Light, camera, action

In an image like this, taken today, you need flash:

Why?

Because on a sunny day, the shadows will otherwise be harsh. And because the background needs to be darker, since that makes the colours saturated. And since, as you know, “bright pixels are sharp pixels.”. And since you want to direct light, rather than have the sun do it. And since the sun needs to be behind the subject, so there no squinting. And since flash give you crisp, great sharpness.

I used TTL flash for the shot, using one off-camera flash. The camera was on manual mode at 1/300th second, f/5.6, 100 ISO. A flash on the camera was off, but was driving the off-camera flash via light control, so direct path of light between the camera and the second flash is needed.

The colors here are great precisely because a flash was used. I do not like to shoot outdoors without a speedlight, and here you see why.

In bright sunlight, a single speedlight can do this, as long as your camera has a good flash sync speed (1/300th second on mine!) and as long as your flash is close enough to the subject to compare with the sun’s brightness. Else, use a studio strobe.

Shows!

Now that I am not doing the Imaging Show in May, let me tell you about other opportunities for you to see me.

  • I teach at the Henrys School of Imaging – I teach most Oakville courses.
  • I teach at Sheridan College: my Brampton campus 12-week course on Digital Photography Basics starts again 23 April and there is a little space open!
  • Two workshops in the next couple of months with Kristof Borkowski: The Art of Fashion Photography and Photographing Nudes. See www.cameratraining.ca‘s schedule page.
  • NEW: A five day intensive coaching course at Niagara School sessions in August! See http://niagaraschool.com to sign up: there is still space!
  • Private venues like The Granite Club with continued courses.
  • And last but not least, of course there is the private coaching for things not covered elsewhere!

I trust that is enough to give those of you who want tpo learn Photography topics in person some opportunities other than the usal show, where I meet thousands. I shall still be there, walking around – come se me there if you like, too.

 

 

Come To The Show?

Alas, for the first time in years I will not be speaking at the Exposure imaging show, May 25-27 at The International Centre. You may still want to go, but alas, you will not be seeing me.

Plenty of other opportunities, at Sheridan College, at The School of Imaging, at Niagara School in August, and in my private coaching, but that weekend has just freed up for me!

 

Pricing Question

A reader today asked me this:

I’ve been keeping up with your blog from time to time and have really found some great tips and information. I was wondering if you have any advice on pricing for a photo session. A friend of a friend is interested in having a few headshots of him taken for his business to put on his website, and I am a little unsure as to how to go about pricing it. I figure that as a student who is still learning I should offer a lower price, and since the nature of the session is of shorter length and for one image on a website to make it not too pricey as well. Is $50 reasonable for a one or so hour shoot and a couple of digital shots? I do not want to underprice myself but I also do not want to overprice.

Good question.

I would say that you should be careful before you underprice, and I believe $50 is seriously underpricing, since:

  • When you actually add the hours you’ll spend on it, there’s rather a lot of them.
  • The work is the work. If your work is good, it is worth the price.

Here’s what I suggest:

  1. Check mvwphoto.com for commercial prices.
  2. Discount as much as you like but I’d suggest no less than $100. It’s a company web site and when you look at commercial prices, these are much higher to reflect all the actual work and expertise you put into a shoot.
  3. Always quote full price, eg $400, and THEN subtract the discount. So your customer can see the full value of your work.
  4. You are learning. But in the end, it’s the result that counts. So as a new Photog, you give a guarantee: he pays only if he likes. After all if your work is good for him, it’s as good as anyone else’s!

Does this make sense? Photography is a great combination of business, art and craft, and if you do it sustainably it will not make you rich, but it will certainly make you and your clients happy!

 

HELP – in a good way

When I bought my pro printer, a Canon 9500, at Henry’s in Oakville, I bought the extra “HELP” (Henry’s Extended Life Plan) coverage.  And I was just reminded of how great that coverage is.

I broke the printer. My fault. But guess what? Rob Buchelt, the store’s manager, just called: Because I bought HELP coverage, my printer was quickly sent to Canon by the store, fixed, and returned to me, all free of charge. What’s more, I did not have to find the receipt: it was in the computer.

Advice: buy this coverage when buying photographic equipment. It has saved me more than once.

Disclaimer: I teach at Henry’s School of Imaging (as well as at Sheridan College). But I am not a Henrys employee and get no compensation of any kind from the stores – my advice is always independent.

Outdoors light, or, Umbrella RIP

I shot some model shots outdoors today, in very difficult conditions. Outdoors in varying light: often, ouch, direct bright sunlight. And very windy – up to 95 km/h gusts – which means a light stand with an umbrella, which after all is like a sail, gets blown over constantly.

And outdoors on a bright day you need a flash, and preferably a modifier like an umbrella or a softbox.

That gets you well-lit shots without horrible shadows. Shots like this one of today of my model Kim (from my Tumblr site):

What is the challenge outside?

  • You want to expose the background right – you want to make it dark to bring out saturated colours and to make your subject the “bright pixels”.
  • That means low ISO, fast shutter, and high F-number.
  • But you cannot exceed a low speed like 1/200th of a second (your maximum “flash sync speed”)…
  • And low ISO and high F-number reduce the effective power of the flash…
  • …so for flash you would ideally like high ISO and low F-number, since your flash needs to be powerful to “compete with the sun”!

That is why you need a large flash, like a battery powered studio strobe. So using a speedlight can be a challenge.

And yet, I managed, as you see. Partly by holding the umbrella close to the model. And by tuning all the variables just right. The umbrella did die, RIP; but it was worth it for the shoot. Yes, you can do it with a simple off-camera TTL speedlight!

 

A reminder of why we shoot RAW

A reminder here of why we shoot RAW.

Remember, RAW files are not standard and they are three times larger than a JPG. So why bother?

  1. Camera settings such as colour, colour space, white balance, sharpening, saturation and contrast  are not “applied”, they are “attached as suggestions” SO you can alter them on your computer at will without any penalty.
  2. Because of the extra bits of date (12 or 14 bits per colour in a RAW; 8 bits in  a JOG file), over-or underexposure can often be fixed.

To illustrate the last point: here is a snap that was overexposed by three stops:

But since it is a RAW, I can fix it…

See here, turned down three stops in Lightroom (just drag the EXPOSURE slide to -3):

That should convince you: shoot RAW if your pictures are important to you!

 

A good on-camera flash portrait in simple steps!

As said here before, this is not rocket science, really. Just technique. Let me illustrate with a portrait of a student in my class an hour or so ago:

CAMERA – Set your camera to MANUAL mode. Select, say, 1/125th second at f/5.6 and 400 ISO. This will make the ambient light disappear so the only light is your flash.

FLASH – Use an on-camera flash. Make sure this flash is in TTL mode. Since you are shooting against a white wall, turn flash exposure compensation (“FEC”)  to +1 stop.

AIM: Start by aiming the flash straight at your subject. Baaad:

(Just look at the shadows, the deer-in-the-headlight look, the skin, the shadows: Ouch!)

To improve this, now aim the flash behind you, upward at 45 degrees:

Much better. Especially for women.

But for even better results., often used for men, now turn the flash to your right, and still 45 degrees upward. Now you get Rembrandt lighting:

Simple, innit?

Go try this right now!

 

 

Filling the frame

When you shoot, consider “filling the frame”.

This is one of the easiest ways of simplifying. In the picture here, for instance, I used this:

I used these devices:

  • Filling the frame. Yes, you can cut off bits.
  • Selective focus. This helps “tell the story” and generate interest.
  • The Rule of Thirds. Off-centre composition creates a much more pleasant composition.

A little goes a long way, when these simple compositional rules are concerned.