Scamper Over to Something Different

This week I taught an all-day photography class sponsored by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) as part of their nation-wide Super Monday educational series.  My class was entitled, "The MacGyver Method: Big Budget Photography with Low Budget Equipment".  One woman drove all the way from Massachusetts to Rochester to attend the class and learn how to create really interesting portraits with simple, inexpensive equipment that they may already have.  Hopefully the gas money that she spent getting here will be made up by the not having to purchase any new equipment for awhile.

Part of the thrill I get from teaching and sharing my photographic techniques is watching those "a-ha" moments appear, when the light bulb suddenly flashes above their heads.  My intent is not to teach people how to photograph like me...it's to get them to start thinking of things a little differently, and start the creative juices flowing.  I want them to realize that the most interesting path from A to D may not necessarily be through B and C.



I use photographic tools and other common items in atypical ways to get the images that I envision in my head, way before the photograph is taken.  I take it for granted, because it comes very natural to me.  I was reading a book recently that referred to the method that I use...now I now there is a name for it.  The book is called Thinkertoys, written by Michael Michalko, and he refers to the idea-spurring process as SCAMPER:

S - Substitute (substitute one thing for another)
C - Combine (combine two or more things that don't normally go together)
A - Adapt (adapt something for another use)
M - Magnify (magnify or emphasize something else in the process)
P - Put to Other Uses (put the object to a completely different use)
E - Eliminate (or reduce) - (remove something from the chain)
R - Reverse (or rearrange) - (rearrange the pieces to create something different)

When I open my goodie bag of photography tools and pull out a shower curtain, plywood, a stack of CDs, and furnace piping, people think that I may very well have lost my mind.  And who would I be to argue with them?  However, after an hour or so of "a-ha" moments, they realize that there is definitely a method to the madness.

Window Light

During the last hour of the class, I set up a couple of simple lighting demonstrations to show the different portraits that could be taken with simple, inexpensive pieces of equipment.  In the first image, the studio light was bounced into a 32" umbrella, then through a 6' x 6' diffusion material, producing a very soft light.  This technique produces results very similar to window light, and the light reaches far around the subject without falling off to darkness.  Oh by the way...the diffusion material...is a $6 frosted shower curtain.

Umbrella

 In the second image, the diffusion material was removed, so the light hitting the unfortunate subject (me) was a little harder.  The light does not spread as far over the area around the portrait subject, and the shadows are a little darker.  This produces a very flattering executive portrait.  The umbrella that was used is a very inexpensive light modifier, and is quite often the first light modifier a professional photographer might buy.

Small soft box

In the last image, the umbrella was removed and replaced with  a small soft box (16" x 20").  This results in a more directional light than an umbrella can produce.  The light was also moved to the side of the victim subject, resulting in split lighting on the face.  The pose was also changed so that I was looking directly at the camera, which is a very confrontational and aggressive pose.  Compare this image with the first image, and you'll see that we've created very different images of the subject merely by changing the light modifiers.  The first image says "I am a business man", and the last one says "F*** you, I'm taking over the world".  I would scamper out of the way of that guy.