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Robert Berdan is an award-winning, Calgary-based photographer who delights in photographing living creatures, from microorganisms to Canadian wildlife. When Berdan was a child, everything in nature fascinated him. He became obsessed with the microscope, and later wanted to take pictures of what he saw. At the age of 13, Berdan began experimenting with a cheap Kodak Instamatic Camera. Images from this first camera were unclear and he felt that with a better camera, he might be able to take better pictures, particularly of micro-organisms viewed through his microscope. Berdan purchased a Polaroid camera for about $70 to attach to his microscope, and it worked as advertised, but Polaroid film was expensive, and the prints were small and not particularly clear. After reading about single lens reflex (SLR) cameras with interchangeable lenses, he decided on an Olympus OM-1 for $300. With $100 that he saved, and help from his parents, he acquired the camera. His first pictures turned out better than expected and Berdan managed to get a couple of good shots from every roll of film. Berdan soon began to photograph everything around him, such as landscapes, plants, insects, and mammals, including his friends. For the first few years he owned only one lens, the basic 50mm f/1.8 standard lens that is good for low light and documentary-type images but not for wildlife. He attached the camera body with an adapter to his microscope and was able to capture images of mosquito larvae, rotifers, crystals, and other single-celled animals living in pond water. Some of these images he is still selling. Berdan now uses both Nikon and Canon digital cameras with lenses ranging from 8–1500mm. Together, the camera and the microscope directed him towards a career in cell biology and neuroscience research. Berdan earned a Ph.D. studying electrical synapses, also called gap junctions, an esoteric topic. He especially liked taking pictures with electron microscopes, fascinated with how living organisms function and grow. Later he acquired bigger lenses and photographed larger animals, from insects to grizzly bears, moose, and caribou. After three years of research at the University of Calgary and five years at the University of Alberta, Berdan felt a need to get out of the laboratory. He began to explore education, multimedia, and nature photography full time. He worked for a few years at the Calgary Science Centre before he started a business called Science & Art Multimedia. According to Berdan, both science and art have things in common, though they are different approaches to studying and seeing the world. In his opinion, photography is a tool that uses a combination of sciences, including optics and electronics, but the application of the camera and composition is an art created by photographers trying to see and capture images that inform, evoke emotions, and make people think. Therefore, photography is a fascinating duality of science and art. Berdan’s new business allows him to focus on technological developments taking place on the Internet, and to teach and pursue nature photography. Photography is also the best excuse Berdan has to spend more time outdoors surrounded by nature. He loves to travel and explore Canada, where there are places that are still rarely visited or photographed. Berdan’s favourite places to photograph in Canada so far are Alberta’s Rocky Mountains; the Badlands, including Red Rock Coulee and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park; Waterton Lakes and Jasper National Parks; and the Carmanah Valley, with its giant ancient trees and the Great Bear Rainforest. Going north to Yellowknife, he loves to photograph the aurora borealis; even further north, on the tundra, he loves to chase migrating caribou in autumn. However, of all the things Berdan has photographed, the most exciting has been the aurora borealis as its multicoloured rays of light dance across the sky. Berdan has had memorable wildlife encounters. For example, he photographed a sow and a cub grizzly bear fishing for salmon on the Atnarko River in Bella Coola, British Columbia, while sitting only 15 metres away on the other side of the river. Another time, he encountered a grizzly bear while hiking on a trail in the Rockies. Fortunately, he made it back to his car without mishap. When Berdan called a park ranger so a warning sign could be posted, the ranger simply replied, “Oh, that grizzly bear ... he won’t hurt anyone.” Other special encounters include seeing a pod of orcas swim under the Mothership III, a boat where Berdan served as a photo guide, and watching a mountain lion next to the road in Waterton Lakes National Park. The cougar turned around and sat down for a minute to look at Berdan while Berdan took his picture from behind his jeep, and then lumbered away. Berdan can relive these amazing wildlife encounters anytime he wants by looking at the images he captured—except for the experience with the grizzly he met on the trail, that is: Berdan didn’t get any pictures of him, for obvious reasons. According to Berdan, a lot of people living in cities have lost a connection with nature. How many people today have seen the stars on a clear night, the Andromeda Galaxy, or the Milky Way? How many people have seen a grizzly bear, fox, wild wolf, or killer whale up close? Berdan tries to pursue these rare and special encounters in order to photograph and share them with others, in part to remind them that there are still places in this country where people can see them. These moments give Berdan a high but also a sense of humility and feelings of respect and wonder. Most of Berdan’s photography learning and inspiration came from reading and looking at photography books by Eliot Porter, Thomas Mangelsen, John Shaw, Freeman Patterson, Courtney Milne, Ansel Adams, Jim Brandenburg, and Richard Brown. Budd Watson, a photographer and shop owner in Midland, Ontario, was Berdan’s first mentor. Two inspirational Calgary photographers are Keith Logan, who taught Berdan how to operate a 4 × 5 camera and how to use masks in the darkroom, and friend and mentor Dr. Wayne Lynch. Berdan is also grateful that his parents bought him a microscope and a camera. Years later, his father developed an interest in photography and father and son try to travel and photograph together whenever they can. Recently, Berdan has developed a website called The Canadian Nature Photographer whose mission is to promote nature photography, show the beauty of Canada, and inspire others to take up nature photography. The website features the work of new and established photographers and has a major educational goal with free downloadable slides for teaching, online courses, galleries, movies, tutorials, and e-books on photography. Future projects will be to publish several books dealing with topics such as the aurora borealis, Canadian wildlife, Canadian landscapes, and the role of science and art in photography. Nature photography has helped Berdan appreciate his own life better and develop a greater respect for other living things. The camera is his excuse to get out and look, but the experience is often more meaningful than the picture — the picture is simply evidence that the photographer was there and can share the experience with others. www.canadiannaturephotographer.com This article originally appeared in our 'Creatures Great and Small' Spring/Summer Issue in 2013. See more in our PRINT issue - get it HERE. #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #canadianphotography #animals #AlbertaPhotographer

