All language subtitles for B&H OPTIC West Day 02 - Explorer Stage

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foreign

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good morning good morning

day two a lot of friendly faces again

thanks for being here

we need more advice 10 minutes to show

time

so how many people were out on the

cruise this morning let's see some hands

very nice how about the photo walk with

Mark Silber

there we go we had a lot of fun out

there I think we saw the cruise ship

going by from the shores which was a lot

of fun but I want to see those whale

watching pictures and as you know we

have the push pin Gallery so you can get

those pictures printed if you whip up a

quick at quick edit in Lightroom check

out the workflow station we'd love to

see your whale pictures

and another quick housekeeping note if

anyone misplaced anything there is a a

growing pile of Lost and Found going at

the registration desk so I don't know

maybe some cameras and lenses might be

in there we're talking little things you

know little tripod plates and a memory

card or lens cap so if you did find a b

nature and you see see what might be

missing

and we have both stages going I also

want to welcome our live stream viewers

so hello everyone on the interwebs

um jump in those comments let us know

where you're watching from we have a lot

of locals and West coasters here in

person b h brought all the East Coasters

here to join y'all and I want to know

who's watching on the web so I'll even

jump in on those comments when I get a

free moment and say hello to all of our

live stream viewers so thank you all for

being here and we're jumping in to the

education inspiration so without further

Ado let's start the day

Vincent Versace everybody

[Applause]

