So after shooting the clips for the promo, Ken just say down with me and chatted on various topics I prompted him on. I’ve pretty much removed myself from this video and what remains is about 17 minutes of gold, as this renowned portrait photographer talks about out craft and how he see’s it.
Ken’s a really neat guy with more photographic awards than you want to count. But he’s always eager to learn new things and share ideas. It’s really cool. You can also view the HD version HERE.
Note: This post was copy-edited and re-shared in MAy of 2018. Ken passed away in November of 2016, but I left the tense and language as it was when this was originally written.
by Gavin Seim: We all see differently and that’s good. We should never stop working to improve. One might even contend that you can never really “master” photography. But perhaps you can get pretty close, if you really nail down these and perhaps a few other essentials, taking control of the way you plan and capture images.
1 – Your Tools – A camera does not a photographer make and neither does fancy software. But don’t underestimate how important the tools are. Some sluff off knowing their gear, settings, apertures, shutter speeds, lights, software another tech stuff. That’s usually a fatal mistake. Don’t fall into the crowd that says “I’m an artist, so I just don’t get into that technical stuff.” Photography, like most arts, is both art and a science. And if you don’t master both, you’ll never be a master of the art.
2 – Storytelling – A great image has to have a subject and a story that can reach out and grab people. Uninteresting subject matter, too much clutter, messy composition, bad details, distracting lighting, the list goes on. Fail at any of these and you’ll never be great at photography. It’s hard to nail all these elements down with anything but years and years of practice and experience. But then, no one said this was easy. Until you can start clearing out distractions and really convey feeling. You’re just making snapshots. Those are fine, but remember. Everyone else it making them too.
3 – Tone Control – This may be the biggest of all. And yet it’s finer points are the most ignored. It’s the one most will never truly master. Everything needs to lead to the subject. And mastering tone gives you that power. Tone control is about seeing light in your head, understating how to manipulate it, and understanding how to control tones to make your subject and your story, sing like the sound of music. Even most professionals have not nailed down tone control, but until you do, you’ll never be fully able to control your light or the impact of your photographs. For more on controlling tone check out this article.
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If you’ve mastered all these things, then you should be writing this instead of me, because I’m still working on them. But working I am and getting closer each day. Just remember that a camera is no more an artistic tool than a typewriter. It’s knowing how to tell a story with light, tone and line that matters. Like nearly all arts, there’s an aspect of science and an aspect of art you must master. Otherwise you’re just another person with a tub of paint or a ream of paper. For more
So lets get to work. Science + Knowledge + Vision = Art
Today Gavin goes in depth on light, zones, meters and making images come out the way we want them, every time. Foregoing long errata and going straight to analysis of using light and Zone to control the results of our images. Lets jump in.
Artists Sunset – Ken Whitmire in Pacific City Oregon. Fall 2011 by Gavin Seim.
It was one of those Sunsets. The ones with stunning clouds and radiant colors that seem to last forever. Like a great song that keeps on playing. I was on a road trip to the Oregon Coast with Ken Whitmire, the renown portraitist. Ken was working with a family on the beach in Pacific City and I assisted, while getting images and video for a project we were working on.
About halfway through Ken was on his ladder, having this family of five walk down the beach. I just stood back and watched. A bit envious of the amazing portraits he was going to take home. It was a stunning evening. I took in the incredible ocean landscape with some awe. In between video clips, I decided to go vertical and try to illustrate Ken as the working professional in his environment. I hoped for a sort of memorable feel that that artists and photographers could relate to.
This has been really well received. I admit, I did not realize it would strike such a chord, but I’m glad it did. To me this says something about creative craftsmanship and taking your time. It reminds us to take the extra steps up that ladder to make an image Great. That’s what Ken Whitmire has done for over fifty years and I’m glad I got to be a small part of that.
Our road trip was a memorable one in more ways than one. In fact by brother and I wrote a short short story about this trip. You can read that here on the Brothers Seim blog.
Release details: Prints available. Contact the studio. Learn more about prices. Available prints…
The new Silver Shadows 2, black and white toolkit for Lightroom is now available from Seim Effects Photo Tools. SS2 is a complete black and white preset system that’s been refined and rebuilt from the ground up for stunning silver conversions without leaving LR.
V2 contains over 100 refined easy-to-use black-and-white presets that address the subtleties of digital silver conversion, photographers can easily mix and match, customize and tweak to create artisan quality black-and-white images without leaving Lightroom. I uses the Seim Effects workflow structure that permits both large batches and single images to be processed quickly and accurately without leaving Lightroom.
The cost is Silver shadows is just just over $50 for the entire collection. You can find out more on the Seim Effects website. Silver Shadows 2.
