Esther Beaton

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People Photography

How to carry out a geographic magazine assignment – Part 3 – Approaching people

Even when I’m in that high vibrational state, where I feel at one with   the environment and where the art of photography seems like innate intuition, it’s not. It’s like driving a car: you can cruise on auto-pilot but that’s only because you’ve put in many miles of experience behind the wheel. Photography only […]

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Behind the Scenes, Landscape Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Equipment, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, , , , ,

How to carry out an assignment for a geographic magazine – Part 2 – Being in the moment

I started shooting the story on pearl faming in New South Wales before I’d even signed the contract with the magazine. That was because a key event was happening immediately – an event that could not be rescheduled or wait for the convenience of a photographer — seeding the oysters.   On one beautiful warm

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Bird Images, Environment, Habitats, Nature and Wildlife, Nature Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, , , , , , , ,

How to carry out a geographic magazine assignment – Part 1 – Finding a great subject

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to get a call from an editor asking you to do a photo assignment. But sometimes you have to initiate the contact yourself. If your relationship has developed over the years to one of mutual trust, then chances are high that the magazine’s editors will listen to your idea and commission

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, Nature and Wildlife, Nature Photography, New South Wales, On the Beaton Track, People Photography, Photography Business, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, , , , ,

Making great people photos

mixed lighting opposite colours

There are so many factors that go into good “people” shots. People photos for geographic magazines are a bit different from standard portraits. Sometimes they are raw photojournalism, but usually they fall into a genre called “environmental portraiture”. I’ve done this for so long now that I’ve come to really love it. The essential elements

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, Quick Tips, , , ,

Ambient “lighting” is easy

Pearl farmer at dawn, Brisbane Water, NSW

Sometimes you don’t have to work at creating a background because you are blessed with the colours of nature. Or you’re just smart enough to go out at sunrise or sunset. Both of these pictures are pre-dawn. The colour in the sky at this time is called “afterglow” and I especially like this twilight time

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Photoshop and Lightroom, Professional Photography, , , ,

Rembrandt artist

Rather than using colour, as in the previous post, to get rid of a busy or dull background, you can accomplish it with exposure control alone. This artist worked in her garage and the best angle of her using her jewellery press had some old storage units behind her. The easiest thing was to turn

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Photoshop and Lightroom, Professional Photography, Quick Tips, Studio Photography, , , ,

Building up your lighting

While on the subject of lighting, here are a couple more examples of adding colour. Using coloured flashes is one way to overcome a drab scene – and when you’re indoors, in a clinical environment, it’s always a drab scene. I like to think of it as building my scene, a bit like adding layers

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Australian Geographic, Behind the Scenes, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Lighting, Photography Techniques, Professional Photography, , , ,

Take better photos with your smartphone

You can take great photos with your smartphone – as long as you remember two things: The smartphone is for internet use only. The quality is not adequate for print, unless it’s postcard size or smaller. This is due the the small format, i.e., the sensor in the iPhone is smaller than your little fingernail.

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Behind the Scenes, Digital Photography, Environment, New South Wales, People Photography, Photography Equipment, Photography Techniques, , , , ,

A quick lesson in quick lighting

What makes this family “portrait” so pleasing? No, it’s not the fact that it’s my family – my sister and nephews. It’s the lighting. My sister has taken this “selfie” while keeping in mind all the rules of a good photo: 1. Tight cropping. She’s not afraid to even chop a bit off one of

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