okay

can you hear me now

a oh and everything's up cool

no technological glitches today I

promise

somehow I think I may have just

set myself up so

we're gonna have a conversation today

about stuff

and

because when I do these kind of talks I

don't really know what's going to come

out of my mouth I promise you I will be

as equally as interested in what I have

to say

As You Are

because it'll be it's usually for me

when I do this it's like there's another

one of me going

really

you're going to say that

so

so let me ask you when you saw this

title

what did you think this conversation was

going to be about

geometry

out

pardon me

visualization

what else

creativity okay what else anybody else

Bueller

pardon

structure okay

I will endeavor to make sure that I

touch those points

now what this conversation is about is

something that hit me

right at the time that I was asked to do

this talk and there's a there's a belief

that I have or that I heard the the

Reverend Knight Gladys Knight's father

or husband say which is coincidence is

God's attempt at remaining Anonymous or

coincidence is the universe's attempt at

remaining Anonymous so I was asked to do

a presentation here and at the same time

I was asked I saw my first

um reel on social media in which it was

15 images in 15 seconds

and I came to a realization

which is brings us up to this next part

is that we are compelled

to travel

at the speed of light these days

and what we do is we are hit with I want

you to look at these here you go

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who are you people

how did I get here

there you go

I didn't forget you

here you go

good catch

what I want you to do is see what

happens

as you look at these pictures and just

pass them around and if the spirit moves

you feel free to walk up and take a look

at Prince oops did I hit you

sorry

I lose more attendees that way

here you go

hold on hold on Hunt

oh you're

okay

you're watching yeah okay

up here

we travel at the speed

of light

and there's a concept called takasanisia

which is the dilation of time

right now what's going on with the way

in which we're talking is we are in a

time frame and we have a reference and

we're in this space

but at the same time

I can get you to go

and I can get you to slow down and what

happens when you look at a print a

physical print is you slow down and this

is my histogram or my Instagram thing so

sign up because it's all about social

media

so

there are some things that are absolutes

one of which is the presence of your

spirit and it's your spirit in

photography that matters

and that's what you're talking about

when you take a photograph

you are showing me

who and what matters to you

and that's important

and what occurs is because of how hard

we are hit with the way in which imagery

hits us we lose track

of that which it is that is most

important

our experience of time

and what should be happening when you

get the print is look at how your time

reference changes when you look at it

you are compelled

to stop and take in the image

I think that that is important I think

that the Journey of an image is to

create an image that takes the viewer at

the same way you were taken I don't

believe that you take a photograph I

don't believe I take a photograph I

believe that the photograph takes me

that the photograph grabs me holds onto

my heart and soul and pulls me through

the lens and when I do that

when I allow myself the permission to

experience that moment what occurs is I

create an image that compels

the viewer because I'm not in my picture

and

all of these images everything that

you're looking at are moments that took

me they're almost as if they are the

postcards as the vacation that is my

life that it's the journey that you see

what you are seeing in these images

is something that I went

wow and in that moment I had a tachysius

moment in which time

a second became an hour became two hours

became a second

and it's that quality that I think is

important it's it's important to not

dwell in the past

I think

and it's important to have an experience

in which we are always

future driven and looking at the way

things are but I think what's equally

more important

is that we don't

throw away the past in service of always

being compelled into the future

one of the things that I have observed

as I have conversations with

photographers coming up

is that they frequently don't have

Heroes

they don't have people where they go oh

I love Cartier brassonne I love when

Bullock oh my God the work of De

marchier is amazing

these conversations don't exist because

what happens is we get into our own

little Groove about social media we get

into our own little Groove about the way

we're just hit at the speed of light and

I think it's important to live at the

speed of life that we need to allow to

be taken in all that stuff but at the

same time give ourselves permission to

slow down

to the speed of life the way we live it

not to live it so fast because we miss

the moments of things when you talk to

people about music I had a conversation

with somebody and I was having a

discussion about Pink Floyd

and I got who

it's like wow I can remember the

influence that that had on me and I can

remember the influence and I know I can

see the influence that was caused by

their music and the music today but the

issue is that what we're focused on is

this blinder-like channel

now

for example this Photograph I was

walking down the street it's that

photograph there

on I think it's 76th Avenue and as I was

walking down the street I looked up

and I went no way

all that is is two trees in the Chrysler

Building coming for two branches in the

city of New York as I'm walking down the

street and I have people that ask me is

that a temple in Burma I know you spent

a lot of time in Burma and I go it's a

temple

I mean it's a Monument's incredible

creativity but that's being able to see

the world like this like that as I'm

walking and allowing myself to have the

moment where I stop time until the cop

told me to move along buddy

that's why people named Buddy don't

drive or take pictures

think about it hey buddy

so that they're all in the room

um

my childhood nickname was Buddy and my

wife doesn't know why I don't drive and

then I told her that's why

I don't think she bought that but it was

a good good try

allow yourself to have Heroes allow

yourself to look at the work of others

even if it's your next door neighbor

and be amazed by the way they see the

world because every one of you in this

audience in that audience

has

a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph in

them an academy award-winning

performance that they can give everyone

by simply allowing yourself to show that

which is important to you

and I think the best way to show that is

what's occurring right now in your hands

the beauty of the print for me I'm I'm

blessed and I live in a house in which

from literally molding to molding is

nothing but prints

and I get to walk in and it's not

because oh my God look at how cool I am

see all these pictures I get to walk in

and go oh my God I remember when I took

that flower which I stole off the table

of a party that I was at that my wife

who's an executive producer was

invited you for a colorist and I saw

this flower and I went that's cool

and I use my very very special flower

holder the

the document clip

and I took a picture of that and that

became that and that's now I look at

that every morning when I wake up 44 by

36 inches and I get to have this it's

pretty and the memory at the same time

we as visual artists possess a power

that no other visual artist possesses

we have the ability to freeze a moment

of Time Forever

we also have a problem that no other

visual artist faces which is if you own

a camera you are a photographer

buy a cello see if that magic works

it hasn't worked yet for me

but the power of wielding that

lightsaber the power of being able to

control light to capture that moment is

that you have the ability to hold a

moment like an expectant breath like

forever

and that power is in the final image and

there is such a profound difference for

me as a visual artist between the

glowing screen

that transmits light and the reflective

image that bounces light back there's

just

an ineffable quality that don't deny

yourself the privilege of experience

that moment where you get to pull that

print go

wow there is nothing wrong

with you being blown away by the stuff

you make

you need to be the first person that is

wowed by what it is that you did there

is no oh you know you got a lot of ego

in that buddy no

okay I've been taking pictures for 58

years

every time I think of that that just

absolutely frightens me I sold my first

picture when I was nine

okay took my started taking my first

picture when I was six six and a half

and I've lived a life of nothing but

taking pictures and when I look at my

journey and others that come to it

you doesn't need to be as hard as you

choose to make it

actually if you stop choosing to make it

hard you will produce the most amazing

things and you will have the most

amazing experience because your camera

is the key into a whole world that

people walk by and don't see

an interesting plainness is the most

difficult thing to achieve me's van der

rohe probably of the most profound words

I've ever written read all of these are

interesting plainnesses

that's taking the train

from Brooklyn into New York

now granted it took me two and a half

hours to get that shot because I was

going that's cool I saw it right put the

camera up made it to the front car

positioned myself

expletive that begins with an s ends

with a T

get off the train cross around get back

up go up five stops

same expletive but with other expletives

off the train get and did this for two

and a half hours until I could get to

I'm going this way until I got to the

point where if you look

that's organic

I saw it I kept seeing that moment and I

kept seeing that moment and I rode that

journey and I did it in one frame and

it's also my two initials in my name I

just think it's a you know

but the point is that is now timeless it

comes down to

when what era or

this one here Paris and snow

there are the key elements of any

photograph there are three according to

maisel four according to me the three

are according to J light gesture and

color

me light gesture color and timelessness

if you can create the

temporal apogee

how's that for a made-up word that

sounds like I know what I'm talking

about

that's the moment of time where there's

neither it's in motion but there's a

moment before a moment after and you've

caught the moment in between if it was a

medical term that would be called Echo

poise

Echo poise

in the heart is therefore

parts of the heart that are always

beating but there's a moment where

all four of them are not in motion but

the heart is still in motion because it

wasn't well you'd you'd be dead and so

you want this Echo poise

that's an echo Poise moment that's an

echo Poise moment

that's me tripping over a root

and taking the picture as I'm falling

down burying the camera into the flower

into the mud

this is an echo Poise moment that's an

echo Poise moment because I was able to

capture where they hide because they

weren't aware of me taking their picture

because one of the powers of today's

technology is I have an absolutely

utterly silent camera

all I have to do

is just stand still and become part of

the environment one of the things the

photographer dwino would do and it was

you would look at dwino's work and if

you don't know duino you should look at

duino

um

is you would look at his pictures and

the backgrounds would be utterly

perfectly framed and breathtakingly

beautiful and everything would be in

this motion where time was stopped and

you'd have these just gestures and

moment you're like uh you're gonna get a

job where I say would you like fries

with that because I am just not good

enough to do this so as a birthday gift

somebody gave me

the book of his Collective works and so

I did something guys don't do I read the

instructions or of the introduction and

so I read that and he says the secret to

my work and I'm like go on

is that I find the stage

and the players come

and he goes into this description of

what he would do is he'd go find a

coffee shop put the tripod down set the

camera up frame the whole picture and

just sit there and then stuff would move

into this Frame so he had this perfectly

framed background perfectly set up

geometrically and then he would wait for

the world to show up

that's one of those moments for me where

you go

wow

Talent copies genius steals I'm going to

steal that

so

steal it

allow yourself to have that these here

this I do a lot of um feature film and

television this is from the TV series

Eco Challenge and so my job was to do

the cold opens on this and one of the

things I would do were medical rescues

and so This Is Us saving somebody's life

because they you know did something

not really smart

which is me not doing something really

smart by having that job hanging out of

a helicopter but um

uh Borneo

yeah I I got leptospirosis at that one

and spent two weeks wishing I was not

alive

um but back to this it's all about the

experience

of what you do and what you photograph

allow yourself to have a glorious and

joyous experience when you were

capturing an image allow yourself to be

able to do this hold on

hold on there it is

ready

all photography is

an optical illusion

all photography is is me deciding where

your eye goes me deciding moving it

where it is based on the experience that

I had when I took the picture every one

of these pictures is an optical illusion

every one of these pictures based on the

way in which you perceive an image

compels you to see the image the way in

which I as the creator of the content

have decided

if I did my job correctly you won't bust

me doing it and if I did my job

correctly you can't stop looking at it

you will look where I want you to look

what is your job as a photographer when

you decide when you have that moment in

life where you went this is what I want

to do to be able to say what it is that

I want to say that there had to be some

image where you went

that's cool I want to do that can each

and every one of you remember that

picture that moment where for whatever

reason you decided you wanted to own

your own personal camera store

yeah

and you know the quickest way to become

a millionaire as a photographer is to

start with eight million dollars

so

you have this moment where you this

compels you and you have this moment

where this is how I want to show the

world this is what I want to see

I want others to see what took me

because these images will Outlast me

these images will last until we aren't

here

if I did my job correctly and each one

of these images

freezes a moment in time

and each one of these images freezes a

moment in time in which you can

physically touch

which you can physically interact with

and you can interact in a way in which

is permanent

in the sense of it's there for as long

as it hangs on the wall

and one of the things that I love is

watching people walk into my house

and watching which ones stop them dead

that is so much fun to watch and not

from the sense of look at how cool I but

like I'm fascinated by what compels you

when you look at a picture like and then

I'm really fascinated by the story that

they write

that has nothing to do with the story

that actually happened but it's

fascinating to watch the play based on

the interaction that the individual has

in the relationship they develop with

the physical image

I just am fascinated by it and I think

that because we move at the speed of

light instead of the speed of life

we do ourselves a disservice by not

allowing both us and the people that

look at our pictures to be able to stop

by the things that stopped us

and that is truly an important thing I

invite you to have and okay hold on

everybody yeah let's raise your right

hand

okay I'm a Nikon ambassador

so by the power granted to me

I hereby Grant you for the duration of

this interaction you now have

photographic immunity you will not take

back pictures so long as we're here

that's

what I can do

but here's the thing I don't believe you

can take bad pictures

I

let there be less light

you know with great power comes great

responsibility I

how'd that happen

all right so

yeah it's so getting yeah getting my

glasses were getting dark and now you

know they're not

um

give yourself the permission to play

give yourself the permission to be the

artist you believe you are because the

way you get there is is you're traveling

a circle in a straight line

see how I tied that in

all right smart person

I was going to use another

expletive

um what the hell do I mean heck what the

heck do I mean by

um traveling a circle in a straight line

every decision you need to make about

your image everyone absolutely everyone

has to happen where

a moment of capture

everything everything that is about

every one of these pictures has to

happen

okay

like that

here's the way that I work

I always take the picture that takes me

and then once it's done I try to see if

I can grab all the parts I think I'm

going to need but the moment that the

picture goes

that's that and then it's like oh I need

the background I need this I need I need

that net why because I'm there the

lights there everything's there

everything's the same I need to make

sure that if I need something I have it

because I'm never going to be able to go

back and get it

so every decision I make about the

picture has to happen at moment of

capture

the more you understand about the middle

how everything works

how a sensor works why you use that lens

it is what the lens bouquet is what the

lens sharpening

signature is

how I'm going to edit it what I can do

with color all of that everything

the more you know about the middle the

more informed that decision at the

beginning becomes

because what you want to get yourself

into is uh in Zen Japanese and Buddhism

the concept's called shibumi thoughtful

thoughtless thought

the ability to not think about stuff but

do the right thing in the Moment Like

That

now

um it's also called ooda Loop and

there's a whole bunch of other stuff

that talks about this but the the whole

thing that you want to do here is the

more you know and the more you can have

the subconscious mind handle at point of

capture the more you can spend time

paying attention here

the thing I love about technology and

what you have to be careful about is not

to allow technology to take the picture

but you to use technology to have the

picture take you is yes I do use

autofocus yes I do use targeting eye

autofocus with the little square and all

that stuff why because I can pay

attention to this and this and that and

the camera is doing heavy lifting at a

level I can't do

so that what I can do is have the moment

take me so that I'm like a fighter pilot

I have the six things that I can do

consciously maybe seven but there are

the thousands of things that I can do

unconsciously that if they become

important then become into Consciousness

so the more you know

about the middle the more informed your

decisions can be at point of capture

because everything that you are doing is

in service of this the final image

this

the picture in which every one of you

got

but what's the picture in service of

you ever ask yourself that question why

am I doing this

what's this image and service of simple

your voice

which happened where

at point of capture so yes you are

traveling this circle

taking the picture this to here but

you're doing it in a straight line now

do you believe that you can

um teach creativity how many people

think that one can teach creativity

it's you and me huh oh you me you and me

yes you can or what you can do is you

can teach the ability to create an

environment in which you can become

creative

unfortunately

and fortunately those words aren't mine

they're John cleese's if you want to

have one of the most amazing reads and

it's only this thick and the book's

about that big it's a book called wait

for it

creativity

creative title

he posits that the more you know become

a know-it-all and I agree with him

the better you will become at what you

do you don't want to become a a one you

want to be all-knowing not a know-it-all

well you know those people

where you want to go really come a

little closer

to the moon to the Moon

you want to become somebody that you

know everything about the field that is

important to you in this instance it's

the metaphor of your expression which is

photography because the more you know

the better off you will be and being

able to not have to shout

technique

is

the language

of creating

technique is the framework of the Poetry

that we use to be able to create and the

better your Technique is the less you

have to shout for your voice to be heard

and what you want to be able to have is

you want to be able to have your work

be not at a hey buddy what's going on

huh look at this but be at a at a point

where it's this where it's just above a

whisper because people will hear it

technique allows your voice not to have

to shout if you don't have technique you

really have to have a lot of gesture in

your work

to be able

to be heard

but with technique you can have subtlety

with understanding how the eye works you

can have control it's the biomechanics

of human Vision that is more important

than I think than understanding 17th

century painting Theory it is

understanding what is looking at your

images and the way the eye will track

that is the compelling thing in an image

and once you understand that magic you

can create the optical illusion of look

here boom like here watch this my

favorite one okay you see this Penny

what hands it in

this one

there was no penny

okay but you saw and why you saw it was

simple area of attack look here

area of retreat

don't look here rest here area of attack

when I say which hand oh this one

in an image area of attack area of

retreat where the eye is grabbed where

the eye rests where it comes back to

where it grabs if you can make that

Journey work

what happens is you can make it so that

the eye

is compelled to look at the picture

for example this one here this is the

area of retreat

this is the area of attack

and what I want you to do is here there

here there here there here there these

colors are warmer and more saturated

than this color which are warmer and

more saturated than these colors

warm colors move forward in an image

it's an optical illusion if I stack

these

in a way in which it's just below the

threshold of hey buddy you did something

in Photoshop

didn't you if I can get it to the point

where that question is a question of

Wonder instead of an accusation

I am

I've controlled where your eye goes

I have made it so that when you look at

the picture what you see is

much shorter now

in this image here

I've chosen to spiral your eye this way

this actually is the sharpest most

contrasty most saturated part of the

image and these are

sharper that way

but until I point that out

you won't see it but your eye does

with your eye being able to do that and

my ability to control that what I can

control is the illusion that is my image

that you look at and if I do my job

correctly

if you're in the buying mode the longer

I make Hang Time the higher likelihood I

have of you walking away with it

if I'm trying to move you to see the

pretty that I saw in the world the

longer I can make you look at the

picture the longer I can hold you in

your spot

the more that that message will be

compelled to you

you picked up a camera because you want

to say something

right you didn't pick up a camera

because oh look kittens you picked up

and I'm I'm I I'm a cat person so

you know you too

you had eight

I'm down to two and that's sometimes

four too many

yes I have I have two cats Gianni and

Valentino

the reason why Gianni got his name is I

am tired of are you any relation now I

get to say he lives with me

and Valentina well you know it's a

pretty name

so

I digress

back to this you got into this because

you wanted to say something this is the

world that I see these moments are

important I think that as photographers

as visual artists it's actually

incumbent upon us to record the pretty

of the world

so that those that choose not to see it

are forced to see it

because that picture if you do your job

correctly

that took you will take somebody else

and if you can stop somebody dead in

their tracks

and for that moment go hey

you know the planet that you're kind of

messing with

see how pretty it is

see how gorgeous the creativity of

humanity is that man created the most

beautiful building in the city of New

York and it's the only that's the last

thing he ever built

this is

heirloom tomatoes from a farmer's market

that's me killing a plant that's me

taking a train that's me watching

musicians thinking I'm not watching them

this is another one of these flower

things this is one of my favorite

moments ever this one here

this is Shia

and for 10 years I wanted to photograph

this man at b h 10 years and finally I I

caught him

in the coat room and I said Chaya can I

take your picture and he looks at me

goes what are you going to do with it

what do you mean are you going to do

good

and I went well yeah so nothing bad and

I went yeah and he went okay one frame

and then walked away

what I can tell you about this moment

was when I was putting a camera in front

of my face this man looked straight

through me

and I remember going

and then

he walked away and the moment was gone

but in that moment when I was looking

through the camera I really felt it go

bam

that sits in my studio and he stares at

me anytime I work and really what it is

for me is remember do good

you're doing good and it was yeah and

he has a beautiful story and it's not my

place to tell but knowing what I know of

this man's Journey it was an honor to be

in that moment where he looked through

me he had one of the sweetest spirits in

the world and I got to take a picture of

it this one this one was I was in a cab

in Havana and I'm driving down the road

and I see

this okay so I see this

starting to come to this moment and I

yell stop the cab the Club the guy hits

the brakes camera up boom he goes what

what you just watch this poor guy you

know

no you can go well whoops like it was a

cool picture

and I don't know what it is that he said

to me in Spanish but I know it wasn't

polite

okay this one

I'll get to that one in a second

this one

what building is this

do you know why it's called a flat iron

building

nope

first building in the United States

pardon

oh first building in the United States

filled with flat iron

that's why it's called the flat iron

building

I saw this picture and it looked like

the clouds were going to open up and I

was about to hear Noah

and I'm sitting here framing it and I'm

going hmm

and then I'm moving a little bit closer

now I'm in the street

now I'm in the middle of the street at

which point I hear

hey buddy

from a cop

excellent of explicit what are you

excellent of excellent of doing you

excellent elective idiot in the actual

next to the street

pulling the ticket book out right

at which point

the weather command Smiled On Me and

jumped rain out of the clouds

he ran one way I ran the other did not

get the ticket got this picture one shot

to answer your question

not focused act there are or there were

137 if memory serves correct air

conditioners

do you see them

that's why I know there's 137 of them

removed all the air conditioners because

what I wanted to do in this image was to

take you back to when this building was

like they just cut the ribbon

so

I wanted to create a when

I wanted to create a when

one of the things that I've just

observed over the years is timelessness

in the city occurs four stories and

above

four Stories the bottom of the the

fourth floor the top of the third floor

is where all the banners end that tells

you whatever thing that's happening in

the city happens and all the new

buildings and the old old buildings the

new stores that's where they all end

everything happens above so what I am

doing from here is I'm on the ninth

floor shooting down to the fourth floor

and I created a

when

now yes this is one two three four and I

think six different things of snow

and the reason for that is when we watch

Snow what do we see when we see a

snowstorm

and we see oh my God look at this well

when you're shooting at 125 fifth of a

second what you get is

nothing over here

so it's

and then you go okay I now have a

blizzard

I'm not capturing in this image I'm not

having to follow the rules of

photojournalism I'm having to follow the

rules of my heart

okay I'm having to follow the rules of

the moment that took me

that's what it is that I'm following and

what I remember

is the snow

moving in Paris because it never snows

in Paris

let alone blizzards now when you look at

this picture I would suspect you all

write some sort of play that has some

sort of you know beautiful yada yada the

soundtrack to this picture

was a bunch of French people screaming

at each other and the sound of crashing

cars into each other because they don't

know how to drive in the snow

so I'm sitting on a balcony of a hotel

with a tripod taking the picture

so for me I see this and I have one

story and for you when you see this you

have whatever story you decide you're

going to have with it which I think is

an absolute joy to watch I love watching

people tell me what the picture's about

one of my one of my favorite things that

I I remember reading years ago was the

Rolling Stone did a review of Paul

Simon's uh

album song Graceland and that whole

album that that was on and the guy just

went on and on and on about how

Graceland was a discussion of man's

Monumental inhumanity to man and the

impotent beauty of his interaction and

the social separate and on and on and on

and Paul Simon the next issue wrote a

response says I really appreciate the

review and I'm glad that you liked the

song

however

Graceland is a song that I wrote to my

son about the trip that I took him to

Graceland for for his birthday

and see all these things were the

moments that we remember Graceland

Graceland Tennessee I'm going to

Graceland you know we we will be

received and we're talking about and if

you look at it in the context with the

lens of this is with my son and I'm

writing him a song so that I can

immortalize this moment as my gift to

him versus and then Madden's Monumental

in humanity to man and the interaction

of the interpersonal

I just sat there and it was like wow

just wow

and that's the beauty of Photography

that you all get to do you can watch the

story that people write there's a

there's a picture in here somewhere

where

and you can watch the moment that you

remember I have a picture in here that

is called Morning Has Broken and it's

m-o-u-r

has broken morning is broken

and how it got its name was listening to

all of the stories that people go oh my

God how did you get to go there go where

well they're obviously in a divorce in

your photograph oh go on

oh my God you shot that outside of a

funeral how did that happen go on

and what it was was I had a D1 camera

and I'm doing all these shots to show

off how cool digital is and I had to

change the battery

because the battery died took the

battery out and we're in a train station

and I addressed them up in 1940s

costumes so I have the model and the

actress that were shooting and so the

model the male model sitting in the

bench and he's flicking lint he looks

like oh I got lint on my my pants and

he's just flicking it off and the female

model is looking out the window

dial toning watching the train go by

so she's just

and as I turn the camera on my finger

hits the button and

the picture apparently took itself

because nothing was happening

absolutely nothing was happening and it

was that image for me where I realized a

couple of things one I shouldn't be in

my pictures

because I didn't take the picture

there's no ego in it

two the pictures should take itself not

me take it and three I love watching

what people have to say about stuff

there's literally nothing going on in

the picture it's like a Seinfeld picture

it's a picture about nothing

and the amount of something that people

will fill that void with is utterly

amazing to me

and if you give yourself permission

to be taken by a photograph and if you

can get yourself to the point where

you're just not in them you may surround

them I've never been accused of being a

man of small ego but I can promise you

my ego is not in my pictures

I'm very proud of them

some more than others I always get a

kick out of people what's your favorite

it's like you want me to pick my

favorite child

I mean if it made it this far obviously

I liked it right you know so

this one

cool huh

23 pictures

why this is 23 pictures is that I had a

200 millimeter lens and I wanted to get

the angle to view of a 28 millimeter

lens

one two I was asked by a company to do a

picture this big with a z or D50 camera

I think five megapixel camera

I had to make it 44 by 36 inches

with a five megapixel camera

and go

so I saw this and I hate cold rain

hate hate hate hate hate cold rain and

I'm underneath a tree and I'm being

poured on and we drove far enough away

so that I could get this picture with

this angle of view at 200 millimeters

that frame that frame that frame and I

just went

a couple of things that I learned one if

your camera has a foot the lens has a

foot that's actually the nodal point of

the lens

what that means is that if you know

where the nodal point of the lens is if

you do this if you have two lines

they'll go like that versus

one two

if it's 23 pictures at 5.5 megapixels

really how many megapixels is it

effectively

okay so I'm sitting at uh was it photo

plus East yeah I think it's photo plus

East and I'm signing pictures and people

are going oh my God what camera did you

use to shoot that oh yeah D50 D50

how did you get it to do that well you

don't understand resolution like I do

which is I can't get it

but I can get it if I have 23 images so

here's the other lesson that I got

besides I'll never do that again because

it took me four days to put the thing

together

um

where did I start

and where did I end

what was the first picture I took what

was the last picture I took

Skye okay why

because it's going to move so when you

do this picture these are the things

that I learned while freezing my

posterior off underneath the train being

a tree being rained upon is

this ain't going anywhere this is going

somewhere

so I started with the things that are

going somewhere because this ain't going

anywhere

one two well where how do you know when

you ended

I took a picture of my hand so I'm going

this way

down boom now I'm going this way back

and this way and this way so I built

into the picture when I was shooting the

note to myself of how to manipulate the

picture

then

oh getting back because we'll use this

I wanted to create the illusion of it

moving forward and having depth

warm colors move forward in an image

cool colors recede so come if you

take a look at this I think look take a

look at this

these are the warmest most saturated

parts of the picture and then these

become less and less and less to the

back to where they become neutral so I

can create that sensation of a valley

the hardest Edge in this picture

the church

which brings up another important

understanding of what it is that you're

doing

patterns are interesting

we love patterns but a pattern

interrupted

is considerably more interesting so I

have the pattern of the organic aspects

of the image interrupted by the

inorganic building that your eye goes to

because if you take the building out of

the picture it just looks like a jigsaw

puzzle

you put the

Church into the picture it looks like a

better jigs I mean no it um

that's my jigsaw puzzle picture that's

what I see when I look at it

um also I I love the picture and I love

the story of

how'd you do that picture you don't

understand resolution like I do well I

just knew that I couldn't get what I

wanted with five and a half megapixels

but I know that I can get what I wanted

with this

so

I invite you to play

I invite you to enjoy your work

I challenge you to make compelling

images and the reason why I challenge

you to make compelling images and be

taken by your pictures is because if you

do that

you will own your heart your soul in

every image and you will control

the way in which people see your

pictures because you choose to have them

seen the way you want them seen and this

is just something that we don't give

ourselves we don't give ourselves

permission I invite you to have Heroes I

invite you to look at other people's

work I invite you to slow down to be

moved by the pictures in such a way that

when you're done you can go wow that's

cool when you look at your pictures you

can go wow that's cool

here's another thing that I hope you see

in my work

that light

is the most important thing in these

pictures I would rather have a picture

of laundry beautifully lit than a

picture of the Taj Mahal poorly lit

light is the Jewel of the image light is

what we write with

not my idea wish it was it's maisel's

idea but Talent copies genius steals

um

view light as if it is a solid object

that your subject interrupts the light

it may not be and we can argue the

physics we can do that I've gotten into

arguments with people I did a

presentation up at Stanford and oh my

God you know it's not you know it's not

solid yes I know it's not solid why do

you say that

just just go with me

um that

light is what you play with and if it's

pretty

you can have the most amazing pictures

one of the reasons why I shoot infrared

is how frequently do we find really bad

light in our work

be most of the time can you hand me that

picture right there

think it was

2011 or 12.

um

I was asked to do an article on my book

called from Oz to Kansas

and two stories about this that are

important one this is a cool shot right

the worst light in the world this is

infrared

because the worst light in the world is

the best light in the world for infrared

because there's almost twice as much

infrared as there is visible spectrum

there's more infrared light than there

is visible spectrum light so if I have a

modified camera that shoots infrared so

when I have really bad light that's

great

because infrared really likes that so

back to this so I get asked to do this

piece this fluff piece on my book

of course I'll take it in the New York

Times cool

you know can't wait to tell my father

you know he's a New Yorker

um

at the end of the year I get this phone

call from the New York Times from the

editor saying anytime you want to do a

picture a story you you can I go why

because mine was like the most viewed

picture of that year

is good

it's not that good

okay so there's a concept called the

truth in the LIE there's always a little

bit of lie in a truth there's always a

little bit of Truth in a lie

that truth is this is one of the most

viewed pictures they had

the lie in that truth is why

it was the only photograph on Stephen

Jobs page of his obituary

think about this how many high school

students right

papers about Stephen Jobs and where's

the first person place they're going to

go

okay how many graduate students talking

about something are going to write up

thesis paper and or something and what's

the first place they're going to go I'll

take it

important thing to know when you're

working with your pictures is you need

to not believe your own rhetoric

okay you may go out there and be your

best ad campaign marketing person but

know what is fertilizer about what it is

that you're saying and know why that

flower is growing if you start believing

your own PR

uh

not a good idea

so always know where the lie and the

truth is and always try to tell the

truth as much as possible

and in your work let your work be the

most truthful thing about you

that last picture the woman was 80 years

old

in India I was absolutely floored that

was the most beautiful musculature on a

back I had ever seen

and she was like pulling something out I

was like Wow boom

this one here is one two three eight

pictures

because you can't get all those

water droplets

in focus

but you see it that way don't you

and since it's a geometric of wall art

that's one picture going wow that's cool

boom on a bus

so

giving yourself permission to play

giving yourself permission to create

images that move the audience these are

the things that are your right to have

owning your picture

is yours right to have

and don't let anybody tell you different

and if somebody does tell you different

give them my email address I'll beat

them up for you

pick on somebody your own size try me

because you have the right to create

Beauty you have the right to be happy

with your work I mean I'm always amazed

at people that just eat their livers

about this stuff you know it's like so

let me see if I have this right life is

already tough as it is and so you're

going to pick as a hobby something in

which you're going to beat yourself up

over

wow

don't do that

okay the biggest critic you have is

sitting in the same chair you are

stop doing that

let this be the most joyous experience

you have let this be honoring the most

precious thing you have which is the

time in which you're not working for

somebody to generate Revenue so that you

can have that time it's not spare or

free

it's the most precious there is you

don't walk around the street with a

Quiznos cup asking for 15 minutes you've

got a quarter hour got a quarter you

can't but what you get is these moments

are important honor those moments the

opportunity that you have to walk

through the world and be taken by the

world oh this one's great okay

I traveled eight hours by

car

three or eight hours by boat three hours

by car eight hours by boat to get to the

Village of the tattooed faced women in

Myanmar

by the time I got there and went through

a monsoon and the boat almost sunk twice

by the time I got there it was like I'm

photographing me some pictures of

tattooed faced women

so I walk in this Village and it's

completely empty

and then I hear this voice like a bell

if you'd like to take my picture you can

with this beautiful British accent on

top of this Burmese accent and I'm

parents didn't have any idiots look up

and there's this woman

looking down at me and she is complete

her just very very dark-skinned Brown

it's really really beautiful colored

skin tone and you can faintly see the

tattoos in her face he says you can take

my picture if you want to I can't come

down because I hurt my leg

and I went okay

so I put my camera up and what I get is

that

and I look at her and I go really and

she looks at me and goes oh come on and

then she starts laughing

now the beauty of infrared

was that infrared saw those tattoos

because the reason why the level of

pigment in an area that's highly Sunny

exists is to protect the skin well that

means it's reflecting what

the infrared

the tattoos are doing what

okay absorbing it so what happens is

because the lights being reflected the

camera records it as white

because it's not being reflected the

camera records it as dark so what wound

up happening is

it came out there's a magic in infrared

that blows me away it's a world we don't

see but it's right there when we're

looking at it and I am frequently amazed

at the differential between visible

spectrum and infrared Spectrum when I'm

photographing the same thing at the same

time was he in here twice

or it was just longer than I had

anticipated

here's the other problem is frequently

I'll do a black and white and I don't

know which one I like better

which is great now I have two pictures

um and he's

same guy

and um actually right there how about

that

timing

and all of this is

photographing musicians and into an

abandoned building

and allowing the ambient light to come

through

and just join the conversation while

other people are talking to the subjects

because they don't think I'm taking

their picture

so what I get

is the subject hiding in the camera

let's think about that for a second

um when you go to a play or a movie when

you go to a play who are the Applause

for

the actors are you

how many people say actors

how many people say you

one okay how many people think it's

stupid to raise your hand

all right

um the Applause are for you

why we applaud is for emotional

dissipation we can't handle containing

how we felt when we suspended disbelief

when we watched the story so I got to

get this out of me one of the things

that you do when you study acting is if

you have too emotional of a moment the

instructor will have you you know jump

it out jump up and down clap get it out

so let's go to a movie shall we

the movie's over and you applaud who are

you applauding for

they ain't there

you're plotting for you because they

moved you because what they were able to

do is hide

in

the camera

everybody hides from everybody that's

what we do

okay the secret is being able to capture

that which it is that people hide

so

character a character B

okay is on stage I'm gonna hide in the

audience what does that mean it means

this character a is in love with was it

yeah this is going to be a character a

he's in love with character B but is too

shy to tell character a

I'm going to put that

here

so the audience goes oh Italian

tell him however character B descending

chords downward

is an Ax Murderer and character B's

entire MO is to get you to fall in love

with him and it whacks your head off

okay he hides that in the audience so

what do you do don't tell him no no okay

in a movie where's the audience

the camera

in a photograph where's the audience

in a camera

okay so the secret is

to be able to hot let the subject hide

in the camera

how do you accomplish this task

well I'll tell you

you need to not be the busiest thing

in Zen Buddhism there's a saying called

the hummingbird lands on the Stillness

Branch you need to be the stillest

branch

so that that can land that can hide

that's what you need to do I do

something called conversational

portraiture which is the sneakiest

little trick let me give it to you

I have a noiseless camera correct

I have a remote

that remote's in my pocket and then I'll

have a conversation with you hey how's

it going you know so click click click

click click click click click click

click click then I'll say some stupid

thing or sing some silly song and you're

looking at my going this guy's an idiot

and when is he going to take the

pictures click click click click click

click so what I've got is what

and then oh spontaneous laugh and then

when I'm all done I I will hear the

first time I do this are you ever going

to take a picture well we're done what

do you mean we're done I have filled the

card you filled the what

because they have no idea that their

picture is being taken they don't think

to put up that

and my favorite cheesy pose

with the clipboard they don't think to

do that because they don't know that

their picture's taken so they don't

think that they have to hide

so that's what you want to do you want

to create pictures where

you allow

the subject to hide in the camera the

other thing is a photograph doesn't

really happen there it doesn't really

happen here it happens in the space

between

and if I can put a camera in between

this interaction you do something which

causes me to do something which causes

you to do something which causes me to

do something and if I can click that

during that Journey that flipping back

and forth what I can create are the most

compelling pictures

look at pictures as if they're geometry

one of the things that happens is we get

taken by a picture you go oh

great take that picture now that you

have that picture

start looking at the geometry of that

picture see how I brought that in just

for you

just for you I'm talking about geometry

so that what you can get is the geometry

and the gesture and the flow and the

play with light and dark and contrast

and control so that what you have

is all of those elements at once in

which when you're done is an interesting

plainness that's four photographs that's

one photograph that's the hands of the

last Warchief of the Navajo tribe at 101

years old

and I remember seeing those hands and

going damn those are cool

bam so

I have to end this talk

because I have a time I've got I've got

the cook back there right

that's you you're the hook two minutes

okay are there any questions before I

send you on your way

sir

my infrared

I have a z9 for infrared and a z9 for

visible spectrum

I I can't tell you who

can I tell them who where'd he go

I I use kalari vision

and what I do is no matter whose company

you use

um the beauty of mirrorless is

mirrorless is a better choice than uh a

mirrored camera because you can put the

filter

behind the lens not in front of the lens

you can also make it so that if you need

to with these interchangeable filters I

can bring the camera back to visible

spectrum

so when I need two cameras I just drop

in the dark mirror for Visible that

Clips the infrared and brings it back

the visible spectrum the thing to keep

in mind is that if you do this you void

the warranty

which I'll tell you

is a gasping moment on a five thousand

dollar

camera it gets your attention

but

um mirrorless is better than uh dslrs

for infrared because you're focusing off

the sensor because IR focuses at a

different point than visible spectrum

the other thing that you want is you

want as many megapixels to do infrared

as you can get because you lose half of

the information in the green Channel

because green and infrared is just

luminance it's the red and blue channels

that have the most amount of change and

there's twice as much green data as

there is red and blue

pardon

the

there is no there is no infrared just

like there's no easy button there is no

IR button

it's it's a definite

get your attention

so

I have to send you all home my email

address is this Vincent

versacephotography.com if you have a

question please feel free to send me an

email if I don't answer you in a timely

manner you start harassing me until I

answer it I'm okay with that but do bear

in mind that on this journey I'm going

to um Cuba tomorrow and then from Cuba

I'm going to Portugal and I won't be

back in the United States until the 28th

so if I'm a little slow getting back to

you that's why

let's hear it for Vincent thank you

and I want you to look at this here

because see how I

Rogaine or God

and then that's that's pretty funny

thank you

welcome back we're jumping into the next

presentation but I wanted to have a

quick note about our repeat speakers who

have been to optic before and I think

you must hold the title for the most

optic talks and we're very honored for

that so from east coast to now west

coast and wherever we end up next we

really hope Ralph will be there so enjoy

the presentation thank you is my

microphone on Can You Hear Me

all right thank you

and welcome and uh if if you're in the

room or out there in Virtual land

there's

only a few seats left

here in the lecture hall but welcome

yeah Mom my name is rafley Hopkins and

um

I was one of the founders of of the

optic back back in the day that was it

seven years ago

um I work with limb lead Expeditions I'm

the Director of Photography for limb

light Expeditions

um but I go both ways because I also

work with National Geographics so when

I'm on board I'm that Geo expert but I

run the program behind the behind the

scene I'm threatening to retire

but my dad says retire from what

so you're going to see and I'm just have

this I'm just holding this in my hand to

remind me to tell you that we do have a

table there that has a few brochures

left but expeditions.com because this is

we have to keep our our sponsors happy

um so

with that I just want to say you know I

am honored to be here for optic West

it's been a great success I think it's

going to happen again if the buzz behind

the scenes is is uh correct and then the

other groups that I work with natural

habitat Adventures that the small

one of the I guess two of the trips here

are from natural habitat small group

photo trips 8 to 10 to 12 people around

the world National Geographic

Expeditions that does Expeditions around

the world many of them with us on the

limb lad ships that are named National

Geographic and then I am an OM AKA

Olympus

photographer I defected from the other

system so we'll talk about that

um so we have a fleet of ships

and I don't hate me but every picture

that I'm going to show you today

is from this year

a lot of times photograph and I think

it's more of a help to see something the

way we work during the year because you

say you want to be a Travel Photographer

and then when the reality of leaving

home for five six months a year it's a

little different but this is the fleet

of ships just real quickly from 148

guests to 48 guests that go around the

world this has been my schedule for the

last 33 years

and um

so a lot what I do on board in addition

to teaching photography is capturing the

moments that hopefully will inspire

you and everyone else to want to go out

and see see wild wild places so I've had

over 100 covers over the years

this is my timeline for cameras

through my career

I played around with a brownie and

Junior High but my younger brother

actually became the photographer my dad

built him a dark room and I was an

athlete so he was photographing me and

and then also uh big pumpkins for the

school for the newspapers

I taught myself photography with a 4x5

graflex crown graphic but in Richfield

Utah for 125 dollars

the road to ruin because I was I'm a

geologist by training I did get my

Master's in geology studying in the

Grand Canyon great place for a

photographer when I started traveling on

ships I downsize to medium format Pentax

some of you won't remember this you're

too young looking out there these this

is the film days

so that was coming down there but it was

all auto excuse me it was all uh manual

focus manual

exposure you know

taking your light reading off the gray

deck of a ship so you can come back and

photograph a polar bear because

I mean this digital

it's crazy what's going on oh

you didn't get any messages yet uh then

I went Canon for years actually there

was a Nikon time but I didn't save my

Nikon camera so there is a Nikon in

there we went to Canon and now

um for the last couple years I've been

shooting om

which is AKA Olympus

now I don't know how many of you came

Kicking and Screaming to digital

but I had an editor

tell me when digital started because I

proposed a digital story

and he said if I have to deal with

digital I hope I'm retired by the time I

have to deal with it he was the next

year he he retired and he went digital

but the digital advantages and again for

those of you who shot film I mean when

we used to go on expeditions

we would take a hundred rolls

36 exposures that's 3 600 frames for a

month

some of you do that in a day now

um

autofocus and tracking oh my God what a

new world and then this whole thing

about auto ISO and letting ISO be the

fluctuating thing we used to push film

from 100 to 400.

