In an opinion piece earlier this year, the much-decorated Toronto photographer Ian Brown noted that the advent of digital photography since the late 1990s has made the number of photographs out there overwhelming. Yahoo did some calculations earlier this year and estimated that up to 880 billion photos will be taken in 2014 if the current trend continues. It’s estimated that more than 200,000 images are uploaded to Facebook alone every minute.
Brown used his soapbox to lament how little substance — as measured in storytelling, emotion and what truly lies in the moment — there really is. He equated most digital photography and its sheer volume to a certain form of physical self-manipulation.
The upside of this rising tide of photographic mediocrity is an attendant rise in guides written by noted professionals who want your digital cameras to record the deepest connections they can to the “moment you’re experiencing and the person you’re photographing,” says photographer George Lange, who cut his teeth with the inimitable Annie Leibowitz and went on to shoot everyone from the Obamas to Honey Boo Boo.
Lange’s new book, “The Unforgettable Photograph” (Workman Publishing), offers more than 200 easily applied “ideas, tips and secrets” that work with any camera. The common thread is helping the people behind the camera accomplish the ultimate goal behind all the button-pushing: depicting the world more richly.
To keep it simple, Lange describes the book and its advice, in his introduction, as an attempt to help anyone with a camera avoid the growing cascade of photographic self-indulgence, or “the surface of things, the way things look.
“The risk is that by staying on the surface,” Lange writes, “and using easy digital effects to make our pictures pretty, we risk trivializing how we really experience our lives.”
With the holidays upon us, Lange offers tips outside the book that stick to his sensibility.
“With our lives so busy and nonstop these days, the holidays offer a time to let go and reconnect with our families,” he says. “So, look for moments to reflect on what is most important to (you that are) outside the box.”
For Lange and his family, it means taking spontaneous photos during family walks, while playing football and throwing rocks in the water. It means images of people taking naps and documenting the time of year in very specific ways. It means having a camera at all times and shooting a lot, moving around, risking intimacy and sensing the rhythm of things instead of just lining people up so you can say they were there.
“Sometimes it feels like a lot of pressure to capture the perfect moment,” he says. “It is important to stay loose and creative and not take the shots that are typical and don’t describe what the moment really felt like. The best way not to be trite is by not trying to take typical holiday photos. Tell the story about what makes your life, your holiday and your experiences so special. Take the pictures you never take. Shoot the small stuff with all the feeling it has for you.”
This idea is equivalent to the powerful tensile feeling created by the silence within monumental musical passages — and a principle that applies year-round.
In working with collaborator Scott Mowbray, the editor of Cooking Light magazine, Lange says he was able to reach a happy medium that gives the reader enough of the “how to,” and the emotional approach to photography. In fact, Lange says from his side of the coin, “photography isn’t really that much about photography. It’s about appreciating our lives and what makes them special every day. And since we’re photographing every day, if we just change our behavior a little bit and appreciate what makes each day special and documenting that, that’s where the pictures get a lot better.”
That’s not to say there’s no room for posed photos. Lena Hyde, author of “The Design Aglow Posing Guide for Family Portrait Photography” (Amphoto Books), agrees that “emotion is always more important than the technical.” But in posed photos, she adds, “you can also lose a great shot if you do not have the skills to make choices for lighting, focal length and aperture. Kids also tire very quickly, so you need to have (a) ‘get in, get out’ (approach) or they will quickly get grumpy.
“Dads do this too,” she adds with a laugh.
From the posed point of view, Hyde’s holiday photo advice includes shooting as early as possible because kids are their happiest and parents will look and feel freshest. When the weather is accommodating, snap a holiday shot in front of the house for a nostalgic treasure years from now. Tell a quick joke, which is a simple way to get genuine smiles from the whole family. And don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself to loosen things up.
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Avoid a flash, using natural light instead. Outside, covered shade is perfect. Hyde also says to make sure everyone is close, even touching, and crop the image tightly in the camera. Focus on the people. She’s not a fan of props, unless they are meaningful to the family (like a sled named “Rosebud”). She loves getting pets in some shots, especially with the kids, and shots of the eldest and the youngest.
“Think of the future when planning your images,” she says. “What do you want to remember?”
Although Hyde’s book focuses on the posed shot, such as the cover photo of a happy baby sitting in a water basin or whole families in different configurations, she says the take-away from her book is “thinking outside the box, beyond the safe shot and the obvious. Feeding your creativity and exploring what great photography can be. And creating keepsakes to treasure more than your most expensive possessions.
“Usually, an amateur is not great at (posed photos), so images can be unflattering,” she says. But “a little study and a lot of practice can help.”
Tips from pros
George Lange: This photo, right, from Lange’s “The Unforgettable Photograph,” demonstrates his advice for using an object out of context. A dining chair on a lawn, Lange writes, immediately adds interest and fun.
More tips from Lange and his book regarding children:
*Kid power: “It’s amazing how creative kids can be if you just get out of their way. … just set a stage where fun things can happen,” he writes.
*Submit to the chaos: “Group shots of kids become a lot less nerve-wracking when you realize you can’t control the gathering. They don’t need to be looking at the camera, or behaving, or smiling.”
*Consider a serious photo: “Children, who we’re ‘supposed’ to shoot as happy beings, are often pensive. Serious portraits of kids do not mean they are unhappy; rather, they honor the wholeness and depth of their personalities.”
Lena Hyde: Among her tips is to use unusual settings, such as the top photo of three boys in front of a rusty vehicle in a junkyard. More from Hyde:
*Tame the scenery: “In an environmental shot where the image might be overwhelmed by scenery, convert the picture to black and white to help your subjects stand out even more,” she writes.
*Induce laughter: Staring contests are a good place to start, she writes. “Nothing brings on funny faces like having kids staring into each other’s eyes.” (And, we’d add, adults might well have the same reaction.)
*Beyond faces: Layering hands “is great when kids are little, as it shares the differing sizes and textures of family members’ hands. Beautifully wrinkled hands of grandparents mesh well with babies’ chubby hands, too, and show connectedness between generations.”