Top tips for better DSLR pics Before you consider buying more gear to improve your photography, consider one of the key causes of poor quality images — camera shake. Camera shake is caused when the camera moves during an exposure. Factors that influence this include hand holding a camera, shutter speed, shutter release, focal length of lens, and mirror slap. Unless the camera is held perfectly steady during the time of the exposure, the resulting image will appear blurred. Using faster shutter speeds can minimize the effect of camera shake since it is easier to hold a camera steady for a shorter period of time than a longer one. Learn the Rule There is a rule regarding the slowest shutter speed one can reliably use before camera shake becomes an issue. A general guideline is to use the shutter speed that is the inverse of the effective focal length of the lens. For example, if you are shooting at a focal length of 50mm, the slowest “safe” speed for hand-held photography is 1/60 s (closest shutter speed to 1/50 s). If you are shooting with a 500mm telephoto lens, the “safe” speed is 1/500 s. A wide-angle lens of 20mm allows one to shoot hand-held at a speed of 1/20 s. Note that if you are not using a full-frame sensor, you will need to account for the sensor factor. An APS-C sensor has a factor of 1.5; so a 200mm lens has an effective focal length of 300mm (200 Å~ 1.5 = 300). Elite sports photographer Dave Holland knows the importance of creating tack-sharp images. His advice is to learn the basics of how to properly hold a camera. He says, “I see lots of people working their lens with their left hand on the side of the lens, palm down. The most stable position is palm up with your left arm anchored against your body.” As proof of this technique he suggests, “Look at biathletes (or any shooters). They always have their left hand under the rifle, palm up, and their left arm anchored against their body. This is by far the most stable standing position and it helps them hit targets 50m away — it will help you get sharper shots.” Tripod Tips One of the best investments you can make is the purchase of a tripod or other accessory designed to steady your camera. Realize that one tripod may not meet all of your needs. There will be trade-offs to consider. The kind of photography you do will help in narrowing your search. If you travel a lot, look for a light tripod. Those made of carbon fibre are the lightest available; they are also the most expensive. If you do macro photography, you might consider a tripod with an articulating arm that will allow you to get close to your subject. If you shoot outdoors in severe weather conditions, consider a heavier tripod or one that allows for adding additional weights, such as a beanbag, to the bottom of the centre column to provide added mass and stability. Tripods may not be appropriate in some situations. Consider the use of a monopod. Unlike the three legs of a tripod that take up a lot of ground space, the monopod has a very small footprint and is used close to your body. For smaller cameras there are miniature tripods that easily collapse to fit into a pocket. The versatile Gorillapod by Joby can be used as a standard mini-tripod or its flexible legs can be wrapped around objects for stability. Lens Tech Support Camera lenses with vibration reduction technology (VR, also known as image stabilization) allow for a two-stop reduction in shutter speed. If the “safe” speed was 1/125 s, with a VR lens one can safely shoot at 1/30 s. It is recommended that the VR feature be used only when shooting below the “safe” speed, as that is what the technology is designed for. Mirror-Up and Self-timer The act of pressing the shutter release with your finger can introduce camera vibration, as can the mirror moving in a DSLR (called “mirror slap”). Mirror slap can be eliminated by setting your camera to the “mirror up” position. Using the camera’s self-timer mode can also be used to avoid pressing the shutter with your finger. #phototips #HowTo #DSLR #motion

In Montreal, in a tiny, intimate studio barely big enough for all his cameras, photographer Eric Paré shapes light. Paré spent years doing typical studio work, but it was when he started experimenting with light sources such as bicycle LEDs, children’s toys, and a flashlight that he discovered he was able to shape light by hand and create a magical experience for himself and his subject. Through trial and error, he slowly increased the power of his flashlight and decreased his exposure time from 60 seconds to one second. And, he emphasizes, only one second. That is still the usual exposure time of his pictures. It took about two months from the time of Paré’s first light-painting picture for him to feel satisfied with the effect he was able to achieve. In his process, he became the shadow holding up the light, revealing his subject through precise movements, a technique which led to something very powerful in the images. Shooting in a tiny studio space has many constraints. A larger studio would afford Paré the possibility of using a longer lens and getting less distortion in the images. However, in his own small studio, he has discovered that using a wide-angle lens creates “crazy flares” that he is able to exploit in his images. Working away from his studio, Paré has one requirement: a black box (no windows, black-covered wall). Having a pitch-black room provides optimal results. Occasionally, Paré will go outside and shoot at night. It is harder outside to make himself invisible, but he likes to use natural landscapes when possible. Although he usually works on his own, Paré has had successful collaborations with others. He worked on a project for Fotolia with Mike Campau, a digital artist from Michigan. Their project was a great mix, as Campau was good at adding digital elements to the empty space in Paré’s pictures. The result was superb composition. Paré has also collaborated with Yanick Décarie, a body painter. He insisted that Décarie use only black and white paint. This restriction then allowed Paré to explore using colour during the photo shoot. Paré uses light-painting, bullet-time, and stop-motion photography techniques, which he describes as follows: “Light-painting is drawing with light while using a long