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15 Photo Projects That Will Boost Your Creativity
15 Photo Projects That Will Boost Your Creativity
Your Creativity
EDWARD VEROSKY
15 Photo Projects That Will Boost Your Creativity was created as the
antidote for the occasional creative rut, and a set of exercises and
challenges that should help you see your photography from a different
perspective. My hope is that you will use what I’ve presented here as
a starting point to open your mind up to new ways of working with your
camera and subjects. Some of these projects may ignite your creativity
and some may simply prompt you to learn a valuable new skill.
You’ll find that many of the projects are indeed quite challenging and will
take a great deal of commitment to complete. Others are relatively easy
and can be explored quickly and casually. You can take on these chal-
lenges in any order, so feel free to flip through the projects and pick and
choose the ones that strike a chord with you on any given week. I encour-
age you to go deeper into any of the subjects that really interest you. Use
the internet and other resources to further explore the techniques and ideas
that we touch on here.
Above all, have fun! Keep experimenting, take risks, and find something
completely new to explore when you find yourself in a creative funk.
Changing your perspective and learning something new are great ways to
get back into your groove.
Ed Verosky
Project 1
Try Film
Photography
with a Holga
Anytime you photograph without a safety net it encourages you to really
consider what you’re shooting. Taking photos with a toy film camera can
be liberating, fun, and dubious all at the same time. Compared to digital,
it’s also relatively expensive on a per photo basis, which it turns out, is part
of the reason this exercise can be so effective. Purchasing a toy medium
format camera, the film it requires, and taking on the cost of processing,
invites a commitment that will motivate you to learn something about how
you approach photography.
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Project 1
I recommend you start with a basic camera like the Holga 120N and a
couple rolls of film. Just learning to load the camera will be fun, and the
photos you get from using it will be eye-opening. Enjoy the process, hold
the negatives in your hands, and tack the small square prints (often 5x5”)
you get from the lab up on the wall. This is going to be exciting!
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Project 1
Project Instructions
There are a few key things you’ll need to learn and do in order to start us-
ing your Holga. This is a big part of the fun, so take your time and be proud
of what you’re learning to do as you go along. If you’ve never worked with
a film camera, or a Holga, you’re going to love this part. One of the first
things to consider is how you’re going to set your camera up to expose the
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Project 1
Figure 1.4 After the new roll of film is removed from its packaging, it is inserted into the left chamber of
the camera. The leader is inserted into the take-up spool which is then inserted into the right chamber.
film. Some Holgas come with plastic masks that allow you to take 4.5x6cm
shots (up to 16 shots on the roll of film). However, I’d recommend you
shoot the square format which you can do with a square mask, or no mask
at all. This allows for 12 shots per 120 roll. Set the film counter slider on
the back of the camera to 12 if you decide on going square, or 16 if you’re
going with the rectangular mask.
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Project 1
1. Remove the new roll of film from its packaging. You might
have to tear off the leader from the roll in order to free it.
2. Place the roll of film inside the left chamber of the camera.
You will have to angle it in order for it to slip in place.
3. Slip the film roll’s leader into the take-up spool. The spool has
an opening in the center. Fit the leader into the opening and start
tightening some of the leader paper around the spool.
4. Place the take-up spool into the right chamber of the camera.
Again, this will require that you angle it in. Once you do that, wind
the film advance a few times to make sure the film is wound snugly
around the spool.
5. Secure the back cover. Place the back cover onto the camera
and secure it with the side fasteners and optionally some black
tape. Wind the film advance some more until you see a number
(1) in the red window. The numbers in this window indicate the
frame you’re currently exposing on the roll.
• Bulb & Normal. A switch located on the bottom of the camera al-
lows you to trip the shutter normally (about 1/125 sec.) or you can
switch to “B” (bulb) which keeps the shutter open as long as you
hold down the shutter release. Use “N” for most photography.
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Project 1
Figure 1.5 Holga focusing icons. The lens in this figure is set to
the “large group” setting which is a focusing distance of approxi-
mately 3 m.
Each time you take a shot, be sure to check your focus indicators for the
correct approximate distance you’re working with, click the shutter relase,
and advance the film to the next frame.
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Project 1
Remove The Film
When you’ve gotten to the last frame on the roll, it’s time to advance the
rest of the roll onto the take-up spool and carefully remove it from the cam-
era. Here’s how that is done:
1. Wind the entire roll onto the take-up spool. Turn the film ad-
vance/winder knob until you feel no more resistance on the film
winding. The red frame counter window on the back of the camera
should go dark because the paper backing on the film won’t be vis-
ible any longer.
2. Remove the camera back cover. You should make sure you
are working in subdued light so as not to exposure the film to light
when removing it from the camera. Slide the fasteners open, and
remove tape, if any, in order to release the camera back, and care-
fully pop the back off.
