In this short movie I demo , I worked a pretty simple image into a beautiful and warn picture using the Nik Software plugin Collection. The phortograph used was captured with a Sony NEX@5, in New York City's Upper West Side. The scene was striking to me in its simplicity but I knew it had potential so I dedided to work it later in Post. The Nik software is an awesome set of plugins that allow users to create stunning photographs and extends the range of options in your processing.  This is a straight forward lesson for more intermediate students but can be seen by anyone. Check it out and let us know what you think below, we love to hear your comments and suggestions. 

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An Introduction to Street Photography.

Street photography is used every day all over the world. The minute a tourist decides to take his/her camera along for the day to document the location he/she is visiting, the style of photography used is Street Photography.
Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings. Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society.

Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. Henri Cartier Bresson, the famous French Photographer, made the best use of it and is often held responsible for the idea of the “Decisive Moment”. His quote:   "the decisive moment, it is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.",  along with this photograph, served to define and demonstrate the idea.
Many classic works of street photography were created in the period between roughly 1890 and 1975 and coincided with the introduction of portable cameras, especially small 35mm, rangefinder cameras, most famously the Leica, as used by Henri Cartier-Bresson, among others.

Technique:

A commonly used focusing technique is zone focusing — setting a fixed focal distance and shooting from that distance — as an alternative to autofocus, particularly using wide angle lenses with their increased depth of field. Zone focusing facilitates shooting "from the hip" i.e. without bringing the camera up to the eye. 
In this photo you can see that the lens incorporate F.stops (2.8, 8 to 22) and distances (m and ft stands for meter and feet). The lines under the F-Stops points to the distance, so if you look at F.22 you can see that the line point to 3 and an 8 tipped on its side. (That sign means “infinity”). Looking at your lens (not through the lens) you can see that at F.22 points to 10’ or 3 meter to infinity. What it means is that you will have focus in this specific area and everything within these distances will be in focus. F.11 will give you focus from 13-14’ (4 meter) to 30’ (10 meter). This will allow you to “pre-focus” or “Zone Focus”. Once you do this you do not need to look through your lens to focus. This is perfect to catch moments quickly, which is crucial in Street Photography.

Street Photography, Photojournalism and Documentary.

Street Photography is a cross between Photojournalism and Documentary, as it requires photographers to capture daily occurrences and events that a journalist may look for, and also demand a bit of story telling as in documentary.

Fully developed story using street Photography often depicts a certain location and its inhabitants. The perfect example may be “The Americans” by Robert Frank (who shot this photograph and is the Cover of the book) who traveled the United Sates shooting the streets and life in America. Check this article by NPR about the book and listen to the interview.

Simple Exercise:

Go to a market, or large event in or around your neighborhood. Your job is to capture “Moments”. It could be anything. The following images by Alice Lecoeur from Paris, France, are the perfect example of street photographs, as they captured a simple moment between three people, or the gentleman that goes grocery shopping with a helmet on!

Tips to use when shooting Street Photography:

• Go to a busy neighborhood: you don’t want to be the only person in the area.
• Include the environment: Certain areas have a specific look, include it in the shot.
• When shooting people look in the distance when lowering your camera; this will avoid eye contact, so if the person did not want their picture they may not feel that you shot them as you are looking at something else.
• Look for Odd things; Dig in
• Strap your camera around your wrist. If you do that and your camera is light enough it will be in your hand at all times, so you will be ready to shoot quicker.
• Look at the way people interact.
• Use weird angles, reflection..

Here is a list of some of the masters in the style of Street Photography:

• Henry Cartier Bresson , W. Eugene Smith, Robert Doisneau, Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank, William Klein, W. Eugene Smith, Garry Winogrand, Mary Ellen Mark, Sebastio Salgado, Diane Arbus

There are many other: Lisette Model, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Helen Levitt, Jean Henry Lartigue, Joseph Koudelka...

Legality:

As far as the legality of shooting on the streets you should review this link.

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Start a conversation

For our final part in our series “7 Steps to..” I would like to offer a simple suggestion. “Start a conversation”. The worst thing, I believe, an artist can is to live in a bubble. It may be that, working in their studio, by themselves, is fine and works for some. In my view, artists love the conversation, the inspiration, and the intellectual stimulation that grows from having other artists around them. So, time to make friends and share your love of photography.

To “Start a conversation” will allow you to receive feedback from your peers and also to see what other photographer’s work, to understand how they think, and to share tips and tricks. This will greatly improve your photography.