exposure setting on the camera. Bullet-time is capturing a moment in 3-D by using many cameras. Stop-motion is achieved by taking multiple subsequent pictures of a moving subject and combining the sequence into a video. I mix the three techniques, which creates some sort of animation where we can travel in space (bullet time) and time (stop-motion). Using light-painting allows me to have a light that is very concentrated on the subject, thus making the surrounding cameras nearly invisible.” For single shots, Paré uses a Canon 5D3. For most of his recent work in 360 degrees, he uses a 32 Canon SL1, seven computers, metres of cables, and his own custom software. His lighting is simple: tactical lights (about 300 lumens) and a variety of coloured papers, gels, glass, and anything else that will create diffusion, reflection, or concentration of light. When Paré works in a 360-degree bullet-time environment, he gets the same pictures from many angles. Sometimes he picks out the best possible angles and leaves out the full 360-degree animation. He anticipates the day when this technology can be put into smartphones, enabling people to gather together and make bullet-time pictures for themselves. The technology hasn’t been developed yet, but he has created a mobile app called xangle (http://xangle.co) that people can use to make multi-angled pictures. One person presses the button on the app, and all the participants’ smartphone cameras are triggered at the same time. Then everyone receives all the pictures from all the phones and can create a mosaic by using the images. Paré uses the same technology when he installs cameras in live concerts, and people can trigger his cameras and instantly receive pictures from different angles at the same time, simultaneously being able to combine the images with their selfies. To demonstrate this technique, Paré offers a documentary online called LightSpin. For this project, he triggered 24 cameras more than 20 000 times, resulting in nearly half a million pictures. LightSpin was a deeply personal project. Although Paré is not a dancer, he explored a concept that, in essence, allowed him to perform pas de deux with a series of dancers. Everything was improvised, and he had to anticipate where each dancer was going. He held a light in his right hand and a remote control in his left. He had to gradually adapt the angle of his right arm to achieve smooth transitions. He triggered the cameras every two seconds, holding the exposure for one second. During that second, the dancer had to remain perfectly still to avoid being blurred. In the remaining second, the dancer made a slight move to the next pose. Dancer and photographer maintained a constant rhythm, and on very long sequences (200 pictures and sometimes more), they became so focused that their breathing became synchronized, not only with each other but with the sound of the camera shutters. Paré and the dancers made this project in total darkness and total silence in what he describes as an “ultra inspiring little circle.” Paré has a deep passion for his work, developed painstakingly and lovingly over time, and he provides online tutorials for others. People have suggested that he should protect his ideas and techniques with copyrights, but he disagrees. “Let’s share our passion, our knowledge and hope for the best, for all of us.” See more of Eric Paré's work at: ericpare.com #paintingwithlight #EricParé #canadianphotography #studiophotography #lightingtechniques #portraiture #portrait #experimentation

Ian Willms recalls his first visit to Detroit, Michigan, in 2005 as feeling like he “had just landed on the moon.” Drawn there by music, the underlying pulse of the city, Willms saw things that stayed with him. Memories of the people he encountered drew him back to Detroit from 2007 to 2010 to document his impressions by using his plastic Holga camera. At first sight, the images in the Detroit series feel like stepping back in time. At points both gritty and soft, these black and white photographs of unkempt yards, people, and buildings often reveal themselves as contemporary only through minute details such as modern cars and street furniture. The Holga’s quirks coalesce to create what Willms calls a “beautiful, surreal rendition of reality,” which gives his exploration into one of the largest and most impoverished cities in America a visual depth that goes beyond traditional street photography. Willms’ tentative interest in photography was encouraged when he won a camera in a photography contest as a teenager, and, like many, he began to use photography as a response to his surroundings. Inspired by the work of street photographers he found in the Life Library of Photography books, Willms attended the Loyalist College Photojournalism program in Belleville, Ontario, to learn the technical and practical skills needed to work at any major Canadian or international newspaper. While shooting with a Holga has its own mechanical challenges, street photography presents other trials, as photographers are often on their feet for hours, waiting for the Cartier-Bresson “decisive moment.” They must then gather the courage to photograph a stranger in that split second — something that Willms still struggles with. His education at Loyalist prepared him for the legal particularities around these kinds of images. Unless used commercially, Willms doesn’t need a model release; though, he notes, he does always try to be polite. Willms favours small, simple, 35mm film or full-frame digital cameras for his work and uses cameras like the Holga only when he has a good reason. Otherwise, he notes, with “all the apps that make your $600 cellphone into a $6 plastic camera,” it can quickly become contrived and meaningless. Willms approaches each project individually by choosing cameras and film type depending on the mood he’s trying to create. But he notes that the best tool for new street photographers isn’t fancy equipment. Instead, he suggests wearing practical shoes. While Willms’ freelance work as a photojournalist can be found in major Canadian newspapers such as the Globe and Mail, his personal work in series such as Detroit give Willms an alternative view of the streets based on observing and recording, as opposed to the more journalistic approach of uncovering and categorizing. Street photography, he says, is more of a question for the viewer, a layering of situation and meaning, while photojournalism is more about uncovering answers and understanding facts. Willms’ work ultimately blurs the lines between these two practices, offering the photojournalist’s meticulous understanding of truth and narrative to the more perceptive ruminations of street photography. In many of his images, Willms manages to perfectly capture the dichotomy between his two roles as both street photographer and photojournalist. He understands the photojournalist’s removed role as storyteller but simultaneously uses his involved, personal position as a street photographer to probe beyond the image’s didactic qualities to create poignant statements that speak to lived experience. See more of Ian's work at: www.ianwillms.com #streetphotography #IanWillms #urbanphotography #blackandwhite #canadianphotographer #peoplephotography #documentaryphotography #Holga #analogfilm #filmexploration

