The Blog - Page 3 of 8 - The Difference Academy - Photography TrainingThe Difference Academy

Homeless

By Lynette Eby on August 10, 2014 in Inspiration, The Difference

In 2010, when I was first delving into photography, I attended a week-long photography workshop called the Institute of Photographic Studies (IPS) in Dallas, TX. The first afternoon we split up into groups of three and walked around historic downtown Dallas. I pass two homeless people who were walking along the sidewalk, and I turned to my two female companions and said,”We should get a picture of them.” They both replied, “Christina, you’re on your own, but we’ll watch you from a distance.” So this is a picture of me following the two homeless people until they stopped at the intersection.

ChristinaBTS-1

I approached them with my request and pointed to a bench where they could sit down for the photo.

ChristinaBTS-2

The resulting image was well worth it, and it won Picture of the Day at the IPS workshop! I haven’t attempted much street photography in my city, but reminiscing about this memory makes me want to do it again!

ChristinaBTS-3

Christina has contributed to the blog before and continues to turn out amazing work that can be seen at her website here. She has a way of seeing the funny, the beautiful and memorable and turning them into something unforgettable.

Picture Change || Through the Eyes of Kids

By Lynette Eby on July 20, 2014 in Inspiration, The Difference

Self portrait of Julio || Karla, age 11

Nicaragua

The Fishing Boat || Erick, age 13

Nicaragua

Collecting Sea Shells || Jose, age 14

Nicaragua

Anchor in the Mud || Michel, age 14

Nicaragua

Climbing Trees || Rosa, age 24

Church Service || Rosa, age 24

Rosa on Boat || Francisco, age 24

Nicaragua

Local Bus || Heydi, age 11

Nicaragua

Girls doing Laundry || Heydi, age 11

Nicaragua

Sunset Walk Home || Karla, age 11

Nicaragua

“YOU ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU EXIST AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT DEFINE YOU.”

This is a direct quote for the website of Picture Change, and as they say again, they “seek to empower women and children to discover innate creativity, develop self-confidence and picture change in their lives and their community through photography.”

This project is named Padre Ramos, Nicaragua, where Picture Change went on a mission to fulfill a mission, giving kids and local women (and one guy) cameras and watching their interests and perspectives open. The chance to reach out and touch lives this way is priceless, and Picture Change is taking the opportunity to make a difference by giving to the kids and teaching them how to keep on giving back to their communities – amazing!

Follow @picturechange to see more updates in the lives of these kids and others, and see the full collection of Padre Ramos and the rest of the story here.

The Creative Mistake

By Lynette Eby on July 13, 2014 in Inspiration, The Difference

It’s 10 pm, and you’re scrolling through Instagram one last time, trying to get inspiration for tomorrow’s shoot, or to improve your work. You’re a photographer, or at least interested in photography, so of course you follow a lot of photographers: fashion, sports, lifestyle, photo-journalists, wedding, portrait, food or street photography, depending on your photography interest. Most stuff looks fantastic, especially from pro sites and businesses because their business depends on image. Yeah really, most of the world revolves around image, because that’s what we see first so it’s pretty important.

Wow, that’s a cool shot, how did she do that? Heading off to google and figure out the special effects you get all excited about applying what you just learned. Awesome! You’re going to get that shot tomorrow.

Gear. <Check>

Props <Check>

Clothes that let you get into any weird spot to get the best shot? <Check>

Originality >ummm<

Coffee <check>

Photographer Inspiration

Hanging out with a group of creatives on the beach, and someone asked the photographer/graphic designer.

“How does looking at other photographer/designers work affect what you do?

“It’s really hard to shut down what everyone else is doing and create something that’s your own. If you’re tapping into what other people are doing, what you do is going to be the same as they’re doing.”

“So what do you do when you want to create something original?”

“Mostly listen to music.”

IT’S OK TO LOOK AT OTHERS’ PHOTOGRAPHY

Getting inspiration from others isn’t a bad idea at all. It’s just not going to be any different; I’m suggesting that sometimes its time to shut down the phone or computer, and create from scratch.

“But that’s hard… I don’t know if I can, plus I have no idea where to start!”