back in the day to get those tough

scenes so this is uh and then you can do

things like this

this is the most amazing cloud I've ever

seen again remember every picture is

from this year this is in January

and it's a vertical Stitch I shot it

vertically the iPhone nailed it the

first time

to do it with your other camera you go

overlap a third a third or third and

then then you do it in post so there's

just things now in the digital world so

what I want to talk to you about is

getting familiar with your cameras the

reason when you get to be my age you

don't want to carry as much gear

so Olympus cameras are smaller

um so I'm shooting with my 600

millimeter there in the background

now there is a little it's like kind of

holding the fish up but still he's got a

600 millimeter fix there a third of it's

the sun shade but

we won't hold that against them but

that's the Canon 600 so that's the

difference that you're dealing with so

this is my camera bag

and uh yeah it fits all this stuff in

there although those momentum bags if

you haven't checked those out yet those

are some of the best designed bags

so in my bag

pretty much now my go-to is two camera

bodies the m1x and the and the om one

and then you got to have zooms the way

to go now I mean it used to be of course

that fixed focal lengths were sharper

but Olympus makes microscopes so does

Nikon and so does Canon these guys are

good at Optics zoom lenses are great

so that's what I carry so my go-to's are

100 to 400 for most work 70 to 150

and um

and 12 like 12 to 200 but this is times

two in the four thirds system

it's it's like having a doubler in there

but the way I say it is Olympus is a

full frame sensor it's just smaller

and it's engineered for that smaller

um weather sealed image stabilization

autofocus doing what I do in travel

photography and Wildlife I I couldn't

live without without it being weather

sealed now I don't even I'll wipe it

down but no longer do I keep my camera

in any kind of bag in in bad weather if

it's pouring rain I'm gonna go have

coffee but

the other things about the OM and this

is the last thing I'll say about the

technical side I want to get this out of

the way first because the whole thing

about enjoying your experience and

making better images is being familiar

with your camera

getting the muscle memory and switching

camera systems

I had my Travelers and my workshops

teaching me about my camera I did

exactly what you shouldn't do is buy a

new camera before going on a trip so but

an ND filter in the camera that work

does it computationally kind of the way

the iPhone works so it doesn't blow out

your highlights it's not like just

darkening it it's putting together

frames in the camera live composite I

can watch well the camera focuses on the

stars and then I can watch the star

Trails on my LCD and say okay that's

enough click and then it processes it

and spits out a raw

how do you do that stuff really good

engineers

Pro capture where I can buffer waiting

for the whale to come up

focus on a point

it buffers it buffers then the whale

comes up then I go click and it captures

everything you can set it to how many

frames before your subject came up so

that's kind of fun thing for Birds

taking off of course time lapse focus

stacking and it'll do high-res shooting

by Shifting the sensor so for a

landscape photographer you can put it on

you can actually get up to 80 megapixels

you can buy stock in the uh

the digital the chip companies

especially now they're way down because

storage how much more are we going to

shoot 80 megapixels a picture it's crazy

and then of course you can customize and

so whatever camera system you're

shooting make sure you customize your

buttons so that you are in control you

know how to change the focus Point how

to how to work with all your settings so

you can do it in the dark all right

so let's get to uh looking at images

the photographer's Mantra if you distill

it all down and there's books written on

this stuff right how many photography

books are there out there but it's about

light composition and moment

you heard Liam up here yesterday and he

said

no light is bad light for me he's got to

shoot in every kind of light you know

it's like you're going to shoot

different stuff cloudy lights great for

portraits

it's great for shooting in the forest

you don't want to go in the forest on a

dapple sunny day maybe right a

composition how are you going to frame

you're in control

of where you point your camera

Ansel Adams fairly famous guy in his day

said you want to make better pictures or

making better pictures or making good

photographs is about knowing where to

stand

I say if you want to make better

pictures stand in foot in front of more

interesting things right so composition

and then moment if you can get that

Trifecta something that and it can be

just light

it can be the birds this is a

Southern fulmar we saw Northern filmmars

today dragging its wings just a little

bit and because of the water and the

composition your eye dances around and

folks have talked a lot about

composition when your eye moves around

an image that's what makes a strong

image

so we're going to start out by going

South it's January so if you'll just

take a deep breath and we'll do some

travel and just look at you guys want to

look at some pictures some images uh

Penguins now polar bears are in the

North

penguins are in the South but they're

also at the equator but I'm just going

to talk about further south we did what

was called an epic it's been a tough

year two years almost three years now in

the travel business

we were supposed to go to New Zealand

through the Ross sea but instead we did

this epic Antarctic trip and that's our

new ship the National Geographic

endurance takes a hundred and

18 guests but instead of going south to

New Zealand

through the raw sea we did this Arc

around which is actually a plate

tectonic plate you can see that

that part of the ocean that extends all

the way to the South Sandwich Islands

and that's a volcanic island chain and

that was the first time I had ever been

there and a lot of the staff and

certainly all the guests on board had

never been to South Sandwich South

Georgia which is this beautiful

sub-antarctic Island

which is like the Serengeti of the

Antarctic so many animals

um birds that can't fly which are called

penguins and then the Antarctica

Peninsula and then the Falklands which

are often overlooked so we'll just click

through a few things here

we have a saying in the business the

first time you go to Antarctica you go

for the Penguins

but when you go back you go for the ice

and so I'm addicted to ice I dream of

Ice uh yeah it's the Explorers called it

polar fever they had to go back

and then of course the starburst when

you get and this is where normal people

will see a beautiful clear sunny day and

say oh it's the perfect day for pictures

I want some clouds I want something else

but the way I mess with that and it's

kind of become my more of a joke than

the trademark is the Sunburst right when

you have a crystal clear blue sky and

you have a nice wide angle lens and you

can stop it down they have 22 or pinch

it against something and maybe even an

iceberg I like to play around with black

and white in post

it's not infrared we can make it look

that way though if you wanted it but

combining elements having white ice or

at least light gray ice

and then clouds and something else so

maybe there's not a moment in here other

than to say that oh my God those clouds

are pretty cool

yes there will be weather

I love days like this

there's no bad weather there's just bad

Expedition gear

so you want to be ready and I love using

flip over mitts

so they have what are those called

Miller mitts inside and then a flip over

Mitten over the top and then I put in a

chemical warmer in the Mitten part and

my hands my hands are toasty

um

some of the fly fishing companies sell

those so if you're ready you can work in

this kind of thing but that was a little

bit too much

um

yeah everyone loves penguins and to see

Penguins as far as the eye can see most

of these are a deli Penguins but there's

a couple of red beaks in there there's

always these imposters right in the deli

Colony but there were some gen twos so

sharp eyes can probably pick out some

orange beak Gentoo penguins a little

harder to find the gentus here

the challenge with shooting penguins and

anything in flocks is that where do you

end the frame

you're always cutting off a penguin

in these colonies right so there's

Penguins to the from edge to edge so

what do you do you just gotta you can

play around with cropping later and I

guess the hardest thing

that I struggle with in photography have

you ever been frustrated

in photography it's kind of part of the

creative process is that I shoot too

tight

and why do I shoot too tight

because in shooting slide film your

composition was the frame when it got

mounted

and then if you're submitting stuff

you'd put this little silver tape that

kind of tried to show your crop and all

you were telling the editors that you

missed it

you should have done it a different way

and especially since I'm shooting four

thirds

so on this screen here it's cropped

you'll see some that have black lines on

the side this is 16 by nine so it's

cropped a 16 by nine to fit the screen

so that's what you struggle with so how

do you you work with that you look for

patterns you look from and there's two

types of penguins this is a joke

the white ones coming towards you and

the black one's going away

in this case they're a deli they have

these beautiful irings

so you do actually have to and I know

we've again

you need to know your camera how do you

shoot in this situation you need to

purposely overexpose

typically One Stop sometimes even a

little more than one stop to keep the

whites white keep your histogram to the

right

add light to light that's the way I

remember it add light to light keep the

histogram to the right because the gurus

will tell you and the guru is talking

right now in the other room Scott Kelby

it'll tell you that most of your color

information is captured on the right

hand side of your sensor

so if you're always shooting dark and

your pictures look better especially

with mirrorless when you under expose

they look better in your camera

underexposed but then you get it on your

computer like what was I doing and then

you keep having to adjust and post

so shoot hot and bright

is is my recommendation but it doesn't

look as beautiful through the camera

and then if you can find isolated so

anytime you can find isolated Birds

especially with patterns overlapping

wings out

or we like to say separation

you wait for them to separate and then

if you have one animal or one person or

one or whatever it is you're shooting

that's out of Step or doing something

else or looking the other way and we

almost have that here with one two the

fourth one from the from the left

he's like what am I doing here

um so we got out to the South Sandwich

Islands and this these islands have the

worst weather

pretty much in the world out here in the

Southern Ocean uh we got there on a day

that we could do something actually and

we saw the tops of each one of these

islands are active volcanoes it's not

like Hawaii where it's a hot spot going

over a plate where the Islanders are

going dormant and then there's only the

active ones on the front in this case

they're all

pretty much active volcanoes because

it's a plate going beneath another plate

you're in the subduction zone but

incredible incredible rocks and colors

of rocks so we'll get out in the zodiacs

and go explore and photograph and look

for birds and and Wildlife

the thing about this island was oh now

yeah here's just an abstract of remember

I'm addicted to ice so you see some ice

photos the ice with the red Cinders the

Red Rocks so you're seeing the geologic

history here of the of this uh explosive

volcano

but what this island was unique for it

are penguins that were like climbers

even though they could go to a beach and

go up to their colony for some reason

they went to this other Beach

and then hiked across the Cinders and

then

the ones on the left are going to The

Colony and the ones on the right are

coming back from the colonies so these

marching Penguins what was famous about

this island

the next Island they went to

um in this island chain had a fairly

recent eruption and when the eruption so

you have ice and Glaciers eruption

happens the Cinders get Incorporated in

the ice but Ice is like a metamorphic

rock it flows plastically at depth so

the the layers get all contorted kind of

remember that toothpaste that peppermint

toothpaste

some of you still have it Scott you

still have that don't you when you'd

squeeze it all those those lines would

get all contorted kind of like a marble

fudge cake kind of thing here so very

interesting patterns with penguins in

the foreground

the next Island was famous and if you

um one of the David Attenborough series

there's so many of them now I can't

remember but they

spent time here with the cliff diving

penguins

so do you see the Penguins is hard now I

wish the snowflakes I remember I do like

weather but I did struggle with these

big the flakes were like the size of

half dollars

the way it looked through the camera so

you've got a zodiac and you see the

Penguin on top there thinking oh should

I jump

so do you see the penguin

education you missed it

do you see the penguin

oh I didn't I didn't put the yellow on

that one but over to the left but here's

a close-up one so they come to the edge

here and then they dive as much as 30

feet into the water so the one that's

diving is a chin strap

uh the one on top I believe is a rock

hopper with the the tassels

there's two that have the macaroni also

has that but I believe here they're the

rock Hoppers but here's one where I was

able to isolate and this is where

digital

you know one of the beauties of digital

is you can take as many pictures as you

want

the horrific thing about digital is is

you can take as many pictures as you

want

so coming back from a one-hour zodiac

Cruise probably with easily 1500 jumping

penguins of which maybe three you're

going to be happy with and I thought

when I was in the Falcons getting

penguins like this these rocker

rockhoppers jumping I thought that was

my best shot

so this actually when we went to the

Falcons I got this shot so I'm kind of

mixing where I am anyway so now we're

jumping to South Georgia which is famous

for the millions upon millions of King

Penguins and some there's beaches with

500 thousands of these guys

guys and girls

and

their coloration is just so beautiful so

again it's hard to show the eye and we

discourage in groups we discourage flash

photography

um with with penguins because they do

they do react so if you know if you had

you know 100 Travelers coming up with

flashes so I'm not going for the eye

here you can see the eye and this one in

the lower right but they're just so

gorgeous they're almost everyone's

perfect like they're groomed and they do

this thing called necking it's a

it's a

courtship thing

pair bonding

probably leads to more penguins

and then when you zoom in and that's why

folks folks ask me and I answer every

question that's sent to limblad for

about photography

and the number one question is I'm going

to Galapagos I'm going to an architect

do I really need my long lens I'm going

to be close to Wildlife and even though

I can get close to Wildlife and you

don't get closer than 5 meters or 15

feet

but they can come up to you kind of like

the whales today breaking the Marine

Mammal protection act coming right up

under the bow almost I like long lenses

for tight shots and for isolating

remember it's hard to where do you end

pictures so you want to be able to so

that 100 to 400 you always want that in

your bag

or something oh they're not all well

groomed so this is a juvenile getting

his uh

he or she is getting new the adult

plumage but they'll get these crazy uh

Mohawks and things

but this is the scene and I didn't

concentrate on purpose on the scene of

just the millions of penguins

um because I wanted to show you those

details but this beach the entire way

until you get to the sun streak has

Penguins coming and going from Shore and

what's the moment light competences

light composition in a moment

in there

so we hadn't experience as we were

leaving

um

a portion of what was actually in the

South orkney Islands

where we came across fin whales

do you see any whales in this photo I

mean how many one two three four five

six

one two three four five six as far as

the eye can see we could see fin whales

we're hoping to see one or two

check this out

I wish I would have shot more video we

do have videographers that film every

trip so we

we do have a complete accounting of this

but this is probably

the largest accumulation of whales that

has been documented

since the Wailing days

this is what it used to look like

probably right out here in Monterey Bay

where you could walk they said you could

walk across the whales

this is in the South orkney Islands

I'd have to go back to the map but it's

in that Arc so it's kind of east of of

the peninsula

they've analyzed these the biologists

were just in fact I put this on Happy

Wheel asked me to put it up and it had

the most views of any they put the

little video up there of any of their

their images to date on it but the

biologists they're hoping to publish a

paper on it because they've analyzed the

film now and they figured there was over

3000 whales three thousand fin whales

and a couple of Blues in there the weird

thing was in this spot when we were

there in December it was all humpbacks

and apparently humpbacks can fin whales

because they're faster and bigger can

push off humpbacks I don't know if

that's true

but what were the fin whales eating

isn't it amazing the largest spin wheels

are the second largest animal on the

planet after blue whales they eat the

smallest things they krill what are

those boats doing

vacuuming 24 hours a day sucking up

krill

and we don't know what the carrying

capacity is for krill

we've heard it before right it's

sustainable sardines in Monterey Bay

you're never gonna

exhaust the sardines there's so many

sardines it's Limitless

so this is one plug for when you're

going for the omegas

don't buy the krill oil

get there's plant-based omegas now for

your supplements go plant-based because

otherwise you're supporting

supporting the Krill industry and we

really don't know

um what the impacts are going to be but

we know at the end of the story will be

if there's no controls don't we

Wells

I prefer when they jump

that didn't happen this morning you got

to spend a lot of time out there when

they jump and do things at the surface

we're kind of frustrating because we can

get the blow we can get the the dorsal

fin we can get the fluke

so you've got to be ready and this will

be a plug for coming with flip and I

come to Juneau Alaska we spend four days

it's a donation

to the whale trust and we go out for

four days looking for humpbacks

so all these photos are from this summer

in July

again I love playing with black and

white so there's times when you don't

have the light but you have a good

subject or it was too contrasty but you

got repeating forms

think about

converting to black and white

in post in in Lightroom or whatever

whatever you use

Lightroom is what most of us use

um I should have told you this this

morning if you were on the boat trip no

we did Fast shutter speed at least a

thousandth of a second if you want to

freeze the water drops you're going to

be faster single Focus point or a tight

cluster you want to get it right on that

whale especially if there's waves

I can't tell you how many times I think

we I nailed it and you realize it's like

10 waves in front of your subject and

then

memory is cheap and you can delete cards

and reformat

never in the computer

so burst mode at least 10 frames a

second even my camera will do I don't

know it's probably 50 frames a second a

bit

with it I don't want to look at that

many of the same thing uh it was my

business it was a skier coming down you

damn

straight that I would be shooting every

Twist and Turn

um but I'm usually between 10 and 15

frames a second

four things like this for well do it

kind of slowly the fluke of course and

you heard about Happy Whale

happywell.com whenever you get a good

fluke shot post it and you'll see where

it's at but photographing you know so

you got to raise the stakes too you one

fluke two through flukes you go for the

double but this is what's happening in

Alaska so there's so much Herring up

there

and there are some Krill areas too that

the whales get together and this is the

only place in the world where they do

them in groups larger than two or three

whales we had 18 to 20 whales in one

group

and one whale goes down

and goes lower than the other ones

swims in a circle and blows bubbles not

for the female in this case but to trap

the fish so those bubbles come up it's

called the bubble net

fish get trapped inside and they come up

in unison so they're all going down this

is just

little surface activity maybe trying to

stun fish they're going to go down

oh the iPhone talk did anyone go to that

using your iPhone as the second price

shooting video here and then they Rock

It Up mouths open

feeding feeding the fish here they'd

call it lunge feeding

this is lunch feeding but when it's in a

group it's called Bubble net or

cooperative feeding you can see the

baleen on the roofs and the mouths here

sometimes the boats are boats almost too

close

because you don't know exactly where

you're going to come up and when we do

it we're in a aluminum

uh catamaran and if we shut off the

engine it's almost like a hydrophone we

can hear that

you can hear the whale calling because

one blows bubbles and another whale

signals the rest of the whales to come

up at one it's the most amazing thing

they're they're highly intelligent

and psychic as well

they know your thoughts so if you ever

go out with whales and you want you

can't say breach now

you've got to say we love you we'd love

to see you jump

and this is an example of how close

that's the captain of the boat going hmm

what am I going to lose here

he counted us after after that one

happened that's the roof of their mouth

coming up in unison it's the most

amazing thing and you can see it right

up there in Juneau Alaska

uh you can see it on limblad trips to

Alaska we have four ships running in

Alaska in the Summers or come up for the

uh the whale watch with the whale trust

Maui

we told you about the fingerprints each

whale's different I mean look at how

different and this almost looks munched

on the right hand side

there might be some Orca rake marks

so these are like fingerprints each

one's unique

and they can tell that with the

algorithm again I love converting to to

black and white and they're the boys on

our photo Expedition wearing the whale

trust hoodie you too can get those

uh does anyone have one does anyone

wearing one

and so that's flip and then Mark Kelly's

on the right he he's a local Juno

photographer and we do the teaching so I

went from Wales to brown bears now this

is a trip with natural habitat

Adventures eight of us went out to a

Bear Camp

encamped with the Bears we did

and I'll tell you how we did that and

this is a beautiful mom with two Cubs

reflection I mean you dream of moments

like this right and thank God it wasn't

sunny the sun didn't kill it

um it was late in the day it was a nice

soft light

so we assembled in Homer Alaska a great

place to go as well

um it's it's kind of a deep sea Mecca

fishing mecca for folks make pilgrims

and that pilgrimages down there to fish

for halibut

but we went over to from home where we

flew and landed on the beach uh with a

bush plane

in the shoreline of Lake Clark National

Park and everyone's probably heard of

Brooks Falls and Tom mangelsen's Catch

of the Day shot which is down in katmai

National Park Lake Clark you've probably

heard of silver Salmon Creek that's a

that's a famous spot there's a lodge

there and that Hab now has a has a camp

that I'm going to show you and this this

is uh Mount iliamas so just like there

were volcanoes down in the South

Sandwich Islands because of subduction

there's the Cascade volcanoes here

because of subduction as you go up to

Mount Rainier

well there's another plate being pushed

down

along the Aleutian trench so the

Aleutian Islands are all active

volcanoes and there's all volcanoes on

the Alaskan Peninsula to fly over if you

follow the shoreline down to where it

becomes an estuary that's where the camp

is located

and this was a shot coming in we're

going to land on that beach of the camp

and there it is in case you didn't see

it

um these beautiful little Quonset Huts

they're heated they have a little uh

kind of a chemical commode for

for any uh personal

Maneuvers in the night but there's also

showers it's pretty it's like glamping

and it's on a gorgeous gorgeous

Coastline no bears in this photo

but they're around

they are around now do you see the Cub

Prince

look at the little ones and this was

probably the day before because you get

a lot of rain there and you can see

there's still kind of uh

fragments of mud it's not all smushed so

that Cub was pretty small

well there he is or at least two of them

so we were actually looking the other

way so what happens here there's two

things that can happen in Alaska for

watching these Coastal brown bears

we typically call them Grizzlies when

they're Inland and eating berries and

little rodents and things but when

they're on the coast

they're bigger and they're very happy

bears and these bears are used to you be

being around

that Mom was probably photographed when

she was a cub by photographers because

photographer's been coming here 20 or 30

years

oh that's how close so they do have a

vehicle for us that we can not go into

the national park but you can drive the

beach so they can they can put us in

good spots

and they go out clamming so Mom we were

looking the other way and Mom and these

two Cubs

it was good someone else is looking

behind there is that saying right you

know if there's something good in front

of you look behind you well in this case

mom came out of the the bushes with the

two Cubs and the Cubs are curious so

they came right over and she's kind of

going come on let's keep going but check

this guy out

I mean you can't make this stuff up so

so this is why photography and going out

in nature with your camera

yes I know you want to get the shot but

sometimes you put that camera down

pull up your iPhone shoot a video or

just watch because that's that's the

reason now and I'm maybe I'm in the

Twilight of My Career so I can say this

now

but I go for the experience I go to be

out there and photography is the reason

and there is something about clicking

the shutter that fires off

things in your brain that helps you

remember

where you are so we're not normal

because we're not missing everything

because we're photographers

because you probably get criticized by

your dog for that

why are you always looking through your

camera but in this case they're out

clamming and who knew that Bear's clam

if you go up here

um so they're out there digging clams

and the Cubs are just like come on Mom

I'm hungry

and so they're out in the mud so they

follow the tide out and there's a magic

moment where they're walking in a couple

inches of water and that's really what I

love to shoot is when they're walking so

they're almost like walking on water

almost like this

with that one cup for whatever reason

just love to walk

it's always walking

but it ended the experience here ended

with the last night and I don't know if

this is the same mom or not it could be

but we went out there it was just a

beautiful evening uh we're flying out

the next day and then here she comes now

the thing is is that

everyone including the photographers

were waiting for salmon to come into

this stream and now you're gonna say

okay now I'm gonna finally show the

pictures of these bears chasing the

salmon

she saw the first salmon that came up

the river we had to leave the next day

we never did get those shots which means

we have to go back

now if I went back a year before I have

all those shots but remember I wanted to

tell you that these are all shots from

this year so she did the whole thing

though it's like okay she gonna come

closer please come closer for

reflections

and and there is a viewing platform so

we're up a little high I need to be even

a little higher

for that reflection you can see that

it's not I'm kind of showing the whole

sequence so when you're in a situation

you want to shoot

don't hold back shoot the entire

sequence because you don't you may

delete the first

20 200

000 when when the good stuff happens but

she just kept coming so you keep

shooting

and then I shoot refocus shoot refocus

or I'll move my focus point and I'm a

back button don't listen to this

Liam I'm a bat button focuser so my

camera because I shoot wildlife and I

need to be ready is always in continuous

Servo Focus Burst Mode

but I'm with my back button so when I

click the shutter it's not going to try

to focus

so I can predict where it's going to be

and then shoot or I can follow Focus

move my focus point so that gives you a

little more more control that way but if

I was shooting skiers I would use back

button Focus

the reflection just kept getting better

and better in this situation

so for Bears yes you want a long Zoom

but depending on where you go you might

be shooting wide angle

um the eye detection in these modern

cameras really works

and pets actually pet detection even

works on pairs

