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Change Your Perspective

October 4, 2010 / posted in Tips / No Comments

Changing your perspective or point of view can add interest to otherwise overly cliche’d images. Images of flowers are rather boring because they are so over photographed. Let’s face it, everyone likes to take pictures of pretty things and flowers are pretty – right? So how can you take a picture of a flower that is not boring? The answer is to change your perspective.

Here’s an example that is interesting because it is not photographed from the top like so many flowers are photographed. Instead, it is photographed from the side using a shallow depth-of-field to really draw the eye to the center of the flower, which is partially hidden.

Purple Flower

Another way to add interest is to shoot from below. You don’t see many flower images that are shot from below the flower because we tend to think the pretty part of the flower is above! However, as can be seen here, the underside of the flower has a beauty all it’s own. Here the translucence of the petals become the focal point of the image drawing the eye to a part of the flower seldom seen.

Purple Flower

Next time you’re out shooting flowers, try it from a different perspective and see what you get! :)

Zero Your Camera!

September 25, 2010 / posted in Tips / 3 Comments

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I don’t listen to my own advice! It seems I get in a bit of a hurry to get going and will inevitably forget something. This time it hurt.

I spent the day in Rocky Mountain National Park testing a new concept for carrying my tripod (more on this in another post). Of course when hiking around I had to take pictures. My wife likes to go with me and we were hiking amoungst the beautiful fall colors. The aspen trees are in the middle to late part of their changing color in which they go from green to yellow to orange to red before falling from the tree. With the number of aspens in the park, well you can just image how stunning this can be.

So I’m shooting along and getting some great shots above Bear Lake, then we headed down and started around the lake. It was about half way around that my wife said “…I think I’m supposed to remind you to check your settings.” At was then I realized that I was shooting at 1600 ISO when there wasn’t any need for it at all! Argh!!!! I quickly changed to 200 ISO and took other shots as we completed our trek around the lake.

Most of the shots in the aspens are not useable due to the noise, but some I was able to recover. None of which I can print very big or even feel comfortable selling. Since the color in the aspens changes so fast, it has become a missed opportunity and I will probably have to wait for next year – now that really hurts. :(

So here’s the advice again, mostly for me though – zero your camera’s settings. Always after a shoot you should reset your camera back to some predetermined default settings, like ISO 200, manual mode, and any others you feel would be helpful. For example, if you use your on camera flash in commander mode (a Nikon thing), you will want to reset it back to the camera default when you are done. If you get in the habit (which I obviously haven’t yet) of doing this, you won’t do what I just did and waste your day shooting junk.

Anyway, here’s one of the shots I recovered. I had to climb up some rocks to get this shot which was a bit tricky, but then aren’t all the good shots a bit tricky to get?

Above Bear Lake

Above Bear Lake

The Human Tripod Technique

September 15, 2010 / posted in Informative, Thoughts, Tips / 1 Comment

Recently I found myself shooting at an event. This had me moving all over the large field to get a variety of shots. Problem I encountered was that most shots I needed where shorter than me, consequently I needed to steady myself as best I could without the use of a tripod or monopod. Anyone who has tried to shoot in a bent over position will know just how difficult it can be to steady yourself and not introduce motion blur into your shots. Hopefully I can describe what I did so you can visualize it.

Leprechaun

Leprechaun

Since I’m tall (6 ft 2 in) shooting a shorter subject can be a challenge. What I did was to go down on my left knee, then rock back until I was sitting on the heal of my left foot. I placed my right foot out so that between my left knee on the ground, my left foot, and my right foot a triangle is formed. This placed my right knee up to where I could prop my right elbow on this knee while holding the camera to my eye. This position forms a pretty solid base for shooting and also put me at the right height to shoot the Leprechaun!

Try this technique out for yourself and report back your experience with it!

12 Wedding Photography Tips

August 19, 2010 / posted in Tips / No Comments
The Happy Couple

The Happy Couple

Here are a 12 general tips for photographing weddings.