Once the film is out of the camera and secured, you can store it in some
light-protected place while waiting to send it off to the lab. Place the spool
that the film was originally on (still located in the camera) on the other side
of the camera. It will now become the take-up spool for the next roll of film!
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Project 2
Create
Smoke
Abstracts
In this project, the randomness of smoke is turned into beautiful abstract
art. The camera captures the ethereal quality of incense smoke and the
rest of the magic is performed in the digital darkroom. The images you cre-
ate will elicit all kinds of reactions as each viewer sees something unique
and telling in the patterns you ultimately create from the original exposures.
Although you’ll have limited control over the shapes and forms created as
the smoke rises from the incense, you’ll have a great deal of control over
the final mirrored patterns and colors. Images like these are not only fun to
create, but they can also result in surprisingly impressive wall art!
Figure 2.1 (top) and Figure 2.2 (bottom) Smoke abstracts allow you to experiment with shapes, tones,
and colors to create truely unique works of art.
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Project 2
• Incense
• Match (or lighter)
• Small table and incense holder
• External flash
• Tripod
Project Instructions
Gather your materials and follow these instructions for setting up and
shooting the images for this project.
Take precautions when working with matches, lighters, and burning incense so that you
don’t start a fire. You don’t want to work with these items around flammable materials.
As soon as you’re finished, make sure you douse the incense in water. Don’t leave it
out or and don’t throw it in the trash.
Setting Up
Before shooting your smoke abstracts, you’ll have to setup your incense on
a support, put up a background, and position your camera and lighting (see
Figure 2.3).
1. Setup the table or other support for the incense. You can
use a dark material in the background to help visually isolate the
smoke in the shot. Make sure there will be enough distance be-
tween the incense (and light) and the background so that the back-
ground fades to black in the exposures. For my setup, a black
cloth was used and positioned about 4 feet behind the incense.
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Project 2
Figure 2.3 Smoke photography setup. Black poster board is held by two “A” clamps on a background
stand, flash illuminates the rising smoke off the incense. Distances are approximate.
ing. My camera settings were ISO 100, f/16, with a shutter speed
of 1/250 (flash sync).
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Project 2
any modifiers. You can trigger the flash any way you like (PC
cord, TTL, radio trigger, etc.). How you setup and use the flash
isn’t as important as simply getting it to illuminate the smoke. If
you want more information on setting up off-camera flash, please
see my eBook, 100% Reliable Flash Photography.
Photography
Once your project is setup and ready to go, it’s time to take some photos of
the rising smoke.
Figure 2.4 Colors add excitement to smoke images, but even black and white versions can contain an
alluring array of tones that create visual interest.
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Project 2
Figure 2.5 Images can be colored and toned in various ways, or even inverted as shown here on the bot-
tom right. The original (non-inverted) mirrored image is bottom left.
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Project 2
2. Take some shots. Light the incense and wait for some interest-
ing smoke to rise into the frame. Experiment by disturbing the
air around the smoke with your hand or your breath. The idea is
to create interesting smoke patterns and get some shots to work
with. When you’ve gotten several shots, preview them on your
camera’s LCD. If you’re happy with them, import them into your
computer.
Post-Processing
There are several things you can do to enhance the smoke patterns includ-
ing mirroring and colorizing. Here’s what you can do to create the effects
shown in these images:
5. Slide the top smoke layer, left or right, over the original layer
until you see a mirrored pattern you like. Crop to your taste
and save the image.
Again, this is only one way to approach this type of project. For example,
you might use natural light coming in from a window on one side of the
setup. If the background is dark enough, you should be able to isolate the
smoke in the image. Also, post-processing can involve different coloring
methods (you can use multiple colors and blending types). I’ve seen some
beautiful inverted images, where the background can be turned white. And
you can mirror the original image with vertical flips and other variations.
Some original smoke patterns are so beautiful that they don’t need to be
mirrored or colored at all.
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Project 3
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Project 3
Figure 3.2 A view of the Brooklyn Bridge with a black and white film grain effect. A noise layer was added
in Photoshop with a Linear Light blend at an opacity of 50%.
of noise, grain, and texture effects that essentially bring the high-resolution
images from a phone camera down to lo-fi texture-laden mini works of art.
In this project, you’ll create some effects with digital noise.
Project Instructions
Although most of today’s DSLR cameras are quite capable of minimizing
noise, even at higher ISO settings, it is possible to get some good grain
effect right out of the camera. To get this effect, I will often underexpose in
low-light environments, then emphasize the noise as I bring the exposure
back up in post-processing.
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Project 3
The easiest way to gain control over just the right amount, size, and vis-
ibility of the noise/grain in your images is with post-processing. Open your
image in your image editor and follow these instructions:
To do this in Lightroom:
1. Use the Grain effect. In the Develop module, you can use the
Grain effect sliders in the Effects panel. In the current version of
Lightroom you’ll find the following sliders:
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Project 3
3. Blur the grain slightly. Still Figure 3.4 A heavy grain effect using Photoshop.
working with this layer, use the
menu to select Filter > Blur
> Gaussian and use a small
amount of blur to give the noise a realistic film grain look.
