Lighting & Composition Tips with Bob Holmes - How to Capture that ‘National Geographic Style'

It was a great pleasure for me to have accompanied Bob Holmes when he visit Henry Cartier-Bresson exhibition in Porto, my hometown.

[@marcsilber]

I would have loved to have seen it Jose!

[@josephstanski5180]

"Story-telling" that's it - decisive moments - that's it - attention to detail to get those takes a good eye and patience and of course, knowledge of these, are what gives them their power to inform, inspire, and illuminate. I enjoy listening to you both, no matter how awkird this interview was. Thank you to you both.

[@marcsilber]

Yep those make an image stand out

[@dimitristsagdis7340]

Leaving us on a cliff hanger:-))

[@marcsilber]

Haha we have part 2 coming up soon

[@john_murch]

Bob Holmes has so much knowledge, I always learn something from him. When he talks about slowing down and paying attention to detail, this really resonates with me. I think I'm very slow when I shoot and I observe and wait for the right moment and "gesture" as I shoot film (usually MF) and I only take one shot for each scene. I look around at a lot of street photographers here, they run through the scene and blast through hundreds of frames and pick out a few good ones later. I am "intentional" which for me is much more important. BTW, I live in Japan...

[@marcsilber]

Fantastic!

[@Oenaiwolf]

I’ll go shoot for a day in the streets of London and come me away with maybe 10 frames and only post 1 or 2 online. You can check out my instagram @street.harrison I apply what bob says for my portraits and weddings: @harrison.galgut @portraits.harrison

[@holmesandjohnson]

I strongly believe photographs should be taken with intent. Nevertheless, if you find a really good situation, keep shooting until you have the shot. Memory is cheap!

[@john_murch]

@@holmesandjohnson Thanks Bob, your guidance based on your long experience is always welcome!

[@Oenaiwolf]

Bob Holmes I’ll often find a location with lovely light and camp and wait for the right moment and then pounce with the camera

[@dorkysaur]

This is gold, thank you so much.

[@marcsilber]

🙏

[@manuelcervantes4861]

this is astonishing!!! thanks from the heart

[@marcsilber]

🙏

[@marcsilber]

Thanks Bob for coming down, and I'm looking forward to your new course coming out! Be sure to check out Bob's Course and learn more about this fantastic opportunity here: courses.silberstudios.com/secrets-with-bob-holmes

[@outislandcinema2897]

Brilliant. I learned more in a hour of these videos than I ever picked up in the quote top 5 youtubers in photography. Absolutely amazing info and explained in a way they really sticks. Keep up the great work.

[@marcsilber]

Thanks! Wow! Honored

[@derek_boen]

Love the discussions on your channel...so glad I subscribed. I was just thinking that your shadows on the wall while the two of you were walking would make an interesting subject. Moments later Bob mentioned the same! Great stuff. Keep the posts coming!

[@marcsilber]

Will do and thanks for joining us!

[@sebastian_delanz]

The more I see the works from Bob and other masters, the more I realize you don't really need a big scene in front of your eyes or great gear to get a good image. Your better tool is yourself. If you can't see, you can't show. Hope one day I become half good just at seeing things. Meanwhile I'll keep watching KZbin videos.

[@marcsilber]

He does bring it to the basics of seeing and working with light. Stay tuned for his master class.

[@Korschmin]

"Do not need great gear..."? His gear are fantastic are you OK? $4K camera and $3K lens ... with $1K filter on it. You need your eyes check? ;-)

[@sebastian_delanz]

@@Korschmin Great gear makes your work easier and yourself more efficient as a photographer. Of course you need that to achieve as best results as possible when it comes to professional work, when your time and chances might be limited and you need a good tool for that. What I mean is: regardless of your equipment, if you are lacking of the main tool, which in this case is your own eye, whatever quality the outcome is, you could have a technically perfect shot, but not a great photo. By the way: I'm getting bankrupt myself by buying new stuff every now and then since I got into this fantastic world of photography. Gear matters, but it will not make the photo for you.

