Studio Lights

You can create interesting lighting for photographs using a range of sources. Sometimes a small torch or a candle will provide the right sort of illumination. At other times, you will need bigger lights to set up the effects you are seeking.

The photograph below shows a soft box (the square light) and a beauty dish (the round light). The lights can be combined or used separately. 

The soft box works like a flash and contains silver foil reflectors which diffuse the light to soften it. Boxes come in different sizes; a smaller box is good for portrait photography, while a smaller one alongside a larger box is used for full body portraits.

The beauty dish is used for hair lighting (lighting a model from the top) or for split lighting (keeping half the model's face in the light while the other half is shaded.) The beauty dish uses a parabolic reflector to direct light towards a focal point.

The lighting set up below uses a red head light (on the left) with an umbrella to diffuse the light. Red head lights use tungsten light (a type of incandescent light) which creates a lighting effect similar to daylight. A beauty dish is used on the other side of the model to create a split light effect on the model's face. 

The combination of these lights ensures that both sides of the face are lit, one side more so than the other. 

The red head has created catch lights in the model's eyes and a soft light on one side of her face, while the beauty dish is illuminating the other side of her face. 

Using very low light can create quite moody pictures like the one below.

This picture used a soft box to throw some light onto the model and to create a shadow behind him. I also set the shutter speed to 1/45 second to compensate for the lack of light. 

As well as concentrating on the light set up, it is important not to neglect the camera set up. Manual is often the best mode for studio shots so that you can adjust the shutter speed and the aperture. The picture below is too dark because I had shutter priority selected which meant the aperture was out of my control. The aperture for this photograph was f/22 which is too high, it hasn't let enough light into the shot.

You can see some of the detail but some of the colour is hidden and it's not the picture I was hoping for.

The photograph below was shot in manual mode so I was able to adjust shutter speed and aperture to create a better balance to the shot. I still wanted the darker feel but not at the expense of losing all the colour in the picture.

That's all for now. Have fun taking your photographs.

Quote from an unknown source

"If you want to know what someone fears losing, look at what they photograph."

An interesting quote which I can relate to. My top three are family, pets, and nature.

Raw images

A Raw image holds a lot of data. A HUGE amount of data in fact. The data contained in a Raw image is referred to as metadata. Put simply, this means that taking a photograph in Raw format leads to a resultant picture which contains much more information than your standard JPEG file. This abundance of detail will require around 20 MB of memory space as opposed to perhaps 3-4 MB in a Jpeg.

So what though? Why take Raw photos and use up all that memory space? The benefit of shooting Raw images is that at the processing stage, you will be able to draw out much more image definition than from a standard JPEG. The Raw image file is packed with details which cannot be seen until processed.

Take the following example of a sunrise. The first picture is the Raw image with no processing. 

You can see the colours coming through nicely with no processing. There was much more detail in the sky though and I wanted to draw out the dramatic impact of the fiery colours.

The next image is the same image but with a bit of processing to highlight some of the detail.

You can see the greater contrast in the sky colours and the vibrancy of the sun on the clouds. The foliage in the second image is also slightly sharper than in the first. Both images display the colours well but the second is probably more eye-catching.

The good news is that you don't need expensive processing software to develop Raw files. Most cameras will come with a photo editing CD which will allow Raw development. If you don't have the disc, a web search should take you to places where you can download an editing package for free. You may find that some packages will not download unless you have already installed the basic software from disc. In this case, beg or borrow a disc compatible with your make of camera and install that. It doesn't matter if it is for an earlier model of camera, the free online downloads should update the package. 

The Raw images I have shot so far include landscapes with a range of colours and textures and colourful skies with deep colour detail. I have also taken a few images of people with the sun behind them creating a halo effect. On a normal setting, this results in a dark image of the person contrasted against the bright sun. If the original image is in Raw though, you can draw out much more detail of the figure while retaining the halo effect created by the sun behind them. 

As always, the important thing is to get out and have fun taking photos. 

Creating silhouettes

Create silhouettes by shooting into the sun. This may seem counter intuitive but the effect can be striking. 