4. Blend the grain into the image. Now in the Layers panel, you
can use the Overlay or one of the other blend modes for the grain
layer. Adjust the opacity to taste and you’re done.
There are also many effects presets for the products mentioned above that
can do most of the work for you. Alternatively, you can import your images
to a device that hosts a photo effects app and use that to easily add grain
and other effects to any image.
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Project 4
Fruit and
Vegetable
Portraiture
Portraiture is the art and craft of rendering a person’s likeness. When
we create photographic portraits, we often start by looking for the unique
characteristics of our subjects. We’re not intrigued by the generic qualities,
rather we look for something special that sets them apart.
Produce, just like people, can be placed generically into types and catego-
ries, but within those groupings, no two are exactly alike. As photogra-
phers, we want to learn to see and celebrate the individual. When working
on this project, you’ll see how the mere act of looking for your subject helps
hone your skills at looking for and recognizing the uniqueness of each indi-
vidual in a sea of types. Lighting and posing is where the magic happens.
Figures 4.1-3 Each of the vegetable portraits on this page were of the same red bell pepper shot at
different positions under a standard household lamp.
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Project 4
When you begin to appreciate your human subjects this way, you’ll have
learned to better identify their unique physical characteristics and how to
model them under the light. To see them not only as people, but also as
shapes and forms, will help you discover ways to pose and light them more
creatively.
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Project 4
Project Instructions
Gather your materials and follow these instructions for setting up and
shooting the images for this project.
Setting Up
Here are the steps for setting up your fruit or vegetable portraits:
Figure 4.6 (left) Simple setup with black poster board and black crafting foam. The background can be
farther away from the subject if necessary to help prevent it being illuminated by the lamp.
Figure 4.7 (right) Radish bunch.
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Project 4
Photography
Before actually shooting, take a good look at how the light and shadow are
affecting the look of the subject. Position the item in different ways and
watch how the shadows change and how the textures become more, or
less, visible. It’s this first step of “seeing” the portrait before you capture it
that is so crucial. Move the light around the object, too and watch for its ef-
fect over the object and the surface/background. As you find combinations
of light and angle that resonate with you, snap the photographs.
Post-Processing
As you would with human subjects, you might want to address issues with
what you perceive as distractions and imperfections in the texture of the
item photographed. You might also notice issues with the surface or back-
ground in the shots. With some shiny surfaces, hard highlights are poten-
tially distracting, so take steps to tone them down. Boosting the contrast
and adjusting the saturation are often good options, too.
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Project 5
Do a 365 Project
in One Day
365 photo projects are alive and well. As you probably know, the idea be-
hind something like this is to take at least one photo a day, based on a cer-
tain theme, or not, and post it up for others to see. It could be a self-portrait
each day for a year, or a way to document your meals or some activity, or a
freestyle project; shoot anything that you find interesting. The purpose is
not only to have fun, but to learn something and develop your skills and an
eye for the beauty in the everyday things that make up your life.
One of the biggest benefits of doing a project like this is the feeling of ac-
complishment at the end of the year. But that year-long commitment is
challenging and it can lead to frustration and discouragement when a day
or two has passed and you’ve forgotten to shoot a photo or simply didn’t
feel well enough or inspired to do so. Your photography should be a source
of fun and not something that leaves you feeling defeated.
So, rather than tackle the typical 365 project, here’s another challenge for
you: shoot a whole year’s worth of photos in one single day! It’s the 365
project in hyper-drive. Yes, you’ll still have the creative challenge of making
interesting images, but now you’ll have to meet all those challenges in a
matter of hours. Now that’s an exercise in creativity!
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Project 5
Project Instructions
The idea is simple. You’ve got one day (24 hours) to find and photograph
365 good images. Here are the rules:
• 24 hours. You have only 24 hours to take all 365 photos. Can
you do it in less time? Of course. As a matter of fact, I recom-
mend you shoot all of your images in two- or three-hour chunks.
You can probably complete this task in as little as 4 hours if you
push it.
• JPG only. In other words, don’t bother shooting with the idea that
you’ll be doing any serious post-processing work. Try to make
each shot great, right out of the camera. Compose, set simple
effects (if any), shoot, and move on to the next shot. The idea is to
create good images without the notion of “fixing” or improving the
shots later.
• No theme. You don’t have time to ponder the literal or meet with
any specific theme. And that would probably defeat the purpose
of the challenge anyway. Imagine if you set the theme up as, “my
bottle cap collection.” What a waste it would be to spend a couple
of hours just snapping one bottle cap after another just to say you
completed this project. No, you’ll have to find different things to
photograph wherever you are, and wherever you’re going in order
to finish this task.