um and then different than photographing

like when I talk about polar bears where

you want to overexpose

with bears since they're dark you want

to under expose a little bit because

your camera is going to again try to

make what's dark

middle gray so it might over expose some

especially if it's a blonde bear

so in this case you want to underexpose

a little bit

I don't I I don't recommend or do I

teach any more um bracketing your

exposure because you want to have to go

through a lot of images then bracket

just keep if it's a situation that keeps

and you're gonna know right it's dark

blue I'm gonna be minus my minus right

out of the bag my camera's on probably

minus point seven and then if the

situation is different I'll I'll dial it

up

so that was the end of that

situation there was force floor stuff

there and other things we did

um

do you wish there was a bear on this

morning where were they they slept in

all right but we had a Jaguar so we're

gonna shift gears now still this year

pantanal Brazil has anyone been there

it's insane

it's totally insane

um we're in boats but

I've been seeing these posted by friends

and photographers for decades it's like

one day I got to go there so this is a

trip with natural habitat

adventures and if you want to get a pose

uh there it is but here we're in boats

we're in a nice comfortable

forward-facing

um

it's almost like a padded bus seat

um the Jaguars get up to 250 pounds

these are big animals but they can

they're going for cayman that get maybe

twice as big as them

so these are amazing amazing animals

um they come up into Central American

and even through Mexico I mean they used

to be in Texas and sometimes they still

cross into New Mexico uh and Arizona

that's one of the reasons why a wall no

matter who pays for it is a bad idea

unless animals can pass through it along

our border but we're down here in South

Central South America in Brazil

it's where the pantanal Wetland this is

a huge wetland

with a lot of happy and hungry Jaguars

there's Ranch Land there and where there

are ranches and where there are

agreements

the Jaguars can take three percent of

the cows

there's just this agreement

the Jet and if they get any more than

three percent then there's payments I

don't know if it's a government fund or

what but that's how conservation happens

so the ranchers they they love the

Jaguars actually

uh because they also have tourist

businesses so I've converted this one to

black and white you guys know what those

Coneheads are

termite Mounds the most perfect field

I'd ever seen just they're all the same

height

um there's a lot of conservation success

stories there's a lot of sadness in the

world and and Injustice

um and the habitat with the

deforestation in Brazil these Hyacinth

Macaws went endangered with only a few

hundreds left but again working with

landowners they've put boxes on ranches

in the trees where they once were and

now they're backed in the thousands I

don't know they're probably still

threatened but they are fun because they

just sit there

so Hyacinth Macaws uh two cons

building up I'm not just going to show

you Jaguars to start the Fruit Loops

bird great great when they fly and it's

almost like when they Glide they always

go down

almost like their bill is dragging them

down

when you find the perfect tree or the

perfect situation I I can't tell you how

many images I took of this one tree

so you always think you've ever been in

that situation should I stay here and

shoot this or should I go do something

else and it's one of these things if

you're waiting am I waiting and I'm

going to be rewarded or am I wasting my

time am I missing something else in this

case I said okay I'm just going to work

with that tree those are wood storks and

the egrets flew in there and then I I

can't remember if this was sunrise or

Sunset but you can see I shot a lot of

images of of that tree and we lucked

into a taper

this crazy jungle animal with the long

nose

um

that our guide is actually studying he

had a few colors and he couldn't believe

it during the middle they're nocturnal

and they usually sleep but this one

crossed the road in front of us because

we were driving down to where we get

into the boats for the Jaguars and we

were able to jump out of our van and get

some beautiful shots of

of this animal as it went across the

largest rodent in the world

capybara

brought one home once the crowd grew the

bathtub pretty quickly no just kidding

just kidding uh you think the Jaguars

would be their favorite but it's not

they much prefer the Caymans but they're

really family oriented

kids sit on the back of the parents and

they have webbed feet

who knew that a road had webbed feet

because they live in these uh

aquatic environments and they've got a

face that

I'm even a mother could love

no one got hurt taking this photo this

is again why you went Zoom this was by

our lodge and um

these are the South American Cayman

this is what the Jaguars are looking for

so

they eat the Cayman

and it doesn't end well for the Cayman

the ones that don't get away this was

the first Jaguar we saw it was right at

low light so this is probably

easily 3 200 if not 6400 ISO

um I told you that I shoot auto ISO and

I don't cap it I don't cap it at 3200 I

think I can go to a hundred and I don't

know what it is now 125 000 or something

but if you got the UFO landing on the

White House

you don't care what the iso is you just

want to get the shot and then like I

said on the ship if there's a lot of

grain you just convert it to black and

white and it's art right

so um just get the shot if you shoot a

blurry shot you're going to delete it

unless you're going for motion blur but

these guys are when they're not sleeping

which is probably 20 hours a day they're

hunting and they hunt during the day

uh

Cayman

Jaguar looking for and so

you know I love shots with peekaboo

where they're coming in and out of the

out of the jungle

um along the river

this is where we left it came in because

it was going to swim across the river we

went to a tree and the guide said

there the Jaguar is going to come out

and walk out on this Branch I just know

it he's probably seen it before but it

did it came out and it gave us every

shot we wanted

from pretty close range

I don't know how long it would take for

him to get to the boat but it wouldn't

take him long so they give you the looks

but most of the time again they're

they're habituated to people

they swim

hoping to

I don't know why the video is not

playing but get the idea of that guy's

swimming

and then if they're lucky

they jump on and they get a Cayman so we

lucked out on our last day to to have a

kill

and kills everybody wants to get the

photo but not that many people put them

on the wall in their house

put it in the guest room

and people won't stay as long we were by

ourselves you can see when we were

photographing that event but the drivers

are so good they're barely do the

drivers

well I don't know what happened there

hit the wrong button

and we even shot the the Milky Way one

night there

um we did go out at night tamandua

giant ant eater with a baby on its tail

there this is where you're shooting High

ISO and we're spotlighting and this is a

manned wolf I had never even heard of

one before but it's a very special

rarely seen animal and there's a Jaguar

going off in the dark

I'm going to go through I I did start

late but I'm gonna I'm gonna finish up

yeah I only got about five minutes

Pumas where do you go for Pumas well

there's Pumas here in California where

do you go for habituated Pumas and this

again is crazy

um you go to Chile and Patagonia at one

of the most beautiful spots this is like

shooting Pumas in the Tetons the

mountains and Patagonia tourist Alpine

National Park

down here in southern South America

it's a region between Patagonia includes

both Chile and and parts of Argentina

and this from National Geographic says

that Pumas are 136 pounds the Puma's

down here because they're eating

Monaco's they're very happy and well fed

boom as they get up to 175 pounds in

this area and pumas as you know they go

from Alaska down

as you know down to Tierra del Fuego

um if you've got a gorgeous sunrise and

gorgeous light shoot it our guides were

just yelling at us when we were doing

this it's like you guys there's Pumas

over here and I'm like look at the Moon

they're photographers too but they were

just giving us a hard time but the light

there is just incredible

waterfalls but we were there to follow

the wanakos and who's following the

wanakos the Pumas this is what they eat

remember separation and background I

mean we're looking for the good shots

there patterns make it black and white

uh backlit and there's always one Puma

excuse me one one Naco with camel like

animal looking out and why are they

looking out

Pumas because

Joe and they look out for each other and

they do a call so our guides are always

listening for a call

um if the Screech of the Wanaka because

that means there's a puma around

all right

um this was the first family that we saw

and we follow her she's called blinka

because she has a bad eye

why do they cross the road they want to

get to the other side to this little

playground area so this is our first

morning

with them

and remember I was telling you about I

got to teach myself to shoot looser

yeah I wish I had more room on these

because they were just but they were

just running around playing on this

first morning we only had this

opportunity once because we were pretty

close we're still right along the road

where they're chasing each other fast

shutter speeds so you got to be ready

you know we're first we were shooting

them against in the dark and now they're

running around so you've got to be able

to get your shutter speed up again

you're not worried about ISO but they

spend another 20 hours sitting around

too so we had a lot of time

with them sitting and stretching and

playing with Mom and there was a BBC

film crew

they had been following they're going to

follow her for like 40 days and um

they were there for about two weeks

these cats didn't even look up at the

Drone

they got so used to it

so mom tells the Cubs to sit there and

this Cub's like Mom you're leaving us

because she's going to go hunt

there goes mom walking off that sand in

the background shooting so these cats

hung out and they're up on top of the

hill and they decided oh well we'll go

get closer to the photographers oh and

then we'll pick the perfect spot

and then we'll do everything that we

want they hoping to get in their photos

but that was that was my favorite well

we sat there for them two hours

but the shot we all wanted was against

the towers so the next day even though

we had a family in this light after we

shot them a bit we left and found this

no this is when this one was going to go

to the kill

and this cat brought we followed them

after the guide had heard the Screech

and it turned out after walking past us

and then we followed who thought you'd

be walking across the

the planes just following these Pumas

and it was like lions on a on a kill

there were six different Pumas feeding

taking turns feeding

and I'm going to show you in about 100

shots and we're going to end up here but

100 shots of

the gore but no the best stuff I think

happens away when they go away and then

they Preen and Mom creams the Cubs

so a lot of times when there's action

it's it's on the periphery where you see

and it gets some of the special special

shots

look at those paws

and we'll end up here so they finally so

are our guides and again these guys do

this every week the local guides he goes

she's gonna go drink he goes I know

where the water hole is

so she's waiting for the Cubs to come

now we're down the road we stop

photograph them coming

look who's watching

and now they're coming to the water hole

and check this out so we put our iPhones

and prop them up even though I was

carrying I don't know why I use my

didn't use my little tripod just stuck

it in the tundra

so this is why you carry an iPhone or

another camera that can shoot video

she walked right up to it

and then the Cubs had enough of that

it's time to go

and this is where I was kind of behind a

rock and she just looked at me and I

just kind of

and then she walked by

took the Cubs away

and then we did get and this is where

I'll end up

our guide so another Puma that was

climbing up to the Ridge and this is

where

I said I got to start training because

I'm going for snow leopards in December

put everything in my backpack and we're

like I tried to get up you know it's

like a couple well we probably went a

couple of Miles following this

Puma but she got up on this Ridge so we

got the mountains in the background and

she walked

right past us

and said okay you want the shot here it

is

and then they disappeared

so I think I'll end there

it's lunch time thanks for your

attention

um

I want to leave you with thank you I

want to leave you with light composition

moment but also to encourage you

whatever system you use

learn your buttons and dials backwards

and forwards and you've got to practice

you know with photographers we do it

every day so it's second nature

um do it so you can do it in the dark so

you don't have to look at the the you

know so you can change your focus point

f-stop shutter speed let the iso go

and you'll be a much happier and you'll

have a lot of fun and you won't be as

frustrated in the moment

and you'll have some amazing shots that

hopefully you can hang in the guest room

all right thank you I'll be here for

questions

yes you can take that one

Ralph will be over at the limbad bluef

to answer any more questions if you guys

have and we're gonna turn the stage and

get ready for the next one so stay

comfortable

do you think I mean it's it's full

battery right now

I think

thank you

almost lost it

my camera is everything

Adventure sidekick

okay

how's everybody doing

I know it was early but I want to hear

that again how is everybody doing

how about the people in the back who's

getting their sensors cleaned back there

how you doing

and thanks to all the live stream

viewers we're excited to keep rolling

with the day

our next presentation has been from an

internet friend for years and we're

finally meeting in person here at optic

West and now that we're in person

friends I know we're going to cross

paths a lot more and y'all are sitting

in the audience y'all are interested in

photography of course but this

presentation is going to be about

jumping into video and without further

Ado please welcome to the stage

traveling Jewels come on up

thank you

as I video him talking right because

that's how we do these days

what a day thank you guys for coming

it's so nice to see you uh I I can't

believe this morning it's been I still I

still have a lot of adrenaline from our

whale watching Adventure who are we

whale watching awesome and who did the

sunrise photo walk lovely lovely awesome

awesome I I just pulled a little clip

from this morning

I was like oh my God they're so cool but

look at that tail it was so exciting

and I was thinking about it and I'm like

oh my gosh everybody here is so talented

they have these big cameras and they're

capturing such wonderful photos I'm just

hearing

you know

everywhere and I'm thinking I'm the only

weirdo with this like fuzzy thing on my

camera a microphone right with um and

she I don't know did you guys shoot

video I hope you shot a little bit of

video yeah but I was thinking about it

like what's the difference like why do

we even shoot photos or why are we

shooting video like how hard is it to do

both or what do we need to change if

we're thinking of photos what needs to

change when you're like okay I'm gonna

get a video this time and so when this

happened actually the little this was

right at the very end of the of the boat

ride we saw this seal

I was hiding behind people

kind of zooming in

this is awesome I don't know if you can

hear the sound

but the people are just giggling because

the guy was like hi I'm ready for my

photo like he was posing and just the

the background soundtrack of that just

made me laugh and forever I'm gonna love

this video because it's not perfect it's

not a National Geographic quality

perfect clean video you know you see the

sides of people's elbows and you know

the the railing but I love it because it

gives you a point of view that's what it

felt like to be on that boat and that's

what it feels like when you see it in

the wild right so anyway this morning

was just such a fun adventure apologize

I'm just always excited I wake up like

this

um but I want us to really think about

the opportunity that video can offer to

put your shoes put you in a whole new

situation and to bring back memories and

to really put someone else who wasn't

there in your shoes right so a little

bit about me I'm like you I'm a travel

outdoors and Enthusiast I actually do it

for a living so I'm lucky I've been able

to hustle and get paid to do this it's

not a job I saw on LinkedIn it's a job

that I've I've really created I've done

a couple jobs and then showed someone

else that example and then got another

job and then showed someone that example

so it's really kind of a a a circle if

you will

um of me let's see that's Whistler

Canada does anyone know the middle place

Valley of Fire photographers love that

place and then Sri Lanka

little selfie in Sri Lanka uh so yeah I

work I'm a manfrotto Ambassador I've

been using manfrotto for years and years

and years and I'm also a huge camera

nerd like many of you I spend all my

money at b h

uh I think I should take stock in b h

because that's where all my money goes

but I do a travel Vlog called traveling

jewels and I also have a video blog

where I teach photo tips and video tips

and content creation over at the video

Hustle so if you're ever wondering what

kind of gear is she using or what does

she recommend it's all over there the

video Hustle

a little bit about me I'll give you a

quick a quick overview so you know who's

talking you and why is this important

why hello hello we're your hosts today

hi I'm Juliana brosti traveling duels

what no it packs a punch

it's rolling can you hear me okay being

home we have definitely shifted and

pivoted I've really learned how to adapt

and just constantly be investing in

myself take yourself out of your comfort

zone and just give it a shot okay that's

it peace here I'm on a mission to make

amazing connections around the world as

bumble's Global connector Fee real talk

oh my gosh she's gonna let me make the

hot mess grab a sweet potato butter some

cheese a little more cheese this is what

dreams are made of this station is

amazing wow look at those domes not long

ago it was illegal to take pictures here

but not anymore

here's a quick tip for your films now

it's time for the edit heated hammock

this is seriously the best I could stay

here all day have fun out there and stay

creative you guys

foreign

so that's me

that's who I am I'm always wearing pink

except when I'm wearing this multi-color

thing I'm a travel filmmaker a host I do

all my a lot of my behind the scenes so

being on camera is kind of relevant to

being behind the camera and also I'm a

vlogger and content creator so I do it

all I'm a one-woman show

I wear a lot of hats do you guys wear a

lot of hats

if you don't go with a big crew of 12

people that's probably you wearing a lot

of hats so um I I'm also uh constantly

on Instagram so if you guys are big fans

of uh the social media platform that's

taking over the world I'm traveling

Jewels so let's jump in I want to help

you guys launch into your video hobbies

and careers and whatever may have you

your outlet for telling stories and most

of you do you guys all have a phone with

a camera

yes cool who's using the video function

on your phone cool are you doing social

media

are you doing just like Memories

capturing memories are you making money

no Okay cool so we have a lot of hands

at least we're not like total

first-timers which is awesome

I'm gonna give you guys a kind of a

place to start and then we're gonna dive

deep into some of the tech so stick with

me if you're an experienced Pro and

you're very you're really into it like

we're gonna go through kind of a few

different options for people depending

on where you want to jump into this

party so social media is a great place

to get started one because especially I

recommend Instagram stories because it

disappears in 24 hours

so there's no pressure and you can even

put Instagram stories up and only your

friends can see them so it's very

private so it's a nice place to just get

started hitting record for 10 seconds or

15 seconds and just letting it Loose see

what happens right and and when you can

put multiple multiples together you can

kind of string together a story so it's

it's almost a whole video you don't even

edit this was a recent trip to Wisconsin

where I'm like okay going to Wisconsin

and you can make it kind of cheesy you

can add all the stickers

and I like to zoom in on stuff while I'm

videoing

cheese curds oh my God

[Music]

they're all random but they're fun right

they don't have to necessarily tie

together

but you know you can kind of Chronicle

your journey

as you go again that was an

old-fashioned right so how many of you

guys are watching stories if you're not

making them at least you're watching

them yeah okay cool

you can put cheesy music on all right so

Instagram stories is a great place to

get started now once you're used to

using your record button there's now

reels and reels are basically the word

for video on Instagram and most of them

are vertical and there's even these

funny sounds that you can copy it's

really different than what I learned in

journalism school or working at the TV

station in The Newsroom where you learn

like you can't steal music we're

stealing music now we're stealing audio

and uh and in on Instagram Stories the

easiest thing you can do is just put

photos together

it's just a montage

we can do that right you can add cool

transitions you can do all of this on

your phone I usually do it on a computer

but yeah something simple put your

favorite photos together and make a

collage it's just the basic steps that

you can just get out of your cave and go

okay cool got that over with now let's

talk about some more serious stuff

another another way you can really get

engaged and get started is just teach

somebody something

Are you a quilter do you know everything

there is to know about whales do you

know about photography you just kind of

share something you know because you're

already an expert and make a video about

it faster with Adobe Premiere Pro ready

go jkl space j to rewind K to pause L to

fast forward hit it a few times to

travel faster and spacebar to pause or

play iox Eye to Mark in Oda Mark L and X

to Mark the full clip plus or minus plus

to zoom in minus to zoom out and

backsplash backslash new atmosphere full

timeline and bonus the tilde accent Grom

key this will take your panel fools okay

shortcuts later

I know it was fast if you didn't

remember all the shortcuts it's okay

this is not the 101 this is just like a

neat intermediate shortcut tips but the

point of this you you might notice

is when you when it goes by so fast and

you don't know what happened you have to

watch it again

and that's actually a trick with social

media is when you watch it again it's

like oh this was popular this must be

good we should show more people this so

people are putting stuff on the screen

so fast that you can't even pay

attention so that you have to watch

twice so don't worry that was a trick

question

all right and the last thing I want to

share with you on social media is

transitions so this is so fun this is

something we never were allowed to do in

The Newsroom it was like straight cut

straight cut straight cut and if you

touch any of those silly star wipes

you're a goofball

but now you want to plan to add

transitions

[Music]

and that was all in camera I'm not

really great at After Effects but I just

really try not to move and like take off

my shirt and put it back on and you know

it was you have to be really detailed

when you do that have a tripod don't

move it hopefully the sun doesn't just

suddenly disappear behind a cloud and

change everything but the transitions

are just something so fun the easiest

one is just to like smack across the

lens because that wipes it and then the

next thing you do will will have that

same wipe and then you can match them

together and it looks really cool so

it'll take some time but something for

sure that is super achievable to get

started for video and it looks cool so

now that we talked a little bit about

social media

oh wait one one more one one more

surprise this one actually uh this is

the one I was talking about where it's

hard to like you don't want the cloud to

come into the window

[Music]

yeah so just some fun things that again

really don't have a place in on

television necessarily but on in on the

Internet it's like so so awesome so have

fun with it Go create go be creative now

as we talk about diving into video it

could be something super simple when we

start and a lot of what I shoot is

horizontal so traditional I showed you

some some vertical videos but now we're

going to kind of dive into more of the

horizontal stuff but even something like

one clip

One Clip is good enough to call it a

video

this is actually in Colorado

and it's I feel like it's the top of a

you're like riding on the top of a

Stegosaurus

because like both sides are dangerous

you look over the edge and it's scary

but a photo just doesn't really do it

justice

but when you feel like you're traveling

along that road you're like oh my God

this is cool right so something easy if

you just think in one one clip at a time

like this would have been a good photo

and you got the photo I know you got the

photo but what's the next level to make

it something

that you could tell a different story

right so just think through each moment

what are we doing so

I always recommend that you stop and

observe before you take your camera out

it's so hard

when you get there and those whales are

jumping you're just like ah shooting did

you guys look out of the lens for like a

minute it was hard because you want to

get the moment

but one thing we should train our brains

is that we want to first show up on a

scene a set a situation and say

what's going on

okay those guys are buying camera

shopping cameras okay what's that tree

hmm all right wow it's really sunny out

there like what's I hear music is there

a party going on you know you're kind of

just like paying attention to the

environment and then

only then

you may take out your camera

because we don't want to shoot

everything that happens and we will just

exhaust ourselves we'll run out of

battery we'll have too much footage and

we're not going to make anything we have

that much footage right so definitely

just stop and actually I wanted to show

you a stop a red stop sign but this is

in Berlin and I just thought it was so

cool the guy this the the walk guys it's

a guy it's not a stop

anyway silly

so once we're going to observe that the

next step

is to choose a focus so a lot of us here

are wildlife

Wildlife people anyone

travel

any food people

food I know a miniature person I the not

miniature well Aaron Outdoors did an

amazing miniature talk and I'm like wow

that's such a cool field if you're if

you guys have missed it watch it it was

cool

um choose a focus whatever it may be and

I would recommend just start there

ignore everything else that's not your

focus

so don't try to go and do outdoors

adventure and then take pictures of all

your food right

sorry it's low

one more there we go so just for some

ideas starters and you see these niches

on the internet like hey I'm Aaron

outdoors and I'm a miniature

photographer whoa what's that right she

picked a niche and she's running with it

and if you were to say hey I'm a I'm a

nightlife photographer I mean that's all

you can just make videos about nightlife

just to get started and again just

ignore everything else it's okay you can

jump into that stuff later

now once we pick our Focus

we're going to think about where it's

going to play

so are we going to put this on Instagram

is this something we're going to put on

TV

are we going to put it um you know

Instagram started as squares but then

there was a time where portraits were

really cool and you would get a little

more screen time if your video was

taller because it was on the screen

longer

so more people would see it

so the longer and taller your video is

if your video is going to the phone is a

sneaky way to make people watch it more

the algorithm likes it so anyway it's so

hard to go out there and shoot all of

this at once but it's possible and

everyone who works in this business is

being asked to do so but when you're

starting I would just think in your head

are we going to start vertical just

doing Instagram stories verticals cool

are we going to start horizontal and you

can frame to do both

but it's just it's it's hard it's like

composing a photo two different ways it

just doesn't work all the time right so

try to limit yourself into one bucket to

start I recommend because it's kind of

crazy to do everything

okay so just for example I did this

Princess Cruises job and I had to make

the same video twice

um do you guys want to see

yeah okay I see a couple heads

it's gonna be you're gonna feel like

you're watching it twice though

I'll show you a little a little bit of

each part of The Medallion class

experience is ocean now you can order

food directly to you wherever you may be

on the trip

let's put it to the test

all I need is my Medallion and my

Medallion class app hi thank you yes

[Music]