There are many communities, including ours (join here), where you can create a discussion and share. On our site you can easily create a group, invite the people you think you will get along and “start a

conversation”. The best part is to allow feedback, comments and support each other. You are all invited to create a group, need help contact our This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Create a monthly assignment, and a monthly meeting, we’ll support you if needs be, for free. Other options are to join a Camera Club. There are some in every location possible. There may be some dues but usually they are a great way to meet people with the same interest and passion. It is a great social moments.

As photographer William Albert Allard said: “Photography is a way of introducing people to other people.”

A simple exercise:

Write down the type of group you would like to participate in: “Amateur Photographer want to join group for single monthly assignment and meeting around coffee.” Post this on a note on an artist community, Craigslist, Flickr, Meetup or our website. See what happens. If you feel comfortable with it, move forward. The goal is to get excited about what you do.

Ideas for groups:

If you shoot a lot, a 365 Project is great. (http://365project.org/) You can create your own or join (that's the idea) One picture a day. This will get you going. My take is most of you are at similar levels so set a simple project such as (for the month) “search for your identity”. Document where you work, how you get to work, your family etc. meet after a month and see the work from people around you. The goal is to get excited about your photographs. From there see what ideas comes to mind while sharing with the group.

I interviewed an amazing photographer, who unfortunately decided that I should not publish her interview, so I will not name her. She’s an extremely talented photographer and in my final question I asked her: “What advice would you give a young photographer?” Without any hesitation she instantly responded by saying “..build a community you can rely on, so you are not alone.” Why was so obvious to her? A community of like minded people provides support and inspiration. A place to share and listen, a place to for your work to be seen and critiqued, a place to grow. Don't wait you will enjoy it and your photography will benefit greatly.

I hope you found this series of short photography lessons helpful. As always your feedback and comments are welcome.

Crop the World Away.

Here is our third lesson in our series “Seven steps to becoming a better photographer”. We first asked you to start working without a camera. Trying to have photographers “pre-visualize, then we introduced the Light: and its effect on a scene. Our goal was to have photographers pay attention to the light, the direction it is coming from and also the type of light it offers. Today we are going to ask you to “Crop the world away”. (Click here to access Part I and here for Part II )

As I was doing a little bit of research online I found that there were a lot of questions as to whether it was Ok to crop.  Cropping is one of the most important tools a photographer has. So if you are wondering whether you can or cannot crop a photograph, let me tell you that no one has been punished for doing so. There is no little devil that will come out from under the bed and smack you over the head because you cropped a photograph. Actually the opposite is probably true.

As I just stated cropping is one of the most powerful tools a photographer has. You must learn to use it well. There are two reasons you can crop:

1. Because you want your photographs to be in a different format than the one of the camera you use.
2. Because you believe cropping will improve your photograph.

Reason 1: A specific format.

I am currently shooting a personal project called “Distraction”. When I started it I shot with my new camera, a Sony NEX-5, with a rectangular format sensor. However, once I started looking at the photos I had taken, they felt better in a square format. So after cropping a few I decided that the square format would be used throughout the project, mainly, so it that it would have a more coherent look. Ultimately, the photos look great in the square. If I did not want to crop, my only option would be to shoot with a square format camera, and film, which I was not about to do. Often photographers decide to try various formats but do not want to have to purchase a new camera and so just decide to crop.

Reason 2: Improve a photograph.

The other reason is to improve the photographs. Maybe something appeared that you did not notice when shooting. There could be too much sky in a photo. Whatever the reason it is perfectly OK. Below are sample of Arnold Newman’s photograph of Igor Stravinsky. On the left is the original on the right is the cropped one. Arnold Newman was one of the master of Portrait Photography and commonly cropped his photograph. There is also a very well known portrait of Picasso. It is very tight cropped. if you see the original you realize how wide it was shot.

A simple exercise:

Get 2 “L” shape card. They should be 2-3” in width. I usually take an standard Matt board and cut it, similar to the one in the photo but cut. I prefer black as it block off the light but white works too. After selected and opening a photo on your monitor, play with your cropping tool. Put it in front of your image and look to see if you get a better image with a little bit of “Crop” magic. In this photo we have a square cut into a 11"x14" mat board so it gives a fixed square format window. This allowed us to pre-visualized a square composition during the shoot.

To crop or not to crop,? Just do it!