Nick Turpin’s fascination with photography began seemingly by accident, when he signed up for a photography course at school simply to fill a gap in his timetable. Before long, he and his friends were responsible for re-opening the school’s darkroom, which had stood unused for a decade. Gaining access to the darkroom also unlocked Turpin’s enthusiasm for the craft, in that printing his own photographs allowed him to be involved in the entire photographic process from start to finish, which he found to be wonderfully empowering and engaging. He went on to study photography at university and later worked on staff at The Independent newspaper in London, England, for seven years. While at the newspaper, Turpin acquired and refined the skills needed to make a living as a photographer, which he has done ever since. Street photographers working in 1960s New York, such as Garry Winogrand, Joel Meyerowitz, Tod Papageorge, and Mitch Epstein, have had a great influence on Turpin. He is also drawn to the work of contemporaries, such as Jeff Mermelstein and Martin Kollar, who are capable of capturing what is unique and special in an everyday scene on an ordinary pavement. If there were ever a seminal moment for Turpin, however, it would have to be leafing through the newspaper’s review copy of Bystander: The History of Street Photography (by Joel Meyerowitz and writer/curator Colin Westerbeck) and making the sudden discovery that his hobby did, in fact, have a name. Much the way he initially fell into photography, another apparently random coincidence illuminated an important open door. How fitting, as street photography itself relies on such a peculiar blend of happenstance, timing, and intention. Keen on capturing real life, Turpin has always seen photography as a natural extension of his general inquiry into the world at large. He acknowledges that he uses photographs not only to communicate to others, but also to more fully explore the society in which he lives. Over the years, Turpin has come to realize the vital role street photography plays in holding up a mirror to the decisions we make as a people and, as members of a modern democracy, how important it is that we remain free to make exposures in public places. Regarding the tricky issue of privacy, Turpin boldly asserts that private activity cannot exist within a shared, common space — what occurs in public is available to all onlookers. To further this logic, he does not distinguish between witnessing an event occurring in public and photographing one. According to Turpin, actions are the result of individuals’ decisions, and the presence of others, including street photographers, is of no consequence. For their records to be genuine, it is imperative that street photographers work in a candid manner with no interaction whatsoever with their subjects. Because Turpin does not use his street photographs in a commercial manner, there is no need for him to get a model release signed. It is acceptable in the United Kingdom to publish street photographs in a book and exhibit them in galleries, provided that product endorsement is not implied and subject matter is not misrepresented. Only a few countries have privacy laws, an example being France, astonishingly enough, considering the mutually inclusive relationship between freedom of expression and democracy. Turpin’s book of photographs titled, The French, will be published everywhere except the country in which it was shot, in order to highlight France’s legislation prohibiting the publication of photographs without the subject’s consent. With the trend in the late 1990s of visual artists embracing photography as their medium of choice, photographic realism, including street photography, appeared to be falling out of fashion. In an attempt to redress the balance, in 2000, Turpin undertook the admirable task of promoting the work of photographers, like himself, who still employed basic yet immensely powerful tools: the shutter and the rectangular frame. He invited street photographers such as David Gibson, Matt Stuart, Richard Bram, Trent Parke, and Gus Powell to show a folio of their images together in one place in cyberspace. As a talented collective with Turpin at the helm, In-Public was the first of its kind to use the Internet to bypass the gatekeepers of traditional photography exhibition, instead reaching a vast, international audience. A private members’ forum soon followed, allowing street photographers worldwide to connect, share ideas, and organize exhibitions of their work. On the tenth anniversary of In-Public, 20 members celebrated with an exhibition in London and the publication of 10, a book containing, unsurprisingly, 10 images created by each member. In a similar vein, PUBLICATION magazine, produced by Turpin’s own imprint, Nick Turpin Publishing, was invented to provide the growing online audience of street photography with the quality printed outlet both they and the photographs they enjoy deserve. According to Turpin, a variety of factors are contribute to the current interest in street photography, including the pervasion of inexpensive, high-quality digital cameras, and an ever-expanding online presence of street photographers fuelled by websites such as In-Public and the image-sharing site Flickr. This surge is creating a veritable street photography tipping point, which is not going unnoticed by publishers or curators. A decade of photography having been dominated by the conceptualizing influence of the art world and the sophistication of technically manipulated images has left consumers of photographic art craving authenticity and has spurred a return to the basic honest magic of the medium itself. Turpin suggests we are coming home to the remarkable ability of a compelling photograph to show us the familiar in a truly novel way, a way that can be held and kept. In Turpin’s experience, making a career, or even just a living, in street photography is exceedingly challenging. Because of the time commitment involved, a successful year might result in only a handful of outstanding shots. If aspiring street photographers remain undeterred by the lack of income potential, Turpin suggests looking at a great deal of existing photographs both for inspiration and to become familiar with prevalent clichés. Contemporary street photography often incorporates a high degree of empathy with the subject matter, careful and discerning attention to composition, and the ability to trigger an emotional response. Turpin advises acquiring an inexpensive camera and using the frame and shutter button to transform the chaos of ever-changing events around you into something beautiful and poignant. He proposes avoiding contact with subjects, and in the unlikely event of a confrontation, he keeps moving or diffuses the situation with a smile or a compliment. Turpin encourages novices to be patient, study their surroundings, and not to hesitate to attempt making a seemingly impossible picture. Try standing in one place, try walking all day, try shooting close, try lots of different strategies and find what works for you, he recommends. In closing, Turpin offers what could be considered a veritable street photographer’s mantra: “Above all, be an observer and let life unfold in front of your lens; it can really surprise you.” www.nickturpin.com #streetphotography #NickTurpin #travelphotography #urbanphotography #documentaryphotography