yes we're here with fries yes

cheeseburger I think they read my mind

[Music]

thank you

hi Juliana

look at this guy it's a cutie

oh my God the cutest we have matching

hats

now that's a medallion class experience

that was so fun I got to just order

stuff

I was like I'm a princess what I'm gonna

order okay so then I'm gonna do it with

my phone

I've got my ocean Medallion they can

locate you they can chase after you

let's put it to the test I'm in the mood

for a cocktail

still ah I might have to order another

one thank you I am so hungry you read my

mind

champagne

yes

what oh my gosh family the bear okay

thank you you know what I would love a

matching Captain hat

thank you so much

twinsies ocean now you delivered cool

huh crazy right okay so you can totally

make one video and reformat it to the

other but then sometimes your face

becomes huge because when you move it

from one frame to the other it doesn't

work so good so I just tried an

experiment I was like What if I film

everything twice so the the soundly the

bear comes cool and I'm like can you go

back and do it again I'm gonna get out

the phone I'm like wow you know but

anyway I don't recommend this but I'm

just saying there was a reason why

because it didn't really fit this the

format of the story it was generally the

same but they're different they're

different platforms so don't expect that

like everything you do has to like fit

everywhere if that makes sense the moral

of the story is just start with one and

then you know just saying my brain is

totally different when I'm thinking of

one format than the other that's kind of

the point

all right so how many of you guys are

using and I see a bunch of you with

cameras here

um raise your hand please and then

um if when you hear your favorite your

favorite device let's say hands up for

phone if you're using phone

if you're using your like if your first

choice camera is your phone

who's using your phone the most

yeah okay if your first choice camera is

your point and shoot

point of shoot so this is a camera

that's in your pocket it doesn't change

lenses cool how about a mirrorless

nice nice okay it's I recognize cool a

cinema camera video pro video people

nice they have one back there on the

Canon table the

um EOS C70 if you're curious what the

cinema versions look like they have

built-in ND filters so it's easy to

control your exposure and you don't have

to mess with filters and they have

professional audio inputs so you can

really have everything you need for a

video like that is a true video camera

would be like a cinema camera but we

don't need a cinema camera to make

videos to start right

if you're making money maybe that would

be easier so specialty cameras GoPro

or drone

yeah okay cool or DJI they have the

little gimbal guy

no okay there's so many great ones

anyway I want to show you guys a little

bit of gear like on Fast Forward

um just to get you started on like what

you're thinking for video I mean when I

think of these tools I actually use all

of them at different times because the

GoPro is so wonderful because it's all

automatic and um it's it's uh especially

the microphone on top makes a huge

difference if you're going to use the

GoPro and it's waterproof so of course

when I'm going snorkeling or something I

go with the GoPro however I don't use

the microphone because that will it's

not waterproof anymore when you use the

microphone

um the Drone I love drone I got my my

certification and I started playing with

it and it's just so fun and it makes

different you know the small one the big

one the big ones are better in the wind

but the small ones are really impressive

uh if you're if you're curious about

that the point and shoe these are ones

that I I recognize as video cameras

because the G7 mark x three point and

shoot has a couple features which I'll

show you it has an audio jack which you

need for video so you can plug in a

microphone

and of course you can change batteries

you can put an SD card in there

which your phone can't so I just get

stressed when I shoot on my phone and I

run out of juice

sometimes it's nice to have a dedicated

camera

you're also thinking of like something a

little bit bigger like the the m6 Mark

II which I love because it actually

shoots 4K uncropped in the aps Seaside

sensor but the M the M50 is the most

wonderful in the same group

uh beginning vlogger type video camera

because you can change lenses and you've

got a nice

Auto video function like it it

automatically just like Auto the auto

function in your photo camera does they

have a great mode for video

also if you're into the full frame

situation maybe you already own some of

these cameras I know most you guys had

had dslrs and mirrorless cameras the EOS

R is a great place to get started

because it does also have that audio

jack

and it also has some video functions and

capabilities like really fun ones that

you'll see in a minute I right now I'm

using this one the r5c and I'll tell you

more as well and then the C70 which I

mentioned is the big cinema camera so

hopefully somewhere on the Continuum of

evolution you see yourself and what

works for you what what works for one

person doesn't work for another I don't

work at b h I'm not selling you cameras

but I have to say I love them for all

different reasons so I want to tell you

a little bit about this one just because

we have most many people using

mirrorless cameras here and I got a

sneak peek chance to try this out when I

was working I had an assignment in Sri

Lanka has anyone been there

it's like on the other side of the world

a complete like the time like eight

o'clock here is like 8 A.M there it's

really crazy and um it takes amazing

photos because it's just like the

high-end photo Stills cameras so you can

go out there and capture what you're

used to capturing but on the very top of

the camera there's a switch

that makes it a video camera and it has

the cinema functions like zebras and

um peeking and all kinds of like little

menu things that a videographer would

want so if you're ready to dive in deep

or you're a professional and you're

looking for that hybrid this is a really

cool one picture this Wildlife

waterfalls rice fields and the new Canon

EOS r5c

video Pros are we ready for an adventure

or what

my camera is everything always in my

hands it's my creative Outlet it's my

money maker it's my adventure sidekick

the cat EOS r5c is a hybrid like me

ready for anything

[Music]

