Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
The foundation
Our motorcycles give us a unique ability to have real adventure and
authentic explorations. These agile vehicles allow us to get far out
into the world. We’ll see the sun crest a ridge in the morning, we’ll
ride hundreds of miles over challenging and varied landscapes,
discover a new town, meet interesting people, then watch the sun
drop into the ocean in the evening.
This book is not about equipment. This book is about taking better
photos with the camera you have now.The basic techniques covered
here will improve your photos whether you are using a $5000
digital SLR or the camera of your mobile phone. Knowing how
to choose a subject and compose an image will have the greatest
impact on the success of your photography. This first book builds
a foundation for the advanced techniques of the digital darkroom
and for the equipment discussion to come in later volumes.
Learning these skills and techniques with the camera you have
now will put you further ahead than the purchase of any lens or
camera. Let’s find out how to do those fantastic rides justice. Route 66, Nevada
Keep it Simple
Rule of Thirds
Get Close
Background
Layered Landscape
People
the edit
Conclusion
Cheat-Sheet
Photography,writing & design © 2010 Anthony Kerr
Support riders, don’t pass this PDF out for free!
www.motojournalism.com
Keep it Simple
The first thing we can do to improve our photos is to simplify.
What was it that first caught your eye? Was it the vintage
Yamaha? The rooster strutting around like it owned the
place? The bright colours of the maritime fishing floats?
Strip it down, cut out everything but the subject. If it’s not
contributing to the photo, it’s making it worse. The idea
is to make it very clear what the subject of your photo
is. Distracting background elements could be pedestrians
walking or cars parked next to the motorcycle. Maybe
it’s the pile of garbage bags off to the left of the rooster.
Official signs and other junk next to the fishing floats don’t
need to be in the photo.
Take your camera and walk around the subject until all
those distracting elements are out of the frame. Move up
and down, side to side till it’s just right. Snap, you’re there!
Taquillo,El Salvador
Antigua, Guatemala
New Brunswick, Canada
Old fashioned transportation always gets my attention. From Manitoba to
Nicaragua, animals are still used for work. Moving cargo by horse and cart is
an everyday occurrence in Granada, Nicaragua.
Other than the fact that the horse is facing forward, the main thing that makes
the large photo better is that the background is completely clear of clutter.
The cars are out of the way, the telephone pole is gone. It’s very clear that the
subject is the horse and cart.
Granada, Nicaragua
While exploring those lonely back roads
and dirt paths, we often find ourselves
riding through areas where time seems
to have ground to a halt many years ago.
It’s a fun exercise to emphasize this by
cutting out any clues as to what year the
photograph was taken.
By eliminating modern elements from
Saskatchewan, Canada
the frame we can give our images a
timeless quality, a direct look to the past.
Saskatchewan, Canada
Rule of Thirds
Art, not science.
This one’s a classic. It will make a big improvement
when you are starting out. Having your subject smack
in the middle of the photo is - generally speaking - dull as
ditch water. There are no crosshairs on a camera, we’re
not hunting moose here. Let’s try something different.
Saquixpec, Guatemala
Tucson, Arizona
Panama, Central America
Walk right up close, get in tight and give that subject a fresh perspective.
Antigua, Guatemala
I was leaving El Salvador for Honduras, my friend Mario escorting me out of town. I noticed that my bike was mirrored in the chrome of the
BMW R60/5 gas tank.“Don’t move!” I said, pulling a camera from my pocket. Leaning way back on my seat and zooming-in so nothing was
in the frame but the gas tank, I maneuvered the camera until my front wheel and fender lined-up perfectly in the reflection.
Antigua, Guatemala
Finding a good background and waiting is
exactly what you’ve got to do to get the best
shots of your friends riding. I stopped at the
twistiest looking section of California road and
crouched low to exaggerate the sinuous curves.
I had Greg ride past several times till we got
some good shots. Spend an afternoon doing this
and you’ll develop a whole new appreciation for
what Claudio Von Planta had to go through...
Leon, Nicaragua
Layered Landscape
Make it feel like it was when you were there
The motorcycles we ride give us access to some of the most spectacular
vistas imaginable. Deep canyons, crashing waves, imposing mountain
peaks. We’re overcome by the grandeur when we are there in person, but
somehow the photos never do the place justice. What happened?
What we need is a trick to let our brains know how far things really are.
Middle ground
Foreground
Le Pit, Quebec
Posing people in front of the camera is the easy way
out, but it doesn’t always capture the personality of
our subjects. You know how you stiffen-up when the
camera is pointed at you. Say cheese!
You will find that people are most comfortable and
“themselves” when they are involved in some sort
of activity. Get them talking and laughing, have them
explain what they are doing or where they are going.
Don’t make a big deal of having your camera out.
Just play it cool and take your shots.
Like many things you’ve just got to get out there and
practice. You will feel more comfortable with each
press of the shutter. But the excitement never really
goes away. This is a good thing.
Viking settlement,
L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
Two relaxed, candid photos here.
