Monthly Archives: June 2010

What not to learn on your camera

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Or, wheat and chaff.

Your point-and-shoot camera has two types of functions:

  1. Essential photographic ones. These are the same on all cameras.
  2. Fluff that is camera specific and is designed to market, or to “make it simple” but actually makes it complicated.

Your point and shoot especially has many “value added” functions. “Super OIS”. “Multi AI Focus”. “Oriental Food Mode”. “Child Mode”.

Those are like the radio programming functions in your car. Nice, perhaps, or maybe not – but not part of driving. And they can (and do) confuse.

So you should learn:

  1. How to do basic settings (like size) and functions (like reviewing and formatting).
  2. How to focus accurately.
  3. How to use exposure compensation.
  4. How to force the flash ON, and how to force it OFF.
  5. How to use ISO.
  6. How to use White Balance.

Those are photography. If you learn those six things, you will be a photographer. Whether or not you know the three Super OIS settings or the seven Image Enhance Options is pretty irrelevant, or at least should be an option later – but only after you know the essentials above.

Rule of thumb: If a function is unique to your camera, it’s probably not necessary and may even get in the way. It is certainly going divert your attention from the essentials, unless you already know those.

Sofly softly now.

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A softbox is a great device. Soft, wraparound, wonderful light that flatters your subject and yet imparts directionality. Like this recent picture of model Tara:

Model Tara, shot by Michael Willems using a softbox.

Model Tara, shot using a softbox.

That was using a large softbox on a studio strobe, powered by a lead acid battery.

But there are also small softboxes, and as a travelling photographer I love those. I am talking about the Honl Photo Traveler 8 softbox:

Honl Traveler 8 softbox shot by Michael Willems

Honl Traveler 8 softbox

That mounts onto the flash, which is fitted with a speedstrap:

Honl speed strap, shot by Michael Willems

Honl speed strap

Leading, Velcro style, to this:

Honl Traveler 8 softbox, shot by Michael Willems

Honl Traveler 8 softbox

Which gives you nice soft light, and gives you another big benefit: a round catch light. Like in this self portrait:

Michael Willems in a self portrait made using a Honl Traveler 8 softbox

Michael Willems in a self portrait

Nice, no? Not me, the light. Well OK, me too.

Tip: use the wide adapter on your flash (no, that is not a softener: it is merely a wide angle adapter), so that the light bounces off the inside.

And take the flash off camera with a flash cord:

Off-camera flash using Honl Photo Traveler 8 softbox

Off-camera flash using Traveler 8 softbox

That works well for macro pics, too, like this recent snap:

Flower, shot by Michael Willems with Honl Photo Traveler 8 softbox

Flower, shot with Honl Photo Traveler 8 softbox

Nice, soft shadows again.

One more example: this time the main light on the subject was a bare flash, and the fill light was a Honl Photo Traveller 8 softbox:

Model Tara lit by small flashes by Michael Willems

Model Tara lit by small flashes

My advice: get yourself a softbox or two.

Learning Opportunities:

  • I am doing another two workshops in July, with David Honl – yes, the very man who designed these excellent flash modifiers. On 12 and 13 July in Las Vegas, Nevada in Studio Petographique.  See http://www.cameratraining.ca/Vegas.html for details.
  • And for Canadians here: there are spaces left on the full-day Creative Lighting workshop Joseph Marranca and I are doing in Mono, Ontario: details here.

And believe me, it is worth taking this type of course: we’ll teach you in hours what you would otherwise spend weeks learning.

No depth in my pictures?

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I just returned from a very enjoyable Advanced Flash workshop.

But now a different subject. Depth.

A simple tip: if you want three-dimensionality in your photos, i.e. depth, perspective, then:

  1. Use a wide-angle lens;
  2. Include a close-by foreground object;
  3. Get close to that object.

..and your pictures will have depth.

This example, shot Sunday in Oakville during a “Creative Urban Photography” workshop I designed for Henry’s School of Imaging, has no foreground subject:

Oakville shot by Michael Willems, the boring way: no foreground subject

Oakville shot by Michael Willems

Boring. Flat. Uninteresting.