doesn't that look like fun

so yeah you can imagine how cool that

would be to just I mean all most

muralists can shoot video but this

camera has a video brain the video menus

inside of it so it's really truly like

carrying two cameras that are married

and merged into one so anyway I just I

really really am enjoying this one and

it's in my hands all the time a few no

matter what camera you're using a few

things you want to think about for video

and I've already kind of hinted to you

you gotta have that microphone Jack

I love to have a headphone jack because

you have a lot of professionals but

again just getting started maybe you

don't do this but you want to be able to

hear the sound because sometimes I think

the sound is fine and I get home and

it's like

or I'm maybe I'm recording you and

you're talking to me and I I heard you

but I get home and I'm like what did she

say I only heard all the people back

there

so if you listen to it as it's happening

you know it's good but most photo

cameras don't have that so this is why

if you decide this is fun for you the

camera is just like there's certain

models that are really good for both you

know what I mean

um I really also like to have a flip

screen because I run around I'm like on

the ground and I'm up high on my tippy

toes and I'm hiding of bushes and then

the very angle screen makes it easy to

see everything and then Advanced would

be those ND filters that we talked about

those switching your filters and stuff

okay so some key considerate oops some

key considerations for video I'm not

going to go deep into this because this

stuff is all on Google but I just want

to mention it so I don't totally Lead

You astray is that for videos sometimes

people are like what frame rate what's

frame rate here in the US we usually

shoot like 24p is what we call the frame

rate for Cinema cinematic films but most

TV stations and most broadcast stations

are shooting 30p and why am I telling

you this because whatever frame rate

you're shooting you usually want to

double that number and that's the ideal

shutter speed so if you're shooting one

over 30 frames a second so if you're

shooting 30 frames a second like most of

us on Broadcast News your shutter speed

for video is usually 1 over 60. so the

bottom number of your shutter speed is

double the frame rate if I'm confusing

you you can totally Google this but what

I the reason I tell you because from the

photo world this is a huge big light

bulb moment what your shutter speed

needs to stay there or close you can

also move it to like a little bit more

like maybe two one over 250 but you

don't want to boost it up to like 500 1

over 500 or 1 over 2 000. because it

changes the videos that you see it

changes just like in a long exposure it

changes how you see maybe the bike

spokes of a bike going by everything

gets kind of grainy it feels starting to

feel like a gif it gets kind of weird so

ideally you want to keep your shutter

speed in that one over 60 to 1 over 250

area and now how are we going to do

exposure because you just lost a major

tool right so that's where those ND

filters are huge in video having that

exposure control

um to really control what your your what

each shot looks like is a huge who's

exhausted

does this make sense a little bit okay

cool I'm glad you're with me I know it's

so techy but um that's just kind of like

a revolution when you switch from the

two now also white balance you might be

used to shooting Auto which is cool but

in video when you're putting multiple

shots together an auto white balancing

it can kind of look weird later if this

shot's blue and this shot's yellow and

this shot's pink and this shot's green

right so that's one also area that like

as you learn more it's something to just

consider maybe I want to try going into

the manual world or using the settings

like indoor setting or using outdoor

setting just something a little bit

different than photos as well

and then you can get super techy and to

log we're not going there but just so

you know it's there in case that's

something you're into okay so now let's

jump into more technique and stuff I

want to show you two oh one last thing

I want to show you some gear and again

my super fast forward way I like to use

different bags based on all the gear I'm

bringing and again if you want to

screenshot this cool but if you just

want to check my website fine too this

is what I carry around when I'm shooting

a professional something like corporate

the Denver Zoo is having an event and I

want to go film it I bring out pretty

much all of this stuff and that's what

my bag looks like for a professional so

that's not what you're expected to have

but I just want to give you an idea of

like all the things and then when I'm

video blogging myself and maybe you saw

me this morning around about that's kind

of what's in my bag it's it's kind of

like a filters I have a camera a couple

lenses tripod you know I have kind of a

little bit of everything and the little

thing is the audio the little audio guy

I'm gonna go a little deeper in some of

this but I just want to give you a sense

of kind of like what it takes or maybe

you recognize stuff like I don't own

that I don't need that

and then oops for getting started

if you don't own any of that uh I would

recommend

okay sorry I'm bad at this here's just

like a basic getting started package

that I just felt like hey if you're

brand new and you're thinking like what

should I buy you're probably gonna want

a microphone you might need an ND filter

you might want some lavalier microphones

maybe

um you know it's it's really up to you

and what you're looking for but that's

kind of what I was I kind of trimmed it

down to see if that would be a good fit

all right so

the ND filters I told you about this

this is like wow and also one last thing

and this is something that I carry

around everywhere these are just my

everyday tools the essentials I could go

super deep into this does anyone have a

question about something on here like

what's that

makeup why do you bring makeup

if you're on camera you want makeup

um also I the the powder I use is um oil

like absorbing and sometimes if you're

interviewing someone who's shiny you

could you know use they might need a

little d d shine yeah

um someone might ask medical tape I

actually tape my microphones on with

medical tape it's surgical tape it's

very sticky and you can rip it that's

just my little hack on how I keep

microphones because you don't always

want to look like a news reporter so I

kind of hide it sometimes

um the quarters to do the tripod plate

uh

lens cleaning what you guys know a lot

of this stuff you're already using I bet

cool is that fun

cool you love the geek geeking gear

stuff me too all right now we're going

to talk about some techniques in the

field

so this is a big deal when you are doing

video the first major rule I want to

share with you is motion motion is the

main difference between a still photo

and a video right and audio but first

we'll talk about motion

so motion I think about a great photo

like didn't I take a nice photo of my

cheese curds you guys are all going to

want to go to Wisconsin now after I talk

about it so this cheese curse photo is a

nice photo but if I was gonna make a

video about it what are some ways we

could introduce motion

Those cheese curds aren't going to like

jump up on their own

maybe maybe I have my camera ready when

that plate of hot steaming cheese curds

are going to come and get dropped off I

anticipate that's about to happen so I

get the motion of that plate entering

the frame that would be very cool just

boring hey here's my cheese curds

they're sitting there already nothing

happening why would you video that it's

a better photo you know and what if

maybe someone picks up the beer and

picks it up and puts it back down that

would be motion right

so creating your motion within the frame

is a really important technique that I

have gotten very creative at because I'm

often filming by myself with a tripod so

I have to figure out like how am I going

to make this cool like oh I'll just set

up the tripod and then I'll walk through

that was motion that counts you know but

again if I just stand there I'm already

there I just want wah video okay

so like even something easy like this a

train coming by this is Denver downtown

um station

there we go

easy the Train's leaving that's cool

right and now you already knew where it

was gonna be I just had to wait for it

yeah so you can do that right it's just

framing up your photo waiting for the

motion you guys do this probably to get

the cool action shot of the motion but

if you get the shot and I missed it but

if you got the shot of the train

entering and exiting that's even better

but you know you sometimes you gotta

wait for it and also some other fun

ideas within the frame the motion you

can create you could do a time lapse and

I would say my favorite cameras that a

lot of them I have have a time lapse

movie mode that put a time lapse

together into a movie already so you

don't have to go home and edit stitch

together frame by frame all the photos

so it's a cheater way of doing time

lapses and it's so fun

so time lapses are easy also you might

want to think about stop motion which I

just I used to work on a food show and

we're always making food disappear so

this is kind of like my favorite style

is just like grabbing things or I if

there was like a bunch of whiskey on the

Shelf you could grab one bottle at a

time and make the Shelf go empty so yeah

stop motion and then this one just like

this is a little more advanced but just

to give you some fun ideas is kind of

duplicating yourself with masking

and some of the apps can do this for you

but I learned how to do it in a in Adobe

Premiere Pro but you're just kind of not

covering yourself up so you're using

part of one video over here and you'd

cut around another part of your video

somewhere else but yeah those are fun

ways to create motion within the frame

are we good

cool now what about motion that we what

other kind of motion can we do

we can move the camera

but I don't mean just doing this all the

time that's so crazy because you just

get dizzy like why would it why are you

moving I don't know because I can right

why huh okay so you want to move the

camera but you want to have a reason

right so

thinking about like moving a pan

starting from the ceiling down to you

that would feel like an introduction

like and hi hi nice to see you bye

right it's just kind of like just a

little visual thing that makes us feel

like something like there's already

something being communicated I like whip

pans you start over here and hi

right but just that little like motion

gives you that entrance and exit but I

have a reason because I want to

introduce you to the coolest place in

town called the Monterey Convention

Center where VH optic West is

so I'm going to do that sky to the

convention center and now I'm here right

it's not just back and forth for no

reason then

movement can also be just like how we're

moving our camera

so if we're going to be able to say use

our hands

and just like or like I showed you with

the tripod we didn't move it was still

so that's camera movement zero camera

movement but that's camera movement

let's also talk about other ones so

that's my this is zero camera movement

just leaving it alone but let's move the

camera

we're going to use the environment so

you guys know when you're especially

with video you have that strap do you

guys do the strap I like the strap see

where's your camera strap and you can

push your camera against the strap

and that creates leverage and that'll

help it Be steady

if you need it you could also take your

camera and take your elbows and tuck

them in and hold your camera for

stabilization to keep it steady

something so simple two hands elbows

I know just one hand seems so fun though

and you could also lay on the ground

we could put it on the ground

as your tripod you could put it on this

Podium but it's it's slanted so no

um you could put it on a staircase a

wall like all the things that you can do

this is all free if you're creative

so using your environment is a huge like

secret weapon if you're really good at

just thinking like okay I didn't want to

carry my tripod what else could I use

that table

right environment is everything

also you could use your selfie stick do

you guys have one of those

I have short arms so like my camera is

too close I need the selfie stick but

the selfie stick is kind of fun because

it's kind of like it's not perfect it's

kind of shaky but it's it's like to the

point works really good

um and maybe this maybe you want to try

handheld maybe you're gonna go and this

is an example of handheld where

on purpose I like that shaky shaky shot

I'm not doing it like sometimes you'd

get a shaky shot an accident it's kind

of ugly and I know but in this case I

did it on purpose let me show you

look at this it's like an ice cream

sundae here I mean if rocks could swirl

right because it's swirling here oh my

gosh this is so beautiful I can't wait

to get out we want to get out get out of

the car we're going on a hike today

right bighorn sheep I love him for the

photo this whole area was sorry I was

like I'm not gonna show you the whole

thing but I just wanted to see my

opening shot like why did she use the

shakiest shot to start her show but it

was like guys this is approachable I

want you to feel like you could do this

too this isn't a cinematic movie that

you're never gonna do like I wanted to

incorporate an authentic Vibe and that's

why I chose the handheld also I didn't

want to carry all the stuff

so I just made it part of my story right

but I think you think through the tools

and then what does that how does that

influence your story and for vlogging

handheld is awesome

if you're trying to sell that video for

like a million dollars you know to some

Corporation you'd have to kind of sell

it a little bit different

now gimbal the beginning of this video

starts with a gimbal

wait for it wait for it

you have to wait for it isn't this

gimbal so good you can't even tell there

you go my oh my these views wow so this

is the Skywalk it's beautiful up here

I'm surrounded by super trees this is so

cool feels like you're on another that's

the end of the gimbal

to give you that first sense of like oh

where are we you know it's a whole

different vibe so the tools that you

pick from motion are creating a feeling

when you're doing it right and if you're

oops if you're gonna do uh shopping just

wanted to show you

back there

um if you're going to use some of the

tools we just talked about

here are just some starter tools that I

would recommend the first one is your

for the phone the middle one is the

tripod I carry with everywhere because

it's so small and it's carbon fiber so

it's really light and I never have

broken it I just it's it's in my my

wheelhouse then a fluid head if you

really do want pans and tilts this thing

and this thing you know you're going to

need a different tripod head than the

photo of head fluid head is the key word

when you're shopping fluid head and

that's smooth it's sexy smooth smooth

pans cool all right

then the other things I showed you was

this the selfie stick the Gimbal and I

didn't show you this last one but this

is my favorite tool of the monopod

because it's kind of like a mix of both

things it's you don't have to carry

things it's not so heavy but it has this

cool

um ball at the bottom so that you can

easily like pick it up and move it and

it kind of like absorbs the motion so

it's not shaky it's just very it's like

a hybrid Cinema tool that's just kind of

great for for being mobile one man

banding around

so yeah for traveling I still don't

carry that but if I'm working I carry

that

okay sorry I'm yelling all right and a

couple things too we want to think about

with motion is

please don't rely on the zoom I know we

have great lenses that Zoom super far

but you don't want to just stand in one

place and hit zoom zoom zoom zoom I got

the first video I didn't go anywhere the

best videos use your feet

the best videos you have to walk all the

way over here you have to walk all the

way over here you know what I mean you

have to use your feet and and and ride

escalators up to the top and go to the

rooftop and lay on the floor and get

grass in your shot or whatever this was

just an example of me I was filming at a

brewery and they let me like climb on

this ladder to get cool shots but I had

to ask they weren't just like hey do you

want to go on the ladder you know it was

like hey what's that ladder over there

could I could you know kind of have to

just think through

what can I get away with

for for your feet and as a result you

will capture variety

as a result you will capture really

interesting shots and for me my goal is

to make an edit that doesn't use the

same shot twice

so if you can kind of try to think okay

I used that one what else is there right

just constantly be on the move to think

of different things of course you can do

something easy to start I'm just trying

to give you ideas and give you like a

sense of what goes on in my brain when

I'm thinking in video mode cool

also for story for video we're always

thinking in sequences so a lot of times

you want with your with your with your

your zoom lenses you want your wide shot

you want your medium shot and you want

your close-up shot those three shots are

easy to edit into a video when you're

editing and honestly

like if you watch the news every video

use every shot you see is one of these

but they're not two of the same in a row

two wide shots no two close-ups and no

right it's generally like a combo that

makes a really good video and like

mixing those around I also really love

the extra extra wide shot especially for

travel you get a sense of like a place

um also I think about action so

you I often show my point of view I show

what I see I show my feet I just kind of

like to show you like bring you into the

experience but I also need to edit the

opposite shot

so if we're at the Olympics and we're

watching Chloe Kim do a triple flip on

the half pipe what's the opposite of

that is whoa people clapping well right

there's kind of two halves to the hole

so when when I'm riding the horse I like

to show me I like to show the horse

if you're not in your video cool but you

know show the action and show the

audience or show somebody else reacting

to that

I think that makes a good video I made

that rule up but I really like it

um and also for video I know I'm going

through a lot of things um a-roll what's

a-roll

you guys are probably heard a b-roll

a-roll is all the interviews all the

stuff that carries the story forward

um it's a lot of times an interview or a

host hey welcome everybody right uh but

the b-roll is all the shots of what they

said that give you the other perspective

and almost always when we shoot video we

think of a-roll well yeah tell me the

story behind how you invented BH optic

West but then we forget to go get b-roll

and then when you edit you can't make

anything because you you forgot so

b-roll is super important everyone just

it gets lost but you that thing is like

that the thing you really want to spend

time on

so a-roll is just an easy little thing

hopefully

a-roll b-roll sweet okay I'm going to

show you one more video

so you can kind of process what you're

seeing in action I'll just show you a

par a part of this video but I think

it's a fun one to get the sense of

a-roll and b-roll and how I mix it

together

today I'm going crazy for cranberries

I'm in a cranberry Marsh here in

Wisconsin welcome to rooted in red it

just so happens to be harvest season

this doesn't happen all year round

so cranberries actually grow in a sandy

soil so there are Vines underneath these

bogs here in Wisconsin we say marshes

and then they fill the marsh full of

water this machine drives through and

loosens the berries from the vine did

you know cranberries are Hollow in the

center the cranberries float to the top

these guys are collecting all of The

Cranberries putting them in a big pool

and processing them so lots of action

today so we are going inside a cranberry

bog ready to Cranberry let's go so

you're wearing these funky little shoe

pants okay I'm gonna pause there so you

guys watch get ready video later I'm

suited up one foot I'm just teasing you

cool

is incredible it's cold in here I feel

like I'm floating everything's floating

around me I feel weightless

it's crazy

all right these are fresh cranberries

there was a spider in my head it's just

such an adventure

I have always wanted to come to a

cranberry Marsh you really get the

picture of How It's Made it's a big

process but anyone can come here this

place is so picturesque I love it

sorry I made you watch the whole thing I

couldn't make it work

fun huh I know it's silly to be so

excited about cranberries but did you

guys notice the a-roll

it was me talking and I only talked to

the camera like at the end of the day

right before we left and I learned all

the facts and I just said them all at

once really excited and then all the

b-roll took me all day to capture was

this this truck tractor going by and I

got some cool drone shots and you know

shots of the processing machine and

close-ups of The Cranberries you know

all that stuff took all day and the

a-roll literally took me like five

minutes at the end right so anyway just

wanted you to see kind of how that kind

of ties together

okay we only have a few more minutes

left I want to tell you one other major

thing for for um for uh

uh for video because we didn't talk

about sound

you guys okay do you want to hang out

for a minute or two more okay cool sound

is another major factor why photo and

video are different obviously I'm sorry

I don't think this is working anymore

keyboard

sound there we go okay with keyboard so

sound is we talked about this story

right the sound of an interview or the

sound of a host talking so and we saw

this earlier I showed you my whale video

in the seal video the seal video really

shows you kind of the

this is so much better with sound right

just the giggle

so much better

even this piece all day Rose there's a

bed could it get any better the pouring

of wine you guys in town have you ever

been to the area before nope right so

those sounds are actually things you

want to try to capture on purpose like

crunching leaves now when you're

shooting watch out for the bad sounds

sounds like this this is like the sound

of traffic watch out for the sound of

airplanes going by they ruin they ruin

your videos out how about air

conditioners they are pretty loud they

can ruin it uh lawn mowers

bad terrible every summer you go out to

shoot outside and there's a lawnmower

going

um restaurants have a lot of music

Beyonce is playing

dang Beyonce come on give me a break and

also people are talking right so just

watch out for those things when you're

capturing your sounds because that will

mess you up but good thing you're

wearing headphones

so you're okay uh just a couple sound

things I like the internal microphone in

your camera is really not ideal it's not

it's not so if you could buy a

microphone it's a big upgrade and I

really like the one called the vidmic

Pro Plus because it just I that's

sometimes my only audio source and I

really like it the little one is little

and it's a good starter but it's not

really my fave

um and then same with these the the

wireless if you do want to have a a

wireless connection from talking to your

camera and not having a wire connecting

you

um the little one they're great they're

pretty revolutionary they're so tiny but

like I've definitely had a time or two

where

I heard the radio of like some radio

station playing and it messed up my

sound because I couldn't change the

channels but it is hard to kind of if

you upgrade it's a lot more money so you

know you kind of just see what works for

you

I also do this I often shoot I often

capture audio in a separate recorder

that's recording to an SD card and it's

on my body so that's an idea but then

you have to learn how to like match the

sounds to the video later so that's

definitely like an advanced option

all right and then of course I taught

you my trick on the um

the surgical tape don't tell anybody

okay

um I wanted to also show you

let's see oh this is a great example of

what I'm talking about with the

microphone here's what it sounds like

when I use the shotgun microphone and

then you're going to hear what it sounds

like when I use a lavalier which is the

wireless one that you wear on your body

let me show you both of these and I've

got the new Canon RF 15 to 30 millimeter

at 4.5 6.3 is STM in my hands the ultra

wide option you've been waiting for it's

okay but I fear the train I'm at a train

I've got the new Canon RF 15 to 30

millimeter F 4.5 to 6.3 is STM in my

hands the ultra wide option you've been

waiting for let's see what it can do

whoa I'm sold I've got the new Canon rf3

millimeters

STM in my hands the ultra wide option

you've been waiting for and let's see

what it can do

awesome so you guys can see it makes a

huge difference and the thing that they

don't tell you about audio is that when

your video is kind of yucky and shaky

Cam and too bright or too dark nobody's

gonna turn it off because it's ugly

but when the sound is bad they will

completely wipe you out Zoom like what

you're on mute you know what I mean when

the sound is bad when it's so loud ah

like it's over modulated

you know they will turn you off and you

lost them so audio is equally if not

more important than the video yes oh my

gosh so that's all I want to tell you

about sound we're just diving in to the

little top tip of the icebergs I didn't

talk about light I'm not really going to

talk a lot about it it's not that

different since you know how to frame

shots with great light except we don't

have flashes we use continuous light for

video right so just you might need a

different tool to really you know

position your subjects maybe using

natural light but uh but definitely the

flash is not going to save you in video

um I just want to show you uh two last

slides because sometimes people want to

know about editing

do you want to know

yeah I know this whole talk we can have

a whole other talk called editing

um I just wanted to show you kind of

like what I what I think through when

it's time to put the footage on the

timeline it's kind of a lot of things

but I just want to walk you through

first I dumped the cards and I copy it

twice because gosh that would be bummer

if I lost everything so two copies of

everything then I import the footage

into my favorite editing software and I

put it I organize it keep it organized

because that will bite you in the butt

later and I put all the footage from one

day onto one timeline

and I look at it real carefully real

quick don't watch it really in real time

just skim through okay what looks good

what do I like and I think and I find

the best sound bites and the best

moments that are really memorable I'm

going to use that in my edit

and then

I actually go through and find the best

shots

and I actually I this is weird I edit my

videos based on the best shots and the

storyline

together right but sometimes I literally

put the best shots on and write the

story later

because I just put the story together

with my picture with my visual brain

then I figure out what the story is

later so in either direction you could

do it the traditional way is to write a

script and then put the video but I I'm

backwards

and then you want to go ahead and you

kind of kill your babies not everything

you shot is going to go in the end just

pick out the best of the best

um

very Advanced if you want to deal with

all the like graphics and color

correction but if you really are into it

you can do you can go for it and then um

when you're ready to export

you can sometimes re-export it for

different sizes like I showed you the

horizontal the vertical the square

that's a lot

but I just wanted to give you a little

recap something as simple as getting

started would be this this is getting

started on your phone my timeline is

literally one video clip and then the

b-roll is on top

so the the video clip that's highlighted

is my a-roll and the one right above it

is the b-roll that's as simple as it

looks like on an editing timeline

um the one I showed you gets a little

more complicated this is what it

actually looks like this is not getting

started but I just wanted to give get

you familiar with what the software

looks like there's an area where you can

preview what the shot what what all your

Clips look like the big one is the one

that's like permanent that's going in my

final piece the timeline at the bottom I

think of it like a sandwich like the me

is in the middle the a Rolls in the

middle and then all of the b-roll goes

on top on the other layers of the

sandwich until you get to the bread

um but anyway I have my music at the

very bottom

so yeah this is definitely not getting

started but I just wanted to get you

ideas on on uh on editing here

um definitely learn shortcuts like I

showed you save your projects often and

definitely don't do it once and never do

it again because you'll forget

everything

totally

um so that's really the the end of the

beginning here

um I wanted to make sure you guys had

some resources on what to where to learn

more I have learned so much over the

years calling b h from Colorado saying

which microphone should I get and they

are so helpful to kind of walk you

through well for this price to get this

one and for this person you know so

anyway learning can happen in a

three-day education Workshop I work a

lot with FMC training and they they have

boot camps where you can just dedicate

three days and learn editing but also

just as you go shopping and and adding

one thing to your kit there's always a

lot of things to learn on the way

and finally just be sure to practice

practice have fun this is such a fun

creative Outlet something so different

than than keeping the world still and I

hope you got a sense of all the crazy

things we talked about today from moving

your feet

moving the camera

letting motion happen within the frame

we talked about sound

we talked about ideas to get started

with tick tocks with Instagram stories

so I hope we didn't leave too many

stones unturned here hopefully you're

ready to learn more and we hope to see

you back so thank you guys for joining

[Applause]