  1. Have a Plan – get a check list of the types of shots you should take and sit down with the bride-to-be before hand and make sure you are on the same page. She might have a few shots to add and maybe even remove some shots from the list. Just remember this list becomes your plan and helps you stay on track and get the shots during this high stress, fast paced day.
  2. Visit the Wedding Location – if you are unfamiliar with the location for the wedding, visit it before hand to get a feel for the lighting and other nuances you might have to deal with. Having a heads up is always better than being blind-sided.
  3. Communicate – be in constant communication with the bride-to-be. This reassures her that the photography is in hand and is one less thing for her to worry about. The open communication also lets her know that you care and will do everything you can to make the photography special. This also allows you as the photographer to get to know her and possibly the groom. Having a little understanding of the couples’ personality goes a long ways in getting the perfect shot that she will tell everyone about!
  4. Charge the Batteries – make sure to have all your batteries charged and put a fresh set in your camera(s) and flash units. The consequences of battery failure during a crucial moment could be disasterous. This should go without saying, but we all need a little reminder now and then, have twice the number of batteries needed for the equipment on hand and fully charged.
  5. Have an Assistant – having another person with you to hold a reflector, flash unit, or just their point of view (i.e. – another pair of eyes) can be a life saver. My wife goes with me on shoots and I’ve come to rely on her perspective and ability to see the little details that I often miss. She also is the keeper of the plan and helps keep me on track.
  6. Have more Equipment than you need – equipment failure can be the death of a wedding photographers’ carreer. Always have a backup plan. If you think you will need five 4GB memory cards, have ten on hand. If you can afford it, have a second camera body and put a short telephoto on it and the long telephoto on the other. This will allow you to switch back and forth between the cameras as needed and also gives you a backup camera in case your other camera fails. If you can’t afford it, rent one. Have two of each of your critical pieces of equipment available in case of failure – you can’t afford to miss the shot!
  7. Offer to have a 2nd Photographer – offer to bring in a second photographer to help with the wedding. This helps to gain additional perspective and allows you to get multiple shots of the same event from multiple perspectives. You would obviously charge extra for this service and it gives you the opportunity to be in two places at the same time.
  8. Have a Written Agreement – having a written agreement or contract that the couple will sign can help you avoid misunderstandings. Spell it out as to what you will do, provide, and how.
  9. Get a Deposit – it is customary to get a non-refundable deposit of at least 50% of the total estimated cost for photography related services up front – before the wedding. This provides the bride-to-be the assurance she has a photographer for her special day, and it locks in the date. If the wedding is cancelled, then you are at least paid for holding the date and your time in the organization and setup for the wedding. You may have to explain that it can be very difficult to fill in for a cancelled date and so the deposit locks in the date and insures the photography is covered. If the date changes, you might want to be flexible with the money.
  10. Be Prepared for the Unexpected – if there are children involved, something unexpected is bound to happen. Be prepared and on the lookout – capturing these unexpected moments can be some of the most rewarding shots for the couple, and your portfolio.
  11. Get a Release – if you can, get a release from the members of the wedding party. This will allow you to resell these images for advertising or as stock. You always want to maximize your income streams and you can say that this helps you keep your costs for weddings down.
  12. Have Fun – weddings are happy occasions and if you are having fun as the photographer, everything will seem to go smoother for both you and the couple!

Shooting a Moving Target

August 7, 2010 / posted in Tips / No Comments

Have you ever wanted to just shoot that kid that shows up to your door with the “pants on the ground” and the world revolves around me look about him to take your daughter on a date? Kind of like how the two old men in Second Hand Lions dealt with salesmen coming to their door. My neighbor across the street has three beautiful daughters and he has told some of the young men coming to his door that his neighbor shoots people for a living! Amazing how well behaved they become and how respectful they treat his daughters – gotta love it! Anyway, I digress…we won’t be shooting this kind of moving target!

I was out shooting electrical boxes near the railroad tracks when I heard the train coming. I wanted to get a shot of the train as it went by, so I hurried to get into position by the tracks. I wanted the shot to have good depth of field and good focus throughout, so how was I going to get it? There are several ways to do it – using auto focus and an aperture of f/22 would do if you could maintain focus as the train approaches would be one method. Another method would be to use the hyperfocal method so that even as the trains moves through the frame it would stay in focus no matter where on the train the camera is pointed. Since there isn’t a lot of time to think about this when a train is approaching, I quickly decided on the hyperfocal method which had me scrambling to pull the chart out of my wallet to see what settings to use on the camera. Note: I did not use the Optimal Hyperfocal method for this, just the standard hyperfocal method.

I wanted to use a wide angle and have everything from five feet to infinity to be in focus which meant a hyperfocal distance of 10 feet. Looking in the chart for a focal length of 28mm at 10 feet indicated an f/stop of f/8. I also wanted to freeze the action, but I wouldn’t know on this until I had the train in the frame. I quickly set the camera for these settings while praying to the optical gods that I had made the right choice.

Just as I was putting the hyperfocal chart back in my wallet, the train came into view. I had the camera set for burst shooting so I quickly raised the camera into position and fired off a rapid burst of shots hoping the shutter speed was fast enough. My camera is able to shoot at eight frames per second and I shot seven frames. Then shot seven more frames. By then the engines had passed by and the shot was gone. When looking at the frames of the first burst, I noticed that the train moved about four feet for each frame! The train was moving, but I got the shot and was able to freeze the motion! Yea! The shutter speed was fast enough. The second series of shots the engine of the train was already moving out of frame.

