In addition to his Angkor work, McDermott has continued his fine art project throughout Southeast Asia, focusing on ancient temples and cultural heritage sites. He now lives with his wife and son in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he founded three galleries that exhibit the work of Cambodian artists and photographers working across Asia.

John McDermott’s work is on display as part of the permanent collection at the National Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  His photographs are held in private collections worldwide and have been printed in numerous books and publications, including    Time, Newsweek, The International Herald Tribune, and The New York Times.  He continues to photograph around the world, and his latest project will take him to Kenya and Tanzania.

You can find John’s website and gallery HERE.

Check out all the other Depth of Field HERE. Plus you can download them off of iTunes HERE.

Esther Havens and Moses in Rwanda

In this Depth of Field I speak with Esther Havens. Ether Havens is a Humanitarian Photographer. She captures stories that transcend a person’s circumstances and reveal their true strength. For many years she has worked on social-awareness campaigns with organizations such as charity: water, TOMS Shoes, Concern Worldwide and A Glimmer of Hope. Her images compel thought and challenge action. She has traveled to over 45 nations in the last 10 years — and she’ll keep going until she sees that every person on the planet has access to education and clean drinking water. At heart, she is a connector, fostering relationships across continents, cultures, industries and perspectives. While not traveling, Esther calls Austin, Texas home.

This interview is destined to be a classic. Esther and I have been trying to set up this for over a year. When we finally got our schedules to match up we made up for lost time. Esther speaks openly and frankly from her heart and shares her concerns of the current trends in humanitarian photography. She speaks honestly about her values and where she thinks the ethical line should be in this type of photography. She is unabashedly a Christian and views the world from this point of view. This interview is full of opinions and thoughts that will no doubt challenge anyone interested in photographing the poor and less fortunate of this world.

Check out Esther Havens’ photo stories and website HERE. Follow here on Twitter HERE.

As promised, here are some of the organizations and websites that Esther is passionate about. Please take some time and check them out and see what they are doing. You can check out Esther’s work on these sites as well.

The Adventure Project
Raven + Lily
Africa New Life
charity: water
A Glimmer of Hope
Concern Worldwide

Check out this other interview by Blake Mycoskie of TOMS

A personal note from Esther Havens:

I know these are my opinions and not everyone will agree with me. I just want everyone to know that this is where I’m at right now and I am growing everyday as a storyteller and believer in Jesus. I don’t think it’s wrong to have beautiful imagery of people on your website. I just have a huge problem with poverty porn (starving children w/ flies, evoked sadness) I feel like the least we can do for those who live in poverty is let their name and story be known and give them dignity in an image. I don’t have names for every single person I’ve met, but I sure do try my best. There are those images you just have to shoot and “capture the moment” before it’s gone. I get it. But why is that moment so important to us? Is it worth damaging a relationship? When we walk around in a developing country with a camera, what is going through our minds. Do we seek to build relationships or look for the best shot for our websites? It’s time to change things with our camera and I believe the start is not to use poverty for our own gain. It’s time to do heart checks and make sure we are in the right place before we step on a plane to a place we’ve never been before. I am with you in all of this and learning every single day from the mistakes I’ve made and the people it’s hurt along the way. My hope is that I grow to a place where I can truly give myself up for others. To see their needs above my own.

It has been some time since the last Depth of Field. My apologies for that. I think this will make up for it. A native Texan, Stacy Pearsall joined the US Air Force in 1997. After serving in Nebraska and then later in England she was assigned to the 1st Combat Camera Squad. Now retired, this former Staff Sargent combat photographer became a two-time winner  of the Military Photographer of the Year award (the only woman ever to win it twice), has stared her own business and was even featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Not only is Stacy an amazing photographer she is a hero in the truest form of the word. During her three tours in Iraq, she earned the Bronze Star Medal and Commendation with Valor for heroic actions under fire.

In this interview I speak with Stacy about how she became a photographer and what a combat photographer does. She tells us stories about her time in Iraq and what she is doing now. Whether you are an American or not, if you are photographer, this will be an interesting listen.

Checkout her portfolio HERE

Follower her on Twitter @StacyPearsall

Her Blog HERE

Her FaceBook HERE

Visit the Charleston Center for Photography HERE

Deanne grew up in Massachusetts, but moved to San Francisco to be an art student, before taking up photography. Deanne worked at the San Francisco Examiner, later moving to its rival the San Francisco Chronicle. Deanne has a passion for humanitarian documentary photography for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.  As a staff photographer for 20 years at the San Francisco Chronicle she has experience photographing a wide range of subjects including news, politics, sports, and entertainment. Assignments include Super Bowls, Baseball World Series, photographing politicians President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton.

