Ten inspirational photography projects
Andrew S Gibson
The Creative Image
p. 1Introduction“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.“– Ansel Adams
Largely thanks to digital cameras, photography has experienced a resurgence in popularity
over the last decade or so. Back in the film era, only ‘serious’ photographers were able to
produce their own prints, normally in black and white. It wasn’t easy – you had to set up
your own chemical darkroom, which took time, money and space. You had to be pretty
sure you were going to make use of it to undertake the effort. Now, anybody with a good
camera and a printer has the same opportunity.
The digital era has brought other advantages. You can go online and look at the work
of the world’s best photographers. Some of them also teach what they know about
photography by writing articles, blogs and ebooks. Photography is still as challenging as
ever to master. The basic building blocks of any good photograph – composition, quality
of light and treatment of subject – are still the same. Digital cameras and software have
added to the amount of stuff to learn. But the good news is that there’s never been a
better time to learn about photography.
Sometimes, in spite of all the available material, it’s difficult to find inspiration and ideas.
That’s why I put this short ebook together – to give you ten potential projects to go out
and try. If you have a go at each one, your photography skills will improve immensely – as
long as you go out and find out about the photographic techniques you need to master
for each subject. To assist you, in some of the sections I’ve also given you the names of
some photographers whose work I think you should take a look at – or websites with
articles on the topic . You can learn a lot from their approach and be inspired by their
imagery. Hyperlinks are denoted in red – just click to open up the website in your browser.Whangarei Clock Museum, New Zealand, 2011
Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/180 second @ f2, ISO 3200
p. 21. Long shutter speedsOne of my favourite techniques is to
use long shutter speeds to blur moving
elements in the landscape.
One of the reasons this technique works so
well, especially with seascapes, is because
it encourages you to go out taking photos
at the end (or the start) of the day when
light levels are low enough to get the
shutter speeds of 30 seconds or longer
required to blur the motion of the water.
The light in the sky after the sun has set (or
before it rises) is very beautiful and helps
you take some moody, evocative photos.
Another way of obtaining long shutter
speeds is to use a three, nine or ten stop
neutral density filter on the lens. These
help you obtain long shutter speeds when
light levels are higher. This technique has
become quite trendy, especially amongst
black and white photographers – you
will find plenty of examples online – Joel
Tjintjelaar and Michael Levin are two good
examples.
Devenport, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 17-40mm @ 22mm, 30 seconds @ f16, ISO 100
p. 32. PortraitsFind someone you know. Take a photo. Portraits are a great
chance to try out some creative photographic techniques.
Portraiture – once you have a willing subject – is easier
than you might think. Every sitter is an individual. Every
photographer is different. Together you have a near infinite
number of creative possibilities.
Eyes are the most important part of a portrait. Make sure
they’re in focus. Ask your sitter to look into the camera or
something in the distance to avoid the ‘out of focus eyes /
glazed expression’ look. If there is no light in your subject’s
eyes, put some in with a reflector or some subtle fill-flash.
One of my favourite techniques is to use a prime lens wide-
open to focus on the eyes and throw everything else out of
focus. Take your sitter outside and photograph them in their
natural environment. If you’re looking for a real challenge,
step outside your comfort zone and ask an interesting
looking stranger if you can create a portrait with them. Set
yourself a project – surfers, cowboys, firemen have all made
interesting subjects for photographic series.
Lacking inspiration? Take a look at the work of Lee Jefferies
(black and white portraits) or Alex Alexander.
Abbey, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 50mm, 1/90 second @ f1.4, ISO 12,800
p. 43. Painting with lightOne of the benefits of colour photography
is that you can put the varying colour
temperatures of different light sources to
creative use.
For example, I created the photo on the
right with a mixture of ambient and
tungsten light. I started by finding a yellow
leaf and freezing it in water in a clear
container. I photographed the leaf inside,
in dim light, as this gave me a slow shutter
speed. I set the camera’s white balance
setting to tungsten and then used a small
torch to ‘paint’ the leaf with light during the
exposure. The result is that the tungsten
white balance setting turned the ice blue,
but kept the leaf it’s natural yellow colour.
This technique works best if you use
the Raw format because you can adjust
the white balance setting easily in post-
processing.