• Be creative. Don’t just snap photos of objects like you’re catching
butterflies with a net. Put some thought into it; make the photos
interesting and unique. Find a way to make an ordinary object
look like something it’s not, or photograph it from an unusual per-
spective. Whatever you do, don’t take the easy way out. You are
a creative person and you can meet this challenge.
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Project 6
Add Texture to
Your Photos
In the digital darkroom, available on desktop and mobile devices, almost
anything is possible. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can replace back-
grounds in an image, or create richer colors, or add a vintage effect (see
Figure 6.1). So many things are possible, that it becomes hard to imagine
pushing a photo out onto the web these days without processing it through
a filter or effect.
But just because the effects are so easy to apply doesn’t mean you have
to throw every one of them at a photo, drastically changing its look. Some
subtle effects can be good, too. It really all depends on what you want to
say with your photo. In this project, you’re going to explore adding subtle
textures to your images. Instead of making your photos about the textures,
make the textures about the photos. Let the effects you apply help tell the
story without overpowering it.
Figure 6.1 Two textured images created with the iPhone and the Snapseed app (Nik Software).
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Project 6
• Image editing software. This can be anything from the latest full
version of Photoshop to something like the Snapseed app avail-
able on various devices.
• Texture images. Many image editors with effects packages come
with a set of built-in textures. You can also find free texture im-
ages on the web; many people are happy to share depending
on how you plan to use their images. Of course, shooting and
working with your own texture images will make yours truly unique.
The following textures (Figure 6.2) were shot with an iPhone as
they were discovered on and around a local sidewalk. One was
used for the project instructions that follow.
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Project 6
Project Instructions
If you have an image editing program, or app, and some built-in or found
texture images, it’s time to look for an image that can benefit from some
texturing. Keep in mind that different images will benefit from different
approaches when adding in textures. On portraits, for example, selectively
adding in texture to avoid the face will generally give you appealing results.
In the instructions to follow, we’ll work with such an image (see Figure 6.3).
1. Open the original image. Open the image you’d like to apply the
texture to in your image editing program. It will be on the bottom
of the layer stack as you add texture layers and masking above
it.
2. Open the texture image. Open the texture image in the image
editor and drag, or otherwise import it, onto the layer stack of the
original image. It should be in a layer on top of the original im-
age.
In Photoshop & GIMP: Use the “Add Layer Mask” option in the
texture layer as shown in Figure 6.5. Select the mask and use a
brush (or airbrush), with the color black selected, to paint a mask
over the areas you don’t want the texture to show through.
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Project 6
Example
In the following example, the layer and masking techniques described
above are used to produce an image with a subtle texture effect. An im-
age featuring a subject and a plain background is opened in Photoshop. A
texture image is also opened.
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Project 6
After placing the texture image in a layer above the original image, it is
sized and its layer blending mode is set to Overlay. The effect is nice ex-
cept for what it does to the subject’s face (see Figure 6.4).
Figure 6.4 The texture image has been placed on a layer above the original image. The Overlay blend-
ing option has been selected for the texture layer.
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Project 6
A layer mask is added to the texture layer and a brush is used to paint over
the skin areas so that the texture does not show through to the skin as
shown in Figure 6.5.
Figure 6.5 A layer mask has been added to the texture layer. Painting over areas of the layer mask
prevents the texture from appearing just underneath those areas on the image layer.
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Project 6
Experimenting with blending modes on the texture layer is a good way to try
out different effects (see Figure 6.6). Inverting or creating a negative image
of the texture might also yield interesting results as shown in Figure 6.7.
Figure 6.6 Blending mode of the texture layer is changed to Hard Light, producing this effect.
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Project 6
Figure 6.7 Same image, texture, masking and blending as previous image, except that the texture
portion (not the mask) has been inverted using Image > Adjustments > Invert.
Other techniques and software allow you to add texturing to your images in
a variety of ways. Here, we’ve shown a simple but flexible way to control a
tasteful, subtle texture effect in Photoshop. By masking and otherwise cre-
ating selective texturing effects, you can take advantage of textures without
subjecting every part of the image to them.
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Project 7
Shoot a Band in
a Small Venue
One of the most challenging things to photograph is a live music perfor-
mance (concert), especially in a small venue where the lighting can be
deplorable. At times small venue lighting can be to be too dim, or harsh,
or excessively colorful. When shooting in this type of environment, where
a photographer essentially has no control over the lighting or the subject,
you’ll learn to find ways to get good pictures in the positions you take up
around the stage, your timing, and in the upper limits of what your gear is
capable of.
Live music photography isn’t just about taking photos of what’s on-stage,
from one vantage point, it’s about seeing the individuals in the band as
people and performers. You’ll learn to gauge a musician’s movements and
watch for interesting displays of emotion, all the while keeping an eye out
Figures 7.1 Patricia Vonne. 85mm, ISO 1600, f/1.8, 1/125 sec.
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Project 7
for that surprise moment when something unexpected and dramatic occurs.
