*Photo by Jason*
*my beautifffullll grandma!!*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
Friday, April 29, 2011
As of Lately...
This poor blog has been greatly ignored as of lately. I haven't really done too much professional photography wise since it has been winter but I've taken a ton of odds and ins photos that I can share!
*Photo by Jason*
*my beautifffullll grandma!!*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
*my beautifffullll grandma!!*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
*Photo by Jason*
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Testing the New Camera
Today Hunter, Lacie, and myself went to laurelhurst park right down the road from my house to go "test" the new camera out. We only stayed out for about an hour because I had to be at work later that afternoon. Luckily, (since we live in portland) we have overcast skies here the majority of the time. However, for the past week or so it's been nice and sunny which I was worried about since we didn't get as early of a start as I had originally wanted. Much to my surprise...the day we decide to go phototaking is the ONE day it is actually overcast all this week and for the next week supposedly. Granted, before you judge my new photos keep in mind I JUST got this new camera and am still testing it out and learning the odds and ins. I already love it though it does so many amazing things my canon didn't and is so much more photographer friendly and convenient. So expect the photos to only get better from here but I think these turned out pretty good as well.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Lighting and Portrait Tutorial
So, I was going to just post another photoshop tutorial today but with two different photographers asking me portrait questions and lighting questions within the past week I thought maybe it would be a good idea to just touch briefly on the rules and techniques I've learned over the years of Portrait photography. Keep in mind this is just a quick run through, portrait photography is such an intense field and loaded with so many different techniques and rules I could never post them all on this blog. However, if you have any particular questions that I did not touch on this post or perhaps didn't go into enough detail for you be sure to head to my photography facebook and post it and I will get back to you ASAP!
So! Let's begin shall we!
1. Finger and Toes!
I am an avid blogger and craigslister. I often go through and admire other photographers work on both. The two biggest mistakes I find photographers making and really grinds my gears is cutting body parts out. Now I cannot be TOO harsh on this because it is something even I succumb to at times. It is a very easy mistake to make when you are caught up in the moment of photographing a subject sometimes all the little things that really MAKE the photo go flying out of your head. I will use one of my own photos to show this:
This is a photo of a friend of mine I took about a year ago. It is really one of my favorite photos from the day however, I cut out her little finger tips. BIG MISTAKE!
Another thing to keep an eye out for is strain on the hands. If you have a model leaning on their hands for an extended time their veins start to protrude and it starts to strain. A simply fix for this is to tell them to hold their hands up in the air and pump them for about 10 seconds. To an untrained eye they might not even notice things this small. But it is little things like this that separate real professional photographers from amateurs with a camera.
2. Stay OUT of the sun!
Now, when it comes to placing people directly in the sun, it is a very common mistake that beginners make. When I first started out I would tell my models (who was usually my sister and family) to look directly towards the sun because I thought it would look cool. The truth is, when it comes out on camera it doesn't look nearly as awesome as you thought it would. It makes for harsh shadows that are too contrasty, squinty eye which is never flattering, and leather skin as I like to call it. This is an EXTREMELY hard look to pull off and I've only seen it successfully done a couple times and keep in mind the people that ARE pulling it off are usually compensating with an external light source and using AMAZING cameras that pick up every little detail that the sun would usually blow out in mid-level to even most professional cameras. The best idea is to choose a time of day when the sun is soft or find a shady spot. If you have no choice but to shoot mid day when the sun is at it's harshest use an external flash to fill the shadows or a subtraction card to diffuse the light. If neither is available to you use a white sheet at least! If you really have NO POSSIBLE choice WHAT SO EVER but to shoot out in the open sun without anything at least try to control the direction of it. Have your model look away from the sun.
3. Know what mm you are shooting with
Do not shoot a portrait with less than 50 mm. This will distort their face in ways you can't imagine. It will protrude their nose and ears and make the rest look like an arrow or it can make their head swollen. Neither of which is attractive.
