The Beginner Photography Podcast

How to Pack Light and Shoot Smart for Travel Photography with Mark Hemmings

• Raymond Hatfield

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#585 Mark Hemmings is an internationally recognized travel photographer and educator. Mark shares his inspiring journey, beginning with his early days in Canada when he first discovered photography while traveling in Japan. He walks listeners through the evolution of his career—from working in the movie industry and commercial photography to finding his true passion in travel and photography workshops around the globe.

KEY TOPICS COVERED

  1. Preparation and Mindset for Travel Photography - Mark describes two key approaches: meticulous pre-trip research and spontaneous, immersive travel. He discusses the creative advantages and excitement that come from unfamiliar environments and even a bit of discomfort or fear.
  2. Gear Choices and Minimalism - The benefits of packing light—such as bringing a single camera and prime lens—are highlighted, along with advice about travel safety, avoiding gear overload, and tailoring your kit to your creative needs.
  3. Creative Techniques for Captivating Travel Photos - Mark emphasizes using framing, foreground elements, and unique perspectives to avoid cliché photos and elevate your work. He discusses storytelling, engaging viewers’ imaginations, and composing photos that invite longer reflection.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS

  • Foreground Element: An object or shape in the front of the image used to frame or partially obscure the subject, adding depth, intrigue, and composition interest.
  • Slide Film: A type of photographic film producing direct positive transparency, requiring precise exposure and often used for projecting images; discussed as foundational to Mark’s photographic education.

DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How does limiting your gear influence your creativity or challenge you on a shoot?
  2. What are some ways you can move beyond basic “snapshot” photography during your next trip?
  3. In what environments do you feel most creatively energized, and why?

RESOURCES:
Visit Mark Hemmings’ Website - https://markhemmings.com/
Follow Mark Hemmings on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markhemmings/

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond!


Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Mark Hemmings:

What is the one thing that we want our viewers to do when they see our photos? We have to have a reaction. Now, one of the great ways in getting that reaction is by providing mystery, confusion, drama, metaphor, narrative. These are all devices that we as photographers really need to infuse in our images, to take our images from just a standard snapshot into a work of art.

Hey, photo friends Raymond here, and welcome to the Beginner Photography Podcast, where every Tuesday I drop a brand new episode to help you capture better photos by learning from some of the world's most creative photographers. And here on Thursdays, I share a Rewind episode, which is a past conversation that has been handpicked because it is just as valuable today as it was when it first aired. So whether you're brand new or you're revisiting with fresh ears, this episode is packed with timeless photo wisdom to help you grow behind the lens. And in today's rewind episode, we are talking with travel photographer Mark Hemmings, about how to capture beautiful vacation photos that are also full of meaning. But first, the Beginner Photography Podcast is brought to you by Cloud Spot. Impress your clients with a beautiful gallery that is easy to view. It's easy to share and download on any device. With Clouds spot, you can control image size at a watermark and download limits. So grab your free forever account today over@deliverphotos.com and only upgrade when you are ready. I know how much pressure there is to bring your camera on a big trip or a vacation to capture, something amazing. Maybe you bought a camera just for a special trip, but sometimes the weather is less than ideal. Sometimes the location is not what you thought it was gonna be. Or sometimes you just end up leaving the camera back in the room because you don't want it to get wet or dirty'cause you don't know what the day is gonna bring. Then you get home and you have this like half full memory card of, well, less than magical photos of this beautiful location. Today's guest, Mark Hemming, has been photographing all over the world, literally, and has a very, I think, approachable take to balancing, enjoying your trip while also creating travel images with, with mood, with creativity, and personality so that you can come home with images that you're proud to share. And remember to stick around to the end of the episode where I'm gonna share a photography action item with you that you can implement today to make real progress in your photo journey. So with that, let's go ahead and get on into today's rewind interview.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mark, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Mark Hemmings:

Oh, it's a pleasure. Absolute pleasure. Right man. And thank you for inviting me, and I always love to be able to communicate my, well, my first love, with regards to my hobby and my career, and to share as much of my information to the public as possible.

Raymond Hatfield:

Well, if I've picked up one thing through watching some of your YouTube videos, it's definitely that you love to share information. So I know that this is gonna be a great podcast, but before you kind of got to this point, right, where you, travel the world and you take photos, you teach others how to take photos while they're on their travels. How did you get your start in photography?

Mark Hemmings:

Photography? Yeah. So the start for me was, fairly unique in that, when I graduated from my university here in Eastern Canada called University of New Brunswick. about, I would say about a half year or a year later, I. I got an interesting job to become an ESL, that's English as a second language student recruiter. myself and, a bunch of others who were set up as a team, were sent to Asia and other countries, and our job was to bring students to Eastern Canada to learn English for this university program. And I was in Japan for five weeks and it was really a fascinating, experience being in that country. And I learned very quickly that my skillset was definitely not student recruiting. In fact, I don't think that, I did any good at all. No, students came. However, I did realize that I, for the first time, and this was one year after graduating university, that I was actually fairly good at taking pictures. And my grandfather gave me his old Nikon camera. And if I recall, it was called a Nikon EM. And it was one of the first, I think, semi, like it was, a classic film camera, but it also allowed Aperture priority, which was very helpful. And of course back then it was slide film and I really learned the hard way to get proper exposure because every picture was a single dollar. Yes. And for me, being a, a young fellow with not too much money, that dollar had to go a long way. So one picture and I had to get the exposure right. That was the sort of the, the first introduction to my career as a photographer. Then after that, I started to work in the movie industry as a photographer. A good friend of mine said, Hey, mark, there's a, a Hollywood movie here working in town. And they, we just need to get to someone who knows how to use a camera. So that was my first job. And then from the movie industry, it branched out into commercial photography, advertising photography, and then the travel photography, which I'm sure we'll get to.