Photographing bands and performers will help you with your photography
in general. It teaches you to find angles that make the light work for you
and to see the details as well as appreciate the scene as a whole. It will
also encourage you to make the best use of your gear in almost impossible
lighting conditions.
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Project 7
• Don’t be shy. You’re not going to get great shots standing at the
back of the venue; get right up at the base of the stage. You can
pick a spot to one side and either stand or sit/squat to get some
interesting angles. It might seem a little intimidating to plant your-
self between the audience and the band, but if you don’t stand
for long periods of time right in front of members of the audience,
you’ll quickly mix into the scenery and people will stop noticing
you. After all, they’re there to see the band.
• Shoot Raw not JPEG. This is very important for this type of pho-
tography. The lighting and colors you’ll have to deal with will often
require a great deal of adjustment in post-processing.
Project Instructions
Find a good local rock group that is playing a local nightclub and arrange to
go out and take photos of them. Bands love getting photos of their perfor-
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Project 7
mances, so if you feel generous, send them a few digital copies when you
have time. When you’re at the venue make sure you find a spot up near
the stage and try to get the type of shots listed here:
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Project 7
Photography
Know that you’ll have to
push your camera to its
limits and shoot at very high
ISO settings in some ven-
ues. Use a wider aperture
of f/2.8 or so and be sure to
shoot in Raw so that you’ll
have as much leeway as
possible for exposure and
color adjustments in post-
processing.
Post-Processing
As noted earlier, small
nightclub stage lighting is
notoriously bad so post-pro-
cessing is where you’ll need
to make up for it. Here,
you’ll likely have to fix hot Figure 7.7 Position yourself not just directly in front of
the band, but also at vantage points that allow you to use
spots and underexposed the stage lighting for dramatic effect.
areas in the same shot.
Also, very red and very
blue/purple lighting can wreak havoc on your images. So learn to adjust
the color sliders in your Raw conversion/editing software to make the most
out of the images. Sometimes you’ll find the best all-around solution is to
simply convert an image to monochrome to avoid dealing with the color
issues altogether.
Above all, have fun with this project. It’s a great way to learn to deal with a
variety of photographic challenges which will definitely help build your skill
set. You’ll gain the confidence of knowing you can make great shots out
of bad lighting, and create performance portraits even when you have no
control over your subject’s expressions and posing.
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Project 8
Create a
Classic
Portrait
Classic lighting patterns define some
of the long established conventions
in portraiture, and for good reason.
Human faces and figures, and the
general criteria we measure beauty by,
have remained amazingly consistent Figure 8.1 Classic-style lighting created with
flash unit and umbrella modifier.
from generation to generation. It would
follow that the way we prefer to see
light and shadow fall across another human face must be somehow hard-
wired into us.
Traditional lighting patterns, first discovered and distilled by other visual art-
ists such as painters, were not invented arbitrarily, but identified over time
as the most appealing, and eventually made their way into the standard
methodology. The way we light and model a human face has everything
to do with how viewers will perceive that face and indeed the mood of the
portrait.
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Project 8
It turns out that what you’ll need is whatever it takes to get the quality of light
you want for your portrait. So, in the sections that follow, we’ll take the time
to discuss three types of lighting that can be used for the classic portrait:
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Project 8
a large lamp shade and/or diffused with fabric, however, will pro-
vide softer shadows if placed within a couple feet of your subject.
• Natural Window Light. Natural daylight coming in through a win-
dow, especially with large translucent curtain panels, can provide
very pleasing light. The classic portrait will benefit from your ability
to flag off the window light so that your subject appears to be il-
luminated mostly from just above their head, rather than from lower
than the chin.
Project Instructions
In order to create the classic portrait, you’ll want to pay special attention to
the contrast and light/shadow patterns created by your light source upon
your subject. In the following examples, we’ll create a classic feel by ap-
proximating the so-called Rembrandt lighting style using a flash, household
lamp, and natural window light. The idea is to illuminate your subject with
light coming in primarily from a position above and to one side of their head.
Effective classic portraits generally contain one or more of the following
characteristics:
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Project 8
be simple and free of distracting colors or patterns. Solid dark colors and
classic mottled backdrops work well.
Household Lamp
As discussed earlier, flash or studio strobe equipment isn’t necessary for
creating beautiful classic portraiture; any standard original light source can
work if modified and positioned correctly. In this case, a household lamp is
modified with a sheer fabric over the lamp shade. As with the flash example
above, position the subject and/or the lamp so that it illuminates the subject
from a position approximately 45 degrees to one side, and 45 degrees
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Project 8
above the subject’s head. The advantage of a constant light source over
a flash/strobe is that you can see the quality of the light and the shadow
patterns created in real-time. This is a great way to learn how to light a
portrait.
Figure 8.4 Floor lamp with white fabric to help diffuse the light coming from under the lamp shade. Our
subject sat on a stack of books to bring her to the correct height relative to the lamp illumination.
