New York Photo Workshops by Dave Beckerman

This site is a spinoff from my print store (which has been on the web since 1999).

What Can Be Taught?

The easiest thing to accomplish in two hours is to help you with the basics. You have a new digital camera and need help figuring out how to use it. When should you use flash? How does the meter work? What mode should you use for what type of shooting. What exactly is that histogram on the back trying to tell me? What is a proper exposure? There are so many ways to focus the camera, which way is best in which situation?

The next step up from that is the actual use of the camera. You would like to take certain types of pictures, and you just aren’t sure how to go about it.

Next up the ladder of difficulty, how to photograph people on the street.

I can also do overviews of how I use Lightroom, or Photoshop to work with digital images. And of course there is always printing, which is a lesson in itself.

And the most difficult of all: how to find your own voice; your own style. Are there exercises that can help you discover yourself so that you are doing more than just taking vacation snaps; or pictures of your pet dog? The answer is yes, but every student I’ve met so far has had different needs in these areas, so usually the lesson begins in my apartment with a chat so that I can get to know you and figure out your skill level and what you want to get out of the lesson. This is why I do individual workshops rather than leading groups of 8 or 10 photographers around. The group workshop is a more lucrative; but I’m more comfortable working one-on-one with each student since I believe each person arrives at the lesson with different weaknesses, strengths and goals.

This process of trying to help the person who has the technical part covered, but is trying to figure out where to go next – these are the really challenging lessons, and I believe that I’ve been able to help some students in this area. Though not all.

MY BACKGROUND AND EXPERTISE

I shot with black and white film and did my work in the traditional darkroom for many years. I began to experiment with digital photography and inkjet printers a long time ago, but I didn’t begin to offer digital prints until I was convinced they were the equal of my darkroom work. My current digital workflow incorporates Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop (less and less), two Epson Printers (4800 and 7800) and two digital cameras: Canon 40D and a Canon 450D which has been modified for infrared work. A lot of the photography on the site was done with this infrared camera. I live and work in a small studio apartment on the upper east side, which is fine for individual lessons.

YOUR BACKGROUND

Your background, experience and interests guide the lesson. So I can’t say there is such a thing as a typical lesson. Generally though they begin in my apartment with that chat I mentioned where we can come to some agreement about what is needed. After that, we may end up in Central Park – just shooting and then back to my apartment to review your work. Or we may spend the entire time in front of the computer.

AFTER THE LESSON

I will try to leave you with exercises that you can use once you’re on your own. If you are an advanced photographer, you should walk away with some new ideas about what is involved in making an expressive photograph. If you are a beginner, you will walk away with exercises and a better understanding of basic principles of photography, or maybe just what all the buttons on your camera do. Maybe you walk away with a better understanding of what RAW mode is and why it’s important.

HOW TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

In your introductory e-mail (if we are going to meet for the first time) it would be useful for you to tell me something about what you hope to get out of the lesson. At the very least, you should tell me what camera you are going to bring to the lesson. At the most, you can try and explain why you feel frustrated with your images.

E-mail me at davebeckerman@gmail.com

Depending on your requirements, your lesson could begin at my home or at an agreed on spot that would make for better shooting.

Dave Beckerman Photography

243 East 83^rd Street, 3B

New York, NY 10028

FAQ

What if I Prepay and Can’t Make It?

If you want, we can always reschedule. If you have decided that for whatever reason you no longer want to take the lesson than I will return your payment.

What If It Rains or Snows?

Up to you. I’ve done my best shooting in the rain and snow. If you’d rather reschedule for a sunny day – that’s fine.

What Camera Should I Bring?

This might be the most important decision you have to make. I would prefer that you bring the camera that you usually use. But hopefully one that has manual mode if you are beginner.

If you are interested in learning more about my own shooting, please note that I rarely use a zoom lens, and that I prefer fast prime lenses. I have mentioned the cameras I shoot with, but here are the lenses I use. My normal lens is the Sigma 30mm f1.4. This is very versatile and I would guess that 75% of my digital images were shot with that lens. I also have a Canon 50mm f1.4. This is a bit long for street shooting, but when I want a change, I’ll use it. Canon 20mm f2.8 lens. Rarely used, but sometimes I like it for landscapes. And the only zoom lens I have: the Canon 70-300mm with IS. I consider myself a generalist in terms of shooting style, and there are times when I want to compress a landscape, or actually need to a long lens because I can’t get close enough to the subject – but I never use it for street photography. I have a number of rules about street shooting, and using a zoom is for me a no-no.