For more painting with light ideas look at
the work of Michael Bosanko – he takes it
to the extreme.Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 50mm, 4 seconds @ f11, ISO 100
p. 54. Museums It may sound a little strange, but museums
and historical homes have become a great
source of subject matter for me. I like old
things and there are normally plenty of
those in these places, arranged in nice
looking ways that are interesting to take
photos of.
Most museums and historical homes that
I’ve been to permit non-flash photography
for personal use (commercial use may be
restricted). There are a couple of technical
challenges to overcome. You probably
won’t be allowed to use a tripod, so that
means hand-holding. Light levels may be
low – so you’ll need to use some of the
higher ISO settings on your camera.
Don’t be afraid to use the higher ISO
settings on your camera. The photo on
the left, for example, was taken at ISO
6400. The key is to test your camera to find
the highest ISO setting at which you’re
comfortable working. Increasing exposure
helps reduce noise – do some research on
the ‘expose to the right’ technique.
Whangarei Clock Museum, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/180 second @ f2, ISO 3200
p. 65. Gelled flash
Portable flash gives you control over the ambient light. The ambient light isn’t
always ideal for the subject that you’re shooting, especially if you are taking
photos of people. A flash unit is a portable light source that you can use to
complement, overpower or add to the natural, available light.
One advantage of digital photography, when it comes to portable flash, is the
ability to see the result of your lighting set-up right away on the camera’s LCD
screen. This speeds up the learning process – imagine how long it would take you
to learn about lighting if you had to wait until the film was processed to see the
results. Now, it’s easy to see the results right away and adjust your lighting set-up
as you go along.
One key thing you need to understand about the light from a portable flash is
the colour temperature. It’s daylight balanced – designed to match the colour
temperature of daylight balanced film. But you can change this by taping plastic
gels to the front of your flash. A full cut CTO (colour temperature orange) gel, for
example, turns the light from your flash unit orange. Now you don’t just have a
portable light source, you have one that matches the colour temperature of a
tungsten light or the light from the setting sun. That’s the technique that I used to
take the photo on this page.
You’ll learn all you need to know about portable flash photography at the websites
of David Hobby and Joe McNally. Although these photographers are Nikon users,
much of their advice is generic. You can find some Canon specific advice at Syl
Arena’s Speedliting website.
Abbey, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/125 second @ f4, ISO 50
p. 76. BuildingsIf you live in or near a place with beautiful
architecture, it’s well worth spending some
time photographing it.
Buildings have texture, shape, pattern, line
and colour. Photographing them becomes
an exercise in seeing and composition. You
can close in on details, or include the entire
building.
The shrine in the wall of this house (on the
island of Murano, near Venice) caught my
eye. It’s unusual, and there’s a beautiful
colour contrast between the red shrine and
the blue wall.
Buildings are also a great exercise for black
and white photography. Taking away the
colour leaves the shapes, textures and
patterns, elements which turn out quite
striking in monochrome.
For a really original approach to
photographing buildings, take a look at
Cole Thompson’s The Fountainhead series.
Murano, Italy, 2009Canon EOS 40D, 17-40mm @ 17mm, 1/125 second @ f7, ISO 100
p. 87. Go square
Square format photography used to be the preserve of 6x6 medium format
camera system owners. Not any more. The simplicity of cropping the digital
image means that just about everybody can experiment with the square
format.
Composition is different in the square format. The rule of thirds goes out the
window and you’ll find that a centrally placed subject often works well. The
square format suits the minimalist approach as compositional elements like
line and shape assume more importance within the square frame.
Here’s an exercise for a rainy day or those long winter evenings. Go through
some of your old photos and see if they can be improved by cropping them
to the square format. I guarantee you’ll be surprised by how much difference
it makes to some of your photos. It’s an interesting exercise because it makes
you look at some of your older work in a new light.
You can also try converting some of your colour images to black and white
(you’ll learn all you need to know about black and white photography from
my ‘The Magic of Black & White’ ebooks – more details at the end of this
ebook). The square format seems to suit the approach of black and white fine
art photographers very well.
Jessica Hilltout and Andy Brown are two photographers who use the square
format well.
Cementerio de Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2007Canon EOS 350D, 18-55mm @ 55mm, 1/160 second @ f11, ISO 100
p. 98. NightThe increased sensitivity of recent digital
SLR cameras means that it’s possible to
go out and take photos at night and get
amazing results using just the ambient
light (without using flash). There are two
approaches. One is to use a tripod and
a low ISO setting. This suits subjects like
architecture and landscapes.
