Born in 1931, George Lois has been a staple in the graphic design community for a long, long time. In his mind, a career in the arts was never a question, "Drawing every second since I was 5 years old, led me to the High School of Music & Art."

From there he was struck by the concept of what he calls "The Big Idea". As an advertising designer, this means that the idea that he comes up with should not only stick in the minds of the viewer, but it should "sear the virtues of the product into the viewer's brain and heart".

In my last blog, I introduced contrast and highlighted how to take high contrast images. This week we are going to take a look at low contrast images, why they are important, and how to look for them in your photography.

High contrast is extremely valuable in photography because it really makes the image stand out and make a statement.

Want people to stop and admire your photography? Want your image to nearly pop off the wall and say “LOOK AT ME!!!”

High contrast can help you do it! There are 3 different kinds of contrast in photography: High, Normal, and Low. 

Low contrast means that there is very little value change. It could be that the the light is mostly dark, mostly grays OR mostly light. The key is that there is not a lot of contrast in low contrast.

Pattern is something that you see EVERYWHERE. Not only art, but in nature, architecture, product design, even science! Why do you think that they stress learning patterns as early as kindergarten! It is important!

Finding pattern in photography is not hard, it just takes a little extra intentional observation. Take a leaf for example. Any leaf will do. Look at the way that the veins on a leaf. Notice how they methodically trace themselves back to the central vein and into the stem. That’s pattern! 

I would argue that every photograph you take tells a story. How well the story is told, however, depends on the skill and creativity of the photographer.

Confused? Take this photo for example:

So the last article was all about how to use a flash…well now we are going to throw  all of that out the window! For candid photography, you want to almost be sneaky. Not because you are doing something wrong... no, no, but because you are trying to catch people without them knowing your taking their picture.

As promised, now we are going to talk about using an external flash on your DSLR camera. Scroll to the end of this post for a FREE project outline about using your speedlight.

There are SO MANY resources on how to use a speedlight (or external) flash, but I am going to give you some quick tips for using your external flash when you are just starting out.

This post is going to focus on how to use a speedlight as it sits on the top of your camera. NOT mounted on a side stand. 

In past blog posts, I praise the use of natural light in photography. But what if there is just not enough light? 

Yes, a flash would be required. (And it’s not a bad word. Despite the fact that I usually avoid it at all costs…)

One of the ways that you can excel in your photography skills is to study what others have done.

Sometimes just perusing some professionals is helpful to gain some inspiration and to study good photography. (I love to just peruse https://www.flickr.com/ to find some inspiration sometimes!)

Start by asking some technical questions:

How many times have you heard: “How can I get extra credit in your class?”

Usually, at least in my experience, this question comes 2 days before the end of term from a student who is 2% away from the next letter grade and is desperately trying to raise it just enough to make the grade or even to pass my class.

So here’s how I handle it: I say, “Yes! Absolutely! Go take some pictures at some school events…though I’m not sure how many school events are planned for the next 2 days.”