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Annie Leibovitz talks about the art of photography, the transition from film to digital photography, and how the content of your photo is more important than the camera that you’ve used.

Above: Image by Gina Milicia, Magda Szubanski photographed for Foxtel magazine

When I was 14, all the popular kids were getting mullet haircuts. I wanted to be like the popular kids, so I cut my waist-length hair to a mullet.

“Business in the front, party at the back.”

When I was 18, I wanted to be Madonna, so I bleached my hair.

I spent the next 5 years foisting every form of chemical abuse onto my poor fried and battered hair.

I took the same approach with my photography. I jumped on every cliche trend there was. I measured the success of my images by how similar they were to what the popular kids were doing.

I soon realised, adopting every photography mullet and applying them to my photos was not going to make my work better.

The effect was quite the opposite. My work looked like everyone else’s.

My photos didn’t need a perm, frosted highlights or a Mohawk, trying to be like everyone else made my work invisible. I soon discovered that the best way to stand out is to . . .

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.” ― James Clear

Use this diagram I created as a guide to finding your lenses sweet spot.

There’s this famous urban legend about a woman who has this lump growing on the side of her face and when she finally goes to the doctor he cuts it open with a scalpel and millions of baby spiders crawl all over her face. Then there’s the other urban legend about F8 being the sharpest f-stop on every lens.

The first was made up to scare the crap out of us about spiders and the second may have been true for lenses built last century but certainly doesn’t apply to digital lenses.

The truth is not all lenses are created equal and the ‘sweet spot” or aperture setting the will create the sharpest image will vary from lens to lens. (If you really want to geek out on this subject and find out the science behind lens sharpness check out Ken Rockwell’s blog)

So here’s the non-techy lowdown on lens sharpness

So just to clarify, by sharpness I mean actual focus sharp not the depth of field sharp.

. . .

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

The most common question I’m asked is what gear do I need to take the best photos? There is no doubt that specific lenses will help you take technically better photos. High-end cameras will help you take higher-resolution images. I believe that these are not the most essential qualities in taking great pictures.

Whenever I eat a great meal, my first thought isn’t hmmm I wonder what kind of oven this was baked in or what knives the chef used to slice the ingredients with. Great meals are not created because a chef used great tools. Great meals are created because of the way he or she combines the ingredients and prepares and serves them.

The best and most expensive tools in the world will not guarantee the best and most appealing creations in the world. Other more important qualities influence whether or not something is excellent.

So when it comes to great photos, I believe four essential factors separate the mediocre photos from the great photos.

1. Your eyes

By eyes, I don’t mean how well you can see. . . .

“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run —in the long-run, I say! —success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it” – Victor Frankel

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

I’ve combined my four great loves, photography, Sicily, travel and teaching to create the ultimate photography experience.

I’m so excited to show you my beautiful Island of Sicily and share the lighting, posing and post-production techniques I use.

I’ve partnered with the best Sicily tour guide in the world, Carmel Ruggeri of Sicilian Food Tours. We’ve been doing these tours together since 2013 and having a blast!

Carm will take care of us during our stay and take us to authentic Sicilian villages and locations off the beaten track.

Carm is a successful and much-loved restaurateur so we will be privy to some of the best Sicilian food and wine and hospitality.

I can’t wait to work with you!

Email Carm at info@sicilianfoodtours.com to secure your spot.

Cover Image 1950 Vogue by Erwin Blumenfeld

“Erwin Blumenfeld is one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. An experimenter and innovator, he produced an extensive body of work including drawings, collages, portraits and nudes, celebrity portraiture, advertising campaigns and his renowned fashion photography both in black and white and color.”

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

Coco Chanel, the founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, once said, “Before leaving the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory.” This advice can be applied to photography.

It’s easy to get caught up in lighting and post-production techniques that end up overpowering an image.

Next time you are adding props to a photo, lighting an image or retouching a shot ask yourself WWCD? What would Coco do?

Do you need the extra light? If the answer is no, then try applying the Coco protocol and simplifying your image.

Too many props? WWCD?

One too many Lightroom presets? WWCD?

A beautiful image doesn’t need diamond rings, red lipstick and high heels to stand out.

Chanel wasn’t the only artist who believed in the importance of simplicity.

Next time you are tempted to use the latest editing technique that all the cool kids are using on Instagram you might want to consider the advice of some of the following creative icons:

“Trendy is the last stage before tacky.” – Karl Lagerfeld

. . .

“Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.” – Rocky Balboa

Above: Image by Gina Milicia