My lovely wife Michele
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Saturday, November 14, 2009
Beauty Lighting
I did a blog article on beauty lighting a few months ago but I love the results of this lighting setup so much, I wanted to share again. Last time I used one light from above and a reflector at the bottom. This time I used one light from above inside of a beauty dish and one light from the bottom inside of a medium softbox and this is the result.
My lovely wife Michele
Read more!
My lovely wife Michele
Read more!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Photographing the Holidays
The Holidays should be a time of joy and celebration but it often turns stressful for whomever is in charge of taking the pictures. This year, eliminate the stress and take better pictures by following a few basic tips.
Be Prepared
The night before the holiday gathering, make sure you have your gear ready. This means fully charged batteries, and an extra set. Plenty of empty memory cards. Tripod, light stands, reflectors. You may also want to have your camera and flash settings correct prior to the family gathering as well. This will ensure your pictures turn out great without having to fumble with the settings while your family is there.
Use the Right Light
When photographing the Christmas tree, avoid using flash. Flash will overpower the lights on the Christmas tree and create a harsh shadow. Also, try out of focus shots when photographing the tree.
If it's all possible, avoid using the on-camera pop-up flash when photography people. Direct flash is very unflattering and should be avoided. If you do not have the option for remote flashes, using something like a piece paper towel over the flash will help soften and diffuse the light.
Also consider using as much available light as possible. This means opening the windows and letting natural light in. If you're using lights from lamps or other artificial light sources, remember to change the White Balance setting on your camera to avoid strong color shifts.
Getting Great Holiday Family Portraits
Hire me!
But if you want to try yourself, these tips may help.
Have the family wear festive, holiday colors. You want the photo to say the Holidays so greens, reds, and whites are appropriate. Not everyone has to wear the same color, but patterns and busy prints should be avoided.
If you decide to take the photo outdoors, earth toned colors are a safe bet.
Make sure all your camera and lighting settings are correct before the family poses. This will ensure that the task will be stress free and that you keep your subjects looking happy. This is especially true for kids and babies. You'll have a time span of about 2 minutes. Make sure you spend that time getting great smiles and expressions and not fidgeting with your camera settings.
When photographing a group of people, have everyone close their eyes and count to three. On three, have them open their eyes and then take the shot. This will reduce the chances of someone blinking.
Getting Great Holiday Family Candids
Make a list of shots that you don't want to miss. A list will help you remember important shots that you may otherwise forget because of the hectic nature of the day.
When photographing kids and pets, get on their level. Perspective can make a break a photo.
Anticipation is the key. Be ready when kids open their gifts to make sure you capture their expressions.
Take a shot for every gift opened. This will help keep memories alive.
When photographing in the snow, remember that all digital cameras will have a tendency to underexpose. Change the settings on your camera to increase the exposure 1-2 times the norm.
Last but not least.....have fun!
Read more!
Be Prepared
The night before the holiday gathering, make sure you have your gear ready. This means fully charged batteries, and an extra set. Plenty of empty memory cards. Tripod, light stands, reflectors. You may also want to have your camera and flash settings correct prior to the family gathering as well. This will ensure your pictures turn out great without having to fumble with the settings while your family is there.
Use the Right Light
When photographing the Christmas tree, avoid using flash. Flash will overpower the lights on the Christmas tree and create a harsh shadow. Also, try out of focus shots when photographing the tree.
If it's all possible, avoid using the on-camera pop-up flash when photography people. Direct flash is very unflattering and should be avoided. If you do not have the option for remote flashes, using something like a piece paper towel over the flash will help soften and diffuse the light.
Also consider using as much available light as possible. This means opening the windows and letting natural light in. If you're using lights from lamps or other artificial light sources, remember to change the White Balance setting on your camera to avoid strong color shifts.
Getting Great Holiday Family Portraits
Hire me!
But if you want to try yourself, these tips may help.
Have the family wear festive, holiday colors. You want the photo to say the Holidays so greens, reds, and whites are appropriate. Not everyone has to wear the same color, but patterns and busy prints should be avoided.
If you decide to take the photo outdoors, earth toned colors are a safe bet.
Make sure all your camera and lighting settings are correct before the family poses. This will ensure that the task will be stress free and that you keep your subjects looking happy. This is especially true for kids and babies. You'll have a time span of about 2 minutes. Make sure you spend that time getting great smiles and expressions and not fidgeting with your camera settings.