For this image I used the shutter priority mode (TV) and set the speed to 1/750 of a second. The aperture was f/4 which means that the background was softened (remember, a higher aperture number means a greater depth of field and more of the background will be in focus.) I also dropped the exposure compensation by a couple of points to avoid the brightness from the Sun saturating the rest of the sky.

Check settings before snapping

The great thing about cameras is that once you set them to something other than automatic mode, you gain increasing control of the composition of your picture.
The downside to this is that when you switch the camera off, it will not default to an automatic setting but will retain whatever the last setting you used was. If you draw your camera quickly to shoot and fail to check the settings, you may then be stuck with something you did not want. My own weakness is forgetting to change the shutter time from 30 seconds back down to a shorter exposure. Thirty seconds works well for night time shots but not as well in the daytime when you will produce a very bright image of light and not much else.

I took the image below early one morning. I used a variable neutral density (ND) filter which I set initially to be virtually see-through (in order to focus). I depressed the shutter button half-way to set the focus and then set the filter to as opaque as it would go (which was virtually impossible to see through). The exposure was three minutes and I used a tripod and cable shutter release to keep the camera as steady as I could.

However, the setting I had not checked before taking the picture was the white light balance. In place of auto white light balance (AWB), I had left the camera set to use Tungsten light. This created the sense of a moonlit image, as opposed to an early morning. In hindsight, the result was effective as a night time image so I had not wasted the shot, but it did remind me of the importance of checking all the settings before snapping.

Diane Arbus Quote

"Lately I've been struck with how I really love what you can't see in a photograph"

This and other Diane Arbus quotes

Autumn silhouettes on a mobile telephone

As autumn descends and winter draws ever nearer, the skies and the land offer wonderful photograph opportunities. Deciduous trees have become silhouettes of their summer selves, and the Sun creates wonderful colours as it rises and sets. As always, I had my mobile telephone with me when I went walking with the dog yesterday and I captured this image using the 'phone.

I used the limited editing tools on my telephone to make the sky less bright. This has brought out the different colours more clearly but has not lost the feeling of an autumn sky at sunset. I quite like the silhouette of the dog alongside the trees and bushes behind, but if I had a wider range of editing tools I would have experimented with the overall exposure of the shot to try to bring out more of the dog's colouring. 

In the next picture, taken on the same walk, I used the mobile editing tools to bring out more of the colour.

This has worked well for the colouring of the fur, although the sky has now lost some of the impact of the setting sun. 

I had not intended to set the bush behind the dog so symmetrically. Symmetry does not always work well in photographs as it can make the picture look too perfect as though it has been staged (which of course many photos are). However on this occasion I think it adds quite a nice frame to the dog's head. The lesson here is that framing something can work well but perhaps the less it is planned, the more natural it looks and the less it detracts from the subject of the photograph.

Buying a second hand camera lens

Buying anything second hand can be both an exciting and a stressful process. I hope this short-list of tips will help you when it comes to buying a second hand lens. There are some lovely pieces to find out there and it's possible to pick up some real bargains which will serve you well.

Buyer’s tips:

• Look for lens creep. Does the lens slip of its own accord or does it stay in place once you have positioned it?
• Make sure that the aperture ring works (visual check by looking into the lens)
• Look at the country of origin – Japanese lenses, for example, are usually good
• Look for scratches on the lens (at either end)
• Look down the inside lens to identify any internal damage lens
• Check for any external body damage
• Does the lens have a lens cover?
• Does the lens have a rear element cover?
• Has the lens passed any test process?
• Do the switches on the lens work?
• Try the lens on your camera body
• Find out what sort of guarantee (if any) the lens comes with

Night photography – top tips

• Use a tripod
• Use a remote or cable shutter release (ideally a lockable one so you can leave the camera alone for longer exposures)
• Use shutter priority (TV) to ensure a long exposure – this will be up to 30 seconds on most cameras
• If the camera will not focus, use manual focus or find a light source within the picture and focus on that (with a half push of the shutter button) then return the camera to frame the image you actually want and close the button fully
• Use the bulb (B) setting for an exposure longer than 30 seconds – this might be needed for very dark skies in order to get some of the detail, of the Milky Way, for example
• Use the bulb setting for star trail photography and locate your camera somewhere well away from light pollution
• Wrap up warmly!