Raymond Hatfield:

Of course, of course. So, wow, that was quite a journey. I kind of wanna unpack that a little bit. Mm-hmm. So, you went on this trip to Japan to recruit students to come back to Canada, and then, it sounded like you said after you had graduated is when you got your camera. So was that trip to Japan, kind of the, you didn't have a camera at that point, correct?

Mark Hemmings:

No, in fact, I asked my grandfather if I could borrow his Nikon. He gave it to me, Uhhuh, just for that trip. And I had about a week or two to figure out the knobs and dials. What is, what are these numbers on the lenses? What's the number on the shutter? And I have no idea. And the hard part is, is that I knew I wanted to shoot slide film because my parents growing up, we would always have fun looking at slideshows projected on the wall or on a screen. So I said, think I really want to jump in with slide film. And I didn't realize how hard a slide film is compared to negatives. Because in negatives, you, you take them to the shop and they in the lab can correct for any type of, exposure problems, not So a slide film. Slide film, you have to be dead accurate. And I learned the lesson the hard way.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. So, you got back, you realized, you're like, okay, I, I have an idea of what this camera can do. I know that I obviously have to nail exposure. so was there anything outside of just practice that you used to be your primary source of, of photography education?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes. back then we didn't have, online education. Of course, this was two decades ago, 1997. so what I did was I got as many photo magazines as possible. And, in Canada we had a, and still do a really good one called Photo Life, which I definitely recommend. outdoor photographer from the States, and a whole bunch of other photo magazines, some international ones. And I would just consume them, like food, as many magazines as possible. And then when I started to really get into portraiture and fashion, I would just consume fashion magazines. This is all I had. I didn't have any training. I, I studied philosophy. That was my major in university and I graduated with it. Because I assumed that I would just become a university professor in philosophy. So I didn't want to go back to school for photography because I was married, newly married, and I just wanted to get right into photography and make money. So the magazines were the things that kept me going and helped me craft the style that I, I have.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm. Geez, gee. So in 97, I barely remember 97. 97, I was nine years old in 97. Ah,

yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

We just got our first computer and it was still many years until we had got, our first, digital camera. Mm-hmm. Or even, like video camera. but, I had somewhere very specific I was going with that question. And then I got sidetracked thinking about that little old computer that I hated so much. so when it comes time to, Picking up the camera and you're shooting with slides. you're out there, you're getting that experience. what sorts of photography were you pursuing? Obviously you said motion pictures, but then when did that love of photography and travel merge together?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes. So, when I was in Japan, it was, I went into a special place called Nano. And a lot of people recognized nano because the Olympics were there, the Winter Olympics in the nineties and nature back then, it was all nature in all landscapes. And that was the prize. And, absolutely loved it. So when I got back, and it was time to switch gears into learning how the movie industry works with regards to photography. So for example, that would be, I would be sent out by the producers to location scout for any place that's in the script. So if the script said creepy old house, I needed to go find that in my own city. And, of course that the job also included, photographing the actors. So back then we just, we still had film and I had to buy what's called a blimp. Mm-hmm. Which is a soundproof covering that covered my Nikon cameras. And man, that was a hassle. Um, it's so nice now that we have silent, the Fuji film having, the ability to shoot silently. However, the transitions that I've gone through have been very interesting because I've almost touched on every genre of photography. I know you do a lot of weddings. Mm-hmm. I did try a few weddings in the late nineties and I realized that it takes a lot of, what would you say, grace. To deal with, you know, the normal scenarios of mothers in-laws and people who are, have really, they really know what they want. And there's very little flexibility. And I realized my personality is such that I don't think that this is gonna be sustainable because you need to have a really, you need to be an actor, and I'm sure you would agree in the sense that your emotions have to be on, you need to be up. And, I realized that I just wasn't so good at this. So then I realized that, well, the movie industry, thing's going well. But then we had a problem where the tax credits from our government dried up. So the movie industry died, dried up. No longer were Hollywood, movie shoots or New York shoots coming up here to Canada because the tax breaks were gone. So what's left? Well, I started into commercial photography, so that would be working for the local. you know, any local company that needs advertising. We have a, a lot of industry here in the East Coast, so I'd be working for oil companies, nuclear power plants, all these, these, big companies. And I must say that, that those worked out well for helping me, bring in the money to buy new gear and to support my young family.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Geez. so when was it that, that you decided to make that, jump to, to focus more on, on travels?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah, so that would be in 2004. And my brother Greg Hemmings, who is one of my, my greatest influencers, he's younger than me actually. He said, mark, I have a, a really sort of interesting scenario. I've been asked to go to South Korea to teach filmmaking'cause my brother's a filmmaker

mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

To teach filmmaking at, a South Korean. Film Academy, but my friend's getting married at the same date. Oh geez. So he said, would you like to take my place? And I said, Hmm, let me think about that. Yes. Yeah. Didn't take long did

it? So

Mark Hemmings:

that's right. So I was off to South Korea. I met some amazing people there, especially some really good friends from Hungary. And the Hungarian friends that I met, they said, Hey, mark, we're doing a film workshop and photo workshop in Hungary next year. Would you like to come as a guest instructor? And I said, yes. So that was the initiation of me, combining a photography with travel. And then the year later I said, well, why don't I do my own workshop in Japan? I had experience. I've been there twice before. So I started one in Japan. That was in 2005, I think. And since then I've been doing them every single year.

