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Deanne Fitzmaurice is a multi-award wining photographer, including Microsoft’s Icons of Imaging and the big kahuna, Pulitzer Prize.  She is an amazing mixture of talent, curiosity, sensitivity, yet raw courage, rolled into a disarming package—all of which have allowed her to reach deep into the lives of her subjects.

Her work is impressive and spans many genres from sports, to politics, human (very) interest, to candids on the street, she seems to handle these images equally well.

I had the pleasure of interviewing her and finding out about her approach to her subjects, which is open, direct and honest, leading her to be very much in touch with them. And did I mention she is gutsy? To illustrate: She told me about getting a shot of Barry Bonds, who in reply glared at her. Instead of backing off she hiked across the field and confronted him and asked if he were upset with her? He popped out of his scowl and got in touch with her, with the net result of their becoming fast friends on and off the field.

She passed along some very pragmatic advice about always checking your equipment, your cards, batteries, always being aware of exactly where you stand so you’re ready for that next shot.

And what about her host of celebrity shots? Same story, she gets right in there and charmingly breaks down the barriers. Like her five minutes with Matt Damon who seemed to be annoyingly putting up with this chore, until she, being from Boston, came out with “how ’bout the ‘Sox?” and she had him.

My favorite part was her description of what makes a very powerful image: Layering. No, not as in layers in PhotoShop, but in the images themselves as she shoots them. I’ve studied a lot of photography and talked with many, many photographers, but I’ve never heard this concept so well articulated. Watch the video for this; it’s worth the price of admission alone.

I’ve gotta say, the toughest part about our interview was deciding what to leave out, there was so much of interest. Let me know how you like it.

I asked my pal Thomas Hawk to answer this question about “getting results with with the right lens (Prime vs Zoom, f-stop and how it affects choices?”

I’d say that personally I much prefer primes over zooms.  I find that not only are they much faster and thus able to be used more effectively in lower lighting scenarios, but that I’ve found them to be much sharper than zooms.  I believe that the 135 f/2 prime lens is the sharpest lens that Canon makes.  It’s also my favorite lens personally speaking.  With bigger apertures (lower f-stops) especially, the depth of field on photos using a good prime with a low f-stop can yield remarkable results — big rich creamy bokeh*  Here’s an example of what I mean using the 135 f/2 at f/2.

* Bokeh: subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of an image projected by a camera lens.

The biggest disadvantage with primes of course is that they are very inflexible in terms of framing shots.  You have to move your feet physically instead of the lens.  Also because the fixed focal lengths are so rigid often times you cannot get the shot you want need with the lens on your camera.  This means often times carrying multiple prime lenses with you when you shoot which is a pain and having to change lenses a lot.  Changing lenses a lot also increases the chance that you get dust and other impurities inside your camera and especially on your sensor where it shows up on your images.  I’m fighting a constant battle with dust in my Canon 5D M2 and have with all of the Canons I’ve owned.

So there are pluses and minuses to zooms vs. primes.  I’m not sure there really is a 100% correct answer or that either are really better one than the other, but for me I typically use primes because I’d rather have faster sharper lenses than the flexibility provided by comparable zooms.  Of course bottom line is that whatever you use is only good as what you are able to see with your eye in composing and taking the shot in the first place.

Tom

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Not long ago, I was talking with Chris MacAskill, Co-founder of SmugMug, about filming some tips. He mentioned that he’s often asked for stories behind the huge shots taken by their members that hang on their HQ walls. That’s right folks, when you go there, after you’ve been greeted by their 3 yellow labs, the next next thing you suddenly realize is that you’re looking at grande photos everywhere. Makes sense as that’s their game. So Chris invited me over to hear about a few:

The shot of Horsetail Fall in Yosemite–was that a new “firefall” or a PhotoShop trick? How the hell did John Harrison get this shot?

Chris lead us on a tour and told us the stories of two more shots by Leping Zha, with amazing use of light and being in the right place at the right time.

And the moral to these stories? “Chance favors the prepared mind” as Ansel Adams was fond of saying. What can you learn from these shots? Go after those images that you’ve visualized, find the right moment and capture them. But watch for yourself.

Tell me your stories about your shots and attach them to your comment, love to see what you’ve got and hear how you captured it: the magic of photography and capturing the moment.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your feedback to my question about what you’d like us to cover.  Here’s what some of you said:

Metering with your camera when you don’t have a handheld meter

I’d like the above - posing and metering. Is it worth it to buy a light meter? If so, can you recommend a good brand/model? Thanks!

Simple way to learn manual shutter speed and aperture

How about post production? Like editing in photoshop.

HDR and stitching please

Photography basics - Getting results with with the right lens (Prime vs Zoom, f-stop and how it affects choises?
Post production tips - Always a good choise.

I don’t think you’ve covered it yet, but one thing that I struggle with is “style” … I can often tell that others have it, but it also seems so restrictive. How does a photographer build up a recognizable style without being confined within it.

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Other ideas for tips?

Also “add ons” you’d like to see for the show like a contest? Forum? Critiques? Loive streaming shows wioth some of our past guests like Chase Jarvis?

Thoughts?

We’re busy mapping our our next series of photo shows and tips, but would love to hear your suggestions.So far this  is the feedback we’ve gotten* Photography basics– I’d love to know what points specifically* post production tips– we can drop by Adobe and get some, again let me know any specific points* Working with models for the first time. Where to find then and how to direct them– we covered this a bit but can go into more…* We’ll cover printing tips from a master…Let me know what you’d like us to cover, give me as much data as possible to zero in on your areas of interest… stay tuned for new shows…