Bill Mason Images

I see a lot of good and bad post production work done to photos nearly every day. I see them not only in individual photographer portfolios, but also in print. Too often photographers that have never been schooled in proper Photoshop techniques can really butcher a potentially good image. They destroy pixels thinking they are creating an image worthy of Vogue. My pet peeve with published images is that they often make too many changes and loose the natural skin tone or change the size of lips, eyes or body parts. Call me a purist.

I try to make as many adjustments with my lighting, the model’s wardrobe, hair and makeup before I press the shutter. That way my work in Photoshop will be minimal. I will tweak the levels to make sure it has proper brightness and contrast. Usually that is a very small adjustment if I metered the light properly prior to taking the picture. Then all I have to do is remove blemishes, maybe whiten teeth and bump up the color of the eyes a bit. This is traditionally the basics I do to all of my photography whether it’s a fashion image for a model’s portfolio or a portrait for a client down the street.

I use a technique typically refered to as portrait retouching, even though my images aren’t necessarily portraits. Glamor retouching is where you pretty much give the model entirely new skin and do a host of other adjustments. Portrait retouching retains the model’s personality and visual integrity. Glamor retouching is done for the purpose of obtaining a specific look tied to a specific goal, such as perfect skin for a beauty product. (FYI: There is no such thing as perfect skin in real life.)

I once saw a CD promoted as the break through way to retouch just like the pros do in NYC. It contained portrait retouching techniques I have been using for the past few years since I took a series of Photoshop workshops through my local photo lab. This CD was not the secret method it claimed to be. It did contain one technique that took retouching a step further than I am accustomed. They had a way of adding a fake skin overlay, complete with artificial pores, in order to bypass the method of retouching individual blemishes. That took their technique into the world of glamor retouching. There seems to be a new software every month on the market to make retouching quicker and easier. The results are pretty much the same. The subject ends up looking like a totally different person. One of the more recent ads shows before and after photos. The after photo eliminates the model’s freckles and changes the shape of her lips. Those were the features that gave her the most personality. Sad.

I’m a photographer first and foremost. I retouch an image to make it as flattering as possible without going overboard. I want the final result to retain the subject’s personality and true likeness, even if it’s a fashion photo. That’s me. There is a place for glamor retouching, but just like many things in life, the proper tools in the wrong hands can be dangerous.

I’m posting a before and after head shot from a fashion photo shoot. As much as the after image differs from the original, it is a very minimal retouch. I did nothing with levels. The image was shot at the optimum exposure. I brightened her eye color slightly, got rid of a few stray hairs, increased the contrast, desaturated the overall color and decreased the red tones. The last thing I do is soften the skin in order to smooth out any blotchiness and still retain the natural skin tone. If you saw the final image at 100% you would still see her pores and freckles. She still looks human. I think that’s important. I think that’s what is visually missing in today’s slick advertising. Making people with perfect skin and perfect features can be misleading about the product or service. But that’s another blog entirely.

I always hate making major decisions. Sometimes it’s which breakfast cereal to choose at the supermarket. Other times it’s whether I should continue certain aspects of my photography business. This week the cereal cupboard was well stocked so my attention turned to photography.

My video and still photography business was making great strides in the past three years in spite of the poor economy. I was actually increasing my revenue and last year I finally made a profit. As quickly as that triumph was celebrated, I lost a couple long time clients to the economy. They had to make decisions where to spend their money and they chose to eliminate my photographic services. At that same time a production company that supplied me with work dried up for a couple months. I had no work scheduled for six weeks. I had to make one of those executive decisions.

About a month earlier I had sent in an application for employment with an amazing company to work in retail. It was pretty much a “Let’s see what happens” kind of attitude. One day after I had forgotten about it I received an email inviting me to an interview regarding the retail job. I went. They loved me. They offered me a position. I now had to scale my business back to part time.