Raymond Hatfield:

I love it. I love it. I've obviously, looking at your website, you've been to various, exotic locations, some very tropical locations, and, I know that you're doing a cruise workshop, which sounds really cool because, my family is, this fall we're going on a, on a cruise together. Okay. So, oh, good. It's my family, it's my wife's family. it's my parents. So it's, it's going to be something that I'm going to want to remember. Mm-hmm. So I kind of want to use this as a scenario for the, uh, some of the questions that I'm gonna have Yes. For this podcast. the question is, I want to capture the whole thing, like I said, how do I start to, to better prepare for an upcoming trip?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes. Well, there's two schools of thought and they're both radically opposite. Okay. Okay. Perfect. First school, prepare as much as you can. read everything about the location, understand the culture, and get completely in tuned to even get the, the number of the police. make sure that you have, everything ready for your insurance. you know, where the local hospital is. This is the wise option. Option number one. I don't like it. I already don't like it. Option number two is what I usually find myself is I know nothing perfect and I get lost and I'm just dumped into this scenario. I'm, I've absolutely no idea what I'm doing. And those are the ones where the magic happens. Uhhuh. Oh, good. Now I don't want, I don't wanna say, one or the other is better, but often has to do with probably personality types. Interestingly, I feel I'm 50 50 left and right brain, so I am very comfortable, totally planning out everything perfectly. And I'm also totally comfortable. If, for whatever reason, I just have no idea what's going on. And, but I do say that usually my best results are from when I just throw myself into a culture and I'm totally shocked by what I see, and I purposely just get myself lost.

Raymond Hatfield:

Can you gimme an example of, of why you think that is and when something like that happened?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah, so I guess the excitement and adrenaline, and also by the way, fear. Okay, I usually couch this by saying that fear in general is not good, but a certain amount of fear actually increases. What would you say? it increases the ability for us to be creative because we have a bit of adrenaline going through our system and that adrenaline is going to make us hyper sensitive to our environments. And it's almost like, way too much coffee. Yeah. And you know how we get when we drink too much caffeine? Well, that's very similar when we have no idea what our surroundings are. A little bit of danger is actually something that just spurs creativity to no end. And, I'm just super sensitive. I'm looking around, I'm scanning everywhere. Everything is a rectangle for me when I'm looking around. And you would appreciate that too. When you become a photographer, the whole world becomes a rectangle. And this is a good thing because such amazing photos come of it. Now I will say that if I'm in a very foreign country, then I'll hire a local photographer to help me. So for example, when I first started to do that was in India because that is a culture that I knew nothing about.

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

And, I said, I'm gonna be in big trouble. So, and that it's really easy to do. You just go to Instagram or Facebook and just find local photographers and just, see if they would, take you around for a couple hours. And it's just, it's such a time saver and I really encourage people to do that because you can get so many, so much better photos.'cause you're not, how do I figure out the subway system? Well you don't need to worry about that.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. That sounds like a really fun idea that that kind of adds to the adventure. Like not only are you going to travel to this new location, but now you just added adventure onto the plate. And that's something that I'm definitely going to Yeah. Incorporate whenever we get off the boat. I believe in, I think it's Cozumel. I'm sure that there's gotta be people in Cozumel who will want to, be a part of something like that. So I'm excited. Thank you so much for, for sharing that tip. so now let's, let's go the other way. Okay. we kind of walked into how to just show up and, just capture whatever happens in front of your camera. What if we wanted to plan this thing out to the most, tiny detail when it comes to the photography side of things. What should we be looking for?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes, great question. For one thing, for preparation, Instagram is absolutely amazing. So what I do is I look through Instagram with the specific location, and this is very simple. All of us can do it. so for example, Cozumel, Mexico, and then you'll see the top hits. Now half of those top hits are gonna be, silly pictures of scantily clad women.

Raymond Hatfield:

Of course in a tropical location. Yeah.

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. But the other half are going to be the best photos that people love because they're so beautiful or so intriguing. And that's what you want. You just simply because most of those Instagram images are tagged per location, you know exactly where that photo is taken. This is the best way to plan where you want to photograph. now with regards to, gear, I have been over the years becoming more and more and more of a minimalist. And at this point I challenge myself and now I don't think this is wise for everybody, but I have one camera body and one prime lens. That's it. Mm-hmm. Now, the reason I do this is because I physically want to move in and outta the picture without zooming, because I feel that's more of a challenge and it gets my creativity going and it also allows me to have a small kit. Now, if you're going to a place that's a little bit dangerous, your kit has to be small and unobtrusive. Now you're a Fuji film user. I believe. I am, absolutely. So my kit is the Fuji Film X Pro two, which is a rangefinder design and, a 35 millimeter equivalent lens. So it would be the 23 millimeter F two. That's pretty much all I use because most of my work is travel photography. Now, for those who are into other forms of photography plan on taking, your good Zoom lens or whatever. But really keep the package light. You don't wanna be a target for thieves, you don't want to have, you know, weighed down shoulders with this huge backpack. And I used to do that because back in the day, I would have like the Nikon, I think my first pro camera was the D two X. It was a monster camera with huge F 2.8 lenses. And really, even though I was younger, I would still get exhausted by the end of the day just by that heavy weight. Sure. So when you're planning for trip pack light, make sure if you use a tripod that you invest in either, a carbon fiber or go the other way and just buy a cheap plastic Walmart tripod. Now people say, why would you ever do that, mark? Well, interestingly, if you have, if for example, if you're a mirrorless shooter, you're probably gonna be using either Sony or a Fuji film. Those cameras are nice and light. Well, unless you're in a windy environment, you can actually get away with a cheap plastic tripod and you're going to be able to carry that anywhere because it's so lightweight. Now, of course, you're sacrificing a little bit with the, the ball, the head,'cause there's no ball head on it, but I'm just wanting to say Right, keep the kit light and you're gonna be really successful. Also about, what I do whenever I go to a new place, if I'm there for a week, I'm going to rent a local sim card. I really want to make sure that I have full access to data and, some countries don't allow that, but most do, I think. And, it's really a far cheaper option for Canadians. Canadians have the worst and most expensive cell phone packages on the planet, I'm sure. I, uh, so I always just get a sim card. It's super quick, super easy, and you don't need voice plan, you just need data. Mm-hmm. And this will allow you to find those great locations on Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Instagram, and all these other places, and it'll allow you to upload your images as soon as you take them, especially if you're using an iPhone or an Android.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. So there's a lot of things there that I want to unpack. Mm-hmm. One being a mobile workflow. Yep. Of course, for editing images. But I kind of wanna go back to the gear aspect of it. Mm-hmm. Because, you said that bringing one camera in one lens is going to, result in, in better photos. Can you tell me why that is? Why is limiting yourself, going to, create better images?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. Well, I've never golfed before, but I understand that the such thing as a, a golfer's handicap where, they. assume you voluntarily give yourself a handicap in your golf score. I don't even know how that works. Okay. Yeah. Neither I, but, apparently that sort of levels of the playing field, well, it's not the same thing in photography, but what I do find is that when I produce or impose a limitation on myself, then I am forced to really, step up the creative game. So whenever I go on a trip, I am usually only using one prime lens, and it can either be like a, for example, a 28 millimeter, a 35 millimeter, a 50 millimeter, but whatever lens I choose, I try to stick with that throughout the whole shoot. Now, I will preface this if I'm photographing for a client, I don't do those things at all. Sure. My client. Is whatever they want, they will get, and I'll take all my lenses. But if it's for me, then this limitation pushes my creative boundaries.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. So I love this, I love this idea. Mm-hmm. Over the years, I have definitely found that bringing less gear, just like you have found is, is much more beneficial to the photography. Mm-hmm. It makes it more fun'cause now suddenly you're not worried about carrying so much gear, but Yeah. But I get a lot of questions from people, at least in the beginning of photography podcast Facebook group saying like, I'm going on this once in a lifetime trip, right. I'm going to Ireland. Okay. And their questions are, I want to bring the DSLR, the lenses, the point and shoots, the drone, the GoPro. I wanna bring all these things because they all have their different uses, right? Mm-hmm. Is that still okay to bring these things and not use them? Or would you rather only bring the one camera, the one lens and say whatever happens, happens?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So this is a, what I do is, is radically strange and it's abnormal. So I would say until you're comfortable with that type of minimalism, go with everything.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

