How a Nat Geo Photographer Selects the Best Images from a Shoot | Whittle Down

How a Nat Geo Photographer Selects the Best Images from a Shoot | Whittle Down | WIRED

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Күн бұрын

Steve Winter has been a contributing wildlife photographer with National Geographic for over 20 years. As a wildlife photographer, Steve always has tons of photographs to sift through, and eventually whittle down. Watch as Steve lays out how he actually goes about choosing the perfect photograph.
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How a Nat Geo Photographer Selects the Best Images from a Shoot | Whittle Down | WIRED

Пікірлер: 320

@TonyisToking 2 жыл бұрын

I’m surprised and intrigued by his method. Sometimes an over/underexposed shot has great framing. I often will keep it based on that alone. If you’re shooting in the right digital format, you can do a lot in Lightroom to fix it.

@katarinajanoskova 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. I was thinking the same. It so often happens that I shoot something and it's not well exposed as I had the settings for previous frame/place but looks good so often I quickly edit all ok looking photos first before going to another round of pruning.

@Irnbruist 2 жыл бұрын

wanted to say exactly the same, wtf this pictures taken with a moderately new camera are more than workable and I would rather take one of this if the composition and moment is good than just look at the technical „perfect“ ones…

@JR_Taylor 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, my first pass is exposure correction.

@JuanLuisBst 2 жыл бұрын

I think they do it like that just for the show or something

@JR_Taylor 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe it's all an early April fools

@LesBubbles0 2 жыл бұрын

A lot of comments seem to mention keeping over exposed/under exposed photos. While yes, these can be fixed in post, the wildlife photography (and sometimes even other professional photography competitions) have a no-editing policy, making it about the photographer in the field rather than the editor and post processing. That is why his first round is eliminating technically faulty pictures.

@TheGoodContent37 2 жыл бұрын

The photographer can be the editor as well. It's only a purist perspective. Putting restrictions when they are not necessary. To some this is commendable to others is just dumb. Both are right.

@USGrant21st 2 жыл бұрын

You know what I say about stupid policies? -- Screw them.

@stefpix 2 жыл бұрын

Adjusting the exposure is allowed. It is not really altering the photo. Many photos on nat geo have the shadows pushed. Those photos under or over exposed were pretty close to a correct exposure

@mantenbrink 2 жыл бұрын

You can't really exclude editing nowadays. If you shoot raw photo's there's already going to be a difference if you open in Lightroom or another app like Capture One, both programs have their own interpretation of what the colors and contrast should look like. This makes it basically impossible to get the perfect realistic colors out of camera, as even capturing as a jpeg is the camera brand their interpretation of the color and contrast.

@ljcbvideo 5 ай бұрын

No editing doesn't mean no processing!

@kevinluongo417 2 жыл бұрын

Wired stays answering the questions I didn’t know I needed the answers to

@Iammaissa 2 жыл бұрын

I just love it! I need to meet the people that come up with the videos’ idea

@lizzie404 2 жыл бұрын

@joshualane1716 2 жыл бұрын

It’s so much simpler for me. If I take 112 photos, 105 of them are absolutely worthless. The other seven are usually varying degrees mediocre, and I just choose the least embarrassing one. If all else feels, I leave the whole pile on a hard drive and never look at them again.

@marquez2447 2 жыл бұрын

Wisdom leaks out of you

@jccjccjoanne 2 жыл бұрын

My story exactly. I keep 10% of my shots. My keep ratio was higher when it comes to film photography.

@CT1010101 2 жыл бұрын

I feel seen.

@CyrilPadiou 2 жыл бұрын

I feel you, sincerely

@sfowler1017 2 жыл бұрын

I think the city one is a better story...but he's right photographically the one he chose is best. Great to see his process!

@TonyisToking 2 жыл бұрын

I agree with both of you. Sometimes there is something there but is not 100% there. I think the photo you’re talking about was almost the perfect shot, but I understand that stubbornness when you realize that something is off. I have a feeling he explained his feelings much more than was shown in this video. Editors seemed to cut a lot.

