THE ANSWER MAN: CREATIVITY KILLERS By Ira J. Schneller Here are some things photographers say or think that keep them from making their best images.

The light might stink, but the subject is great! Time to photograph!

Last October, I was at Ricketts Glen State Park to photograph autumn color. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t always cooperative and many days are thickly overcast. Consequently, there can be great subjects to photograph, but terrible light. The result? Terrible pictures. There are no exceptions to this. Dull light always equals dull photos no matter how great the subject. You can have great light and a mediocre subject and get a great photo, but never the other way around. You can try to rationalize and convince yourself otherwise and still shoot roll after roll but, when you get home, the result will always be the same: dull light equals dull photo.

That’s good enough.

Sometimes it’s all too easy to get that subject in the viewfinder, press the shutter and figure you’re done. Photographing the first subject or angle on the subject you find borders on laziness. Not fine-tuning a composition is akin to apathy or too little time. Instead of saying “That’s good enough,” try saying, “Can it be better?” Then your pictures will truly be your best.

What’s this on my camera?

On nearly every picture I take, I check the depth of field before I press the shutter. I use the depth-of-field preview button on my camera. If your camera has such a feature and you don’t know how to use it, you’re leaving too much to chance in your photography and are diluting your creative vision. Or how about a multiple-exposure capability? Or the difference between aperture and shutter speed modes? If you don’t check, there will come a time when you’ll be frustrated by not knowing. Take some time to just fiddle with your camera and review what all the modes and buttons do.

I’m not getting down there. It’s too wet!

Pants, shirts or socks do dry. And wet feet or wet knees rarely cause permanent damage. We all spend so much time, money and effort on our photography, enduring heavy gear and too little sleep, to get the picture we want, yet when it comes to getting our pant legs wet, the entire process may come to a grinding halt! By getting low, you enter new worlds and your compositions suddenly become more exciting. You’ll see the spider in the blossom that you would’ve missed if you stayed high. Besides, you can always bring an extra pair of pants or socks along with you or carry something to kneel on in the field.

At what exposure are you shooting?

The problem here is: How are you going to evaluate the answer? Is the other photographer using the same film as you? What about filters or teleconverters? Is the other camera on program or manual? Is it calibrated the same as yours? Is the other photographer’s intention the same as yours? By the time you evaluate the response, the egret has looked away or the subject has moved on. Instead of asking someone else for your correct exposure, take the time to determine proper exposure yourself.

I’ll get better photos with a more expensive camera.

Wouldn’t this be nice if it were true? Then all the best photographers would be the ones with the most money. Wouldn’t that be simple? Alas, the world of photography doesn’t work this way. Give John Shaw a $200 camera outfit, and his photos would still be phenomenal. Remember, it’s not the equipment — it’s the operator. No one ever asked Van Gogh what kind of brush he was using and, if you’re always asking pros what kind of cameras they’re using, you’re missing the point.

“P” is for Perfect!

“P” means program exposure mode. “Perfect” implies it couldn’t be any better. Program works best when the meter is reading a medium tonality or when the overall scene adds up to a medium tonality. The problem is that we’re seeking the magical light and the unusual subjects. Program will often turn magical into mediocre and unusual into ordinary. Manual exposure mode may give you the control to accurately capture the unusual. Learn to use it!

No one is ever going to notice that bright spot.

Another rule you can chisel in stone: Your eye goes to the brightest spot in the frame. If it’s not an important part of your composition, you’re in trouble. Too often, we get so focused on the subject that we forget to notice the background or the edges. This is particularly true when we’re photographing animals; we forget to see the entire frame. I know some of you will say that you can just crop it out later. But why take a photo with a known flaw when a bit of extra care can fix it?

As always, if you have any questions or comments about this or other photography subjects,
contact me at ijschneller@msn.com or call 215-781-6360.