Because I would be, I would hate and feel terrible if someone went on this trip of a lifetime and followed my advice and didn't get that distant eagle because they didn't bring their zoom lens. And another thing is I don't photograph birds. So I'm not going to be taking a long lens. My primary love is street photography and travel photography, which is usually the 35 is perfect.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. Can you tell me when? Yeah. When the gear becomes too much gear.

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So usually like. the terminology in full frame lingo is you're 24 to 70 mm-hmm. And you're 70 to 200. Those are the two lenses that are the most common. And those will cover 99.9% of all your work. So if, I would suggest that, those two lenses are all you need for all travel photography, and if you take more than that, then you're just weighing down your suitcase. That's my, my assessment. Now, if you're into drones, of course take it. If you are into GoPro, take it. And all you have to be concerned about with is if you start to get sore shoulders and get grumpy, your creativity is going to suffer. And I know this from firsthand experience, is that if I'm uncomfortable physically. Because I didn't pack a warm enough jacket, or I didn't pack a t-shirt'cause it's too hot. Then I am going to feel very, very uncreative because I'm physically uncomfortable. Now there's exceptions, war photographers, photo journalists and you know, of course we're gonna feel uncomfortable, however most of the time we're on a vacation. Yeah. And it's comfortable. So plan accordingly. So you're not weighed down, you have the right amount of clothes. And I always find that if I feel a little bit low emotionally, a good hot meal and a strong espresso really helps.

Raymond Hatfield:

Yeah. And, uh, in most other countries, the coffee is, much better than here in the States for sure. So that's a great tip. That's a great tip. Maybe on my tropical vacation it'll be something a little bit more refreshing though, for the heat. Yes. Okay. So I wanna talk about, I remember this time and when I was coming up with a questions for this interview, I was trying to think about all about vacation photos, vacation photos that I took in the past. Recently I went out to Arizona to visit my mom. And when I was growing up, she made scrapbooks all the time. And I was going through some of those photos and I realized, you know how bad these vacation photos were. And it reminded me of this time when I was in fourth grade when one of my classmates, his name was Irvin, he took a, a road trip with his family to Mount Rushmore. And when he got back, we all had to sit through a slide presentation of this nine year old's photos of like the road and Mount Rushmore. And it was like so far away in these photos that everybody was just bored to tears. So yes. What, what are some signs of amateur travel photography so that we can avoid them and not bore our friends and family?

Mark Hemmings:

Oh, I'm glad you asked because if I can help anybody with this then the world of slideshow entertainment is going to skyrocket. Perfect.'cause all of us have sat through, for example, let's say that a friend or a family member goes to Europe and they get 60 photos of the European churches. Yeah, the churches are beautiful, but after the fifth picture, it's just another boring church. We get it. Yeah. So what I advise people to do is to actually hide the, the primary subject. So, in art theory or, or the lingo of photography, the primary subject is that which is the most visually important. So let's say it's the church. A secondary subject is usually something that supports the primary subject. Now, sometimes a secondary subject could actually, frame the primary subject. Let me give you an example. Let's think of that European Church. No, let's actually go to the Taj Mahal. Now everybody photographs the Taj Mahal who goes to India. However, if you only allow a little bit of the Taj Mahal to be, viewed because it's framed with a silhouette of those, Of, sort of an area that, has arches or it's hidden partially by a really interesting object on the grounds, or let's go back to the European church. Maybe the only, the spire of the church is visible because you've hid it behind other buildings that are out of focus. Mm-hmm. What we're always trying to do is allow our viewer to have more, more activation of their imagination. And this is a primary way that we increase the visual value of our photos. So if we think of a snapshot of that European church as a documentary shot, okay, it's, it's okay as it is, no problem. But if we want to go from documentary to fine art. Or from documentary to really good travel photography, it's usually the case that we're going to alter the environment to not fully show the subject. So that could be nighttime. Mm-hmm. You could photograph the church, at the nighttime where we only see certain elements that are lit up. We could move ourselves, so we only capture a small glimpse of the church, or we could really do something different if we have the drone photograph from an aerial perspective. We're always trying to hide the primary subject to an extent that the imagination of the viewer is activated.