Can You Actually Teach How to Make Better Pictures?

That depends. If you are just learning the basics, then of course I can help you. If you have been shooting for 30 years and still haven’t been able to figure out how to improve your images – then I’m not sure how much help I can be. But you never know. Everyone is different.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Dave

Cartier-Bresson used to say that he could tell whether a photographer was any good by seeing how the photographer held the camera.  I can’t go that far, but I can give a few tips that would tell me whether the photographer was a novice or not.

The street photographer is a bit like the old western gunfighter – which is to say they are twitchy – and always ready to take a shot.  Their world is filled with missed shots, and possibly great things that are going on all around them.  You may be walking along the street with them talking about what to have for dinner and find them suddenly spin around – take a shot – and keep up the conversation.   Their eyes are searching for something all the time.

So what that means is:

1) The use of lens caps.  If you are walking around with a lens cap on your camera then cannot be a street photographer.  Use a UV filter to protect the lens and never use a lens cap, at least not on the lens that’s attached to the camera; even if the camera and lens are in your bag.

2) Always have the camera hanging around your neck, in a mode that is ready for what could happen next.  I know that lots of street photographers walk around with the camera in their hand with the strap wrapped around their wrist.  My own take on this is that it makes the photographer more – not less visible.  My advice is to think and act like a tourist.  And a tourist doesn’t hold the camera in their hand – they have it dangling from their neck. (Obviously I’m not talking about point and shoots). New York Photography Lessons   »   more…

This is a take off on an old exercise. It used to be something like, “shoot one roll a day.” Or some variation of that. The idea was to force you to keep an eye out for some possible shot during the day, especially while you went about your normal business.

The 35mm roll has 36 exposures.

My exercise is much easier: shoot 20 digital shots every day for 30 days. The part of the exercise which is most important is that you have a camera with you at all times. No, unless your cellphone camera is what you normally shoot with, you’ll have to use your normal shooting camera.

But this leaves you with what. What can you expect to get from this, and what are you going to do with all those pictures.

The first lesson is that most photography is an adventure with failure. Typical for me, as an example was last week where I was asked to photograph a Halloween parade. I shot about 400 captures. From that I could say that about ten would suit the purpose of the assignment, and that one was actually what I would call “good.”

If you think of photography as a zen-like practice, you know that to be mindful you must meditate every day. Shooting is the same thing. You are trying to move into a state of visual mindfulness. And by forcing yourself to shoot every day, you’ll take a step towards that goal.

As part of this zen photography (that may be a stretch, but it’s not a bad way to approach it) you will want to show your work to someone. If you are a beginner, see if you can control this urge for a month or two but whether you can or can’t, I consider that your ability to take criticism and praise without being influenced important.

I try to leave my students with the idea that I am wrong quite often with my opinions about my own work. My life has been filled by critics and praise and I learned to take them both with a grain of salt. I’m not talking about technical stuff – anyone can see that a picture is out of focus or underexposed. But when you take a step up from that and begin to approach the expressiveness of an image – even in terms of how it might be cropped – that’s when you are stumbling in the dark.

Street Photography has nothing to do with the street.  It can happen anywhere.  It’s just a way of seeing.

Simple exercise.  Ask a friend to drop things (in this case a leaf) and practice trying to catch it.  You’ll want to use a high shutter speed, at least 1/1000th of a second, and to make the game harder, a narrow depth of field, maybe even wide open (f1.4).  You’ll have to pre-focus and lock focus on the spot that where you expect the object to be (use your friends hand) and then have them count 1-2-3 drop and click when ready.

Once you’ve mastered this, think about the angle you’re shooting at and play with that a bit.

And then try and do the exercise without your friend giving the 1-2-3 warning.  The exercise gets you into the practice of pre-focusing, as well as being quick on the trigger.  It isn’t very different from the wild west trick you see in the movies where a coin a thrown up and the gunfighter shoots a hole through it.  In fact, if you have something larger than a coin that can be tossed, you can practice the wild west trick as well though you are going to have to focus on the object while it falls.

You are almost invisible.  You are wearing your best tourist clothes.  Your camera is in your hand or around your neck.  You have spotted a subject standing in a doorway a half-block away.  You imagine how far from the subject you’ll be when you take the shot; if you take the shot.  You pre-focus, either by aiming the camera at a similar distance, or with hyperfocal distance, or whatever method you want for the situation.