and if you have questions for Jules

she's going to be at the speaker meet

and greet table in just a few minutes

right right out the doors and to the

left so bring those questions and I have

a quick favor to ask of everyone we

still have a few hours left

um there's a lot more fun to still be

had but before people might dip or or

leave early or catch another

presentation I would love for you all to

say thanks to somebody you met maybe it

was somebody in the neighborhood that

you got to see and collaborate with

maybe it was a conversation with one of

the vendors please go over say hello to

your favorite vendors and just thank

them you know no one had to sell you

anything too hard

um go over to the b h booth and thank

them tell us your thoughts you know how

did you enjoy this we really want to

hear from all you you could email us you

can tweet at us those watching online

please jump in the chat we're reading

those comments please tell us what you

thought of the show and how much fun

you're having and and what we can do

next year and where you want us to come

next time and where you're watching from

all these good things so we do thank you

all for being here we have a quick

little break we'll see in about a half

an hour on both stages with another set

so stay comfortable and inspired

no we're all set

all right we're jumping back in we are

doing a wildlife landscape critique with

the great Franz lanting thank you again

Franz for being here what an amazing

amazing couple of days and we hope to be

back and we hope to see you back at

optic wherever it is maybe it'll be here

maybe it'll be another coastal city

maybe it'll be up north south who knows

we're open to suggestions so let's jump

into the critique enjoy

all right

um yesterday morning I started out by

asking for a show of hands where people

are from I'm going to repeat this here

how many of you are from Madina Monterey

Bay Region

how many of you are from the rest of

California

okay how many of you are from the rest

of the United States

okay and I know there's at least one

person who came from outside the country

right

there she is all the way from Hong Kong

right

um so welcome for joining me here we're

going to look at a submission of images

and see if we can make sense of them see

if we can improve them see what we can

learn from them if you have any

questions about any of my comments

anything that we're doing to the images

please kind of raise your hand and then

I'll acknowledge you if you don't have

an extra mic so I may need to ask you to

really project your voice or I may have

to come a little bit closer because it's

kind of noisy in the background

here's how we're going to do it

behind the controls is rastagia Ross can

you raise your hand Okay Ross Works in

our studio he's our technical he's our

digital asset manager and what we're

going to do today is pretty typical of

how we work together in the studio where

I give the directions and then Ross

takes it away I understand the basic

mechanics of Lightroom but I'm too busy

and I really don't have the patience to

go into great details so you're

operating as a team and I will give Ross

the input and then I will continue with

my general comments about the images

while Ross is doing the magic within

Lightroom and I'll ask him to explain

what he's doing and then you can say

thumbs up or thumbs down if you agree

already you disagree with things should

we do it

and if there

if the more General issues that you

would like to bring to my attention when

it comes to how you deal with images in

this endless

what we call post-processing Universe

please it doesn't have to deal

specifically with the image we're

looking at all right

Ross should we look at the first image

there we are so by the way this is a

blind critique I have no idea who made

the image nor do I even have an idea

where the image was made

so in the process of looking at them I'm

going to take some guesses at that

because that really May inform us as

well about you know what the maker could

have done differently or what they could

do when they go back there so first

image this looks like a mountain scene

and

a it looks like overcast weather and do

I see I hear some back feet can we

correct at

hello there

okay I'll just carry out

it's kind of overcast gloomy weather and

yet there's a lot of colors and there's

a lot of detail in the image but it is

overshadowed by that light in the sky so

my first question is always what's the

image about what makes it interesting

and I'm going to have to guess at what

the photographer found interesting I'm

just going to have to go over the

photographer's head and say okay this is

what I find interesting

so I would say well it's entry what

makes the image interesting is not

what's going on in here it's what's

going on in here agreed so let's bring

the sky down

we don't need to see any of that because

then you're the brightest part of the

image is what gets our attention always

so then I would open up the shadows and

see what is lurking there now here's one

issue most of these images were

submitted as jpegs so we don't have a

lot of lever even improving them so it's

really just more to suggest a general

direction but it is also uh really if

you submit your images for image reviews

like this submit them as raws because

whoever is looking at them is going to

be able to do more of it

so this is already beginning to look

better and now I'm seeing that there's

actually a trail here

and yeah my first thought would have

been if I'd been a photographer I would

have been thinking is there a companion

with me who kind of who could have gone

ahead with me on the trail and if that

person situated there then it humanizes

the whole landscape and you have a

little bit of a diagonal you have a

sense of directionality

so Ross has been improving the shadows

and you see things are beginning to work

a little better Ross do you want to add

a little bit more contrast a little bit

more saturation yeah I'll add a little

bit of contrast and saturation

okay

and

again we can't do that much with it I'm

looking around in a scene to find

anything else that could have anchored

the image and my eyes are going towards

these wildflowers here that would have

been a more interesting foreground to

capitalize on so photographer go a

little bit to the left get a little bit

closer and then you can build foreground

middle ground and background

questions or comments yep

okay thumbs up

thumbs up questions

a little bit of dehaze for us you want

to see if that contributes anything

yeah we can add a little bit of dehaze

it'll add a little bit of contrast to

the image okay

so I think we've done just about as much

as what we can here yep

foreign

excellent suggestions but if we start

doing that we're going to be spending

more time at this image and we're not

going to be able to get to all the

others so we're just going to have to

skim at the top here yep

yeah thumbs up thumbs down no okay okay

okay let's go to the next image if we

make okay

all right

um and sorry if I'm not doing Justice to

what you would want to talk about or to

the image makers in question but

otherwise we're not going to get to the

Finish Line in time

so

uh you know a cold water stream with

glacial water and I'm gonna see if I can

uh Ross are the settings available here

um I don't believe so okay because I see

some interesting movement here in the

water and that's my first thought

always the first question in my mind is

what is interesting in this scene you

know what might the photographer have

been thinking of and what could he or

she done more of it and I find this the

most dynamic part in the whole

composition and it looks like a

relatively slow shutter speed was used

we're seeing some you know interesting

movement here in the water I'm guessing

at a shutter speed of maybe 15 to or an

eighth of a second no settings available

Ross no settings so I probably would

have pushed this more towards a quarter

or half of a second because then the

turbulence becomes more of a movement

and I would have come in much closer

here because this is interesting this is

a bit static there's not a lot going on

in here we're really dealing with

disparate elements in the composition

you got a forest you got a river you've

got rocks and it's a little bit of

everything but photography is really

about making choices so you've got to

choose so as it is

I would probably yeah bring the sky down

a little bit because just as in the

previous image you're the brightest

element is what attracts your attention

and I want the eye to go in here and I

would maybe show a little bit of sky at

the top

a little bit of a peekaboo effect so you

see we're in the mountains and see it's

a little bit more apparent what what the

water is doing there

any suggestions any questions here you

can tighten it up yeah

and I would start by tightening things

up on the left side and

because again it is all about the water

comments questions yep

this lady's worried that we're cropping

the tops of the mountains off

sure it's

yeah you don't want to do that

permanently but just for the sake of the

exercise now no mountains are getting

hurt in the process of this image of you

pardon

vertical yeah we could make it vertical

you know we could get really radical and

just say forget about everything let's

just get in here Ross let's get radical

let's do it here and let's go in here

okay

no just get rid of the bottom get rid of

the top let's just show the water

that's the most dynamic element in the

whole composition here

and

there you go no I see somebody say no

see how subjective this stuff is I see a

thumbs up

yes question

you're still thinking about that first

image right

okay

yeah how do you determine how to crop

and which aspect ratio to apply that's

what you're talking about okay here's my

philosophy and I I use dslrs and

mirrorless cameras to capture images and

you know the standard aspect ratio is

two by three we have hundreds of

thousands of images in our archive and

if we do custom crops for everything it

begins to look really chaotic when we do

edit so as much as possible I like to

retain an original aspect ratio and then

we have a couple of other default

settings there's the square crop which

we don't use very often but it can

really apply very well and then we have

two standard panel settings 16x9 and

what's the other one one by four right

yeah one by four you can also do three

by one so that's what we apply

of course you can do whatever you want

and if you're not dealing with the same

volume of images you can create custom

crops for every image satisfy you

all right let's carry on uh personally I

think this is beginning to look more

interesting you still feel that we're in

the mountains and and don't worry the

mountains are still there at the top

they're just temporarily temporarily

hidden from view okay

um next image

more water more falling water

um I have no idea what this is

it's not revealed in the

in the in the data that came along with

the image but this is beginning to look

a bit interest bit more interesting

right what's the picture about

it's a waterfall okay how can we enhance

the fact that the image is about a

waterfall

maybe get a little bit closer because

this kind of what's the essence of the

falling water it comes down and we have

this big rock in the foreground

so let's see if we can get rid of that

let's kind of crop it in from the top a

little bit and then maybe bring this in

from the side a little bit okay

so we're doing custom crops now just for

the sake of

seeing if we can zero in on the most

dynamic elements now I think it becomes

a little bit clearer what the flow of

the water is like right

starch at the top tumbles down

collecting pool and then it washes away

now we have some technical issues here

and we have blown out highlights you can

see that here in the histogram so my

technical Improvement would be to tone

down the whites Ross

can

are you with us so I just brought down

the highlights a little bit and you can

see now nothing's clipping in the

histogram pardon

I brought the highlights down and you

can see now in the history anymore so

that's as far as we can go can you do

any local adjustments there

um yeah you could use a brush tool go in

and selectively adjust some of these

settings that's the next thing I would

do is start with General General

adjustments is what we typically start

with because it happens in a matter of

seconds and then we start applying local

adjustments and then ultimately

we can take the image into Photoshop for

real refined adjustments but we rarely

do that that comes into play when we're

working with images that become prints

for exhibitions and for collectors

so they're already seeing an interesting

Improvement here

what would you like to see next

pardon

you want to warm it up

you want to warm it up okay well yeah we

can do that with the slider but is that

really the best solution you can warm it

up in general but the fixed colors

across the Spectrum

why do you want to warm it up you're

feeling a little bit cold overall I do

huh

too blue yes it was a little bit too

blue

uh yeah the tonality improves here a

little bit but you want to stop short of

seeing the green turn yellow right so

we've taken it just about as far as we

can

um now

I'm still a little bit bothered by that

rock

uh if I'd been a photographer I would

have tried to get a little bit more here

in front and compose without the rock

there but given that it exists should we

try a real radical adjustment and just

bring it up all the way to above the

Rock Let's make that last adjustment

Ross okay

better or not

we're losing the directionality in the

water right water starts someplace needs

to go someplace else so that's an

important rule when you're photographing

water in my opinion water needs to flow

yes

Biden

okay this gentleman wants to see the

water come from someplace so let's try

this let's bring a little bit of the sky

back

um

okay I can accept that uh but I think in

terms of an overall composition it looks

a little bit more pleasing

to see it without that so enough said

about this

thumbs up thumbs down

maybe so so

all right

next one Ross

there we're going

um I think we recognize this right the

Grand Tetons so how many times you think

this scene's been photographed

yeah

with one moves two mooses

uh what else would you like to see in

there a bear an eagle and so on

so

um

what is going on here what makes this

scene interesting

the reflection okay

um so we want to do more in the

reflection expresses symmetry there's a

suggestion of Harmony so let's act on

that

it's not

about what's here and it's not about

what's there

so

we're going to tighten it up again we're

going to turn it into more of a panorama

panoramas tend to suggest Harmony

Stillness Serenity so let's see if you

agree with that let me do that

okay

what do you think Improvement okay now

now I would like to pull out a little

bit more Shadow detail becomes a little

bit too dark in here there we go

instant Improvement

um

but it's still

you know the more famous scene becomes

the harder you have to work to do

something

that makes it more original that means

establishing a personal point of view

and yeah there's no point of view here

this is the same kind of picture that

I've seen many times before yeah

question

oh flip it upside down

uh okay radical Ross

upside down

button

crop the axial mountains okay

okay uh I've seen that done before with

with great effect

so do we like this

it cropped the bottom up

okay crop the bottom up

we're turning this into a crowd-sourced

image review yeah image Improvement by

committee yeah

okay

um not quite but I like I like your idea

okay

so uh let's turn it right side up again

what could the photographer have done to

establish more of a personal point of

view

any ideas

pardon

I still can't hear it

nearby front element yeah that could

have been done but then you know you you

need to start all over from scratch

because you don't get this broad sweep

wait for an animal wait for a person is

yeah other idea

pardon

a rocking of order

bring your own rock and throw it in the

water okay wait for the reflections to

Ripple it's been done before okay

um

excellent suggestion

in a place like that you can't get away

from the photographers

uh although this photographer apparently

could but take a step back make it a

participatory experience excellent

suggestion have fun with it yeah okay

should we move on

okay

okay

um I sequenced these images to group

them a little bit you see here's another

image what is the first thing that comes

to mind

hurt

do I hear reflection yeah right

so reflection but this is not the same

kind of famous scene but for the viewer

who is uninformed about locations it

doesn't really matter because it still

suggests Mountain scenery Harmony

Serenity beautiful nature but there are

some extraneous elements in here you

know what makes it work

is what's going on in here that is where

the Symmetry is best expressed

this

is incidental so why don't we

take that out

okay okay that's that's far enough

um I'm from the Netherlands so we like

to keep our Horizons straight

we don't want the water to get in or out

so it's kind of a thing with me so

this establishes the reflection better

yeah question

yeah we can zoom in

um so I now see that this is also

extraneous because it's still about the

perfect reflection right so let's get

into that

and

it's beginning to look a little bit more

interesting doesn't it

um

what else could we do here now we could

continue to crop because then the Bulge

is becoming more symmetrical but next

thing you know we've got nothing left to

look at

uh Beyond those Aspen trees but let's do

something really radical

let's pull it up from the bottom Ross

and pull it down from the top to the

point that there's no sky and no water

visible

you're missing the mountains right

you've got you've got this thing for

mountains

and mountains and water

so you want to see both the bottom and

the top

we'll come to that yes I do like

verticals so but so far

um and we haven't come across any

vertical images yet and I'm just trying

to work overall with what I believe the

strengths are in the image that is

presented and just try to make it a

little bit better and expressive the the

original Vision a bit more clearly

because in my opinion many photographers

you know have this happy trigger finger

and they don't think things through

because pixels are free so plus we can

do things after the fact so easily and I

would just like us to become a bit more

discriminating in how we think while

we're in the scene and then also a bit

more discriminating after the fact yes

it's slightly Overexposed yeah

um so brass just shall be darken it a

little bit

you know bring down the highlights and

then bring the exposure down a little

bit sorry

and you can tell here from Instagram

that everything looks like it's pretty

good

um

this is one solution although I know not

everyone agrees right

thumbs down should we move on I see one

thumb up this is not a popularity

context likes dislikes it's can't please

everyone all the time

so all right

a sunset

somewhere and I don't even want to guess

where it is but

pardon

more obey why do you think this is more

obey

okay excellent we're doing some forensic

work here we're retrieving details that

are invisible this lady here thinks that

this may be a scene from Morro Bay so I

was there a couple of weeks ago so I

think you may well be right but it could

have been

any Estuary or any legume right so I'm

trying to think what was the

photographer thinking

and what did the photographer want to

accomplish it's a sunset but yes there's

a sunset everywhere all the time so you

want to really do a little bit more than

just a sunset so

I don't see a point of view

I don't see you know an apparent

composition the sun is dead center The

Horizon is almost dead center now you

could argue you know applying the

Mondrian philosophy that everything

needs to be symmetrical but

um

it's a bit static so

we could either make it a Skyscape or we

could make it a mudscape your weekend

turn the sun into one corner or the

other but you can see that it's still

we're trying to make the most of

something that really needs to be

rethought

yeah you could turn it into a vertical

as well but pretty soon there's nothing

left and so sunsets are great but if you

don't have a point of view why not enjoy

it instead Yeah question

pardon

if that's a bird in the foreground

that's a pretty solid rock it looks like

so

or a bird that is trying to pass for a

rock

so if it were a bird and if it would

stay there then you have something to

work with but

so

okay let's move on

okay

we're getting into

smaller subjects here

these look like seed pots I can't quite

figure out

what it was any Baptist here who can

name this

pardon

liquid Amber all right so uh that may

help us with understanding this but as a

photographer I'm looking for worst eye

candy what makes it interesting

thematically where's the eye candy the

eye candy is

in the color

it is in these out of focus shapes here

but the eyes getting distracted this is

the Escape Route that we want to close

off right

so

I would like to bring it down from the

upper left

close that off a bit yeah we can't let

go of it completely because otherwise

that branch is all the way at the top

and and then you lose the connection

between this and that so but this is

already an improvement

then I would

reduce the blacks as much as possible

there you go now these three seed parts

are beginning to live more

and they hold the interest longer

and

something that

I don't know

are the settings available Ross

yeah this one's good okay ISO 800. okay

a 50 millimeter lens at F32 and if

I had been the photographer there I

would have opened up my aperture it

would have blurred out the background a

little bit if I had a longer lens I

would have done that because that would

have blurred the background even more

because this is really lovely this gets

in the way a little bit moving yourself

to the right or a little bit to the left

would have been an easy solution and you

would have done more with the same

situation

any comments

yeah

there's no mountains in this scene by

the way

yes

we can there really is there's there's

no information in here yeah we could

clone in a different color but

now it gets really tricky

so in this case I would say just leave

it white

and we can't yeah we could do an extreme

crop here but then you lose this lovely

background in you

other suggestions

yes

do we use vignetting at all yeah we do

um not sure that it would apply here

necessarily because

look at these these these upper Corners

you know and yes other questions

that's an interesting suggestion get rid

of the upper branch and just let these

things dangle and come out of nowhere

okay

okay

like that better

thank you for that and it kind of hits

one way to answer the question what's

the image about it's about the seed

thoughts

yeah yeah but now indeed agreed the

branch in the background becomes more

apparent so one way to deal with that is

we can lighten this up and then it

becomes less apparent and of course

these shapes can be softened as well but

it's much easier if you have another

lens

again it all points to the need for a

photographer to think more clearly

constantly have the dialogue with

yourself why am I stopping here why am I

looking at this you know how can I

achieve a result that conforms to

what is interesting yeah Peter

pardon

yeah you could use an auto mask too you

could do all kinds of things but I think

it's time to move on to the next image

okay all right

all right we're in a forest

and this looks like a redwood forest

judging from the characteristics of this

seedling here

roster we have the settings

not for this one no settings

okay what's the picture about

what do you think the photographer is

looking at huh

pardon

Life coming back

um any other suggestions

no I'm not saying you're wrong just any

other interpretations

how about light and dark

okay

so

uh I imagine that the photographer is

drawn towards this whether it was with

the idea of mind to suggest new life or

whether it was just to

create a silhouette against uh against

something dark

so but it's sitting there dead center

and we've got this big mass of what

appears to be a big tree trunk and then

there's nothing going on in here

so

what can we do

yeah I would say

there may be a more interesting

relationship between the new life and

the parent life

so let's try that let's get rid of this

here on the right

and you know this is an instance where

you can keep the original aspect ratio

and it doesn't matter for the purpose of

what we're doing here

okay

becoming a bit more interesting isn't it

it's a bit more graphic now let's see

what kind of Shadow detail we can pull

out from the big tree

is there anything there Ross not too

much not too much all right so uh

probably it's it's a low-grade jpeg

otherwise I'm sure there would have been

more detail

so

what can we do here flip it into a black

and white because there's very little in

intrinsic color

okay we're not losing anything

um

what else could we do here suggestions

yes

okay this gentleman wants to see you get

cropped in from the left he doesn't want

to see all that black there okay

all right

um

so cut the foreground

darken the foreground all right cross

we want to see the foreground get

darkened

okay

um

so

um

we can spend a lot of time at this but

it would have been a lot easier if we

could have guided a photographer

retroactively right

and

if I really would have stood there I

might have tried to remove this little

Branch here

on location no Mountains will get hurt

in the course of doing that and because

in principle this is a lovely this is a

lovely thing but it needed more work it

needed something to combine it with to

establish a contrast with something else

okay

okay thumbs up thumbs down indifferent

okay let's move on

okay

um

backlit flowers of some kind and I see a

hot spot here but I can eliminate with

my finger

so that's a simple adjustment to make

so what's the image about

color

if I hear anything else

mystery interesting mystery what else

layers okay

hmm

color mystery layers let's work with

that and

so we want to recognize this as a key

element

the reason you're saying mystery is

because of that right but it is a bit

too mysterious what if we pull it up

just a little bit make it a bit more

visible and now I see a square shape

here appears to be a box of some kind

and I don't and now there's a fence so

there's a structure there not sure we

need that because it doesn't have

anything to do with color mystery and

layers so Vol make that go away I would

say let's just

they're still color there's still

mystery and there's layers no

we've lost the mystery

because it's become too light okay we've

lost the mystery Ross we need to go back

into semi-darkness in the upper part

it's about the exposure down just a

little bit

we're really doing crowdsourced image

reviews here right and we'll arrive at

something that most people like

or at least

okay what do you think about this an

improvement

no

should be darker okay more mystery Ross

okay

I can agree with that thank you I see I

hear one more comment

thank you

um if I would have been there would have

I sunk lower well it all depends right

what is your point of view is it about

color is it about layers or is it about

mystery if it would have been for me if

I would have been there I probably would

have ended up somewhere in here

because I find that the most the most

interesting subject to work with

I'm not sure that I would have

Incorporated The Mystery of the

background I probably would have used a

longer lens so here we go

[Music]

