Video Tip

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Michael Willems

I use my DSLRs for video; I also teach a course I developed on shooting video with DSLR cameras (see here).

Today, a tip from that course: Audio. Audio is very important, and I recommend a few simple things:

One: turn off auto level. Set the audio recording level manually, else every time no-one speaks the noise goes up.

Two: use an iPhone in your pocket if you have no lapel microphone. An iPhone gives you great audio quality at an incremental cost of zero, if you already have an iphone.

And three: use a clapper board app such as Digislate (thank you, intern Daniel, for this one). Using a clapperboard allows you to synchronize this iPhone audio with the video from your DSLR.

Done. Professional audio from an iPhone, a simple camera, and free iMovie software. Simple, innit?

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The special on headshots is still on. Buy this week; take the headshot in my studio by August 14, and get a pro headshiot for much less than the regular price. See http://learning.photography or scroll down to yesterday’s post.

Blatant Commercialism, but…

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Michael Willems

…but you need this. A business portrait:

There are times that an iPhone selfie, or an Uncle Fred attempt, just will not do. For your LinkedIn profile, for example. or your web site. Or a job application. A professional portrait, like the one above, which I made today for bookkeeping expert Gary Layng, sets you apart from the crowd.

And it is remarkably easy and quick. And surprisingly, it does not hurt. Best of all, if you can get to Oakville between August 1 and August 7, I have good news:

AUGUST 1-7 ONLY, A VERY SPECIAL PRICE FOR A CORPORATE HEADSHOT. See http://learning.photography/collections/corporate-photography for the details. Book now: Aug 1-7 only, and first come, first served. Session is in Oakville; session must be paid before August 7, booking upon payment; actual portrait can be made until August 14. Evenings, weekends, daytime: all possible. I aim to make it simple for you.

Gee. Nine?

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Michael Willems

I have an old Canon G9. A great camera in its day, but small sensor/high noise by today’s standards. Here it is:

So. Useless. Right?

Not.

This camera is great for one thing in particular: close-up photos. Because of the small sensor, I can get very close. Here’s a shot of some jewellery:

Made like this:

But I can get closer:

AND HERE’S A 1:1 SECTION (each pixel in this, once you click on it, represents one pixel on the sensor):

These are very small beads in real life!

So an old G9 does a great job as a macro camera, if you have left your macro lens at home. Here’s another full shot of another piece:

I guess the lesson for today is that you should not throw old equipment out. I am pretty sure you can buy a G9 for a price approaching $ zero… and it’s plenty good for a lot of pro work, as long as you keep it to low ISO settings. Keep it our little secret!

Jewellery by Becky.

Through The Eye Of A Woman

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Michael Willems

OK, maybe that title is a little silly. But it IS through the eye of a woman that I shone my flash

And here, lit from the back:

Macro lens, 1/80 sec, f/16, 100 ISO, hand held.

The flash was shining from the back. This can give you pretty weird effects:

My eye here looks light green, while in fact it is light blue. Back lighting can do that.

But go back to the first shot. See that? Look carefully. A little white point, in the centre of the pupil,next to the actual catch light.

This is mysterious, because I was using an off-camera flash. The on-camera flash only sends “morse code”, as it were, to the other flashes, before the shot is made.

And yet, that pin light is from the on camera flash.

Simple, actually: it is its afterglow. The flash is off, but it takes a fraction of a second to completely go out, and it is during that fraction of a second that the shot is made. Here, the proof:

See, the main flash on our left, bounced against the wall; and me and the camera including its popup flash afterglow in the centre:

And that is why you get a little pin of extra catchlight in some wireless TTL photos, even though your on camera flash is turned off.

(Thanks to Becky for the loan of an eye!)

Flash Light Trixie

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Michael Willems

Another one from my trixie bag of tricks.

Have you noticed how difficult it can be to focus when you are in a dark environment? I notice that on my high end Canon cameras, not only does get focus slow or even impossible; it also gets inaccurate. Not good.

You have also seen that I use the Honl photo range of flash accessories, such as the Traveller 8 softbox and the reflectors and grids. And like the speed strap around all my flashes.

And here’s an all-new use of that speed strap:

When it is dark, I use a spare speed-strap to temporarily tie a cheap and simple LED flashlight to the flash. It aims forward and I can now focus:

Of course you will want to make sure that the light does not show in your pictures as it does in the photos above. I use this when I am using flash, and ambient light is “turned off”. Or I turn off, or redirect, the flash after focus.

Alternately, you can ask an assistant to aim the flash. But then you need an assistant.

Event

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Michael Willems

Event shooting is difficult, because things are not under your control. In addition, there is never enough light; bouncing may be tough; there is not ebnough time.

But it can be done, and it can be done well. Especially if you remember you are a storyteller.

You start with an establishing shot. This sets the scene for “where”.

Then you proceed to the “what”…

Then the “why”, “when”, and “how”.

As you see, plenty of detail, plenty of the event, plenty of “background” (the “B-roll” you hear me talking about so often).