There are people walking behind you and people walking towards you.  As you approach your subject you evaluate whether you can quickly snap this shot or not.  Your shutter speed is set to 1/150th of a second (which is the best you can manage in this light) or 1/1000th if you are lucky.  And just as you hit your mark the camera goes to your eye and you stop, in mid-step and snap the image and without removing the camera from your eye, continue with your walking.

You have got your shot, and you were stock still when you took it.  Only problem, as you stopped momentarily for no reason that was apparent to the guy behind you, he bumps into you – not expecting you to stop.  This is the stutter-step.  All street photographers use it; and having someone bump into them from behind is common.  You mumble, sorry, and continue on your way.

Again, the idea is that you want to pause for just that brief moment while you squeeze the shutter and continue on as if nothing happened.

Introduction

If you are a street photographer, you’ll find things to disagree with in this article. I often disagree with my own conclusions. I do concentrate on the current DSLR camera and skip over the Leica M since I figure if you’re a street photographer using the M camera you already have your own techniques down. But if street photography is new for you, and you are wondering about what sort of digital camera has the most useful features, and how to get over your initial fear of taking pictures of strangers in a strange land – then you may find useful techniques, both psychological and technical in this post. But fair warning – a seasoned street photographer will be likely to fall asleep while perusing this post. Someone who is just starting to do street photography may be overwhelmed by the amount information.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

In this post I try to summarize the tips about street photography in one place.

When you’re getting started the challenge is overcoming the fear of taking pictures of strangers. Since telephoto lenses aren’t normally used in street photography, how can you stand a few feet from your subject, put the camera to your eye, focus, and click the shutter without getting nervous? A good street photographer is not only fearful in the beginning (this is a good sign of being sensitive) but they also don’t want to do anything which will change the how the subject is behaving.

With practice, you can overcome your reluctance to photograph strangers as well as learn techniques which will help you get better candid shots. One word of caution – it can be addictive. If you’ve been doing street photography for a while, it may effect which seat you choose in a restaurant, or which side of the street you decide to walk on. When you walk out of your house, you may notice that one side of the street is in shade, the other side is sunny. Which side of the street you choose to walk on may be influenced by years of street shooting.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MORAL ISSUES

Let’s get some basic concepts out of the way. The first thing to accept is that you are invading the privacy of your intended subject. You may have the best intentions in the world, but once you decide to point your camera at someone without their permission, you will be invading their personal space. This is what it means to take a candid street shot. New York Photography Lessons   »   more…

The idea of the right angle finder is as old as the hills.  Cartier-Bresson, Helen Levitt and many other early street shooters used them.  It is a small device that is attached to the viewfinder and allows you to point the camera in one direction while you appear to be looking in a different direction.  You can still buy them for most modern SLR cameras.  I have one for the Canon SLR I use.

In some ways, it is similar to the flip out LCD on high end point and shoots; or even the way you look down at a ground glass with a camera like the old Rollei Twin Lens.  Even if you simply use it to look down at the image, rather than anything fancy like turning it so your camera is pointing off to the left or right, it makes a very big difference in how you are perceived by subjects.  The idea that you are not directly looking at them, even though the camera is – well, as I say you would be surprised at the difference it makes.

Bresson actually had a right-angle finder for his Leica which also inverted the image.  Rather than being a handicap, it’s useful to be able to look at an image flipped left to right or even upside down, as with the ground glass on a view camera.  It abstracts the composition in a way that makes is easier to see than if you are looking at the scene straight-on.

Modern right-angle finders don’t flip the image – but as I say – it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they did.

One of the scariest things for the beginning street photographer is – yes you guessed it – photographing strangers.  Whether they are walking alone towards you on an empty street, or even in the relative comfort of a crowd – many photographers are afraid to put the camera to their eye, aim it at what might be an interesting street scene, and press the shutter.  I began this over twenty years ago, so in order to write this I need to go back a long way, and remember that sense of dread that filled me when I began doing street photography.

My heart was in the right place.  I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone or make anyone look bad; but I wanted to be able to find design and meaning in the human experience.

So if you fall into this category of shooter, I have a number of exercises that may help.

This one goes back to the beginning of street photography: bring a friend along.

And it couldn’t be more simple.

Select your shooting spot.  A place that is crowded with tourists is the easiest because everyone has a camera and is lining up friends in front of landmarks to document their trip.

With a full-frame camera, you would want a 50mm to 75mm lens.  With a cropped camera you can do this trick with a 30 or 50mm lens.

