In this section you will find only the best advice from photographers working at the very top of their game.
Our Masterclasses feature the work of UK masters of photography.
The Pro Zone features international professional photographers that are highly successful in their fields.
28.07.09
Faces from another land
I’m happily obsessive about photography. I’ll snap away at anything – but my favourite subject is people. Not everyone enjoys going up to complete strangers – especially abroad – and asking to take their picture. But I love doing it!
My current favourite place is Georgia in the former Soviet Union, but I’ve got thousands of pictures from Cuba, Ethiopia, Turkey and India, too.
Usually I go with a group of like-minded photographers who I know well, so we can enjoy our photography and have a few beers afterwards. In Georgia, we hire a guide to drive us around and stop at small villages in the hope of meeting the locals. Usually I sit in the front and if I see something with potential we just stop. You can meet wonderful people in even the most apparently deserted places.
I usually approach people by talking to them first, and if you’re friendly, have the right attitude and a camera around your neck, they’ll soon be asking you to take their picture. To be honest, sometimes you don’t even need to have your camera out; you just have to get to know people. Often they’ll invite us back home; if their house is untidy they’ll rush around and clean up, then offer us wine and food even though they have so little.
Obviously it’s easier to communicate if you have a local guide – I can say ‘very good’ in Georgian but that’s about it!
I explain to the people we meet that we’re there because we like their country and want to show our pictures to friends back home, to show them how nice it is. You’ll be amazed how that breaks the ice and they soon ask me to photograph them. If I’m on my own, I point to the camera and say ‘Anglais’ or ‘Inglaterra’. They seem to understand.
We went to a cattle fair once and our guide was scared to death. But when people asked where we were from and we said ‘England’, they said ‘no problem’ and shook our hands. It was lovely. If someone asks for a print, I get them to write their name and address on a sheet of paper and to hold it beside their face in a picture. This way I know I have the right person and address – far more reliable than getting home with loads of bits of paper and not remembering who’s who.
With digital, it’s so easy to show people what you’re shooting straight afterwards and they love it, especially in places where digital cameras are still new.
I don’t mess around if people don’t want to be photographed. Personally, I don’t use telephoto lenses and snatch people pictures: I think that’s wrong. There’s no interaction. I’d much rather use a 18-70mm zoom, get close and share some chat.
I also avoid telling people where to stand or what to do. I just let things happen and snap away, making sure focus and exposure are right and working on.
I never pay people for posing. There was one occasion when we went to a residential home, and it was obvious the old lady there didn’t have a bean and I had all this expensive camera kit. I said to the guide that I wanted to give her some money – only a fiver – and not because she posed for me, but because she reminded me of my grandmother. She wouldn’t take it even though it was obvious she had no money. In the end I left it on the windowsill. She was in tears and so were we.
I use natural light and often ramp up the ISO on my Nikon D200 to ISO 1600. I can be shooting at slow shutter speeds, but don’t always use a tripod because it can get in the way. The camera is set to Raw for shooting, so there’s more flexibility to tweak afterwards.
I used to rattle through film – 10 rolls a day if I got the opportunities. Shooting digital means there’s no waste if the pictures are no good. But ironically I shoot even more frames with digital! The quality is amazing. If someone had told me 10 years ago that we would be getting this sort of quality I would have laughed at them.
I use Photoshop CS3, often using the black & white adjustment layer function where you can lighten or darken specific colours. It’s so easy. To get a film-like appearance I put in three units of noise, then make prints with PermaJet inks and papers on Epson printers.
I don’t see the point of taking pictures and not having something to hold and look at.
After all these years, I still love photography – it’s even more exciting than ever. How wonderful then that people actually pay me to take pictures when in fact I would take them for free.
Kit Bag
I travel light, using a Nikon D200 with two lenses, the standard 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 and an old manual focus 75-300mm zoom. In the past, I used to carry bags of kit around – I think I’ve owned every lens Nikon ever made. I always have a tripod with me, but I don’t always use it.
- Average Article Rating 5 Stars
-
Your Rating
Login Required!
Sorry - You must be a registered user & logged in to rate this.
Login | Register
Back to Categories