Hmm.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. This is a really interesting concept. I'm trying to, to picture it in my head because if I think of a European church, I have not been to Europe, but I know that they're very large. They're typically in some sort of square with lots of space around. So how is hiding the photo? I understand that it's like adding a portion of the viewer's imagination, right? Like for them to explore that, to enjoy the photo. How much of this should we be doing? How much should we be hiding are Yeah, I, I understand. I went to, go ahead. So

Mark Hemmings:

what I try to do myself, like, say for example, we have the beautiful church and we have two trees that are gonna frame up the spire really nicely. Those trees are acting as what we'd call a foreground element.

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

Okay. So the trees are hiding the church, but we still see 20 or 30% of the church surface. Okay. It's just that we don't see the whole church. And these trees are framing devices or like I said, the foreground element. And whenever we can have foreground elements or framing devices that, package our subject together, we actually produce a more visually appealing image. think of, fashion photography or car photography. Mm-hmm. Now, whenever we see a new picture of a Lamborghini or. Maybe a McLaren. These are beautiful works of art. I guarantee you that you will not see every element of the car. car photographers are brilliant. They will photograph and light this beautiful car so that you are only seeing about 30 or 40% of the surface area. The rest is black. Mm-hmm. It's all in carefully arranged shadows. And you see these beautiful lights and really low to the ground. The imagination has to kick in somewhere. And whenever we see a full image of the primary subject we run the risk of losing interest in the viewer if we hide some parts of the primary subject because of unique use of shadow or foreground elements or framing, it's incredible how much more visual value that image has because the viewers' imagination is engaged. What is the one thing that we want our viewers to do when they see our photos? Say, wow, that's a beautiful photo. or a disturbing photo. Or an interesting photo, or, sure. Any type of emotion, but we have to have a reaction. Yes. We have to have a reaction. Now, one of the great ways in getting that reaction is by providing mystery confusion, drama metaphor, narrative. These are all devices that we as photographers really need to infuse in our images, to take our images from just a standard snapshot into a work of art.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. Okay. Let me think about this. I love this idea. Adding more I guess we're not adding more context to the photo, we're adding just more intrigue when we do these things to add that interest. So if we are on family vacation, okay. Yep. We're thinking of, you know, Europe, we go to these nice places, we want to show off specific things. These things are great. If we're in a family atmosphere around other people, what sorts of things can we be doing to add that intrigue and interest?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. Yeah. So that's a great question. Now, family shots, like for example, I have two systems. shoot with an iPhone, and also of course my Fuji. And if it's just a standard snapshot that I, I'm not really caring about anything deep, no narrative, no metaphor, no poetry, then just a standard snapshot of my friends and my family in front of that church is perfectly fine. However, in order to what if I really want to have, if I have the time, then I'll, I'll do fun stuff like, uh, forced perspective with my kids. They love doing that. Have you ever seen that where one of the kids is holding onto the church steeple? Well, the church steeple is right, is maybe, who knows, 60 feet high, but there she is holding onto the top. These are fun things that will take our potentially boring family snapshots and allowing them to be appealing to both this generation and future generations down the road. Another thing is, when you're photographing with your family, and you're in these wonderful spots, well, try scale. Try to have your son or your daughter, or your mom or your dad so small in the picture that they are dwarfed by the sheer scale. Of the massive coliseum or the mm-hmm. You know, the, the huge church or whatever, or change your angle, essentially, we're always trying to avoid the elevation that 99% of all photography is taken. Here's a quiz for you. What height in feet?'cause you're American, what height in feet are 99% of all photos taken.

Raymond Hatfield:

Like five, seven. Like eye level.

Mark Hemmings:

Exactly, exactly. Whatever the average height of, people are, that is the normal height of all photography. Mm-hmm. So if we want to get into the 1%, what do we have to do? We either go up or we either go down exactly. So that is the key. And why do you feel that not many people take those low shots from the ground shooting up, which are always very interesting. just'cause it's a little bit more work. Exactly. It's because it's uncomfortable. Okay. Yeah. To get down on your knees and, you know, it's not comfortable to do that. That's why everyone avoids it. But if we as photographers want to really instill interesting elements into our images, we have to do things like, you know, put our hand up really high to photograph, shooting down, or to get really low and to shoot from a, lower perspective, which actually empowers our primary subject. So if it's a person, it makes them appear grander and more important. And that's a good thing. Luckily with newer cameras, we actually have flip screens where we can, we can actually get those low shots comfortably because we can just look down. My camera doesn't have that, but, most of the, the newers do. Yeah,

Raymond Hatfield:

right. Yeah. I was out with the kids yesterday and I was doing just that. There was like this field, it's finally like a nice day outside. It was like this field, and I just loved like the moving clouds. I brought the, I also shoot with an ex pro too. I brought the camera down as low as I could. It being bright, you can't really see it. So then I had to lay in the grass. It. It was raining the day before yesterday. I got all muddy. But, yeah, a flip screen would be a great thing to have. Yes. for sure. For sure. So, okay, so, so just adding that, that different visual interest just by simply changing the height of, of the camera. That's a very good tip. I love that right there. So I have an, I have a pair of friends right now. My wife's friends, they, uh Okay. Are in Cuba. They just went to Cuba. They went to go visit it. They're super excited. Every single photo that they've posted on Facebook or Instagram is them in front of something, them in front of a sign that says, welcome to Cuba. Them in front of a storefront, them in front of like the beach and stuff like that. Now, these shots are fine for them mm-hmm. Because they are snapshots. Right. But when I go out with my family, that's what everybody says, oh, let me get a photo in front of this thing. Let me get a photo in front. Like, I want to be in this photo of this thing. Then all the photos start to look exactly the same. But like, I don't want to take those photos, I want photos that have mood, that have that feel, that have culture that get the whole experience. Right. Yeah. Aside from snapshots, what specific photos should I be hunting for?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah, great question. And first of all, there is a place for, selfie photos, but it's, mm-hmm. It's only about a 10% place or 5%. And after a while it just becomes silly. Yeah. Now, I know that influencers are a separate breed and they have to, that's their job and that's okay. But for the most of us who are not, selling our, using our face to provide an income, then maybe five or 10% selfies, is a good ratio. After that, we want to actually create images that mean something to someone else. I'll give you an example. If we don't create value for our viewer, our viewer is gonna walk away.