@speakertomeat 2 жыл бұрын

Yet in the city one I like how the darker city colors give better contrast to the cat's light coloring. In the chosen one the cat almost blends with the background.

@brycedelany8211 2 жыл бұрын

I love this video. It perfectly demonstrates that what makes a good photographer isn’t just what they can do with a camera but how they analyse their images after the shoot and being able to identify the good images.

@RSpudieD 2 жыл бұрын

That's really interesting and not at all what I expected him to pick. I like how much thought and explanation each decision has.

@senoir. 2 жыл бұрын

He really had me in the first half with that final choice.

@annap9222 2 жыл бұрын

I love the overall minimalist feel in the final photo and appreciate the subtle details in the light pouring in through the windows. Great choice and great video!

@ericcarabetta1161 2 жыл бұрын

I would have gone the other way, the all white photo doesn't have enough contrast and the cat gets lost, the building one tells more of a story and the cat feels like a part of it.

@aboucher0319 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah that was the biggest issue for me through the whole thing. Some of those might have been way better with contrast, but the white fur against a white background seemed to be asking for trouble.

@colette8022 2 жыл бұрын

@@aboucher0319 As someone who loves minimalistic high key photography I loved all of the photos framing the cat mostly with the white wall. There's less clutter to the eye so you can spot the subject quite quickly.

@aboucher0319 2 жыл бұрын

@@colette8022 admittedly, I'd like to see them up close and in person. Blown up, would also likely make a difference. Without contrast between subject and background, and in small format, there's less distraction for the viewer, but I also just get less context and detail in the subject. On the KZfaq video, it just makes a less compelling photo in my opinion. At a bigger print size in person, though, I can see this being quite stunning.

@CookieSmut 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder if his decision would have been different if the assignment was portraiture and not wildlife photography

@sfowler1017 2 жыл бұрын

I'm the same but given the length of his career I think his instincts aren't going to lean that way.

@mats7492 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting for me as an amateur photograph.. Would’ve picked the other one though..

@veselchaq 2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more. Monotone background has no dialogue with the chromatic persona, besides, it's a tad sloppy dynamically.

@--Arthur 2 жыл бұрын

Could say that about literally anything he picked. We're not looking at the same picture after all😂

@Naxter 2 жыл бұрын

@@veselchaq im pretty sure he was thinking about some sort of high key idea, gives the impression of a "out of this world" or "godly" feel to the thing photographed

@FinancialShinanigan 2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad this video isn't underexposed.

@victorpeters589 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe it has to do with video compression or the brightness of the video, but it seemed to me the the photographer got rid of some over or under exposed photos in the first 'round', but later in the culling process still had images on the board that could just as well be considered over or under exposed as the ones he got rid of in the first 'round'.

@thestamsvideoproduction7427 2 жыл бұрын

This content is golden. Too many times I go through photography albums and find loads of identical shots

@LimitedWard 2 жыл бұрын

This was really enlightening! I think he made the right choice in the end. It still tells plenty of story, just not the one we were primed for.

@circeus 2 жыл бұрын

"And I don't like the look on its face it's kinda evil". What. Evil resting face is one of the best features of the average cat!

@vimalalwaysrocks 2 жыл бұрын

I could see Mr.Steve saying "bye-bye" to all the images in my camera right now... His criteria for good images is excellent.

@terrancebrown87 2 жыл бұрын

Great topic. Whoever came up with this one deserves a lil bonus.

@bradley9856 2 жыл бұрын

One of your best videos yet. Very nice

@BlueBeBlue 2 жыл бұрын

10:16 loved the above picture, i think the pose of the cat, the shadow on the wall, the tail constrasting with the background, the lightning, everything is spot on. The only think i can argue is the lack of a history, but the prettiest one is this one imo Edit: I thought about it, and the lack of a history really affects the overall product, is it pretty? Yes. Is it appealing? No. So yeah, after deeply analyzing I agree with him. What do you think?

