Category Archives: Learning

Light is what you make it

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Night time? No.I took this shot in open daylight, last Saturday during the Advanced Flash course Joseph and I taught at Mono, Ontario:

Scary Drive (Photo Michael Willems)

Scary Drive (Photo Michael Willems)

The lesson here is not how that is done (it is involved, and needs speedlites, pocketwizards, reflectors, light stands, and my SUV), but it is that it can be done. Daylight can look like a scary stormy night.

On the advanced light course we teach you the details – but even before that, you can start playing with flash. Right now. Using one or more external flashes (not the pop-up).

And you should. Because flash can:

  • Make flat surfaces round;
  • Separate subjects from backgrounds;
  • Make dull subjects sharp;
  • Make wrinkled surfaces flat;
  • Make cold surfaces warm;
  • Make blurry motion sharp;
  • Make day into night;
  • Direct the eyes where they otherwise would not go;
  • Give you nice catchlights in the eyes;
  • …even create cars where there aren’t any.

That’s why this blog is called “Speedlighter” – speedlights and other flashes can be the most useful tool a photographer has, after the camera.

So my advice:

  • Get yourself one or more speedlites;
  • Find a way to fire them off-camera: TTL, flash cable, or pocketwizards;
  • Get some modifiers;
  • Stay tuned here, take a course: learn how they all work;
  • And above all, keep shooting.

And your photos will go up to the next level of professionalism and creativity.

Why is my picture blurry?

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Why is my picture all blurry?

I hear this all the time from both experienced and new photographers.

Well, here’s why.

Focus:

  • You have not focused properly. Solution: select ONE focus point; focus; hold it; and only then shoot.
  • You are using a shallow depth of field. At f/1.4, it is hard to focus.

Subject:

  • Your subject is moving fast. Solution: pan with the subject or increase ISO, open aperture, or shoot the subject at the apex of its jump, say.

Shutter speed:

  • You are using a slow shutter speed (slower than twice the lens length, say, so on a 100mm lens you are using a shutter speed slower than 1/200th second). Solution: open the aperture or increase the ISO).
  • You are using a long lens (say a 300mm lens). On that lens, fast enough shutter speeds are hard to obtain). Solution: Zoom out, increase ISO, open the aperture, or use a tripod.
  • You are not using a tripod when you ought to. Solution? use a tripod!
  • You are using a slow lens. An f/3.5-5.6 consumer lens will never do as well as an f/2.8 pro lens. Solution: need I say?
  • You are using a small aperture, like f/8, when you should be using f/2.8. Solution: open your aperture.

Miscellaneous technique:

  • Your subject is in the dark – where it is muddy and blurry. Solution: Light your subject well.
  • You are not using flash when you should be. Solution: need I say?
  • You are  not using IS/VR. These are great features: stabilized lenses are superb and give you several stops. Solution: get an IS/VR lens.

Equipment:

  • Your camera is faulty – this is very unlikely, but have it checked out.
  • Your lens is faulty – this is also rather very unlikely, but have it checked out.

Clear? (Pun intended). Try all these and you will see your images improve amazingly.  Yes, I know, there are a lot of them. Yes, it’s complicated. But yes… you will take brilliant images once you get all of these right.

Remember these tips:

  • Bright pixels are sharp pixels (that is Willem’s Dictum);
  • Flashed pixels are sharp pixels;
  • VR/IS works;
  • Use one focus spot;
  • Hold the camera right;
  • A tripod is a good thing.

Have fun – a crisp, razor sharp picture really is a joy.

Those funny aperture values – why?

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Your lens’s aperture comes in those funny numeric values. You all know them:

1.4,  2.0,  2.8,  4,  5,6,  8,  11,  16,  22,  32…

Okay, actually it is f1.4, f2.0, and so on. With an “f”.

Actually it isn’t. Not quite. In fact it is “f/1.4”, “f/2.0”, and so on. The aperture number is a fraction: F divided by that number. That is why a larger F-number means a smaller aperture: when you divide something by a bigger number the result gets smaller.

So why the funny numbers? When I was learning photography I wondered why they did not just choose f/1, f/2, f/3, f/4… and so on.