When photographing a group of people, have everyone close their eyes and count to three. On three, have them open their eyes and then take the shot. This will reduce the chances of someone blinking.
Getting Great Holiday Family Candids
Make a list of shots that you don't want to miss. A list will help you remember important shots that you may otherwise forget because of the hectic nature of the day.
When photographing kids and pets, get on their level. Perspective can make a break a photo.
Anticipation is the key. Be ready when kids open their gifts to make sure you capture their expressions.
Take a shot for every gift opened. This will help keep memories alive.
When photographing in the snow, remember that all digital cameras will have a tendency to underexpose. Change the settings on your camera to increase the exposure 1-2 times the norm.
Last but not least.....have fun!
Read more!
Monday, November 2, 2009
A Balloon Festival with no balloons
I’ve planned a trip to Winchester, VA a few months ago. I booked a hotel for a couple of days and made plans to visit Skyline Drive and the annual Winchester Balloon Festival. We arrived at our hotel on Thursday and visited Skyline Drive after getting checked in. We were hoping to photograph the beautiful fall foliage along Skyline Drive. We were disappointed because there was about 10 feet of visibility due to the thick clouds that were lingering around the mountains so needless to say the photographic opportunities were nil but we had high hopes for Friday.
We woke up at 4AM to be able to get to the mountains in time to catch the sunrise. We were disappointed once again with the thick cloud cover until we got a break in the clouds. It only lasted about 20 minutes, just in time to get this image:
The clouds rolled back in quickly but I wasn’t ready to quit shooting yet. I couldn’t really shoot anything wide because the lack of visibility so I decided to pull out the 400mm and snag these shots:
We later stopped for breakfast at a restaurant off of Skyline Drive. The food was good but the architecture was better. Here is a shot of the restaurant’s ceiling:
We decided to make our way to downtown Winchester. It was a gloomy day but at least we were under the clouds and not literally in them. Here are a few shots I made while in town:
Yummy Thia food.
Saturday morning was the big morning. THE HOT AIR BALLOON LAUNCH! We arrived at the Balloon festival at 7AM ready to capture the big hot air balloons. We left at 8:30AM after they announced the balloon launch was cancelled due to the weather. BUMMER! :-(
I did sang a few non-balloon photos at the festival:
All the aniticipation and planning went down the tubes. It was time to head back home. We drove down Skyline Drive and I managed to get one more decent photo:
There's always next year. Read more!
We woke up at 4AM to be able to get to the mountains in time to catch the sunrise. We were disappointed once again with the thick cloud cover until we got a break in the clouds. It only lasted about 20 minutes, just in time to get this image:
The clouds rolled back in quickly but I wasn’t ready to quit shooting yet. I couldn’t really shoot anything wide because the lack of visibility so I decided to pull out the 400mm and snag these shots:
We later stopped for breakfast at a restaurant off of Skyline Drive. The food was good but the architecture was better. Here is a shot of the restaurant’s ceiling:
We decided to make our way to downtown Winchester. It was a gloomy day but at least we were under the clouds and not literally in them. Here are a few shots I made while in town:
Yummy Thia food.
Saturday morning was the big morning. THE HOT AIR BALLOON LAUNCH! We arrived at the Balloon festival at 7AM ready to capture the big hot air balloons. We left at 8:30AM after they announced the balloon launch was cancelled due to the weather. BUMMER! :-(
I did sang a few non-balloon photos at the festival:
All the aniticipation and planning went down the tubes. It was time to head back home. We drove down Skyline Drive and I managed to get one more decent photo:
There's always next year. Read more!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting can add a nice three dimensional touch to any shot but it can be challenging to properly execute. The goal is to create a soft light that can be contained to a certain area. Soft light usually spreads everywhere thus making two light sources appear flat. So how do you create soft light that's also controllable? Grids!
For this shot of Heather, I used a Beauty Dish with a grid on it (camera left) as the key light, and a stripbox with a grid (camera right) for the accent light.
Read more!
For this shot of Heather, I used a Beauty Dish with a grid on it (camera left) as the key light, and a stripbox with a grid (camera right) for the accent light.
Read more!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Seascape Techniques
I posted some seascape images in my last Blog post . For this blog entry, I'll list some techniques and equipment I used to capture them.
Exposure
Getting the correct exposure is vital with any type of photography and seascapes are no expcetion. I like photographing the sea when the sun is near the horizon. This is the time when the drama happens. The colors will be vivid and bold and the colors will be reflected off of the water.