The other approach is to use your camera’s
high ISO settings and take photos hand-
held. A prime lens will also help as the
fast aperture settings give you the option
of opening up the aperture rather than
raising the ISO. Hand-holding gives you the
freedom to move around and experiment
with composition. This approach suits
street and travel photography, where you
need to use a fast enough shutter speed to
freeze action anyway.
I took this photo at Auckland’s Lantern
Festival – a wide aperture setting has
thrown the lanterns in the background out
of focus.
Auckland Lantern Festival, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/1000 second @ f2, ISO 1600
p. 109. Flowers
Flowers are one of my favourite black and
white subjects. A white flower against a
dark background is an easy but powerful
composition. It takes advantage of the
tonal contrast between the white flower
and the dark background to create a
powerful image. Furthermore, you can
experiment with using wide apertures
to throw the background out of focus to
add even more depth to the image. This
technique works well in colour too – there
is an example of each on this page.
Diffused light is the best for this type of
photo. Avoid direct sunlight as the contrast
levels are too high.
Whangarei, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/180 second @ f2, ISO 1600
p. 1110. Classic car showsI went to my first classic car show earlier
this year and enjoyed it immensely.
There were hundreds of beautiful classic
cars there lots of good opportunities for
photos. There was so much potential for
image making that it was difficult to know
where to start.
My approach this time was to use
what is becoming one of my favourite
combinations – my EF 85mm f1.8 lens
fitted with a 500D close-up lens. I got right
in close to logos and hood ornaments
like the one picture, and used the lens at
or near the maximum aperture to create
images with shallow depth of field.
I also paid attention to the composition
to try and create some dramatic images.
Here, I tilted the camera so the chrome
ornament created a right to left diagonal
exiting the frame in the top left corner.
This adds visual tension to the image and
makes it more interesting to look at.
Auckland, New Zealand, 2011Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm, 1/3000 second @ f1.8, ISO 100
p. 12Conclusion“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” – Ansel Adams
This is the first ebook that I’ve released at my own website. I hope it’s inspired you to go out and
take some beautiful photos. It isn’t an in-depth exploration of the world of creative photography
and that was never its intention. Rather, it serves as an introduction to my work and hopefully it will
inspire you to go and try some of the techniques.
I’ve written three in-depth ebooks on black and white photography plus another – The Evocative
Image – for Craft & Vision. If you’ve never heard of Craft & Vision you’ll be pleasantly surprised
by what you find there – a selection of inspirational and informative photography ebooks from
authors like David duChemin (it’s his website), Darwin Wiggett, Michael Frye, Mitchel Kanashkevich
and more. The ebooks are only five dollars each and represent tremendous value.
There’s more information on my other ebooks on the next few pages – if you’ve enjoyed this one
then please go take a look at the others. If you have any feedback on this ebook, or any of the
others, I’d love to hear from you. I enjoy connecting with my readers and you can find me at my
blog and social media websites, listed below.
Andrew S Gibson
andrewsgibson.com/blog
facebook.com/andrewsgibson
twitter.com/andrewsgibson
500px.com/andrewsgibson
flickr.com/magicalplaces
Woodstock, England, 2009Canon EOS 40D, 60mm, 1/250 second @ f2.8, ISO 800
p. 13Photography eBooks These ebooks are available on my website as downloadable PDF files. Click on the graphics or the links to go straight to my website for full details.
Understanding DPP
Understanding DPP is written for anybody
who uses a Canon EOS camera and wants
to learn how to get the best out of their
Raw files with DPP (the free but powerful
Raw processing software that comes
with the camera). It will also appeal to
photographers who would like to use
Raw, but are put off by the complexity or
expense of more advanced software.
The difference between Understanding DPP
and a manual or guide is that it explains
how to use the software, but also, and
more importantly, why you should use it.
It’s written for creative photographers who
want to use the functions within DPP (such
as white balance, Picture Style and contrast
control) to make creative images.
Understanding DPPSquare
In Square, I delve deep into the mysteries of
the square format. Before digital cameras,
the only way you could use the square
format (cropping excluded) was to buy a
6×6 medium format camera. Now, digital
cameras have opened up the square
format to anybody who doesn’t mind
taking the trouble to crop their images in
post-processing.