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Project 8
result. When the main light is coming in from below the subject’s head, a
type of “horror movie” under-lighting pattern will result. In any case, you
can position some type of material to block lower portions of a large win-
dow if necessary, or move the subject so that the lighting coming in through
the window illuminates them mostly from the preferred position.
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Project 9
Create an
Ethereal
High Key
Portrait
In still photography, “high key” and “low key” are terms generally used to
define images that are predominately brighter/whiter in tone, or darker/
blacker in tone, respectively. While low key images are heavy and dramat-
ic, high key tends to offer a lighter and airier appeal. High key images are
great for expressing positivity, etherial beauty, and openness. This makes
high key great for certain types of portraiture and scenery.
There is no single best way to approach the creation of a high key image,
so we’ll cover some basics here for you to use as a jumping-off point for
creating your own. Remember that it’s the end result that defines it as high
key, not how you get there. So, experiment and see which techniques
serve you best.
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Project 9
Project Instructions
Once you’ve found someone that you think will make a good subject for
your ethereal high key portrait, you’ll need to determine where the photo
should be taken. As noted earlier, if you’re lucky enough to have a large
window with a good amount of diffuse light coming through it, that might be
a perfect starting place. Otherwise, the main idea is to hit your background
with plenty of overpowering light, or use light AS the background. That is
to say, you’re trying to overexpose or blow-out your background to desired
effect. You don’t need a tremendous amount of light, because you’ll create
the overexposure with your camera settings and/or post-processing.
Photography
If you have a big white wall or background surface to work with, you can
point a strobe or flash unit directly at it in order to blast the area behind the
subject with light. When I only have a small flash unit to work with, I’ll put it
in Manual mode and set the flash to 1/8 power or higher, depending on the
aperture and ISO I’m working with. Keep in mind that with wider apertures
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Project 9
Figure 9.2 Here, a single flash is used to illuminate the wall and the subject from behind. A nice see-
through effect was achieved with the sheer fabric as the light coming in from behind the subject created
somewhat of a silhouette.
Figure 9.3 Two lights, modified by umbrellas, were used to create this effect.
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Project 9
Figure 9.4 Even a standard two-light setup like this can produce the beginnings of a good high key
image. This image was mostly made up of lighter tones to begin with, but bumping up the exposure in a
Raw converter or image editing software can help create the high key effect shown.
of f/2.8 or f/1.8, and a relatively high ISO (400, 800, or more), will allow you
to drop the power of the flash unit down a bit. Getting the most from your
flash without using higher power settings can be good for conserving bat-
tery power and it can also boost your recycle times. If you’re using more
flash units, or higher powered strobes, you’ll have the luxury of smaller
apertures and lower ISO settings.
There are other effective ways to bath your subject in background illumina-
tion. The illustrations featured in this chapter show how I used flash units
modified with shoot-through translucent umbrellas for various effects. Do
you need a main light or some other type of illumination for the front/visible
side of your subject? You can definitely do that, if that’s the look you want.
But if you would like something a little less slick and more ethereal, you can
do this without adding more light and simply let the background light do its
thing as it bounces around the room. Some of that light will hit your subject
on the camera side, too. Take a few test shots to see where this takes you.
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Project 9
Camera Settings
Your camera settings are going to vary widely based on the type, power,
and positioning of the lighting. If your only real light source is coming in
from behind the subject, the settings you use will determine the amount of
overexposure you’ll achieve for the background, but it can also determine to
what degree your subject will appear as silhouette. In a smaller room with
lighter-colored walls, an overexposure of the background light will allow your
subject to be more visible under the lesser illumination of the light scattering
back to her from the walls.
Post-Processing
For me, this type of shot is only partially complete right out of the camera.
I know as I’m shooting these images (always in Raw), that I’ll be adjusting
exposure and contrast with both my Raw converter and Photoshop in order
to fine-tune the work. This is similar to what photographers used to do in the
darkroom when they used variable-contrast paper and experimented with
exposure times under the enlarger.
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Project 9
As you look through your images from this project, identify some that you
think will look great as monochrome or split tones. Experiment with the
amount of contrast the images receive in order to emphasize a silhouette
or alternatively bring out more detail in the subject. The latter, especially
when shot with high ISO settings, can produce some intriguing texture
because of the noise that becomes visible.
Figure 9.6 The subject was positioned near a corner (where two white walls
meet). A flash was pointed behind her at the corner. Another flash illuminated
her from the front.
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Project 10
50mm for
One Week
When looking for ways to challenge
your creative process there’s nothing
like placing self-imposed constraints on
your selection of tools or techniques.
These constraints, far from limiting, can
actually free you from the burden of too many options, leaving you with the
enjoyable simplicity of seeing, composing, and clicking the shutter.
The 50mm fixed lens is a traditional “normal” focal length lens for SLR/
DSLR cameras. On 35mm film SLRs and full-frame DSLRs, 50mm is wide-
ly considered to offer an field of view closest to what the human eye sees.
