Processing Images

I've been processing images for the last three weeks and have not been able to get out and shoot that much. I have to finish images from a wedding that I shot three weeks ago. We shot the rehearsal and all day at the wedding so there are a large number of images to get done. Hoping to have all of it done and up at my website in less than two weeks. I have a large number of the candids and the shots from the rehearsal already done, I just had to wait for the bride and groom to pick the formals and other images that they wanted. We sat down with them the other day and finished with that.

I try to get my processing down to twenty minutes or less per image, especially candid shots. This part can eat up so much time which is why it is extremely important to get it as good as you can in camera to save yourself time on the back end. I find that spending a few minutes extra getting the shot in camera can save me tons of time on the computer. Another tip to help is bracket your shots by 1/2 a stop each way to make sure you get a good exposure. On group shots take at least three, sometimes four on larger groups. You never know when your going to have to grab a face from one of the other shots to make it work.

Another thing I have to keep reminding myself is to get up from the computer at least once every two hours. You've got to rest your eyes. If you don't you can make serious color correcting mistakes.

Location Scouting

Went out location scouting with a friend of mine last Sunday. We went out looking for different types of locations to shoot seniors, wedding, and other things. One thing I plan on doing over the next couple of months because of that trip is get together a list of locations with photos and keep a catalog of locations to shoot at. It will make things a whole lot easier when I'm talking to people about what type of photos they want and what type of locations they're wanting.

C17 at the Air Force Museum

Had a little fun today shooting at the Air Force Museum. They put a C17 out in the air park a while ago and I finally had some time to go out and shoot it. I had my 28-105 zoom lens, my 50mm Series E lens, and my 14mm Sigma lens. I was out there between 12:30 and 1:30. It was a clear day and I wanted the shadow to fall on the underside of the plane with highlights on the upper portion. I shot one panorama with my 50mm and one shot with the 14mm from the same angle. I had to move closer with the 14mm to get that wide angle distorted perspective look. I also used the 50mm to get a detail of the back part of one of the engines. I converted that shot to black and white because I liked the contrast in the image.

Panorama with the 50mm

The panorama shot is a series of 6 images taken with my 50mm in portrait mode (long part of frame running from top to bottom instead of left to right). I used photomerge in Photoshop CS5 to merge the images.

14mm Lens

I was trying to get close to the same perspective as the panorama. I tried about 3 different angles and this one came out the best.

Rear of the Engine.

I took a series of shots of the engine at different aperture settings to try and get different depths of field. I shot at f/1.8, f/5.6, and f/11. I liked this one which was taken at f/5.6, The engine in background has just enough blur while the foreground engine is sharp all the way through.

Today's shoot was a great example of using that 12:00 high sunshine to your advantage. I got great shadows below the plane to give it shape and excellent high lights on the top to separate the plane from the sky. I did have to be careful about blowing those highlights but I think the overall lighting on the plane worked out quite well.

Flash and Ambient Exposure

I was going through some images the other day that a photographer had taken outside using a flash on a cloudy day, and noticed a huge problem with them. There was no definition in the sky. The sky looks totally white. I took a look at the meta data and found that the shooter used an aperture of f/4 and a shutter speed of 1/60th to 1/100th of a second.  Looking at them I couldn't help but wonder why the photographer forgot one important fact about flash photography. He forgot that when you use flash there are two exposures to take into account. The flash exposure and the ambient exposure. He could have stopped down on the shutter speed to bring those clouds in or even stopped down the aperture and increased the flash power or the ISO (set at 100). Given the camera that he was using he could have gone all the way down to 1/200th of a second on that shutter speed. Another thing I noticed was he was using a flash on a bracket and the flash was pointed straight up. I know these things because I was there when he shot them. When you're outside the flash should be used as a fill flash and pointed straight at the subject when it is on the camera. Another thing that could have been done is to get an inexpensive set of radio triggers, put one on your speedlight, get a friend to hold the light where you tell him to.

Try this next time you're outside. Get someone to model for you and another friend to help you out with the flash if you can. If you can't find someone to model for you get something about the size of a person, and try to get your flash off camera.

Setup and take a properly exposed shot without the flash, making sure your meter is zeroed out for a proper exposure: this will be your starting point.

Setup the flash and take another shot properly exposed for the flash. Your subject should look about the same in each shot.

Adjust the exposures so that the aperture settings in both are equal. For example if the ambient exposure is 1/250th at f/5.6 and the flash exposure is f/8, then you want to make your aperture at f/8 and your shutterspeed 1/125th and take a shot. Note that if your subject is in the same light as the background it may appear washed out. This is because you are, in essence, doubling the amount of light hitting the subject so you need to stop down your aperture to f/11 and set your shutterspeed to 1/60th because the flash exposure is controlled by the aperture.

You now have what I like to call the reference exposure. Now take a few bracketed shots, one with a one stop faster shutter speed and one with a one stop slower shutter speed. This should have no effect on your subject or model but should have an effect on the background. You probably won't notice it so much on the camera display but when you look at it on the computer you should notice the change. Take a few shots with even more drastic changes in the shutter speed and see what you get. Just remember to keep in mind the sync speed of your camera. This should be listed in your camera manual. If you're having trouble getting the shutter speeds you need change your ISO. Just remember if you change one setting you'll need to know how it affects your image so you can adjust your other settings accordingly.   

