A Rebel (or a Nikon) With a Cause

Okay, maybe "rebel" is a strong word.  How about "light rule breakers"?


Today I'd like to impart why it's not always in our best aesthetic interests to follow the rules of photography.  We're all taught those rules in first and second semester photography.  You know the ones:  "Rule of thirds!", "Keep your horizon lines straight!", "Always photograph children down on their level!".
If you didn't follow these rules, your grade suffered.


Well suffer no more!  We're bustin' out of this joint and today we're gonna run with scissors...photographically speaking.


First rule:  RULE OF THIRDS


This rule was implemented to keep folks from chopping their picture in half via horizon line.  In other words, this is unacceptable:

Why?  Because it's boring.  Half sky, half ground, all boring.
However, why must it be "Rule of Thirds"?  Why discriminate against all of those other perfectly good fractions?  Play around with it a bit.  If the sky is gorgeous, use LOTS of it!  If the ground has awesome scenery, use lots of that.

Ask yourself, "Where do I want my viewer's eye to focus in my image?"  When at all possible, frame it in the viewfinder.  Cropping is great, but it also cuts down your resolution, decreasing the largest realistic output size.




Rule #2:  ALWAYS KEEP THOSE HORIZON LINES STRAIGHT!


Okay, I'll admit it.  This one's a sore spot with me because one of my photography teachers and I butted heads over this one.  I don't even remember the image, but I remember him making a big deal about it.  All humiliations aside, I still think this is a great rule at which to thumb your nose....usually.  
But what fun are images if we must keep them level at all times?  We don't keep our heads level all of the time.  Have some fun with it!:

Rule #3:  PHOTOGRAPH CHILDREN FROM THEIR OWN LEVEL
This one is actually a good rule for a majority of child photographs.  Pictures of kids just look so much better when they are taken on their level and not from the adult's point-of-view.  But again, this blog is about being a rebel, chewing gum in the library, smokin' in the boy's room, or...um....not following the standard rules of photography 101.
With kids, ANY angle can be a fun angle!  As always, try to let the kids call the shots.  To pose them is to strip them of what makes them what they are...children.


Lay on the ground, shoot from above, emphasize thay little tushy as that ballerina takes her bow after her dance.  Anything but the "looky here and smile!":

Rule #4:  CENTER YOUR SUBJECT!
To that I give a hearty.....NOT!  Of course, for certain things it's obligatory.  The formal posed bridal images are usually (USUALLY) best composed as centered.  But there's a whole world out there that's just a little out-of-whack.  Why can't we reflect that in our imaging?

Just don't go nuts with it.  Make sure your off-centeredness serves some purpose :)


Rule #5:  WATCH THE BACKGROUND!
While this rule was designed to remind the photographer to keep the background simple and non-distracting, that would defeat the purpose of this blog!  I say, "Watch the background...and see what you catch!":

This DJ thought his singing would entertain the guests.  The flower girl thought otherwise!

So there you have the top five "rules to break" in modern photography :)

J.

Black and White conversion

Hey, Blog-ees!


I'd like to touch upon the art of converting color files to either black and white or monochrome.


Remember that a pleasing black and white image will take a lot more than just converting to grayscale.   Grayscale is called "grayscale" for a reason.  Black and white images that are flat and gray hold little appeal to the viewer.  They scream, "Next!"...and that certainly is not what we wish to hear or see.


Let's try a few conversions.  We'll start with a picture of a baby...very basic, easy lighting, great fleshtones:

The little guy's name is Eli, and we'll try a few different conversions.  We'll mostly be converting to monochrome, but we'll try something extra, too.
Here is what happens when you simply convert to grayscale:

Notice the flat, lifeless look to the image.  The depth is now gone  The photo truly is grayscale, as there are no real "whites" and no real "blacks"...just varying shades of grayness.  "Next!!"

Okay, now I imported the original, color image into Lightroom and tried a few presets, along with "tweaking" the numbers to give me the desired result.  First, I tried a preset of "Black and White, High Contrast":

I had to move the exposure down to -29, blacks up to 12, and contrast to +71.  But look at how much more depth the photo has.  Look how his little eyes actually sparkle and catch the viewer's attention.  Same photograph, same lighting, different post-production technique.


Here's another done in Sepia with the same idea:

This is done a little lower key than the black and white image.  Sepia emulates another era in photographic history where photographs had a more subdued look to them.  I wanted to preserve the depth, but not completely white-out the highlights like we did in the high-key black and white image earlier.  The only drawback to this sepia image of the boy is the loss of any real lightness to his eyes.  This is a blue eyed baby, but the technique makes his eyes look brown.  But for this image, it works.  And if anyone suggests using selective color to leave just his eyes blue, I'll thrash you with my cable release.