@JuanLuisBst 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I like more the first one, but imo the cat is too much close to the frame, so idk

@skiingcrocodile2153 2 жыл бұрын

I've been in this situation many many times! It's interesting to see how an actual professional deals with the issue. One thing's for sure, analog photography makes this a lot easier on me!! 🤣

@etoinedevries7583 2 жыл бұрын

We actually just saw a television program with a competition between 10 famous dutch persons. It was about photography and the winner will have a photoshoot for a National Geographics magazine, really cool

@Alice-ui9oy 2 жыл бұрын

I love the one he chose- definetly my favourite out of all the ones we were shown.

@timz9862 2 жыл бұрын

“I don’t like the look on it’s face. It looks evil.” - That’s called a cat.

@kennethkho7165 2 жыл бұрын

Cats are evil

@CluelessYoutuber 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting perspective to see which one is a keeper out of all the shots taken. Never thought of it that way, but I suppose since I mostly shoot in digital cameras, a lot of the flaws on exposure and framing can be fixed with digital editing and cropping somehow.

@Mjao519 2 жыл бұрын

Really cool concept!

@omomos 2 жыл бұрын

These videos put a smile on my face every day! :D

@Selena1010 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting I would have chosen the other image because I think the white of the cat blends into the white background

@themysteryguy192 2 жыл бұрын

Same

@SevenHunnid 2 жыл бұрын

I smoke weed everyday so I decided to make my habit into something productive so now i smoke weed on my KZfaq channel xD #beproductive

@OMtNI 2 жыл бұрын

I agree, it has a wonderful graphical feel and movement.

@christianherzog76 2 жыл бұрын

So good! Keep it coming 🙌🙏🇧🇷

@tseneelin5466 2 жыл бұрын

Why was this so exciting aaaAA I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!! so cool hearing his thought process behind everything (I can be such a hoarder when it comes to selecting photos HAHAH so this was really insightful!)

@justlisten82 2 жыл бұрын

Aww I thought he was going to pick the one I liked the most! Mine was the one not chosen in the last 2.

@jezelf2774 2 жыл бұрын

Composition is first criteria for my eliminations. Then capturing the moment that was a chance or rare event if the exposure could be improved in post. It then becomes subjective of course; I would have tried to shoot a back view of the cat looking out the window at the city like he's trapped or its his domain - both final images are great but for me, his final one has distracting leaning vertical lines on the right ( my ocd would want them more vertically straight ) and the cat is lost in the white environment, but I do love the asymmetry. The city backdrop would be my choice...but would have to 'content aware' fill to remove the reflection of the light...or rather look out for it in the view finder and move it for another shot. But I'm just another armchair critic - each to their own, its what makes everyone's artistic expressions valid. Great video and I learnt some things.

@blotchilim1980 2 жыл бұрын

I have so much more respect for wildlife photopragphers after watching his thought process 🙏🏼 And to think that he started on analog camera, i'm so awed!

@phantsa 2 жыл бұрын

Very cool to hear his reasoning!

@MichaelSeneschal 2 жыл бұрын

As a photographer I find this super informative and fascinating.

@jessandrade8863 2 жыл бұрын

I really liked that picture as well. I learned so much!

@HappyPineapple99 Жыл бұрын

As an mateur photograher this was so interesting to watch. Thank you Steve for taking the time to show us your thoughtful process.

@katy8605 2 жыл бұрын

this was great

@yay-cat 2 жыл бұрын

oooo great video!! please do some more edit type videos with say landscape or street/portraits 🙏

@Valentine-du8fx 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video 📹

@randyschwager2515 8 ай бұрын

Very interesting! Good learning opportunity! Thanks for taking me along!

@marvinphotog8602 2 жыл бұрын

This is super great info.

@1.4142 2 жыл бұрын

Now do "How a video editor edits wired videos".

