Monthly Archives: August 2010

Unstick yourself!

Posted on by
Reply

A recent meeting with a very talented young photographer, Peter McKinnon, prompts me to write about lens choices for a moment.

Peter, who is a student of mine in the Advanced Flash lighting workshops, showed me a wedding album and other wedding shots he recently did. He showed me a wedding he shot on his own,  entirely with a 24mm prime lens, and much of it at f/1.4. Never took that lens off. No long shots. No zooming. Just Peter and his wide angle lens. Fantastic work.

The 1D Mark IV makes a lens look 30% longer, so that’s 24 x 1.3 = 31mm. Roughly equivalent, then, to me using my 35mm f/1.4 lens on the full-frame 1Ds Mark III body.

Mmm. That would be liberating: one lens, a wide one, for an entire shoot. And I have mentioned before, for events this is my favourite lens.

Selective focus:

Cat, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

Cat, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

Low light ability:

Club, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

Club, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

And both, available light and selective focus:

Couple, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

Couple, by Michael Willems (35mm, f/1.4)

So I checked. The last wedding I shot, I used my 35mm lens for fully 30% of the shots! I too love the shallow depth of field:

Bride and Groom, by Michael Willems

Bride and Groom, by Michael Willems

And I like the ability to get it in and to not have to worry about how to zoom.

Groom getting ready, by Michael Willems

Groom getting ready, by Michael Willems

So here is my suggestion: that you too spend an entire day shooting with one wide angle lens. This will free your mind from deciding on lens, zoom, and so on, and open your eyes to the photos in front of you. And that is what photography is about: photos, not cameras or lenses.

And you know what: I’ll do the same, on my next event shoot.

Blurring backgrounds

Posted on by
Reply

A quick tip, today, for new or inexperienced photographers. But one that some experienced photographers forget sometimes, too.

In a good photo, you draw attention to your subject. You can do that by framing, by using converging lines, by making the subject large, by surrounding it by negative space… or by blurring the background.

If like me you like blurry backgrounds, how do you achieve them? Using a camera with the largest possible sensor size, use any of these methods:

  1. Use aperture mode (A/Av) and select a large aperture (i.e. a small F-number, like 2.8). This is why lenses with those low F-numbers are so good, and so desirable, and worth paying for.
  2. Use a longer lens (zoom in).
  3. Get closer.

Or do several of these at a time, like in this snap I took during a tweet-up the other day:

iPad in hand, by Michael Willems

iPad in hand, by Michael Willems

The blurry background shows just enough to make the viewer work, to understand what is happening; but it also accentuates the iPad very nicely.

I used the Panasonic GF1 with its 20mm f/1.7 prime lens set to f/1.7 (yes, a very low F-number).

Strobella

Posted on by
Reply

OK, so I also tried the “Strobella”, from http://www.strobella.com/:

The strap goes over your flash, so you shoot with it as a “shoot through”, between your flash and your subject.

This device is similar to a softbox, except it is going to throw light behind you too, so it will be good in a room with reflective white ceiling and walls. Or outdoors, where you have to shoot quickly and using direct light.

Results I got were similar to using other diffusers, but in the situations above, better than many. Here’s without, and then with, Strobella.

First without:

No strobella

No strobella

Nasty shadows and harsh look. Now we put the Strobella on:

With Strobella

With Strobella

As you can see, the shadows are much less harsh.

So when you are shooting something that you know will be bad (close up subjects where your flash is the predominant or only light), this works. It’ll save me regularly.

Drawbacks, other than the fact that you perhaps look a bit silly? It cuts one to two stops of light. Is it fairly cheaply made. It is small (the larger the light source, the softer the light).

Michael’s Quick Judgment: No panacea, and it will not last forever; but for the few Euros it costs, it’s not a bad thing to have one in your bag.

Studio tips

Posted on by
Reply

Two studio/product lighting tips for you, prompted by me shooting a few product shots just now for upcoming reviews. Shots like this:

Panasonic GF1, photo Michael Willems

Panasonic GF1, photo Michael Willems

That was taken here:

Product Photo

Product Photo Setup

Which, when seen from behind, looks like this:

Product Setup

Product Setup, with background flash

So what are the tips?

First, avoid stray light, especially on your background. Saturation means “how little white light is mixed in”. A saturated colour has no white mixed in. An unsaturated colour has much white mixed in.

So use a grey backdrop if you can, or just use distance and directional light. Of course since I am using an umbrella and a softbox, much light will stray. So I keep the background far away (you all remember the inverse square law).

So, not this:

Product, too much background light

Product, too much background light

But more like this.

Product, less background light

Product, less background light

Then set your camera to what you like (f/9 and 1/125th for me), and get the background right.

First take a picture with no flash, to ensure that is black; then shoot while activating the background light only. Now get the flash power right: too little and you get a dark background; too much and it turns white. For me, I found this about right:

Product, only background light

Product, only background light

Then you get the rest right, i.e. set the right power for your main lights, and finally, shoot the shot.

Second tip: always use a brush or compressed air to clean your product. Otherwise, hours of photoshopping will result.

KISS: Simple, again

Posted on by
Reply

Today, another shot in the “Keeping it simple” series.

Relatively simple, anyway:

Evanna Mills, photo Michael Willems

Model Evanna Mills, photo Michael Willems

For this photo, taken during our last Creative Lighting workshop, I could have used large strobes with softboxes and portable lead-acid batteries. Instead, I used two simple speedlites.

