Alan Hess - Make Great Photos: A Friendly Guide for Improving Your Photographs

A Friendly Guide for Improving Your Photographs

ALAN HESS

MAKE GREAT PHOTOS

A Friendly Guide for Improving Your Photographs

Alan Hess

www.alanhessphotography.com

Project editor: Maggie Yates

Project manager: Lisa Brazieal

Marketing manager: Mercedes Murray

Copyeditor: Maggie Yates

Proofreader: Patricia J. Pane

Layout and type: Aren Straiger

Cover design: Dave Clayton

Indexer: Maggie Yates

ISBN: 978-1-68198-391-2

1st Edition (1st printing, November 2018)

2019 Alan Hess

Rocky Nook Inc.

1010 B Street, Suite 350

San Rafael, CA 94901

USA

www.rockynook.com

Distributed in the U.S. by Ingram Publisher Services

Distributed in the UK and Europe by Publishers Group UK

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018952209

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.

Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky Nook was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. All product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Printed in Canada

Dedicated to Nadra Farina-Hess

This is my sixteenth book, and the one thing I can say that is true about all of them is that I could not do this alone. I dont live in a vacuum and I certainly dont write in a vacuum. I have a lot of support from my family, my friends, and the team at Rocky Nook. This is the place where I get to give some thanks and credit to those who supported me as I worked on this book.

I could not write these books without the team at Rocky Nook. As an author, working with this team is a treat because they really do want to produce the best photography books. Thank you Scott, Ted, Maggie, Mercedes, Lisa, Aren, and Pat. I could not have done this without your support and patience (lots and lots of patience).

Getting to work with friends is a huge plus and with this book, I got to work with one of my best buds. The talented Dave Clayton worked on the overall design and look of this book, and I could not be more pleased with how it all turned out. As a bonus, I got to visit with Dave and his awesome family in the summer of 2017. The young soccer player on the back cover (and featured in the book) is Daves talented young daughter, Elise. It was an honor and privilege to photograph her dominating at the soccer match.

There are some friends that keep you sane. A few years ago I met Glyn Dewis and he, along with Dave Clayton, quickly became that type of friend. We dont get to see each in person very often, but that doesnt seem to matter. These guys keep me centered, allowing me to rant and rave, and always have my back. I appreciate that now more than ever.

One of the best things about the photography community is the great conversations that we have discussing art, photography, design, life, family, cameras, and just about everything under the sun. I want to thank you all for enriching my life with your presence and your knowledge: Joe McNally, Mark Heaps, Jesus Ramirez, Moose Peterson, Aaron Blaise, Scott Diussa, Brad Moore, Drew Gurian, Tim Wallace, Brad Mathews, Charles Jischke, Rick Sammon, Larry Becker, Colin Smith, Rob Sylvan, Kaylee Greer, Sam Haddix, Zack Arias, Julieanne Kost, Dave Black, Kathy Scibetta (Waite), Corey Barker, Frank Doorhof, Dan Knighton, Glyn Dewis, Dave Clayton, Mickey Strand, Mike Savoia, Alex Mathews, Donald Page, and Rob Foldy.

A local camera store is a blessing. Its a place to go not only to get the latest gear, but to learn and grow as a photographer. I am blessed with a great local camera store, Nelson Photo Supplies, which supports the San Diego photography community.

A huge thanks to all the people who allowed me to use their images in this book. I am trying to make sure I got you all covered here, but if I missed anyone, I am truly sorry. In no particular order: Brandon, Jessica, Elise, Elina, Jennifer, Sam, Nicole, Mia, Glenn, Mark, Zach, Oscar, Chris, Shawn, Sierra, Kasey, Lyle, Cody, Wendy, Conner, Armando, Kiona, Laura, Dave, Kristy, Krista, C-Sharp, Cameron, Chance, Andy, and Bill.

Finally, I owe it all to my loving and supportive wife. She deals with the ups and downs that come with writing a book (or sixteen) and does it with a smile and a laugh. I am a very lucky man.

I dont remember that moment when I first picked up a camera, but in college I needed to take an arts elective and picked an intro to photography class. It wasnt because I was a good photographer (I wasnt), but more due to my complete lack of traditional artistic ability. I cant draw or sculpt, and the only painting I could do was on a wall with a roller. But I needed to take an art class, and photography sounded like something I could do. That class didnt change my life, at least not then, but it did start a relationship with photography that has grown over the years from a slight infatuation to a full-on love affair. During that time, I have grown from a college kid with an old, all-manual Pentax film camera to a professional photographer using some of the most advanced digital cameras available. During that time, I have taken a lot of photos, some of which are actually pretty good. I have also taken some really bad photoslots and lots of really bad photos. It took time and experience to figure out what worked, and what didnt. My goal here is for you to take advantage of all those bad photos I took, so you can learn from my mistakes and cut down the time it takes to understand how to make better photos.

As a photographer, I get to decide quite a bit about what and how my camera captures the scene. I get to decide what focal length, aperture, and shutter speed to use. When you go out to take a photo, you are letting the camera or the scene dictate how it is captured; when you make a photograph, you get to decide on the setting as an active creator.

The first part of the book introduces basic photography topics:

• gets us, the author and the reader, on the same page. This chapter is filled with examples of the topics we will be covering in the book.
• deals with light, the basis of all photography. This chapter covers why light is important, the basics of the exposure modes, and how sensitive your camera is to light.
• covers focus, aperture, and depth of field, along with how shutter speed controls the look of action shots.