I do like a steady paycheck. I still do a few video and photography jobs each month. About this same time I found myself questioning the integrity and ethics of local modeling agencies. I was seeing more and more people being sucked into the black hole of paying for portfolio shoots, modeling classes, even for a spot on the agency’s website. At the same time the agencies were promising them the sun, moon and stars. I was beginning to be disillusioned with the whole fashion industry. The facades of the people involved. The smugness of everyone from photographers to stylists. The drama. The back biting. Photographers were duping models. Models were duping photographers. Everyone complains about everyone else. I needed a change.

I have done a great deal of commercial photography. Some of that was with clothing designers, models, fashion shows, etc. I still enjoy some aspects of shooting fashion, but I realized that my heart and creativity was not into the developmental aspects of the industry. I was becoming very reluctant to shoot model portfolios. My vision was elsewhere. So I have decided to drop that part of my business. Most young models starting out have no money anyway, so they are looking to find photographers that will shoot portfolio images for free. I paid my dues for years doing that. There are many photographers who are very talented at portfolio shoots. They charge far more than I ever did, but the serious models will find a way to pay for high quality. The ones that are not willing to take commercial modeling seriously are not worth my time. They think they have it all figured out. They think it’s an easy ride. They don’t understand the hard work. The talent necessary. The work necessary if you lack natural talent. The poor pay. The lousy hours. I’m tired of banging heads with these people.

Early this week I made another tough decision. I gave up my studio. I could no longer afford the rent. I was conducting fewer fashion shoots there. Fewer photographers were spending money to rent the place. Income was drying up on a new front.  I am pleased the studio will continue to operate under another photographer and I plan to shoot there when my work warrants. I will continue to conduct lighting workshops there. I will shoot with paying clients there. I will miss having the space at my fingertips, but this will hopefully help me focus my energy on specific projects that will benefit me, my business and my sanity.

Change. I don’t always embrace it with open arms. I worry about missing opportunities. But I do have to remember that change is always lurking around the corner. And it isn’t always spooky or stressful. Heck, my bank account will be much happier. If my bank account is happy, I should be, too. I’m hoping for less stress. And I’m already getting more exercise from my new retail job.

This is the first photograph I took with my own camera. The print has a stamp of March 1970. I was all of 11 years old when I pressed the shutter. It was shot on a cheap plastic instamatic Boy Scout camera I received that year for Christmas. In case the image is too blurry, this is my brother and sister playing the table top hockey game my parents gave us for Christmas.

I like to think my photography skills have improved over the years. It illustrates that there is hope for all the people that currently create poorly composed, out of focus cell phone pics. Carry on.

All too often I see people trying new things in this industry. While I applaud their drive and goals, the route they are taking is more likely to result in failure. The reason is a lack of basics. People want to be photographers and charge money for their work. People want to be videographers and charge money for their work. If they don’t know how their still camera works or how to light a video shoot or how to properly use a microphone to record an interview, their work will be no different than the millions of amateurs shooting bad video or photos. I made this mistake when I first started to shoot with a digital SLR. The results were horrendous and I was charging clients for my work. I made a huge mistake all because I was impatient and thought I had all the knowledge I needed from my years of shooting film to be successful in the digital world.

Common sense doesn’t seem to enter into the thought process with many of these entrepreneurs. They somehow think they just automatically can produce a better product then the next guy without really knowing what they are doing technically. I host photographers who rent my studio and use my strobes. I set the lighting and even meter the light and then they just set their cameras on auto and start shooting. They could care less about learning how or why the lights are set a certain way. They can’t be bothered with learning how the camera works in order to produce the best possible images. Why do they think their attempt will be better than the multitude of people before them that used the same techniques that produced mediocre results at best? Even photographers that bring their own lighting and don’t know how to use them can result in not only poor images, but can be dangerous. Something as simple as a light stand can challenge the clueless user. Ignorance of lighting equipment can result in damage to the lights. One photographer even set one of his lights on fire in my studio because he didn’t know how to properly attach a soft box.

I  witnessed a video production with bad lighting and a microphone attached to a camera that was 15 feet from the talent. The talent spoke far too quietly, often away from the microphone, while others in the room made enough noise to drown out the dialog the camera was meant to capture. These are obvious signs the people involved have no understanding of the fundamentals. The audio will sound hollow and unintelligible at best. The lighting was harsh and uneven. It will look and sound cheap.

