Tag Archives: tips

Photography

Using available light & one flash for a portrait

3 Comments

Earlier this year, I met a very talented budding actress by the name of Victoria Walcott who needed some headshots.

Available light–Portraiture in available light requires an awareness of locations and times. Generally speaking available light portraits have to be very static because light levels tend to be  so low. With today’s DSLR’s low light ability, a fast lens and some practice can give pleasing results. ISO 200 1/40 sec @ f 2.8 100 mm macro 2. 8 lens. See the catchlight in Victoria’s eyes  where the main light is a large window on the left.

I tend to pack a lot of gear when I work. I may not use them all, but I sure like to have them at my disposal even if it means they are in my trunk.

Force of habit from working at the newspaper. I never knew what assignment I would draw, so I had all kinds of stuff in my trunk.

For this particular shoot, I kept it simple.

Needless to say, picking a good location can save you the hassle of bringing in lots of lighting equipment.

This is what I had to work with:

  • A large window facing north
  • My grey muslin backdrop
  • 1 lightstand with reflector secured by a clamp.
  • 1 shoot-through umbrella with Canon 580EX Speedlite triggered by off-camera sync cord

If you plan to shoot with available light, consider what lens you have, the shutter speed you can hand hold and if your camera’s noise level at high ISO is acceptable.

Consider having your subject sit or lay down. It might help them relax especially if it’s your first time working with them.

Once you’re sure you have something you like, don’t stop there. That’s when should push on and try something different or even outrageous.

Why? Continue reading Using available light & one flash for a portrait →

Assignment, Photography

A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 2

Cutting the rug– I dragged the shutter shooting at ISO 400 1/6 sec @ f2.8 and set my flash to 1/32 power.

As twilight approached, we went one deck below for our scrumptious dinner.

My choice of fish delectably decorated with a bright red pepper  looked mouth-watering.

Had our waitress not warn us that the pepper was a jalapeño, all the drinks in the “Open bar” wouldn’t have been enough to quell its hotness.

By the time I finished, the late evening light was just too good to ignore.

It was also time to raise the ISO from 100 to 400 to get a shutter speed that I knew I could comfortably handhold.

Using my 580EX off-camera in manual mode, even at 1/128th power, in such close quarters required me to feather its output some more.

The built-in white diffuser card was actually kicking in too much light.

I ended up using my fingers over the flash head.

Continue reading A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 2 →

Assignment, Photography

A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 1

2 Comments

Michelle’s dad, Lee, gives her away at the ceremony as Alex looks on. Extreme contrast is always a photographic challenge. I was at least 40 feet back. Because the 580EX had to kick in quite a bit of light from that distance, I used the external power pack to allow for quicker recycling. 1/200 sec f5.6 ISO 100. I should have raised the shutter speed to 1/320 sec from 1/200 sec to retain the highlight in the bride’s veil in retrospect. My 580 EX speedlight was at 1/2 power.

There is no doubt, a wedding on board a ship is romantic.

I’ve been a part of 3. My first time  was on board the Star of India in San Diego too many years ago now.

Though the cutter never left the dock and the temperature was  too hot to be in a suit and tie, I can still remember the name of the vessel.

Two days after I quit the newspaper business I shot my first wedding “professionally” on board the Dandeanna, a yacht which circled Marina Del Rey for 4 hours.

On that occasion, I remember borrowing a 2nd camera body from the person who replaced at the newspaper.

Waiting for the guests–The Empress at the dock before all the guests board her for the evening’s cruise and festivities.

Those of you thinking about doing weddings for a living, yes, you should never shoot a wedding with just one camera.

It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

This weekend was a special treat and a delight.

My nephew Alex married his sweetheart Michelle on board the Empress as we cruised  the Sacramento and American River. Continue reading A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 1 →

Photography

On location group photos

3 Comments

Hadia Habibi & Al Nar Bellydancers

Working on location outdoors can simplify matters especially if you’re photographing a group.

A well-chosen location and an equally well-chosen time of the day  can free you from having to set up a seamless or Muslin background if your subject is a group of more than 5 or 6 people.

You see, the problem with photographing any kind of group is deciding what to use as your background.

What lens to use? Wide angle lenses make everyone smaller, introduces a lot of clutter in the background and has too much depth-of-field. I used the 80mm setting on my 80-200 zoom. The downside? I have to step way back from the group and that means if you’re soft-spoken, you’ll need a bullhorn. The other problem?  How do you position your light without it showing up in the picture? Since your light will be closer to your subjects than you are physically, that may mean using a boom to raise the lights out of the frame. I got away with moving my light just outside of the frame on the left. Marvin, my assistant, was also holding  a reflector on the left to kick back the directional sunlight coming in from the right.

Unless you plan on cramming everybody so close like sardines, the bigger your group, it follows then, the more space you’ll need.

Realistically, once you have about 8 people, you’re almost assuredly out of space indoors in most studios. And even the biggest seamless paper or Muslin background hung on the long side up will not be enough.

Continue reading On location group photos →