@xdfckt2564 2 жыл бұрын

Bye Bye

@massetozacarias5693 2 жыл бұрын

first ask the dipshit director who said "let's fix it at post", transcode footages to DNXHQ or ProRes codec, make proxies and do the editing there

@LeggyQ 2 жыл бұрын

Great vid

@raminizadpanah8229 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent Choice........wonderful processing .

@VeraYve 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting to see how he select the photos! Thank you

@valeria_sue777 2 жыл бұрын

Evil little kitty going in for a kill🤣🤣🤣

@AllDayBikes 2 жыл бұрын

That satisfaction when he picks the same one you did haha

@WouldntULikeToKnow. 2 жыл бұрын

When I was young I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic. This was fascinating, thank you

@Juanico259 2 жыл бұрын

great video

@TheFailLord72 Жыл бұрын

Good to see you Steve. Keep the magic going, release the wonder 🫡

@TTV_Vela600 2 жыл бұрын

An amazing masterclass 👊🏻😎

@phyowonna5742 2 жыл бұрын

I just had a photo shoot lecture😄thanks

@chandlersampson 2 жыл бұрын

Love him!

@svetoslavpavlov2012 2 жыл бұрын

At the moment in which the last image showed up on the wall with other 6-7 images i knew that it will be the keeper nice one.

@Vikram-wx4hg 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! Editing is one of the most important parts of creating an image and perhaps the toughest.

@JuanLopez-hz2sl 2 жыл бұрын

Gracias!

@tw9535 2 жыл бұрын

This was kind of odd. When you have the chance to create your own lighting, which they were doing, you have control over: (1) balancing foreground to background to whatever degree you desire, and (2) separation of subject and background however you like. Not much explanation for exposures (which are easily fixed anyway) to be all over the place or for a final image with so little separation for the subject.

@notyrpapa 2 жыл бұрын

Totally agree - perhaps it's because he's not used to working in a studio. And I've found certain photographers tends to be a bit old skool in avoiding editing software - maybe he's one of them. I don't think this is very useful advice for digital photography, though, given that it's so easy to fix exposure. Saying that, his photos were great, and I did find the final choice was an interesting composition.

@notyrpapa 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, I was surprised he only had 124 photos out of a professional shoot. That's about 15 minutes of shooting?

@tw9535 2 жыл бұрын

@@polygoncoco I tend to agree. For demonstrational purposes you do need a variety to show a culling process. Still, not sure why the final images weren't a little "different". That would not have negated the culling demonstration at all. And I am sure whoever loaned them the cat would not have minded. But also at the end of the day that is another important lesson. If the cat is 100% happy with the results and the cat owner is 100% happy with the results then the shoot goes down as a winner.

@DanteYewToob 2 жыл бұрын

I think you missed the point. He was demonstrating being a *wildlife photographer* which is entirely different than a portraiture photographer. In the savannah or jungle you have no control over light, or what the animal will do. You just hope for the best and keep shooting. Yeah, they were in a photo studio… but that’s not where he normally works. That was just the shooting location for this video and not a representation of his typical shoots. This was all just an example to show how to deal with a very unpredictable and uncontrollable situation, nature and animals combined is just mayhem for a photographer trying to capture still images.

@tw9535 2 жыл бұрын

@@DanteYewToob @danteelite That is not even close to being true. If he wanted to "demonstrate being a wildlife photographer" then he would have just done that. Outside. The video was about establishing a culling process on a group of images.

@Piexus_ 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Mr. Winter super intresting!

@midnightblooming 2 жыл бұрын

me choosing a selfie to post:

@Mayanstudios 2 жыл бұрын

Love the whole concept of this video! Great information in a silly setting, and who doesn't love cats!

@kaoru6977 2 жыл бұрын

he was a master on his own field truly a professional

@blueballoon2026 2 жыл бұрын

"You don't want to look down on an animal unless you're admiring it's paws."