4. Know what you're placing in the foreground
Sometimes people shoot their portraits with their subjects body parts in the foreground. Sometimes this is fine if you mean to do it like that but other times it can end up with an awkward looking photo. If you shoot with someone's hand or arm or foot closest to the camera it can make it just as large or sometimes larger than the person's head, drawing attention to that body part. Which I'm assuming is not what you want. If this is the look you are going for then by all means do it! However, when it is obvious you did not mean to make it happen it can harm your photos big time.
This is a portrait of my brother in which I did put his hand as the subject and it is okay that it is as big as his face because his hand is what the focus is on.
5. Always Compensate when shooting with "available light"
When you are shooting indoors with available light which is usually a window seal or the dreaded florescent lightbulb always make sure you have a grey card to check your color balance or shoot in black and white. Also, always make sure you are compensating for the lack of three dimensional light. You can do this by using an external flash or simply using a bounce card and pointing it at the shadow side to create a highlight.
This is an available light portrait of my boyfriend. I shot it in black and white because the color balance was just horrible and I used a bounce card to illuminate the left side of his face that was in the shadows. This created a highlight and made his face overall look three dimensional.
6. When shooting with an external flash, BOUNCE IT!
When you are shooting with an external flash it is important to bounce it or diffuse it. If you are simply shooting directly on you get the same effect as the on camera flash and are wasting the reason you spent the $700 dollars in the first place! When you shoot directly on your subject you create a deer in the headlights look, unflattering shadows behind the subject, and a whitewashed face lacking any natural shadows or dimensions. When using an external flash, bounce it off the ceiling, wall, anything! Or simply purchase a diffuser to place over it.
7. Strive for a nice depth of field
I know with photoshop and other editing softwares today it is so easy to create depth-of-field in post processing but a photographer should always strive to get everything in camera. Way too many photographers rely on photoshop to make their images look good these days and it's kind of sad. So, if you can get it all in camera, DO IT! Not only will it give your images better quality because they won't be so over edited but it will save you a lot of time in the long run.
8. Focus on the Eyes
When you are focusing on your subject always focus on their eyes. It is the window to the soul and will make any portrait better. Also try to create a catch light in the eyes you can do this by using a bounce card, an external flash, or my absolute favorite...the ring flash! It creates BEAUTIFUL catch lights. However, you want to be careful using it because if used wrong it can also create drop shadows, which as we discussed earlier...are unflattering.
9. Learn the sunny f16 rule.
This is probably the most important rule you can learn. It will guarantee you have properly exposed photos and will give you a baseline rule in your head if you do not own a meter. The rule states that on a sunny day you would use f16 as your aperture, your shutter speed will be the inverse of the current ISO speed. For example, if your camera is set to ISO 100, and your aperture value is ƒ16, your shutter speed will be 1/100th of a second. On a cloudy day (or when in the shade) you simply use ƒ8 instead. It is an important rule to know however, if you have a grey card or a meter I would continue to use that for the most accurate exposure.
10. Know what kind of lighting you are using
If you are in the studio there are many different kinds of lighting techniques and each one serves a different purpose. When shooting a model portfolio you want to strive for virtually no shadows on the face and a large soft even light. In order to do this would you most likely use two large soft boxes on either side of the face and a hair light to separate the background. However, when simply shooting for your own portfolio you might use rembrandt lighting, broad lighting, short lighting, loop lighting, butterfly/paramount lighting, split lighting, rim lighting, ect. There are so many different positions for studio lights to learn and each one serves its own purpose. If you can take a lighting course I highly recommend it. It is also very important to know the different ratios which creates the contrast. Studio lighting is a world in itself and is something I could not possibly cover in this blog. If you have any individual questions feel free to ask. The best thing I can recommend however is to take a class!
Here is some of my studio photography:
This is jason lit with a rim and paramount lighting
This is my brother lit with split lighting
(as you can see I was so busy worried about how much time I had left in the studio and getting the lighting right I completely cut off his little pinky!)