Maurice Henri is a new breed of photographer. He is not driven by financial reward but by a genuine concern and passion for humanity. Henri’s interest in photography began as a young man in 1977 while working as division manager at a Woolco store in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His love for the people and scenery of this beautiful province motivated him to pick up a camera and start shooting. When he realized that his hobby was becoming a passion, Henri upgraded his Instamatic to a more advanced camera system and a photographer was born. Soon, Henri was living a double life. He spent 10 years working a day job in an optical business in Moncton while moonlighting as a photographer on the weekends. In time he was specializing in family portraits and weddings. In 1989 he finally decided to follow his heart. On a Friday afternoon, he resigned from his day job and the very next Monday morning opened his first studio. He ran the studio successfully until 2003 when he decided he wanted to travel more, meet new people, and photograph different locations. Another turning point for Henri came in 2005 when he decided to join fellow photographer, friend, and mentor Freeman Patterson on a photographic excursion to South Africa. It was an incredible opportunity — two weeks of stunning landscape photography. Henri decided to stay behind for an additional two weeks to see and experience what really interested him, the villages and people of South Africa. He rented a four-wheel drive, hired a translator, and set off to explore. Henri happened upon a small village in the mountains called Nourivier where he met a very special little girl named Sandouy. He knew there would be many hungry children in this village, so he took with him as much fresh fruit as he could to give them. Sandouy received an orange and made a lasting impression on Henri because she was more interested in hugging and smelling the rare delicacy then eating it. Henri spoke with her and eventually asked if she had a dream. What she replied changed his life forever. Her dream was for her village to have a school where she could learn to read and write and eventually, when she got older, she could take care of her village. Henri was so moved by this little girl’s story that, in the heat of the moment, he promised to help and build her the school she was dreaming of. When the reality of what he had said sunk in, Henri panicked. How was he going to make this very big promise come true? The solution came to him during a fundraising event that helped launch the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. In one night almost $150 000 was raised by selling limited edition photographs from the trip to Africa. On that same night, Henri also sold a one-of-a-kind landscape photo for $10 000. This generous corporate sale is what built the promised school in Nourivier in 2006. From the success of the Nourivier project, Cameras for Healing was born. Henri kept thinking of that little girl in Africa and all he wanted to do was help even more. He then spent time thinking and researching art therapy, trauma in Africa, and child soldiers, which eventually led him to a post-civil war Sierra Leone. In this country, 10- to 12-year-old boys had been kidnapped and brainwashed to become killing machines and girls had been forced into sex slavery by the rebel army. This brutal war ended in 2004 after 12 long years of pain and suffering. After 12 months of planning, Henri spearheaded and almost entirely financed the first Cameras for Healing trip to Sierra Leone. Armed with the belief that art can be therapeutic, he took a small team of volunteers and camera equipment with him to a small village near Freetown. He partnered with local people who where able to bring together groups of young adults that were still traumatized and emotionally damaged from the 12-year war. The Cameras for Healing project in the village took place over seven days. The participants were taught some basic tips on how to use the cameras. This progresses to a walk around to photograph life in the village. Later, as they gain more confidence with the camera, specific projects are assigned. Henri states, “They had to document what gave them hope, what makes them happy, and what makes them proud.” To his surprise, Henri saw that almost all photographed their children. Henri witnessed the power of the photograph when the prints were given to the participants. “They all embraced their photographs and shouted and screamed with joy. The photographs gave them proof that their children existed. Many in the village who had lost their children had no such evidence and had only their memories.” A couple of remarkable participants in this project stood out to Henri. A girl, named Fatima, about 26 years old and with seven children. She was so cautious and unsure that for the first while she just sat in silence looking at the floor. After almost two days of activities she finally came around and started taking pictures. Slowly but surely her eyes came up and little by little she started smiling. The project was slowly drawing her out of her shell. She finally shared with Henri that as a young girl she had been kidnapped by rebels and locked in a small room with no windows. She did not see the light of day for nine years and was a victim of rape and physical abuse at the hands of her captors. On the last day of the project she quietly called Henri over, looked him in the eye, gave him a tight hug and whispered, “Thank you. Don’t forget me.” Another individual named Sillah was so traumatized by the war that he had not slept a full night for the past 12 years. Henri tried to draw him out and asked him what his dream was. Sillah mentioned that he was good with his hands and dreamed of becoming a mechanic. In this area, mechanics work their trade on the side of the road. Henri gave him a project to photograph the mechanics and make some connections. The next day Henri was horrified to see Sillah black and blue all over. Henri asked, “What happened?” Sillah replied, “I did what you told me and started photographing