This image was taken using an exposure of 63 seconds, aperture of f/5.6 and ISO of 6400. I controlled the exposure time by having the camera on the bulb setting, the camera set the aperture and ISO. I used a tripod and a cable shutter release button to keep the camera as steady as possible, and I adjusted the focus manually.

Steve McCurry Quote

"What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling."

Steve McCurry Biography

Changing the flash output

You won't always need to use your camera's built in flash but there are times when a bit of extra light can be just enough to tease a picture to life. However, using too much light can saturate the picture, so how do you reduce the intensity when you want to use a bit of flash? 

Most modern DSLR cameras have a menu option which enables you to set flash controls. You will need to be in one of the programmable camera settings in order to access this menu, so shutter priority (TV or S) or aperture priority (AV), for example, as opposed to the fully automatic mode. 

Go through the menu tabs until you see a flash control option in the sub-headings list. 

Select flash control and within this section you will see an option to change the built-in flash function setting. Select this option.

Now select the exposure compensation option, as highlighted below.

Finally, set your flash intensity to more or less light (the default setting if you are going to use the flash is the zero, in the middle of the scale).

To compare the extremes of the settings available, the following four images range from flash plus 3 on the exposure compensation, flash at the 0 midpoint, flash at minus 3 exposure compensation, and no flash. No other settings were changed for the shots. 

+3                                                                                  0

-3                                                                        No flash

The difference between the extremes of +3 and no flash is very apparent. To expose a bit of detail without saturating the image I would suggest a setting between 0 and -3 for this particular photograph. 

(Note that all images on this post are my own. They are not marked up as such to avoid detracting from the detail of the pictures).

Making Music

I wanted to try something different with these pictures. As someone said to me recently, it can be fun to ‘make’ a photograph rather than just to ‘take’ the picture. The following photographs were made using everyday equipment and with no editing. 

As a keen musician I enjoy the range of emotions which music can provoke and I wanted to capture some of this in the photos. From a tempestuous symphony to a delicate sonata, I tried to represent a flavour of the different feelings associated with music. 

For these pictures I used the shutter priority mode and speeds ranging from 1 second to 1/60 second. I used a dark sheet for the background and an uplighter and a torch to create the lighting which I wanted. The faster shutter speeds of 1/60 second were used for the clarinet pictures to catch the glitter burst. I slowed the shutter down for the guitar photos and used incense sticks to paint across the picture. In the first guitar picture I used a star filter on the camera lens to bring the lights to life. 

The camera was mounted on a tripod and I used a cable shutter release. Doing this avoided camera shake and also afforded greater flexibility in using the props to create the images.

This is just the first effort and might lead to a more detailed project in time. I prefer not to edit images after taking them so will need to come up with a range of different ways to make further images as opposed to just taking photographs of musical instruments.

Pet Portraits

I enjoy taking photographs of pets. Using portrait photography techniques, you can capture such wonderful expressions in their eyes. I recently took a series of pet portrait photographs at home and thought I would share the results with you.

I wanted to focus on the eyes in particular, leaving much of the rest of the picture to the imagination. This worked well for the darker cats although the lighter coloured cats were obviously more clearly visible against the backdrop.

I was particularly pleased with this set of pictures as I did not use any specialist equipment but instead used things which I had to hand around the house. This included a combination of lights, a dark velvet sheet, and a distraction toy.

The camera was on a tripod and I used a cable shutter release to avoid camera shake. The shutter speed ranged from 1/125 to 1/250 seconds and the ISO remained fixed at 3200. By using an uplighter and a small torch I created all the light I wanted for the shots. Fortunately the subjects all sat still for long enough for me to take some sharp photographs.

Don McCullin Quote

"Sometimes it felt like I was carrying pieces of human flesh back home with me, not negatives. It's as if you are carrying the suffering of the people you have photographed."

Guardian article

Where does the word photography come from?

What do we need in order to take and process photographs? A camera, time, patience, lenses, computer skills ... the list could go on almost indefinitely. However, we could have all the equipment we wanted but without light, there would be no photograph.