Why are people averse to learning something about a craft from which they intend to make money? They are throwing their own money at a project (and often the money of family and friends) and they have no clue about how to create technically sound and visually compelling results. I truly believe egos can play a huge part of this. Confidence is one thing, but simply believing you can do it better than the next guy with no training or knowledge is foolish.

My advice is to learn from people that have been successful. Assist a photographer with a proven track record. Intern for a videographer that has been recognized for high quality work. And constantly compare your own work with those that obviously produce consistent, quality results. If you don’t know the difference between good and bad photos or videos, then you need to find people that will teach you that, as well. There are fundamentals to any craft or business. Too many people claim photography and video to be art. They say there are no rules. That may be true if your goal is to produce something that you will be satisfied with if you are the only person to appreciate the final outcome. But if you want to commercially market your work, you should take the route that will teach you the basics. Don’t be impatient and don’t be cocky. Learn to walk before you fly.

When I was a Boy Scout, the very first “law” we used to recite was that a Boy Scout is trustworthy. I always kept that to heart. But at that time I never really thought about trusting others. As an adult I think about it all the time. Trust is inherent in a marriage, business dealings with others, friendship and your faith.

In photography, for both amateurs and professionals, trust is imperative. It is the basis for your reputation. I work hard at making sure the people I work with trust me to keep my word, to conduct myself in a professional manner and to create a quality product. I shoot a fair amount of fashion. That means working with models, makeup artists, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists, etc. I have to trust them to honor commitments, bring appropriate items, to do their jobs well, the list can go on.

All too often in the Philadelphia market where I do most of my work, many of these people I work with are young. They are of a totally different generation, They have different priorities. They view employment differently than I do. Consequently there are situations that make trust almost impossible. Models fail to show up for scheduled shoots. People arrive late. They forget something integral to the shoot.Too often they are oblivious or unapologetic.

I was brought up to honor commitments, treat others as you would like to be treated, respect others by understanding their time and monetary commitment. Somehow, these qualities have been neglected in a couple generations. Today’s Gen Y (teens to 30 somethings) have become very self centered, they are easily distracted, impulsive, unreliable. Even McDonalds is frustrated with teen and young adult employees that blow off work or routinely show up late. They are turning to older candidates to fill their shifts. Senior citizens are more likely to be taking your order than a high school junior.

Don’t get me wrong. I have some fantastic relationships with young people. Not only in my business, but at my church, local schools, my neighborhood, etc. The models seen in these photos are some of the most responsible people I know. I think I have had fewer problems with members of Gen Y than many of the people I network with in the photography world. Maybe it’s because I’m a very good judge of people, especially with first impressions. Maybe it’s because I have a reputation of being professional and someone they can trust to treat them well and provide quality results. But I feel bad every time I hear about a model that “flakes” on a photographer by not showing up for a shoot. I once traveled 800 miles to shoot with an agency represented model only to have her not show up. She offered no excuses or apologies. She failed to reply to phone calls, text messages and emails. It hurts. Not only does it affect your ego, but also your wallet. She lost my trust. If I ever treated anyone like that I would certainly understand if they were unable to trust me.

The moral of the story: Do unto others…you know the rest. Respect others and they will respect you. Trust others and they will trust you. Build a positive reputation. The rewards will be exciting.

What makes photography art? I’ve seen gallery shows that looked like nothing more than meaningless, random snapshots of people or buildings. I’ve seen other work that involved incredibly elaborate and time consuming retouching or graphic work. I once saw a quote regarding this. I will paraphrase. Every photo is art to at least one person…the person that created it.

The dictionary definition of art: skill, craft, aesthetic (beautiful) work. All of these attributes of art is subjective. One person may feel they are skilled, yet others may not agree. One person may think a photo is beautiful, yet others may not agree. Art is also a very personal craft. Most artists create out of self expression. They create for their own enjoyment or satisfaction. They don’t care what others think. Other artists may create solely to solicit opinion by making social or political statements with their work.

