More points about shooting

Editor's Note: Jim Standerfer and Brian Poulter are in the middle of a winding, 3,000-mile motorcycle journey, following the Mississippi River. This is the second installment of Poulter's explanation of how selected photographs from this trip were taken, all with a Canon G9 point-and-shoot digital camera.

Patience pays

A poplar tree sprouts from loose rock in a gravel quarry south of Galena, Ill. ISO 80, F-stop f/4, Shutter Speed 1/200, Focal Length 7.4 mm

We were riding toward Galena when I saw these massive dunes of gravel that had been eroded by rain, and it reminded me of a scene from the desert. I walked around for several minutes taking photographs, when I saw this small tree struggling to grow.

This photo works in part because of the low angle, emphasizing the little tree sprout versus the massive gravel quarry. Also, if you read last week's article, I am using the rule of thirds, keeping the sprout to one side of the frame.

Mostly, the photo is about patience, waiting for the light falling between the clouds to play on the sprout and shadow the background. A lot of good photography is about sitting and watching and not pushing the button. Patience is a photographer's best tool.

I am also using a polarizing filter that darkens the sky and clouds.

Thank goodness I was wearing a motorcycle jacket and pants, so I didn't burn myself on the hot gravel.

Color/Contrast

Brian Poulter's Triumph sits on the side of U.S. 61 outside Wilson, Ark. ISO 80, F-stop f/4, Shutter Speed 1/500, Focal Length 7.4 mm, Exposure Compensation -.7

A long time ago, I was taught that color photographs are about color and black and white photographs are about lighting. Even though this photograph was shot in color, I knew I would be converting it to black and white because the photograph is very much about the starkness of the scene in the afternoon sun. Sometimes I make a picture knowing that I am going to emphasize the color; sometimes I am going to emphasize the light. This is the latter.

I was riding along U.S. 61 when I saw this big, imposing tree. In the background were the wispy clouds. I knew if I parked my motorcycle near the tree, the contrast between "big tree" and "small motorcycle" would make the photo visually interesting.

The trick to good photography is pre-visualizing the photograph more than about pushing the button, knowing what you can do with what you capture. In color, this photograph is very boring.

Get close

We met Jamie Gustafson and his dog Hawley Davison at the McDonald's in Monmouth, Ill. ISO 80, F-stop f/4, Shutter Speed 1/200, Focal Length 7.4 mm, Exposure Speed -.03 (Fill flash used)

Last week, I talked about the importance of establishing a relationship with your subject. I talked with Jamie Gustafson for almost a half an hour before making this photograph after he had prepared his dog for a ride across Illinois.

When I took this picture, I was only about 2 feet from them. You can't get that close unless you have people relaxed around you.

The Canon G9 has three flash modes: off, auto and manual fire. The camera, sensing all the light in the scene, doesn't think a flash is needed, but because Jamie's helmet was casting a heavy shadow on his face, I turned the flash on manual, forcing it to fire. That's the secret to mid-day photographs; it is often necessary to fill in the shadows with fill-flash. Because fill-flash does not carry very far in the bright sun, that is another reason to get close.

People are voyeurs at heart. The job of the photographer is to take people to places they normally don't get to go and to introduce them to people they normally don't get to meet. So, when you get in close, you are taking them to a place they normally don't go, literally in someone's face.

To quote the great war photographer Robert Capa, "If your photos aren't good enough, you're not close enough." Next time you make a photograph, get twice as close, then get twice and close again, and you might be close enough.

Oh yeah, and make sure the dog's friendly.

The beauty of digital photography is that, after you buy the camera, it is essentially free. So, push the button, peek in the little window (photographers call this chimping), and figure out if your exposure's right, your angle's right, your composition's right, then keep pushing the button. To get one of the photographs here, I made 15 to 20 exposures, easily. Luckily, the Herald & Review didn't ask me to show you all my bad photographs. They don't have that many pages.