11. Keep the clutter out!
Keep your background simple and soft, if there are power lines, signs, junk, ect. In the background it can take away from the subject. If you meant to place your subject in a pile of trash and it adds to the photo then continue on your merry way, however a cluttered background does not work for all photos. So it is an important thing to consider. The last thing you want is a sign sticking out from your models head, power lines running through the background, ect. Unless of course they are all intentional.
12. Leave head room
When photographing a model it is important to look at how much head room you are giving them. Do not cut the picture off right at the top of their head. This is unflattering and will make it look like they are holding the photo up with their head. You either want to leave some head room for a frame and then some or cut the photo off enough so it looks like you meant to.
So...that's really all I have for now. Like I said earlier, if you have any questions or anything that I can help with feel free to shoot me a comment on my facebook and I will get back to you asap. For now, I hope you take some of these techniques you perhaps didn't know use them. I bid you happy shooting!
So! Let's begin shall we!
1. Finger and Toes!
I am an avid blogger and craigslister. I often go through and admire other photographers work on both. The two biggest mistakes I find photographers making and really grinds my gears is cutting body parts out. Now I cannot be TOO harsh on this because it is something even I succumb to at times. It is a very easy mistake to make when you are caught up in the moment of photographing a subject sometimes all the little things that really MAKE the photo go flying out of your head. I will use one of my own photos to show this:
This is a photo of a friend of mine I took about a year ago. It is really one of my favorite photos from the day however, I cut out her little finger tips. BIG MISTAKE!
Another thing to keep an eye out for is strain on the hands. If you have a model leaning on their hands for an extended time their veins start to protrude and it starts to strain. A simply fix for this is to tell them to hold their hands up in the air and pump them for about 10 seconds. To an untrained eye they might not even notice things this small. But it is little things like this that separate real professional photographers from amateurs with a camera.
2. Stay OUT of the sun!
Now, when it comes to placing people directly in the sun, it is a very common mistake that beginners make. When I first started out I would tell my models (who was usually my sister and family) to look directly towards the sun because I thought it would look cool. The truth is, when it comes out on camera it doesn't look nearly as awesome as you thought it would. It makes for harsh shadows that are too contrasty, squinty eye which is never flattering, and leather skin as I like to call it. This is an EXTREMELY hard look to pull off and I've only seen it successfully done a couple times and keep in mind the people that ARE pulling it off are usually compensating with an external light source and using AMAZING cameras that pick up every little detail that the sun would usually blow out in mid-level to even most professional cameras. The best idea is to choose a time of day when the sun is soft or find a shady spot. If you have no choice but to shoot mid day when the sun is at it's harshest use an external flash to fill the shadows or a subtraction card to diffuse the light. If neither is available to you use a white sheet at least! If you really have NO POSSIBLE choice WHAT SO EVER but to shoot out in the open sun without anything at least try to control the direction of it. Have your model look away from the sun.
3. Know what mm you are shooting with
Do not shoot a portrait with less than 50 mm. This will distort their face in ways you can't imagine. It will protrude their nose and ears and make the rest look like an arrow or it can make their head swollen. Neither of which is attractive.
4. Know what you're placing in the foreground
Sometimes people shoot their portraits with their subjects body parts in the foreground. Sometimes this is fine if you mean to do it like that but other times it can end up with an awkward looking photo. If you shoot with someone's hand or arm or foot closest to the camera it can make it just as large or sometimes larger than the person's head, drawing attention to that body part. Which I'm assuming is not what you want. If this is the look you are going for then by all means do it! However, when it is obvious you did not mean to make it happen it can harm your photos big time.
This is a portrait of my brother in which I did put his hand as the subject and it is okay that it is as big as his face because his hand is what the focus is on.
5. Always Compensate when shooting with "available light"
When you are shooting indoors with available light which is usually a window seal or the dreaded florescent lightbulb always make sure you have a grey card to check your color balance or shoot in black and white. Also, always make sure you are compensating for the lack of three dimensional light. You can do this by using an external flash or simply using a bounce card and pointing it at the shadow side to create a highlight.