But using the square format isn’t simply a
matter of cropping – there’s a lot more to
it than that. The square format demands a
new approach to composition. The rule-of-
thirds (which readers of Beyond Thirds will
know I’m not too fond of in the first place
anyway) no longer applies. Instead the
composition relies on aspects like shape,
simplicity and balance.
Square
p. 14Photography eBooks These ebooks are all available at Craft & Vison as downloadable PDF files or iPad apps for just $5US. Click on the graphics or the links to go straight to the Craft & Vision website for full details.
The Evocative Image
How do you create images that capture
the atmosphere or show the beauty
of something that you perceived at a
particular time and place?
This ebook explores three key concepts
that will help you create evocative images
– light, colour and composition.
Another concept that I tackle is that
evocative photos are created on the edges
– for example, twilight is the edge between
night and day.
The topics explored in this ebook will help
you take truly moody, evocative images.
The Evocative ImageBeyond Thirds
This captivating and inspiring eBook is
about taking composition past the so-
called rules. It’s a thoughtful, practical book
about the way we build our photographs
within the constraint of the frame.
This ebook explores important subjects
like the creative use of balance and
focal points, insights into how to shape
a subject, and using aspect ratio to
establish an ideal foundation for making
photographs, and so much more.
The diagrams and creative exercises will
provide you with the ideas and insights
you need to compose more engaging
photographs.
Beyond Thirds
p. 15
The Magic of Black & White: Part I –
Vision is written for anyone who would
like to learn to work in monochrome.
The first step is learning to see in black
and white. The ebook is split into three
sections: composition, lighting and
subject. You’ll learn how to compose a
black and white photo, how to work in
different types of light and about subjects
that work well in black and white.
This ebook will give you an understanding
of what black and white photography is
all about, and why it’s such a beautiful
medium for creative self-expression.
Photography eBooks
The Magic of Black & White: Part II –
Craft In this ebook I explain how I process
my black & white photos step by step using
Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements.
I guide you through the transformation
process that starts with a colour photo and
ends with a beautiful, toned black & white
image.
This ebook is the sequel to The Magic of
Black & White: Part I – Vision. Craft and
vision go together – black and white
photography becomes truly magical when
the two meet, and you have the technical
skills to bring your creative vision alive.
The Magic of Black & White Part I – Vision
The Magic of Black & White Part II – Craft
These ebooks are all available at Craft & Vison as downloadable PDF files or iPad apps for just $5US. Click on the graphics or the links to go straight to the Craft & Vision website for full details.
p. 16Photography eBooks
The Magic of Black & White: Part III
– Nine Photos In this ebook I take you
through nine black and white images
with the intention of explaining the more
advanced Photoshop techniques behind
them.
To be anything more than a technical
exercise Photoshop technique needs to be
aligned with creative vision. The thoughts
and emotions that drive our vision are just
as important as the Photoshop techniques
required to achieve them. This ebook helps
you think about how you see the world and
how you can set yourself a creative brief to
express your vision.
Andes
In the Andes are wonders such as the
world’s highest city, deserts above the
clouds and remote villages where the local
people hold traditional celebrations whose
origins stretch back to the years before the
Spanish conquest.
Andes has over forty black and white
photos created during my travels to
the Andes over a six year period. Part
monograph, part travelogue, it tells the
story of my journeys to the Andes and my
parallel journey through photography as
I made my transition from film to digital,
and took the first tentative steps towards a
career as a writer.
The Magic of Black & White Part III – Nine Photos
Andes
These ebooks are all available at Craft & Vison as downloadable PDF files or iPad apps for just $5US. Click on the graphics or the links to go straight to the Craft & Vision website for full details.
p. 17
Design & layout: Andrew S Gibson
Copyright © 2011 Andrew S Gibson
The Creative ImageAndrew S Gibson
Notice of rightsAll rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without the permission of the author.
About the author
I’m a writer and photographer. I’m the
Technical Editor of EOS magazine, and
I write photography ebooks for Craft &
Vision. My articles have also appeared
in other photography magazines such
as Practical Photography and Better
Photoshop Techniques, and websites
like Peachpit.com and PhotoTuts+. I also
work as a Technical Editor of upcoming
photography books for ILEX publishing.
AndrewSGibson.com
Venice, Italy, 2011Canon EOS 40D, 17-40mm @ 28mm, 2.5 seconds @ f8, ISO 100
Top Related