To one and all, whether you are celebrating Christmas or just enjoying the season.
Happy Holidays, 2009
December, 2009
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Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Mid-Winter Funk
Monday, December 21st, 2009I’m having a hard time dealing with this winter, despite the recent Hawaii trip. Perhaps an example of why:
Grey, all around
It has just been grey. I mean, we only get five & a half hours of light as it is, and then we go through a week & a half of fog & overcast skies. Last Friday was the first time I saw the sun in the middle of the day in almost two weeks (the above pic was taken at noon).
Final thoughts on the photoshoot
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Hindsight, 20/20 – as always. A few notes for myself (for next time), and to answer a few questions of readers:
For fill/kicker light, don’t use the softbox
When you look back at the photo, you’ll see that the shadows to the left are nice and soft. This is good, but I don’t think it fits this particular subject. We’re not looking for a soft look – not for some hippie with a beard. A little roughness is just fine. Should have gone with, or at least tried, a bare bulb.
Use a fill reflector
Anyone want to get me a California bounce reflector? I use cheap, and often rigged-on-the-spot reflectors. I should use something better & would love a good-quality reflector. Why? In this case, the eyes kept coming out dark. Too dark, in many. Fixable, but should be better out of the camera.
Bonus: with a good reflector, I probably wouldn’t have needed the flash to camera left at all.
Turn down the brightness on the display
Yes, everyone that you’ll ever talk to will say “don’t use the display to gauge picture quality.” It’s bad – it’s chimping. Well guess what: I didn’t call this blog “photo-chimp” for nothing. People do it, and I do it. If you’re going to do it, check the histograms. I did, so these came out fine. However, by looking on the display, I thought they were much brighter. Some images, including the posted one here, needed as much as a +1.5ev adjustment in ACR, just to get skin tones right.
It’s minor, but could have been mitigated in camera. A pre-emptive responst to the question: why didn’t the histogram tell you it was off? Because of the dark background. This is a very low-key photo, and the histogram only tells me that there is detail in the photo itself.
A List Apart Survey
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009For the third year in a row, A List Apart is doing a survey of those in the tech sector. Are you a programmer, graphic designer, web guy, or similar? If so, they’re asking for your participation. In the end, they’ll publish the results, too – but they’re only valuable if you contribute.
For the record, one of the hats that I wear is that of a freelance all-purpose tech guy, and I filled it out, too.
Softbox wanted
Monday, December 14th, 2009After reviewing my post on the three-light setup, I have come to the conclusion that I probably should be using a better/heavier duty softbox with my strobing. I even found the one I want. But ouch, the price. Anyone want to get it for me? Eh, the end of my wishlist.
OK, so the reasoning: even choking up the umbrella still left some splashing of the light. It’s fine – the pictures work well and any splash is easily controlled in Photoshop, but to do it right I need flags. Again, hindsight: I could have peeled only half of the umbrella’s black cover back, but that just isn’t how I think. A flag inside, on the flash – that would have also worked. But again, just doesn’t work with my thought process (right now – ask again in a few months!).
So a softbox. Something that nicely stops light in its tracks. I’d love me one of them!
Three Light Pop
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Three lights on Pop
The picture to the right was taken with three lights. Technically four flashes, but only three produced the light in this particular portrait. The fourth worked as the master controller for the other three.
Our goal was to show the beard – a near-year’s worth of growth, which is about to be chopped off. We wanted to show the full size and fuzziness (this is a lot for this guy), so that later photos can accurately show the contrast. There were several poses that we ran through, all of which did pretty well. This was my favorite, I think – it shows that the hair in the back grew (pony tail, yeah!), as well as the beard effect.
So, how it was done: we started by running through the house. We needed a background that would be visually interesting if we chose to light it. It also had to be in a room large enough so that we could use light to isolate details if need be.
In the end, we chose the main living room. It’s large, has dark walls, and a natural-stone fireplace (barely visible in this background). Unfortunately, a few shots in & we realized that the mantle cuts right through an adult’s head from virtually any angle. So, darken it we shall! Take the rear light, turn it around & give the subject rimlight. This was at 1/32nd power. Click to continue »
Lying with photography
Friday, December 11th, 2009
A photographic lie
Not so long ago, I took the picture to the right. In fact, it was barely more than a month ago. Towards the end of our Hawaiian vacation, I was on the beach, waiting for the sunset. Sunsets are always spectacular there, of course.
Now, the weather had been somewhat interesting – a bit breezier than normal, but not windy by any stretch of the imagination. Looking to the south and north, I could see that breeze blowing clouds out to sea. And as the clouds moved out, the rain started to fall. So to the south, rain falling over the open sea.
So you see my view to the south. I’m thinking to myself: how to capture this? There’s a contrast in action – swimmers frolicking, but a heavy downpour in the distance. To compress this and bring out blues, I used a zoom lens, tightened up the aperture as much as I could (for handheld), used manual white balance (under 5000K), and fired away.
What you’re seeing here doesn’t have much post processing. Some warming on the upper clouds, and a slight tweak to the swimmers to bring out their details slightly. And sharpening.
So what the end result is: a photo that looks like rough seas, with intrepid souls swimming, and a massive thunderstorm nearby. In reality, the light was bright and we were in a hazy sunlight. The clouds were brighter, and the rain was far away. The chopping waves? Just minor ones, actually. The wind was making peaks…
Some fascinating photos
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Warning: links on this post are not safe for work (denoted by “NSFW”).
I recently stumbled across Nadya Gorodetskaya’s work (NSFW). I can only describe it as fascinating – an inside look at life in Russia, from a perspective that few outside of there can see.
Having been there at one point, I see the character of what I loved in Russia – the warmth, the social aspect, the unity of family and life-long friends. I particularly like her bathhouse photos (all links NSFW). There’s an old-world feel to them, with an intimate and yet jovial feeling.
Her flickr photostream is also worth a good look.
Bokeh Tree
Sunday, December 6th, 2009It’s probably the season, but I’ve been seeing in increase in traffic looking for bokeh shots. So here you go: an all bokeh Xmas/New Year tree.
Bokeh Tree
On the fly strobing, another look
Friday, December 4th, 2009Just another image from the wedding, for another perspective of the overall impression.
Full cake, strobed