This recent studio portrait I did of Robert the Real Estate Agent (see http://www.lofthunting.ca) neatly illustrates something: the importance of orientation.
Here’s the shot straight up:
And here, tilted slightly to the left:
Much more dynamic! Tilting, even slightly, gives pictures a dynamic feel.
Stop down if you want even brightness across your image.
Or, on the other hand, open your lens to the wides stop if you want vignetting – often, for instance in portraits, it is an advantage.
Here is my ceiling, shot with my Canon 7D, with the 35mm lens fully open at f/1.4:
And the same shot at f/2.0, just one stop from fully open:
Can you see how the first one is vignetted, meaning it is darker along the edges? Save both images and flip rapidly between them, if it is not obvious to you here. You’ll see the difference, I promise.
(Yes, and this is on a crop camera. Let’s debunk the myth that this only happens on full-frame cameras.)
So: want vignetting? Then open your aperture all the way. Or want even brightness? Stop down by one or two stops.
It seems almost too obvious, but one time you may want to consider going to black and white is… when you see strong blacks and whites. Like in this shot I made at a recent wedding:
Strong blacks, strong whites, nice greys, and an off-centre composition. That makes this shot, wouldn’t you say?
Assignment: shoot one photo in black and white today. You can shoot in B/W in your camera or do it in Lightroom/Photoshop/etc.
Tonight, after working all day I shot an event – the Halton Hamilton Homebuilders Association Gala. One shot:
Not every picture has to be sharp (but of course, mostly my pictures are!).
Like these, shot at the agricultural show the other day.
Open your lens wide. f/2.8 here. Then get close to the glass. That way you do not see the imperfections and dirt. No flash1 Instead, use ISO 800, to use the available warm light. That gave me 1/25ooth second to freeze the motion.
Aren’t they impossibly cute?
Your camera plus lens ($2,000 each) on a hard concrete floor. The long strap pulled it down.
Lens dent:
Top left, see? That hard steel rim is now dented.
The lens seems ok… but is it really still perfectly adjusted?
Of course I had the hood on. Always use hoods! The hood scratched and came off, but it did no doubt soften the blow. A bit.
Steel-blue and yellow are opposite colours, so like many juxtapositions, this one works particularly well too. And when old and new, nature and man-made are mixed in, there might just be a picture there.
One lesson in this: always keep your camera on or near you. Another lesson: always keep your eyes open.
Doesn’t this speak?
The look. Colour – the warm background. Light. Extremely selective focus (f/1.4). It all seems to work for me.
Mmm. I dropped my 7D onto a concrete floor today at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair I was doing portraits at. It bounced and was dead for a minute until it restarted – kudos to the 7D.
The 16-35 2.8L lens is dented. It all seems all right – but with a seriously banged about camera and a living that depends on it, this is basically $4,000 I can no longer trust. More than I make all month this month- this is definitely NOT my day. Yes, I can drive it all to Canon for a two-week CPS checkup. Problem is, first free day is in December. And I need the lens until that time, constantly.
Goes to show why we al have redundant equipment. Never rely on one piece of gear!
One thing we as photographers always look for is juxtapositions. Things like:
Or as in this case: conservative Islamic vs Western liberal:
Yes, that is the Great Pyramid.
Any juxtaposition makes us think “this is interesting”. And that makes for an interesting picture. So today’s tip: Whenever you see any kind of juxtaposition, have your “contrast-detector” go off, and ask yourself: “could there possibly be a picture here?” If in doubt, shoot!