You better bet its hard. But here’s the thing that I’ve noticed about creative people. They love what they’re doing so much that the extra work actually turns into a joy and is a reward in itself, never mind adding the finished product. For the photographer/designer on the beach he uses music as the creative outlet to get him started on his own work, and music is inspiration for a lot of people – when I’m stumped it’s what I head for: head phones and epic music. For others though it could be anything from nature, urban places, art, people, etc etc. Especially for the photographer visuals are what you work with, so getting out into a different place is a great start. Try to find something that kick-starts creativity, without sacrificing your own perspective. Definitely, look at other peoples work, learn and grow. But when it comes time to create..

Shut down what everyone else is doing, and focus on what you can do.

What inspires you to create? leave a comment below.

Breaking: iPhotography and Social Barriers

By Lynette Eby on July 3, 2014 in Inspiration, Instagram Tip, iPhone, iPhotography, Mobile Photography

I can hear your questions already: “What is this? Is iPhone photography really a thing? It’s just a phone… can you really get good pictures? My answer to all of the above questions is, “Yup!” The key to taking all good pictures is to take as much control over as many of the automatic features of your camera as possible.

For the iPhone one of the best ways to take over those automatic focus and exposure controls is to download the free VSCO app. I’m not going to give a full tutorial on the VSCO app, but I do just want to highlight a couple of key things about using the exposure “ring” (that’s what I call it at least!) to your advantage.

Once you are in the VSCO camera, touch the screen with two fingers and it will open up a focus and exposure “ring” that you can them move around onto any object. Below you can see that the exposure ring is on the darkest object in the image and everything bright is way over-exposed.

Photo Jun 16, 1 07 37 PM

Now the exposure ring is one of the brightest spots in the image and the darkest spot in silhouette and basically black.

2014-06-16 13.08.07

You can see in this final picture the exposure ring is straddling two extremes and allows a compromise for exposure between the lightest and darkest points. Play around with this to achieve the result you want.

2014-06-16 13.08.06

Ok, enough technical.

I love taking pictures of complete strangers. Have you ever tried it? It’s an amazing way to get to know someone. Of course you have to find a way to do it so that they don’t think you’re a total creeper. My introduction goes something like this.

“Can I take your picture?”

To which they usually reply: “I guess… why would you want my picture?”

“Well, I love meeting new people, and I am doing a series of pictures on Instagram about the people that I meet.” Then I show them some pictures of other people I have met that day.

This couple had their first picture together taken by me today.

Processed with VSCOcam with x1 preset

This doctor still does house visits, you don’t see that very often.

Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset

This girl was visiting Saint Joseph, MI from California and if had not stopped to take her picture nobody would have said a friendly hello to her that day.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

The best thing about taking pictures of strangers is that you can share a moment of trust with someone that you don’t know because you’ve just broken all the stupid cultural barriers that normally prevent you from being able to meet amazing people. Have you ever noticed how lonely this human existence can get? When you go downtown for a walk you might notice the hundreds of people walking down the same sidewalks as you, but nobody is talking to each other except for maybe the person they came downtown with. If you’re lucky you might get the culturally accepted nod and grunt, but no meaningful exchange happens. I guarantee if you feel the loneliness of life and long to just just sit and talk with someone, there are others who feel the same way. Go make yourself vulnerable. Meet some new people. Be the one that starts that conversation. You might be surprised how many people would love to just talk, and you might be surprised by how may cool people you meet.

Here is one set of pictures that tells a thousand stories if you just take the time to look. After 65 years of marriage they’re still holding hands. Ask yourself why and you might just have to think about it the rest of the day.

Processed with VSCOcam with p8 preset

Justin does a lot of social and street photography while working at some other cool projects involving filmmaking; check out his work @justinsamuelbarber to see more mobile photography and amazing views of life around town.

“God gave a gift”

By Lynette Eby on June 19, 2014 in The Difference

When he was a toddler, Alonzo Clemons suffered a brain injury that forever changed the way he learns and communicates, but also the way he interprets the world around him. Very early it became clear to Alonzo that he had to sculpt. Instituationalized for ten years in a state hospital, Alonzo continued to find way to make delicate figures with his hands despite his unpleasant experience.

When he was a toddler, Alonzo Clemons suffered a brain injury. It forever changed the way he learns and communicates but also the way he interprets the world around him. Very early it became clear to Alonzo that he had to sculpt. He was institutionalized for ten years in a state hospital which wasn’t a pleasant experience, but he continued to find ways to make delicate figures with his hands. When they wouldn’t give him clay, he would scrape warm tar from the parking lot.

Despite his limitations Alonzo continues to sculpt outside of Boulder, Colorado. As Alonzo himself says, “God gave a gift.”