No matter what the style or the intent, art can be seen in most any photo. Even the simplest portrait can contain the vision of the photographer. Their choice of lighting, pose or camera angle can all work together to convey the personality of the model and the photographer. Look carefully at any photo, whether it be a fashion magazine ad, a framed gallery print or a photo in a family album. Look for the elements that indicate skill, craftsmanship or beauty. What is it about that photo that tells you something about the person that created it? Look at it as you might look at a painting by Rembrandt or Picasso. Someday, that photo may hang in a museum as a classic example of the art of our times.

I handed my portfolio to the husband/wife team of master photographers at a workshop. I was a bit worried about what they wold say regarding what I thought was my best work. I’d endured some scathing critiques when I was a broadcast photojournalist, but this was my first still photography critique by expert photographers.

They did have some positive and negative thoughts about a couple of my photos, but when they closed my book they looked at me and paid me the ultimate compliment. “You see light. It’s very obvious in your work. And you use that knowledge very well.” I had actually never really consciously thought about that. It just seemed to come naturally to me. They told me that a natural ability like that is not all that common. The vast majority of photographers have to spend years studying photography and art in order to discern the subtleties of lighting. Being able to observe the angle of light sources, the quality and color and how it impacts the subject is very important to creating compelling photographs.

Too often I see photographers, even pros, shooting with flat light, either natural or artificial (such as a camera mounted flash) and thinking it’s the best possible rendition of their subject. They don’t understand how light coming from the side or above or even from behind a subject can create a far more emotional image. Even with my natural ability regarding light, I know the value of experimenting with moving my subject or my camera angle in order to see how the lighting might impact my image. I sometimes have to force myself to try something different. It doesn’t always work, but just as Thomas Edison spoke of failing and learning hundreds of ways NOT to make a light bulb, photographers can also learn from their failures. Don’t be afraid to fail. Because if you don’t at least try, you may not discover the one or two versions that really blow you away.

In addition to actually shooting, spend time looking at the work of other photographers. And don’t disregard those that created images long before photography was invented. I never took much interest in paintings until recently. I can see how much they understood lighting. I’m not sure the masters would have had the luxury of being taught the subtleties of lighting since most of their work was done with natural light. They likely discovered it on their own by trial and error even if they had the natural ability to “see light”. Next time you see a photo or painting, spend a few minutes really looking at the lighting. Look at where the light is coming from, the angle, how it falls on the subject, whether it’s flattering or distracting. Sooner or later you should be able to see the light, too. And being able to translate that to your photography is one of the challenges I think you will find rewarding.

One of my favorite aspects of photography is composition. You can get very creative with some of the basics of composition. Whether you are photographing a person or a landscape, you can enhance a photo and create specific moods with your composition. And composition is one of the strongest elements that really helps tell a story with pictures.

It’s probably one of the basic elements that separates the truly amateur from those photographers that really understand the dynamics of photography. And this is one of the things I feel strongly about in regard to learning the rules first. I have heard photographers pontificate that they don’t need any stinking rules. They shoot what looks good to them. That’s fine, but if they don’t know the rules how do they know if they are missing opportunities to take that photo to an entirely different level?

Composition is really pretty basic and easy to learn. First, the rule of thirds. Divide the image in thirds both horizontally and vertically.

Basically you want to put horizon lines on the upper or lower horizontal line, rather than centered in the photograph. Then concentrate on putting a prominent feature or your subject to the right or the left, corresponding with the vertical lines. Again, creating a more interesting composition than having the subject perfectly centered. If you want to get even more specific, look at where these lines intersect and place a compelling visual element of the image at that point. It might be a subject’s eyes or an animal or a tree.

One fundamental that is probably the downfall of most amateurs, especially when photographing people, is lead room. If a person is facing to the right or favoring that direction, then place them more to the left of the image. If you don’t allow for lead room it creates an awkward feeling for the viewer. The person looks “crowded” or as if they are about to fall out of the picture.

Framing is fun. Framing can be something as simple as adding an element to the foreground. It gives the image depth and just makes for a more appealing composition, especially with landscapes. You can also use these foreground elements to literally frame the subject.

