Photographer / Cinematographer Chris Whonsetler

Becoming a Master Photographer

WhonPhoto — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:41:05 +0000

This is a dream of many of us photographers. To be called a master, to have other photographers yearning to create like we do, to have clients lining up outside our studio doors, to make images that stand the test of time, to be remembered.

But how do we get there? What are the steps involved to achieve all of these things?? Scott Bourne at PhotoFocus made a great post today about becoming this master photographer, and several of his point hit me hard. These are things I’m constantly struggling with, haunting reminders that I am human and I will always have massive amounts of learning to do..

Summing up Scott’s full post (which I highly recommend reading!!)

1. Stop comparing your gear against anyone else’s gear.

- Seriously one of my largest weaknesses.. Not necessarily comparing what I use to others, but constantly on the look out for new gear, something bigger & better. Rather I need to spend more time mastering what I currently have.

2. Try to understand what it means to have vision.

- I feel like I am fairly good at this. Scott talks about looking past the obvious and photographing the details people overlook. Work on creating new story out of a scene where the same story has been told countless times.

3. Go on a photo walk – but don’t take your camera.

- Very difficult for me! I do scout locations, but always seem to have my camera with me. I really like what Scott pointed out about Ansel Adams, how he would regularly scout with only a yellow filer, a notebook and cardboard cutouts matching his different focal length options. A great strategy to help us slow down. In my experiences, my best photographs have come from when I slowed down and took the time to think it out vs blasting out a dozen frames and used those to make my decisions. I also love the cardboard cutout idea! In college one of my professor gave me an empty slide frame to help compose images in my mind. I’ve since lost it in the clutter of my office, but would love to revisit this thought process. I’ve discovered that my hand at arms length is approximately what I would capture at 70mm, which I often use to judge which lens I will use for a particular shot. The only downside to the cardboard compassion is that you will not have the compression a telephoto lens will give the image.. Our eyesight is equal to about a 60-70mm lens (at least mine is..). So all of our cardboard cutouts would have the compression of a 70mm lens, which we all know is very different from a 24mm, or a 200mm lens. At this point it is up to you to discover what your glass is capable of and learn how to see what you will capture without the need to look through your camera.

4. Care about, know about, think about, dream about, learn about, talk about and downright fall in love with your subjects.

- This has been the bane of my existence.. Up until now I have been photographing everything under the sun, I don’t really have many goals as a photographer outside of being the best I can possibly be. I really need to start specializing what I focus on and really start to get to know my subjects more intimately.

5. Stop thinking about about the reward and spend all your time thinking about the journey.

- Another bane of mine… Reward is so very nice. Especially when the reward is a paycheck I can use to pay my bills! This isn’t the only type of reward Scott is referring to however. What I took from the rest of his text was to stop expecting the title of the worlds greatest photographer to fall into my lap. National Geographic won’t call me tomorrow to go to Alaska and photograph whales. I still need to prove myself, I need to make more mistakes and start loving the process I am living right now! With my eyes fixed on the future I can’t enjoy what I have right now.

Hopefully Scott’s post will inspire you to start thinking a little differently when it comes to your photo career. Or any career for that matter! These principals can be applied to any situation! Keep your chin up, master and fall in love your current situation, and Keep Shooting!

Chris W ‘WhonPhoto’

Mark & Jenna

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:05:28 +0000

Mark & Jenna

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:04:18 +0000

Mark & Jenna

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:02:53 +0000

Mark & Jenna

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:02:14 +0000

Mark & Jenna

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:00:54 +0000

Mark & Jenna Jolink

WhonPhoto — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:28:09 +0000

Selling studio lights!

WhonPhoto — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:20:11 +0000

Hey guys, I’m selling some of my studio lights! I’m just not using them as much as I used to. Doing most of my shoots on location and using my speed lights instead. This is a fantastic kit to learn on though. Its how I learned! Its my opinion that everyone needs to know how to use studio lights. So you call yourself an ‘ambient light shooter’ and tell yourself ‘I only shoot photos in ambient light’. Which isn’t a bad idea (Look at my Finding and using Fantastic post) But what do you when the light is terrible or when the light disappears all together?? You stop shooting, everyone else on the other hand can whip out their strobes and keep on rocking! So what if you don’t know how to use them. I didn’t when I started using strobes. If you are a little uneasy using them I do offer some photo courses to help you figure out what you are doing. Enough of that here are the details..

Kit includes:

- 3 Studio Max III 320 Heads
- 3 Power Cables (not pictured)
- 1 Replacement Flash Bulb for the Studio Max III 320 Head (not pictured)
- 2 8′ Photogenic Stands
- 1 3′ Stand (not pictured)
- 2 40″ Silver Photogenic Umbrellas
- 2 Speed-rings (for Soft Boxes, not included)
- 3 PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers
- 2 PocketWizard sync cables (1 1/8″ and 1 standard PC terminal with a PC – 1/8″ adapter) (not pictured)
- 1 Photogenic Carrying Case

*Please note one of the PocketWizard units has a broken foot, it still works properly, but because of the foot it will not work on camera. It will only receive transmissions from the other two units. In the image the PocketWizard units are standing up on a pair of speed light feet, which are not included in this kit.

Please email with any additional questions! See the Craigslist post here

No matter what you are shooting with, Keep Shooting!

Chris W ‘WhonPhoto’

PS, the following images were taking with this kit!

Rachel Gill

WhonPhoto — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:53:01 +0000

Rachel Gill

WhonPhoto — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:51:06 +0000