The next problem I had was the surrounding elements in the frame were not all that interesting, and I really wanted to give this a look of importance, breaking through a barrier, or a saves the day kind of look. So I opened the selected image in photoshop, duplicated the layer and added a radial blur (zoom) at 90%. Then added a layer mask to the blurred layer and painted with a black brush over the areas of the train engine that I wanted to show through and be in focus (black reveals the layer below). The radial blur creates lines of motion radiating out from the center, and by painting back parts of the train engine I get the effect of the train breaking through a barrier and the surrounding uninteresting elements in the frame now add to the effect.

Here’s the result:

ISO 200, 28mm, f/8, 1/320

This demonstrates that the hyperfocal method of focusing can be used in situations other than landscapes, and that the optical gods smiled upon my choice. :)

Optimal Hyperfocal Distance

August 4, 2010 / posted in Tips, Tutorial / No Comments

What exactly does that mean? I thought that once I set the hyperfocal distance everything from half that distance to infinity would be in good focus, am I wrong? No, that would be correct. It would be in “good” focus. Now what if you need everything from point A (up close and personal) to point B (a good distance away) to be in “sharp” focus? This is where the optimal hyperfocal distance comes into play. By the way, it’s not really an optimal “hyperfocal distance” as much as it is an optimal “f/stop” for the determined mid distance. Huh?

Ok, I see I need to explain this a bit. I came across some information (on Ken Rockwell’s site) that provided a different formula to calculate an optimal distance for a given f/stop. By using this formula, you will basically obtain “sharp” focus from point A to point B (with a few disclaimers). The disclaimers are mine, not Ken’s. I used the formula to calculate a new “Optimal Hyperfocal Distance” chart, and have been testing this all day. The results were amazing!

Here’s how it works:
1. Set the focal length you want to use on your lens.
2. With your camera on auto-focus, focus on the nearest point you want to be in sharp focus. Now look at the focal distance on the lens.
3. With the camera still on auto-focus, focus on the farthest point you want to be in sharp focus. Now look at the focal distance on the lens.
4. Switch the camera to manual focus, and dial the focus ring on the lens to exactly half way between the near focal point (step 2) and the far focal point (step 3) and estimate what this distance is. For example, if my near point read 8 ft, and the far point read 20 ft, I would set the focus ring to approximately 12-14 ft.
5. Now I go to the chart and scan across the line of distances for the focal length I set in step 1. When I find the distance that closely matches that determined in step 4, I will look to the top of the column for the f/stop to use.
6. Dial in the f/stop, frame the shot, and take it.

Ok, time for the disclaimers. If for example your near point is 20 ft, and your far point is 120 ft, then the dialed in focal point would be roughly 70 ft on my lens. Well half of 70 ft is 35 ft which is greater than our near point of 20 ft. So some adjustments are needed and some sacrifice of focal quality either at the near or far point will be necessary.

I got the best results from this when using the widest angle focal length available on my lens, and being reasonable on the near focal point.

Here’s a new table to download which works as is for 35mm film or full frame digital cameras. For those of you with the DX (1.6 crop) sensors, you will need to set your focal length on your lens, then multiply that number by 1.6 to get the focal length to use in the chart. Since the formula is rather complex, I’m not going to present it here.

Download the chart:
Optimal Hyperfocal Distance (272)

This is one to play around with and see what kind of results you get. Just be sure to always use the auto-focus to determine the near and far focal distances or the results won’t be what you would like them to be. As a note of information, when I did this with my 28-300mm lens set at 28mm, the near distance was about 8 ft, and focusing in on an object that was more than 500 ft distant gave me a reading of about 21 ft. Pretty weird, but I went with it anyway and the result was amazing. When setting the lens to 50mm and using the same focal points the auto-focus read 22 ft for the near point and 120 ft for the far point. Camera position didn’t change, focal points didn’t change. Just the focal length of the lens changed and this caused the auto-focus to read differently. Using these numbers I had a distance of 71 ft which meant my near point would not be in sharp focus – which was definitely the case when I took the shot.

Play around with it and see what you get! I would be interested to know how this works for you. Enjoy.

———
UPDATE:

Here’s another way to determine the distance to get the same results. With your lens on manual focus, look at the markings on the focus ring. If you want everything from say three feet to infinity in sharp focus, put your thumbs at the edges of the marks and turn the focus ring until the alignment dot is exactly half way between your fingers (or between the 3ft and infinity marks). Estimate what this distance is in relation to the distance markings and use it in the chart to look up what f/stop to use. For example, on my 28-300mm lens, half way between 3ft and infinity is about 20ft on the focus ring markings. Using 20ft with the lens at 28mm the chart indicates an f/stop between f/8 and f/11 and based on the distances it looks like f/10 would be the best choice. Works really well and I think this is a whole lot easier (and I’m all about the easy way to do it)!

BTW, using this method and this chart (downloadable above) is far sharper than using the standard hyperfocal distance charts.

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