Archive for Lighting
Finally a Flash for Outdoors
Posted by: | CommentsI just purchased my first Alien Bee flash unit. It is a self-contained studio flash unit that I can take outdoors to use as a fill light. Perfect for groups when I can’t use a reflector.
Why use a flash outdoors? I am sure you have seen many images where people’s eyes were dull and lifeless. Eyes need a catch light, that little reflection that makes them look alive.
Many photographers underexpose a subject’s face especially with outdoor portraits. A reflector is a good answer when you are working with one or two subjects and you have an assistant to hold the reflector but when you have a family group you need something more.
I have tried small flash units held off to the side of the camera but they never had enough power and the recycle time was so slow. Keeping them stocked with batteries was yet another chore.
This little unit is small, light weight, and still enough power to add sparkle to a family group’s eyes.
I got the green one at http://www.paulcbuff.com/b400.php (And might I add that they have great customer service!)
The Perfect Camera Room
Posted by: | CommentsWell, nothing’s perfect. But if you are looking for space to rent, buy, or ever get the chance to design your own camera room, here are some things to keep in mind to get you started.
I would strongly suggest a test run in any space you are considering to see if you really fit the way you want to. Take your camera, lens, lights, and even a model to do a test. I should have done this with the building I purchased. I did not really evaluate how problematic the pocket doors would become. I was too taken with the possibilities of a charming old building.
Get the width.
Make sure your camera room is wide enough to get your lights comfortably off to the side. Unless you have other rooms near by available, you will also have backgrounds to store as well as props to accommodate. As a minimum figure at least fifteen feet. You will be happier with about twenty-five feet or more.
Get the height.
Depending on what kind of studio lights you use, you will want enough ceiling height to be able to get the lights at a 45-degree angle from your subjects. I would suggest nothing less than nine feet do this comfortably.
Get the length.
For my style and lenses I use, I am able to work comfortable in about a thirty foot long camera room.
North window light.
This is a bonus as not all buildings have north windows. If you are designing a studio with north light windows, make them as tall as possible so light can fall down on top of the subject’s head as well. My new window is five foot by five foot and two feet off the ground.
Do some comparisons with other photographers who have north light windows before you start designing.
Paint Color.
The walls and ceiling need to be white. You don’t want funny colors bouncing around affecting your subject’s skin tone.
Privacy.
Be sure you have the privacy you need from other tenants interfering with your peace or from you disturbing theirs.
Fortunately we photographers are creative and can make great things happen in most any conditions!
Pointers for Studio Photography
Posted by: | CommentsThe main light-
Raise your light to a 45-degree angle for more flattering light. Placing the light at the subject’s eye level and too close to the camera makes for flat lighting equivalent to a passport.
Add fill-
Use a reflector for a fill instead of a fill flash. A large silver reflector will do a nicer job and not leave a second, unnatural catch light in the eye or over expose the shadows.
Kick it-
Use a hair light, or kicker light, for separation between the hair and the background. Make sure this is not brighter than your main light. A stop less (depending on hair color) is a good place to start.
Behind the subject-
A background light is a must to create depth in the image. A quality background will come to life with a light a stop less than your main. If you don’t have room directly behind your subject for a flash unit, pump it in from the side. It still looks good.
The right lens-
Use a portrait lens instead of a normal or wide angle for nice compression. I like to shoot between 150mm to 200mm.
Not too sharp-
Use a shallower f-stop to keep the emphasis on the subject’s eyes. Too much background in focus, especially outdoor scenes, detracts from the image being a portrait. I like to use f5.6 or wider.
Meter it right-
Record the correct exposure at the time of capture. Do not rely on “fixing it in post”. This is not only unprofessional but time consuming and detrimental to the file’s quality.
White Balance-
Correct color temperature is critical for printing images with pleasing tones. This is especially critical for portraits.
Tweaking-
Depending on your camera, you may still need to do a little tweaking in your imaging software like Photoshop. If you have done all of the above, you shouldn’t need to spend too much time in front of the computer. I find, however, my files need a little contrast and deepening of the blacks.
Change Drab Skies into Bold Skies
Posted by: | CommentsShooting on overcast days is terrific. It sure beats mid-day sun with heavy shadows and overly bright highlights. When photographing buildings overcast is very helpful for a nice exposure.
But what do to with that lifeless, dreary sky? Drop in a new one! Go out and shoot clouds on a day when the sky is full of them. Make a jpeg file and file it in its own folder called something like “clouds for new sky.” Of course you need to remove the old sky then place the new layer underneath the original layer.
