Author Archives: Michael Willems

Wakey wakey…

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A customer (an international teaching hospital in Toronto) called me just now for a last-minute shoot (an award ceremony by the Board of Directors). Unfortunately, with a client on his way, I could not take the job.

So I called every photographer I knew in and around Toronto. Amazingly, none but two answered: most were still asleep. Few of the others called back.

The fact that no photographer was able to take a last-minute job did not surprise me. The fact most were unable to be reached, did. For those of you who want to be photographers, great news: you can get up after 9AM!

Oh and if you were not on my call list it is because I do not have your number.

The shot? It fell through, they decided without a photographer, no ceremony.

What memory cards do I need?

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This is a frequently asked question. Like many such questions, it has some suggestions rather than one definitive answer. And those suggestions are:

  1. Buy brand name cards. Lexar and Sandisk are the main brands, and they are very good electronically. They have anti-aging mechanisms built in that some cheaper cards do not.
  2. Get a lot of them. Often, I would rather have two 8GB cards or even four 4GB cards than one 16GB card. This spreads your risk. Memory cards die, get lost, get stolen, and so on.
  3. Speed is less important unless you shoot sports (many repeated shots) or video. For video, the sustained throughput (the small 1-9 number surrounded by a circle) is very important. But if you do not shoot video or constant shutter mode shots such as in sports, speed only affects the read/write time from buffer to card and from card to computer, (not the quality) and you may well prefer a $30 “slow” card ran a $150 “Super Generation 6 Extra Extreme Screaming Speed Pus Pro” card.
  4. That said, I think everyone should have one very fast card – for when you shoot repeated large images.
  5. Do not open the camera when the LED at the back, that indicates “wait, I am writing to the card” turns off.
  6. Format your card every time you re-insert it into the camera – but only after you have copied all you images to the computer and made a backup.
  7. Use a CF/SD card reader for connecting to the computer. Many people find this more convenient than connecting the camera. The choice is yours, though.

I hope that is useful – and remember, shoot a lot and fill those cards, especially this season.

Nick

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OK, so I spent the day photographing St Nicholas, i.e. Santa Claus, in the mall. The real one (pull his beard, it’s the genuine thing).

So how do you do this? See yesterday for the tethering article, but I thought it might be useful for you to see how this is done in other equipment terms.

I used, and with the help of my assistant Daniel set up, the following in this order:

  • Lights:
  1. Two 400 Ws strobes (Bowen) on light stands, firing into umbrellas.
  2. A pocket wizard on each light to fire it.
  3. Power set to 4/5 as a starting point
  • Camera:
  1. Canon 1Ds MkIII, with power supplied by mains adapter.
  2. A tripod
  3. Wire release for the camera.
  4. 50mm f/1.4 lens (any lens would have done)
  5. Pocket wizard (to fire the other two)
  • USB cable to the computer.
  • Computer, tethered as per yesterday’s article

First, I set my camera to manual exposure, 100 ISO, 1/125th second, f/8. Then I set the lights to that, using a light meter.

Then I tried a test shot without  flash:

This is very important. I wanted the ambient light in the mall, which varied due to a large skylight, to not affect exposure. So that picture above should look dark. Else variance in the sunlight will affect my pictures. One lovely thing about studio lighting is that it is consistent.

Then I did a custom white balance (I had to shoot JPG for the printing company, so this was very important). So I shot a grey card on Santa’s seat, and set my custom WB to that exposure.

Then I set the camera “style” settings to extra saturation by one click. (I am shooting JPG and we have bright Santa- and kid-colours).

And then I was ready. Here’s me:

Having tuned a bit (set my aperture to f/9 instead of f/8 to reduce exposure a bit), I am now ready for shots. And for Santa!

And the great thing is that I was able to stay at these settings all day. And every picture was sharp as a tack, exposed perfectly, and the right neutral colour. This is what I love about studio light. Even in a mall, with a portable studio. Of course it is important to check every now and then that you are still set right – JPG, 1/125th sec, 100 ISO, f/9. But if you make no mistakes, you get the same great light all day.

And Jolly Old Nick will be happy, as will the kids – and more importantly, their parents.

Question du jour

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Reader bkkphotographer ask this:

A friend in Bangkok is replacing his 5D Mark 1 with a newer body. He offered to sell me the 5D.

1. I think the 5D would be a step-up from my 30D in terms of quality, even if it is the original model.
2. BUT I don’t have the L lenses that would use its capabilities and I might be disappointed. True?
3. Would you ever consider a second-hand body? If so what checks should I do before buying?

My take:

Yes, the 5D is great. I used to own one – great camera. Just because there is a 5D MkII and soon a MkIII, MkIV and MkV, no reason that the 5D will not do what it always does. And it is full frame.