The actual field of view you’ll be able to record depends on your camera’s
sensor size. What’s important for this project is not the actual focal length
of the lens (any fixed length lens in the normal range will suffice), but the
idea that you will be shooting without the option to zoom.
If you have been shooting primarily with a standard kit lens or other zoom
that offers a wide range of focal lengths (e.g. 24-70mm or 18-135mm)
you’ve no doubt gotten used to a style of shooting that a wide-to-telephoto
facilitates. Shooting with a fixed length lens forces you to think differently
49
Project 10
about your photography. In fact, it sets up a new dynamic in how you inter-
act with your subjects and the environment around you.
Project Instructions
Mount a 50mm or other normal fixed length lens (e.g. a 35mm) on your
camera and commit to leaving it there for one week. If you do not have
access to a normal fixed length lens, you can alternatively limit yourself to
ONE specific focal length on your zoom lens for the entire week. Your goal
is to end up with at least 25 images that you are happy with by the end of
that week.
This challenge will hopefully open up a new way of seeing and relating to
your world as a photographer. You should feel a new sense of confidence
and control when going back to the convenience of your zoom lens. You
might even decide that zooms are no longer your lenses of choice!
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Project 11
In everyday shooting, we’ve got the option to capture the maximum color
and exposure information our cameras will allow with Raw files. We can
then choose to convert to monochrome in a variety of ways giving us a
great deal of control over the final look of our black and white images. But
for this exercise, I want you to think in terms of controlling most of the op-
tions for your black and white shots in-camera.
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Project 11
But where Raw can provide you with all the benefits associated with post-
processing, it might also give you a sense that you don’t have to be quite
as careful with your camera settings since you can “fix it in post.” In fact,
exposure corrections, as useful as they may be, are always going to be
limited to some extent. If you’ve actually blown the detail out of the brighter
areas of your image for instance, nothing in the Raw file will allow you to
bring them back in post. The best scenario, of course, is to capture your
exposures as intended during the photography, and use any post adjust-
ments to your Raw data to tweak any weak areas. Things like color adjust-
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Project 11
Project Instructions
Set your DSLR camera to shoot in monochrome and JPEG-only format,
and commit to leaving it on those settings for one week. Your goal is to end
up with at least 25 images that you are happy with by the end of that week.
Alternatively, you can shoot some or all of the images with a film camera
and B&W film.
Shooting in JPEG (or on film) also effectively locks-in the monochrome and
exposure settings. Knowing this compels you to stop thinking in terms of
“fixing it in post” or adjusting colors after the fact. Certainly, there are some
adjustments you’ll be able to make once the images are imported to your
computer, but tweaking contrast and adjusting brights and darks within the
limits of your JPEG files is fair game.
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Project 12
Tell a
Story
with
Multiple
Images
The diptych, two images fea-
tured side-by-side, has long
been an effective device for
telling a visual story or creating Figure 12.1 Diptych.
interest in a way that each im-
age couldn’t do on its own. Of
course, this device doesn’t have to stop with just two images; you can use
as many as you like. The iconic Marilyn Diptych (1962) by Andy Warhol
actually consists of two panels of 50 variations of a single image.
Multiple image groupings are actually quite commonplace and used exten-
sively in wedding album designs, some types of portraiture products, and
in a editorial pieces. But these groupings aren’t always planned. What’s
great about working with image groupings is that you can go back and find
images in your archives and give them new life and significance!
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Project 12
Figure 12.2-12.3 Three images featuring shots from around the Atlantic City Boardwalk (right), and
two images at the same location and vantage point in Central Park, NYC, seasons apart (left). Col-
lages created with the Pic Stich app by Big Blue Clip, LLC.
Whether you’re using two images or several, it’s the relationship between
the images that give meaning to the grouping. Logical (and sometimes
nonsensical) relationships between images featured in a diptych or a trip-
tych (three image sequence) might be:
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Project 12
Digital groupings can also be created with various software, including stan-
dard photo editing programs.
• Pic Stitch. An app available for mobile Apple devices. There are
others that provide similar functionality, including Photo Grid for
Android phones. Images which were taken with your phone, or
imported to it, can be placed in a variety of pre-set layouts.
• Lightroom. The Print module in Adobe Lightroom allows you to
use and create templates for multiple image groupings. You can
choose to either print to paper or to JPEG format.
• Photoshop. In Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements (and
other layer-capable image editing software, including the open-
source GIMP package) you can simply drop images onto a back-
ground of white, or some other color, and size and drag them to
create the image grouping you want.
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Project 12
Project Instructions
You’ll create the following types of diptychs and triptychs for this project:
57
Project 13
Window Light
Photography
The potential of natural window light is addressed throughout this book,
but here it’s the focus of our attention and what we’ll use to create a variety
of image types. Yes, window light is that versatile, and magical. And why
shouldn’t it be? An average window can produce light similar to what you’d
get with a softbox. And with curtain sheers and opaque panels it’s possible
to modify the light in a number of ways.
