Photograph © Teru Kuwayama 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Advancing Your Photography (AYP), I interview photographer Teru Kuwayama, a veteran, well-traveled photographer who has made a name for himself as one of the leading documentary photojournalists in the industry. His work has been featured in magazines such as Outside, Fortune, Newsweek and National Geographic, and he has received numerous awards and accolades, including grants from the Alexia Foundation for World Peace and the New Fork Foundation for the Arts. He is currently on a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University.

Teru’s passion for photography arises out of a need for exploration. He frequently finds himself on assignment in countries throughout Asia and the Middle East, always striving to dig deeper and ask questions. His travels in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan have brought him to the forefront of conflict, and still his curiosity pushes him further. In our interview, you’ll learn about what motivates Teru as a photographer, as well as his advice for  improving your own photography.

1. Curiosity – A desire to travel, to go deeper and to really connect with people plays a key role in Teru’s passionate photography. At the core of his work is sheer curiosity in the way things work, as well as how they don’t, and that should be your first step.

2. Be a contrarian – When Teru is handed an assignment and told to look for a specific shot, he tends to pursue the opposite. He looks for the “counter-narrative” in the story he is being told, and this allows him to be more aware of what’s really happening.

3. Compassion – The only way a viewer will be truly impacted by your work is if there is a palpable feeling between the photographer and subject. Photograph what you are passionate about.

4. Don’t think too much – Photographers, by nature, can be an obsessive breed. Even the best can lose themselves in the minutiae of their work. Ultimately, however, cameras and equipment are just a series of tools  at your disposal, and it is important not to get too distracted by anything more complicated than the act of looking at something beautiful and deciding to record it.

To hear more of Teru’s  advice on how to advance your photography, watch the latest episode of AYP. Also, be sure to check out Teru’s work over at TeruKuwayama.com.

Hey, like everything in life, if you don’t set your photography goals, they’re not likely to just happen on by and knock on your door.

Let me ask you, when was the last time you thought about your goals as a photographer? Lots of us keep going out and shooting the same pictures over and over—you know the ones I’m talking about.  Nice image the first few times you got it, but after a few hundred, even you’re tired of seeing it!  How does that happen? You get good at a certain type of photography and keep on going out and finding that image again.

This is a signal that it’s time to tune up your skills, or turn your photography on its head and do something totally different. An assignment I give students at my workshops is to “go out and get images that you normally wouldn’t—get out of your comfort zone.”

This takes us back to the subject of your goals. Ask yourself these questions about your photography:

1. What areas would you like to improve?

2. Are there types of images you’d like to get (nudes, black and white, artificial light, etc?)

3.   What are your plans to study other’s work? (getting out often to museums, exhibitions, books, etc.) Though this might be poor form to mention, subscribe to our show Advancing Your photography.  My purpose with the show is to bring you an inside look into many photographers’ worlds, to inspire and educate.

Then just put this all together and set yourself a goal. Oh, one more thing I bet each of us needs to do: Take more photographs. Unless you’re out there shooting daily, you’re probably not photographing enough, even if it’s with your iPhone as our friend Chase Jarvis recommends.

BTW, my goals? To return to my roots as a pure black and white photographer. In addition to shooting more digital B&W, I’ll be rescanning some old negatives to get full-frame images, and dusting off my Rolleiflex and old 4×5. Also to keep advancing with filmmaking and video.

Do me a favor, after you’ve done the exercise above, leave me a note and let me know what you come up with.

Photograph above © Camille Seaman 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Advancing Your Photography (AYP), I had the chance to interview artist and photographer Camille Seaman. Aside from having her work featured in magazines like Newsweek, Outside, Men’s Journal, Camera Arts, Issues, PDN and American Photo, Camille has also self-published several books, like Melting Away: Polar Images and My China. On top of that she has won numerous awards, including a National Geographic Award in 2006 and the Critical Mass Top Monograph Award in 2007.

The daughter of a Native American father and an African American mother, Camille offers a unique perspective on the art of photography that is at once an artistic inspiration as well as a practical set of suggestions. Watch the interview and you’ll learn all about:

1. Having a connection to your work – Raised as a part of a small Native American fishing tribe, Camille grew up knowing that she was a part of everything around her. The goal of her photography is to help people feel this connection to their planet.

2. Capturing natural light – Be sensitive to the quality of light wherever you go. Look at old paintings from the masters — Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Caravaggio — and pay attention to how they sculpt light. After sharpening her awareness to the qualities of light, Camille finds she can photograph inanimate object (like the gorgeous iceberg above) with the same intimacy she would use to shoot portraits of people.

3. The importance of your card – Camille offers an amusing if slightly scary story about a trip to Antarctica, where it was so wet that her camera strap began to unharness without her knowing. Just as she was stepping off the ship, the camera fell into a pool and was ruined by saltwater. Amazingly, her Sandisk card remained in perfect shape.

4. Composition — According to Camille, the important thing to remember when considering composition is that, as a photographer, you are trying to arrange objects in order to activate space. To do this, don’t think of the shot as three-dimensional. Think of it as a dance, where objects can interact and draw the eye, and you are the choreographer.

To see more of Camille’s indispensable advice on the art of photography, watch the newest episode of AYP. Also, be sure to check out a collection of Camille’s work over at CamilleSeaman.com.

