Author Archives: Michael Willems

A few flower tips.

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Today, I shot some flowers, in anticipation of a photo club walkaround on Monday.

I’ll share a few here, to get you started.

If you have a macro lens, use it. If not, then consider a 50mm lens and get as close as you can: then crop in post-production. That’s why you have all those pixels. (If you use a “normal” lens, set it to a smaller f-number to get shallow depth of field).

And look for nice colour contrasts: purple and green is a great combination.

Here’s a shot taken in simple non-direct light (direct sunlight is not great), with a macro lens set to f/5.6. Normally, f/5,6 at close range gives you too narrow a depth of field, but in this case it works:

A flower

A flower, shot with a macro lens.

Red (or orange) and green is a great combination, also:

Poppies

Poppies, shot with a macro lens

As said, if you can, avoid flash, and direct sunlight. Except translucent light, i.e. a flower lit by the sun from behind, can work very well:

Translucent tulip

Translucent tulip, lit from behind

Simple backgrounds are essential. Dark backgrounds are nice too, if you can get them.

A tulip

A tulip

Can you see that the iris shot below does not have a simple enough background, and that the light is a bit harsh? If I had been able to, I might have used a black sheet of paper behind the flower.

An iris

An iris

Importantly: get your exposure right. Foliage is dark: your camera will try to over-expose it. You may well need to use exposure compensation, of perhaps -0.5 to -2 stops, to get the right exposure. I am sure I used that in most shots here.

(“I am sure” because I am not sure: it is so automatic that I am not even consciously aware!)

This, I hope, is a start: go try some flower pictures!

Spreading the word.

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Tomorrow, I am teaching Nikon and Canon camera use at Henry’s in Mississauga; then Friday in Brantford, then Saturday in Oshawa, I am doing a Canon outdoors flash get-out-and-shoot.

And then on Sunday, Joseph Marranca and I teach an all-day country Creative Lighting workshop in Mono, Ontario (an hour north of Toronto): http://www.cameratraining.ca/Mono-Day.html (and yes, there are two spaces left: book now if you are interested).

Digital technology makes it so much easier than ever before; and you can do more; and you get instant feedback; and it is free. This is a great time for photographers.

Go wild.. and get creative

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Creative lighting is all about what you do not light:

A chiaroscuro picture of a model, by Michael Willems

Recent chiaroscuro picture of a model

I used one bounced flash and a prime 35mm lens on a full-frame body.

The camera was on manual of course, and shutter, aperture, and ISO were set to make sure the background was dark, but with colour showing in the background.

Flash was on TTL.

I wanted to emphasise the girl’s striking eyes and hide her face, and emphasise her look, so I bounced off a black ceiling above her. Yes, even a black ceiling will reflect some light! And 1600 ISO and the lens wide open ensured that “some” light was “enough” light.

Not your typical party picture – precisely because I did not light all of the girl.

Truck rollover causes road closure

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This will go on all night: a truck loaded with an uncertain acid rolls over, and a major road, Dorval Drive at the QEW, is closed.. and now until they pump it, road closures and police/fire activity.

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Rolled-over truck on Dorval Drive in Oakville

Shooting airplanes

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And I mean with a camera, of course. That is what I did yesterday, with my student and friend Ray, at Pearson International Airport’s runway 24R. Where the aircraft are seemingly about to land on your car:

Airplane about to land

Airplane about to land at YYZ

Yes, that is my car, and yes, I do trust aircraft and pilots. And yes, I have about 250 hours in Cessnas, all over the planet, so I understand how it’s done.

So let’s talk about taking airplane pictures. Do I have any tips? Of course I do.

First about preparation.

  1. Check the runways and check where you can shoot. Even without a scanner, if the wind is from the west, runway 27 might be in use; if it from the north, runway 36 is more likely. (the numbers times ten are the compass direction). Take sun into account as well – you do not want to shoot into the sun if you do not have to.
  2. If you can, bring a scanner, and set it to tower frequencies (like 118.70 MHz AM). That way you will know who is about to land. Listen for “Heavy” – those are the big aircraft.
  3. Park where it is allowed. Getting arrested or told to move helps no-one. Look for other enthusiasts.

About the lens.

  • If you use a lens with image stabilisation, you can use it if you are not moving the lens. If you are moving the lens, because the aircraft is close, turn it off (or use “mode 2/active VR” on expensive lenses).
  • It may be tempting to think “I need a long lens”. And maybe you do. You get nice pictures like this:
Turboprop Landing

Turboprop Landing

And like this:

Small jet landing

Small jet landing

But if in fact you are close to a runway, contrary to what you first think,  you probably will want a wide angle lens.

Wide is good:

  • it is forgiving with focus
  • it is forgiving with motion blur
  • it is forgiving with depth of field. All good.

And you may need a wide lens just to get it all in. You can get pictures like this, with dramatic perspective:

Air Canada Jazz landing over a phone box

Air Canada Jazz landing at YYZ

Now exposure and other camera settings.

  • Set the camera to continuous drive (you press, it keeps clicking away)
  • Set the camera to continuous focus (“AI Servo” or “AF-C”)
  • Preferably, use manual exposure mode.  I used manual, 1/500th second, f/8, and 200 ISO for most of today’s pictures. I measured this off the bottom off the first aircraft.
  • Use 1/800th second if you can to freeze motion. But when shooting turboprops, 1/400th or perhaps 1/320th is good to show some blur in the props.