Does the lighting match in each of these images? No, not really. But consider the use of the image, does it have to match? Sometimes it does, and sometimes it might not have to be perfect.
In the case of this church image, the intended use was for a bookmark. I was giving them to the church family members with the books of the Bible on the back for quick reference. So in this case, perfectly matching lighting was not an issue. I rather liked the impact of the bold sky.
You might want to get really creative and photograph storms and other skies for backgrounds.
If making the lighting match was critical, go out late in the day or early in the morning and shoot when the shadows are long and the lighting is softer.
A really good digital artist can actually tweak lighting in Photoshop also to make an image even more believable. I have a sample of this with a portrait session I did that I can share with you in a few weeks.
Oh – a good tip for shooting buildings (if you have the luxury of time) is to go in the spring or late fall when the leaves from the trees are not blocking out too much of the structure.
Meter it Right!
Posted by: | CommentsAn F2.8 member asks, “What is a good grey card and light meter to go with? There are so many that I would like a recommendation from someone I trust!”
Well first of all thank you for your trust! But I have to admit once again that I am not a very technical person. I do know what works for me and I am happy to share that with you.
I do not believe that any one grey (or gray) card is the perfect card. Without buying a dozen of them and testing them all out and writing a review (which I’m sorry, is not my style) I can not say what is the best.
The important thing is using to use the tools correctly and consistently. I do cover grey card usage in the “Beyond the Photography Instruction Manual” available here. http://barbgordonphotocoach.com/blog/products/beyond-the-manual-beyond-the-photography-instruction-manual
I have used the same grey card for many years. I did get a new one when digital came out. I tried a card by created by Gary Box that had a lot of grey tones on it so you could click balance in increments. Gary Box has a line of books called Digibooks available at http://www.garybox.com/index2.html. For those of you who need to learn technical aspects of digital these books deliver. Book Four has his grey card and instructions in it. I own all of his books and they are worth every cent!
Meanwhile I did a little digging for some links on grey cards. These are so affordable that you can not really go wrong trying a few different ones for yourself.
This is a cute and very portable set of cards in picture number one is very affordable at around $12. I might have
to order one of these myself! I like being able to put it around my neck and not have a big clunky card I have to fetch out of my camera bag.
The Zeikos Digital Grey Card Set provides you with a handy white balance tool that you can wear around the neck or easily stash in a camera bag. Because color temperature varies under different lighting sources (i.e. sunlight, fluorescent, halogen, incandescent) it’s important to use a white balance card, either in pre or post production, for accurate color representation under any type of light. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/738232-REG/Zeikos_ZE_DGC_Digital_Grey_Card_Set.html
This is the kind of card I have been using for years in image two. These are available in all camera stores and also for around $12.
http://www.porters.com/flash-studio/light-meters-and-gray-cards/neutral-gray-cards-pack-of-2.html
If you are still unsure, 
make friends with your local camera store salesperson. Build a relationship and trust with them and they will make good recommendations.
I am going to say again that it is more important that you learn how to use your tools correctly for consistent results. Keep testing your process and refine it until you get the results you need.
The grey card I use outdoors I know that I always have to open up my f-stop one full stop to get the correct exposure. I learned this with practice. Practice before you are with a real client please! Your customers deserve the best work you can produce so figure out your system before you sell your services.
Oh! My member also asked about light meters. I use the light meter already in my camera set to just the center spot to meter off of my grey card. Get close enough to fill the viewfinder with the card to get your reading. Make any adjustments (usually it is opening up a bit) then recompose the image how you want it. More details on this are found in the “Beyond the Photography Instruction Manual”.
Portrait photography takes a little bit of care and time. No one expects you to get to a location, jump out of the car, and start snapping away willy nilly. Take the professional approach and meter it right!
Five Tips for Working with Outdoor Light
Posted by: | CommentsPhotography is all about recording reflected light. Many beginners and amateurs are not yet familiar with how to see light and know what to look for yet. It can be quite a challenge to find locations that are suitable for outdoor portraits but there are some things you can use to your advantage. Here are five getting started tips:
- Photograph in the shade. Raccoon eyes, squinting eyes, deep dark shadows, and images with no catch lights in the eyes do not make a pleasing portrait. Place your subject in the shade with open sky as your main light source. This takes practice and deliberate study to find this kind of light. Going deep into the woods in too thick of shade is not going to give you a nice lighting pattern. By staying closer to the edge of the shade you will have great light coming from open sky.