the mechanics. Then the mechanics beat on me and wanted to steal my camera.” At this point Sillah proudly pulls out the camera from his pocket and adds, “But they did not get it.” Sillah continues, “Right there and then I was willing to die to save the camera because it is giving me hope.” What the mechanics did not realize was that Sillah was a former soldier; with a proud voice he exclaimed, “You should see what they look like.” Henri also completed a five-year commitment with Cameras for Healing in Sierra Leone. During this span he travelled there twice a year, worked with multiple groups of wartime survivors, built a brand new school and refurbished another. He also supplied a local college with 300 computers for its educational needs. Because this project was so new and difficult to understand by potential investors in North America, Henri had to finance about 85 percent of the project from his own wallet. His only major sponsor in the beginning was Olympus which graciously supplied him with the cameras he needed for the participants. Henri has a three-year commitment with Cameras for Healing in Haiti, working with teenagers abandoned and orphaned by the earthquake of 2010. The boys typically find themselves in trouble with crime, gangs, and drugs, and many girls fall into sex slavery and prostitution. Henri is using photography to gather and gain these children’s trust, but the ultimate goal is to find a family to take them in and provide for their schooling. Education is always a priority with Cameras for Healing. The problem is that many Haitian families already have three or four children to feed and send to school. As an incentive, Henri is committing to feeding all the children in the household in exchange for the parents taking in one orphaned teenager. He is hoping to sponsor up to 30 of them. Henri is planning more Cameras for Healing projects. If Henri’s story leaves you wondering “How can I help?,” he most needs volunteers with a strong passion for photography and humanity. If you consider helping, do not hesitate to contact him because Henri is always willing to talk about his vision. You never know what may happen — maybe you too can join the new breed of concerned photographers. ----------- We featured Maurice Henri and this article in our Spring/summer 2014: The Concerned Photographer - Issue #40. If you’re looking to be inspired by other conscientious photographers- get the issue HERE. Check out what Maurice Henri has been up to lately at: www.camerasforhealing.com #MauriceHenri #documentaryphotography #sociallyconsciousphotography #CamerasforHealing #blackandwhite #peoplephotography

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” the Mad Hatter asks in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This unworkable riddle is dropped in a conversation, inspiring the reader to imagine a quirky world filled with the impossible. For fans of such impossibilities, the appeal often comes not just with the story itself, but with the evocative interplay in its telling. For photographers, the perfect light can be fickle and inspiration fleeting; however, when the image is realized, that single work of art is said to be worth a thousand storyteller words. This statement can certainly be applied to Joel Robison’s photography. But perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves. After all, a story is best started at the beginning. Robison grew up in Cranbrook, British Columbia, a small town nestled in the southeast corner of the Rocky Mountains. He spent his childhood playing on the doorstep of some of the most spectacular natural scenery the world could offer and takes much of his inspiration from those dramatic Canadian canvases and their wide-open spaces. “I’ve always been a visual person,” Robison admits. “Since I was young, I’ve interpreted my world through images.” As a child, he loved coming up with stories, but it was through photography that he eventually found his voice. He shares, “With photography I feel as though I’ve found an avenue to express my thoughts.” Robison’s process differs from shoot to shoot. Experience has taught him to spend his time carefully choosing the perfect location and to never settle. He wanders an area looking for the perfect spot and light before setting up his tripod, framing the space, and beginning the shoot. His shots are often layered in post-production like a puzzle, showing the viewer an ethereal, fantastical world that seems so perfectly irrational it can’t help but spark the imagination. “My photographs are interpretations of conversations, fears, dreams, and goals. Often they mean something different to me than to my audience, but they help give the viewer an opportunity to really see the world in a new light.” Robison openly admits he likes to hide messages in his pictures, intending that everyone sees the picture differently. The result is a personal experience unique to the viewer. Today, Robison is a conceptual portrait photographer with a fascinating resumé. “You can never predict what people will like,” Robison says, regarding the astounding number of Facebook followers he has acquired. “I think Facebook is one of the easiest ways for artists to connect with a large audience.” The turning point in Robison’s career can be traced back to a social media project. Robison’s objective was to photograph a well-known brand, and in a moment of inspiration he took several bottles of Coca-Cola, dropped them in a pristine snow bank, and started shooting. Satisfied, he uploaded his best shot and moved on to other projects. However, as with any good story, the beginning layers often act as catalysts later on. Such was the case with that picture, which came to Coca-Cola’s attention nearly a year later. “An employee messaged me to ask if they could tweet the shot. They also noticed I liked using their brand in my other work,” explains Robison. That led to contract work with Coca-Cola and eventually to an offer that was so fantastic it might have come from the Mad Hatter himself. “I got this call one day at lunch. Coke is the biggest sponsor of the FIFA World Cup, and they wanted me to join their global tour. Essentially, I would be using social media to help bring soccer to the world.” Robison accepted the offer, and over the following nine months he travelled with a small group to all the countries that had a sponsored team, 85 in total. “It was crazy. We had a private jet, and almost as many stops as Lady Gaga’s tour. I definitely learned a few things.” One of the things Robison learned was that owning stuff can weigh you down. For almost a year he lived on the road, taking only what could fit in an overhead bin. Before leaving on the tour, Robison gave away clothing, furniture, and knick-knacks, paring down his life to a handful of boxes. “I felt like I was transforming into a lighter, cleaner version of myself,” he admits. On his December 22, 2014, blog post, Robison reminisces