Deanne is one of 13 photographers chosen internationally to be a a member of Microsoft’s prestigious Icons of Imaging program. She is a co-founder of Think Tank Photo, makers of some of the industry’s best camera bags. You can view her work at her website and blog. A taste of her multimedia work titled Family Kocktail can be found at MediaStorm.

Visit Bambi’s portfolio HERE and her blog HERE.

You can find the complete list of Depth of Field podcasts HERE or you can subscribe to them on iTunes HERE.

I just finished my first ever Introduction to Photography course here in Penang this morning. I had eight students with varied experience, all gather at my house around my dining table for a look into how to get the best out of their cameras. I must say, three hours seemed more like three minutes. But with the help of a snazzy (I must say) Keynote presentation, we were able to stay on task yet answer most of the questions and still have some time left for some practical work. I had wanted to take everyone to the beach to shoot, but it rained rather hard here this morning. So, when it stopped for a few minutes, we ran into the road in front of my house and shot some mini-assignments. The aim was not to take pictures of the beach, but to practice what we covered in class. So we were still able to accomplish that. In fact, I must say I was quite impressed with the images they came up with right on my road. It just goes to show, a good photo is made not taken.

In the three short hours we were able to cover the basics:

1. how to hold your camera
2. button and dials
3. the exposure triangle
4. aperture (depth of field)
5. shutter speed (motion)
6. ISO
7. exposure compensation
8. basic composition:
   • rule of thirds
   • uses of lines
   • negative space
9. plus a myriad of trick and tips

The students seemed pleased. One student wrote,

“Thanks! I love the course. I learned a lot about the artistry rather than just aperture/shutter speed etc…”

If you’re a new photographer or know someone that would have benefited from this three hour introduction but missed it, don’t fret! I’m running the same course this Wednesday, December 15th from 9am till 12pm. There are still plenty of spaces for this Wednesday’s course. Just email or call me (+60 164908704) for information or registration. It is a great value for only RM 150 or $47.  Join the fun!

David Honl’s images have appeared in such publications as Newsweek, People Magazine, New York Times, Professional Photographer, and countless more. He has visited all the exciting places, you know, the places where flack jackets are the norm. In his other life, David is the originator & designer of the world-renowned line of HonlPhoto small flash accessories, and he continues to design and field test new products during his travels.

In this interview, David and I speak about his time in the field shooting as a journalist as well as his transition back to the US. We discusses how he came up with his lighting system, and how sites like PhotoShelter have helped him become more efficient with his clients.

You can find the complete list of Depth of Field podcasts HERE or you can subscribe to them on iTunes HERE.

You can find the complete list of Depth of Field podcasts HERE or you can subscribe to them on iTunes HERE.

His passion is for travel and reportage photography, especially recording the more humanitarian aspects of life. Being based in Cairo has allowed an unparalleled and privileged view into the lives or ordinary Egyptians. This led Marco to follow the work of many humanitarian photographers like, yours truly, David duChemin, Gavin Gough and others. Once hooked by the humanitarian side of photography, Marco quickly saw the problems. He saw very talented photographers unable to express their vision. Not being called on by NGOs, that actually needed these photographer’s images. He wanted to both help the photographer as well as help the NGO. So, Marco along with his friend, Loren Roberts, decided to go out on a limb and start a grant organization that would provide photographers with the needed funds to provide a leg-up in the field of humanitarian photography. This was the beginnings of Focus For Humanity. You will be hearing more on this in the interview below, as well as in next Fridays blog post. I know you will find this interview as interesting and challenging as all the Depth of Fields. In this interview Marco not only speaks about Focus For Humanity, he also give us a free seminar on marketing and SEO for the photographer. This is a valuable listen.

Take a few moments and drop by her blog. Just reading a few of the post you see the honesty that comes out. She talks about her work, her struggles with clients, her husband and yes, even her dog, Polo. For someone who picked up a camera just a few short years ago she is amazingly talented.  The only thing I have against Jasmine is that this interview costs me about $1500. Jasmine is in love with the 50 mm 1.2 lens and her love was infectious. After the interview I played with the 50mm 1.4 while in India and new I had to get the 1.2. I did and I love it but, OUCH!

I think you’ll enjoy this interview as much as I did.  Just stay away from Amazon.com afterwards.