Author Archives: Michael Willems

Landscaper tips

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Today, a few quick tips for shooting landscapes.

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Northern Israel, 2007

Follow these:

Tools:

    1. Use a tripod. This is the one time you will need one. Landscape needs to be sharp. SHARP.
    2. Consider using graduated filters to darken skies.
    3. Consider using a polarizing filter.
    4. Use small depth of field (e.g. set an aperture of f/11 or f/16).
    5. Focus one third into the picture to ensure all is sharp.
    6. Be careful not to over-expose. You may well need -1 stop exposure compensation when shooting foliage.
    7. Did I mention tripods?

      Composition:

      1. Keep the horizon straight.
      2. Shoot at sunrise or sunset if you can.
      3. Use the “rule of thirds”.
      4. Use S-curves if you can to gently lead into the image.
      5. Look for small colour contrasts (e.g. red-green, and yellow-blue),
      6. Consider adding close-by foreground subjects to show depth in your image.

      And your pictures will be better!

      Why oh why..

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      …are studio flash pictures so much sharper than available light pictures? Like, always?

      Whatever you do, available light may look great – but when you zoom in close, it is not perfect.

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      Studio is much better. Look at this picture I just took with my Canon 7D at f/11, 1/125th sec, 100 ISO, using two studio strobes driven by a pair of Pocketwizards:

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      Zoom in and it is spectacular. This is the original size (once you click), and utterly unaltered:

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      Why is this so much better?

      Let me tell you some differences. I count six:

      1. Aperture – Studio light means f/8. Available light means f/2.8. Lenses are typically sharper and clearer at f/5.6-f/8.
      2. ISO – Available light means higher ISO. Lower ISO, like in a studio, means sharper pictures.
      3. Shutter speed – Flash is around 1/1000th second. Available light pictures, even at 1/250th second, will not be as clear.
      4. Tripod – In a studio you are likely to be using a tripod. This is huge, in terms of focus and motion.
      5. Light direction – Studio flash is directional. Available light is diffuse. So surfaces look clearer.
      6. Exposure – In a studio, you are likely to expose to the right – the pixels will be bright pixels. Bright pixels are sharp pixels!

      So it is not so much one factor. It is the combination of all of them. In a studio you have all of them your way; in available light, many, sometimes all, are not ideal. That is why studio flash is so much crisper.

      Have I left anything out, anyone?

      Love it

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      If there is one thing in life I do well, it is to make complicated things simple. Customers and listeners appreciate this. Today was no exception: on the last day of the photo show, I spoke to another 1,500 people, I estimate. That means that over the three days I am sure I  addressed 5,000 people.

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      This busy show emphasises how much people want to learn about photography and equip themselves with the right equipment.

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      After my presentations, there are lineups to sign up for the workshops. After all, they are tremendous fun, and when you do a workshop, it is amazing how much more you get out of your camera.

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      Just like pixels were born to be punished, I was born to do this, I think. What a blast, to help people understand their cameras and to help them make great pictures.

      I met so many wonderful people – some of whom I have met many times. Some (like Maged Henein ) are great photographers. Many have interesting stories (like the young lady who wants to be a war photographer – oh boy do I recognise myself at that age!). Many who are getting into photography again after a hiatus. And all of them share a love of photography that I have too – a love that makes this field so exciting.

      Those of you here checking out my blog because you were part of those people, please do leave comments and ask questions: I’ll even answer them online if they are interesting to others.

      And: thank you!

      Michael

      Black and white

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      …and grey. Underrated, as said before, Here’s a recent snap of the day.

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      Port Credit, September 2009

      My advice to all of you is to do more black and white photography. Ideally, shoot in RAW (but preview in B&W on your camera)  and use Lightroom (or if you must, Photoshop) to intelligently convert the images. Some will work; others will not; and you will learn from this process. As I do, every day.

      More crowds

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      So today I addressed at least several thousand people. These are the kinds of standing-room-only crowds I love:

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      And I thrive in this, witness this picture taken by my friend, Oakville photographer Dani:

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      Today’s subjects included Travel Photography, Introduction to your DSLR, Lightroom and RAW, and Composition. More tomorrow! And hopefully, more wonderful crowds like this:
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      One more day – don’t miss it.

      In walking the show, I was struck by two examples of customer service.

      On the one hand, Gary Fong.  Yes, that Gary – the maker of the Lightsphere. He chatted with me, we exchanged business cards and he was genuinely interested in my suggestions and feedback. He even snapped my picture. Hats off to Gary.

      On the other hand, Apple. At the Apple booth I mentioned that I had left Aperture, which crashed, for Lightroom. Because, as said, Aperture crashed. As soon as I said this, the Apple guy promptly turned away and.. well, sneered. An Apple fanboi also at the booth asked the Apple  employee “Crashed? What was he talking about?”. “Huh. Your guess is as good as mine”, shrugged Apple guy to Apple fan. “In fact it’s probably better”. Both turned away from me both laughed (no – sneered), and neither looked at me again.

      This kind of appalling service is, I suppose, OK if you are Apple, but I cannot imagine it can do you much good in the long run. For a start, it leads to blog posts such as this one. Love Apple products, but the company… wow. Sneering at your customers for daring to say something that might imply that your Holy Product is not, like, perfect. Wow. I feel like I was… excommunicated.. what is it the Amish do when you are cast out from the tribe? These guys make Rogers look good!

      Shake-free trick

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      You all know that when you take handheld pictures at low shutter speeds (like 1/15th second on a 35mm lens) you do not get sharp pictures like this:

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      Actually. you can. I took that picture hand-held – holding the camera with only one hand! – at those very settings. And no, the lens is not a “VR” (Nikon) or “IS” (Canon) stabilized type.

      So how did I do this? Other than of course having a rock-stead hand?

      Just kidding about the hand. Here’s the first five pictures I took:

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      So how many sharp ones? One in five, and for me, that’s about what I get when I handhold the camera in one hand at half the lens length.

      The point, of course, is that even with bad conditions like that, you’ll still get the odd accidentally sharp picture. If you need the picture to be sharp, shoot a lot. Click-click-click-click-click-click. It’s OK – sometimes you have to do it without a tripod even though you should be using one (and you know it!), and you’ll still get the odd sharp pictures even then.

      (I’ll tell no-one if you don’t.)

      Rock on

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      So today I was able to help 1,000 people with digital SLR knowledge, Travel Photography tips, and Lightroom and RAW  introduction.

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      This is my favourite activity: to help people of varying backgrounds and with varying degrees of knowledge with their photography skills. It is such a thrill to make your life part of eternity by committing it to paper (well – to bits) that I feel privileged to help people do it. I mean that: how many of you have good pictures of your parents? with a little knowledge, you can!

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      My mission: to make Canada the best country in the world in terms of photographic knowledge. And you know what: I think we really have a shot at it. Pun intended.

      For those of you who have not been yet: Saturday and Sunday, in the International Centre next to Toronto Airport, and every vendor of photographic equipment, services, and anything else is there. And I am there every day speaking.

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      If you know me and need a ticket, email. Else, it’s worth ten times the small price of admission. See you there!

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      Oh – of course al these snaps were taken with the Canon 7D. In next to no light, I might add.