@noahbartlett2832 2 жыл бұрын

man's last 8 photos are better than anything I've ever even shot

@murgoimarius8816 2 жыл бұрын

He is so good that one of his last two photos had the flash reflection in the window. LOL

@janaktekcham5875 2 жыл бұрын

cat having the time of its life

@chrispeden979 2 жыл бұрын

Culling is one of the things I struggle with because I like so much. It’s interesting to see his process and explanation. In the end he did not pick what I would have though.

@cici_julja 2 жыл бұрын

in the era of selfies and smartphone cameras we take tons of pictures. but the storage is limited so now i start to select better pictures. and my main consideration is always story (lighting etc, that's an additional things). like is the picture telling me a story? will it spark conversation/recall with my loved ones when we go back to it again?

@JogieGlenMait16 2 жыл бұрын

It's Steve Winter, baby! Nice!

@victorialopes4134 2 жыл бұрын

Lovely 😍

@ACArsyady 2 жыл бұрын

I thought the first filter would be the focus. It tells the story more than other elements and it can't (or at least is hard to) be fixed

@pimlico3225 2 жыл бұрын

I would have picked the same one between the last two but I might be biased, haha

@gjune36 2 жыл бұрын

7:52 my favorite

@yakked 2 жыл бұрын

"Every day is a school day." Well said.

@ronnymesias7788 2 жыл бұрын

Now I don’t feel bad for taking a lot of under/over exposed pics lmaoo

@ay8788 2 жыл бұрын

i love how he talks lol

@colinstu 2 жыл бұрын

I'm surprised by the winning picture. The all white background causes the cat to almost get lost in the picture. There's no definition or separation of the subject and background. This surely could've been fixed with some rim lighting etc / better flash setup... but if you have to go off what pics he took, I think his second pic was better.

@bali2633 2 жыл бұрын

He talked like a pro for 12 minutes and at the end chose the image that is kind of empty. I liked the image number 2 (which he threw at the end) and the image where he compares the initials to.

@sanphotos 2 жыл бұрын

the one he threw at the end has many elements, the buildings are distracting. the one he picked will most likely photographers' choice. It is minimalistic and intriguing. I would have picked that too if I were to chose.

@Kevin14henrY 2 жыл бұрын

*I think the finalist is the best.* 👍🏻

@ricardoyan7657 2 жыл бұрын

Gut instinct!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I can relate to that!!

@savethedandelions 2 жыл бұрын

yes! i picked the 'right' one!

@natsukashiiohayo1150 2 жыл бұрын

Catto! 0:59 I love the last picture that he took down more than his final choice. The hard edges of the cityscapes against the softness of the flufffloofy cat and the rounded cushion it is sitting on. The lighting of that second to last picture is great too.

@MaxRideout 2 жыл бұрын

The only thing that woulda made me pick the other of the last two images is how dirty the edges of the white boxes are; I love the shadows, geometry, and expression, but if I couldn't clean those edges up in editing, I'd definitely choose the other one.

@r.d.collins9837 2 жыл бұрын

I like both photos, but to choose I'd need to do some cropping of both photos to eliminate the unnecessary and distracting elements.

@carminemartino1197 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting

@seralegre 2 жыл бұрын

for me is the hardest thing in photography. Being a photographer for 13 years and is where i struggle the most.

@Something125_ 2 жыл бұрын

Cool

@David-jh6kf 2 жыл бұрын

he said “we don’t know what it’s doing or where it’s at” exactly what he said he was looking for the whole time lol 🤦‍♂️

@bl2005 2 жыл бұрын

I'm gonna take this as generic rule for taking a picture nxt time..thanks wired!

@samuelalexander321 2 жыл бұрын

me: that’s lookin purrfec… dude: under under and under, bye bye. me:

@Jim1971a 10 ай бұрын

The second last image was better in my opinion. The white cat blends in with the white background on the one he chose, and there’s too much empty space on the left, and the cat is on the right and looking out of the frame. I’m a photographer.