Now, early bed. Tomorrow, a wedding shoot.
The challenge tomorrow will be: dark shade and direct sunlight in all shots. Together. Meaning I will need flash. Meaning I will use flash. And no light stands: it will be way too windy at the beach for that.
This is the kind of thing photographers do – I watched a wedding in the same venue today at the same time, so I know what the light will be. Yes, wedding photography takes effort, and rather a lot of it.
The documenting of Kristen and Dan’s wedding continues, and so, of course, does the photography. Today at Dunn’s falls:
With an on camera flash aimed straight ahead – yes, you can do that outside, when the flash is being mixed with ambient light. On-camera, straight-ahead flash. Which is often a sin, but not here.
But it was flash with a special setting: I zoomed in the flash to the “135mm zoom” setting, while shooting 35mm wide angle (yes, your flash has a zoom setting). That had two effects:
Another couple of examples:
Jamaica is wonderful, and the people are wonderful.
Ya man!
I am in Jamaica, to shoot Kristen and Dan’s destination wedding.
This week will be intense, and fun. Lesson one: bring, among others, a wide angle lens. Wide angles are easy (great DOF, slow shutter possible) and offer dramatic perspectives.
Lesson two: shoot a story. I have shot the happy couple since Pearson airport, and will continue until they land again at Pearson. Stories are much more gripping than random shots.
Jamaica is wonderful and the people are amazing. The Riu resort is good. My only drawback so far is that I had to pay $400 extra to get a room with Internet, and slow Internet at that, and handicapped (only port 80 browser. No email, etc, so I have to work around that). More costs extra. There goes my profit for the shoot.
But look for lots of travel and wedding shots. Until then: cheers!
When shooting kids, it is important to shoot a lot of different ways, to see what will work. Take a lot, and see what works, then refine that. Best to use simple studio lighting. I try to engage the child in the shoot, allowing him, for instance, to choose some of the gel colours.
Here’s a few from that portrait shoot this morning:
Kids move, so a nice prop (like a stool, in the example above) is good.
Do not be afraid to get close and fill the frame!
Try desat or otherwise changed colours in a few images.
And try different positions.
Simple backgrounds are good, because the emphasis should be on the child. But I sometimes just change my position to get a difefrent background, like the grungy one here:
Bribery helps, too!
If you do not have a studio setup, use a prime (fixed) 50mm lens and larger aperture and 1600 ISO indoors in reflected light. Either way, you will end uyp with good images. Do it – your child is young only once. And do also consider going to a pro – if you come to me, I will teach you some useful photography skills while we shoot!
Snaps of the evening… my Bengals.
Mau:
And Shiva:
Meaning, grab your camera, and go shoot the things that are important to you! Because you will shoot things that are important to you. And also because you will practice shooting in low light. And you will practice getting composition right. And expressions. But mainly because you will shoot things that are important to you.
I shot a male model yesterday for his comp card (the hand-out that a model uses to get considered by, and used by, agencies and clients).
The key to a shoot like that is to do it well. It is usually a studio-only shoot that includes attention to make-up and hair, and involves various looks all designed to give a great overview of the person.
And here’s Ten Tips for Comp Cards:
A few more examples:
Fun to shoot, and essential to do well. Nothing kills a modeling career quicker than snapshots on the comp card, and nothing helps more than a great comp card, since it is the first point of contact.
(Yes, I shoot males too, and yes, I can shoot yours, if you like: contact me to learn more.).
Now preparing for my Jamaica destination wedding this coming week…
…nocturnal. I just realized that as my two new cats are waking up – at 1AM – and exploring through the house. Miao.Miao.Miao.Miao!
And that is yet another reason for fast lenses and high-ISO cameras. And especially for learning photography. It’s not difficult, but like driving a car, you need training. Call or email me if you are interested in learning, and I will outline all the options.
A “standard” studio portrait is very simple to build if you have three or four flashes; and it is entirely repeatable, that is its beauty. Here’s how you do it in six easy steps:
ONE set the camera to settings where the ambient light does “nothing”. Like 100 ISO, 1/125th sec, f/8. Test this by taking a non-flash picture: it should be dark.
TWO set up your main light, using softbox or shoot-through umbrella, at 45 degrees from the subject, 45 degrees up. Turn your subject into that light.
THREE then add a fill light on the opposite side. You can use a reflector, or another flash with umbrella, set two stops darker than the main (“key”) light.
FOUR then add a hair light, for that shampooey goodness™. This is a light from behind at an angle, using a snoot or grid to avoid lighting all of your subject.
FIVE then add a background light – another flash.
SIX then decide if you want colours anywhere – like the background. I used a complementary colour here – complementary to the subject and her clothing:
Done!
Here’s my Sheridan College class on Monday, practicing this:
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Want to learn this? Next week’s workshop (April 10) in Hamilton, Ontario is about this very subject: studio photography. In one evening, learn to do this, use a light meter, use pocketwizards, compose, etc. There are still spaces, but this small, intimate studio workshop is limited to 10 students, so book right now!
http://photonetworkexpo.com/ : come see me talk this weekend in Toronto about Flash Photography, and even better: book online and use promo code Michael2013 to get 50% off a weekend pass. See you then!
You have heard me say many times: details count. Very much so!
So, when the camera position results in extraneous stuff, and it cannot be avoided at the time, as in this interview photo – taken last week, when I was being interviewed for Jane Dayus’s Hinch’s Wedding Café:
Then you do post work to remove things. Can you see it?
Well, I am assuming you can see what’s been left out here:
Right… I may think of myself as holy (and no I do not) – but I have no cross growing out of my head. Nevertheless, as said, do not worry if you have to shoot something like this – get the shot, fix it later, if you have to.
Following up from what I said yesterday: You can do without faces in portraits, and often it’s better, because the viewer, as I so often say here, has to put the story together in his or her mind.
You see that I focused on his face, but you cannot see it. What you can see is his intense focus (pun intended) on the subject.
Or this moody portrait of a nude on the Lake Ontario shoreline:
Guarded, anonymous, closed: what’s the story? We cannot tell, we can only guess.
Or this faceless shot of amazing photographer Peter McKinnon also does not rely on a face:
As you see, faces are not needed to make a photo interesting. Here’s one more example:
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: go shoot an interesting portrait that does not show facial detail.
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NEWS: http://photonetworkexpo.com/ : come see me talk this weekend in Toronto about Flash Photography, and even better: book online and use promo code Michael2013 to get 50% off a weekend pass. See you then!
NEWS: There are still spaces left on my signature workshops in Hamilton in the next few weeks: see http://www.cameratraining.ca/Schedule.html to book now!