Monday Photo Roundup - Feb. 18

Having great subjects makes a  photo booth setup a lot of fun.  Especially if they are willing to play a bit.  It helps to have fun props to interact with as well.



Here is a great project ... Photos from Civil War reenactments done with large format pinhole cameras.  Makes for amazing and intriguing images.

Seems simple but ... Five things to make sure you have covered before a portrait session...

What makes 'professional' lenses superior?  It's all in the details.

Bad photography habits to break...  Guilty.

Lots of lists today ... Things to learn while shooting with your phone.

Photo inspiration for the week ... 2013 World Press Photo contest winners.

Strobist goes back-to-the-basics on balancing flash in a photo.

InFocus blog goes back 50 years.

And, photo fun in the car ... go out when it rains and focus on the rain drops on your windows.

A little flash on the side?

A little bit of dramatic lighting can go a long way, especially when you are shooting outdoors or somewhere that studio-style lighting is unexpected.

This is straight out of the Strobist playbook...

With the setup of a hay bale, a beautiful young lady and one excellent mom/assistant we came up with some nice shots.

Equipment was simple ...
Canon Canon 430exII flash fired with Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers
Canon EOS 5D
and for the shot above, a 40" diffuser/reflector .

The flash is on a stand about 7' away to the right of the subject.  You can see by the shadows that it is overpowering the ambient light for a dramatic look.

Here is a wider shot showing the placement of the diffuser...


Here is another pose with the same setup.  Adding the flash allowed the sky to be darker, although with some low clouds, it wasn't as dramatic as I would have liked.

Where to shoot - Cedar Hill State Park / Penn Farm

First - a quick disclaimer.  The photos for this post were iPhone snapshots from a family camping trip, not examples of decent photography :)

I will update this "Where to shoot" series of posts from time to time when I find  a spot to share.  To that end I have also started a flickr group for area photo locations.  Feel free to come add to it.  If it grows over time, it could be a good source for shooting spots when you run out of ideas.

A few weeks ago we packed up and headed to Cedar Hill State Park for a quick camping adventure.  I intentionally left all photo gear at home except my iPhone and the camera above.  It was not to be a photo safari, but a family fun time.  As we left the house, Renee said that I should be bringing more camera, and, as usual she was right.

Any state park will offer a multitude of natural backgrounds and potentially great portrait spots.  Cedar Hill gives that and more.


There are a few unique spots like the "perch pond" for kid fishing above, a short hike back to a natural pond, some well maintained hiking trails, and great views of Joe Pool Lake.

The real gold mine here, though, is the historic Penn Farm within the grounds of the park.


There is a short walk from the parking area back into the farm (with restrooms near the entrance), but the dirt road pathways and trails are good enough for strollers or wheelchairs.  A variety of old farm equipment is scattered around the grounds, and old wood fences are in abundance.


An old windmill can be a great prop.  Unless the person volunteering to take your photo puts it right on your wife's head.


For my money, the best features are the old barn and house buildings.


Wood and stone features are everywhere, with lots of big shady spots to find good light any time of day.


There are also some wide open fields available, although it seemed to be a popular place for people to let their dogs romp around.


There were several photographers out doing the work on a beautiful but cold Saturday morning, and I see why.

Entry to the park is $7 for adults, free for kids under 12.  Park hours are 6  a.m. - 10 p.m., but the website lists Penn Farm as closing at 5 p.m.

It is a beautiful spot within an easy drive of the general D/FW area.  Enjoy!

Coach shots - refined

OK, with some extra time to refine yesterday's setup, I finally got it about where I want it to be for the rest of the coach head shots.

Here is the new setup... similar to yesterday, but the flag is now on the background stand and lit with the same flash/grid setup, but now hitting from behind the flag. Only 10' between the softbox in front and the background... the wide angle lens makes it look further.

Tighten up the background with the 70-200 and voila..

Full frame almost straight out of the camera (Lightroom auto output sharpening when I resized and added the watermark)

I like the light a lot, and I hope it reproduces well in the paper. Hard to say when it goes black and white.. could use a little more defining highlights for that. I do like the look of the flag better with the light coming through from the back.

And a little tighter crop with more processing.


I'm still not sold on the tiger paw as a backdrop, but it is what we will use for this series of coach shots anyway.

Thoughts?

Don J.

Quick Portrait setup- Coaches

We have a new slate of coaches coming to Terrell this year, something that a lot of people in town are interested to know about.

As we work on features about the coaches, of course we need some head shots to use throughout the year.