Remember that there are many standard formats that are used. We commonly see the 35mm format but many others are  and are very pleasing to the eye. I used to love the 6x12(cm) that is got from a film back I placed on my 4”x5” camera.  At one point I shot a lot with a Noblex 135 Camera. I loved it and traveled with it. It combined 2 frames of a 35mm and gave you a very wide-angle image.  So it is ok to crop? Actually, I would encourage it. At least you should learn to crop and understand what works what does not.
There are many types of shooters. Certain photographers deal well with certain formats. Some people are “square” shooter, others deal well with panoramic format. On our website the thumbnails are cropped to a square. It is common to look at the thumbnail and find that it is visually more pleasing than the original. The following image is from a series of photographs I shot in upstate NY. These photos worked well but looking at the contact sheets, I felt 2 frames, often exposed over one another looked better. This one I felt had a strange feel.

My final advice is that, cropping is an important tool that you must learn to use properly.  If, once again you are going to work on a project, you may find that having one set format works better than having some square images and some rectangular images mixed. You also may decide you want to use a panoramic format. Cropping will saving from having to purchase a new camera. Be consistent in your decisions, so that your work is more coherent. In the end if a photograph is better cropped, then crop it.

(Click here to access Part I and here for Part II , Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, as always if you enjoyed this post leave a comment)

The Light and its effect on a scene; Part II

The Light and its effect on a scene In our first lesson we wanted you to learn to “See without the Camera”. I described the process as pre-visualizing your photographs, a more calculated than instinctive approach, but an excellent building block. For our next lesson, “Light and its effect on a scene”, my goal is for photographers to include, in their pre-visualization, the element of light as a controlled tool. It is important to become aware of how light affects, or could affect, a scene. As you make decision on how to capture a specific photograph, wondering how the light will change the shot is critical. I do also believe that, in the end, it will expend your vision.

On big budget commercial shoot, locations scouts (people who go and find places to shoot) are often sent to find the right place for the shoot, but their job is not to just to find a pretty place, it is also to identify the best time to shoot, and the position of the sun in relation to the scene, so the photographers thousands of miles away can decide what time would be best to shoot. Of course we are not going to start with big production and major planning but let’s start to plant the seed and add one more tool. Ansel Adams always knew when it would the best time to capture a scene be, what would be the position of the sun at what time etc, often coming back a few times to capture what he had pre-visualized.

The Different types of light:

Our attention will be directed on two areas: the type of light and the position of the light. We will also assume that we are dealing with sunlight. As you develop your skills, you can apply these rules to artificial lights. We will start with the type of light and to simplify this process we will break these types into three categories: Normal, Flat or Contrasty. The following is a quick description; remember these are broad types that can only serve as guides.

• Normal: the light for this type, creates shadows that are defined but whose edges are soft. These shadows are “opened”, which means there is information in the shadow area of the photograph. This could be a sunny day with some clouds, or a sunny day when the scene or subject is in the shade, and the scene has a normal range of values from blacks to whites.
• Flat: there are very little or no shadows with this type of light, very low contrast in the scene with information throughout the entire photograph, no deep blacks or very bright whites. Usually overcast or cloudy day. Smallest range of values from black to white.
• Contrasty: Light is extremely harsh with very defined and deep, dark shadows, and sharp edges. Very bright highlights, with a wide range color values from dark to light. High contrast.

So now you have gone for a walk and saw a few areas that you would like to come back to and photograph. You have pre-visualized these shots and feel they could be really nice shots. The problem is when you come back the light has changed; the scene does not offer the striking patterns of shadows you had seen before. The light is soft and shadow less. Bringing awareness of the type of light you would like to have in a specific image will strengthen your pre-visualizing. It will also help as you start building series of photographs. When creating a group of photographs, you may want to have the same feeling, which is often dictated by the type of light you use, otherwise, your project may feel discombobulated. Finally as you process your files knowing what type of light is in the scene will help in reducing or increasing contrast etc. There are no right or wrong in using a certain type of light, other than the fact is that our job as photographers is to use the one that will most enhance the photograph.

A simple exercise (1): Pick a scene in your neighborhood that you regularly like and walk by. Select a small area: 30”x40”. For the next few days look at how the light affects the scene, whether in full sunlight or on an overcast day. If you can, shoot the same scene under the different condition and compare them on your computer screen, to see the effect of the light.