The first part of the word photography is derived from the Greek word phos, which means light. The second part, graphy, also derives from a Greek word, graphein, which means to write. And so we have photography, which in its most literal sense means light writing.

Experimenting with shutter speed

The shutter speed controls how quickly or how slowly the shutter opens and closes and affects the exposure of a picture and the clarity. Setting a slow shutter speed is essential when taking certain types of photographs, such as the night sky whereby you need to expose the picture long enough to capture any image beyond just blackness. It can also be used to demonstrate a blurred effect when something is in motion. This can be effective for some sports photography when you can to create an impression of speed and do not want to freeze the action. Imagine also a helicopter in flight … a slower shutter speed will blur the rotor blades and create the impression of movement. A fast shutter will freeze the action and might suggest the rotors have stopped turning!

I took some photographs of motorway traffic to demonstrate the effect of controlling the shutter speed. The shutter speed setting on my camera is TV (time value); on some cameras it is designated by an S. For the first picture, I set a slow shutter speed which resulted in the photograph below. It was important that I held the camera steady to take the picture and although I didn’t have a tripod, there was a guard rail across the bridge which I leant on. You can see in the picture that the background image, such as the road and trees, is sharp. The traffic meanwhile was moving while the shutter remained open and this has created the sense of motion in the photograph. The settings for this picture were shutter speed of 1/4 second with an aperture of f/32 and an ISO of 400.

I then increased the shutter speed to produce an image of traffic frozen into place. Looking at the picture, you would assume the vehicles are moving but there is no blur effect to confirm that this is the case. The settings for this photograph were shutter speed of 1/500 second with an aperture of f/5.6 and an ISO of 2000.

Experimenting with aperture settings

The aperture has a similar function to the pupil in the human eye. The aperture setting on a camera determines how much light is allowed through as the shutter opens and closes. Also known as depth of field, and indicated by the f-stop number on a camera settings, having control over the aperture has many uses, including close up photographs such as portraits or macro photography. To control the aperture, select the AV setting on your camera. This means you can manage the f-stop number and let the camera work out the rest of the settings.

A smaller aperture number (say f/4.5 for example) will allow more light in and reduce the depth of field. This means that objects towards the front of the photograph (such as a face) are in focus, while the background is blurred. This blurring effect behind the subject is known as bokeh (from the Japanese for ‘blur’ or ‘haze’).

To practise setting the depth of field I created an outdoors scene in which there was something happening close to the camera and there was also action further away. The first photograph has an aperture of f/4.5 so, as you can see, the depth of field is small and the background is blurred. The camera used a shutter speed of 1/60 second and an ISO of 125 for this photograph.

Next, I wanted to concentrate on the action both right in front of the camera, and further behind. To extend the focal range I set the aperture to f/27. As you can see, the action further back in the picture is now clearer and you can make out figures and a motorbike. The other settings for this photograph were shutter speed of 1/45 and ISO of 2500.

Catchlights in animals - daydreaming

Catchlights can be as effective in animal portraits as they are in pictures of people. Here's a photograph which I took of a young cat tucking himself away to have a rest from playing. On this occasion I used the natural light coming through a window to capture the reflections in his eyes.

Studio photography

While the photographer most probably enjoys taking photographs, not everybody enjoys having their photographs taken (photographers included!) It is important to try to make people feel at ease during a shoot, and encourage them to relax and enjoy themselves.
Communication is key here. If you don't talk to your client, they won't know what you expect of them and may become confused and frustrated by your animated hand waving as you try to position them. Clear, polite and friendly instructions can help to remove any barriers and will make it much easier for the client to understand your directions. Body language is also important in communicating with clients and a friendly face and genuine smile will go a long way to put a client at ease.
Shooting from a position slightly below the client can also encourage them to relax as they will feel that you are closer to their level than if you are towering over them photographing downwards. It can also help to ask the client to sit slightly sideways on. This will make them feel less vulnerable as they are effectively turning their 'cold shoulder' towards you rather than exposing their 'soft underbelly'.
The photo below was taken during my first studio shoot and was also the model's (Lisa's) first time at modelling in a studio. Lisa and I already have an easy rapport so I did not turn her too far from the camera for this photo. Instead I asked her to look towards the light source so that I could see the catchlights in her eyes. This gives added sparkle to the photograph and, along with her natural smile, really brings Lisa to life.
The shadow from her nose is quite pronounced on one side of her face, creating a similar effect to loop lighting. However, the final image is closer to Rembrandt lighting as the nose and cheek shadows meet to create a small triangle of light beneath Lisa's left eye.