And this one does have a close-by foreground subject:

Oakville shot by Michael Willems, with a foreground subject

Oakville with a foreground subject

Clear – no? Which picture do you prefer?

The prosecution rests its case.

Of workshops, and how to use them

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I just taught a photo club in Oakville a thing or two. Great fun: I love the enthusiasm. This is a great time to be a photographer.

And a teacher. Next month, I am teaching in Las Vegas with special guest star David Honl: http://www.cameratraining.ca/Vegas.html – a great time will be had by all, but I do shake my head at doing this in July in Vegas, partly outdoors. Glad I (like Dave) enjoy the heat.

But even closer to July, a workshop in Mono, Ont,just an hour north of Oakville, that is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who wants to practice and learn creative flash skills: all day on June 26.  See here: http://www.cameratraining.ca/Mono-Day-2.html

As said, great days to be a photographer. A simple camera, rudimentary knowledge, and training by the pros: you can be a pro in no time.

And above all: practice. Never ask “what would happen if I pressed this button?”. Press that button!

Detroit speaks: Cubic Inches

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Detroit used to say: there’s no substitute for cubic inches.

And indeed there isn’t. Wanna have torque: need a big engine.

Similarly, in cameras there’s no substitute for lots of glass. Here’s a shot the other day in a bar with live music:

A scene in a bar ion College Street with live music, shot by Michael Willems

Bar on College Street with live music

So can I do this with my point and shoot, or with a kit lens?

Alas, no. With a fast lens I was using the following settings:

  1. Sensitivity set to 1,600 ISO
  2. Manual exposure mode
  3. Aperture at f/1.4
  4. Shutter at 1/30th second
  5. No flash

Surely there are better solutions than spending money on a fast lens! Could I have used a cheaper lens? Not with those settings: the picture would have been too dark.

  • Higher ISO then? No, most cameras will not go higher than 1,600 – or if they do, much noise results.
  • Longer shutter speed? No, the girl would have been a big blur.
  • Just use Flash? No, the black walls did not afford flash bounce capability and direct flash would lead to a really bad picture.

So, sometimes you need the power of fast prime (fixed focal length) lenses. And that is why my 35mm f/1.4 lens is my favourite party lens.

Fun with a zoom lens

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Go on, have some fun:

  • Put a zoom lens on your camera, preferably a wide angle one.
  • St your camera’s mode to shutter priority (S or Tv).
  • Select a shutter speed of 1/15th second.
  • Select high ISO (1600) or auto ISO.
  • Zoom in on your subject in the centre.
  • Now briskly zoom out,and while doing that, click.

You get this:

A Blackberry at the centre oflife, shot by Michael WIllems using a zoom lens

A Blackberry at the centre of life

I took that shot on a Creative Urban Photography “Get out and shoot” course that I just did in Oakville.This was to show the students slow shutter speeds.

Capture the detail

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When shooting anything, including events, always make sure you catch little details, not just the big overview pictures. Like this, from a recent corporate event shoot:

Snacks at an event: a food shot by Michael Willems

Snacks at an event: an impromptu food shot

Wide open aperture, bounced flash, camera to manual: grab shots like this and you add to the story.

Why use artificial light?

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In yesterday’s post, I talked about making “hyper-real” images by using light coming from unexpected directions.

Today, another reason to use artificial light in photos: because the available light is too contrasty.

Here’s a picture of a model last Sunday in available light in the forest. Horrible contrast: pretty girl and great model, but not a picture I would use:

A model in natural light, photographed by Michael Willems

A model in natural light, in the forest

No, that just will not do.

Instead, let’s use a strobe in a softbox, and a gridded light as hairlight. Now we get:

A model in outdoors studio light, photographed by Michael Willems

A model in outdoors studio light

You can easily see how much nicer that is. The soft strobe light overpowers the sun, and removes the harshness and the contrasty nature of the available light. It also allows me to decrease the exposure of the background.

So next time you see a photographer lugging light stands and batteries and cables and such, you know why.