- Photograph late or early in the day. This is often referred to as “Sweet Light”. An hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset is really beautiful light. The light is more even light and shadows are long and soft.
- Use a reflector. Reflectors work great to fill shadows and give a little kick of sparkle in the subject’s eyes. I personally use the gold side the most.
- Use a fill flash. When working in brighter conditions or wanting to include dramatic sky in your portrait images a fill flash is required to balance the lighting conditions for a proper exposure.
- Watch for color reflections. Color from items like green trees and red paint on a building, for example, will reflect into a person’s skin tone and shadows. This is not a desired outcome and will look unnatural. Be careful how close you are to strong color reflections. You can also correct minor color shifts in the artwork stage of your final image.
Of course you still must meter correctly, white balance, and process your files. But the more you get right in your camera first the easier the rest of the process is.
The cool thing is we can tell our camera what white is supposed to look like. This is called white balancing. If your camera understands what white is, other colors will fall into place more accurately. Be aware that colors do reflect and bounce around. For example, photographing with someone under a tree may cause a green to grey cast in the shadow areas of their face and neck.
Color temperature, measured in degrees referred to as Kelvin temperature (K), is the color of the light. You may remember seeing pictures of people in fluorescent light, everything was kind of greenish? That is an example of color temperature.
Our camera meters are designed to read 18% grey. By shooting in RAW and using a grey card to take reflected metering off of will make the process of color balancing in the processing stage possible. It is also fast, easy, and accurate. You can not do this with shooting JPEG.
I prefer to shoot RAW not only for the large amount of information I have for a quality file, I have more flexibility. I do not enjoy white balancing at every new location I go, especially when I photograph high school seniors. We change locations a lot!
To keep this simple but still get professional results, I manually set my color temperature on my camera to 4600K. (This setting works perfect for my studio lights and my system. Do not assume your work will look the same. You must test this for yourself.) This is close enough to the outdoor color temperatures so I can leave my camera at my indoor temperature and tweak any outdoor images in Adobe Bride Camera RAW processing.
Color balancing is tweaking the red, green, and blue channels of a file for the desired final effect like warming up skin tones in a portrait so people look healthy.
You may be interested in learning more about histograms also in the “Beyond the Photography Instruction Manual-Professional Results with Manual Photography”. I will take you through it step by step. Click here to learn more.
Shoot Outdoors – Part One
Posted by: | CommentsSeven Gear Tips for Photographing Outdoors
Learning how to photograph outdoors can be tricky because the light will be different in different places. Light can change in direction, color, and intensity.
Here are seven basic tips to get started with photographing outdoors.
- Use manual settings-The exposure of an image is controlled by coordinating the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings. These three settings used correctly together create a properly exposed file that produces a proper photographic print. Use your camera’s meter to guide you in getting the settings right for getting a correctly exposed image.
- Take accurate meter readings-I prefer to use a spot meter or the center weighted meter in my camera to take a meter reading of just my subject. Many people run into problems with getting a correct exposure because they are getting too much light from the sky affecting their meter reading.
- A Reflector-If you are photographing people I would suggest taking a reflector along to gently fill in shadows and add sparkle to their eyes. I like the 5 in 1 style that you can chose the black, white, silver, gold or the translucent center. It will depend on the lighting conditions which side you choose.
- A Grey Card-No matter what you are photographing using a grey card to take accurate reflected meter readings from is always a must.
- White Balance-Teaching your camera what “white” is so that you get accurate colors is critical. A grey card is also helpful for white balancing the digital camera so tweaking color balancing a RAW file in Adobe Bridge is fast and accurate.
- Test your system! Just because you have all of the tools it does not mean you will get perfect results right away. I have found through my testing that in order to get just the right exposure, (using the grey card I do) I actually open up 2/3 a stop more than my reading indicates in most outdoor situations.
- Get it right! For optimum quality, get it right in the camera in the first place. Assuming that you can fix everything in Photoshop is lazy, unprofessional, and not always possible.
If you are having problems understanding how to use your manual settings on your digital camera, then you may be interested in the “Beyond the Photography Instruction Manual-Professional Results with Manual Photography”. I take you step by step through the process! Click here to find out more.
What are Catch Lights?
Posted by: | CommentsYou have all seen them. But you may be unaware of them or the term we use for them. Catch lights are the reflections in the eyes of your portrait subject from the light source that is lighting their face. This reflection is what gives the eyes their life and sparkle.