Hmm. Now,

Mark Hemmings:

you and I, are not superstar status with regards to, you know, we're not super models. Okay. Yeah. I certainly am not. So that was a very

Raymond Hatfield:

diplomatic way of putting it. I

Mark Hemmings:

appreciate that. Yeah. So that means that if I go beyond my 5% or 10% of including me in the shot in Japan or whatever, then I'm no longer providing value to my viewer. My viewer receives value by having clear and concise content, explaining the photo, maybe giving some photo lessons under that photo, but that photo needs to speak to them. That's how I give value to my client. Now, how do you, of course, get a photo to speak to someone? Well, in many ways we've already been talking about it. It's creating images that will allow people to linger on your photo longer than all the other photos. Mm-hmm. How, how many photos do you think we go through a day? How many photos do we take? Or how many photos do we see? No, just by viewing. Oh. Instagram, Facebook, websites. We flips through hundreds and hundreds. And why do you stop flipping through at that one picture? You, why do you stop there?

Raymond Hatfield:

There's just something interesting, in the photo, whether it be that it grabs you Yes. Delight or

Mark Hemmings:

the subject matter. Exactly. Now this subject matter. Can be pretty much anything. We're not limited to the far off exotic vacation it could be in your own hometown or even in your house. It is something that is, is photographed or, recorded in a unique way that very few other people have done. Now, this does not mean that you are up the creek. If you live in a what you think is a boring environment, that's not true. There's always a photo to be taken. It just takes you, getting in your practice, you know, maybe doing a, photo a day challenge for 365, but getting the, the sort of engine going where you realize that there is a photo here in my environment and I'm going to give myself the challenge to do one a day and make it look interesting. Now, with regards to back to Cuba, that my goodness, Cuba would be so rich visually, that, you know, photographing those wonderful old cars. But instead of just taking a picture of a classic Studebaker or whatever cars they had over there, why not take the time to kneel down, get really low and photograph the car from the ground perspective? Because if you do that automatically, you're in the 1%. And all of the other tourists that go through Cuba have taken that same Studebaker, but they've taken it at five foot six inches. Am I right? Yeah. But that's gonna be the same as everyone else. So what you want is to get down on the ground, make sure that car looks grand and amazing, and you can do that easily just by moving your position to a lower, a lower scenario.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm. Okay. So about things that are, know. Things, not people. Yeah. how do we give them more, more feeling aside from just like bringing the camera up and down? how do we give them more, more life?

Mark Hemmings:

Oh, I love that question. Have you ever heard of the Buena Vista Social Club?

Raymond Hatfield:

The Buena Vista Social Club? I feel like I have, but please, please remind me.

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So Vim Vendors did a film on these Cuban musicians, and this was probably in the nineties, if I recall. And it was, just about the director wanting to, find out if they were still alive.'cause they were amazing musicians. I think maybe in the fifties or the sixties. Yeah. if I get my story straight. and anyway, the desire was to find them and bring them to New York City for a reunion concert. You have to see that movie. It's amazing. It's called the Buena Vista Social Club. Anyway, the cover shot was one of the most inspiring photos I've ever seen. And, it's a cover shot of a classic vehicle in a Cuban street in Havana. And it was saturated colors. It was shot in film, obviously, but the amount of shadow was so deep. And I said, I've never seen a photo so dramatic. And that grabbed my soul as much as this one. And one of the musicians was walking up the Havana Street alongside the car. Half the shot was in deep shadow. Why am I saying this? Almost always I add, I guess you could say I reduce the blocks in my photo. Mm-hmm. Now what does that mean? For those who are not familiar with editing? In your editing software, you will have a slider. That, usually has, it says either shadow or dark or black, or sometimes both. For example, in Lightroom you have shadows and you have blocks as separate. If you reduce those blocks or those shadows, you're immediately increasing the drama and the visual value of your photo, and it's the easiest thing to do in the world. That's all you have to do. That's a great tip. And that just punches the picture and it's amazing at what kind of return you'll get on your investment of literally three seconds. Yeah.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. Well, you know, I'm definitely going to, post the poster for the Bruno Vista Social Club in the show notes. Yeah. So if anybody's listening right now, check out the show notes and you'll be able to see it there as an example. now this is a perfect segue. Let's talk about your mobile editing workflow. If you are in these locations, right? Again, let's take the vacation example. are you also bringing your laptop, your, your card reader, backup hard drives? Are you bringing it at all or is it, is it all on your phone or something in between?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So this is very exciting. I'm glad you asked this because I have finally, about a year ago, discovered and created a, a workflow where I don't need my computer. All I need is my iPhone. I can do a complete professional photo shoot, in a different country with my camera and just this,

mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

Using Lightroom cc. Now, for those who, have not got into Lightroom, there are currently two versions. One's called Lightroom Classic and one's called Lightroom cc, and I advise, newer photographers to jump into Lightroom cc. It's a cloud-based system, and it allows you to be completely mobile and edit anywhere in the world off of your phone. Now, you may say, well, mark, that's not professional. You can never do a professional edit on your phone. anyway, I'd like to challenge you if you believe that, because I have been doing experiments with Lightroom cc ever since it was invented, which was only about a year ago, I think.