over the artists that had come into his life in the past year. He states, “I truly believe that to be the best artist you can be, you should surround yourself with artists and other creatives that share their passions and talents.” He discloses some people to watch in 2015: Robert Cornelius, who Robison calls a “god of Photoshop”; Matt Hayton, a.k.a. Fawnlorn, a whimsical painter; and Jen Brook, the writer-model who convinced him to move to the United Kingdom when the FIFA World Cup tour ended. Today, Robison can be found haunting the back alleys of London and the fields of southern England. He’s working on a new series called Stories of the UK, which seeks to interpret some of the U.K.’s most famous literary works through photography. He has 20 photo shoots planned, with inspiration coming from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and more. Robison has some great stories to tell. Watch out for the next chapter! See more of Joel Robisons work at: joelrobison.com This article originally appeared in our Spring/Summer Issue in 2015. Get the TELLING STORIES issue HERE. #JoelRobison #canadianphotography #fineartphotography #experimentation #imagemanipulation #photomanipulation #visualstorytelling #BritishColumbia

Starting out with still life/ small object table-top photography doesn't have to be expensive. Sometimes the simplest designs work out the best. Here is a simple, economical solution to window light tabletop still life photography. Here's HOW: Cut open one end of a cardboard box and attach seamless paper to form a cove. Using a cove eliminates the distracting horizontal line formed where the vertical and horizontal surface meet. Position the box, with side open and seamless paper in place on a chair, table, or stand that is lower than a window. Select an object that is not too small or too large for the set. Avoid glassware and reflective objects — these require other lighting techniques. Keep the composition simple — one or two items only. Turn off the room lights. Window light should be the only source of light. You may find that the form and cast shadows are too dark. Use a white matte board or white foam board as a reflector to fill in the dark shadows and provide a fill light. Use a tripod and bracket your exposure. BASIC LINGO COVE: A concave surface forming part of a base at its edges so as to eliminate the usual seams or angles. CAST SHADOW: A shadow cast on a surface or other object. Information given by a cast shadow: If the object is resting on a surface That the surface is real and actually there That the object fills a certain amount of space It tells us up from down (one of the most fundamental factors in space perception) The location (direction) of the source of light HIGHLIGHT: The area on the object that is reflecting white light. Highlights provide strong visual cues for the shape of an object, how shiny or dull the surface is, and its location with respect to the light sources in the scene. FORM SHADOW: A form shadow is created on the side of an object not facing the light source. Using a relatively large light source will help in making the highlight to shadow transition very subtle. Form shadows are essential to creating the illusion of volume, mass, and depth. FILL LIGHT: A light source or reflector used to lighten the shadows created by the main light, thereby reducing the lighting contrast. The fill light opens up the shadows, making them more visible. When using window light only, a reflector is used to bounce light back to the subject. #stilllifephotography #studiophotography #lightingtechniques #HowTo #DIY #phototips

Carlos Cazalis has documented some of the world’s largest cities. Whether on rooftops high above São Paolo, or down in the muddied alleyways of Dhaka, Cazalis’s lens has focused on both the macro aspects of urban development — seemingly never-ending skylines of built-up environment — and the deeply intimate, such as his series on the living spaces of the urban poor in Osaka. While each city that he photographs is unique, Cazalis uses his global experience to comment on the precarious state of megacities. Cazalis was able to correspond with PhotoEd to talk about his initial attraction to megacities, his work method for documenting them, and his thoughts on their future. Q. What was the original impetus for focusing on megacities? A. The first idea for this project was “home,” including my own, since I have traveled extensively and lived in over 10 countries since I was four. From that moment on, the impetus has continued as if the project itself was a megacity expanding. My work in Osaka was inspired by living in Dubai but also by my recent work in São Paulo. At that time I was surrounded by all this wealth in the Middle East and I discovered that the Japanese not only are ashamed of their poverty but also purposely try to eliminate and segregate it instead of allowing the poor a dignified life. My Dhaka work came out of curiosity for global climate change, as hundreds of thousands fled flooding and mudslides in the Bangladeshi countryside. It’s the fastest growing megacity, receiving 300 000 people a year, and it’s an environmental calamity. Tehran for me represents some sort of poetic injustice: living in a magnificent cultural city but where people must live two lives, a public and a private [life], because of religious and political ideals. Mexico is now all about infrastructure, sustainability in an ironic twist of fate. Mexico City, once Tenochtitlan, stood on water. Today massive urbanization has permeated the soil and dried the wells, and the city imports 25 percent of its water, while flood rains stream into the sewage system and threaten to flood it because [the city’s] underground infrastructure has been collapsing and has not grown fast enough. Next I’ll be doing work in Lagos and Guangzhou. Q. What are the themes or subject matters that you want to evoke when documenting these megacities? A. It’s too complex to have one thematic definition. Yet all these cities have one thing in common—this dramatic number of 20 000 000 inhabitants. They are all relatively close to that mark or already beyond it. Cities are really amazing places. Millions of people gathered in these high concentrations are thriving and surviving. My hopes are that we can see clearly how far we are from our natural environment, rich or poor. In cities, concrete, noise, people, automobiles, buildings, and garbage constantly surround us. Everything is in constant motion. There is little peace of mind, yet here are some of humanity’s greatest and oldest populations. Q. How did you arrange for your aerial shots? A. Because this project started as independently financed, I was limited to how I could shoot from above. Often in Brazil I could exchange photos for flights. As the project grew, I’ve depended on finding rooftops, often sneaking into buildings, as I did in Osaka. Ideally what I was always looking for was to