And so you wait for something interesting and try and place your friend nearby, and wait for the moment – and move the camera away from your friend to capture the scene you wanted.

Important note for all street photography: after you take a shot of your subject(s) do not remove the camera from your eye.  This gives away what you just shot.  Keep the camera to your eye and bring it to point back at your friend.  Continue the charade until people get used to you.  Unless you’re very unlucky, or very obvious with your movements – you should be able to pull this off over and over again.

That is the question.

Part I

Washington, DC, Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.

The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…. How many other things are we missing?

Part II

From The Autobiography of Ansel Adams (paperback edition) page 240

In 1942 Edward [Weston] had an exhibition at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. He could not drive a car, so Virginia and I went to Carmel and drove him to Santa Barbara for the opening. [...] On the drive home, we passed a large field, on whose distant edge was an interesting assemblage of weather-beaten planks and posts. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and continued driving. In a few minutes an image of what I had seen disturbed me; I had a growing sense of the importance of a potential photograph.

I said to Edward, “I saw something back there that bugs me. Do you mind if I turn back?”

“Not at all,” he replied, “I think I saw the same thing.”

We retraced more than a mile, parked the car, and carried our cameras across the wide field. The object turned out to be a pigsty with one embarrassed pig. We both made pictures; mine, Boards, Farm near Santa Barbara, is shown here for the first time. I never saw Edward’s results.

This was one of the not too frequent occasions where a transient image makes an impresson on the mind, though the photographer is not aware of it at the time. It seems to digest; the subconscious mind develops the impression into a quasi-visualization, then the conscience moves in and, with insistent pressure, makes the photographer feel quite troubled unless he returns to the source. On every occasion that this has happened to me, the subject was worthy of renewed attention. When I have not returned I am gently haunted with a sense of loss.

Part III

Shooting in the street, this feeling of loss is even more common. But it’s up to the photographer to obey the whispers of his mind. How many times I had passed this dog in the window, thinking that there was a photograph there, but not stopping, until one day the dog put his head through the blinds. Even at that point I continued on my way for a few steps because I was late to meet a friend. But the shot called me back. I walked back a half block angry at myself for missing this amusing scene happy to find that the dog was still in the same position. Click. Closer. Click. Dog begins barking and I continue on my way.

During most of my sessions with beginning students, the most common issue (that I picked up on) is that the students are simply not noticing the potential images that are all around them. Many times I have stopped to take a picture of something, a reflection in puddle, the way leaves have collected on a sewer grating. And just as often passersby stop and watch me, wondering why in the world I would be be bent down in the rain to photograph a puddle.

These same passersby, when I do stop to chat with them about what I’m doing, and show them the image on the back of the camera, immediately get it. It’s one of the things that I try very hard to form into an exercise with students to force them to see what’s around and not to just walk by. How many times have we been walking, talking about some technical camera issue, when I stop to take a picture and then continue on. Again, the beginning student is puzzled. The seasoned photographer just tries to stay out of my way, wait for the moment to pass, and then the conversation continues. It is the single most important skill, this sense of being aware of your relationship to the environment.

Related to this is the idea of watching a scene and imagining what could happen. This is really another step up from simply seeing. Here you are seeing what might be there and that is even more difficult to practice. I can only say that if you are doing something that looks somewhat strange to passersby, you may be on to something; don’t be afraid to look silly.

In today’s atmosphere where every photographer is a suspicious character, especially if they want to photograph children – the easiest way to get yourself into trouble is photographing kids in a park playing.  Your motives maybe pure, but parks have signs posted about no adults allowed unless they are guardians or related to a kid; and so even though you are following in a street photography tradition that goes back to Helen Levitt and other famous photographers who did street candids of children playing, you are likely to be misunderstood.

So a collorary of the tip: Bring a Friend Along, is bring a kid along.  In this case, I would often visit a nearby park with my eight year old niece and have her stand in front of the scene I wished to photograph.  If you are a woman photographer – this is even easier since you are less likely to be regarded with suspicion.  My niece had a short attention span, normal in a kid, and I could get her to pose or pretend to pose for me only once or twice before it was time to push her on the swings.  But that was how this shot was taken.  The park was filled with mothers and upper-east side guardians, and even with my pretense of photographing my niece, they all had an eye on me so I had to work fast.  I wouldn’t waste my opportunity and had shots pre-designed before moving my niece into the path and taking my shots.  Here are a few from these outings.