Author Archives: Michael Willems

Fill the frame

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If you have been in any of my composition or travel photography classes, you will have heard me recommend that you simplify – this is essential.

And one way of doing this, I then go on, is to fill the frame. Get close. Concentrate on the essence and ignore the rest.

Like in this shot:

Candy Jelly

“Fill the frame” often meets resistance.

  • “But I’ll cut off bits!”
  • “But I’ll miss essential stuff”.
  • “But you can’t cut through someone’s head! Not allowed!”
  • “But then I won’t show the whole story”.
  • “But I was always taught I must never cut people off at the feet!”.

All very well. But think about it: if I had not filled the frame above, I would had had mess on all sides, black tables, hands, trays: clutter. The shot would have been much less effective. And sometimes you tell the story better by getting close-up.

I have a tip for you. Next time you hear my voice talking to you as you are about to shoot – or could it be your conscience? – just shoot twice. Once close in, like in the shot above; and once wider, with lots of stuff on all sides.

Then at home, see which one you actually prefer.

Cat

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This cat, a niece’s friend, shows the coolness of wide lenses for really selective depth of field. Scroll down to see the sharp bits. Really sharp.

cat

1Ds MkIII, 35mm f/1.4L, 1/30th sec at f/1.4

Remember, always focus on the eyes – the closest eye, to be precise. And at f/1.4 you have to be precise.

Click on the picture to see it at larger size.

Annie

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This photo of Annie Leibovitz, the world’s prime celebrity photographer, hosted here, makes me curious:

Leibovitz Lawsuit

I note the following.

  • She shoots Canon. A 1Ds Mark III, I think.
  • But for some reason, has taped over the “Canon” logo on her camera. Why?
  • She uses the same 24-70 f/2.8L lens that I use (and really, really like)
  • But.. no lens hood. Annie.. why not?
  • She shoots with the same Pocketwizards I use.

I do hope she keeps the right to her photos… I suppose we will know tomorrow. As many of you know, she is in financial trouble and has to come up with $24m yesterday, or lose all her photos and her homes.

Crop factors explained

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Cameras used to have a negative-sized negative (duh). That is what we call “standard size”. (It is 24×36 mm, if you are interested).

But many digital cameras, especially cheaper models, have a slightly smaller sensor than that. We call this a “crop factor” sensor. These can be 1.5 times smaller than a negative (some Nikon models), or 1.6 times smaller (some Canon models), and so on.

So let’s work though this to see how it works.

First, using, say, a 24 mm wide angle lens, take a photo on a “full frame camera” (a film camera, or an expensive DSLR like a Canon 5D) and you get picture 1:

MVWS7676

Now put the very same lens on “crop factor camera” and take the very same picture from the very same vantage point. Same lens. Smaller sensor. So because of this smaller sensor, only the central part of the lens is actually used, and you now get picture two:

MVWS7676-2

The lens is the same, but the sensor is smaller, so a smaller part of the lens is actually used.

Finally, if I now print or display that “crop” picture at the same size as picture one (after all, it probably has the same number of pixels), I get picture three:

MVWS7676-2

And that looks just like a picture I would take with a 36 mm lens on a full-frame camera! See how the objects are larger?

That is why we say that a crop camera “appears to make your lenses longer”. So a 50mm lens on a full-frame camera, when used on a Canon Digital Rebel (crop factor 1.6) works like an 80mm lens on a full-frame camera. It has, as we say, “an effective length of 50×1.6 = 80mm”. There are other subtleties, but basically, that’s all.

This is excellent news if you like long lenses (your 200mm lens is now, free of charge, a 300mm lens). It is perhaps not quite such great news if you like very wide angle lenses: your 35mm lens works more like a 50mm lens (35mm x 1.6) would work on a full-frame camera. So to get what we used to get on a 16mm lens, you would need a 10mm lens.

Must have…

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Once in a while, a product comes along that you just must have – no discussion needed.One such product is the Hoodman Hoodloupe.

Yes, the Hoodman brand is a bit corny, but the hoodloupe is a lifesaver.

H-LPP30

What does this device do?

Simply, it allows you to properly see your LCD display when you are using your camera outside. And once you see that, you will realise what a godsend this is. Suddenly you can actually see not just whether you got the shot, but more importanty, exactly how good it is. The colours, sharpness, and so on. No longer do you have to wait until you are inside to find out how your shots worked out. I have mine on me all the time now, and my outside shoots are notably better.

This device has proper optics built in -including a diopter, so you can adjust it to your eyes – and is very sturdy. That is why it is worth every penny – around 10,000 pennies. That’s $100 for you there without the calculator.

More details here:

http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1017

Henry’s stock them, so go get yours today. My personal recommendation!

Black and white…

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..is underrated, I think; especially for portraits. Or else why don’t we do it more?

A good black and white photo can full of character; moody, even. Especially in portraits, where the absence of colour means the absence of distraction, and the ability to concentrate on the essence of the person.

MVWS8517-2

35mm f/1.4, 1/30th sec, available light

For a good B&W picture, you need to realize that the background and the subject need to contrast, and that where we see clear colour contrast, in a B&W picture we may see none.

B&W works especially well where colour distracts. It can work where the subject either has blacks and whites, or is high-key or low-key. A good B&W picture can be a study in shades of grey.