In the latest episode of Marc Silber’s Photography Show, I interview accomplished dance and commercial photographer RJ Muna, who has made a career out of crafting innovative art. Aside from being a regular in such magazines as Commercial Arts and American Photography, RJ has won over 150 national awards, including the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award for Applied Photography and the Lucie Award for Best Commercial Photographer.

In our interview, RJ fills us in on his preferred style, offers some helpful tips on getting the right lighting for your shoot and tells us what it’s like to photograph professional dancers. Here’s some more advice from the interview:

1. Develop a concept — Having a well-thought out concept is RJ’s essential ingredient for developing a great photo shoot. For him, the conceptual underpinning is the most important aspect. Once that is in place, all else follows.

2. How to get the right lighting — Try to start with one light, and determine where that will come from (whether it’s above, to the side, etc.). Then from there you can start to fill in the edges with key or edge lights.

3. Dance photography — When dancers come into RJ’s studio, he allows them to move freely before shooting, and then picks up on each dancer’s unique personality. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to be passionate about what you are shooting — “there is nothing more exciting than watching a human body in motion,” he says.

4. The magical element — To capture that elusive bit of magic in your work, RJ offers some great advice:  try to do something off balance from what you would expect. Put a new spin or angle on the standard, and that little bit extra will make it unique.

To see more insights into perfecting the art of photography, check out my interview with RJ Muna. Also, be sure to check out more of RJ’s work at his website, RJMuna.com.

Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. Photograph © Baldomero Fernandez 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Marc Silber’s Photography Show, I interview famed fashion and portrait photographer Baldomero Fernandez. Baldomero’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and trade journals, including The New Yorker and on the cover of Life Magazine. He’s also appeared in American Photography Annuals for the last decade, and has won numerous awards, including one from MTV for his work on a PSA.

In the interview, Baldomero offers some revealing insights into his personal motivations as well as tips on advancing your own photography. Here’s a taste of what you’ll learn:

1. Tell a story — Baldomero’s biggest passion in photography comes from his ability to tell a story. Creating a narrative, whether it’s preplanned or it just comes to you on the spot, is essential to great photography.

2. Be deliberate — The secret to creating good portraiture is being deliberate. A set that looks natural and effortless only achieves this because it has been thoroughly planned. Staging and presentation are everything.

3. Keep it simple — Even though you may have a dozen of lights up, the importance of simple lighting can’t be overstated. Baldomero also tries not to give his models a lot of direction, but rather lets the environment bring out the shot.

4. Stay focused — Most artists have interests in numerous places, as well as photography, so staying on point can be difficult. Baldomero overcomes this by diving back into his images and editing out the things he gets sidetracked on.

To hear more insights from Baldomero Fernandez, check out the latest interview from The Marc Silber Show. Also, make sure to visit more of Baldomero’s work at www.baldomero.com.

Submitted for the definition of ‘Ascent.’ Photo by Josh Murfitt

If you could use images to define words, how would you communicate their meanings? That’s the question behind a fascinating new experiment called The Photographic Dictionary, a community-sourced website that asks you to create visual definitions.

Each accepted photograph attempts, either literally or figuratively, to offer a meaning to its accompanying word. For example, “tentacle” is represented by a picture of a tree’s sprawling roots, while “doze” shows us a candid image of a man asleep in an empty park. Under each image is also a standard definition of the word and its many uses. From “bamboo” and “buffalo” to “xenophilia” and “zapatista,” the dictionary currently has hundreds of words, and it’s only getting bigger.

Most of the images are somber and melancholy in tone, but browsing the site’s alphabet is at times moving, even enlightening. Words that we take for granted, like “red,” “away” or “home,” are given unique portraits that force a viewer to reexamine definitions and connotations, and to think about the meanings others place in words that we might not consider otherwise. So make sure to check out one of the coolest online community art project arounds by visiting thephotographicdictionary.org. Just make sure you have plenty of time — the site is highly addictive.

To submit your own words and photographic definitions, send an email with the chosen word and your photo (resized to 600px wide), plus a link to your work, to thephotographicdictionary@gmail.com.

Erin Fong’s Nova DSLR

Left-handed folks have long been passed-over when it comes to converting everyday devices to suit their needs, especially when it comes to cameras. But with photographer Erin Fong’s new concept camera, the Nova DSLR, lefties and righties alike can snap great photos with ease.

Along with its creative design (it looks like some sort of TIE Fighter from Star Wars), the Nova may actually give photographers a unique angle when shooting. Fong, an Industrial Design student in California, came up with the design while contemplating the lack of versatility and flexibility in the current DSLR market.

Indeed, the camera itself has ergonomics in mind. With a Canon digital SLR as base, the camera’s arms are able to swing around to provide adjustable handles for users and giving the device what looks to be a periscope-feel. Also, the operation buttons are located on one of these arms, at the fingertips, allowing a photographer to easily locate the desired features.

Again, this is just a concept camera, so you probably won’t be seeing these manufactured anytime soon. Still, these are the sort of innovations that keep the world of photography and cameras constantly evolving and allowing you, the photographer, to capture those unique images. To see more pictures of Fong’s creation, check out his portfolio page.