This is the final installment of Image Making 101 by Sean Arbabi, aka “PhotoGuru” and author of The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure. (To see the previous installment about Exposure and Lighting, go here. To read about Composition, go here.)

FLASH

A common mistake people make when taking pictures outdoors is to assume there is so much light that they don’t need to utilize their flash. I often tell people, when photographing their family and friends outside (at a wedding, event, park, function), to always leave their flash on. The extra light fills in shadows on faces and is not only more flattering for the person being photographed (especially in mid-day sunny conditions), but also allows you to see their faces better in the final result. One way I like to use my camera’s flash is in backlit situations (mentioned earlier in this article). First I face the person away from the sun, which provides nice rim light on their hair and shoulders. Then I use my flash to provide even and complimentary light on their face. Just remember one thing when using your flash -- the light from your camera only travels 10-15 feet on average and anything further than that will not receive much extra light.

PHOTOGURU’S REMINDERS

Arnold Newman, yet another amazing photographer, once said “We do not take pictures with our cameras but with our hearts and minds.” Although this may not translate into a specific technique or a tangible way to creating a better photograph, the quote is significant because it tells us it is your creativity and communication of emotions that makes a great image, and not the one-eyed plastic box we call a camera. Yes, digital cameras are great, but they do not create better images, your eye does.

SIDE BAR

The Workshop Fix: Want to learn more but don’t have the time to go back to school? A photographic workshop may be your solution. I love teaching workshops especially in wonderful locations such as Santa Fe, California’s Wine Country, and the windy city of Chicago. They offer an enjoyable platform to learn more about photography directly from an instructor while sharing similar interests with kindred spirits. Whether taking a one-day class, a weekend workshop, or a week-long course, you have the chance to gain knowledge and then use that newfound wisdom in the field when sharing in the camaraderie with other students. And in the day and age of the Internet, you now also have the chance to take courses online, and the PhotoGuru will begin offering classes on the web starting in October, through a company called BetterPhoto.com.

On the web: For Sean Arbabi’s Workshop page, click here.

Visit Sean Arbabi's web site here and for his PhotoGuru website go here (for how-to info, articles, equipment recommendations, and step-by-step instructions for fun photo projects).

If you're curious to know more about Sean Arbabi, his biography and photo now appear on Koloist in the right hand side bar under Contributors. (Click on his name.)

This Memorial Day in the U.S., we take a break from our busy work week to pause and honor the men and women who gave their lives in military service.

We remember.

Thank you, Hildi, for being kind enough to share these photographs of your father's World War II scrapbook.

This is an excerpt from the poem On a Soldier Fallen in the Philippines by William Vaughn Moody. It was written in 1899. Sadly, it is still relevant today.

Streets of the roaring town,
Hush for him, hush, be still!
He comes, who was stricken down
Doing the word of our will.
Hush! Let him have his state,
Give him his soldier's crown.
The grists of trade can wait
Their grinding at the mill,
But he cannot wait for his honor, now the trumpet has been blown.
Wreathe pride now for his granite brow, lay love on his breast of stone.

Toll! Let the great bells toll
Till the clashing air is dim.
Did we wrong this parted soul?
We will make it up to him.
Toll! Let him never guess
What work we set him to.
Laurel, laurel, yes;
He did what we bade him do.
Praise, and never a whispered hint but the fight he fought was good;
Never a word that the blood on his sword was his country's own heart's-blood.

For the entire poem, go here.

Go here for information about proper storage of newspaper clippings.

Congratulations to the folks at c!ty’s super’s popular lifestyle shop LOG-ON for creating this fun, inviting, and creatively inspirational new photography section in their brand new LOG-ON APM store in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong.

We all have Patrick Ng to thank for his vision, a guy who “thinks like a man of action, acts like a man of thoughts” -- he’s been pushing for this department for several years, and finally has the satisfaction of seeing his plan implemented. His idea was to create a “retail collage,” gathering products “related to analog, film, album, frame, photography, Polaroid camera and films, lighters, key chains, Instax, Lomo, Superheadz, prisms, etc.” Now the retail bar is raised. Way to go.

Check out Patrick’s blog Scription, Thoughts On Stationery and Beyond for more store images and a discussion about this magnificent new section at LOG-ON APM. You can see an earlier Koloist post about LOG-ON here.

And if you are in Hong Kong, be sure to stop into LOG-ON APM to check out this new store and new photography section. If you do, please share your thoughts and impressions on Patrick’s blog and Koloist.

Oneironauts are people who can lucidly dream. That is, they can control the characters and environment in their dreams, as well as their own actions within their dreams. The occurrence of lucid dreaming has been scientifically verified.

Research also shows that most of us spend about six years of our lives dreaming. And that 12% of people dream only in black and white. And that around the world, people dream of mostly the same things, such as running slowly in place, being chased, falling, embarrassing moments, teeth falling out and falling in love with random people.

But perhaps the most satisfying of all dream study and analysis comes to us from the art world. Nothing can move us or describe our spiritual, creative and subconscious existence the way art can. It's no wonder that people have been exploring dreams through art since the beginning of recorded history.

For thousands of years, Native Americans have woven twigs, sinew and feathers into dream catchers to encourage peaceful, beautiful dreams and harness the "good forces" while foiling the bad.

In 1691, German artist Michael Leopold Lukas Willmann painted Landscape With the Dream of Jacob, depicting the ancient Biblical story, Jacob’s Ladder, about a dream in which angels travel upon a ladder that stretches between Heaven and earth.

In the 20th century, Spanish artist Salvador Dalí gave us the surrealistic painting Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. Through symbolism, the work visually describes the phenomenon “dream incorporation,” in which external stimuli -- such as sounds -- can penetrate our subconscious state and affect our dreams before waking us.

Another artist who explores the subject of dreaming is our own modern-day Lie Fhung, who hails from Indonesia and currently resides in Hong Kong. With these images above, Fhung treats us to a glimpse of her latest artwork in progress, the first in a collection of "portals" she calls Dream Archives. She is creating it with Kolo Havana Boxes in her Discovery Bay art studio. Previously, Fhung had cut a hole into the lid of the box...

...Now I have screwed in a brass bookplate with a pull... You can get a tiny glimpse of what is inside... It's sort of like when you are trying to remember a dream you just had the night before...

More about this project next week, as it progresses. (To see the first stage of Dream Archives, go here. To read about Fhung’s experience cutting a hole in the lid of a Kolo Havana Box, go here.)

See more of Fhung's work on her sites here and here.

And for a more erudite discussion of dreams, check out Wikipedia's meaty entry here. But beware, it is fascinating and you could get lost in link land there.

Ever kick yourself because a shot you took that should have been great came out lousy, just ‘cause you really don’t know how to work your camera?

This group of California women Just Aren’t Gonna Take It Anymore. They signed up for Jules Bianchi’s Moms With Cameras workshop, and last week, under the tutelage of this accomplished wedding and lifestyle portrait photographer, learned the ins and outs of their own cameras, and tips and techniques for taking better photographs.

Jules Bianchi’s Moms With Cameras workshops are co-sponsored by Kolo and Tamrac Carrying Systems. Every participant receives a complimentary Kolo Noci album and more. For more about this recent workshop in Pacific Palisades, go here, and to learn about upcoming workshops, go here. The next workshop will take place in San Francisco.

Check out Jules’ site here.