Figure 13.1 Still life illuminated by daylight through a small window just above the table.
In the following project we’ll revisit classic and high-key looks and create
some still life and silhouette images.
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Project 13
Project Instructions
Setup and photograph the following using the examples and instructions
presented here as a starting guide:
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Project 13
• Classic Portrait. See Create a Classic Portrait detailed earlier
and use window light to create an image with strong side lighting.
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Project 13
• Silhouette. Similar to above, but keep the light from falling onto
the camera side of the subject. Use higher contrast settings in
post-processing (editing) for darker shadows.
• Still Life. The control you can achieve with still life setups and
window light is just amazing. By moving your still life object(s)
closer or farther away from the window you can see how the
distance really affects the contrast; the transition area between
light and shadow decreases as you increase the distance from the
window. The holds true for portraits, too.
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Project 13
This project should give you enough practice with a large, softbox-like light
source (the window) to help you understand what is possible with an actual
softbox or similar light modifier. By varying the distance between the light
and the subject, you should also clearly see how it affects contrast. Various
window treatments affect the overall quality of the light and can control spill
and angle of coverage, too. Although you can reproduce many of these
effects with artificial light sources and modifiers no matter what the lighting
conditions are outside, you might find that natural window light is your light
of choice when it’s available.
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Project 14
Found
Objects
This project is interesting in that it
brings up the age-old question about
what defines a work as art. Common
objects on their own aren’t typically thought
of as “art” pieces, yet they can be transformed
into art by simply being designated as such by
someone with a camera. Arguably, by captur-
ing and framing an object within the context of
“photograph” the photographer elevates that
object to attention-worthy status. By doing so,
the photographer is asserting that it is something
to contemplate or at least view as relevant.
Of course, this is one view but some say found art is a misnomer, that
simply designating an object as an art piece (or making a photograph of an
object) isn’t creating art at all.
There are other questions to ponder: What if, the object is unmoved and
simply discovered and captured as is? What if the object is in fact already
considered a piece of art, as in the case of a sculpture or beautiful architec-
ture? Is photographing it simply copying, documenting, or misappropriat-
ing? What if it is a registered trademark? What if a photographer creates
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Project 14
a beautiful composition of
garbage or animal droppings?
What if the object is moved
or placed in an arrangement
with other objects?
Fortunately, you don’t have to answer to these questions to enjoy the pro-
cess of discovering found object photography. To complete this project,
all you have to do is find objects that interest you and give them their own
stage and spotlight.
Project Instructions
With any type of camera, create a found object photograph in all of the fol-
lowing categories:
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Project 15
Create
(and
Break)
Symmetry
Our brains are setup to notice things
that are out of place. This is a skill
that helped keep our primitive ances-
Figure 17.1 Structures/Architecture. Symme-
try is often a design feature in structures which
tors safe from predators and helped
makes it a real subject of its own. But just as them to quickly identify their own prey
with any repetitive pattern (or the duplication/
mirroring of one side of the image) introducing
in known spaces.
an element that breaks the symmetry can do a
lot to ground the image.
Any break in the pattern got their at-
tention, and that tendency to notice
something out of place is still with us today. Perhaps the visual simplicity
and predictability of symmetrical objects and spaces appeals to us not so
much because things are “in place,” but because it allows us to quickly
identify things that are not perfectly aligned. That’s when things become
interesting.
Symmetry comes in several forms including rotational (an object looks the
same when you rotate it, or your view, around a center point) and bilateral
(from one vantage point, the object appears to mirror itself from left to right,
or from top to bottom). It can be thought of as a pattern. Bilateral sym-
metry, a pattern of two. There’s one side of the object and the identically
mirrored other side. Sometimes this is inherent in the subject being pho-
tographed, and sometimes the symmetry is a result of something like an
actual mirror reflection (e.g. mountainside mirrored in a lake).
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Project 15
Figure 17.2 Series/Patterns. When a series of objects creates a pattern that seems to simply repeat
itself it lacks a point of interest, so look for a break in the pattern or recompose so that you are not creat-
ing a left-to-right mirror image. It helps define the pattern as well as the break. In this lighting fixture,
three things are breaking up a potentially perfect symmetry: shadows and highlights, the composition,
and the slight but noticeable misalignment of some of the details on the fixture itself.
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Project 15
Figure 17.3 A view of the one of the Pools at the 9/11 Memorial in NYC. Notice how the beautiful sym-
metry of this angle and the reflections in the water compliment each other. By including the background
we further break down the symmetry of the entire frame and provide a sense of the Pool’s size.
Project Instructions
Use the following prompts to create your own symmetrical images, and to
find ways to break the symmetry in an elegant and meaningful way:
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Project 15
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15 Photo Projects
That Will Boost Your Creativity
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