In trying to come up with a concept to take a decent shot of each coach, I thought about our 'Tiger Paw' flag that we fly at the Tribune on home-game Fridays.... instant backdrop.

The time for the first interview snuck up on me so I did not have everything ready to go when new offensive coordinator Henry Hill came in today, so I made the setup quick.

The flag went on the wall, lit in the center by one Elinchrom bxri500 monolight with a 10 degree grid to center the light on the paw print.


After that, it was just a matter of setting up a small softbox and reflector for the subjects about 10' in front of the flag. The 70-200mm lens did the trick to draw it all together.


Unfortunately, the tiger paw really doesn't work as a tight head shot... it just sort of grows out of his head.

WIth more background included, it is a little better.


I will try some adjustments to the setup and share those later this week.

Portrait - Extreme Horseman

Check out Sunday's Tribune will have a profile of a local horseman who has quite a resume in the movie business... Thomas Bentley.

He spends his time training horses for movie roles and training people to ride horses, among other talents.

The afternoon was bright, harsh sun, but Bentley's barn had plenty of nice big open doors to let in really nice light, even under that black hat.






Don J.

Photo fun with kiddos

I don't think of myself as a typical portrait photographer, so when I get the chance to do a set-up that a lot of people will go through, it isn't a couple of lights with umbrellas at 45 degree angles. Instead, I like to play with lights and have some fun while making photos that look (I hope) a little edgier.

A lot of this is probably due to spending too much time reading the likes of Joe McNally.

I just hope parents like having something a little bit different...

These are from a shoot I am in the middle of that we are also doing as a fund-raiser for Kaufman County Relay For Life, so there is a little extra room for having fun there.

For the regular portraits, the lighting is actually pretty even. It is a 3'x4' softbox slightly to the right, and smaller softboxes (the ones that come with the Elinchrom BXRi kits) on each side behind the subjects. I will probably change up the ratios a bit for Wednesday night...


With fast moving subjects (and they move a LOT) the all-around lighting is pretty flexible. There are some middle angles that have odd shadows, but even that isn't so bad considering.


The other thing that happens with strong lights from the sides is dangerous shadows from things like hair. Again, not bad, but distracting once you see it.


After the main shooting was over on Monday, it was time to play with the new lights.. this is the two BXRi softboxes directly left and right (no regular key light), with some fun post processing in Lightroom.

Have a great week everyone

Don J.

Looking for Light

One of my new favorite reads is Stu Maschwitz's Prolost blog. Here he breaks photos into three parts: Fact, Moment and Light. It is an easy to grasp description of what makes good photography good. Better yet, it is really neat to apply this three-layered thought process to shooting, and making better photos.

Go read that post. Then read it again. There is a lot to it, so I will probably refer back to it in several upcoming posts. Today, it is all about light.

Now turn off the flash on your camera. This post is going to be about finding light, not making it.

At the end of the last post, I suggested looking at people with the intent of seeing the light on their faces. From harsh midday sun to candlelight, every situation creates a different feel. Seeing it, and being able to intentionally capture it is a powerful photographic tool.

Most of the time, we are looking for nice, soft, pleasing light that gives enough shadow for depth, but not enough to make harsh lines or deep black shadows on faces. Obviously this means get out of the direct sun... So, I am discovering some of my favorite places to make nice on-the go portraits are..

Beside Windows
Wedding and portrait photographers have always done this, and master painters before them. Indirect light through big windows is often beautiful light. Add to this that the rest of the room (with artificial lights turned off) is usually darker than your subject area, making a nice background.



With different posing, you can do all kinds of things with the shadows as well. Find a willing model and have fun playing with different angles and poses. You will see that it is hard to get a bad photo by a big window.



In the Shade

On bright sunny days, take your subject into the shade. The sky will act like a big, soft light. Once you find some nice shade, you can play with angles to see what works for background or shadows. When there is no good background, just move in close.



In case you are wondering if it was a bright sunny day here... you can see the blue sky with light clouds in her eye reflections. The bright catchlight in her eye is the sun shining on the chimney of my house.



Big Lights Indoors

When there are no big windows around, or when it is dark outside, find a light fixture that has multiple bulbs, like a chandelier. Get your model close to the light, and it will act similar to one big light source.



When there is only bad light?

There is no such thing as bad light. You just have to realize what the light is doing, then get creative. If all you have is harsh light, play with your subjects until you have something you like, and make the most of the conditions.




Harsh shadows can be fun too... if that is what you want. The key is being aware of how the light is shaping your photo, especially your subjects' faces, so that you can make the photo you want.

Ok, now go find light and have fun with it.

Happy Shooting,

don j