Grab it if it is good. You will not be disappointed. Even without “L” lenses. For instance, the 50mm f/1.8 lens is what I used today all day to do pro shots. This is the cheapest lens Canon sells. It is brilliant. And this is a full frame camera, so 50 would be 50.

What to watch for? The 5D had a service recall – the mirror can let go. Free fix by Canon. Has this been done. And the 5Dis a bit of a dust magnet. Is the sensor clear? And do you have a new battery?

Take some test shots, check accurate focus etc; find out above the above, have Canon do the fix if needed; buy a new battery if needed; and go for it. Great camera.

Lights… camera… action!

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A quick reminder for those of you who shoot action shots: shots where the subject is moving.

For anything where the subject is moving, you may want to:

  1. Use Tv/S or manual mode (or Av/A mode with a large aperture) to set the exposure time to 1/200th sec or faster – the faster, the better, typically..
  2. Use a high ISO (in hockey arenas and wedding dance halls, you may well need 1600 ISO).
  3. Use the center focus point
  4. Set the focus mode (the “how does the camera focus) to “Continuous” (AF-C/AI Servo).
  5. Set the drive mode to continuous.
  6. If you are moving with the subject,  turn off your lens’s stabiliser, unless you have a “mode 2” for panning.
  7. You may want to try JPG shots for these.

And finally, do think about how you want to show or freeze motion. It is not a given that all motion must be frozen. A hint of motion blur can show the viewer that something was actually happening, and that they are not staring at a statue.

Anthropomorphing nature

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Just like I recently described how the snowflakes fell here like silent little torturers, in Arizona I was struck by how the cactuses stand and watch you, like silent accusers. Somehow that is the analogy I see. They stand and watch like hundreds of silent accusers. View large by clicking, to see what I mean:

I guess that makes me pretty weird. But at least it is a good thing for a photographer when nature speaks to him. Whatever nature says to you, see if you can capture it in your images.

Tethering

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So I worked out a somewhat workable method to connect my Canon 1- and 7-series bodies to my Mac for tethered operation.

First:

  • Install Canon EOS Utility
  • Install Canon Imagebrowser
  • Then connect the camera to the USB port on the computer.
  • Before turning it on, run Image Capture app and tell it that this camera, when connected, should start up Canon EOS Utility.
  • Now start, and set up, EOS Utility. Tell it to save captures to, for instance, “Pictures”. Tell it that its action upon connection of a camera should be to start Imagebrowser.

Now you can turn on your camera. Take a shot. The first time, because imagebrower is not yet running, the EOS viewer starts, but this is not “updating live” so it is not the browser we want. Close it.

It will not start again. Instead every subsequent image you take now pops up in Imagebrowser. You get a live image as soon as you take it on the camera. Clicking on any image, and using left and right arrows, allows you to scroll through images taken and set zoom levels.

Not ideal and a lot of work, but it does work well enough for me to use for tomorrow’s Santa shoot.

There are better ways, I know it!

Vision

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I have pointed out before that camera makers have no vision. There is irony in that.

One example of this lack of vision is their software. Because I am shooting kids with Santa tomorrow, I am looking for a good tethering solution, so I can attach my 1Ds MkIII to the Macbook Air and see the shots immediately – so the parents can choose.

So I download install Canon EOS utility, which allows tethering my camera to my computer, and doing settings, shooting remote, and so on.

Except I can’t. You can download the software, but to install you need to have a prior version installed first.

Why on earth is that a requirement? This software is only useful if you have a Canon camera. Why would they want to prevent a non-camera owner from installing? It won’t do them any good.

Now I need to go find my DVD drive (the Macbook Air does not have one built in), I need to go find the CD that came with the camera (wish me luck). Canon, why do you insist on making my life more difficult with these idiotic and unnecessary restrictions?

Turn baby turn

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One thing that snappers often ask me is “when do you turn your images”?

There is no one answer, but it is almost certainly “more often than you do”. I turn my picture diagonally when:

  • I think it makes a nice composition
  • I want to turn diagonals into horizontals and verticals
  • I simply want to fit more in
  • I want to introduce a more dynamic feel

Here’s a few recent examples:

So while for the sake of your viewers’ stomachs I would not recommend you turn for every picture, I do think we could all do this a lot more than we do today. For that professional look.. or just to get everything into the picture. Which still gives it that professional look.

Flash

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Yesterday, I spent the evening with six pro and emerging pro shooters who spend their time shooting weddings and similar events. I taught them both basic and advanced techniques for using flash, including small strobes, i-TTL/CLS/eTTL, modifiers, and creative techniques. I love this stuff, and I get taught to teach it. Can you imagine? Pinch me!