Confidence

I hear some of my photographer friends talk about not having confidence from time to time. They question their knowledge and abilities. They are unsure of how to get the lighting effects that they want or a certain look or feel in a photograph. What I've observed most of the time in this situation is a lack of understanding of their equipment and how light works.

Most of the confidence problems can be solved by one simple thing... Practice! I'm constantly practicing shots. In the age of digital cameras it has become rather inexpensive to practice your photography. Grab your camera and a lens and go out and shoot. Shoot at different times of the day, different weather conditions, different places.  I've gotten great shots at 12:00pm on a sunny cloudless day because I know what the light is doing at that time of the day and through years of practice shooting I know exactly what I'm going to get. You'll hear a lot of photographers say: That is the worst time to shoot, the light is too harsh. A lot of them will say never shoot people in that kind of light. They also say look for shade to shoot people in, Never shoot people in direct sunlight. That's crap. I do it all the time with excellent results, However I also shoot in the shade as well. I feel equally comfortable shooting in all kinds of conditions because I practice.

Another thing that can build your confidence level is knowing your camera. Explore your camera settings. Read the manual that came with your camera. Let me say that again, READ THE MANUAL. You will find all kinds of information about your camera. I learned about rear sync by reading my camera manual, I then went out and practiced with it to see what I would get. I now have confidence with it and I use it at weddings a lot to generate a sense of motion in my images.

Once you know how your equipment works, you've got your lighting down go out and experiment. I'm constantly experimenting with my equipment. I'm always trying new things with it, new lighting setups, different camera settings. Always experiment. I sometimes take the same shot over and over again with different settings just to compare the differences.

Don't be afraid to screw up. I do it all the time. I learn more about photography when I make a mistake than when everything is going my way. One nice thing about digital cameras is you can screw up and immediately see the results on the back of your camera. Sometimes a screw up turns out great and it looks like you knew what you were doing (make sure you note all camera settings and lighting conditions in case you have to replicate the "effect") so don't be afraid.

Photography is not easy, anyone that says it is, is not a photographer. It takes hard work and dedication. On the other hand it's not calculus based physics either. It takes time and practice to become good at photography. Take the time and the confidence will come.

Jonathan and Anna's Wedding

Well it's finally over. We just got home and it was quite a day. I had my wife and second shooter with with the bride and bridesmaids. I covered the groom and groomsmen. The ceremony was great, it wasn't too long and everyone had a great time. The biggest problem that we had was when we got to the place for the bridal shoot we had to contend with a mob of prom people. So we found a quit out of the way place for the bridal shoot then headed over to the reception. Needless to say it was very busy. I'll be posting more on the wedding as soon as I get some rest.

Jonathan and Anna's Wedding Rehearsal

 Shot the wedding rehearsal last night and I'm glad I went. I was able to get a couple of shots that I'm sure the bride and groom will love to look back on. This is not so much a formal type of shoot but more like a snap shot / candid opportunity. I also look at it as an opportunity to get a feel for the lighting in the church. I generally shoot this on Auto White Balance and I usually have my ISO cranked up a little. I generally do not shoot with a flash at ceremonies because they usually are not allowed. With the newer digital cameras and their higher end ISO's it's not that bad.

Another reason I'm glad I went was because I was able to meet with the minister who will be officiating the wedding. It is really important to meet with the minister before the ceremony to get the ground rules. The sooner the better, so you know what equipment to have on hand to get those special moments.

The minister will tell you what he will and will not allow during the ceremony. You need to keep your opinions and ideas to yourself at this meeting. These guys are the ones in charge. Listen to what they are saying, make notes if you have to. 

I like to get these rules before they have the rehearsal so I can practice getting shots during the rehearsal following the rules. If you're shooting one of your wedding packages that does not include the rehearsal or if the minister is not at the rehearsal, you need to meet with him / her as early as possible on the day of the wedding to get their rules. Everyone of them is different in what they will allow, so you have to be prepared for anything.

May Quick Tip: Initial Camera Setup

I have decided to create a monthly quick tip. Just a little something each month that may help you in your photographic endeavors. These tips are the result of problems that I or one of my friends have run into and how we solved the problem.

This month I'm going to cover setting up your camera before you go out with it. 

My friend messaged me this morning about missing a shot because she didn't have her camera ready. She had it with her but was unable to get the shot because she was fumbling with a lens, or focusing or some other thing that messed her up. I myself have missed shots because of the very same thing. I have my camera with me, it just isn't set up for the lighting and area that I'm shooting in.

One thing that I find that helps alleviate this problem is setting up my camera before I even go out the door. I take into consideration where I'm going what the light is like, weather I'll be using flash or not, how big or small the area is and what I'll be shooting. From these factors I select an initial ISO and shutter speed. Once these two are set it's real easy to set aperture and make any fine adjustments to get that shot.

Busy Two Weeks

Well it's been a busy two weeks of shooting and editing. Fortunately I'm done shooting the spring athletics. I have a school/farm photo shoot scheduled for the 14th but the big one that has been occupying most of my time is the wedding this weekend.

I've been making sure that I have batteries and electrical cords for the lights. I'm picking up a backup battery for the D3S. I have all my stands together, and we purchased a new bag for carrying lenses and other small stuff for the assistant. My wife who is also my assistant made me label all of my lens caps with the type of lens so all she has to do is reach in and grab the right one. Hopefully this will speed things up. We also purchased a reflector stand. Hoping this will help with the portraits in the church and free up my assistants to hold other things.

We're going to try and do family portraits at the reception which is something new for us, we'll have to see how it goes. It's going to be a very busy day.