KISS: Simple, again

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Michael Willems

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

Relatively simple, anyway:

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.

Less can be more

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Michael Willems

Less can be more. We sometimes make things complicated as photographers: we get gear-itis. Yeah, me too.

But you can keep it simple. Richard Avedon shot much of his work with a view camera and a white sheet on the shady side of a building. Period. For the longest time, Robert Mapplethorpe shot with a simple Polaroid camera with no settings to speak of.

So while I teach complex lighting, and I teach making complex technologies like TTL understandable, sometimes it can be simple.

Look, for example, at this recent shot of model Lindsay:

Lindsay, photo by Michael Willems, 2010

This is simple how?

A simple background. A white wall. I love white walls.
Simple lighting equipment. Just one flash, namely a 580EX speedlite on the camera.
Simple lighting setup. That flash was aimed at the wall and ceiling behind me. Using TTL, so no metering was necessary (just flash exposure compensation of about +1.3 stops)
Simple colour (namely: no colour. I love black and white).
Simple clothing. White top for high-key effect. Jeans for a contrasty dark area.
Simple pose.
Simple post work (just slight exposure adjustments as needed and skin fixes where necessary).

Sometimes less really is more. Don’t you think?

So here is your assignment, should you wish to accept it: find a white room and shoot a high-key portrait like this. Aim the flash behind you. Expose well: to the right. Have fun!

GF1 self portrait

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Michael Willems

A self portrait I took a few minutes ago:

Michael Willems, photo by Michael Willems

I shot this with the Panasonic GF1:

Camera on manual, f/4.0, 1/60th second, 200 ISO
Using multiple-point autofocus
Pocketwizard on the camera
Pocketwizard on a 430EX flash, connected with Flashzebra cable
Flash set to manual, 1/32nd power
Honl Photo Traveller 8 softbox on the (handheld) flash

To lower the noise (“increase the signal to noise ratio”, for engineers) I exposed to the right (i.e. I exposed high, but without actually overexposing anything) and then pulled back a stop in Lightroom.

The 20mm lens (yes you can use 40mm, for that is what it is, for portraits) gives me that wonderful sharpness. Click and view full size to see how sharp it is.

The Honl softbox gives it that nice soft look and the unique round catchlights.

And I have said it before: for creative photography, lighting a subject is as much about what you do not light than about what you do light.

Postscript: And here’s one more: son Jason just now (similarly lit, also shot with the GF1)

Jason, shot with GF1/430EX

Oakville Sunset

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Michael Willems

Friday evening, this was the sunset as I was almost home:

Oakville Sunset, photo by Michael Willems

That colour is not photoshopped: it was real.

For sunset pictures, remember this:

Set your white balance to “daylight” (on the camera or, if shooting RAW, in Lightroom later).
Expose right (if using evaluative metering, then use -1 stop Exposure Compensation). This saturates the colours.

I prefer to set the WB on the camera even when shooting RAW. That way, I can see on the LCD roughly what I may be getting.

Autofocus assist: will it work?

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Michael Willems

My Canon speedlites (like the Nikon flashes) have an “Autofocus Assist Mode”, where a red pattern of lines emerges from the red square at the front. I am talking about big flashes, like my 580EX 2:

580ex2 Flash

The flash emits the red beam when needed to help the camera focus. This happens:

When it is dark
When the subject has too little contrast (try focusing on a blank wall).

It is cleverly linked to the focus spot: when you are using a focus spot that can detect horizontal lines, it will emit horizontal lines; when using a focus spot that can detect vertical lines, it will emit vertical lines.

But when does it not work?

When it is not dark and the subject is not low contrast. If the camera can focus without the assist light, it will. Why waste battery power?
When you are not using “One Shot” focus (Nikon calls it AF-S). The red light helps the camera lock focus: when you are in a mode that does not lock (namely manual focus or AI Servo/AF-C focus), it will not try.
When you are using a focus point that cannot be reached by the red pattern (think wide angle lens).

Hope that helps. Flash can seem very complicated, but if you know all these little things, it gets a lot easier to use.

Choose

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Michael Willems

Light. And hence, photographic lighting. It can make a picture completely different from any other picture. Photos are about light, composition, and moment. Light is a differentiator as large as the other two.

And it is a matter of taste. De gustibus non est disputandum.

So, to see what others think, let me ask. Which of the two pictures below (taken on Sunday during the all-day workshop) do you prefer?

