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Balancing daylight, God bless America

Lesson 34 from: Masters of Photography

Albert Watson

Balancing daylight, God bless America

Lesson 34 from: Masters of Photography

Albert Watson

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Lesson Info

34. Balancing daylight, God bless America

Find out why Albert stopped to shoot a bill board. His serendipitous discovery reaffirms his main piece of advice: always remain “switched on”.

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Meet your Master

01:26
2

Learn from the journey

15:24
3

Using inspirations

08:43
4

Photography is stopping time

09:27
5

Albert's library of ideas

08:30
6

Tips on preparing for a portrait shoot

12:10
7

Setting up the studio

04:56
8

Understanding studio collaboration

07:35
9

The importance of casting and hair & make-up

08:59
10

Foreground studio set up

08:46
11

Studio session with a model - set up 1

11:23
12

Studio session with a model - set up 2

05:55
13

Studio session with a model - set up 3

08:01
14

Picking the best shot

03:36
15

Working with photoshop

13:14
16

Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock

04:18
17

The gigantic question... Colour or black and white?

07:55
18

One day with Kate Moss

05:06
19

Learn to have your ideas ready

06:14
20

Using Polariods

06:29
21

Creating beautiful photographs of hands

04:45
22

Controlling natural light

05:38
23

Shooting a monkey with a gun

06:27
24

Choosing your format

07:13
25

Composition and lens

04:47
26

Shooting landscapes. The Isle of Skye

15:18
27

Planning and ideas for a landscape shoot

06:32
28

Creating still life images

13:48
29

Photographing the Lost Diary

10:53
30

Shooting album covers

03:09
31

The Strip Search Project

10:28
32

Shooting Las Vegas landscapes

08:24
33

Photographing Breaunna

07:21
34

Balancing daylight, God bless America

03:45
35

Creating the Maroc Project

10:21
36

Creating the Maroc shoot

08:11
37

Photographing sand dunes

04:09
38

Photographing Moroccan children

10:42
39

Advice on making portraits

10:12
40

How to be alert to finding photographs

07:35
41

Making a portrait of Mike Tyson

02:39
42

Creating intense colour in a photograph

03:04
43

Portraits of rap stars and a Golden Boy

08:40
44

Photographing Jack Nicholson

04:20
45

Creating a portrait of David Cronenberg

02:14
46

How to light only using two $10 bulbs

07:29
47

Studio fashion set up 4

10:47
48

Studio session with a model. The geography of a face

13:05
49

Look inside the picture

02:56
50

Creating memorability in an image

02:54
51

Combining nudes and landscapes

04:52
52

A perfect print

07:50
53

The business side of things

06:50
54

Conclusion and farewell

03:55

Lesson Info

Balancing daylight, God bless America

(funky music) During the strip search project, I was outside of Las Vegas and I had finished doing a couple of landscapes out there and I was on the way in. And it was about 3:30 in the afternoon and I passed a large neon sign. And you couldn't really see it very well because it was still sunlight and you couldn't see the sign very well but I did see that it said "God bless America". And the letters God and Bless and America were against a blowing American flag And this was at the time of and of course there was a lot of patriotism across America, so here was a neon sign that probably was advertising a casino that was switched on to something much more patriotic, which was of course fine. But in noticing that sign, I thought "that is interesting". I double checked the sun position, I had them stop the vehicle and double check the sun position. And I said let's drive out here again round about 5:30 in two hours time. So I went into Vegas, did some other shots there and then we drove ...

out at 5: with a sunset that was going to be round about seven. So, I knew that that sign, some point had to hit a magic point. Where you had a sky with something in it. And Vegas a lot of the time you get of course sunsets. So the sky had something in it that was interesting and at the same time the neon began to read as neon. So I set up an 8 by 10 camera that was my weapon of choice there. And I set that up, and just simply waited another half an hour or so and then began to shoot at the three words God and then bless and then America on three separate plates. And then continued to do the three separate plates so the background always matched in case I wanted in the end to do a triptych. In the end I opted for a single shot of the God sign not a triptych. There was just something nice with the American flag and the word God written across it. And then of course in the Vegas desert and the fact that it was a neon sign. So, my point about this for students is driving down the road in the middle of the day make sure you're not chatting with your assistant or chatting with your partner or listening to the radio or if you are driving of course you do have to pay attention to the road, but stay keep looking at all times. I'm afraid there is no easy way of doing that. You just have to keep switched on. It's again and again the same advice. Because I just caught a glimpse of this sign and in fact and the word that I saw right away was America not God and then I had them pull over and then I can walk back to have a look at the sign. So you have to, I'm surprised sometimes with photographers, that I would have thought almost any photographer in the world if he's a real, real photographer would've wanted to get a picture of that. I mean you know but all photographers, what makes photography tremendous all photographers are different. (funky music)

Ratings and Reviews

Richard A. Heckler
 

"Unless you're Mozart"...this course is an invaluable asset. I'm a pro, humanitarian/documentary photographer, & wilderness...and I've learned much from the 40+ sessions here. This is truly a Master Class...next best thing to being with Albert. And although I could watch studio sessions forever, this course offered a very balanced curriculum of technical information, artistic encouragement and guidance, and a open, generous window into the thinking of a gifted artist and photographer, sifted from decades of first class experience. Kudos to all involved. Excellent!

a Creativelive Student
 

I purchased my first CreativeLive class in 2011 and have continued to purchase many classes over the years. I have learned so much from the many great instructors. This one is not a technical class that will tell you to set your camera at f4, 1/60, ISO 400 and you can get this shot. If you are looking for that, there are many other options. If you have a solid working knowledge of photography, this class is so much more. The way it was filmed is like you are there with him in conversation or in the room with him watching him shoot. To see and understand the how and why he does what he does. Not to take anything away from other classes that have helped to give me a strong understanding of photography, this is my favorite CreativeLive class so far.

Student Work

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