One last technique you can use that's not technically black and white is called "aged photo", and it's a Lightroom preset.  It gives the illusion of an old time sepia-ish image without actually converting 100% to monochrome.  See here:

A little of the original flesh tone and lip tone are preserved (as is just a hint of his eye color) while pulling out most of the color.  This image has been desaturated 71%, and was processed at a lower contrast and a recovery of about +85.  This preset is great to employ when you like the color, but don't want the color to be so distracting as to detract from the emotion.


We took one photograph of a baby and created several moods.  As the artist, it's up to you to guide the viewer's mind and tell the story, not just with your images, but with the feelings, moods, and emotions that must emanate from them.


J.

The "Sun", the "Man", or the "Mountain"?

I remember being somewhere with someone, and they had a "point and shoot" (PAS) camera with them.  They wanted to know what was the best setting to capture their photograph.  "Should I use the Sun, the Man, or the Mountain?", they asked.

I had to giggle at the question, but the inquiry was sincere.  Just what do all of those little pictures on the dial mean?  Isn't it just easier to put it on "auto" or "program"?


Let's explore!  Using the above dial as a universal reference, let's start with the flash setting (the one on the bottom of the dial that looks like a lightning bolt arrow with a "no" slash through it).
Generally, PAS cameras will have 3 flash settings:
1.  Flash
2.  No flash
3.  Red Eye Reduction
Personally, I nearly always use a flash on the PAS cameras, even outdoors.  The little flashes on those cameras do a good job of filling in shadows in sunlight.


Remember that red-eye reduction mode will send out several pre-flash flashes which can cause children and animals to flinch or close their eyes.


Okay, let's move onto the "man with a star behind his shoulder".  Generally, this is a slow shutter speed that also uses flash.  This is a night-time setting which allows you to use a flash to light up your main subject, but keeps the shutter open to grab the background lights.  For example:

You will want to use a tripod for this one.  In the above picture, I wanted to capture the muti-colored laser patterns that were on the ceiling.  They would not show up with simple bounced flash, and it was too dark in there for simply using no flash at all.


The next setting we'll discuss is the "running man".  This is your "action" setting.  Even though PAS cameras pretty much do everything for you, they also need to know WHAT it is you're shooting.  If you read my last blog, you will know that you can get the same exposure in several different ways.  You can have a fast shutter speed and wide aperture, or a slow shutter speed with a small aperture.  Both will give you the same exposure, but the results will look different.
For action, we want the fast shutter speed.  This setting lets the camera know that you are more concerned with a fast shutter speed, and sets itself accordingly.

The "flower" setting tells the camera that you're trying to take a closeup of something, and adjust its focus for closer-up items:

The "mountain" setting tells the camera that you're taking a landscape photo, and it adjusts itself to focus on a far-away object, while maintaining some depth-of-field:

And finally, the "profile of a woman" setting tells the camera that you're taking a portrait.  This allows the camera to use a very wide aperture to blur the background so the subject in the portait is the emphasis:

You can get more from your little PAS camera if you let it work for you!  =)

Ready....aim....ACTION!

A friend of mine was asking how to get decent action shots with her old 35mm SLR.  Film cameras seem very different from the new digitals, but the basic fundamentals are exactly the same:  Balance shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, depending upon what you want to accomplish.


Remember, when you close down your aperture (like going from f/ 5.6 to maybe f/11) then you must compensate by slowing down the shutter speed (from like 1/250 to maybe 1/60).  It's like a see-saw.  If you let in less light in one area, you have to use the other to let that light back in.  The slower the shutter speed, the more light that can enter the camera.  The bigger the f/stop, the more light that can enter the camera.


F/stops are confusing to people because the BIG opening is a small number, and vice-versa.


Okay, with that in mind, we're going to look at what different shutter speeds and different apertures can do for a photograph.


Let's try some action-stopping settings.  Using a fast shutter speed will stop action, but you must be careful not to underexpose your image.  There are two things that will let you have a faster shutter speed:
1.  A large aperture (between 1.4 and 5.6)
and
2.  A higher ISO (or ASA in filmspeak)
If you're using film, you'll want to buy some faster speed film, like 400 or 1000.  Remember that the faster the film, the grainier the image.


Higher ISO/ASA lets you shoot in lower light.  They used to call it "fast" film, even though the film had NOTHING to do with stopping action.  It simply allowed a camera to use a faster shutter speed since less light was needed.


Okay, here is one action-stopping image:

Shutter speed:  1/1000

Aperture:  5.6

ISO:  400

Focal Length: 200mm

Sometimes you might want to actually SHOW the speed of something moving by using a slower shutter speed and panning the camera to follow the moving object.  This does a good job of showing the action in a picture:

I don't have the metadata that gives me the pic info for this one, but I'm estimating that the shutter speed was probably about 1/30th with an aperture to compensate.  Most likely the ISO was around 200.  Just be sure to PAN the camera with the moving subject or you'll simply end up with a blurry blob.