I was going to go into the differences, but I should not do that. Just a simple question: which one do you like better? View both large to see the detail.

Please let me know, in email or by commenting below.

Number one:

Girl in rain. Evanna Mills; photo by Michael Willems

And number two:

Girl in rain. Evanna Mills; photo by Michael Willems

I am curious. I suppose I have a preference, but I will not tell you which one it is.

Have you ever seen the rain?

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Michael Willems

Evanna Mills, photo by Michael Willems

Model Evanna Mills, photographed on yesterday’s Pro Workshop featuring Joseph Marranca and myself. Liz Valenta did the make-up.

It was raining.

Actually, it was a garden hose.

Lit mainly from behind, plus additional fill from the front. With the exposure set manually to create a dark background. The lights were both simple speedlites, fired using a pocketwizard.

And here’s one more. Now I am shining that back light through the black umbrella, making it almost white:

Evanna Mills, photo by Michael Willems

You see how much you can do using very simple means? This is what we teach on workshops, and it is also what photographers should keep in mind at all times.Simple technique can do a lot.

One more quick recipe

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Michael Willems

Quick recipe for you.

Remember this shot, done in the workshop I taught three days ago in Las Vegas with David Honl?

Yasmin Tajik in Las Vegas

Shot how, you ask? I mean – at what settings and such?

Camera: 1D Mark IV with 35mm f/1.4L prime lens.
100 ISO.
Camera on manual, 1/320th second at f/16 (slightly exceeding the 1/300th sec synch speed).
Flash is an SB900, also on manual (“M” rather than “TTL”); set to full power (“1/1”).
Flash is on a boom, and is fitted with a Honl Photo Traveller 8 softbox (notice the nice round catchlights), and is held a couple of feet from Yasmin’s face.

And you know that at full power, with a softbox, an SB900 will give you those settings.

A 430EX will need to be about twice as close to her face.

Try your own flash at those settings: how close do you need to hold it to ensure proper exposure, using the modifier of your choice. Once you know that, it will always be the same. Simple, really.

Note: the SB900 flash will overheat at these settings, especially in Las Vegas. A dozen shots in you will suddenly get no more flashes. The Nikon flash cannot be used at full power, while the Canon flashes can. With a Nikon SB800/900 flash, I would simply go to half power and live with that. If I needed more light, I would add another flash.

Want to know more? Want to learn all this and go home with a few cool portfolio shots? There is still space on the all-day Advanced Flash workshop Sunday in Mono, Ontario. Book now to get a spot.

Oh, one more thing. Am I cheating? Is this just sunlight lighting up Yasmin?

I think not. Here is the same shot without firing the flash (always a good thing to do to test your settings!):

No flash fired

I rest my case.

Setting sun

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Michael Willems

Look at this photo I shot of Yasmin Tajik, Sunday in Nelson, outside Las Vegas, NV:

Yasmin in Nelson, NV

Nice late afternoon light, and lit by the late afternoon sun.

Except it wasn’t. Yes, it was late afternoon, but Yasmin was not lit by sunlight. She was lit by my flash.

The flash was on camera, since I was traveling without light stands. I would normally take it off camera. But when you can’t, as long as you are mixing light, it is OK to shoot with the flash on camera. Outdoors, therefore, straight into your subject’s face is OK, if you have to.
Since both I and the subject were moving constantly, I used TTL rather than manual flash.
The nice late afternoon colour on Yasmin? Glad you asked. A 1/2 CTO Honl Photo gel on the flash’s Speed Strap, and the camera’s White Balance set to “Flash”.
I ensured that the shutter speed would stay below the camera’s sync speed of 1/300th of a second, in order to give the flash maximum range (“Fast Flash/FP Flash” would decrease available power drastically, which at this distance is not a good thing). Doable late afternoon, when the light is not as bright.

As you see, even very simple means can lead to well-lit pictures.

Flash tip

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Michael Willems

When your flash is grossly overexposing your pictures…

The flash is not seated correctly, or the contacts are dirty
The flash is set to MAN (manual), instead of TTL
You are using + Flash Exposure Compensation (or on a Nikon, also Exposure Compensation).
You are simply too close.

Those are four obvious starting points.

Here is me, pictured by David Honl in Las Vegas the other evening. Using a Leica X1 with off camera flash equipped with CTO gel and Honl Photo Traveller 8 softbox.

Michael Willems, shot by photographer David Honl

Michael Willems, shot by David Honl using a Leica and flash

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