Category Archives: Robin’s Workshops

03/14/18

The Three Superpowers of Effective Street Photographers

Street Photography is an art form all in itself. It is a timed dance we do with our subject AND the setting… a perfect moment, a caught emotion, all with the subject placed in harmony within the total scene. The Three Superpowers of Effective Street Photographers are real exercises that we will practice together.

There is a zone we step into when we are in this mindset. Our cameras become a part of our very being as we see the world as a composition of shapes and lines that fully fill our frame. People are not only our subjects, they are PART of an interconnecting design, a balance of everything we have CHOSEN to allow within our image.

Street Photography has a timeless magic that NEVER goes out of style! In addition to picturesque villages and landscapes, we also have incredible opportunity to hone our street photography skills… fun techniques we will be practicing together in Robin’s fun upcoming workshops, in Coastal Georgia, the Languedoc Region of Southern FRANCE, & THE CORTONA CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY Summer and Fall classes in Cortona, ITALY!

Cortona Center of Photography Workshop in the Tuscany Region of Italy offers a variety of subject matter including great Street Photography.

What are The Three SUPERPOWERS of Effective Street Photographers?

 

#1 – If you watch them closely… you will see that the very best street photographers have developed a cloak of invisibility. They have a knack for blending into the scene as they watchfully survey, checking the light and their camera settings, making sure they are set up and ready for anything. As they fiddle with their camera settings the bustling townspeople begin to ingore them, and forget they are even there. When the perfect moment does come, and an incredible subject appears, they are already prepared with the technical decisions… their exposures are preset and focus area preordained, so they are totally free to concentrate on pure composition. This is when the magic happens, and they are dialed into the heartbeat of the perfect moment, catching that shot, and it will not be overexposed or blurry.

#2 – Effective Street Photographers also seem to have the power to predict the future. They know where to be standing and already have their cameras focus and exposure preset, so all they have to do is wait for their subject to appear as they expected, magically aligned in the light, set against a darkened archway, not overexposed and not blurred, a moving foot frozen in perfect separation, just off the ground. Was it just luck? Not at all. They were ready; they thought and planned ahead.

#3 – When watching the great masters of street photography at work, you will be amazed at their patience. They do not rush. They are in their own dimension where they can slow down time. As if in slow motion, they fade into the crowd and become one with their scene, waiting as long as it takes for an interesting person to walk by, or for a perfect alignment of figures and architecture, light shapes against dark, or dark set against light… all crystallizing into that split second that makes ONE great shot! Working within this mindset, THEY DO NOT TAKE VERY MANY PICTURES! They are not gunning on continuous mode, they are watching and waiting with that special understanding, that is also a deep appreciation of the rhythms of the true pulse of life itself.

 

Coastal Georgia is the next scene where we will be practicing these fun techniques, as well as the Languedoc region of Southern France in May, and of course the winding streets and piazzas of Tuscany during the Cortona Italy Workshop in June.

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Below is info from our last Macon Georgia Spring Cherry Blossom workshop, and we will be returning in MARCH of 2019. CONTACT ROBIN FOR DETAILS

 

The Three Superpowers of Effective Street Photographers Come to our Macon Georgia Photo WorkshopWhen we feel the entire scene coming into alignment,
that is when we snap, being careful not to cut off the feet!

 

“Street Photography” can mean just going out and walking around with your camera to see what you find. In a deeper sense, it means having a profound respect for what you do control, balanced with what you do NOT control.

On the flipside, our photos that are set up and posed should be balanced by something unexpected, that we do not totally control to add interest to the shot. For our last round of the day in Macon, Georgia 2018 we will work quickly with character actors in costume to design images that transcend the expected.

It’s all in the HANDS! Our Actor Friends know how to put on a show
and GESTURE is a big part of bringing their characters to life.
Our last shoot of the day is partially posed, partially with action.

 

Some fun and unscripted moments from our past Macon workshop…

 

If you are interested in honing your eye and photographic timing, and enjoying some fun camaraderie, then our small group workshop in MACON, GEORGIA is perfect for you.

The group energy and short morning discussion will rev you up and inspire you and each photographer will have room to spread out and shoot in there own timeframe in the afternoon. Each participant will be given a printed Field Card with the 5 directives that they will be practicing during the day.

Our mindset is to be prepared with our camera settings in case something happens quickly. This is the element of control that we bring with us. The second trick is to stay loose and expand your awareness, open your field of vision and see what might be coming our way. For example, If a man in a white hat is headed toward the darkened arched door of an old warehouse… Have your focus and exposure preset so you are READY to catch him when he gets there!

We will also have fun opportunities to direct our subjects, ask them to move into better light for us, or against a beautiful antique doorway from Macon’s fantastic historic architecture, which will be our incredible backdrop. Don’t be disappointed if you miss some shots, or have some almost great ones; it is like waiting to catch the big fish, and the patience and dedication that goes into the making is what makes those greatest of shots so special! It’s that momentary ray of light or a fleeting expression that we had no control over at all, that makes us appreciate this style of photography so much!

ONE MORE THOUGHT…

Quality over Quantity: It is not always easy to capture these serendipitous moments, but that is what makes the hunt so alluring! Just ONE spectacular image from a shoot is golden, and we should edit for the best of the best, post only this one, and not many shots from the day that are not as strong. If you do decide to show more than one, then each should be as great as the next. Many similar images, or switching from color to black-and-white versions is fatiguing to your viewer, who does not want to be your editor. As photographers, we make the decision on what is our best image to entertain our viewing audience.