show population density in terms of habitat and pollution, and to give the public a sense that all cities, no matter how good the infrastructure is, have a particularly unnatural development for human living. Q. How do you organize your excursions? A. Each city excursion requires research and a freedom to explore. I had to adapt to the city, to its size, to the areas relevant to the project, and to my budget, which meant that I was happy to do a lot walking, and in that process amazing situations occurred. Often when I was done shooting, something would just be there and it was part of the life of the city. This was especially evident in Dhaka. Yet, since each city had a theme or an issue to deal with, it was important to try to go to places multiple times over a year to see how it had changed. The entire project is focused on sustainability, but primarily through habitat, because after all we have to live in these spaces. The majority of the population in these cities, except for Osaka, belonged to the lower classes, so it was important to show that the majority of these people really live in extreme situations, yet they adapt in incredible forms, although that does not diminish their hardships. Q. What are your thoughts for the future of cities? A. Cities are an amazing feat of humanity, and each city has a unique energy. One can really feel the struggles and glories of humanity once you have been in several of them. I do have a pessimistic view because I feel that 20 million people in areas like the ones I have documented cannot be able to sustain themselves much longer. Because of the rapid pace of development, I find it hard to see how in the short term we will want to slow down, for example, re-urbanizing, resettling, or drastically changing our way of living. We have thought of ourselves for too long as supreme beings on this planet and are only now realizing, accepting, and educating ourselves that Earth is a far larger living thing that we must be a part of and not just have environmentally politically correct feelings for. Yet, we are like any animal on the planet, with thousands of years of evolution and adaptation. So will the world collapse? Not likely. Will cities collapse? Well, if you look at Mexico City and Dhaka now, both in seismic zones, overpopulated and with serious water problems, then the answer is yes, we are probably very close to collapse or a gradually forced exodus. www.cazalis.org #CarlosCazalis #visualstorytelling #landscapephotography #urbanphotography #climatechangephotography #travelphotography

Corrie White’s fascination with creating liquid drop images has become an addiction. She started experimenting in 2009 by using a simple camera and a medicine dropper set-up. Since then, she has moved on to more complicated electronic drip kits and her images have become not only more intricate, but seemingly less like simple liquid photography and more like abstract organic artworks. “I was always interested in macro photography, so this fit in quite well as far as a new direction for me,” White says. “For the first year, I did some experiments manually with a medicine dropper, and within two weeks I was able to get a two drop collision, with the second drop landing on the jet of the first and creating a mushroom or umbrella form. I used my camera pop-up flash, so my first drops were quite basic. There were not many tutorials available then, so I had to figure out the procedures for myself.” One of the intriguing aspects of liquid drop photography is the unique shapes and textures inherent in the form each drop takes, especially as new liquids and additives are tested and experimented with. “I love to take things to the limit and then to go beyond that to see what is possible,” White says. “It is a challenge to come up with different shapes that haven’t been done before. I enjoy moving the flashes around to get the best result possible with the lighting. There are so many combinations of light and colours for backgrounds that it’s easy to always have different results in the outcomes of the final images.” White first discovered the art of liquid drop photography on the Internet, a medium that she, in turn, has used to promote her own work worldwide. This includes her e-book The Ultimate Guide to Water Drop Photography. “Sharing my work on photo sharing websites over the past few years has given me a tremendous amount of exposure,” White says. “I see a lot of people trying things out that they saw from my work. First comes imitation, then comes innovation. From there, artists find their own special methods and style. We all have to start somewhere, including copying other artists’ styles for inspiration, until we find our own.” White, who identifies her 100mm macro as her favourite lens, is considered a master of liquid drop photography. She credits the “Three Ps” — patience, perseverance, and persistence — for her success. “You need to start at the beginning and watch what happens when drops fall, so you can recognize the results and know how to proceed to get the desired result,” White says. “A lot of people ask me how to get the tall, fancy, complex shapes. People never get very far with water drop photography starting at the end because they have not learned how to proceed with experimentation. They have not learned by experience to recognize what’s happening and how to make changes to get better results.” A love of drops and the integral challenge in this photography style’s magical distinctiveness is what motivates and keeps inspiring White. “It is a great creative outlet and helps keep me sharp,” she says. “It’s a challenge to find new liquid combinations that work and new shapes and techniques to keep the process unique. Quite often it’s the work with the parameters that leads to a unique shape; you have to be able to tweak the right things to proceed to a desired image. I find the creativity more in the colour aspect than the shapes. When you have advanced in this field, it is difficult to come up with something unique, but knowing there is something else out there keeps me trying to find the undiscovered.” White feels it is important for aspiring photographers not to get discouraged with their work when they see only “picture perfect” images by other photographers. “What you see online is my best work,” she says. “You don’t see the ones I delete that just don’t make the grade! I take a lot of pictures and only a few of them make it online. People see the results but don’t realize that a lot of work went into producing the images. There is a great deal of disappointment when things don’t go right; but on the other hand, it’s exciting when things come together and new shapes appear.” See more of Corrie White's amazing splash photography at: www.liquiddropart.com #studiophotography #womeninphotography #CorrieWhite #experimentation #stilllifephotography #motionphotography #photoart #fineartphotography #OntarioPhotographer