On this years annual Christmas bash we we have fun talking about light, 2012, lots of great gadgets and gifts, and even avalanches… If you listen to the after show.
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.
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.
They have just not gotten to know me. Truth is, I’m just a guy in my late twenties, and it was not that long ago that I was starting out. I know what it’s like. I study a lot, know a lot of the hassles that can be avoided, and I see what’s happening in photography today. So I won’t simply play the part of a feel-good guy who says everything is great no matter what. We all deserve honesty.
Encouragement is a valuable thing, but there’s a lot of patting on the back going on because people don’t have the guts to be honest with their peers. In the end, the truth often comes out in the fact that they can’t make it in business. I say going bankrupt is terrible way to realize how hard photography is. Best to get to the hard truths right off, so you can make a business plan that works.
So that said, here are some thoughts–some observed, some learned the hard way–for newer and aspiring photographers. I’m going to be a little blunt, so don’t take it personally. It’s OK to be starting out. But you deserve honesty, and that’s exactly what you’ll get today.
It’s not like it was. Let’s face it. The standard of excellence is higher than ever. Everyone is doing photography. Yes, you can learn to take “good” photos pretty quickly. But so can everyone else. And with so many people doing just that, nearly as many trying to go into business, and a lot of those working for next to nothing, the market is totally saturated, and the value of photography has been driven to an all time low. But don’t lose heart. There is a market, but you need a brand and something with unique value to offer. You’ll need quality, personalty, and business skill to boot, or you’ll just be working for peanuts producing the same stuff everyone else is.
1. Take the Time.
You won’t be Ansel overnight. Don’t stress about it. Becoming a really experienced photographer takes training–a lot of it. It will not happen overnight. It probably won’t even happen in two or three years. Not that you won’t be taking good photos in that time, but don’t expect them to be the most amazing things every time. If you want to rise above just keep getting better. Keep training. Because you can, and you’ll feel great about that progress.
2. Don’t Rush Into It.
Make a clean, simple site where you can show your work and get feedback. Then keep at it, but take it easy. Don’t feel like you have to rush out and book gigs. It’s OK to be a photographer for the sheer joy of it, just learning, sharing, and having fun. As soon as you start hiring out, you’ll have to spend more time managing a business than making great photos. A lot more. In many ways, it’s actually less enjoyable when it becomes a job, even if you still love it.
This may be the most valuable piece I’ve written on photography. In the last year, I’ve started working with 4×5 film and digital side by side. I’ve also explored extensive exercises in tonal control, truly learned to visualize, and implemented key parts of the Zone System that was developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer, both in my film and my digital work, in color and black and white.
The idea of visualizing and using Zones is not promoted heavily today. It seems much of the industry, including many of its educators, arrived at digital and decided that the past 150 years of photographic knowledge were somewhat irrelevant. What I’m about to show you is not taught much, but understanding it WILL change your photography forever. I’m not kidding; once you get this, you’ll never see light the same way again. And I hope you’ll share it with others.
Sunsets Hidden Falls. Yosemite, 2010 - A general look at where I placed the scene elements in relation to the Zones. Each arrow leads to what I see as the zone on the scale.
I’m going to stay simple because these concepts are essentially simple. I have not come up with a new digital based zone system, a stripped down version, or an article full of nerdy equations, white papers, or complex systems. This is not hard, and you can start putting it to use TODAY for film or digital. Since most of us are in the digital world, I’ll focus on that. I’m going to show you how to use the core of the Zone System to make you a vastly better photographer. I’ve also brought along some examples for analyzing the Zones.
To those of you who already know this, kudos. But I challenge you to review and analyze whether you’re really using it, or just buzzing along in digital bliss and fixing things later. Excuse my bluntness, but this is happening to the best of us. We need to get back to basics, visualize, control tone, dynamic range, and image quality.
Originally, the Zone System was a complete approach that included everything from the initial exposure to the final print. Now we don’t use darkrooms much these days, so I’ll focus on the pivot point of the Zone System: the Zones themselves. That said, I would encourage you to study the whole process even if you don’t use film. It will help you gain a better understanding of light and photography. Not only that, but old books like Fred Picker’s Zone VI workshop, deal with it quickly and effectively and can often be had for mere pennies.
1. The Zone Scale.
The Zone Scale lies at the core of the Zone System. It consists of eleven squares that span from clipped black (Zone 0) to clipped white (Zone X). Each square represents a change of one stop. The first part of using Zones starts before you release the shutter. Truly visualizing your image is like nothing else. Once you master it, you see the image you plan to make, including your edits and refinements, in your mind before you ever take the photo. It changes everything about how you photograph and how refined the resulting images become.
Brilliantly simple, the Zone scale allows us to visualize all our light from complete black to complete white in one stop increments.
To begin, look at your scene. What’s outside your window right now? Visualize what zones in which the things around you fall. Then imagine you’re taking a photo. Imagine where the zones would be if the image came out exactly as you wanted. It does not have to be what you “see” but what you “visualize” for the finished image. How do YOU want to make it?
Think about what Zone levels on various objects in this scene would most complement your main subject as well as your supporting cast of elements. Sometimes it helps to begin by trying to visualize a scene in black and white, even if your final image is going to be color. Thinking in terms of only tones can be helpful, especially early on in the process.
