 | | Chris Usher White House Photojournalist
Tips & Techniques Article rating: 9.50 |
TIP: Sometimes just changing your exposure can dramatically change your picture.
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti © 1990 Chris Usher
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti © 1990 Chris Usher
TIP: Challenge yourself to find an unusual, different, or unexpected place or angle from which to shoot.
The White House Rose Garden © 1999 Chris Usher
TIP: Avoid Signs as the main subject of a picture.
Generally speaking, I believe that signs should augment a picture rather than make a picture. In other words, the picture should stand on it’s own WITHOUT any signs-especially in protest photography. However, occasionally, they do become the picture.Pittsburgh, PA © 2000 Chris Usher
TIP: Graphic Grabbers
Look for graphically clean and simple compositions with your subjects and light.Waco, TX © 2002 Chris Usher
TIP: Use available light unless the ONLY light available is the one on your camera.
In this case, we flew to Baghdad in total darkness, lights off and windows closed for secrecy. The small crescents of light in the windows and the dim glow of the laptop provide a much better storyteller with better drama than if I pulled out a flash.Air Force One © 2003 Chris Usher
TIP: Moments, moments, moments!
Probably the most important aspect of photography. Cartier Bresson grand-fathered the concept of the “Decisive Moment”. Whether it be as obvious as a boxer’s hit on the face of his opponent, or the subtle “quiet moments” (my favorite). The difference of just a fraction of a second can be the difference between a Pulitzer prize winner and just another good picture.Big Timber, MT © 2002 Chris Usher
TIP: Slow it down!
Just because you have enough light to shoot at 1/1000th of a second doesn’t force you to do so. Experiment with motion in still photography, in both dark and light situations.Kissimmee, FL © 1990 Chris Usher
TIP: Always have a camera and be ready for the unexpected.
I make it a habit to have a camera on my person as close to 100% of the time as possible, and I continually keep the exposure settings correct for where I am as I go—i.e. when you go outdoors from indoors and vice versa. This allows you to confidently pull your camera to your eye and shoot as quickly as possible without wasting time to change your exposure.Austin, TX © 1999 Chris Usher
Be sure to visit the following websites to fine out more about Chris Usher the photographer and equipment he uses to make images everyday.
http://www.nikon.com
http://www.kodak.com
http://www.whnpa.org/events/events_archive2004.htm
http://chrisusher.com
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/bushiniraq/
>>Click here for our interview with Chris Usher...
>>Click here for Chris Usher's Bio & Background...
