Making Something Out Of Nothing
Making something out of nothing by photographing ripples and patterns on water.
Do you find photography uninspiring? Making something out of nothing can overcome lethargy and ignite creativity.
The philosophical approach of making something out of nothing will allow you to produce evocative and emotive photos that have the capacity of transcending the subject matter depicted.
The images I'm sharing with you today were made during a country workshop I facilitated.
It was the weekend and the workshop participants had got up early and traveled to the country with high expectations for making great photos.
However, the weather was inclement and the participants, while keen for information, were less than enthusiastic about venturing outside to make photos.
Teaching Enthusiasm
You can’t really teach enthusiasm, but you can inspire through example. When teaching on location it’s important to be out there, in the trenches, regardless of the conditions.
Participants are expecting to come away with great images, though they may not always realized the level of physical effort that’s sometimes required to achieve great results.
As an experienced tutor I understand that it’s my responsibility to help folks achieve their expectations.
To do so I need to motivate them to take action and ensure, in addition to providing loads of information and interesting things to photograph, that the event is fun, safe and inspirational.
Not every session can be considered life changing. Nonetheless, I work really hard to ensure that the photography courses I run provide fertile ground into which the seeds of creativity are planted.
With sufficient attention those seeds will grow and produce all many of opportunities for purpose driven creative souls to thrive.
A building facade becomes a study in composition in Maldon, Australia.
Learn Photography One Bite At A Time
As a teacher you want folks to learn. However, the individual’s desire to create can, on occasions, disrupt the learning process.
Before you can create great images, consistently and with certainty, you need to take control back from the machine.
However, before you can do that you need to understand your camera’s essential functions and be able to use them to meet your own creative needs.
It’s photography’s version of the chicken and the egg.
The best way to become a great photographer is to approach your journey into creativity one step at a time.
Or, if you don’t mind one more analogy, you become a great photographer in the same way you eat an elephant. One bite at a time!
The advantage of hooking up with an experience and dedicated teacher is that they can skyrocket the learning process and accelerate your creative journey.
What’s not to like about that. Just ensure you choose the right teacher to mentor you in a way that best suits your own, individual needs and learning style.
The balance between information and experience is a delicate one and it takes years to understand how best to position and deliver content in a way that doesn't overwhelm the learner.
This is particularly relevant when it comes to intensive short courses. That’s why I ensure the courses I run include an appropriate mix of the following elements:
Technical information
Composition tips and techniques
Hands on practical session making photos
Image review and feedback
Comprehensive and visually arresting course notes
Needless to say if the experience isn't fun the process of learning and the take home results will be compromised.
What’s more you can't completely understand anything without actually doing it. Theory and practical photography must, therefore, be provided in a balanced manner.
A good approach is to provide an overview of a particular technique, allow the participant time to put that technique into practice and then review the results.
Where appropriate, immediately build on what’s been discussed with added information, visual examples and more practice making photos.
The penny will drop when it drops and it’s critically important that the tutor understands the need to adjust to the speed at which the customer is able to successfully take on information.
At the end of the day an experienced tutor needs to constantly remind themselves how long it took them to learn those so called photography fundamentals.
Photography | Get Your Mind Right
So, there we where, wanting to make great photos on a cold, grey and bleak winter's day.
While the expectations amongst the group were high, their enthusiasm for embracing the weather outside wasn’t.
But I felt great. Experience told me that overcast weather often provides light that’s sympathetic to certain kinds of photography.
What’s more when it’s cold you move to stay warm. The fact that you’re moving gets the blood pumping which, in turn, fires the neurons in the brain.
Thinking is important when it comes to being able to sort out technical issues, but feeling is essential if you’re looking to make evocative and emotive images that explore your experience of the world around you.
But when you’re lying down on the couch, binge watching Netflix, your brain has moved into a largely passive state which is the death of creativity and critical thinking.
When it comes to photography it’s movement and being out and about that pushes us out of sloth and slumber towards dynamic action and creativity.
“Tell someone who cares.”
Isn’t that what I’m doing.
In days gone by, I had to convince many a bride that, while the weather was bleak, the light was beautiful for portrait photos.