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

Anyway, as soon as it came out, I said, I'm gonna push myself because I'm a travel photographer, to see if I can do an entire professional photo shoot just with this. So I got my Fuji, load, my Fuji images into here. Then, Lightroom CC app pulls the images in, and amazingly, this is the first time I've seen it, but the Lightroom cc, I guess you'd call it an engine has the exact same, abilities as your laptop version, because usually an app is a dumb down version of whatever app is on your laptop, right?

Right.

Mark Hemmings:

But because this is all cloud-based, the actual processing of Lightroom CC images is not really done in your iPhone. And it's not even really done in your MacBook or your Windows computer. All of the processing of your raw images is done in the cloud somewhere under the underground in California, in some bunker that Adobe has kept safe. So, for example, also on our, Lightroom for iPhone or Android, you can take raw photos with the, the app. You take a raw photo while it goes up to the cloud. Lives sort of in the servers, as a raw image. And when we do edits, like, two weeks from now, I do an edit. Well, the, it's just an instruction going up to Adobe. It's not really the photo being edited. And that's why this system I think is great because it's it doesn't require a huge amount of data transfer. So if I want to edit a full raw image, 24 megapixel from my ex pro two, it's super fast. Because when I make my edits, like say I wanna adjust the contrast, well, it's just a little instruction going up to the cloud saying, mark Hemmings says adjust contrast. That's it. It's so easy. Anyway, it's that easy. I am really excited about the Lightroom CC workflow and it allows us as photographers to travel, you can be on a ski hill going up on your ski lift and still edit raw files and send them to your client.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So now suddenly, if it's all cloud-based, not only do you have the phone instead of the computer, but now you don't need the external hard drive since it's all being backed up to the cloud. Is that right? That's correct. But very cool

Mark Hemmings:

for those who are still nervous, and I'm, by the way, I have three copies of everything everywhere. Lightroom cc, just the same as Lightroom Classic, allows for you to just plug in an external hard drive to your computer and it'll back up instantly every time you make a change. So you have the physical hard drive backup, you have the cloud backup, and if you are completely anal about backups like I am, you know that, Lightroom backup that you just plugged in, make a copy of it. Mm-hmm. Put it in a safety deposit box, send it to your brother's house. There's no way for you to lose, you know, your collection in this day and age.

Raymond Hatfield:

So let me ask you kind of a technical question here because, I've just kind of started to get into this, with, but with an iPad instead of my phone. when it comes to calling photos, that is where I have the most difficulty.'cause on a computer, I'm used to photo mechanic call through thousands of images in like 15 minutes. What's the best way that you have found to call through images? Do you upload all of the photos that you take into Lightroom call from there, or do you do it through the photos app?

Mark Hemmings:

It's a fantastic idea. Or, sorry, question. And there's two, of course, two schools of thought as always. When I plug in my SD card to my computer, if I'm going to be working through my laptop, then I have the choice. Lightroom gives me the choice to check Mark only the ones I want. Mm-hmm.

However.

Mark Hemmings:

I'll be honest. I just upload them all. Okay. My entire card, because I find it more enjoyable to sit in a cafe, listen, you know, the, the cool environment, drink an espresso, and then call the photos in a place where I am in my happy place.

Raymond Hatfield:

Okay. Yeah.

Mark Hemmings:

I don't really like to pre-select images to import into Lightroom, right off my SD card because I find that I'm not in a, it's not a creative scenario. Right,

right.

Mark Hemmings:

I load them all, my whole SD card gets loaded, and then I just sit back, relax, and cull. Now the culling process in Lightroom that I do is I just press X on okay. you can't see my, my laptop here, obviously, but I press X and the next arrow. X next arrow. Oh, I like that one. Next arrow. Next x, x. And this is a really quick way just to delete a hundred photos. Now the X does not delete the photo, but it flags it as to be deleted.

Raymond Hatfield:

Right, right. I gotcha. Okay. And then, so essentially on your phone, it's, it's the same thing, minus the keyboard shortcut. You just choose the flagged images or the recheck

Mark Hemmings:

images. And interestingly, on the phone, it's even easier because all you have to do is just go zip like that, like a down, swipe down, and then you'll swipe down and you'll see the X flag.

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

And that's it. Just flip, flip. Perfect.

Raymond Hatfield:

So it's, they made it easy. Okay. So now we have, we've talked about going out, we've talked about planning our trip. We've talked about going out and how to make photos more interesting. We talked about, I, what gear we should be using and even the mobile workflow. Now we have our photos. The trip is over. Here they are. Here's a hundred photos or so, what do we do with them?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So what I love to do first is make sure that my, my blacks are the way I want them.

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

As I said, and I strongly advise, all of your listeners to try this, is that if you feel that your images lack a little bit of drama or a little bit of punch, they're well exposed. Okay. The exposure's fine, but you just want that little bit more punch than go to the blocks. Reduce it just a bit until you feel that you, you have what you need. Again, if you don't see that word, blacks look for the word shadows.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm.

Mark Hemmings:

Or look for the word dark or something like that.

Raymond Hatfield:

I gotcha. And I want to cut you off real quick. I apologize. I totally screwed up that question. Where I was going with it was, we have the finished photos. Yes. What do we do at that point? Are we sharing them on social media? Ah, yes. Are we turning'em into a, a video slideshow? Are we making a book? What do we do? How do we preserve these memories?

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. So, when I have gone through my images, I daily, send images to my Instagram and Facebook. So that's the priority and what I do after I edit the picture and I really like it the way it is, then I usually use my phone because I find it quicker. All I do is go to the up arrow on that image within Lightroom cc and send it straight to Facebook or Instagram. Gotcha. Gotcha. Now there's another way you could send it to your photos collection, either an Android or iPhone and do it that way as well. There's a couple ways to get them online. Now I don't do, I don't print mine out so much unless I have a need. It's usually social based because that's where most of my viewers are. And I usually add a free photo instruction on every photo.

