Photo How To

I’ve been taking pictures for so long that when I began, practically all cameras were made in Japan or Germany, ISO was spelled ASA and image files were paper folders where sleeves of negatives were stored.

Despite my ample experience, there are mistakes that I make over and over again—not every time I go out, thankfully, and not even every week—but often enough. Do you do these too?

The “Back to School” bug bit me and I volunteered to teach a digital photography workshop at my local library. You may have had the same inclination at one time or another, but never got around to putting together a syllabus and some example images. Here are a few tips that will help you create an informative, worthwhile photo class for your community.

About four years ago, Alvanas, a photographer, filmmaker, educator, digital artist, and postproduction retoucher, was attending a week-long advanced printing workshop at John Paul Caponigro’s studio. “The first day of portfolio review featured lots of prints of grand vistas from big film cameras—4x5s and 8x10s,” Alvanas says. “I showed on the second day, but I digitally projected my images.”

We’ve all seen them: night shots of some wind-weathered rock formation in the American Southwest, backed by a dramatic, star-spangled sky. Earth, the universe, and everything.
Your first thought: “What sort of unaffordable equipment does it take to make a photo like that?” Your second thought: “You know, a 16x20 nighttime pic would sure look good above the pool table.”

I got the idea for this how-to story from something the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist David Hume Kennerly said to me: “Believe me, the challenge of photography is not going to France for the first time and photographing the Eiffel Tower. The challenge is really seeing and then photographing the stuff that’s familiar and ordinary, stuff we see all the time but never really observe or give much attention.”

Nothing beats the versatile wide-angle lens for street shooting, travel, and landscape photography. Whether you’re capturing mountain vistas or bustling street scenes, the wide-angle lens offers an ideal combination of features for quick, candid shooting.

Even photographers who usually shoot in Manual Mode should take a closer look at Program AE Mode. Why? Because in the right hands, the two modes are more similar than they are different.