They are just doin’ their thing and the personalities shine through
Coco’s Corner, Baja Mexico
Tequila bar, Baja Mexico
Sometimes a posed photo will turn out great There’s no reason you can’t try both!
Los hermanos Juarez, beaming with pride in their ironworks
Antigua, Guatemala
The Edit
San Salvador, El Salvador
When you get home, review the photos. Delete the duds
and compare the winners. Than choose one of each
subject to present. Be brutal! If two photos of the same I chose this photo of the gravestone
thing are good, scrap one of them. A big part of being a in San Salvador because it had all
the ingredients to tell the story and
good photographer is showing only your best work. nothing more. The first two photos
show the graveyard setting, but the
angel in the background distracted
attention from the motorcycle.
The close-up detail photos looked
great, but there was nothing to
show that it was a gravestone.
The winner had a deep blue sky,
showed the fatefully twisted wheel,
and the cross carved in stone let
you know how it all ended.
Palenque ruins, Mexico
It was worthwhile to experiment with all kinds of crazy angles, but I decided to keep the straight close-up. Sometimes, simple is best.
We specifically drove out to find a good background for the VW surf bus. It was just a matter of trying every possible angle and distance I could think of.
I’m sure I shot more than sixty frames but this one was my favorite. I was lying on my back in the middle of the road to get some of these shots!
Tucson, Arizona
The same technique used for layering your landscapes can work well with architecture too.
I knew I wanted to have the pyramid looming high in the back and the sacrificial skulls in the
foreground. The snakes in the middle ground were a nice touch But it took more tries than
I’m presenting here to get it right.
Horizontal shots made the pyramid look too small, a vertical frame worked better in this
instance. I didn’t like that tree in the way of the lower left shot, so walking several steps
to the right moved it out of the frame. Finally, walking way back and zooming in with the
camera made the pyramid look properly massive and imposing. The gruesome skulls are
more apparent as well.
But the main reason I shot the pyramid from this odd viewpoint?
The wall hides the teeming multitudes of tourists standing at the base of the pyramid!
Five trailers-long, the sugarcane train rambles along. Don’t settle for one shot when you see something interesting! I saw the trailers in the distance and blasted ahead to park at the
side of the road. Sitting astride my bike I gave the driver a big wave and started snapping. I chose the last photo in the sequence because the trailers looked largest at that point. I
would have preferred the number two shot, with the cab of the truck in front, but from that angle - shooting into the sun - the sky washed out to nothing and the colours were dull.
It’s all about the expression and pose when you are taking
photos of people. This works best while they are involved
in an activity, not paying much attention to the camera.
You’ve got to be quick on the shutter in situations like this.
There will always be a frame with just the right look on
their face.
, El Salvador
Finca Lecha
Conclusion keep an eye on
www.motojournalism.com
for upcoming e-books!
Think of the techniques we have just covered as
Equipment
a basic toolkit to work with. Each tool is going •SLR, Compact or both?
to have it’s time and place to be used. Use these •What to take on a trip
tools to build a foundation of photographic skill •Packing gear on your motorcycle
and experience. The more you use them the •Lens choice, filters and accessories
better you will get! •Camera settings for different situations
•Low light and action photography
•ISO, aperture and shutter speed
The best thing about this toolkit is that it’s •Backup and post-processing on the road
independent of what camera gear you have. You
can use these tools right away, with whatever
Post-processing
camera you have now. These skills will transfer •Exposure
to another camera once you start hitting your •Effective cropping
current cameras’s limitations and you’re ready •Black & White
to upgrade. •Curves & histograms
•Achieving a film look
•When to use HDR
Get out and practice each technique as you would
•RAW vs. JPG
riding your motorcycle in sand, full-lock turns in
the dirt, or clipping the apex on your favorite Advanced composition
backroad. Apply the technique over and over till •Photo sequences for effective storytelling
it becomes as natural as knowing what gear to •Visual Balance
shift into! •Light and colour
•Conceptual and thematic contrast
•Leading lines
See you on the road!
•Advanced people photography
•Street photography
Photography, writing & design ©2010 Anthony Kerr
•Cityscapes
www.motojournalism.com •Food photography
•Breaking the rules
Print out this cheat-sheet (page 41) and
keep it in your tank bag for reference!
Keep it Simple
•Choose one subject
•Eliminate distracting elements by moving yourself and your camera
Rule of Thirds
•Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over the frame
•Put the horizon near the upper or lower line
•Put your subject near a vertical line, or on an intersection
•Give objects in motion a place to go
Get Close
•Let a portion of the subject fill the entire frame
•Find what you like about a subject and show only that part
Background
•Find a good background and wait for things to happen
•Set up shots of your friends on the best looking stretches of road
Layered Landscape
•Frame a foreground, midground, background
•Put something of interest in the foreground to show scale and depth
People
•Get close, Keep it simple, try the rule of thirds
•Get your subject talking or keep them involved in activity
•Frame the shot so that people are looking into the middle of the photo
the edit
•Take many different photos of one subject now, pick the best one later
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