The direction of the light:

The direction of the light will dictate the amount and length of the shadows that are created. To not complicate things too much, we will only look at “Frontal” and “Side” light.

• Frontal: I call “Frontal light”, a light source whose direction is either aligned with the camera, above and behind it or a little bit to the side (left or right) See diagram below. A “Frontal light” will light the subject in a pleasing manner, however the object may appear less dimensional.
• Side Light: “Side light” will be any light source whose direction is more than 10 to 20 degree to either side of the camera. A “Side light” will create more texture in the subject. The more the light is located to the subject’s side, the more pronounced the texture will be.

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A simple exercise (2): Go back to the scene you had picked and see how the position of the light affects the scene, how the shadows look and see if they add something to the photograph. If you can, shoot the same scene under the different condition and compare them on your computer screen, to see the effect of the light.

So, how can you use this information?

Well first of all, if and when you shoot, look at the type of light, look at the position of the light and how it affects the scene. As this is a process of growth the next few steps is to understand why things happen. Why for instance a subject is looking amazing at sunset and looks mundane the rest of the time. Is it the “Contrasty” light that is making the color rich, the shadows that adds a certain dimension, the texture created by the position of the sun in relation to the subject? These questions and their answers are the steps that will allow you to grow as a photographer.

Ultimately, a project will come along that will require you to create a series of photographs. Whether someone asks you to shoot something or you decide to have a personal project. Most of the time, we go and capture the photographs that present themselves in front of our camera. The day you start with a blank canvas and must build everything in front of your lens, the understanding of the light, will help you create a coherent body of work. Whether it is portrait, landscape or still life, you will need to decide if the light should be flat, or contrasty and should it create a lot of shadows by coming from the side or be more frontal. These factors will allow you to present your story in a coherent. Question, clarifcations, comments.. let us know by using th ecomment box below.

(Click here to access Part I and here for Part II , Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, as always if you enjoyed this post leave a comment)

Learn to see without the camera

It may sound a little strange for me to start a series of free photography lessons trying to help you become a better photographer by asking you to not use your camera, but this is exactly what I’ll ask you to do in this lesson. The first lesson in the series is called “learn to see without the camera”, and should strengthen your visual skills. Please note that I assume that you have a basic understanding of how to use your camera, as this series of lessons will not cover the technical and mechanical part of photography.

Photography is about seeing. It is about recognizing the special elements that surround us, and capturing them in a fraction of a moment. The technical aspects and having learned your tools efficiently will support your vision and allow you to express yourself.

It is sometime recommended to artists, whether musicians, painters, photographers or in other discipline, to put their art to the side for a while, to rejuvenate themselves, to recharge.. Often the fruit of such a pause, are extremely positive. This is what I will ask you to do for a little while. It may be for an hour, a day or longer. I will ask you to learn to See without the camera in hope of rediscovering your surrounding and letting it speak to you.

Minor White's quote: "When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave until you have captured its essence." Now this may be a little extreme and initially you may be happy to find a good photograph to capture.

A simple photography exercise:

For our first exercise I would like you to do is to stop and look around you and look for the best picture, the best frame. Look! Could it be the light creating a pattern on the wall, the keyboard on you computer? Where is it the best picture now? How and where would you crop the image? What focal lens would you be using? Ok ? Try it now.

Congratulations you have completed our first exercise. Next what I’d like you to do is to look at your daily schedule and we’ll plan around it. So when can you can carry a camera and take pictures.
•    Your travel to work
•    Your morning at work
•    Lunch
•    Afternoon at work
•    Travel back home
•    Afternoon/ Evening walk with your partner or by yourself
Decide, based on your schedule which part of the day you will be able to shoot.

For this example we’ll assume that you can only shoot during your lunch break. On Day one what I would like you to do is leave the camera at home as we’ll practice the same exercise we just did.  Have a quick lunch and go for a walk. Look around for the photographs that are available to you. Scan your surroundings, whether the light falling on a building a certain way, the people interacting during their lunch break or the architecture. Look at each scene and preview it. How would you crop it, how is the light? What would happen if the light were different? It could be that you find the texture on an old building attractive. There are a multitude of options and ways to frame a shot. Which way would you frame it if you had your camera. Train your eye to see, to pre-visualize your shot without the camera.