In all of this, remember to be roughly chronological; and remember above all to make the viewer work it out. The ideal photo is a photo that makes the viewer take several seconds to tell the story in his or her mind.

The photojournalism story above is already quite good, in just 8 pictures, at working out what is happening. The full shoot consisted of 314 photos. You can imagine that this tells more of the nuance, more of the detail: but in essence, these 8 pictures tell it all (yes, I know, I chose a different person for the post-baptism shot here).

Blurry Backgrounds

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Michael Willems

Those blurred backgrounds we love? That’s why we have an SLR camera in the first place, right. A beginner’s note on this subject today.

As you know by now, a lower f-number (= a larger aperture) means a blurrier background. So a photo made at f/1.2, for instance, will have a blurrier background than one taken at f/32.

Photo made at f/1.2: blurry background.

Photo made at f/32: sharp background.

But the f-number is not the only thing that affects the depth of field (= how blurry the background is). The other two factors are:

Proximity to subject. The closer you get to your sharp subject, the blurrier the background gets.
Lens focal length. The longer the lens, the blurrier the background gets.

Take these two recent photos, both taken at f/5.6:

Photo taken at f/5.6: SHARP background

Photo taken at f/5.6: BLURRY background

What is the difference?

The top picture was taken with a 16mm lens. The bottom pictures were taken with an 85mm lens. The 85mm lens is longer than the 16mm lens, so it gives us a narrower depth of field(= a blurrier background).

So you can only say: a lower f-number means a blurrier background, all other things remaining equal. In other words, you cannot necessarily say “f/4 will result in a blurry background”, or “f/16 will give you a sharp background”.

This is why using a prime lens is a good idea: you remove one variable, thus making it easier to get predictable results.

If this is not all clear to you, then do the following: with the camera in aperture mode or manual mode, go take pictures around the house, until you do get it. Try to alter only one variable at a time (i.e. do not alter zoom, distance and aperture all at the same time: you will have trouble seeing how it all works.

Point Of View

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Michael Willems

A portrait is simple, right? Look at the camera and smile.

Not so much. Apart from the “smile” thing, there’s also angle. And the same person can look very different if shot from different angles.

Like me, a couple of days ago:

Can you see how they are all different, and yet the same person? Some work better than others. So when you do portraits, try all sorts of angles, and then analyze which ones work. Model the face (avoid even lighting, for interest). Watch for shadows and ensure you get good catch lights.

And note that all of these work better in B&W than they would in colour.

So…. try some B&W portraits from various angles, lit by softboxes.

All the difference

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Michael Willems

Look at Mau the cat, who is pretending to not notice me:

I used my 85mm f/1.2 lens on the 1Dx body. The settings were 1/60 sec at f/2, 800 ISO.

Let’s think about that for a minute. 1/60 sec is about the slowest speed I can hand-hold: any slower and I would shake; and the cat would move visibly also. So that’s a given.

800 ISO is nice. Much more, and I start getting visible grain, certainly on cheaper cameras.

So unless I want to use a flash, f/2 in my kitchen is what I need.

Now… imagine I had a consumer lens,. like the 17-85 f/3.5–5.6. The latter designation means that when I zoom out I can get as low as f/3.5, but when I zoom in I cannot go any lower than f/5.6.

If I used this lens, I would have to go to a much higher ISO. To keep the same exposure, if I want to keep the same shutter speed, I would have to change ISO as follows:

At f/2 I need ISO800
At f/2.8 I needISO 1600
At f/4 I needISO 3200
At f/5.6 I needISO 6400

So with the cheaper “consumer” lens zoomed in, I need to go to 6400 ISO. Which would, especially on smaller cameras, give me a lot of grain; a bad quality picture, in other words.

So the more expensive, “faster”, lens gives me a huge benefit here. One not to be scoffed at, which is why we like prime lenses. Which are not all expensive: you can get a 50mm f/1.8 lens for just over $100.

Which I hope you have done!

Lighting a face: a small detail

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Michael Willems

The title says it. Detail, and attention to it, are what makes you a pro.

Look at this image, from last Friday. The lovely and talented Vanessa Scott, whom I photographed in Timmins, Ontario:

(ISO100, 1/60 sec, f/5. Lit with two flashes, direct, no umbrella. Left flash gridded 1/4 power, right flash unmodified 1/2 power.)

Not bad. But look closely at Vanessa’s face. Closer!

See the two little bright areas next to her mouth? My right-side flash was as little too low, so the shadows are not quite right.

Let’s start up Lightroom and make it better with the Develop module’s healing tool. Two little clicks and I fill those light areas:

Proper Rembrandt lighting. So the whole image now looks like this:

A subtle change, but much better.

And as said, that’s what makes you a good photographer. Attention to detail. When you hire a pro, like me, this is the kind of thinking he or she will engage in to get you the best possible images.

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I have amazing deals for portraits this month. From corporate headshots to family photos: give me a call or send me an email to hear the options.

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The "Go-To" Instructional Photography Blog, by Michael Willems