I often shoot several frames of the same subject or landscape, changing the composition each time. Sometimes I put a prominent element to one side and then the other. I shoot with the horizon high to include more elements in the foreground and then put the horizon low in the image to include more sky. The great thing about digital photography is, as long as you have room on a memory card, you have the luxury of capturing countless images with ease. You never know which version might speak to you the most when you are looking at it full screen on your computer.

Why bother to learn how to shoot in manual? After all, the manufacturer went to a lot of trouble to put auto settings on my camera. The following is advice I give regarding most aspects of photography. Learn the basics, the fundamentals, the rules…then when you have a solid foundation and really understand how your camera works and how the various aspects of photography work together, you can truly understand how the shortcuts do what they do and know when breaking the rules works best.

Back when I was a budding photographer, cameras had no auto settings. Everything was done manually. You set the ISO (ASA back in the film days), shutter speed and aperture (f/stop). Cameras typically had built in meters, some in the viewfinder and some on the outside of the camera body. You adjusted the shutter speed and aperture until you got a proper meter reading. I’m sure many pros at that time also used handheld incident light meters. I just acquired one from a friend. It’s almost like using a slide rule. (I’m sure many younger readers are scratching their head over the slide rule comment, too.) Basically, you had to understand which combination of shutter speed and aperture was best. If you were shooting sports and wanted to freeze the action, you needed a fast shutter speed. A fast shutter speed may require a large aperture opening. And larger apertures mean shallow depth of field (the amount of the image that is in focus.) Are you seeing how this all works together?

The same principles apply to today’s digital SLRs. You can certainly set your camera to the action mode, but your camera is choosing a fast shutter speed without much regard for aperture. If your lens can open to 2.1 (very shallow depth of field), then your camera may force you to be extremely precise with your focus. With an understanding of how to set the camera manually, you might be able to choose a slightly slower shutter speed and a smaller aperture in order to gain greater depth of field.

OK…not every auto setting is evil. Manual focus may be the only feature that I have gladly pushed aside. I like the accuracy of auto focus, but even then I am very selective about the focusing points within the image field. Most DSLRs offer choices about what part of the image you want to focus on. By choosing your focus points and pressing half way down on the shutter, you can lock in a precise focus. Older lenses used to be very easy to focus manually. With today’s lenses (especially those for digital SLRs), it is quite difficult to manually focus, especially when it needs to be done quickly. I shoot a lot of commercial fashion. I choose the center focus point and lock the focus on the subjects eye closest to the camera. I get crisp focus every time. This would be tedious with manual focus with the limited output of modeling lights in a studio.

Get to know how to operate your camera manually, though, and it will soon become second nature to you. Then you can feel confident enough to know which auto settings will help and which ones will hurt you, rather than just scratching your head in confusion when an image looks bad. Remember, auto settings are not foolproof. There are many auto settings and they can be quite useful in the proper situations. Knowing how to take great shots with manual settings is the first step.

I know this doesn’t sound glamorous or artistic. It can be dry and downright boring, but if you really want to create the best images possible, you need to read and understand the camera’s manual. Most people I know have never done so, even people that shoot for a living.

The main problem I hear is that it is overwhelming and doesn’t make sense. These are the people that try to read it cover to cover in one sitting without even looking at the camera as they do so. My suggestion is to take it a chapter at a time with camera in hand. Work with the settings as they are described in the manual. For instance with a DSLR, when it outlines the white balance settings, run through them on your camera. See where they are in the digital display, what the icons look like and which knob, button or wheel controls that function. Snap some pics on each of the settings so you can see the impact proper and improper settings have on your images.

Take it slow and steady. My favorite quote from the movie “What About Bob?” is “baby steps”. Don’t try to understand everything about your camera in one sitting, especially if this is your first camera of this type. Things may be foreign to you. Don’t get impatient and give up and just throw every switch into automatic mode. The more you know about your camera and the more familiar you are with it, the better control you will have over each photographic opportunity you encounter. After a while, things will become second nature to you. And if you are a true beginner to photography in general, find a good book (yes, an old fashioned book with paper pages and a cover) and read about cameras, composition, exposure, lighting, etc. as you go through your manual. It’s amazing how it all works together.