  • The main light: a Canon 580EX II flash fitted with a Honl Traveller 8 Softbox. Inside that softbox, a half CTO gel.
  • The hair light: a Canon 430EX flash with a Honl Photo 1/4″ grid.
  • Both flashes on cheap, simple stands.
  • Camera on manual/ 1/160th second, f/9, and set to “Flash” white balance.

This is simple and can be reproduced easily and consistently.

I used Pocketwizards and manual settings to fire the lights, because that way I was able to use any flash (even a very cheap one!) and to hand the Pocketwizard to each student in turn to shoot the shot and get consistent results immediately, but I could equally well have used TTL.

The next Creative Lighting workshop in Mono is August 14.

40.

Posted on by
5

When you turn forty, you need glasses. This is the way it is for many of us. Yes, I know my youthful good looks belie it, but I am in fact… oh, who am I kidding? Yeah, I am well past 40.

So I need glasses to see my camera. But to see anything a couple of feet away or beyond, my eyes are great. So all day I put my glasses on, take them off… put them on, take them off… ad infinitum. My head has indentations where they live half the time.

There is now a solution. Hoodman, they of the excellent Hood Loupe you cannot live without (and I mean that!), now have these:

Hoodman Photoframes glasses, photo Michael Willems

Hoodman Photoframes glasses, photo Michael Willems

So, photographers’ glasses, made with titanium, one size fits all. They are flexible at the back, so really will fit all. And they come in a sturdy case. To make them work, you have your optician put your own lenses in (a simple job: I had it done at Great Glasses here in Oakville).

Why?

Here’s why!

Hoodman Photoframes glasses, photo Michael Willems

Hoodman Photoframes glasses, photo Michael Willems

A-ha! That handy little tab allows you to lift the glasses, one eye at a time. That way you can:

  1. Look through the camera with one eye, and keep looking at distant objects with the other
  2. Lift the lens to take a photo, instead of “remove the glasses to take a photo”.

The first point does not work for me, since I am left-eyed. (Yes, we are left- or right-eyed, did you know that? Handsome, intelligent people are left-eyed.. oh who am I kidding!). But the second point works just great. Now when I do a shoot I flip my left eye’s lens up, look through the viewfinder, and shoot. And flip down when I am done. Or to review, use my right eye, so no moving-of-glasses is necessary.

So, one more indispensable tool from Hoodman.

Michael’s Quick Judgment: excellent tool for use during shoots, and you will see me with these!

Another version

Posted on by
Reply

…of the recent “rain”-shot Joseph and I put on at our Mono workshop. I asked recently which one you preferred. Here’s mine:

Evanna, photo by Michael WIllems

Evanna, photo by Michael Willems

Overall, I slightly prefer this one, because:

  • She is larger in the shot.
  • The wet road looks more realistic.
  • It looks like she is in the rain, now – rain drips off the umbrella.
  • I like the lit umbrella, to provide contrast with the hair.
  • Her face is part lit, not evenly lit.

But that is my opinion. Yours may differ. Validly! In interpreting art, a lot of it is valid opinion.

Opus Redux, or Fun Facts

Posted on by
Reply

Remember when I said a while ago that 8 out of 9 of my Opus lights had broken or malfunctioned?

Fun fact. One of them that I had repaired? It arrived with the fuse replaced, and with (I give them that!) a new cable and a new modeling light? Here it is:

I just turned that one on for the first time since I received it back from the repair.

It turns on, but it will not flash (whether I press the test button or fire it via eye or cable).

Groan.

Credit where credit is due.

Posted on by
Reply

While Sears has not so far handled my watch destruction well (see previous post of a few days ago), Apple has come through once more with shining colours.

I took my iPhone 3Gs in to the Apple Store on Saturday. Cracks had started to appear on the bottom. Was that covered by warranty, I wondered?

When I arrived, the Apple Genius (hum) told me that:

  1. My warranty had expired by 37 days
  2. But since my iPhone looked well-treated they would replace it anyway.

Result: a brand-new iPhone 3Gs, with no cracks.

New iPhone 3Gs

My All-New iPhone 3Gs

They even set it up for me, gave it a quick charge, exchanged the card, and made sure it worked. Kudos to Apple Sherway Gardens and Chris the “Genius”. Credit where credit is due.

Of course this is sensible customer service. I will no doubt keep going back to add to my iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air repertoire.

Less can be more

Posted on by
Reply

Less can be more. We sometimes make things complicated as photographers: we get gear-itis. Yeah, me too.

But you can keep it simple. Richard Avedon shot much of his work with a view camera and a white sheet on the shady side of a building. Period. For the longest time, Robert Mapplethorpe shot with a simple Polaroid camera with no settings to speak of.

So while I teach complex lighting, and I teach making complex technologies like TTL understandable, sometimes it can be simple.

Look, for example, at this recent shot of model Lindsay:

Model Lindsay, photo by Michael Willems

Lindsay, photo by Michael Willems, 2010

This is simple how?

  • A simple background. A white wall. I love white walls.
  • Simple lighting equipment. Just one flash, namely a 580EX speedlite on the camera.
  • Simple lighting setup. That flash was aimed at the wall and ceiling behind me. Using TTL, so no metering was necessary (just flash exposure compensation of about +1.3 stops)
  • Simple colour (namely: no colour. I love black and white).
  • Simple clothing. White top for high-key effect. Jeans for a contrasty dark area.
  • Simple pose.
  • Simple post work (just slight exposure adjustments as needed and skin fixes where necessary).

Sometimes less really is more. Don’t you think?

So here is your assignment, should you wish to accept it: find a white room and shoot a high-key portrait like this. Aim the flash behind you. Expose well: to the right. Have fun!