It’s easy to understand that if the light’s beautiful you’ll look beautiful if photographed under that light.
Put a blanket or shawl in the car and, with a more positive attitude, what looked like a major problem quickly becomes an opportunity for all parties involved to work together to create truly beautiful and memorable images.
Communication, you see, is at the heart of great photography.
One advantage of a weekend long workshop is that, as facilitator of the event, you have the opportunity to move sessions around, based on the circumstances you find yourself working under.
This allows you to ensure that all the advertised content and practical sessions are delivered by the end of the workshop.
However, to make sure the workshop proceeds smoothly, a certain flexibility is required from tutor and participant alike. And I don’t think that’s at all unreasonable.
Golden abstraction created from a bottle of olive oil and its reflection.
Finding Inspiration Through Abstraction
On the morning of the workshop the light outside was flat and uninspiring, though later that day the weather changed and provided great light for dramatic landscapes.
But this was the first session of the workshop and, wanting to keep motivation up, I immediately adapted my program to the conditions at hand.
A fun and engaging session on window light portrait photography was followed by an improvised still life tabletop demonstration.
Before you could say I'm hungry, participants had grabbed their camera and were enthusiastically making similar images.
The above image features a close-up of a portion of an olive oil bottle, surrounded by aluminum foil (used for its reflective properties), photographed on the kitchen table at our workshop base.
I made the photo with a Canon 180 mm f/3.5 L series Macro lens.
Macro lenses allow you to move much closer to the subject in question, while still being able to focus the lens, than would be possible with other types of fixed or zoom lenses.
The best way to move towards this kind of photography, without a Macro lens, is to walk up close to the subject (e.g., on the edge of the camera's ability to focus) and move your camera, ever so slightly, back and forth until sharpness can be achieved.
While not achieving the same level of magnification the average kit lens will allow you to produce interesting close-up images when photography relatively small subjects in this manner.
When photographing very small subjects, without a Macro lens, attach a close-up lens (it’s actually a filter) to the front of your fixed or zoom lens.
The results may not be as good as using an actual Macro lens, but a close-up lens will allow you to move in and focus on your subject much closer than you otherwise would be able to.
And you’ll be able to do so at a fraction of the cost associated with buying an actual Marcro lens.
If you dig the results, and want to do more of this kind of photography, you might then decide that it’s the right time to purchase a Macro lens.
With a new way of seeing the world and a more actively engaged, physical approach to their photography bad weather was forgotten and the group got on with having fun and making great images.
Wallaby skull still life photographed in open shade.
I Love To Make Something Out Of Nothing
The image of the wallaby skull was taken mid afternoon, when a sudden blaze of sunlight caused us to head into the shade for more controlled lighting conditions.
I love photographing, just a few steps out of direct sunlight, in what’s referred to as open shade. It’s one way I often make something out of nothing through the photos I create.
I found the wallaby skull nearby and photographed it on an old sheet of rusted iron, which I placed on top of my car bonnet, and preceded to give an on location tabletop photography demonstration.
Abstract image of an out of focus plant backlit by warm light.
How to Make Something Out Of Nothing
The final photograph emphasizes the abstract qualities of light on a wild flower near the shores of a reservoir.
While the unspectacular weather prevented the opportunity for our planned sunset session, I was able to keep participants motivated by demonstrating that great photos can be made by making something out of nothing.
Here’s how you can do it.
Adapt to the light that’s available to you
Match alternative subject matter with appropriate technique to produce a worthwhile image
Photography is not always about the exotic. It’s about what you can make out of what’s in front of your camera’s lens, wherever you find yourself.
Embrace the notion of making something out of nothing and explore your creativity through three simple approaches, which I can outline as follows:
Move yourself
Move the subject
Change perspective and move towards abstraction by changing lenses and/or by using the lens your have in a more interesting way
Use the light that’s available to you to turn otherwise banal subject matter it art
Finally, don't let the notion of inclement weather dull your spirits. A positive attitude is at the heart of creative endeavors. Make it fun and you're half way towards making really great photos.
The approach I’ve outlined in this post really helps me create something out of nothing. I do it, successfully, on a regular basis and it’s always fun to do so.
And if it works for me I'm confident it can work for you to.