[@marcsilber]

@@sebastian_delanz so true!

[@holmesandjohnson]

@@Korschmin My gear now cost under $3000 total. I agree it's still expensive but I shoot a lot and need reliability. I could make the identical photographs on equipment that is less than half the price. It really is all about seeing.

[@chasingvenusfilmarts]

Superb talent featured here with a capital S. Thank you AYP!

[@marcsilber]

thanks so much!

[@hanei-sn2tv]

Amazing!! God bless you

[@marcsilber]

Thank you! You too!

[@pranavsaxena664]

Great video as always!👏👏👏 Thank you. What I think that composition is the key factor in photography.

[@marcsilber]

Yes with lighting they are the keys 🔑

[@holmesandjohnson]

Absolutely.

[@otavioleitefotografia]

Great!

[@marcsilber]

🙏

[@gui4j]

great interview , love these , this is such a great channel, and Marcs has some great books have read to 2 so far ..... where is this course you keeping speaking of ?

[@marcsilber]

Here are the courses courses.silberstudios.com/

[@gui4j]

@@marcsilber thanks marc

[@L.Spencer]

Do you arrange with the people beforehand that you want to photograph them? (Like the barber and the pizza makers.) Do you get model releases when you're taking pictures like that? Those shots look spontaneous to me, but I don't seem to be able to take pictures like that in public. It seems like you are taking very calculated, often staged shots but in a way that doesn't look programmed, they always look unique and often spontaneous.

[@holmesandjohnson]

I very, very rarely set up photographs of people. In the bakery, they obviously knew I was there but I stayed long enough for them to get used to my presence. I love working with wide lenses and becoming part of the action. The barber, on the other hand, was a grab shot. The only time I ask for model releases is if the client demands them.

[@L.Spencer]

@@holmesandjohnson Thank you very much! 🦋

[@PrasadPalaniyandi]

I love Bob's videos... a great teacher. What happened to his leg?

[@marcsilber]

Had a mishap running. He’ll be fine 😊

[@holmesandjohnson]

I injured my Achilles tendon back in July and I've been traveling so much, it never had time to heal so my doctor put me in a boot!

[@PrasadPalaniyandi]

@@holmesandjohnson wish you to get well soon Bob.. love to see your videos... Good luck....

[@holmesandjohnson]

@@PrasadPalaniyandi Thanks Prasad.

[@moderntimes4814]

Sir Bob what happened to your left leg? Wish you a fast recovery.

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

9:39 well look at that camera hanging off his shoulder, I think he’s using a Nikon Z like me ;-). Nice.

[@marcsilber]

Yep Z6. He loves it!

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

Advancing Your Photography I think they are underrated. I have the Z7 and I love it. Before this I had the Sony a7R3 and while that was a great camera, I like the Z7 even more. I finally feel like I don’t need to switch cameras for quite a while.

[@holmesandjohnson]

I love the Z6 and the Z lenses are outstanding. Just ordered the 70-200.

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

Bob Holmes I only have the 24-70 f4 for the Z7 but it’s outstanding so I can imagine how good the f/2.8 versions are.

[@holmesandjohnson]

@@ThePhotographyHobbyist That's what I have too. The 2.8 is too big and heavy for me - and too expensive!

[@techassyst]

Loooks like Bob has moved over to one of the Z cameras Nikon should use that in their pr

[@marcsilber]

They should. You’ll hear more in neece vid

[@dukeducan3669]

With all do respect , is lance doing ok ?

[@marcsilber]

He’s great. Busy as usual

[@dukeducan3669]

Advancing Your Photography thank you sir

[@2ifbysea]

5:13 This is funny- a non-photographer trying to suggest to a great photographer to come up with a composition that isn’t there.

[@marcsilber]

who's the non photographer?