This is an available light portrait of my boyfriend. I shot it in black and white because the color balance was just horrible and I used a bounce card to illuminate the left side of his face that was in the shadows. This created a highlight and made his face overall look three dimensional.
6. When shooting with an external flash, BOUNCE IT!
When you are shooting with an external flash it is important to bounce it or diffuse it. If you are simply shooting directly on you get the same effect as the on camera flash and are wasting the reason you spent the $700 dollars in the first place! When you shoot directly on your subject you create a deer in the headlights look, unflattering shadows behind the subject, and a whitewashed face lacking any natural shadows or dimensions. When using an external flash, bounce it off the ceiling, wall, anything! Or simply purchase a diffuser to place over it.
7. Strive for a nice depth of field
I know with photoshop and other editing softwares today it is so easy to create depth-of-field in post processing but a photographer should always strive to get everything in camera. Way too many photographers rely on photoshop to make their images look good these days and it's kind of sad. So, if you can get it all in camera, DO IT! Not only will it give your images better quality because they won't be so over edited but it will save you a lot of time in the long run.
8. Focus on the Eyes
When you are focusing on your subject always focus on their eyes. It is the window to the soul and will make any portrait better. Also try to create a catch light in the eyes you can do this by using a bounce card, an external flash, or my absolute favorite...the ring flash! It creates BEAUTIFUL catch lights. However, you want to be careful using it because if used wrong it can also create drop shadows, which as we discussed earlier...are unflattering.
9. Learn the sunny f16 rule.
This is probably the most important rule you can learn. It will guarantee you have properly exposed photos and will give you a baseline rule in your head if you do not own a meter. The rule states that on a sunny day you would use f16 as your aperture, your shutter speed will be the inverse of the current ISO speed. For example, if your camera is set to ISO 100, and your aperture value is ƒ16, your shutter speed will be 1/100th of a second. On a cloudy day (or when in the shade) you simply use ƒ8 instead. It is an important rule to know however, if you have a grey card or a meter I would continue to use that for the most accurate exposure.
10. Know what kind of lighting you are using
If you are in the studio there are many different kinds of lighting techniques and each one serves a different purpose. When shooting a model portfolio you want to strive for virtually no shadows on the face and a large soft even light. In order to do this would you most likely use two large soft boxes on either side of the face and a hair light to separate the background. However, when simply shooting for your own portfolio you might use rembrandt lighting, broad lighting, short lighting, loop lighting, butterfly/paramount lighting, split lighting, rim lighting, ect. There are so many different positions for studio lights to learn and each one serves its own purpose. If you can take a lighting course I highly recommend it. It is also very important to know the different ratios which creates the contrast. Studio lighting is a world in itself and is something I could not possibly cover in this blog. If you have any individual questions feel free to ask. The best thing I can recommend however is to take a class!
Here is some of my studio photography:
This is jason lit with a rim and paramount lighting
This is my brother lit with split lighting
(as you can see I was so busy worried about how much time I had left in the studio and getting the lighting right I completely cut off his little pinky!)
11. Keep the clutter out!
Keep your background simple and soft, if there are power lines, signs, junk, ect. In the background it can take away from the subject. If you meant to place your subject in a pile of trash and it adds to the photo then continue on your merry way, however a cluttered background does not work for all photos. So it is an important thing to consider. The last thing you want is a sign sticking out from your models head, power lines running through the background, ect. Unless of course they are all intentional.
12. Leave head room
When photographing a model it is important to look at how much head room you are giving them. Do not cut the picture off right at the top of their head. This is unflattering and will make it look like they are holding the photo up with their head. You either want to leave some head room for a frame and then some or cut the photo off enough so it looks like you meant to.
So...that's really all I have for now. Like I said earlier, if you have any questions or anything that I can help with feel free to shoot me a comment on my facebook and I will get back to you asap. For now, I hope you take some of these techniques you perhaps didn't know use them. I bid you happy shooting!
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