Lens Guides

Stepping Out of Your Box

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran

I am going to start this conversation with an immediate counterpoint.  Having a specialty within photography is a good thing, a very good thing. Specializing in one aspect of imagery will help you define yourself both artistically and commercially.  Clients want to hire a food photographer to shoot food and a fashion photographer to shoot fashion and on down the line. One of the aspects I like best about being an action sports and adventure travel photographer is that I get to shoot myriad subjects. Yet even though I get to shoot portraits, food, landscapes etc they need to be shot within a style that says “travel”.

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran. 120-400 lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 400 f/5 1/500 sec. The 120-400 tele zoom was helpful for shooting wide in this shot at the short end of this zoom.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran. Sigma 24 f1.4 DG HSM | Art lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 320 f3.2 1/1600 sec. 
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50mm f1.4 DG HSM | Art lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 800 f/4.5 1/1600 sec.  Flare is very well controlled, even as the sun peeks out around the statue.

Sometimes grinding away for months at time on your usual subjects can leave you tired and artistically flat.  One of the best ways I know of to refresh yourself and start looking at photography differently is to step out of your normal routine and shoot a completely different subject. If you are a landscape photographer maybe try some portraiture, if you shoot sports maybe try your hand at macro and vice-versa.

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 85 1.4 lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 320 f/1.4 1/5000 sec. I used the compression and wide aperture of the 85 1.4 to separate the subject from an otherwise distracting background
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 12-24 lens on Canon 5DMKIII ISO 500 f/6.3 1/400 sec.  The ultra wide lens let me capture the subject and background together making for a unique portrait with sweeping organic leading lines towards the subject.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 24-105 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 400 f7.1 1/400 sec. This lens is a versatile workhorse for journalism assignments!

Recently I was given an opportunity to step out of my own box and try my hand at a few new subjects.  The Breckenridge Arts District contacted me to help them with a few projects including

  1. Document Breckenridge Public Art holdings
  2. Cover some Brecreate events
  3. Shoot portraits of local and visiting artists.
  4. Document some of the newly remodeled building on campus

These new subjects both challenged me and helped me to be a better photographer.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and created some images I otherwise never would have.  For example, the shots of the public art holdings had me puzzled.  I wanted the images to stand out and not just be simple snapshots, but at the same time I did not want the photos be so outlandish that they would be more powerful than the art I was documenting.  My solution was to use Sigma’s 24mm f1.4 Art, 35mm f1.4 Art, and 50mm f1.4 Art and shoot them close to wide open and with some off camera flash. This really separated the art from the background and truly highlighted the work.

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 1.4 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 4000 f2.2 1/200 sec with flash bounced of a wall behind me to provide soft even lighting.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 35 f1.4 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 125 f/2.0 1/250 sec. with off camera flash in a soft box 
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 1.4 lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 100 f2.0 1/4000 sec. Used an open aperture to help separate subject from background.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 f1.4 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 800 f1.8 1/100 sec. Flash set behind subject for rim light effect which helps separate the subject from the background.

The portraits were a great exercise too.  My typical assignment work does call on me to shoot portraits, but usually they are more of the informal gritty type that outdoor publications seem to like. Now I would need to be able to do something more formal. I turned to Sigma’s 50mm f1.4 Art,  85mm f1.4, and even the 70-200mm f2.8, and shot them close to wide open using both natural and flash light.  Not a big deal to a portrait photographer, but for and adventure photographer, this was certainly not what I was used to doing.

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 70-200 f2.8 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 3200 f/7.1 1/125 sec. Tripod mounted and zoomed tight to pull planet and conductor together.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 70-200 f2.8 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 250 f16 1.3 sec. Tripod mounted and zoomed during long exposure to bring movement to the scene.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 1.4 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 800 f/5 1/500 sec. Sharpness, color and contrast of the 50 1.4 are all on display in this shot.

What did I get out of a new and different portfolio?  Well for one thing I had a great time shooting for the Arts District, but I also got an editorial assignment out of it.  Somewhat surprisingly an editor called that had seen some of the work and asked if I would be interested in a documentary style shoot for an upcoming article.  Absolutely!

Moving outside your photographic genre is incredibly fun and artistically energizing.  Next time you find yourself in a creative funk, don’t put down the camera just shoot a fresh subject! Use your lenses in a new way and try something completely different. Maybe you’ll land a new client and maybe not, but I guarantee the worst thing to happen is that you might just learn something about photography and about yourself!

© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 24-105 f4 on Canon 5DMKIII ISO 6400 f6.3 1/13 sec. Off camera flash used to keep subjects sharp during exposure that includes movement. 
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 1.4 lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 6400 f2.2 1/250 sec. hand held using OS.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 1.4 lens on Canon 1DX ISO 100  f/1.6  1/640 sec with off camera flash and polarizer lens
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 35 f1.4 lens on Canon 1DX.  ISO 200 at f1.6 1/320 sec. with off camera flash to help light the front of the sculpture.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 f1.4 lens on Canon 1DX. ISO 400 f/2.5 1/250 sec. Flash on left of subject and slightly behind to illuminate both subject and falling snow. 
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 50 f/1.4 lens on Canon 1DX ISO 100 at f1.4  1/800 sec.  I also used some off camera flash to help make the sculpture stand out agains the dark sky.
© 2016 Liam Doran
© 2016 Liam Doran 24-105 f4 lens on Canon 5DMKIII. ISO 2500 f/4 1/500 sec. 
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