1) The truth about tips
When you look at sites where there are tips for photographers and a lot of them say: “Here’s how you do this, and here is instant gratification. Or this is the problem, and here’s a solution.” The truth is that the real solutions aren’t on that level. What makes a great photographer is never an f-stop or shutter speed or a new technique or something that can be grasped and articulated so easily.

To me, tips are fascinating because I’m a photographer. I love hearing about new stuff on the market and new Photoshop techniques. But that doesn’t make you a better photographer. It just throws another little tool at you.

2) The real solutions
To become a better photographer, you’ve got to start thinking about things that are not really easy to discuss or that are more specific to the individual. The real solutions involve how you think about what you’re doing. They involve knowing yourself. They involve thr way you see, and the way you see has a lot to do with the way you are.

To be good at sports photography, for example, you’ve got to love sports and know what’s going to happen before it happens. The photographer who knows football has an idea of when they are going to throw a pass or run the ball – who the likely receiver will be. They’re ready and they get these amazing pictures you marvel at because they know what lens to use and where to be. Give me the same 28-300mm, and I wouldn’t come away with anything because I don’t know what’s going on.

You have to adapt what you shoot to your own personality. If you’re fighting your own personality, your pictures will never be worth a damn. That’s a core element of why do I do what I do. Why do I take pictures of people? Because I have this facility of doing it. I enjoy it. I can just step right up and start doing it with people. If you’re not like that, you have to find another approach. You have to find the subject matter that speaks to who you are as a human being.

If you’re really an introverted person, you might evolve a very, very interesting style of photographing people as virtual still-lifes and create very interesting scenarios.

3) The gift of knowing how your personality can serve your vision
Having done this for so many years has trained me to have a super comfort level with anybody. No matter who– clothed or unclothed, rich or poor, young old, famous or unknown or whatever. I feel very comfortable just blending into a situation that’s occurring and becoming instantly part of it and being swept right up in it.

I just don’t recommend the things that I do to anyone who is introverted or inhibited in anyway because that just gets in your way and throws a huge filter right in front of your camera. You need the gift of knowing how your personality can best serve your vision.

4) Where to start
Figure out the things you feel comfortable doing and not doing and then approach photography from that perspective. With nude photography, a lot of photographers feel uncomfortable when a woman is unclothed before them, and then they’re not really able to focus completely on what they’re doing. They’re inhibited and a little concerned, and they don’t really know how to act or behave. Those situations don’t yield much good photography.

But if you gave them an 8 x 10 camera, and let them back off and maybe pose the subject in a very formal way, they might do much better because that’s the way they see it.

5) Bring a template
In all the portrait work I do, I bring a template to bear and the results bear fruit. If you have the aesthetic in your head, if you know how you want to approach the project, if you know how the portrait is going to fit into the larger context of a body of work, then you’re going into a situation with an agenda. That agenda may not be apparent to anybody there but it allows me to create a group of photographs that are cohesive, and that represent my vision.

6) Start with the point of view, then go out to photograph
A lot of people go out photographing with no idea of where they want to get. So they’re having a great time, blasting away, particularly in this digital age, and then coming home to see if they got something good, which is precisely the wrong approach.

The idea is to know what you want to obtain and exactly what it’s supposed to look like and then go out there and find the context. That sounds kind of esoteric, but it’s really very simple. You start with the point of view, then you go out to photograph.

You don’t do it by shooting 8 million pictures and hoping to get a few good ones. You do it by shooting almost all good ones, and then picking out the best ones, and that comes from having done your homework, thinking a lot about how you want to make pictures, what you want to say, and how you want people to react to them. It’s like a roadmap. If you know where you want to get, then it’s just a matter of charting the course.

7) Set some limits
Take a very obvious example. Let’s say the point of view involves using a 20 mm lens. Then you go out to make a series of pictures bringing only this lens. That’s the very first thing people are going to notice about the body of work. Your window involves a particular perspective that you’re going to use to emphasize your way of seeing that body of work.

Or you say to yourself, “I’m going to shoot black-and-white photographs and all the photographs are going to look a certain way because I’m going to process and print them all a certain way. “If you go out there with that in your head, it informs which pictures you’ll shoot and which pictures not to shoot. It gives you a parameter. Your subjects aren’t aware of it, but you’re bringing a visual signature to bear.
How I work with portraiture
I have a strange technique for working with portraiture that I learned a long time ago and that has become essential to the core of my work. I learned to make portraits in a very brief period. Often only a few minutes. But I have a very specific idea of what I want to take away from the session. People are often surprised by the results. They say that’s really cool. They think it’s just an accident that I stumbled upon something in the moment. But that’s not what it is.

When people get in front of my camera, I know exactly what to apply to make a cohesive series of pictures. You have to be able to really dominate the situation with the sitter so much so that they don’t remember what happened. They don’t even realize what’s going on because you’re coming at it full throttle. You kind of hypnotize them for a short period of time, and then they go. When you can make it brief and intense, it can be fun.