Here’s why. I know you want to know.

First of all, the f-number indicates:

The f-number, or aperture number, indicates the diameter of the lens opening, expressed as a fraction of the focal length of the lens.

A 100mm lens set to f/4 would have an opening of 25mm (100/4). An 80mm lens set to f/8 would have a diameter of 80/8, or 10 mm.  And so on.

So why the funny numbers? Because those numbers are chosen to halve the light entering the lens with every larger number (or to double it with every smaller number).

To halve the quantity of light entering a circle, you would not divide the diameter of that circle by 2. That would give you a quarter of the light (area = pi x r squared). Instead, you would divide the diameter by the square root of 2.

And that is therefore the ratio between the successive numbers. The square root of 2. (approximately 1.4). Check the numbers: take 1.4 and multiply it with 1.4 and you get 2, which happens to be the next whole aperture stop number. 1.4 times that gives you 2.8. And 1.4 times that gives you 4. And so on.

So now you know why larger f-numbers give you smaller lens opening and hence less light, and you know what’s with the funny numbers. Aren’t you glad you asked?

Workshop

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Yesterday’s sold-out Creative Lighting workshop was a blast. Joseph and I took our students through a combination of advanced flash theory and creative practice. As always, using many techniques, and using speedlites and strobes, direct and modified.

Three direct speedlights (look carefully and you’ll see one) gives this:

Model Lindsay Biernat with Bike and Light, by Michael Willems

Model, Bike and Light, by Michael Willems

While a large softbox plus a direct speedlight as back light gives this:

Stranded, photo by Michael Willems

Stranded

And I now know that my driveway in Mono can take 14 cars easily.

Gearing up.

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A story has it that someone once asked Pablo Picasso to do a drawing. Five minutes later, after he was done, he asked for $5,000. “Why, you only took five minutes”, said the customer. “No – I took my entire life”, said the artist.

I know how he felt. I am getting ready for tomorrow’s all-day workshop in Mono, an hour north of Toronto.

Like the last ones, it will be a lot of fun, as students learn and practice with light, modifiers, camera techniques, modern hardware, and more.

Evanna Mills; photo Michael Willems

Evanna Mills; photo Michael Willems

But I realise it is taking me all day to prepare: packing up the entire studio, getting the presentation materials and hardware ready; deciding on the shots, doing the logistics.

But that is the half of it. The best part of teaching is that if you do it well, you bring a lifetime of experience to the table. That’s what makes it satisfying. And that’s what the secret is, more than the day itself.

Back to packing lights, backdrops, softboxes, pocketwizards, cameras, and more.

Creative light

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There is just one more spot open for the all-day Creative Flash course in Mono, Ontario, an hour north of Toronto, Saturday.

Using a professional model and pro lighting equipment on Canon, Nikon and other camera brands, Joseph Marranca and I will teach our students to take shots not like this:

Tara Elizabeth

Tara Elizabeth

But instead like this:

Tara Elizabeth

Tara Elizabeth

You see how important light is? That’s what these workshops are about, to make users comfortable with the technical and creative aspects of light,

And they are about going home with portfolio shots.

And about having fun with cameras, all day!

WordPress gone mad?

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My blog’s “theme” appears to have spontaneously changed to “Coraline”. Without me doing anything! I wondered what had happened.

And when I go to WordPress.com support, I get:

Support Temporarily Closed

Support is temporarily closed at the moment. We will reopen very soon.

Even worse:

Support is currently closed as staff meet offsite brainstorming ways to make things better. We will be dropping into the forums regularly during the hiatus, and we’ll formally reopen on August 16th.

And then I find out that “Cutline”, my theme, has been “phased out” and replaced by Coraline.

No questions, no notice: just make my theme ugly. Thanks. Time to start thinking about moving my blog. This is a mission-critical endeavour for me, and this kind of nonsense, no support and changes without asking or even telling, is not good enough.

If your blog is important, best stay clear of WordPress.com, is my advice.

Know any good WordPress hosting providers, anyone? Providers who can move my blog and all its contents from WordPress?

