Author Archives: Michael Willems

Mano a mano!

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I am often confronted by students who assume that automatic functions are easier to use than “manual”.

This is a misconception. You should only use auto functions after you have learned to do it manually! That way you know:

  • What the camera is doing (mystery is never good) and why.
  • What the alternatives are.
  • When the camera gets it wrong.
  • What you’re getting – manual is predictable.

So my advice:

  • Always choose your own focus spot.
  • Now try manual exposure – ISO, aperture and shutter speed – before you use aperture mode, shutter mode or program mode.
  • Once you have mastered these, try to use manual flash mode.
  • Manual focus (as opposed to focus spot selection) can be good in macro, video, and so on, so it’s worth practicing that too.

You will be amazed at how quickly you grasp the technical aspects of photography, once you start te be in charge of them!

 

Filters

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Long-time reader Laura W. asks:

Can you expand a bit more on ND filters.  I have never used any type of filter, and I know you are not a big advocate of them.  But I have read so much mixed information on them, just wondering what your take is?  Ever in Studio?  I would think not but, I have heard some arguments for.

Sure, good question.

I avoid using filters unless necessary. But sometimes it is necessary. Here’s a few examples of when that might be:

  • A protection filter (“clear”, “UV”, “skylight”), when there’s rain, sand or snow flying about. Else, I leave them off – they can increase flare and reflections.
  • A polarizer (“C-pol”, “Circular Polarizer”) when you want to enhance contrast in blue skies, and reduce reflections, eg on water. Turn. Take it off when not using it. Buy good filters – thin, if you are using wide angle lenses.
  • An ND filter (Neutral Density Filter) to cut light. Imagine this – you want a 1/30th sec exposure for panning during the day at f/2.8. Even at 100 ISO, there is no way you will get this. Or a waterfall pic, 2 seconds. Or a daytime or early evening lightning shot – the shutter should be open for maybe 10 seconds. There is no way you can do these shots – even at 100 ISO there is too light. So an ND filter cuts that light – problem solved. Or in a studio if your lights are too powerful even at the lowest setting. All good reasons to own a few ND filters that cut, say, 2 or 4 or even more stops.

Does that help?

Michael

 

So wrong

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The UK, in my experience, is one of the worst places in the world for photography. Photography on Trafalger Square? forbidden if it is “professional”.

And now this, Aldwych Station, London, UK:

Of course this shows the UK’s obsession with controlling, and the UK’s diametrically-opposed-to-freedom views. It is no suprise that George Irwell was British. And see “Children of Men” for a great dystopia. China is more free than Britain, and this is a sad statement.

So what do you do?

  • Know the laws and try to stay within them.
  • But be vocal when you are within your rights.
  • Smile a lot.
  • Use a smaller camera and a smaller lens.
  • Use a wide angle lens and get the action on the side.
  • Or use  long lens and try not to be noticed.
  • Avoid being male and having a beard.
  • Be Quick!

These tips should get you by the worst fo the restrictions. Practice at home when it is not important yet.

(And I always carry a Fuji x100, which has a full APS-C sensor and many megapixels, but the silly people who make the rules do not know this).

Print for Christmas

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Reader Robert G asks:

How does one prepare ones files in Lightroom to get them ready for Printing at a lab? I know a lot of people are doing photo books, calendars for Christmas gifts and it would be helpful. I still can not wrap my head around the whole sRGB, Adobe RGB, Pro Photo  colour space thing….

Good question.

First, though, the size. Typically for printing, the more pixels the better. But you can ask your printer – if you know the printer’s DPI and the size of the image, just multiply those. (a 10 inch long image printed at 300 dpi would need 300 x 10 = 3000 pixels).

Then the quality – assuming I am making a JPG, for print output I always set this to the highest quality (the lowest compression).

Now, the colour space for printing.

If you print from Lightroom yourself, it’s simple: no choice is needed since Lightroom and your PC use your printer drivers and profiles. But if you send out your image, the answer is simple if not helpful: it depends.

It depends on the printer used by the company that does your printing. Mostly, sRBG is what the print company expects. In some cases, it needs to be AdobeRGB – but usually you would be told if that were the case.

So produce a large high quality JPG in the sRGB colour space, unless your print company is able to handle one of the other colour spaces.

Which company, Robert also asked. I have recently used Vistaprint, and have been (and almost a year and a half later, remain) very impressed with quality, price, and speed.

 

Beginner’s mistake

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I don’t make those, right?

Of course I do – but then I fix them.

At a recent talk at Seneca College I shot my “assistant-for-the-evening” Kim in a test shot, using the usual settings (ISO 400, 1/40th sec, f/4; and the flash on TTL, aimed 45 degrees behind me):

Kim Gorenko assisting (Photo: Michael Willems)

Uh oh, too dark. What?

Oh. (Hits forehead)! White or yellow bright walls, a white top: TTL metering will of course get this wrong and will underexpose (just like ambient metering would).

So let’s set FEC (flash exposure compensation) to +1 stop and let’s try that again:

Kim Gorenko assisting (Photo: Michael Willems)

That’s a lot better! (And then you can fine-tune from there). Notice how the ambient is the same (background), but the flashed part of the picture (her) is now brighter.

Often, when people say “TTL flash metering is unpredictable” they mean “I haven’t quite thought it through”, and this was such a case. Problem solved, and I should have done this even before the first test shot – but then, that is why you take test shots!

Interested in lighting? Consider some private coaching, where I explain all, you get to practice and take actual shots, and all will become clear. The December/January special is still on: 10% off during those months.

Michael’s Top Ten Dicta

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Legally speaking, a Dictum is “a statement of opinion or belief considered authoritative though not binding, because of the authority of the person making it”. More generally, it is “a noteworthy statement: as (a) : a formal pronouncement of a principle, proposition, or opinion; (b) : an observation intended or regarded as authoritative.” Google it if you want.