The better your exposure in camera, the less work you have to do afterward.

Finally, composition.

Big aircraft are good.

Big aircraft

A large aircraft landing

Even better, add some foreground object, so show perspective and scale. Like here:

BA aircraft landing at YYZ over a phone box

BA aircraft landing at YYZ

Or here:

Air Canada landing at YYZ

Air Canada landing at YYZ

Or here:

Aircraft about to land, over Bell Phone Box

Aircraft about to land

That is my advice. And above all, keep in mind that this is supposed to be fun. Don’t sweat it is not all images are sharp. There’s another plane coming soon.

And if (like me) you go home with 600 pictures, you will have to cull 90% of them, and that hurts. But it’s got to be done!

Why set White Balance when you shoot RAW?

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When you shoot RAW (as you probably should if your pictures are important t0 you) then your in-camera image processing settings are not important. Setting like colour space (AdobeRGB or sRGB), sharpening, noise reduction, colour saturation, saturation, white balance, and more.

They are not applied, just attached to the sensor information as “suggestions”. You can always set, or change, them later in Lightroom, Photoshop, or whatever you use.

So why set Light Balance in the camera anyway? It is time-consuming, and if those settings are not permanent, why bother?

First, if you shoot RAW, you should turn off all image settings that make the preview look very different from the RAW image. Set your camera to “normal” picture style and disable auto lighting optimization, lens correction, extra contrast, and so on. I have written about that before on this blog.

Then, white balance. Why you might want to set it:

  1. Your images will look more like the finished product. You will get a better idea of “what you are getting”
  2. You know whether to correct anything.
  3. They will also look better, so you will feel better about your skills
  4. Most software will take the White Balance setting at least as a suggestion, so you can start off in Lightroom, say, with colours already almost right.

    Against this: it takes time. So what I DO IS THIS:

    • Not worry about it
    • If shooting in a studio, and I have time, I set it to Flash
    • If shooting a sunset, or late day light, or snow on a sunny day, and I have time, I set to daylight
    • If shooting in Tungsten light, and I have time, I set to Tungsten
    • But when in a hurry and at all other times than those above, set it to auto.

    That’s simple, no?

    Filter or hood? Which one trumps?

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    A reader emailed me this question:

    First of all, I really enjoyed your Travel and Photo Journalism presentation on Saturday, thank you for some great information. Also the Flash Presentation was very informative.
    I use a Canon XSI with a Sigma 18-200mm as a walk-about lens. The lens has a good lens hood, however I also have a circular polarizing UV filter on the lens and , with the lens hood on, I have difficulty adjusting the filter.  I typically don’t use a tripod so I run out of hands and fingers at the wrong time! Because of this complication I don’t use the Hood most of the time, any suggestions as to the benefits of the hood vs. the filter if I can only use one.

    Good question, and one that may be useful for others too.

    I still advise using both… I have a 70-200 and with the hood it’s quite tricky to adjust the polarizer: but I still do it quite often.

    So I would say:

    • Lens hood: always. For stray light as well as for damage protection.
    • Polarizer when you need it (when the skies are blue, etc, or you want to reduce reflections, or you need to cut light).
    • Both when you can, and especially when you are shooting against strong light

    I feel the reader’s pain… it’s one of those things where we wish it was different – but it isn’t… 🙂

    Favourite lenses: the 35mm prime

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    The 35mm prime is my favourite “event” lens. On a full frame camera it makes images like this, right out of the camera (shot at a corporate event the other day):

    An image made with the 35mm f/1.4 lens on a full frame camera

    35mm f/1.4 lens on a full frame camera

    In other words, this is a great lens for portraits at events, of one or two people. The ideal length (on a crop camera you would want a 24 mm lens, which would give you the same angle).

    I was originally reluctant to use this. Surely a zoom lens is better. Yes?

    Actually, no. The prime lens, although it necessitates walking back and forth a bit, is great, because:

    • It is relatively light and small
    • It is very sharp
    • It is fast – f/1.4. Meaning it goes to a low “F” number, which means that you can go to that low F-number in low light; it also means that when you shoot at even a slightly higher F-number,like 2.0 or even 2.8, it is very sharp indeed.
    • It enforces the right discipline: many images are just right because I move the right way.

    We overestimate the need for zooms. When shooting an event that involves pictures like the one above, this prime lens gives me excellent, repeatable, consistent, and professional results. What more can you want?

    Oh, and one more note: a quick start guide for events:

    • Use an external flash.
    • Aim that flash behind you, as I have pointed out many time here.
    • Set your camera to manual mode: start at f/4, 1/30th, at 400 ISO.

    But you can’t shoot at low aperture numbers.

    Right?

    Wrong. The above picture was shot at f/1.6. I used that aperture and 400 ISO at 1/60th second, because I wanted optimal image quality, and yes, you can shoot at low “F” numbers with a wide angle lens without running into depth of field issues.

    So: go for it. And above all: have fun. Your pictures are guaranteed to be better than Uncle Fred’s.