150 millimeters I would have just gotten

much closer and worked with

this area right here

okay next one

quick across

can you repeat that sorry

okay

yeah here it comes all right not so much

mystery here right it's a bit clearer to

see what's going on

uh at last a person

and there's a fence line and there's a

nice tree lines kind of a nice place for

a stroll

and

but it's

there's a little bit of everything yeah

and

you know this is an interesting line

here that shows some directionality

I'm not sure that we need to see

dividing here

so my first thought is to just crop it

in

start right here

because it's still the same idea

it's a person

going out on a stroll communing with

nature okay something like this

um and then maybe bring it in from the

top a little bit

um

so when you're photographing people in a

situation like this

um

it tends to work better to see a person

from the back

because then it's not a recognizable

individual and because if you look a

person in the face you get all kinds of

associations that may not be what you

have in mind

so this person is walking towards the

viewer if I'd been a photographer if

that had been a companion and if I

really wanted to do an image I would

have asked my companion okay could you

turn around could you walk in the other

direction

and then the body language becomes

important gesture is what it's all about

so you start paying attention to the to

the movement the arms and the legs and

so on and I think we should leave this

as it is because we still have a bunch

of images to go and it's already a

quarter to three I see let's move on

okay uh whoa

this

this appears to have been a rainbow but

it got a little smush smudged Ross what

we looked at this earlier on screen and

I didn't quite see that smudging effect

what do you make of it it could be that

the image is a little over processed you

can see the kind of blood yeah

look at that who

a smudged rainbow

okay should we move on okay

okay

all right

now

uh

this may Avail been photographed during

a helicopter tour or some kind of aerial

tour

a mountain via Glacier tumbling down

it's pretty awesome to see that go by

your window but you don't have a lot of

time to compose and so we need to do

some things after the fact what is the

picture about

it's the glacier but what is it about

the glacier

yeah Glaciers are just frozen water so

there's a directionality they start

someplace they go some other place and

what's happening to Glaciers these days

they're melting

happening right there

is that contributing to what's going on

in here no

so did I hear anyone say vertical

okay vertical

uh and even a bit tighter

because we really want to get to

this is interesting middle ground not

quite foreground but this is what

catches my eyes

and then I think we can extract more

detail from the dark gray

this could be turned into a black and

white as well

um

in yeah

look at the histogram nothing's quite

blown out

so some more work could be done there

but you get the idea okay

the question is how much do we share of

the whole environment I think there's a

lot of environment in here it's all

environment but you need you need

something

as a photographer I'm always looking for

something that can anchor a viewer in a

visual experience

that's that

yes

the way it is okay so this lady here

says she keeps going back between this

and that and that so should we move on

okay

one more iceberg

so another statement you can't do a

picture of ice and of glaciers anymore

without creating connotations with

what's happening to the planet at large

even though we could also appreciate

this as

you know something in its own right

this looks like it's been processed

quite a bit uh Ross what would you do

here

um you can try this one in black and

white

there you go

you like that

no

not Everyone likes that I see some

thumbs go up some go down yeah the maker

probably is really attached to that blue

green that aquamarine color

but there's a brooding quality that can

also you know be conveyed through the

black and white and I would say we need

to move on because there's a number of

we haven't even gotten to the wildlife

pictures right so let's go here's the

first one

and this could have been the first time

that the photographer ever saw a Gentoo

penguin and you know you can't stop

yourself

first mode blah blah blah but

is it an interesting statement about a

Gentoo penguin no is it an interesting

statement about Antarctica

no so

uh relish the experience but you know

really start thinking more carefully

about what you can do with the payments

there because you not the first

photographer there to photograph a

Gentoo pengman you know get closer or

have a point of view

I'd say let's move on

now

so in terms of

animal within an environment this is

kind of like the same idea but

is it more interesting thumbs up thumbs

down what's the difference

what's the difference between this

picture and the previous picture

it shows more of the animal but

huh

of

what happened

okay it's Peter suggests maybe the bear

just ate something or somebody in that

boat

mystery mystery yes

yeah there's directionality there's

directionality plus look at the body

language and there's a reflection so

there's more going on here but it's most

of all this puzzling

implied relationship between the bear

and the boat

yeah it's a little bit of drama but also

the light is lovely

um so I think this is nice and it just

makes the point or I would like to make

the point

and I'll make that again in the

subsequent images

um there are so many excellent

photographs of wildlife these days

Penguins bears and so on that

the close-ups that are really exciting

to pursue are not necessarily the most

interesting images to share with others

and I think this one proves that point

should we go on to the next one

I think case in point there are a lot of

polar bear pictures out there so I would

guess that this is fallbart

place in the uh in the Arctic uh I'm

sure it was really exciting but the

polar bears debt Center

So my answer would be to get the polar

bear out of the center a little bit I

would also bring this down a little bit

and turn this into a real panorama

okay

okay yeah there's more interest in the

eyes above the polar bear than there is

in the snow

below the bear so

getting better here okay

what is the ground it's all ice it's sea

ice

this is sea ice and this is a frozen

Mount no this is a Glacier Glacier front

Okay so let's darken it a little bit

Ross

okay

a little bit more drama

yeah a bit more clarity

and

and then I would use kind of a neutral

density filter Grant and bring this down

a little bit

because it's a little bit too bright

compared to you know the background oh

pardon

uh dehaze the eyes ooh

it's that I think that

I wouldn't go that far yeah

yeah

dehazed the eyes that sounds like it

might impair the bear yeah

um yes Peter

yeah

yeah you could do that but it it gets

too technical let's move on there's more

bears to come okay

uh

oh there's more bears to come but this

is not one of them okay these are two

starfish

what's the picture about

huh

starfish

is but what about the starfish

is I mean they're starfish but what's

the picture about

the pattern so it's the the congregation

of them at low tide anything else in a

picture that is of Interest

color Okay anything else five minutes I

hear

I'd say the photographer needs to get

much closer this is extraneous this is

extraneous that is extraneous let's move

on

okay

little frog some are in a in a forest

and I've wondered why did the

photographer crop that out

is it a deliberate attempt to create

negative space here show that the

picture could be handed off to an art

director to insert copy in that case

this was a clever composition but I

would say

crop it into a vertical

let's move on because I'm getting the

signal we only have five minutes left we

spent too much time arguing about the

previous images so

okay

this is pretty typical you know you

encounter this got to get that

hummingbird and you don't have enough

time to really compose the background

until the bird takes off again

and you're dealing with distracting

effects of light in the background I

would kind of fill this in I would fill

that in I would bring it in from the top

and get that hummingbird out of the

center

and I'm also seeing if we go to the

settings uh f11

you don't need f11 for that open up the

aperture blur out the background

let's carry on

all right a penguin no sorry start with

a piece right Pelican what am I saying

close uh interesting it looks like

there's a bit of Flash Fill looks like

it's flash on camera

so good attempt it looks like the bird

is willing

um being Dutch I would level The Horizon

a little bit I would close this up a

little bit and I would try to extract a

bit more detail here but it doesn't look

like the files got a lot of resolution I

already see some some noise creeping in

let's Carry On To The Next One

this is a bit more interesting nice

preening effect here and I would get rid

of this because it's all about what's

happening here right so let's get rid of

that branch in the lower left Ross and

yeah we don't want to cut the feed out

but see that is nice

good decision to turn this into a black

and white nice and clean okay next one

kind of the same idea right same showy

Egret also known as snowy egret but this

one's sitting on the nest

also preening those nuptial plumes not

much we can do here uh yeah it's

composed very tightly

I wouldn't turn this into a black and

white because they're lovely blue let's

move on

and this kind of same idea uh three

different photographers I imagine all

dealing with the nuptial plumage

um I think the first ones are most

successful

um let's move on

oh more preening

so also breeding plumage uh probably

yeah or could could have been anywhere

let's move on

okay now we're talking some now we're

finally getting some animal behavior

so

this looks like the end of the it's life

for a crab so I want to get closer to

what's happening there so we bring it in

from here we bring it in from here we

maintain the original aspect ratio and

see if the file can handle it

okay

so in this case a 200 millimeter lens

f63 probably would have opened up the

aperture a little bit but you may not

get much time at this let's go on to the

next

now this time the goal is the victim the

roles are reversed

so this is pretty dramatic here

I would take out

this at the top and I think that can

happen just

and then it becomes really graphic

so

that goal is already partially eating

eaten I would say

pardon

here oh that's your snow okay

a couple more

and I'm sorry to I apologize to the

makers that we don't have more time to

spend on this spectacular concentration

of brown Pelicans somewhere on the west

coast and great fly off

I don't quite know what to say here it

looks like this has already been

developed blacks are looking pretty

heavy let's move on

nice moment between two beavers and

looks like a beaver dam right here

you know I like to see this see this

shows a bit more intimacy the animals

are interacting with each other

so I wouldn't do too much here let's go

on to the next

moment here I wish this hadn't been cut

off at the bottom

next one

um this nice moment a nice side light a

little bit dark I would pull that up a

little bit without kind of destroying

the mystery uh

okay

I want to get to the Finish Line sorry

for all of this this is just too tight

clearly this was composed wider it's

been turned into uh to into a vertical

crop but I just want to see as you

mentioned let's see a little bit more

context the image doesn't become better

if you give the animals no room to to

expand right

okay

who a moment during Shaman Safari this

looks like it could have been in

Botswana because I see a wetland in the

background and but

it it is what it is uh we can't do more

with it next one

this gets even uglier uh if you see this

for the first time in your life yeah

it's it's an amazing moment but I see

somebody already looking down so let's

take a look at the next one

and this a great lion and oh this looks

like the end of life for a hippo

so and the hippo's leg is really getting

in the way here

okay

next one

now we're talking

glorious leopard this is what every

wildlife photographer wants to see on

the Safari so gorgeous light leopard in

great condition

and yeah I'm just a little bit bright I

have a darken this a little bit I would

crop it in a little bit but yeah this is

a lovely portrait

okay and what you could do okay darken

this a little bit because the attention

needs to go to the leopard itself okay

um I want to see either just this

elephant or I want to see more of that

elephant this is a little bit

arbitrarily cut

okay

next one

um

this can be very poignant

but

either you go in more close or you show

the whole face

um and

text one

two more polar bears uh probably also

svalbart I recognize the rocks

a nice moment a little bit bright I

would bring that down a little bit it

looks a little bit hot in here but a

nice moment okay

nice black and white conversion this

looks like probably svalbard as well

bear doesn't look to be in great

condition and yeah that's what's

happening to polar bears everywhere

um the last one

yeah I put this on last because

um yeah I made a lot of critical

comments about things but that's just

the nature of the photographic process

you start someplace and you'll be all

strive to do things better I'm not

saying that this is the only way to show

a polar bear but this is very nice and

clean

nicely composed nicely exposed and I

hope that the maker is still alive

yeah

okay thank you for joining me

thank you Ross

yes thank you both and we're going to

turn the stage real quick and jump into

the last presentation of the day so

stick around we'll be right up

pictures

two meters

foreign

closed captioning not available

okay so you know what they say they

saved the best for last right thank you

all for being here all the way to the

end

um we have two of The Best For Last on

both stages both really good friends

here for El Renee and I'm excited to

welcome her into the b h family and to

be part of our industry and I can't wait

for you all to enjoy this and absorb her

energy and feel inspired so without

further Ado L come take the stage all

right

thank you so much

all right how's everyone doing I know

it's the last one of the day you know

I'm here to give you some energy a

little boom and so and then also figure

out how to

I'll keep talking to figure out how to

get it on on the screen but I'm just so

curious

um if I can get a little idea of what

style of Photography that you do

um hands up if you're in nature

hands up mainly large landscapes

portrait

City

okay

all right so for me I do a lot of heavy

adventure and a bit of lifestyle and so

we'll get into showing a little bit more

oh you're good you're good

there you go

so what I want to talk about today is a

little bit again about who gets to tell

the story and first to get there I'm

going to tell a little bit about my

story

so my name is Elle I'm originally from

Georgia I've lived a little bit of

everywhere and

I'm about high energy I'm about

a love of the outdoors I'm about showing

it I'm about outdoor joy and so much of

my you'll see a lot of my personality in

my pictures

so a little bit more about me

um I actually went to Harvard's grad

school for architecture and then I got

into Innovation Consulting and so I was

working with a lot of Brands helping

them rethink and that whole time I've

been a climber for the last 10 years and

what I really didn't see were images of

me images of people that I knew outside

so I decided like who gets to tell that

story and if I want more people to join

me how do I get it out there how do I

show what me and my friends are doing in

a really rad way that makes people want

to get outside that makes people want to

join me in a way they feel not only

elevated but feel good and feel safe and

also feel seen so

in 2020 I like left I was like how do I

how do I I had been I've done a couple

big things for Brands and I was like oh

all right I've worked with all the Big

Technical Brands but in 2020 I was like

I gotta figure out how to do this full

time so I quit my full-time consulting

job in New York and I was doing the

photo thing on the side I was flying in

on red eyes on Thursday nights and then

red eye and back in on Mondays and like

editing at night and just going out

every weekend and so I built up this

huge catalog and then all of a sudden

2020 everything shifts in the world

everything shifts culturally everything

shifts about how we relate to each other

everything becomes way more isolated and

then of course we all know the tragedy

of that happen and so I was like with

this tragedy like I was at home like

what do I do like I've been outside

sometimes my work isn't bought but I'm

getting told how great it is and it's

just kind of on hard drives so

I was like I gotta do something so what

I did was I took all my photos that

weren't bought and these I'd done work

with Patagonia arcterics North Face and

I just made them all the covers of what

I thought should be out into the world

and

it went a little viral and more than I

thought I was just up at night and I

couldn't sleep with everything that was

so heavy and I was like how do I make

sure how do I put a provocation out

there and so like what if the outdoors

was reimagined in this way and so these

are some of the mock covers that I did

and

then all of a sudden outside called me

like a month later and they're like you

got to be on our cover and I just wasn't

expecting that and then ever since then

I've been able to turn this into a

full-time job and and it's been like

really amazing and I'm just really

thankful to be here and that you guys

are going to listen to this

so

so much of my work

also focuses on what don't I see like

and then who gets to tell it and so I

had went and did this job for Patagonia

and like they bought

two photos maybe but they were like this

is the most we ever archived and I was

like it's just gonna sit there and so

what they what was interesting for me is

I like to tell the stories also off the

wall

I think sometimes you see it's kind of

this kind of similar thing that I'm

going to get into but what's what do you

remember about those times

yeah you're going to remember the climb

but are you going to remember what made

it an amazing time and it's often this

kind of heartfelt moment it's the

moments off the wall and it's making

sure I'm Illuminating people that I

think whose story who should be told

here are some of people that I know all

long time climbers seven years plus

and they had never been told and this is

even before

um 2020 like their story just hadn't

been out there and so how do I tell it

and so also with that you know I was

working at this consulting firm and all

we did was make provocations for really

big companies and so like from J crew to

IBM to

um

you name it they kind of came through of

like oh can you help us rethink this can

you help us rethink that and someone

from I think the head of philosophy came

from Patagonia for a lunch and learn and

so I was like I'm going to create a

pamphlet and me and a couple colleagues

of like I've been doing this outdoor

thing for a while and I recognize I see

so many other stories but I really don't

see anything that kind of relates to me

and so I made a whole we made a whole

provocation book called Outsiders and

way and I took it around in 2020 and

people said oh that's amazing and it

just sat and so so interesting because

then when that outside cover came they

all called back

thank you

so I just wanted to share some of the

stuff that I've been doing and so what I

really wanted to tell is like the

stories that I see that weren't being

seen and also thinking about why I'm

telling them and who gets to tell that

story and so these were for the North

Face and I just wanted to illuminate

some of these other moments

and so this is a Stefan I used to live

in Brooklyn and we would go out and

climb and I wanted to showcase there's

this whole Community here that are doing

these things but no one is it's almost

like this a little bit of Erasure is

happening because like the the

photographers are not coming to us so

how do I make sure I'm feeling something

or showing us and doing things that are

also very rad and so you can see my

friend Stefan and like the smile what

makes it personable to just the group

just people chilling at the Crag to down

to just the hands and this is even

before I had a commercial grade camera I

borrowed the one from work to do this

and so I was just kind of out on the

weekends and so you'll see a little bit

more here of like ah and so the funny

thing is this is one of the ones where

the North Face called back right after

Joyce Lynn like can we have all these

and I was like

only if you pay everybody and so not

only am I here to tell the story I'm

also here to uplift and make sure I'm

advocating

um that you know I gave them t-shirts

they never got paid and so making sure

when their likeness is used that they're

also being elevated

and so that gets to it

so oftentimes when I see outdoor imagery

there tends to be this kind of colonial

tint to it and so and that I think that

kind of has shaped the outdoor landscape

like everyone is like I've got to be up

here and it relates because I've got to

be up here I've got to conquer This I

Gotta stand on it but what about all

those stories in between and that's why

I think it's so necessary to think about

who gets to tell the story and why you

should have different storytellers who

can relate to different subjects

and so see it's like always like yes I

made it and like yes I conquered it and

so for me when you had in a bunch of

different people to who's behind the

camera I think you're going to start to

get a different result as to why you

think certain things are important

so

these are some of the things that are

important so this was the first shoot I

did for Arc Terex and

um and I wasn't even calling myself a

photographer then at all or even an

artist I just told myself someone who

did creative strategy and so like they

called me and I was like me I've just

you know been taking photos of me and my

friends and they're like yeah you and I

just remember I did it and I afterwards

I kind of I remember feeling like not

that I failed but like I didn't give

them what they wanted

but when I went back I actually realized

I think I gave them what they really

needed

um like they I'd sit there I went to

Vancouver and I was like everything you

have is not approachable like

there's a ton of women who climb they

never see themselves these are

recreational climbers these are your

weekend Warriors these are people of

different orientations who are out there

and in the one the middle is my favorite

one and they're like L can you cast it

can you do this can you do that and I

did

and I'm also here to tell like these

very personable moments so she had a

little bit of a whip on the wall and so

um and I just wanted to show that down

to the stuff that they think that they

need which is these kind of imagery uh

and then back to the true story of what

it's like to be a climber so she's icing

Icing her butt after she fell and slid

down like 40 feet it was like really

scary to watch uh but you know as you

could tell she's in good spirits

down to another project so this was for

trail Runner magazine and it gets back

into why does a Storyteller matter and

so

during everything that happened in 2020

I kind of got asked to like what do you

how do you think about running I think

so money I'm a trail Runner and you see

so many people that are only running at

your most epic locations and Bridge

lines what about people who need to run

for Solace what about people who need to

run to Exhale what about this group who

never really gets seen or shown and so

like and so in China doing in a way that

feels good and feels intimate for them

and so

um and down to

a newer project so this was for outside

and it's very rare that you'll see all

black Expedition teams and it's

something that's newer and so something

that's newer as to who gets to be behind

the limbs and I very much wanted to show

who the true athletes are some of the

porters and then this trip kind of took

a whole new length and so he was the

lead guide and so I wanted to illuminate

how strong he was him with the ice ax

and how accomplished he was and that was

our gift

um to him uh we I also went with a

sponsored Black Diamond climber and so

to make sure everywhere we go that

person has like this momentum of this

kind of power and just carrying

something

um down to kind of these moments so

what ended up happening was like we did

Kilimanjaro kind of quickly and

for me it's not always about yes I want

to be badass and making sure I'm getting

to the Summits but it's kind of these

other stories that really feel enriching

and so we were like uh we didn't have

the right lenses for safaris because I

didn't know we were going to go on one

and so the guy I went with he had a

breakup and so we were like we got to do

something a little more interactive and

so they're like if you could do the

covet safe would you go meet a tribe or

two and I was like absolutely and so we

went and it was really interesting

because

they hadn't really been documented by a

black woman before and like and so what

I was able to get and I didn't bring the

camera out until the very end for me

it's also my first time going and being

there and so I'm like very sensitive and

that's the same thing with my work I'm

not a person that's going to shoot put

something in front of you I end up

knowing everyone for months I want to

make sure that they're comfortable I

want to make sure because I'm also

dealing with a subset of people that

really hadn't had

that interest in having the industry

didn't have an interest in taking their

photo and so for me it's like how do you

make sure people are comfortable how do

you make sure that there's trust that

I'm going to illuminate them in the

right way and so I ended up meeting

um the datuca tribe with the bracelets

on the left on the I guess yeah you're

right and then

um going hunting with the hadza

and so the funny thing is like I'm also

interested in tropes what often don't

you see and what can how can they

remember and making sure that there's

these kind of Sweet Moments and so I

think I made him a little nervous and so

he would like laugh and I didn't bring

the camera out until the very end and

just kind of making sure I'm capturing

especially and capturing the sensitivity

like I don't think they're they're

tribal's sustain in the next 50 years

because their land gets smaller and

smaller and so they're kind of reduced

to hunting baboons which is what they're

what he's wearing and so you can't

sustain a huge tribe on only baboons and

so there used to be big game but a lot

of people from the Middle East have

bought game reserves all around their

land and so making sure I'm being

sensitive especially if I know this has

a pot the possibility to be placed in a

magazine and so this is what went in

there and making sure I'm doing it in

this really beautiful way okay and

because I feel very honored I don't

think you very

with the conversations that we had with

them like even they were just so

interested in seeing us

um they'd never really seen very many

Expedition teams that looked like them

at all and so recognizing that power of

the moment and how do I make sure I

reflect that back and give them powerful

moments that humanize them as well

all right so this is kind of one of my

key subjects is

climbing so I've been climbing since

2011 I started in college and

um

kind of recognizing what are these

moments that I don't get to be I'm

around a lot of black climbers but

making sure I'm Illuminating in a way

and that that they're opening up and so

these are two guys that I've known and

what are the moments that I can tell to

really illuminate them and so they climb

very hard neither sponsored

um because there wasn't as much interest

and so what are these moments of Whimsy

what are these moments of curiosity or

do these moments of fun that I

personally can do to make sure that this

is kind of being shown and so you can

see Josh is like climbing a 513 and he's

really long arms and he's like kind of

going for the tight pocket and then he

didn't send it so he came down and there

in this moment like he had like a

Spider-Man moment and so how can I make

sure I'm capturing kind of that Whimsy

and that Joy

and so and then his friend Dom who's an

amazing climber who will probably

hopefully will become very sponsored uh

and I was like and he was so shy and so

making sure I asked for permission

before I even brought out a camera like

he's very shy

um and like has some like uh

insecurities with the camera and just

making sure how can I illuminate him and

that I only had my camera out for less

than 30 minutes and a way that he would

feel good and so when I posted it this

is material so he could get

um sponsorship teams and just kind of

recognizing this special moment between

all of us we're all black climbers we

rarely get to climb sport together

and what's how can I make the the best

out of this moment and so you'll see him

coming down and he was like so stoked

about the pictures and so like you'll

see like this moment we're out in Malibu

Malibu Creek out in LA and showing him

where he felt really strong and because

like the smile from him is very going to

be very slow slow to come and just kind

of respecting who he is

down to

another story that I'm like oh I should

take some water hold on one second I

don't speak to you dry mouth

all right

down to another moment that I think

where who the Storyteller and how you

tell the story really matters so

um SmartWool has been one of the people

that have been like really really stoked

to work with me and I was like and

they're like oh

we need something and I was like okay

are you gonna and most of the projects

I'm gonna say 90 I creative direct and I

cast and I'm very sensitive and I was

like can we retell a story about van

life

I don't know if you know but then life

it's not the most comfortable experience

for a lot of people and so how can I

tell it if van life was reimagined and

me imagine where people felt safe on the

road because not all of us do not all of

us can live in a car and feel like we

can stop anywhere and won't get bothered

or and there's so many horrible stories

about van laughing as a person of color

fan laughing as a woman that are super

unsettling and so I went to Smart wall I

was like What if I reimagined van life

and did it in a way that was comfortable

for people in a way that people felt

safe and felt good and they were real

jazzed

um and so this is what if van life were

felt so good for people who are of color

and so so I took them on a three-day

journey through right where we are now

through Big Sur and

um again with all people who've been

doing this they may do it in their own

way but these are all season climbers

and Caesar and outdoorsmen mycologists

um as well

and so just making sure I'm kind of

showing and also recognizing

to people that haven't seen this or

haven't seen photos of themselves

what's also going to make them want to

join

and so and you know you and I hopefully

these are will make people realize

you may not feel safe to do it full time

but maybe you can go out with a crew

maybe you can do it in this way

um and so and we just had a really good

time and then also being someone that

hasn't always I've been in the industry

but kind of been on the outskirts and I

felt way more invited in say 2020 but

kind of recognizing when you're not

using the same historical talent pool

you really have to let people enjoy

and I'm here for that oftentimes when

I've shown up a shoot I've done a ton of

modeling as well like there's a little

bit of the chop chop and they're not

letting people who've never had that

experience enjoy there are often like

some people feel really really nervous

and so for SmartWool they're like do you

want us to come and I was like no

no you'll change the whole dynamic

because you got to recognize I'm not

using everyone that you've seen has not

modeled I've made the models I need to

make sure I'm working with people and

making sure that they're comfortable

they they're you know their story often

hasn't been told and how can I do this

in a way that feels really good for them

where it isn't this team of people being

like

fix this we need to go to the next

location I want to make sure that people

that come with me on the experiences

that I'm doing really get to enjoy

so you'll see you some more and then

sometimes I do have to be in in my own

photo when I don't see that someone's

doing right what I want I'll just hop in

right quick uh

and some more showing that we're and you

know the person uh pulling out the

bucket built their own van

but was had a mortifying experience and

didn't want to live in it and so really

just making sure that how can I do it in

a context that felt better for people

down to another I love you know I live

in San Francisco I've been climbing for

a while and then

how do I also sell tell this these other

stories I feel like you know my work

isn't only about the summit oftentimes

you won't see the summit at all and so

and understanding what is

the Summit is also relative for some

people just being outside at all is the

win and making sure that I'm telling

that and so with this guy I I saw him

climbing and I was like I will drive two

hours to climb with you a couple times

and so I did and then I finally invited

him out like I really like to have a

relationship and a trust there uh and he

just gave this like beautiful exhale

which is what I like seeing that human

connection to Nature that makes you feel

that way

and then also

um highlighting some highlighting more

of the style and some fun you know I'm

here to make sure that what I'm doing is

also Salient to people that may not

climb or people who want to climb uh or

may not be outside that this is also a

place that they could be themselves they

can style it they can like show up

feeling good and that you may not have

to show up the most technical

you could show off the most fly and so

and putting that in there and like so

she's a person I work with a lot and a

very close friend who's like down to do

this with me and down to help also do

some of the styling needs and so it was

interesting no outdoor brand would take

me up on this location and then all of a

sudden a Japanese brand was like hey we

need someone and with the parks project

they did like a collab and they're like

we don't care where you go and then

um and then I was like great I can go to

this location I've been dying to go to

that no one thinks is going to be good

but I've been there so many times I know

I can shoot it really well and the other

thing is with telling that joy of the

journey making sure that people feel

comfortable this to show it and to exude

it and to live it and that that feels

really genuine for them and so I know

everything that's going to make her

laugh and like I am leg and that's so

important to to the work

down to

this photo of like Justin you can

totally try that problem just go for it

and he did he didn't send it but this is

not about always sending it this is

about being able to make sure you have

the even the capacity to just go for it

and that you feel comfortable to be

there and that you deserve to be there

um and then getting some of them were

those moments it's just one of the I

think one of like you know so there's so

many state parks that are gyms here and

kind of showing it and

also recognizing that when I'm taking

people out they've never been to these

spaces and also giving them moments to

appreciate it

all right so this one

another climber that I know and like has

spent some time with and making sure

that they're like just a friend and

someone that I know first

and to be able to get some of these

these styles of pictures

um and so I was like Pierre I got I got

a grant I'm doing with Marmot and Sony

like will you be part of the the photos

for it and I was like I can't promise

you a lot but I will promise that I make

sure you get paid

uh uh and I was like it's going to be an

experiment I know you haven't really

been in front of the camera but let's go

he climbs really strong and but these

are just my favorite photos of seeing

kind of like what that moment is for him

he doesn't have a car he's rarely gets

to go climb outside so he's mainly

climbing in the gym and how do you Revel

in that moment like that Revel in that

moment of just taking things in and just

them being stoked to be there

next to you this is probably one of the

my

the projects that that people who are

like from my community come up to me the

most about

um so

another reason why who the Storyteller I

think also matters

um Chaco was like they reached out and

they were like l

we have skin tone shoes but we don't

know how to Market it

can you do something for us and I was

like absolutely so I did their whole

strategy and I was like what we're going

to do is not talk about skin tone enough

not talk about skin tone at all it's

like we don't need to talk about skin

tone what we will talk about is the

power of Earth and the power of Earth

Tones and the power of texture and being

there and so you'll see some recurring

people

um so I like really wanted to craft

something that

people who haven't been outside will

feel like they can be outside and also

bringing some people that have never

been to these areas again to have a

really really good time

so

it was just about socks and sandals and

what are the moments that are like fun

but more importantly what are those

moments that also add in style that can

bring culture and so so many of my

reference points from growing up they

really weren't North Face ads I never

saw myself the ads that we would see are

kind of like uh the Tommy Hilfiger the

Ralph Lauren all those ones the J crew

kind of covers and so some of the

companies were not marketing me to me at

all and so for me and how I'm thinking

about my reference points and why the

Storyteller matters is making sure that

I'm also bringing in some flyness and so

I told the brand I was like I want it

very monochromed with huge pops because

this is about the power of Earth and

like I wanted these I want it to be

super tonal and they were like down and

then then Chaco was like should we come

out and I was like no ah I think that'll

ruin the whole flow of who I'm with

because for me I've been on really big

shoots and what I've recognized is I

felt really uncomfortable by some people

who were taking the picture

um like they'll talk about all the

places that they've been but have no

relation to who you are and have a hard

time relating and the other thing that

has often come

um that's been unfortunate is like

um for me being like a black woman I've

been on things and then you're kind of

put to the side the whole time and then

you're like in the background and then

but then you've been told that you'd be

the shoot was for you and you actually I

invited my friends and then they got

utilized the whole time and you're kind

of in the background and so on these

shoots and why who gets to to take that

picture everyone gets a moment to be

seen everyone gets coaching everyone

like the the woman

um that's in rap never model before I

casted her I felt like she would get a

job I don't need people to show up to

make people feel nervous because you got

to recognize they haven't been here

before I have my team that I run my own

like studio and they're going to be feel

really good

there's patience

and then you know and then making sure

people are feeling their body this was

not meant to be the summit this was not

meant to be the highest thing this is

meant to be if you can kind of sit and

be and be outside anywhere

so some more some more with Justin

some more with Rey

um and like just kind of showing

different body types different tones

different identities

down to like the most epic time so it's

about the power of Earth so we went to

different textures and so I want people

when their experienced with me after

having not like the most amazing

experiences on set because none of these

people are professional except for one

has done some done some shoots

um uh but you know Justin and Brie with

the big both of them that have big hair

never like they're only working has been

with me and so

they'd never been to they've never been

sandboarding and I was like

I've just brought it out where are these

moments of Whimsy and making sure that

everyone who comes on these shoots just

has this you know again you can see you

can feel it

and so these are kind of the moments

with them

um just kind of having a really good

time

and also trying to be intentional of

like Footwear and kind of showing it but

at the end of the day what's going to

sell the shoes how people utilize it

down to you like getting Michael's first

time going down a sand dune he is so

stoked and so making sure that I had

that making sure he wore something that

he wanted to wear when we're all styling

it and so I'll give a general color

palette and then I also kind of give

them like what makes you feel the most

comfortable

so

the shoe went really well and it went so

well like I've never had a shoot this is

the first time where people cried like

just the kind of like I I'd never felt

the scene I've never felt like I had

actually a good time

um this is not my typical experience

ever

um I felt safe being here we were all

driving together and making sure that

they felt nurtured in the environment

down to

[Music]

um

my latest project and so part of the

reason I'm talking to everyone today is

because

I'm not saying you have to be a black

person to take pictures of black people

what I'm trying to say is I hope that

brands or people that have access will

tell

will get to know the subject or

recognize not every story is for you to

tell or are you the best one to tell it

and so that's something I I hope people

really think about I got asked to tell a

story about Chinatown and I was like

why me and I that's kind of like I don't

think I am the best one to tell it

um it'd be one thing if you asked me to

tell it about a Pacific person and I had

that relationship but I don't and so how

would I be the best person to tell that

story about Chinatown now it's one thing

if you're just so hungry and you have to

pay the bills but I think for many of us

you have the idea of like who can I

nurture to help take this and go with

them to make sure it's done well or let

it to go someone who you know can really

tell and be kind of closer to that

subject matter that person or whatever

or develop or have that relationship

developed

so this is one of my latest projects

um another one with some climbing in

there and so as you can tell you could

probably see most of the people I do

work with or kind of like the North Face

arcterics smart wool and then throwing

in some lifestyle Patagonia they've all

been

recurring clients

so I took him on a another trip I

recognized that what about the element

of also surprise and so

um I called around for like several

weeks to ranches on the way to this

climbing area

um there's all these ranches and so I

like figured out which ones to like I'm

gonna reach out to and finally this lady

was I've let people up here anymore and

I was like and she was like but my

husband said you were really nice

and so I was like I don't drive an hour

let me and I also learned the lesson

like I went to try and shoot some sheep

for Adidas and the guy didn't show up

and he had a good reason like his parent

had like cancer and like he wanted to

make sure he was there there and like

like for a medical appointment and but

he literally he was like just hop the

fence don't mind the dogs

I didn't he I was like hey where are you

and and you and so we tried to hop the

fence

and it did not go well ah was she being

prey animals I kind of also recognized

like you gotta have a caretaker that

really spends a whole lot of time that

really loves them and like where they're

really familiar and so I kind of we were

on this another kind of Journey to make

sure people know that they can do this

up the coast and I just kind of pulled

up I'd only promised them climbing an

oysters and so I was like hey got a

surprise and

um Kelly the owner of the ranch kind of

met us and they I was like let's just

have the Epic Sunset now SmartWool was

like I don't know if we'll use those

those are not Merino wool and I was like

we'll take a chance ah these are Navajo

sheep it's a lady that's doing a

sustainable Farm to for conservation

effort

then two weeks ago they're like who is

the lady who owned the farm we'd like to

do a story and I was like see you gotta

trust me and so they also were like him

and then the the fun thing about the

brands they're like we don't need to

show up we recognize who you're using

doesn't always feel comfortable with our

presence

um they felt judged and other things out

and other things else and so I was like

great

perfect because I didn't want you to but

I didn't say that uh and so I may have

been had these moments these kind of

moments of Whimsy

um and eventually

ah we've got to the climbs and so is it

always about the climb for me no

even though I'm a climber that's also

about having these three support him on

his first time Client First Time outdoor

climbing and what is that like because

that's going to be also relatable to the

people I want to bring in so they know

that they can be here too

um and this some more and so I would do

free climbing events in Brooklyn because

I believe in making things accessible if

it's 50 bucks in New York it's forty

dollars to go and then you still have to

rent the shoes uh and get the chalk bag

and so all of a sudden if it's 50 bucks

to try climbing that's kind of a high

cost so I started doing free climbing

events in New York City because the gym

wanted pictures and I was like no no no

no no

I'm going to bring in a group that wants

to climb that has less resources and

this is one of the this is one of the

guys that was coming in and

um so and he kept climbing and so I was

like Mateo I'm doing a shoot with people

that I think you'll love

people that want to illuminate you

people that will celebrate you you got

to come to California I'll fly you out

uh

and he just had kept having he was like

all he could say was just how incredible

this was and so so much of my work feels

like making sure I personally am not the

only one that wins and gets to see

people places making sure that I'm not

only

you know bringing people places that

they haven't been but making sure that

when they get there that their Spirit

really feels elevated

and then

I decided to take a little bit so

oh I just this may not play but I

decided to take a little bit of a bet

so before I play it I decided to take a

little bit of a bet and for me I

recognize as being a woman of color to

be here

it really wasn't until George Floyd that

people really wanted to see what I have

and I also recognize like and it's

unfortunate but it's true and so how can

I take this moment and keep creating

momentum and creating momentum for to

make sure people get paid well to make

sure people be are seen and also to

support other women in the industry one

of the things I realized that you don't

really see a lot of women with study

camps you don't see a lot of women DPS

so I was like I'm we don't have a video

budget but I'll pay you out of my own

money

to come here like

um a woman out of La I was like I can't

pay your La rate

but I can get you money on the back end

if the brand likes it and so I got to

direct direct it and she got to uh

come out and film and the whole time she

just had an amazing time so

um

here's that effort

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

so

[Applause]

how do I present we're almost done here

so

that's my a bit of my story and the type

of work that I do and so I hope

with other photographers when you handed

a project and you have the means of it's

maybe a subject that you might not have

a ton of touches with that people will

think am I the best one to tell the

story and or how can I help Usher other

people to be included to tell it so I'm

not telling anyone that they can't do

something but and I'm not telling you

that you need to do this as your style

or anything like this hopefully that

you'll know to support people who are

like me uh and to figure out how to

continually Elevate and not only those

are around you but those that also

deserve a chance to be able to be a

working DP a working photographer or

working creative director as well thank

you

here

we do have a few questions

raise your hand here I'll come to you

first

of all you're a wonderful speaker and

um

tactful

to a very difficult audience I imagine

from your point of view

kudos to you so my real question is when

you told the brand not to show up and

you told them several times and then

they got it and they trusted you did

they ever say we want to know why you

don't want us to show up or we'd like to

learn how to show up better or in a

different way or be more

appropriate I don't even know the words

to say but did they learn anything from

what you said or did they just say okay

we're either we're the way we are and we

can't change

well to be honest after they saw the the

what would van life

what if van life were like this project

they kind of got it because they're

um like the head of photos

um or the social media person was like

Keith lazinski's wife and she was like

we haven't gotten photos like this ever

and so so that gave me some confidence

and then it was in every marketing

meeting kind of like uh and by the way I

got the I got the video DP paid because

they were like I was like I'm gonna take

a gamble in there and I was like well

you gotta get a payer for all the

editing and so she did get paid because

they've been using it in all their

marketing it's on all their social media

and so that also made me feel good but

as to that thing

they get it not a lot of other brands do

because what I've noticed like showing

up like sometimes like I just did an

expedition

um with a brand that's in the room uh

with the camera company uh they I was

the only woman of 30.

it's like it's if you're not kind of

used to that it can be very hard to

operate and so when I'm trying to tell

them sometimes the best work I'm gonna

get is when people feel the most

comfortable and so how do you make sure

you're creating space for people that

really haven't had the space to be

themselves or feel like they have to be

someone else or feel like they're going

to make a mistake because who I'm using

they're not the most professional you

saw two people that have some modeling

experience out of you know

15 I mean maybe 10 like and so and I

like integrating one or two and I have

some experience so I know how to be and

Surround and Elevate and making sure

that people don't feel like they're

doing something wrong and so and reset

moments and so

they actually really get it they're like

this is some of our favorite work like

when what's our next project

another question

okay one more time let's do a round of

applause for L thank you so much thank

you Mr yes thank you much for having me

and anytime you want to have questions

I'm down and also one other thing

remember to support creatives especially

women and people of color online I think

a lot of us don't get the kind of same

amount of likes and an amount of

attention even though the talent is

there like I wasn't able to work fully

until a tragedy happened and I know

that's also the story of so many and so

make sure that you can figure out how to

be an ally in this space and make sure

you bring someone with you well if

they're not ready bring someone with you

or make sure you kind of think about

who's the best to tell it so again thank

you

and with that that concludes day two on

the Explorer stage to all of our friends

watching from home thank you so much for

joining us and we hope to see you at the

next one whether in person or digital

again we love our in-person audience we

love our online audience coast to coast

country to Country we've seen so many

friendly faces so thank you again we'll

see you soon

and for y'all still here we are doing

the optic Challenge Giveaway on the main

stage so you stuck around until the end

you better get in there and see if your

name is called got some good prizes

I appreciate it