Jack Neubart

“Every Picture Tells a Story.” You’ve no doubt heard Rod Stewart’s song, but, as you head out the door with your camera, do you ever stop to mull over what these words mean? What, you ask yourself, am I saying with each frame? Do I need to shoot more frames to fashion the message I want the world to see and hear? And finally, you may be asking yourself, do I need to bathe the pictures in a wash of words or should I let them speak for themselves?

For Jess Findlay, outdoor photography was a natural. Growing up in British Columbia (BC), Canada, surrounded by lush landscapes, enthralling wilderness, and birds of every feather, nature called to him every time he stepped outside, spurred on by family activities that included hiking, mountain biking, and birdwatching. As a young child, he would buy disposable cameras for family outings, and that only whet his appetite for the photographic arts. Before he knew it, he was thoroughly immersed. Nature and photography were on converging paths, meeting at a crossroads that would mark his future forever.

A colorful dragonfly alighted on a tree branch adjacent to the patio, so I went inside to grab my Nikon D300 and attached a Tamron 70-300mm lens. With strong backlighting, flash fill was mandatory, so I added an SB-900 speedlight to the mix.

Dividing his time between his New York City and Paris studios, photographer Adam Savitch specializes in still life and motion studies for advertising and editorial clients, often with an avant-garde mindset. When it comes to lighting, Savitch believes in the old adage “less is more.” He doesn’t throw a light at every nook and cranny of his tabletop sets. Instead he mostly employs only one light and finesses its effect on the subject.