I am deeply thankful for my teachers who taught me to see the world in my own way, a strong lineage I am honored to pass down to my students and I will be writing more about them this month.

 

©2018 Robin Davis, text and images, all rights reserved.

 

10/26/17

Why we Love to Compose IN Camera!

After-cropping, historically an editor’s job, is an afterthought that often leads to unintentional compositional destruction, and an overly “expected” static design. Photographers preserve the full frame of the medium to create artful shapes and lines that are pleasing to their viewing audience. It is done in the energetic moment when the shot is happening. This is not just about the obvious subject alone, the sweet magic happens when foreground, subject plane, background elements (and NO unneeded distractions!) align in harmony.

 

Where Land Meets Sea and Sky Coastal Georgia Photography Photo Workshop with Robin Davis

Aligning these three simple elements within our pre-chosen format is just pure joy.

 

On our Coastal Georgia Workshop Days, there is a simple relaxed freedom in how we see our full picture frame, deciding up front whether our shots will be contained harmonically as a 2:3 (35mm) ratio, a perfect 1:1 square, or a panorama of connected squares like 1:2, 1:3, or 1:4. All of these professionally preferred formats are based on connecting squares and just naturally build pleasing forms when you actively engage the frame. The fun game we play together is to get closer and closer to the edges, while consciously cropping out distractions. It is thrilling to see the unique personality of each photographer coming through!

 

My upcoming workshops are designed to give us time to relax, see, and truly work with these powerful forms.

 

St Simons Jekyll Island Coastal Georiga PHoto Photography Workshop with Robin Davis

Marsh Storm by Robin Davis

 

Soon we are going back to the GOLDEN ISLES:

An Introspective look at Creative approaches to our Photography
as we relax and explore some HIDDEN VIEWS of COASTAL GEORGIA

 

Thank you all for being a part of the Creative Photo Movement!

 

Sign up here for email updates on more upcoming thoughts,
ideas and insights on where our photography will take us next!

 

 

all text and images ©Robin Davis, all rights reserved.

10/19/17

What Holds a Series Together? A Photographic Discussion with Robin Davis

There’s a deep satisfaction when a cohesive series comes together, and this is also a discussion I have enjoyed having with my photography students about their work.

When looking at a grouped display of multiple images, we want to give our viewers a pleasing continuity, a flow from one to the next. Beyond the subject, a consistency of tonality AND format are most important. This is what visually holds a series together, and also defines your Photographic Style.

When putting together NINE of my images for our group exhibition of NINE photographers, I looked through my recent favorites and thought about how they would fit together on the wall. As 12 inch squares, hanging in three rows of three, they would all be coming together to make one bigger SQUARE, so I began to consider TONALITY as the unifier.

 

The Show is appropriately called NINE

at pb&j Gallery in Atlanta’s Kirkwood Neighborhood

35 Howard Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30317

The Exhibition runs from Oct 21-Nov 22, 2017

open Thurs-Sat, 12-5 pm

 

 

In addition to the cool-toned limited color pallette,

Another connection is that each image has a pairing PARTNER IMAGE,

something that links it to other images within the group of NINE.

Can you figure out the PAIRS?

 

What Holds a Series Together? A Photographic Discussion with Robin Davis

The subjects are from various places, in France, Italy and the USA, and all from locations where I love to take my Photography Workshop students. These cool-tone images of blues and greens were also choosen because they worked to energetically vibrate within the true square format I was shooting with. The iPhone lets me design with the border edges, incorporating them in as the image is shot. It is also an homage to shooting with film, and the lineage of my teachers who composed fully in camera and never would have dreamed of after-cropping. This tension to the edge and seeing how close you can get is addictive! The idea of this ending edge of the “film” with the delectably thin areas of tension and separation, between objects, but also in their proximity to the edge of the frame itself are what delights my eye. How close can I get and still not go over?! It is an ongoing exercise in every shot, and sometimes you nail the moment and many times you miss. It is the fun of the challenge that keeps us trying!

 

Here is my Artist Statement for the show:

WITHIN the SQUARE – by ROBIN DAVIS
Meditative in-camera compositions, fully utilizing the perfect geometries of the divine square.

Serendipitous alignments and light coincide, as the shapes of subject and environment meld within the pre-ordained square format. Robin’s cool toned images are created in the moment, and framed as in-camera compositions, from edge to edge. There are no additional layerings, cropping or after-effects involved, and she approaches each image as a series of quickly meditated decisions, locked in with a click, the satisfaction being that there will be no other post production effects required.

This collection of nine images, printed by the artist on canvas squares, was created during some of Robin’s workshop trips, using her techniques for thoughtful image making, which she also enjoys sharing with her photo students in the US, France, and Italy.

The black-edged defining image border is also a conscious homage to the teachings of Robin’s Mentors and the long lineage of knowledge they handed down to her. In the tradition of the days of film, the inclusion of the black film’s border was an unwavering symbol of what the photographer had truly chosen to include or consciously crop out of their art… and the thought of after-cropping did not exist.

 

All images and Text ©2017 Robin Davis, all rights reserved.