MONTE ZUCKER

A YUCATAN STORY

Who Teaches the Teacher? I’ve often heard it said that the teacher learns from his students. Such has certainly been the case for me. My Photoshop guru, Eddie Tapp, was in my classes years ago when he was first becoming a photographer in Dallas, Texas. Now, I study with him every time that I get a chance to attend one of his five-day classes or to watch him even for a few moments at a convention appearance. It’s the only way in which I can try to stay abreast of some of the techniques that he has developed with each successive edition of Photoshop. I use at least a few of the techniques which he has taught me on almost every single one of my photographs.

My step-by-step Photoshop technique:

My routine for working on almost all of my digital images is: monte zucker image 1

1. Make a duplicate layer and go Image/Adjust/Automatic Levels. I then adjust the opacity of that layer to taste.

2. Once again, I make a separate layer (this is my REAL LOVE!) and go Image/Adjust/Shadows and Highlights (CS Photoshop only). This opens up some of the dark areas with detail that I was never able to get before. Of course, you adjust this to taste too. Once I got to where I almost always liked the settings, I set that as my default, making final adjustments from there. Using the highlight slider, I’m also able to bring back details in some of the lighter areas that I thought weren’t there.

3. Of course I do some retouching with the healing brush. I do this on another duplicate layer, usually set to 50% opacity. This allows some of the original to show through, keeping the retouching very natural looking.

4. I finalise most of my images by “burning-in” the edges of the pictures by making one more layer, going to Image/Adjust/Curves and bringing down the highlight side about half-way. This darkens the entire image. Then, I erase the area where I want it left as-is. The final step of this procedure is to decrease the opacity of this layer to get the desired amount of burning-in.

I flatten the layers as I go along just to keep the image easy to work with.

I’m constantly looking for photographic approaches that differ from mine, but still stay within the realm of adaptability for me.

Taking at least one or two classes a year myself, is one of the things that keeps me excited professionally and constantly growing as a photographer. I select my teachers by observing the images that they’re producing and by learning from others if these photographers are also good teachers.

Such was the case recently when I took a class with Robert Lino, from Miami, Florida, and hosted in Merida, Mexico by Michele Gauger. Michele hosts several classes a year in Mexico, calling them the Yucatan Experience. I, too, am a teacher for one of them annually.

Both Michele and Robert had studied with me in the past; now, I was learning from them. And learn I did. Each day I marvelled at what Robert was able to accomplish with the simplest of equipment. As a matter of fact, he was using no equipment other than his Canon digital camera. No reflectors. No flashes. Nothing! That interested me, since I use so many accessories to create my photographs. I wanted to see how he did it.

The infrared was MY idea!

On one of our morning expeditions we went to some Mayan ruins for a sunrise shoot. Posing was the main reason for my wanting to study with Lino. I loved what he was doing, especially since it was so different from my style. One of the first things he did that morning was to pose our female model on a corner of one of the ancient ruins.

One of Lino’s specialities is the use of fabrics as a prop. A typical piece is about 10 to12 feet in length. The wind was blowing pretty hard that morning. He gave our model a piece of white silk fabric to hold out as part of her “costume” . The wind filled her “sails”. They bellowed out dramatically. His posing of her was exquisitely handled. monte zucker image 2

He started her pose at the feet, pointing her forward “show foot ” towards the camera, placing her weight totally on the back foot and bending her front leg in an exaggerated curve. He followed it through by pushing her forward hip towards the back, lowering her front shoulder and tipping her head towards her higher back shoulder. I had always turned and tipped her head to her higher front shoulder.
He completed the pose by bringing out both of her elbows and creating space between her arms and her body. The “S- Curve” that this created was incredibly beautiful. I loved the way that her body looked! That’s why I wanted to study with him. I know that it must be difficult to understand what I’m explaining here, but by studying the accompanying illustration you should be able to see exactly what I’m describing.

He was almost embarrassed to show me how different his style was from mine. I assured him, however, that I was loving every single thing that he was doing. Plus, that was exactly why I wanted to study with him – to see what he was doing, to learn how we was doing it and to adapt some of his techniques as an add-on to what I was already doing. As he began taking his pictures, Robert suggested that we photograph at the same time. All the photographers participating in the class were, of course, shooting digitally, but I was the only photographer who also had a digital camera that was adapted solely for creating infrared images. (For more information on having a camera dedicated to infrared digital imaging contact irguy@infrared.com) . monte zucker image 3

I knew from past experience that infrared worked marvels when photographing sunlit green trees against the sky, but I had never before photographed portraits with infrared. Wow, was I in for a pleasant surprise! I kept the picture simple, composing the photograph instinctively without having to think of her placement in the photograph. I used a 28- 135mm IS lens on an infrared-adapted Canon D60.

“Attitude!” is what Lino kept calling for.

Attitude is what he got! One of Lino’s incredible talents is directing his models for mood, expression and attitude. The photographers in his class all positioned themselves for what they felt would be the best camera position as Robert spoke to the models and “worked them” as only he can do. I set myself up for a two-thirds camera position of their faces and really lucked out with this picture – one of my favourites of the week.

