabilities and limits of the camera and lens you're using. This is true of any camera, including your high-end DSLR, but much more so with a less sophisticated camera. For this shot, I chose a location out of direct sun light, but well lit by the ambient light of the sky. I also took extra care to hold the phone (camera) steady as I gently pressed the shutter release. I chose the location because I understood that my phone camera can't handle choosing a proper exposure for high contrast (bright sun/hard shadows) scenes very well. I used extra care to hold steady because I know the phone/camera has a small aperture and low ISO performance, and therefore a relatively low shutter speed. Any movement would create a blurry image.

Point and Shoot Cameras (P&S)

If you don't know what a "Point and Shoot" camera is, the name says it all. These are the cameras that dominate your local electronics store and are typically small, pocket sized cameras with a fixed, often retractable, lens. They are made to "Point" at the subject and "Shoot" without having to mess with any settings.  The quality of these cameras range from excellent to very poor (worse than some cell phones). Some of these cameras can rival the quality of a DSLRs. The built-in lens can be of very high quality and ISO performance is always improving. I carry one of these with me everywhere in case an opportunity presents itself when I don't have my full kit. I've heard this is becoming a common practice for many professional photographers as well. Though they don't have interchangeable lenses, some of the nicer P&S cameras have very high quality lenses and allow reasonable control of aperture, shutter and ISO. In the right hands, some very creative, and high quality, images can be created.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR)

These are the high-end cameras that support interchangeable lenses and full creative control of every setting. Amazingly, most amateur photographers, and even a surprising number of "pros", never use their DSLR as anything but an expensive and large P&S. I've often seen photographers disappointed at the quality of the pictures from their expensive camera. I would argue that, in some cases, some photographers would be better served with a good P&S, as the complexity of a DSLR can become a significant obstacle. If you know what you're doing and how to use your DSLR, the quality of the images can't be matched. However, if you don't take the time to learn how to use it properly, you've  probably wasted your money.

Obviously I wouldn't take my cell phone to a planned shoot, but if it's the only camera I have and the opportunity arises, I know how to use it and wouldn't hesitate to do so. 

What do you think? Do you take a camera with you everywhere? Would you use a "lesser" camera if you didn't have your DSLR with you?