Once you get the hang of it, it's really pretty easy.  But there is one more thing that factors in here:
The longer the focal length, the higher your shutter speed must be to stop any action.  Remember that a lens that magnifies 200X will also magnify the movement.


Never have your shutter speed slower than your focal length.  For example, if you're using a 105mm lens, keep your shutter speed above 1/105 (on most cameras, the next step up would be 1/125).  This will need to be even HIGHER for stopping action.


The best and easiest way to get your action shots is to put your camera on "shutter priority".  (Usually marked as an "S" on your selection dial).  This forces the camera to shoot at a specific shutter speed and lets the camera choose the proper aperture to compensate.  

If you're using a DSLR, you can have the extra option of also letting the camera choose the best ISO to accomplish this.


If you're using a manual camera, open your aperture all the way, then adjust your shutter speed to the fastest setting allowable for the right exposure.


I hope this has been helpful!

Shooting under less-than-ideal conditions

Hello again!

I often get asked about lighting. Lighting can make or break a photograph. Two identical photographs taken under different lighting situations can create two separate moods.

In first semester photography, you basically learn two forms of light:

1 ambeint, or "available" light

and

2. Flash.

But sometimes, "available light" isn't, and flash is a no-no. Consider a dimly lit church where the preacher says "NO FLASH!"

In my line of work, it's unacceptable to say, "Gosh, well I guess I'll just go home".

These are the challenges that make you stretch and grow as a photographer, until one day you can meet these challenges with an affirmative "no problem!"....although sometimes we grumble under our breath just a little bit.

I rarely use packed-in lighthing during a church wedding. Not only because it can ruin the sanctity that many brides and grooms place on such a ceremony, but it also yanks away the very mood and emotion you were trying to capture.

Take this photo:

Had the photographer (well, that would be me) blasted them with frontal, artificial light, the mood of the photo wouldn't be the same. With ambeint light, the viewer is focused on the bride, and her gaze into her groom's eyes...no shadows, no red-eye, no hot spots.

"But it's dark in there!"

Yes, some churches can be dimly lit, which can present its own set of challenges. If you are serious about the business, invest in some faster glass (such as f/1.4, f/1.8, or f/2.8 lenses). They are pricey, yet priceless in tight situations where you have no other option.

Invest in a monopod. Even an inexpensive monopod (just make sure it's rated for DSLR camera, as they're quite a bit heavier) will help immensely with stabilization and reduce the shutter speed at which you can feasibly utilize. No one wants blurry wedding photos! Remember to keep that shutter speed at or above your focal length.For example, if you are using a 200mm lens, make sure your shutter speed is no slower than 1/200 second. You can shoot a little bit slower if you use a tripod/monopod and your subject is stationary (like a wedding cake rather than people). But this is a good rule of thumb.

Also, don't forget to use the higher ISO settings! Some cameras have an "auto ISO" setting that will choose the best ISO for you, defaulting to the lowest necessary ISO for a properly exposed image. This setting is best if you may be toggling lighting situations, or mixing some flash images with ambient lighting images.

If strobes can be used, try getting them off of your hot shoe, or bouncing them off of ceilings, walls, or reflectors. If you have distance between you and your subject, you may want to light your subject closer-up, while you step back. You can achieve this with optic or radio slaves. Nikon offers a good Creative Lighting System (CLS) for their dedicated Speedlights. Have someone hold them, or put them on a tripod to light your subject while you shoot from a distance:

All in all, poorly lit situations shouldn't stop you from being your best. Monopods, tripods, fast lenses, high ISOs are all there to accomplish these feats.

Bring on the dungeons of the world! I'm ready to shoot!

You get what you pay for

I've said it before, and I'm gonna say it again: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Well, usually.

I have run across yet another "I'm a photographer because I bought an expensive camera" person who markets themselves to brides and seniors. I used to see this sporadically in the 80's when the old film SLR cameras were becoming more popular. I worked in several photo labs, and I saw the results (ie DISASTERS) these people inflicted upon now-devastated brides.

Fast forward to 2010. Ashton Kutcher shows us how easy it is for the average Joe-Schmo to be Ansel Adams. Oh, if it only worked like that in real life!

On the TV commercials, Ashton takes his entry-level Nikon DSLR and wows people with the spectacular shots he was able to pull off in any lighting situation, with nothing more than an SD card and a kit lens.

And like Samantha Stevens twinkling her nose and having Tabitha's teddy bear fly across the room, this is TV fiction, for the most part. The entry-level DSLRs can do a beautiful job, no doubt! But these gorgeous TV shots are usually reserved for optimal lighting situations, or for someone with a little knowledge about photography.

Having your cousin shoot your wedding to save money will generally net you 2 things:

1. An unhappy bride

2. An excommunicated cousin

Please think twice before having an amateur capture the most special day of your life! If you're willing to spend thousands on the perfect wedding, make sure you designate a substantial part of that budget for professional photos, or you could end up with this.....(snagged from the web):