If they just sit there, and you keep shooting and shooting and shooting and hope you get something worthwhile, you get nothing. But if you know exactly what you’re looking for from the minute they sit down, you completely take over the situation. They’re not really aware it’s happening, but they become complicit in the way the work is done.

You have to be really extroverted to do this, and you have to feel completely at ease with everybody. That’s what I do, and it was always like that. I never had any inhibitions about walking up to somebody and talking to them. And I could walk into any situation and feel comfortable. Whether it’s multibillionaires or poor kids playing in the street. It doesn’t make any difference.. That’s the joy of being a photographer.

Another thing I think is extremely importing is not to chimp a lot – stop looking at your camera and breaking the direct connection with your subject. All the subject is aware of is you constantly looking at your camera and loosing the thread with them. With film you had to be more precise – but digital is so completely forgiving – you only need look once to see the lighting and exposure, then focus on taking pictures not looking at the back of your camera.

9) If you can conceive of it, you can do it.
That’s an important thing to know. If you can imagine it clearly, you can do it. If it seems inconceivable to you, then you are probably not capable of doing it.

Double Exposure: Interview with Jeff Dunas about the Palm Springs Photo Festival

Please read ALL details before applying.

Enter to win a spot in legendary photographer, Kenro Izu’s Fine Art Landscape workshop at this year’s Palm Springs Photo Festival! Kenro Izu will take students to remarkable atmospheric sites such as special areas of Joshua Tree National Monument and other extraordinary venues to be announced. This is an opportunity to approach the natural scene with reverence, seeking out the spiritual and transcendental qualities of the desert landscape. Click here to view the Workshop’s main page.

Important Dates:
Application deadline: March 12, 2010
Notifications will be sent out by March 19, 2010

Who Can Apply:
The Kenro Izu ‘Fine Art Landscape’ Workshop Scholarship is limited to students 18 years of age or older who are currently enrolled in an accredited photography program.

How to Apply:
Students must apply at the Palm Springs Photo Festival website. Applicants must submit a digital portfolio and a written proposal (500 words or less) explaining why they would personally benefit from attending the Kenro Izu Fine Art Landscape Workshop at the Palm Springs Photo Festival. The digital portfolio must be submitted in PDF format no larger than 3MB sized for web. Digital Portfolios should contain no more than 20 images. The written proposal must be submitted in PDF format as well.
SUBMISSIONS ENTERED NOT FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DISQUALIFIED.

Details:
Winner is responsible for providing their own lodging and meals as well as travel to and from the festival. Total value of scholarship is $1100 (Workshop cost $800 and daily registration for all four days of the festival $300). Scholarship does not include admittance to any paid seminars or portfolio reviews. Non-transferable. All notifications will be sent via email. Questions should be directed to Alexandra Tumbas at alexandra@palmspringsphotofestival.com. Please put PSPF Scholarship in the subject line. No phone calls please.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

A chance to take a workshop with this engaging photographer will yield an experience rich in wisdom, advice and ideas for your career. The first day Mark will talk about his own career and how he has managed to distinguish himself in this exciting area of photography. His concept of the documentary – style photo essay as a means of offering richly illustrated travel stories to magazine clients and his own personal agendas is unique and he’ll offer insight into his motivation and methods. Day two will include a full day in the field, photographing in the towns and areas surrounding Palm Springs with Mark Edward Harris. Day three will include a morning critique of the prior day’s work and more photographing in the afternoon session. The morning session on day four will include final critiques and a discussion about promoting one’s work through bookmaking, both with general publishers and self-publishing.

During the workshop, he will also delve into his techniques, of course, offering tips and ideas that will help you to create images of distinction in your travel photography including special filters such as polarizers, neutral density filters to permit the use of wide-open apertures, handling digital cameras in difficult conditions, flash and other lightweight portable lighting that you can use to create surprising and dramatic photographs with and much more.

Travel photography is an exciting area of the business, offering travel, adventure and the ability to build a significant client base for editorial and advertising work. In addition, the material can be issued in book form, and this is an important topic for this workshop under Mark Edward Harris’s guidance. He is the author of five books created from his personal travel work – and more are in the works.

Register for the Mark Edward Harris Workshop Now.

One of the first big name photographers to move whole- heartedly into the digital realm, he is a Canon Explorer of Light. Recently he returned to the use of the 8×10 view camera, making an amazing series of recreations of famous scenes from legendary Italian films for Vanity Fair Italia.In bringing the 8×10 out for this series, he created some of the finest work of his career and demonstrated that he is still at the top of his game. His mastery of multiple formats and portraiture is what keeps him on the lists of many photo editors around the world.