Studio tips

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Two studio/product lighting tips for you, prompted by me shooting a few product shots just now for upcoming reviews. Shots like this:

Panasonic GF1, photo Michael Willems

Panasonic GF1, photo Michael Willems

That was taken here:

Product Photo

Product Photo Setup

Which, when seen from behind, looks like this:

Product Setup

Product Setup, with background flash

So what are the tips?

First, avoid stray light, especially on your background. Saturation means “how little white light is mixed in”. A saturated colour has no white mixed in. An unsaturated colour has much white mixed in.

So use a grey backdrop if you can, or just use distance and directional light. Of course since I am using an umbrella and a softbox, much light will stray. So I keep the background far away (you all remember the inverse square law).

So, not this:

Product, too much background light

Product, too much background light

But more like this.

Product, less background light

Product, less background light

Then set your camera to what you like (f/9 and 1/125th for me), and get the background right.

First take a picture with no flash, to ensure that is black; then shoot while activating the background light only. Now get the flash power right: too little and you get a dark background; too much and it turns white. For me, I found this about right:

Product, only background light

Product, only background light

Then you get the rest right, i.e. set the right power for your main lights, and finally, shoot the shot.

Second tip: always use a brush or compressed air to clean your product. Otherwise, hours of photoshopping will result.

KISS: Simple, again

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Today, another shot in the “Keeping it simple” series.

Relatively simple, anyway:

Evanna Mills, photo Michael Willems

Model Evanna Mills, photo Michael Willems

For this photo, taken during our last Creative Lighting workshop, I could have used large strobes with softboxes and portable lead-acid batteries. Instead, I used two simple speedlites.

  • The main light: a Canon 580EX II flash fitted with a Honl Traveller 8 Softbox. Inside that softbox, a half CTO gel.
  • The hair light: a Canon 430EX flash with a Honl Photo 1/4″ grid.
  • Both flashes on cheap, simple stands.
  • Camera on manual/ 1/160th second, f/9, and set to “Flash” white balance.

This is simple and can be reproduced easily and consistently.

I used Pocketwizards and manual settings to fire the lights, because that way I was able to use any flash (even a very cheap one!) and to hand the Pocketwizard to each student in turn to shoot the shot and get consistent results immediately, but I could equally well have used TTL.

The next Creative Lighting workshop in Mono is August 14.

Making money?

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A reader who loves photography asked me the other day to give her some tips on making money with photography.

Making money with photography?? Oh noooo!

No, it is not that bad.

Yes, making money as a photographer is tough nowadays. You have to be really good, well-connected, hard-working, and lucky.All of the above.

You see, traditional ways have all but disappeared. Magazines no longer buy photos. War journalists no longer get sent. iStockphoto and Flickr have destroyed a lot: even national newspapers now often buy illustrations for a few bucks instead of paying a photographer. The proliferation of cameras has ensured that every Uncle Fred “can do it cheaper”. Commercial shoots used to net thousands; now hundreds, if you are lucky, and even then they are very rare since magazines and their adverts are themselves rare.

But it is not all gloom. You can sell, still.

  • People still have portraits made.
  • Local newspapers still buy photos (although not many). Magazines, too.
  • You can sell prints to your friends.
  • People still advertise.
  • Stock may only sell for a buck – but 1,000 sales at $1 is as good as one sale at $1,000.

Note that I did not mention weddings: you have to be really good to be a wedding photographer. Not for the casual user.

It takes a lot of time to get into newspapers and magazines. I advise you do two things:

  1. Get good at your craft. Take courses. Learn from pros. Tag along and assist, for free if you learn. Be confident in your chosen types of photography.
  2. Get your name out. Exhibit. Start contacting your local papers. Network. Persevere and persist! Enter contests. Collect references. Shoot relatives for free, initially. Network. Sell photo books. Contact local companies with proposals. Sell micro-stock: half your work will be rejected if you are good, but the feedback will be very useful. Network. Build a mail list and a phone book.

There are no easy solutions, but there are many part solutions. By doing a lot, you will see that you get traction sooner than you think. And it is all worth it in the end.

I shall write more on this in the next weeks.

Oh and that wooden carved figurine? He’s Indonesian. He takes on all the shame and bad vibes in the home, so you don’t have to.