6 Ways to Be Less Un-Ready
This post is accompanied by some of the work I shot over the last 4 weeks in Kenya. What a trip it’s been. I hope you enjoy the images! My grand-dad was a Scout. At the time he was the highest decorated man in the scouting movement in the UK, a movement whose motto is “Be Prepared.” I like to …
Are Your Shoulds Hurting Your Creativity?
I ask myself a lot of questions as I make my photographs. What’s this scene really about? What do I include, and what do I leave out? What possessed me to get up at 5 am and sit in the rain? Those kinds of questions. Like you, I also ask myself what I might do with my exposure, how I …
It’s Enough to Know Enough
Put the coffee on, maybe pour a glass of wine. This will take you about eight minutes to read, but it might be a great way to recalibrate for the year ahead. If you’re looking for the winners of the Gura Gear Giveaway, you can find those towards the bottom of this piece. My first camera was relatively easy to use. A …
Win My Favourite Camera Bag (+More!)
In French, my last name, duChemin, means “of the road.” I was born to travel. I got my first passport just six weeks after I was born, and took my first international flight when I was six months old. I’ve now photographed in 59 countries and all seven continents. It’s fair to say I’ve packed a lot of bags and have some strong …
Oh Sh*t! (When it Hits the Fan, This Kit Helps)
I was about to photograph a beautiful family of cheetah in gorgeous morning light when my camera returned an error message and wouldn’t—no matter what I did—focus. It wouldn’t even fire. By the time I got my lens swapped onto another body, the action was all over, and I was down a camera at the beginning of a month-long trip. Or …
The Problem with Mood
A couple years ago I was doing a little moonlighting for a small computer and imaging company that rhymes with Snapple. They were under the mistaken impression that my nearly 40 years behind the camera meant I know what I’m talking about. But what a fun gig! One of my first tasks as their Creative Storytelling Specialist (yeah, I still …
The Power of Mood
Photography can be many things. For some, it’s about capturing scenes. For me, it’s about conveying emotions and suggesting narratives that resonate deeply, first with me and then with the viewers who might experience the image. I’m not so much after eyes as I am hearts and minds. Mood does that. The mood of a photograph is its emotional tone—a …
(In)Decent Exposures?
5 Ways to Greater Competence & Control In my last dispatch, I talked about competence, hoping that asking “Is my work getting better?” might lead you to more productive places in your craft than asking “Is it good?” I suggested that a first step might be to get better at the basics of your craft before running off all half-cocked to …
Everything But The Cameras
The holidays are coming and though this is not about that, there might something in here that you could give to your favourite photographer, especially if that’s you! This is decidedly less philosophical than some of my blog posts, but I thought I’d show you what’s in my camera bag. Not the cameras and lenses, but the other stuff, the …