On day 2, revisit the possible images you had seen the day before and capture them. Try to apply the crops and angles you had previewed the day before. See how they work. Go deeper in the image by exploring the subject. Here is an example of what I mean. When I started assisting fashion photographers many years ago, I noticed that most of the time they would shoot 3 rolls of 35mm per shot, 108 frames. The changes between each frame, were minor, very minor. The reason is that photographers were trying to get the “perfect shot”. There was no Photoshop at the time to rely on, for the fixes in post. They had just a frame on a piece of film, and every little detail had to be perfect. Just like for a cook, adding a special little spice in a recipe, exploring is extremely critical for photographers.

Hopefully, soon you will start to notice that your photographs have become more structured, as you are training your eye to see without the camera. Scanning a scene you will find the right crop, the perfect frame easily.

(Click here to access Part I and here for Part II , Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, as always if you enjoyed this post leave a comment)

(We would greatly appreciate your comments, take a second and let us know what you think about this lesson below, thank you)

I feel that to know the photographers that have lead the way and created some of the best photographs ever is so important. Trying to learn about one of them each week for a few months will improve your creativity and inspire you. In an interview for our podcast with photographer Kuni Takahashi, I asked him how he got into photography. He told me that he was working but did not really know what he wanted to do with his life so he read books. many books. One day he read about Kyochi Sawada (see photo on the right), not a well known photographer but his photographs have been seen by millions and are extremely porwerful. This book inspired him to become a photographer, which has taken him all over the world, doing war photography and shooting what he loves. So today I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite photographers; Minor white, and hope it will inspire you.

Minor White is not your household name, even to advanced amateur. however he is one of the most influential photographer in the field of Art and landscape. I personnaly loved his work as I began my education in photography. His technical skills were masterful but his vision was what always struck me when looking at his work. You could find a sense of peace and the spiritual in Minor White's Photographs. His quote: "When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave until you have captured its essence." clearly supports the vision he brought to his photographs.

Minor White was involved with a circle of influential photographers including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams. Each of them master in the field. Minor White was very particular with regard to the both technical aspects of his art and the quality of the images he produced. To transmit his messages—to ‘direct the viewer’—White employs a variety of methods; he creates symbols to represent emotions, he accompanies his images with text or places them in sequence. (from Wikipedia)

"For what I am seeing is not what I saw" is the context of every photograph I make." Minor White

All Photographs ©Minor White

Being so busy and trying to maintain sanity with multitasking, I often wish that I could focus my energy one specific task at a time. Finding time to take more pictures and learning more about photography is often difficult. Traveling to work, doing our job, breaking for lunch, back to work, travel back. All these duties leave you little time to concentrate on something really fun, something you love, something really important so you can balance out your creative side with the roles you have to play as employees, parents, partners etc. Our lives are so busy that it is difficult to fit in your special time to shoot.

There are many ways you can improve and acquire more skills with your photography. These steps will not need a lot of time and should fit in your daily schedule nicely. So as a follow up to my recent articles “Tips on how to develop your Vision", I will,  during the next few weeks, offer a series of articles that will provide you a few tips on how to improve your vision. Please note that these exercises are about seeing and less about the technical side of photography but we feel that “seeing” is the most important tool a photographer has. The series of lessons will include the following list of subjects:

7 Steps to becoming a better photographer

1. Learn to look without the camera
2. Light and its effect on a scene
3. Crop the world away
4. Point of view and view point
5. You, your camera, your story
6. A great photograph, its Technical and Emotional content
7. Start a conversation

So we are announcing our "7 Steps to becoming a better photographer" series and hope you enjoy it. Please note than in an effort to help our members we will offer a regular one hour free class to a select group. Watch out for the class schedule and information coming soon. (most likely after our Photo Safari on March 5th 2011)

Please note questions and comments are welcome, use the comments space below.

A photographer must know his/her market.

After 20 years of teaching you would think that I have answers to each and every question that comes my way. Well, I wish it was the case. Sometimes the question is not that easy to answer because to properly answer it, I often have to ask more questions. Just think about this example: someone comes into B&H or Calumet photo and ask the sales person for a lens. What will automatically happen? The sales person will start asking questions, actually many questions. From which camera system, the focal lens, what type of subject, to how much are they willing to spend. It is exactly the same for me when I am asked by someone, what a portfolio should include or look like. Why? Because when planning a portfolio, a photographer must take into account the market they will serve as well as many other aspects of the business, including such variables as location, cost of doing business in the area and all existing and possible sources of income. Do you think the Mime in New York City ( the one in the picture) knows his market?