For those who have been intrigued by the possibilities offered by the use of the view camera – particularly the 8×10, the opportunity afforded by the workshop he will teach at the Palm Springs Photo Festival this year is unique and extraordinary. Kirkland will spend three and a half days working with students to learn first the basics of how the camera works and is used – what its special capabilities are and how to use it to create unique portraits – unobtainable by any other method – followed by ample time by each attendee to actually work with 8×10 cameras and critiquing the results. Students will photograph each other as well as professional models. Learning how he makes portraits with the camera, how he works with subjects and his models on location will be an experience both valuable and of lasting importance. “Using 8×10 is a different mentality. You have to create the image by directing your subject.”

If you’ve never worked with a view camera – don’t miss this opportunity. It’s truly one of the most valuable offered at Connect 2010 – you’ll actually see and review the results of the film you’ll shoot. There will be 8×10 cameras, generously provided to the workshop by Art Center College of Design, available to each student for several days.

Learn how Douglas combines the quality of the 8×10 view camera with the miracle of digital photography. He will show how he uses his Canon digital camera as his “Polaroid”, to evaluate the scene, then shoots the image on his 8×10. – you’ll learn how he scans or actually photographs his 8×10 chromes or negatives with his digital camera, imports the file into Photoshop, and produces the hybrid photograph that will distinguish portraits made using these methods from any you’ve ever made before.

To review the description of the workshop, HERE.

(c) PSPF 2010.

Are your portraits not really making it? Not really leaping off the page or the surface of your prints? Have you figured out a perfectly beautiful formula for portrait lighting and now wonder if there isn’t MORE? Do your portraits grab at your guts – reveal something hidden, shock or trouble you? Have you had a show of your portrait work in a gallery? Many galleries? Want to?

Antonin Kratochvil has made a name for himself unlike that of any other photographer in the last 30 years. His gritty, off-the-cuff, in your face style has won him too many major awards to mention – he’s published a big handful of important books of his works and he’s not slowing down yet. The list of his magazine clients runs literally into the dozens and dozens – with thousands of editorial pages in magazines around the world devoted to his works. If you’d like to see more of his biography and the course description to his workshop at CONNECT 2010, click here.

Antonin is fearless – but you don’t have to be in order to learn from his methods. He knows how he wants to see his subject. His style is like a personal template – his subject matter will be reflected in his style. His portraits are searing – eye-grabbing images. He will explain in his Connect 2010 workshop what he means by the “Psychological Portrait;” his state of mind when he’s working – what he’s looking for, why and how he goes after his portrait. He’s one of our Signature-Style photographers today and he’ll be spending three 1/2 days with a group of fortunate attendees at the PSPF. He’s renowned for his Tri-X grainy film work but has been nearly entirely digital for over two years. He can explain how he gets his film “look” digitally – how his style and his resulting portraits made with film or digital are virtually indistinguishable. Want to keep your digital work from blending in with the digital work of everyone else using the same tools as you? Ask Antonin. Go after your portraits – don’t be happy to just “take” them. Push – explore – take over! The portraits you make should say as much about YOU as they do about your subject. Antonin’s portraits all add up to ANTONIN. You can never confuse his with those of any other photographer. Find out why and how – spend three 1/2 days with the man and explore his psyche. This workshop is limited to 16 students – you’ll have time to project or present your work for his critique as well as make photographs with Antonin in the streets surrounding Palm Springs, Indio and other nearby communities.

Register Now

This is a special place where I hope you will get engaged, join our discussions and even create your own blog to run here, on the Palm Springs Photo Festival Community.  We’ll be talking about our program at the festival, our sponsors and their products, and listening to your ideas.  Our Sponsors will have their own blogs here.  Join their discussions, give them feedback, find out about new products and ideas from them.  Join our PSPF Attendee Group and set up your blog so you and other PSPF Attendees can share ideas.  Check our out PSPF Faculty blogs to see what our faculty is doing and talking about.

This site is intended to be a resource for the Attendees, Faculty and Sponsors of the Palm Springs Photo Festival.  Our web Community is for you.  Take advantage of what we’ll be offering in the coming months.

See and hear you on the blogs!

JEFF DUNAS

Director

At first, posting comments and / or opening your own blog here may seem daunting – many of us are not habitual bloggers and have perhaps only visited a few blogs in our lives. I’d like to invite you to take the chance and sign up now – begin reading and commenting on our posts.

Many don’t realize the depth of what’s possible here. You can post articles, thoughts, comment on other posts you read and even upload pictures. If you have a blog here, you only need to click on ” My Blogs” at the top of your blog and you’ll be in the administrator area of your blog. Here you can add posts, upload pictures, change the “About” section describing yourself, even add widgets if you’re familiar with them and add functionality to your site. If you’re not sure but you see a function not available on your blog on another, email us at community@palmspringsphotofestival.com and we’ll see if we can add that functionality to your blog for you.

You can write on any member’s “wire” – which will be readable by any and all, or you can send a member a private message. If you become “friends” with members, you will be able to email them all at once if you like.

We’re working every day to add more functionality and make the PSPF Community different from any site anywhere. We’re all about photography – from every angle. Feel free to contribute if you’re a past or present attendee, faculty member or sponsor of the festival.

All best

JEFF DUNAS
Director