Talk about a fantastic vacation resort. The Reef (Yucatan, Mexico) was a picture-postcard any and every way you turned. The trick here was to simplify and focus in on elements that would form pleasing compositions. This bridge and palm tree, for instance, created a graphic design from a low angle that showed beautifully against the sky Monte Bally

I made this photograph on the first day of class when Robert’s arrival to Merida was delayed. I became the instructor-for-a-day and showed how I photograph all day long in direct sunlight as well as in shade. When making this photograph I pointed out how I positioned myself and my subjects using the direct sun as my main light, keeping as much as possible the light crossing my subjects at a 45° angle.

I was shooting with Canon’s 20D for everything other than the infrared. My photographs are captured on a new high-speed, 2GB Delkin memory card. I never ran out of “film!” The colour was unbelievably gorgeous and the speed of the card writing the image after each exposure was incredible.

Again, keeping my compositions simple and dramatic, I selected a camera angle from which I could photograph against a clear sky with no distractions. I had wanted her to turn her body more towards me so that I could see her right arm, but the language barrier made it almost impossible to communicate clearly what I wanted her to do.

A rest-stop for refreshments created the atmosphere for another picture. Inside the typical Yucatan restaurant the menus are painted on the walls. What a backdrop for this picture – lit simply by light coming in the open doorway. I picked up a bit of red from the tablecloth and overlaid the entire picture with a 10% opacity of the colour to help pull the whole image together.

Monta

As the daylight began to fade and the shadows lengthened, I noticed the light on the doorway to the local police station. I quickly posed one of our models in the doorway, taking advantage of the natural light fall-off.

Towards the end of the day, I posed another model against the backdrop of the surf. I shot from a high angle which allowed me to totally fill the area behind her with the sea. I made several exposures – all getting different looks with the waves constantly changing. The sun was once again my main light. I positioned her to achieve a similar light pattern on her face that I use for almost all of my photographs.

Shut up! Listen! Watch and learn!

At times Robert’s posing was quite unique. I called it the “Lino-Lean!” Other times our styles blended and we combined what we both liked. Such was the case for this photograph of the couple posed within an archway of one of the many stately monasteries we visited. White-against-white seemed to always work well. I chose my camera positions as I always do to show exact facial angles. Here, his profile to her two-thirds view was perfect when I separated their faces for clean, facial outlines. It was a spot perfectly chosen to take advantage of all natural light. As a matter of fact, Lino seemed to use very little lighting accessories – not even a reflector. At times everything worked perfectly. Sometimes, I wished that I had had either my Quantum TTL flash or one of my Westcott reflectors.

Special clothing for special locations!

OUR LOCATIONS OFTEN SCREAMED for special costuming. I thought of a particular gown that I had picked up at a recent convention trade show. This particular gown piqued my interest when I knew that I was soon to be returning to the Yucatan and visiting these incredible locations. My vision was realized when I posed a model wearing this unique dress by Barnes www.barnesclothing.com

The soft, late-afternoon light was perfect for showing the detail of the dress. The ballerina’s foot position allowed for the gown to fall perfectly for showing the unique design down the center of the gown.

Monte
All I had to do was to position her so that her face would stand out in a clear place within the wall behind her. I did clean out the electrical boxes and other distractions on the wall with Photoshop.

Dancers have their own, unique poses, but Robert Lino sometimes seemed to blend them together with his own ideas. I flipped over his positioning this ballerina with her boyfriend in an archway high atop one of the walls surrounding a monastery we had visited. I was actually browsing through some of the souvenir shops across the street when I noticed that he had posed the couple there. I couldn’t help but pick up my camera for another of my favourite pictures of the week. We didn’t avoid shadows in the background. As a matter of fact they became a strong element in a few of the compositions. He ended that particular day by posing another model in direct sunlight, using her shadow as an integral part of his composition. His “attitude” directions brought out this unique photograph in what might otherwise have been a very ordinary photograph.

Monte

Towards the end of Lino’s five-day Yucatan Experience I noticed one of the models seated outdoors with an incredible profile shadow behind him. At first I thought of lightening the right side of his face with a reflector, but when I tried it it destroyed the shadow element of the portrait. So, I left it as-is for one of my favourite pictures of the week.

Michele Gauger set up this double silhouette to end the day. I exposed it on aperture priority, as I do for most of my daylight pictures. She, however, still prefers the manual setting of 1/125th at f/16. The “trick” was to position the setting sun directly behind the model. Of course, for a good silhouette one also has to show perfect profiles of the subject. A silhouette without a face doesn’t quite make it!

Monte

The photograph was toned in this case with a warm filter over my lens, but it could have been done in post- production using Photoshop or even in-camera using one of Canon’s new elements built-in to their new cameras. A YUCATAN STORY

Monte

Photo Quote: The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. - Paul Strand