I am currently working on my entries into NAPP’s “So You Think You Can Teach Photoshop?!” video tutorial contest. They are looking for submissions from people who not only have a grasp of the software but who can also teach it in an engaging way.
As I began contemplating what to do, I was reminded of a shot a fellow photographer had while he was on a photowalk to a rather familiar location. He felt as though the subject was tired and he’d already shot it from so many angles, in so many styles that he had little to no interest in shooting it again. Until he figured out a way of making it fresh for himself which, in turn, made it interesting for all of us.
It was inspiring for me, really, because more than just outlining a technique or walking through a workflow, I realized that a good video needed to offer examples of how to process or present images of familiar things in unfamiliar ways.
Here’s the kind of thing I’m talking about:
Take the Eiffel Tower, for example. It’s got to be one of the most photographed landmarks in the world. It’s been shot from every point of view at every time of day and it’s pretty much impossible to find a new image that you haven’t seen somewhere before. With a subject like the Eiffel Tower, it’s easy for a great shot of it to get lost because it looks like every other great shot of it.
What I did in the shot above – inspired by one of Kim’s excellent ideas – I forced the tower out of focus, in-camera. It took away the undesirable details and people in the fore and middle ground of the frame but also, since the tower is such an iconic thing, I was able to maintain clarity (you know exactly what it is) even with the absence of definition.
The trick is to capture and/or process the subject in a way that makes it stand out. Do something that hasn’t been done quite that way before. Though you don’t want to over-use a popular technique – which will contribute to your image getting lost in the crowd too – carefully processing your photo in imaginative ways can draw people in even further and make you stand above the rest.
Use techniques for landscape photography for your next still life. Use a more photojournalistic style for your next portrait session. Process in black and white what you would normally process in color. Apply filters* you’ve never tried before and in combination. Use textures. Experiment. Take the opportunity to your images to the next level so that your viewers will be as engaged as you were when you took the photo in the first place.
*Note: With that said, please, on behalf of all creative people everywhere, please don’t use a filter just because it’s there. Some of those filters were never good ideas and should never be used by anyone, ever, without proper adult supervision.
Jason Moore is a long time friend of TJP and is the creative talent behind Jason D. Moore Photography and the Photoshop and Photography Blogroll.
Thank you, Jason for helping your old buddy keep the blog up and running while I take care of the twins. As always, you provide great advise and a wonderful perspective.