MVW_0021

35mm on 1.3 crop camera, f/8, 1/200th sec, strobe in umbrella.

When I shoot black and white, I do the following.

  • I shoot in RAW. This is essential.
  • I always set the camera to “Black and white” also. Even though this has no effect on the RAW images, it gives me a preview of roughly what the image will look like.
  • I ensure I do not overexpose the whites, but I do “expose to the right”. I.e. until the histogram almost hits the right edge.
  • Then I finish the image in Lightroom. In the DEVELOP module, I use the GRAYSCALE adjustment in the HSL/COLOR/GRAYSCALE tool. This gives me the easy ability to change different colours’ brightness.

This last step in particular has made B&W a practical endeavour once again for a busy guy like me. You know what they say: “no rest for the wicked”. And if I were, oh, 35 years younger I would add a “LOL” at the end of that.

Finally: B&W does not have to be moody – or rather, the mood does not have to be serious. Here’s my friend Keith, and his happiness and intelligence, big parts of his personality, really shine though here:

MVWS2431-Edit

50mm f/1.4, 1/1000th sec, available light

Go ahead, give it a go. Have fun shooting B&W. And because you are shooting RAW, you can always go back to colour at the touch of a button.

A very hard softbox.

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Try this next time you want a person lit by a softbox and you have no softbox:

Use a computer monitor.

Display a white background (e.g. open a word document) and hey presto: a big and efficient softbox. And if you use a fast lens (e.g. a 50mm f/1.8), it’s plenty bright as well.

And you can even use it as part of the picture:

MVWS3506

Tell me that’s not cool: photographers improvise.

Don't do as I do… please!

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That is, if you want to keep your back intact so that after retirement you can still sit and watch the geraniums grow. I fear that I shall be lying in an orthopaedic bed of some sort.

This will be mainly due to my wanting to be ready for everything. Which I do – I insist that my customers should never hear me say “I did not bring X, Y or Z”.

And that means I need to bring everything. I mean everything:

gear

So what do I pile into my SUV (yes, I need one)? Brace yourself.

  • Camera
  • Camera bag with lenses and speedlites and small accessories – my main, small, Domke bag.
  • Camera bag with second camera (long lens) and more lenses, speedlites, etc.
  • Laptop and laptop accessories bag.
  • Bag with light accessories, pocketwizards, light meter, flash cables, etc.
  • Bag with four light stands and umbrellas.
  • Bag with backdrop (two stands, three-segment crossbar).
  • Strobes (four monolights) and power cables.
  • Overnight bag, just in case.
  • Tripod and monopod.
  • Paper rolls (grey and white) for the backdrop
  • Muslin for the backdrop, for those “Sears portraits”.
  • Reflectors.

The last four items aren’t even showing in the picture!

The main camera bag is the Domke described earlier, and the spare camera bag is this heavy-but-excellent Tamrac:

MVWS0227

So why am I pointing all this out to you? For a few reasons.

  1. So that you know what a full kit consists of. That way if you really want “everything”, you now know what that means and you can start collecting (and saving). Go for it.
  2. To show that equipment does make a difference. People who say it doesn’t are part right, but in large part mistaken. Hence “go for it” – the more of this you have, the better for your creative opportunities.
  3. To show that you can pack an entire studio in a small SUV. It may be painful, but it can be done.
  4. So you can avoid hurting your back by choosing wisely. Clearly I do not need all this for every shoot. I recommend that you make a selection of stuff, a sort of checklist, for each occasion. Do this in advance. I have such checklists: for most common situations I know what to bring without having to dig through everything and re-inventing the wheel each time.

And yes, for some shoots, those where I am not sure what to expect, I do bring it all.

Now you know one more reason why you pay a professional photographer more than you would pay Uncle Harry or Uncle Fred. It’s all to fund his or her future orthopaedic bed.

Showtime!

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Put this in your calendar: 16-17-18 October, come to the Henry’s Imaging Show, at The International Centre in Mississauga. Details here:

www.henrys.com/show/

This show features just about every major manufacturer and importer, and as you see when you click on “Presentations” and scroll down, features free seminars with the likes of Michael Gilbert, Gary Fong (himself) and indeed also features yours sincerely:

“Travel and Photojournalism
Join Michael Willems, an award winning, experienced traveler and photojournalist as he shares his ideas on traveling and photojournalism and how to get “the shot.””

I really enjoy presenting at these shows. The only drawback for me is that when I am teaching constantly, I never have enough time to walk around. Believe me, this show is worth the time and having several days is no luxury. A must-see, so do bring out those iPhones and add these dates.

Pan, pan, pan.

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MVW_9159

Panning means moving with your subject, so that the subject appears to stand still while the background appears to move. Like in the picture above.

To do this, you use shutter speed priority on your camera (“S” or “Tv” mode) and select a shutter speed of around 1/8 – 1/30th second. Move with your subject, and shoot in mid-move (keep moving after your picture is taken).

Then shoot repeatedly: not every image will work.

But you don’t even need to wait for moving subjects: create your own. For even more fun, here’s a tip: try to do this while you are zooming in or out with your zoom lens, instead. No, not all the time – everyone will think you had too many of those mushrooms – but an occasional psychedelic picture can be interesting. Like this one:

Forest

Have fun!

Psychedelic forest