A number of light sources and accessories were used for this shoot. To the left of the picture below is a red head light with a reflective umbrella. This creates the catchlights in Lisa's eyes and the shadow from her nose. To the right is a round light which creates the light on the left side of her face. 

I also took a series pictures of our studio photography tutor. The one below is my favourite. Although I missed a catchlight effect, I like the dramatic nature of the split lighting which shows his face half in light and half in darkness. This sort of lighting effect can create brooding and mysterious pictures which leave the viewer to wonder what might be hidden within the dark side of the features. There is something slightly impenetrable about this person. A single red head light was used to create soft light from the side of the tutor's face.

Catchlights

The eye is arguably the most important part of any portrait. As the saying goes, eyes are the windows to our souls and can express emotion, project feelings which are otherwise hidden, and give an insight into somebody’s character. Catchlights are the spots of reflected light visible in the subject’s eyes in a portrait photograph. Well sized and positioned catchlights can bring a picture to life and add intrigue and depth to the image.

Using a flash on a Digital SLR camera

Relying on a DSLR flash for portrait photographs can lead to images which look overly bright and harsh on the subject’s features. To reduce this, wrap some bubble wrap or thin paper (such as a piece of cigarette paper) over the flash.

Ideally avoid using the DSLR flash for portrait photographs but use a standalone flash instead which you can bounce off the ceiling rather than off the subject’s face.

Night Lights

There was an impressive lightning show over Wiltshire last night (18 September 2014). All the action where I live took place behind the clouds but I managed to capture a few shots. 

The challenge with this sort of photography is setting the focus as accurately as you can and making sure the shutter speed is appropriate. The camera needs to be in manual focus mode as it's too dark for it to autofocus. However, if it's too dark for the camera to pick much out, it probably means it's too dark for the photographer to pick much out too! Sometimes it's possible to set the initial focus using a light source out of picture, such as a street light. 

The shutter needs to be fast enough to catch the lightening but not so fast that the camera has no time to expose the shot and most of the image remains in darkness. Too slow and you risk missing the lightening altogether. Often it comes down to estimating where the optimum settings are most likely to sit, followed by trial and error, making small adjustments as you go.

Photography with a mobile telephone

Mobile telephones are incredible pieces of equipment. All that technology in one small unit. One of my favourite features on a mobile is the camera. Yes, it can be great being able to make and receive calls, send and receive texts, and browse the Internet but when the signal fails you, the camera will still work. There are all sorts of creative techniques which can be used with a mobile telephone camera but those are for another day. For now, I thought I would share a photograph which I took early this morning when out walking.

I like the mist in this photograph. I always find early morning or late evening good times for taking quite evocative pictures, especially as autumn approaches. The sky is a little bright and you can in fact see it more clearly in the reflection in the water. There is also a bit of sun glare at the bottom of the picture (the green spot being the most obvious). Overall though, I was pleased with the composition and the feel of the picture. Looking in from the outside, I wonder what the dog was looking at. Was he enjoying the view, watching something in the distance, or perhaps contemplating the day ahead. As his owner, I can say for certain that he was not thinking about jumping into the lake ... he hates swimming!

Welcome

Welcome to my photography blog and thank you for visiting. I invite you to join me on my journey as I develop from an enthusiastic amateur photographer into what I hope will be a more professional artist. 

I use the term artist to evoke images of someone who creates their photographs by seeing the beauty in a scene and reproducing this through their lens. This is by nature a subjective process; what I find beautiful might not appeal to others. However, many of the skills and techniques which I will develop on this path will be relevant to all photographers. The path will not always be smooth but even where there are obstacles or disappointments, there will be lessons to learn. This is why I hope you will walk with me and share my experience as I grow into a more accomplished photographer. 

On location at Ladye Bay, Clevedon