Set your goals so you can plan.

Many years ago, on the first day of my class, I would stand in front of my new students and ask them: “Today you are here, in the classroom getting ready to enter the world of commercial photography.” As I wrote an “A” on the blackboard and underline it to show them, that "this is where they are today". I walked a step forward and wrote a “B” at the other end of the blackboard. "We know that “A” is here, today. Now what will be the quickest way to get to “B”?  “A straight line!”, someone answered. “Yes a straight line will be good, can you elaborate?”  Truly, I can tell you that 100% of the time my poor students looked at me like I was an alien, which I am, and I do take the blame for the really poorly designed question. Finally I would say:” Since we know where point “A” is: today, this classroom, etc. the quickest way to get to “B” would be to know where “B” is! Let say point “B” is: Being in San Francisco shooting high end advertising automobile photography, or owning a portrait studio that shoots weddings and family portraits in New Hampshire. Then one can define the best path to get to that point, and form a clear and educated plan of actions.  Correct?” The confused faces appeared to say: “We are not sure what you are talking about, if it is the accent or the just the long vacation.” . The fact is thatt with commercial photography a well-defined plan will carry you further. Knowing what your goals are will help you define a plan to reach them.

A question with many possible answers.

So a few days ago an excellent student of mine, while shooting a beautiful photograph, started a discussion on his future portfolio and what should be included in terms of types of images and style. I responded by asking questions. Whether he planned on shooting or assisting when out of school? Shooting, was his answer. I asked him if he did have any clients that could provide income right away, if he was planning on moving to a different location? I am sure initially, it must have been a little annoying but with each answer he gave me, I could respond easily and explain my point of view. Jumping into being a photographer right out of school usually means generating income from photography right away. A different location would imply different types of clients. For example being in Boston, you should know that the major industries can be broken into three groups: Health care, Banking and Education, therefore shooting fashion photography may not be very lucrative. After ten minutes of questions and answers, things started to be a little clearer for him and even though our conversation was far from finished, he could go home and start considering his next steps in a clearer and more educated manner. Once he knew the location of his business, he could figure out the types of companies and the work they will need to hire a photographer for. Once that is defined, he could figure out what style may be more appropriate etc. So designing and planning your portfolio with your potential client in mind will be very helpful.

Four questions that will help you.

As a result of this conversation, I decided to write down a set of questions that I would have all my students answer in a written form, so that they would not feel silly or shy, or be embarrassed.

This list of questions, I would ask anyone hoping to get into commercial photography, it may be in different ways but similar in theme.

1.    What is it that makes you special as a photographer?
2.    Where do you want to be in one year?
3.    Where do you want to be in three years?
4.    What are the steps you will be taking to achieve these goals?

The first question should help you define the reasons why someone would decide to hire you instead of another photographer? It should also help you define who you are as a photographer. For instance one could say: I am special because of the way I see things, I am special because I am awesome with kids etc. No matter what it is, make sure that whatever it is that makes you special must be featured in your portfolio.

Having a short-term goal (1 Year) will give you a plan and instill a sense of urgency to it. Is that important? Well how many students do you know finish school (upper education) and wait for things to happen? A one-year plan will provide some guidelines and accountability. Schools rarely require that their students define a course of actions for once they graduate, so they leave school often unprepared.

A three-year goal will guide you, once the excitement is gone and the reality has settled in.  Usually businesses either succeed or fail during the first three years, and even though Photography sometimes takes longer, by then you should have a good idea whether this is going to work or not.

Once your goals have been defined it is easy to lay down a path to reach them. To go into each possibility in this article would take way to long. Going back to the conversation I had with my student, he wanted to get into the national market. That’s great but my advice was to go for the regional market first, as it would be a more realistic goal. Once he did access the regional market, he would acquire experience with larger projects and could move toward his ultimate goal of working for the national market.

Whatever your situation is, whether you are a young photographer hoping to get into large production advertising, or a soon to be retiree hoping to earn some income from his/her favorite pastime, being able to answer these questions will greatly help you. What I do with each students is review their answer and see what they do to prepare. A young woman wanted to assist and be a retoucher once out of school. Now I can review what her level of skills his with Photoshop so that she can really be prepared.

