Day 4 at Maine Media Workshop

Day four with Jay Maisel ...

Jay is not a fan of what photographers call post-processing.  That’s when we take an image from our camera, wrestle it into a program like Lightroom or Photoshop, and tweak it so that the lighting is better, the con,or is better, and the composition is better. Jay would say “F-that!”  He wants photographers to concentrate on getting the shot right in the camera, when they take it.

That’s why he says pay attention to the corner, avoid the triangles, get closer, look at every square inch of the scene: get it right sooner rather than later!  Any time pushing pixels own our image is a waste of time, and at 80+ years - Jay’s time is very valuable..

One of the techniques he uses to improve the chance you’ll get it right the first time is to brackets your shirts.  You set your camera to take three shots at a time at different exposures.  The is the :”right” balance of light and speed, the second is a little lighter than ‘normal’, and the third is a little darker.  So, you push the button and you get three clicks of the shutter. (Consult your camera’s Owner’s manual for details.)

It is remarkable that this technique can have a marked impact on the colours in your shot.