You know who she is and what she’ll be wearing to the holiday party. Aunt Lulu will be aglow in her busy-pattern sweater festooned with reindeer, snowmen and sequin-speckled snowflakes. If you photograph her on a busy background, the end result will be a visual mess. My advice: Pull Aunt Lulu to the nearest blank white wall and make your picture there. It worked for Avedon, it’ll work for you.
Holiday Photo Tip No. 1: Beware of Backgrounds
Don’t let the Christmas tree grow out the top of Uncle Jimmy’s head when making a holiday photograph. Be aware of the background as you frame the photo. It’s amazing how many snapshots might have been quality photographs if only the photographer had paid closer attention and instructed Uncle Jimmy to step right or left. After all, it’s a WYSIWYG situation. What you see in the viewfinder is what you get on the memory card. Same rule applies to wall lamps or sconces. Don’t let the lamp become a hat on the person you’re photographing. Look before you shoot.
Annie Leibovitz framed
“Years before it ever occurred to me that one could have a life as a photographer...
Read MoreCartier-Bresson and making picture stories
People often ask me to define what it means to be a photojournalist. Well, it’s mostly about making picture stories and, if you are capable, it’s about accompanying those images with words that are more than page grout, with words that actually become part of the tile mosaic and enhance it. I think Henri Cartier-Bresson put it nicely when he said, “The picture story involves joint operation of the brain, the eye, and the heart.The objective of this joint operation is to depict the content of some event which is in the process of unfolding, and to communicate impressions.”