Raymond Hatfield:

Oh, cool. Like how the photo is taken.

Mark Hemmings:

Yeah. And also ways that you can create a similar image. Awesome. So for example, I think you'll be putting my Instagram, link in the show notes. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, if you go there, you have a history and you have an entire photography, course just through the images alone.'cause I always put little lessons on them.

Raymond Hatfield:

That is a very cool idea. That is a very cool idea. Definitely something that people are going to have to check out. Absolutely. For sure. Mark, you've been to a lot of locations. I wanna know, is there one like hidden treasure location that you have a place that maybe it really surprised you when you showed up? You were just kind of blown away?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes. I'm glad you asked that as well. The craziest place I've ever been to, and when I say crazy, it's crazy in the best possible way. Mm-hmm. For photography is Jerusalem really? I have never been, I was shocked. Jerusalem is, is not even now, I'm not sure in miles, but in square kilometers, it's not even two square kilometers.

Very small

Mark Hemmings:

yet. That's sort of like the center of the world. It's the, this is the place where the three monotheistic religions started. So you have Arabs in their white garments, you have the Jewish priests with the, the big hats. You have the Christian priests with their long flowing black robes and they're all walking around. It's like, am I in the twilight zone or am I in, some fabricated tourism, village? No. Right. This is the real thing. I've never seen the real thing to the extent that I've seen in Jerusalem. I think every photographer should go there. It's, I have a, uh, some images on my website, that show Jerusalem. It is insanely interesting for photography. Sounds

Raymond Hatfield:

like I know where, one of your next workshops is going to be.

Mark Hemmings:

I would love to do that.

Raymond Hatfield:

I got one last question for you. I know that we've been chatting for a while. I want to be conscious of your time. I got one last question for you and I love asking this question. It's usually, have you ever had an embarrassing moment on the job, but have you ever had an embarrassing moment while photographing another culture abroad?

Mark Hemmings:

I think so. I have a passable understanding of Japanese because I've been there a lot. Mm-hmm. It's certainly enough to chat with a ca a cab driver, but it's not, I can't get into any deep conversations. So anyway, I was, there's a, a wonderful dessert in Japan called Mochi, and that's pounded rice. And in the middle is, a bean paste, a sweet bean paste called, unco. And, I said to, a per a Japanese person, kode, meaning this is delicious, unco paste. And they burst out laughing and they said, eventually. You just said that this is delicious excrement. Oh geez. I was gonna say a different word, but, but the irony is that unco paste is brown.

Raymond Hatfield:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mark Hemmings:

And kind of looks like diarrhea.

Raymond Hatfield:

Did they think that you were at views for a second and that you were just gonna go

Mark Hemmings:

for it? Knew. They knew I was a silly foreigner, learning their language. That is too funny. It was a very cute experience. Yeah. Uncle and uncle who knew.

Raymond Hatfield:

Very similar. In fact, you just saying'em to me, I couldn't distinguish a difference even if I tried. So

Yes.

Raymond Hatfield:

Sounds like a reasonable mistake. Reasonable mistake. Yeah. Well, mark, I want to thank you. You have shared so much knowledge. You've helped me out a lot in preparing for my trip, this coming fall. I'm. I'm probably gonna do a little bit of planning, maybe not a whole bunch, but maybe I'll kind of venture into that space and do some planning. And also, I think I'm gonna give the iPad workflow a stronger look. Mm-hmm. Because I think that that, would obviously free up a whole bunch of stuff. So, mark, again, you shared a ton of great information. I really appreciate it, and I know that the listeners did as well. So, before I let you go, can you let everybody know, where they can find you online?

Mark Hemmings:

Yes. By all means. So if they want free photography lessons each day, Instagram at Mark Hemmings, and that's M-A-R-K-H-E-M-M-I-N-G-S. And also to see my, my whole collection of images, mark hemmings.com is my website. and if, if you're a Facebook user. It's facebook.com/mark hemmings photography. Make sure the photography's at the end because the Mark Hemings is my personal one, but the photography is the one where I share all my images with the free photography lessons.

All right. Today's action item being the thing that if you implement it today, will move the needle forward in your photography it is this hide your main subject. I know that sounds like the opposite of what you should be doing in photography, but, hear me out. There's probably a million photos taken every single day of something like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower, or, Yosemite Valley. It is our job as photographers to create something unique, something that will spark curiosity in your viewer, and we do that by kind of maybe not revealing everything at once. There is this shot in the movie, the Graduate. Okay, so the movie The Graduate came out in 1967. If you haven't watched it, please watch it. It's fantastic. There's the scene where Mrs. Robinson is in a bedroom and she's on the phone. And the way that the shot is set up is that, imagine that the camera's in the bathroom of that bedroom and we're looking through the door, but we don't fully see her. Like she's kind of obscured by the doorframe. And that technique to kind of obscure, the main subject there, was so unique at the time. People had never seen it before. And apparently everybody in the movie theater would kind of like tilt their head as if they were trying to get a better view. Like if they could move the view of the camera to see more of the subject. And what that is, is it's immersive. can do the same thing with your images by hiding your main subject. Now, I don't mean completely hide your main subject. I don't mean put a tree directly in front of the Eiffel Tower and photograph the tree with the Eiffel Tower behind it, where you can't, see the subject at all, but obscure it some. Hide it partially, use things like doors, use things like pee in the foreground, use things like shadows. Create a frame around the subject. Again, the point is to just capture something, that is unique that people don't see every day, because that will always spark curiosity in your viewer. Different is better than better, so be different. All right. That is it for today. Until next time, remember, the more that you shoot today, the better of a photographer you'll be tomorrow.