Photographic Technique
Many photography books and magazines, I believe, tend to reduce photography to a purely technical subject.
Questions about content, meaning or creative values are seldom discussed in detail and any reader could be forgiven for viewing digital photography merely as a bun rush for the latest piece of gadgetry.
While the technical quality of my images is important, of far greater concern to me is their content and meaning.
Creating a technically perfect image is one thing; however a perfect image which has no substance or meaning is still a meaningless photo to me. So before I talk about how I take individual photographs, I will speak briefly about the bigger picture and some of the values which guide me in my work.
My collective work as an artist is called the Anima Series because it centers on the experience of my own anima (1).
Expressing this aspect of my psyche (as Jung would describe it) has provided a foundation or base that underpins all of my work as an artist. This base has helped me achieve a consistent look or aesthetic that identifies my work as belonging to me.
Public recognition has much to do with having your own aesthetic that distinguishes you from others.
To achieve this I have concentrated on extending and developing my chosen subject rather than diversifying into other areas. My objective has been to deepen rather than broaden my creative interests.
In this sense, my use of a camera is specialised.
I do not aspire to photograph a wide variety of subject matter in different locations using the latest equipment on the market. Rather my visual art centers on my collaboration with various women through whom I express various aspects of myself that would otherwise remain hidden.
Over the years I have built a close personal work relationship with numerous people. This collaborative approach forms the heart of my artistic work and provides a depth of trust and understanding that cannot be achieved by other means.
Photographers like Sally Mann, Jock Sturges and artists like Andrew Wyeth have each employed a similar approach to working with others.
Since childhood I have always tried to compose my images in camera.
While computer programs like Photoshop afford me the luxury of creating anything from scratch, I prefer to have something real and substantial in front of the camera. This emphasis upon creative integrity, I feel, helps to complement the emotional candor of my subject.
In keeping with tradition I also operate my camera on a manual setting. Photographing in a controlled environment with pre-arranged subjects allows me to compose each shot carefully without having to rely upon the camera’s automatic settings.
Where possible I try to shoot at least two or three stops above my lowest aperture setting. If using a zoom lens I also try shooting somewhere towards the middle of my focal range. From an optical point of view, these two methods when used in combination provide me with optimum results.
Although photographing (for the most part) in low light, I keep my ISO setting around 200 (low noise) and use mirror lock-up to reduce the vibration which results from long exposures.
In keeping with this I always use a solid tripod – preferably one that weighs as much as possible and stands low to the ground for maximum stability.
Triggering the camera is the key to taking a pin sharp photograph.
A cordless (remote) release is ideal, but otherwise a good trigger finger is essential. I usually wait until the end of my breath before slowly squeezing the release button and remaining fixed upon my subject (follow through). I always take several shots of the one subject or position, trying each time to squeeze off my shots more smoothly and carefully.
Too often I notice people stabbing the button or taking their eye away from the camera immediately after the shot.
Despite all the advances in technology the fundamentals of photography remain unchanged. Having a good, steady stance with your feet placed firmly, tucking in your elbows and balancing the camera evenly in your hands are a basic starting point for every photo I take.
As a general rule I try to rely as little as possible on Photoshop.
Photoshop uses mathematical algorithms to manipulate an image; however these algorithms are not perfect. Many moves and tools in Photoshop can clip pixel information and thereby degrade your original image.
In this sense, there is no substitute for a well exposed photograph in good light.
There are a range of tools and commands in Photoshop that reproduce or are inspired by traditional darkroom practices. Where possible, I try always to confine my use of Photoshop to these traditional devices by refining my images as I would have when working with chemical-based materials.
Dodging and burning, using filters, different grades of paper and after-development solutions - are all techniques commonly applied in the darkroom environment.
These same techniques have their digital equivalents in Photoshop.
Having said this, I do not apply any adjustments to my images in camera, but prefer instead to do this later in Photoshop. This is particularly true of actions like sharpening or stitching. Adjustments like these are better carried out with a dedicated software program that provides more power, flexibility and control.
I work exclusively with RAW files (2) using adjustment layers to build-up the finished product. Except in extreme cases I try to interfere as little as possible with the original image and am mindful to compose my subject accordingly.
Moving a little to the left or right before I release the shutter can often avoid the need to use the clone stamp tool altogether!
I burn all my RAW originals (the only format with which I photograph) to external drives, as well as their processed (.tif ) equivalents. I also make thumbnails (.jpg) of both types which are kept on my hard drive for cataloging and locating purposes.
This means every photograph I take is saved in three different formats – RAW, tif and jpeg. Each finished image is named and numbered in the following manner:
A path of my own choosing – A4S227-23
A path of my own choosing (title) / A4 (Anima Series Four) / S227 (Sitting number 227) / 23 (shot number 23).
Because I keep a written record of each sitting, the above notation tells me where and when a photograph was taken and which original file or negative was used. I burn the finished images onto two identical external hard drives.
Having photographed the Anima Series since the early 1980’s it is vital to have a consistent and reliable means of locating a particular image amongst thousands! By saving a small thumbnail version of every RAW original, I can use these to quickly identify the location of a particular image.
The Anima Series has been shot primarily with Nikon cameras.
On occasions I still use my Nikon FM 2 with a 50mm f1.4 lens, but otherwise I shoot digital. My current digital camera is the Nikon D3 which I use with three lenses –
(1) a 24-70mm f2.8 crystal-coated optic.
(2) the 80-200mm f2.8 zoom lens.
(3) a 50mm (fixed focal length) f1.4 lens.
I have been working with Photoshop since version 5 and am currently using CS 4 extended (Photoshop 11) mounted on a 2.67 GHz Intel i7 with 12 Gb RAM and a 64 - bit operating system.
(1) ANIMA is a Latin word meaning breath or soul and was used by the famous Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1875 – 1961) to describe the feminine part of the male psyche.
Jung claimed that every individual had both masculine and feminine aspects within their psyche – the combination of which formed a whole character. He suggested that an integral part of human development was this mixture of masculine and feminine energies.
Like the yin (feminine) / yang (masculine) symbol of Chinese Taoism, Jung saw men as being predominately masculine but with a feminine aspect.
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