Keep in mind that the expsoure will be tricky because the sky will be bright and the foreground will be dark. It will be difficult to show detail in both the sky and foreground because the range of light will often be greater than what the camera can handle. You can overcome this by either using a graduated neutral density filter or braketting the exposure and bledning the exposures in post processing. (I'll post the step on how I do this later in the week) To bracket the exposure, place your camera on manual exposure. I like using a small aperture (f/11-f/22) to increase the depth of field. Use the lowest true ISO your camera can go to. Adjust the shutter speed to get a decent base exposure and then just vary your shutter speed up and down + - 3 stops.
Composition
Rule of thirds! Enough said! Actually I'll expand. Try not to split the horizon and try even harder not to place the sun smack dab in the middle. This will create a bullseye effect and the viewer's eye will focus in the center and stay there.
Keep the horizon level!
Look for an interesting foreground obect(s). (Rocks, drift wood, shells, jetty, or bring your own starfish.)
Try getting low. Avoid having the camera aimed straight and at eye level. Remember that you're creating art and not just recording events.
Focus
Use one focus point and place that focus point on the lower thirds, usually on the interesting foreground object. Once you have the focus locked, set it to manual so it won't refocus as you bracket your shots.
Color
In most cases Auto White Balance will do just fine but try experimenting with different Kelvin values. In most cases Auto White Balance will try to correct color, so if there is a very warm sunset, AWB will overcompensate and add more blue to try to "correct" the color. If accuracy is vital to you, using a calibrated gray card is a good way to make sure the white balance is accurate. Keep in mind that shooting in RAW is extremely beneficial not only for exposure forgiveness but also for nondestructive color adjustments.
Equipment Considerations
Read more!
Exposure
Getting the correct exposure is vital with any type of photography and seascapes are no expcetion. I like photographing the sea when the sun is near the horizon. This is the time when the drama happens. The colors will be vivid and bold and the colors will be reflected off of the water.
Keep in mind that the expsoure will be tricky because the sky will be bright and the foreground will be dark. It will be difficult to show detail in both the sky and foreground because the range of light will often be greater than what the camera can handle. You can overcome this by either using a graduated neutral density filter or braketting the exposure and bledning the exposures in post processing. (I'll post the step on how I do this later in the week) To bracket the exposure, place your camera on manual exposure. I like using a small aperture (f/11-f/22) to increase the depth of field. Use the lowest true ISO your camera can go to. Adjust the shutter speed to get a decent base exposure and then just vary your shutter speed up and down + - 3 stops.
Composition
Rule of thirds! Enough said! Actually I'll expand. Try not to split the horizon and try even harder not to place the sun smack dab in the middle. This will create a bullseye effect and the viewer's eye will focus in the center and stay there.
Keep the horizon level!
Look for an interesting foreground obect(s). (Rocks, drift wood, shells, jetty, or bring your own starfish.)
Try getting low. Avoid having the camera aimed straight and at eye level. Remember that you're creating art and not just recording events.
Focus
Use one focus point and place that focus point on the lower thirds, usually on the interesting foreground object. Once you have the focus locked, set it to manual so it won't refocus as you bracket your shots.
Color
In most cases Auto White Balance will do just fine but try experimenting with different Kelvin values. In most cases Auto White Balance will try to correct color, so if there is a very warm sunset, AWB will overcompensate and add more blue to try to "correct" the color. If accuracy is vital to you, using a calibrated gray card is a good way to make sure the white balance is accurate. Keep in mind that shooting in RAW is extremely beneficial not only for exposure forgiveness but also for nondestructive color adjustments.
Equipment Considerations
- Sturdy tripod and ballhead - ensures sharpness
- Cable release - ensures sharpness
- Graduated ND filter - Balances contrast of bright sky and dark foreground
- ND filter - slows shutter speed to capture motion in the water
- Lenses - Various focal lenghths for various looks. Typically wide angle works best. Lens with large aperture and IS are not necessary.
- Circular Polarizer - boosts saturation, darkens skies without darking white clouds, reduces glare off of water, see underwater objects normally unseen without polarization.
Read more!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sand, Sea, & Sky
Next Tuesday's class (October 13th) will be on the topic of shooting seascapes and fall foilage. Here are some seascapes I've shot in the past. We'll talk technique in the class.
Read more!
Read more!
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