So, assuming you know me and trust my judgement, you may well be interested in my Top Ten Dicta:

  1. Bright pixels are sharp pixels. The more you make your subject bright pixels, the more it will be sharp and crisp. Noise hides in the darkness, like cockroaches. Light your subject and it becomes sharp.
  2. Go wide and get close. Wide angles combined with proximity to something introduces depth and perspective into y our images.
  3. Indoors flash: point your flash up, 45 degrees behind you. This gives you the correct light angle for close-by portraits, like in events.
  4. Indoors flash: Use the “4-4-4″ rule” as your camera setting starting point: Camera on manual, 400 ISO, 1/40th sec, f/4. Then adjust for brighter or darker rooms, to give average ambient exposure of around -2 stop.
  5. Turn baby turn. Feel free to angle your shots whenever you like. Composition, simplifying, energy: whatever your reasons. It’s cool, it’s allowed.
  6. You, and the lens, make the picture. Cameras are cool – I buy a lot of them – but the picture is made by you – even an iPhone can produce cool shots – and more technically, by the lens. A good lens on a cheap body is great. A cheap lens on a good body, not so much.
  7. Go Prime If You Can. Prime lenses lose on convenience but win in every other way. I love my 35mm f/1.4 lens.
  8. Use off-centre composition and the rule of thirds in your compositions.
  9. Get close: fill the frame. This so often makes your images better, it is worth stressing as a Dictum.
  10. Simplify! Ask yourself: is everything in my image the subject or the supporting background? If not, get rid of it. A circle has 360 degrees.

That’s my wisdom in a nutshell. Do you know, understand, feel, and above all use all ten principles above?

Learn about these and much more in one of my training or private coaching sessions. There is 10% December Discount – this is a great time to consider buying a friend a session with me: buy a Gift Certificate for the holiday season!

Ph(x)=Fn(p)

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In my nonsense shorthand, this means “photography is problem-solving”. And it always is.

Take the other night, when I shot a classical concert – Händel’s Messiah, by Masterworks of Oakville. Among my challenges were:

  • Low light!
  • The required white balance is non-standard.
  • No flash allowed.
  • Close-ups and long shots both needed.
  • You do not want to get in the way of the audience.
  • Finding the right position – be close.
  • The organizers had made it known that I was not to move around…
  • The conductor had asked me not to make clicking sounds! Ouch.

As you see, I had my work cut out for me. So how did I handle all this?

  1. I used the right equipment – only f/2.8 lenses. 16-35 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 and I had primes and a small camera.
  2. I shot everything at 1600 ISO. f/2.8 and 1600 ISO gave me acceptable shutter speeds.
  3. I arrived early, so I was right behind the orchestra, about 30cm from the soloists.
  4. I had three cameras. My main cameras had a 16-36 wide and 70-200 long lens.
  5. I set these two big Canon 1D4/1Ds3 cameras to “silent” shutter (a little quieter than normal).
  6. I also disabled all beeps.
  7. But I shot all shots of quiet passages with my Fuji X100, which is totally silent.
  8. I shot RAW, allowing me to tune white balance afterward.
  9. I angle shots to ensure the size of the crowd is emphasized.
  10. Shoot detail.
  11. Show all angels – choir, soloists, audience, the works.
  12. Fill the frame!
  13. Shoot the right moments. Emotion is good…

A few of the resulting images:

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Masterworks of Oakville - Messiah (Photo: Michael Willems)

Final note: also shoot “establishing shots”: the venue, the show notes, and so on.

Shooting converts is fun if stressful – and using techniques like these, that stress can be handled.

 

SB-900 update

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Nikon has just announced the SB-910 flash. An update designed mainly, I imagine, to address the main problem that haunted both the SB-900 and SB-800 flashes: they readily overheated. The SB-800 would break; the SB-900 would shut down and beep.

So the SB910 will, I hope for Nikon shooters, do better.

But let’s say you are an SB-800 or SB-900 owner. It is relatively easy to avoid a flash overheating (which by the way my Canon flashes do not suffer from). Here’s a few ideas, and you can combine them:

  • Do not flash continuously. Build in a little pause between flashes.
  • Use multiple flashes instead of one.
  • If you have to, flash direct instead of via modifiers.
  • Use the flash in cooler temperatures.
  • Use lower power: get closer to your subjects.
  • Use lower power: increase your camera’s ISO.

Tip: Use the tools you have. Every tool has its limits. Know what those limits are and work with them, or work around them. Waiting for the ideal tool is not always the best idea: it will never arrive.

So if you now have, say, an SB-900: my advice is, keep it, work with it.

 

Slow flash – a misnomer

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Nikon calls it “slow flash” when you use a slow shutter speed while using flash. You engage this in semi-automatic and automatic camera modes (P and A) by pressing the flash button an turning the wheel until you see the word “slow” on the top LCD display in the flash area.

This is a misnomer. The flash is fast – in the order of 1/1000th second. It is the shutter that is allowed to be slow in this “mode” (really just a technique). That is why another, more correct, term for this technique is “dragging the shutter”.

And you want to do that why? As readers here now, you want that in order to allow enough ambient light in, to avoid those dark backgrounds.

But can you use a slow shutter speed when using flash? Surely a shot at, say, 1/30th second will be all blurry?

Not necessarily. While there may be a little ghosting, if your subject is mainly lit by the flash, it will be as though it was shot at 1/1000th second.

That is why “slow flash” is such an unfortunate misnomer: it is”fast flash in a slow shutter image”. Which is why the Willems 444 Rule for indoors flash (400 ISO, 1/40th sec, f/4) usually results in crisp images.  Have you tried it yet?