(Questions, feedback use the comment and I'll respond as soon as I can. Thank you)

I am often asked by young photographers to review their work, in order to give them feedback. Now, these young photographers, whether beginner or advanced amateurs, are often in the early stages of their photographic journey. They are still trying to figure out all the technical parts of photography, while trying to also be creative and artistic. I always feel their passion and excitement. However,  I usually substitute my honest feedback for questions: "What is it that make this photograph, your photograph? What is it that makes you different from all the other photographers?" However, I usually offer kind words, look for a few answers to see how aware of the choices they made while shooting, and give kind advices on which they may improve their next photograph.

Today, I would like to offer young photographers a few tips on how to develop a vision. (By young, I mean the new photographers.) I would also like to say that I am amazed by the  amount of talent that is out there and feel that kind words will go further than harsh criticism. Building a strong foundation is key to the success of an artist. He/she must enjoy the process, which in my view should be, after all, the driving factor.

Learn the tools of photography.

The first major problems I see with young photographers is technical. Yes, cameras, F-stops, lights, shutter speeds, ISO.. All this stuff that takes you away from taking great shots, as you are so consumed with these technical details, that you forget what I believe is the most important factor, the way the image feel: the emotional content. So whatever it takes, learn the technical stuff, shoot anything and everything. Read your Camera's MANUAL, yes.. understand the ins and outs of this new tool, your camera. You may say that it could take a long time. Well. I don't believe so, learn the first page, then the second, and maybe after that, you can go through a chapter at a time. In the end learn what you need and as you grow, you will learn something new, but in the end don't get overwhelmed. You absolutely must make sure you understand: F-stops, shutter speeds and what a digital file is.

The second issue I have is..oops I am going to say it..Photoshop (or whichever software you use). Why? Because it gives anyone so many choices with every aspect of the image that young photographers can play with a picture and make something out of nothing. Digital and Photoshop, with the slogan being thrown around: "Improve your creativity', has produced thousands of young photographers playing with the curves, levels, saturation, and creating decent photos. My advice refrain yourself from changing all these things without really knowing what they are doing it, beside that it's there. Create a photograph and make it look as it should but beautiful. For instance, for a portrait, make the skin look beautiful, a landscape make it look rich, colorful, but still real. I am not being a purist with this one, I just think you should learn to control your tools.

Learn from the Masters of photography.

The other issue, onw that I really would stress; You must know photography history. You must learn the photographers that have come before us! So as you are learning the technical stuff, immerse yourself in photography books. There is a whole list of masters that have preceded us, a serious student must know them. How do you do it? Well your community library is a great place to start, get every book they have, the web has a huge amount of information. Also, "The History of Photography", by Beaumont Newhall is an excellent start and fairly inexpensive (History of Photography (revised and enlarged).

Check our Link Page too, we have links to various sites where you can see some beautiful work. Also look at painting, most museum have some kind of free access. In Boston I go to the MFA, often it's free after 4:30PM on Wednesdays. I love going and it's always different and you can learn so much by looking at masterpieces.

Develop your idea, work in "project".

So beside learning the technical stuff, understand the material and processes (your digital files and your digital image editing software) and looking at as many artist's work as possible I would like to offer one more advice. Everyone that discovered photography has gone out, with their new camera, to get some great shots, walking around their neighborhood. However, it gets old and repetitive, not as exciting. Even if you live in a big city. The reason, I believe it that there are no common thread to your photographs. you just go out and get shots, sometime they're good sometimes not. but all in all it is lacking something. My last advice is for young photographers to have some kind of "a structured plan" or "basis for a project", a framework. Confused, overwhelmed? Don't worry it's simple. Instead of just going out to shoot with little directions, get yourself a plan of action. For instance, one of my friends and Member of the site, Bernard Crampon, shoots a lot of travel photography. His shots are excellent but a common thread, I feel, is often missing. However, he had been shooting, doors and doorways, no matter where he is traveling. This simple  thread seems to help me, when looking at his photographs from various trips. I always get excited to see these pictures because I see a common thread developing. I feel that if he were to look over his photographs and select the best of his photos of doors and doorway,s he would have a nice series. This simple thread of a story is what would keep me interested. So I believe that having a framework will help you progress with your photography, as it will allow you to focus on a specific subject and build a story that a viewer may respond to better.

Here are my few advices for the young photographers hoping to develop a vision. These will help you build a stronger foundation. Photoshop is a great tool but your creativity will come from being inspired by others that have preceded you and by taking pictures after pictures. Best of luck!

(as always if you enjoyed this article please leave your comments below, thanks)