This reflection can come from the sun, the moon, a flash, any light source at all.
Different light sources create different catch lights.
A catch light is going to reflect the light source you choose. If you want a certain look, then consider your light source selection. Look into people’s eyes and notice how the light reflects in them.
A reflection from a window is going to look softer and be shaped like the window you are using.
A star shaped, octagon shaped, round soft box, or umbrella is going to give you a the same shaped catch light.
A parabolic reflector around your flash tube will give you a crisp very round catch light.
You may notice a ringflash is a very different kind of catch light. It is used mostly in commercial work and television commercials. A ringflash creates a catch light that is a circle of light right in the middle of the eye around the iris. You can see what a ringflash looks like at http://www.adorama.com/Als/FAMRFNK.html?sid=1282234929182028 This is not a product recommendation by the way, I have not purchased a ringflash yet.
Outdoors will give you this natural look in the eyes.
How many catch lights should you see in the eyes?
This would depend on your preference but I am convinced that for portraits only catch light is acceptable.
The logic for this comes from the fact that there is only one sun– one light source.
Many professional photographers who photograph with a secondary fill flash tend to take the secondary catch light out of the eyes in post production.
I prefer not to use a fill flash in most of my work and use a reflector as a fill instead thus eliminating the need for any additional post production work.
Start studying people’s eyes and play with different light sources. You can achieve different looks to tell your subject’s story.
Photography expert Barb Gordon, Master Photographer, weekly publishes Barb Gordon Photo Coach’s Shooting For Success, a free ezine. If you’re ready to take your photography to the next level, get your FREE reports “Make Photography More than a Hobby” and “15 Ways to Make More Money with your Photography” now at http://www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com
Looking for the Light
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know the absolute best time of day to photograph? There are two actually. It is called Sweet Light.
The hour before sunset or the hour after sunrise is called Sweet Light. The sun is so low in the horizon that the shadows it creates are long and the light is soft. When you shoot at this time of day, there are many more places you can probably photograph that maybe are not suitable at other times of day when the sun is more direct.
By photographing in the Sweet Light you don’t have to keep your subjects deep under the trees for even shade for nice lighting; you can pull them out into the world.
In this example of the couple and their dogs, the highlight on the man’s face is direct sun. I did not use a translucent shade or have to keep them in full shade. The beauty of that hour before sunset is that the light is soft and not as directional and hard as mid-day.
To have nice light in their faces and catch lights in their eyes, I wanted to be sure that the sky was open in front of them. No trees to block any light, no buildings, just open sky.
Time out a moment, you all have seen catch lights but some of you may be unaware of them or the term we use. Catch light is the reflection in the eye of the light source. This reflection is what gives the eye life and sparkle. I require a catch light in all of my images that the eye is showing.
Pose your subjects so you are shooting into the sun at an angle; be sure to use a lens shade so you don’t have any flare into your lens. Sometimes I also use my hand or a piece of cardboard to further shade my lens if the actual lens shade is not enough.
By having the sun over your subject’s shoulder their faces will be shaded. In my diagram (please pardon my drawing ability) you will see that I am not shooting straight into the sun that would be blinding and totally wipe out the sky and make halos around their heads. I am not shooting with the sun over my shoulder either, that would create flat lighting and that is boring. I am shooting at an angle for a nice lighting ratio and that makes the image more interesting. The purple lines in the diagram show the approximate angle.
(c) 2010 Barb Gordon Photo Coach
Does the exact angle matter? It will change the look of the image as it will change the lighting pattern on the face. Test it out. Set up your subjects and walk around them. Shoot an image at different angles to the sun and see what it looks like and what you like. Sometimes the scene itself restricts the choices you have but teach yourself to take the time to look for the light.
To find Sweet Light in the evening, face west and find nice scenery. In the early morning, if you can get up that early, face east. A Farmer’s Almanac, or a Google search, will help you in determining actual sunrise and sunset times. Then try about an hour from each is a time to start. Practice. Your selected location may look better an hour and a half or two hours difference. Be sure to allow your subjects ample time to arrive, prepare, and get comfortable. You don’t want to miss your limited lighting opportunity!
Photography expert Barb Gordon, Master Photographer, weekly publishes Barb Gordon Photo Coach’s Shooting For Success, a free ezine. If you’re ready to take your photography to the next level, get your FREE reports “Make Photography More than a Hobby” and “15 Ways to Make More Money with your Photography” now at http://www.BarbGordonPhotoCoach.com
