Category Archives: Techniques

Flowers – Macro Photography Details

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These pictures are pretty, but they’re far from perfect. Notice any problems? Here are a few:

1. Uneven shadows. This is tricky to avoid, depending on where the light source is, but a more stunning photo would’ve displayed shadows in the right places. Take note of the lighting on the petals above – some areas are dark, and some are overexposed.

2. Over saturation. Sometimes too much colour (especially red!) becomes overpowering, and actually mutes some of the details on the petals. The image above is okay, but if it were slightly less saturated, more intricacies within the flower may have been visible.

3. Missing sharpness/clarity. The photo above shows a lot of clarity on the big leaf, which I love, but notice that the flower lacks detail. Compared to the leaf, it seems a bit washed out. In any macro photography, sharpness and detail are crucial, so I’m not super happy with this shot. I boosted the exposure on the plumeria because it was initially underexposed, but in doing so, lost some of its detail.

I know I’m being critical here (I do still like these photos :P ), but it’s important to see your mistakes in order to improve!

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Photography on the Ice

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Last month I was the photographer for the Kitsilano Literacy Skate hosted by the Kits Neighbourhood House. It was a fun event, combining skating with literacy games.

Even though I figure skated until high school (and it’s like riding a bike when I get back on the ice), I was still a bit nervous carrying my camera onto the cement-like surface (it just takes one crazy kid to ram into you…), but I was careful enough and my camera survived. Photographing on the rink was a learning process, so I wanted to share some thoughts with you!

Take Fun/funny shots: Little kids always work well for this, or any beginner skater for that matter. Whether they’re falling, teetering, or just in awe of the feeling of gliding on ice, they make for some entertaining poses. I thought this little girl was cute, trying with all her might to stand up. As you can see, she wasn’t having very much success…

Make use of the lighting: The ice gives you a nice reflective surface to bounce light back onto your subjects, which is great. Look up at the ceiling though – adjusting so the lights are in your frame can add another dimension, and create more spark. I loved this ceiling at the Kits ice rink!

Use blur in your images: Creating blur around a stationary object adds more mystique and depth to your images. I liked the shot below because not being able to see the kid’s face in the foreground makes you wonder how much it hurt when he fell, and how hard his collision was…

Watch for grey ice in your shots: As you may have noticed, I haven’t nailed this down. Some of my shots have sort of grey ice, which is mainly to avoid washing out any texture. Sometimes you have to sacrifice detail in order to get the colour you want (the mini Luongo dude below is an example), but be aware of your white balance setting.

Look for memorable/emotional images: This little guy made my heart melt, wearing a mini Canucks jersey. Who knows, maybe he’ll be playing for his city in the not so distant future ;) .

I’m hoping no one has any any tragic camera-breaking-while-on-the-ice moments, but feel free to share your own stories :) .

 

 

 

Shooting with Natural Light

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Is it possible to get quality shots without studio lighting? Well you can be the judge of that, but I'd like to think so ;). For my shoot with the lovely miss Jessica, I positioned her near a large window, so we had a lot of natural light that illuminated her face really nicely.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't just use natural lighting for this shoot. I also used a Speedlite 580EXII as a fill light by bouncing it off the walls. Confused? What I mean is, I pointed my speedlite up toward the ceiling or side walls to bounce the light coming from the flash off the wall and back onto Jessica, to illuminate the areas that needed a bit more light. Without it, there would've been too much contrast between the lit areas and shadowed parts. I never pointed the flash directly at her (a big no-no unless you use a diffuser to soften the light), because the light would have been too harsh.

I wanted a soft flattering light for this shoot, but if I had chosen to go for a darker mood, perhaps just using black and white, then more contrast may have looked cool. Just pay attention to the shadows in your images to see whether they're adding to or taking away from the feel of your photo.

I shot with a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens to get this shallow depth of field (Jessica's hand appears blurry while her face, which is quite close to her hand, is in focus). It was a very cold, rainy day (big surprise for Vancouver), and Jessica wasn't all that keen to touch the freezing window, but this ended up being one of her favourite shots, so I'm glad she stuck it out! Thanks Jess!

Overcast days may not seem like the best times for photo shoots, but the lighting is actually good because it's not as intense as a sunny day. In fact, avoid shooting midday unless it's overcast. Your subject may end up looking washed out!

Although it was chilly by the big window, it was worth it. Why? Big catchlights! See that lovely sparkle in Jessica's eye in the photo above? That's called a catchlight. Any light that hits the eyes can cause this, whether it's light coming from a window, flash, lightbulb, anywhere. You just need to play around with your subject's positioning to get the right angle for the light to be visible in the eye.

Always aim to get catchlights in the eyes! They makes your subject come alive!

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Shoot From Different Angles

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I first took a photo of this car relatively head on, which was fine, you got to see the car in its entirety, but it was just a photo. There was nothing special about it. The image above is more appealing because it is more intriguing. What does the whole car look like? What year was it made? Who’s driving it? You’re probably picturing it in your head right now. So I’ve made you think (hopefully). And now I’m wondering what type of person you’re imagining as the driver…

I’m always a fan of getting up close to objects, you see more details and your subject feels blown up in scale. Plus the photo of the entire car (okay, you can look at it now – see below) shows an awesome car, but has a lot of background “noise,” with other cars and buildings in the background that take away from the image. So take your shot, then take another from a different angle. And then another, and another. And get in close – it’s a good way to avert distractions.

Moral/Tip of this post: Try taking different types of pictures of the same subject, altering your angle and perception. I can’t emphasize this enough! I don’t know how many times I’ve looked back on photos and wished I’d tweaked my positioning a bit…

PS. Did you see me in the first photo? :P

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Photography Rule #1: The Rule of Thirds

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Do you feel lucky? Do ya? Sorry, something about this dude makes me think of Clint Eastwood :P .

So why a turtle? No reason really, I just like this guy ;) . Okay and he’s a good example of one of the first things you learn in photography class: the rule of thirds. The rule is quite easy and makes a big difference in your photography. Simply divide the image in your screen into thirds both vertically and horizontally (draw two lines down that are evenly apart, and then two horizontal lines evenly apart). Your subject should fall on one of the points where two lines meet. This loggerhead turtle has his eyes in just that position (note: his nose and mouth also lie on the top and bottom third of the picture).

Why do this? Because it’s more visually appealing to us humans. Our eyes tend to focus on those areas. Think of when you’re watching tv: Are you usually watching what’s in the far corners of the screen? Not likely. What about right in the middle? Maybe, but we actually like it when things are off centre a bit. So if you’re photographing a person and want them to be in the middle of the picture, that’s fine, just make their eyes on the top line of thirds. I’ve added another example of a tree stump that was strategically placed in my viewfinder to make sure it was on the bottom third. Notice how the land is actually on the the top third as well.

Obviously rules are broken from time to time, but if you look at hundreds of photographs from professionals you’ll notice the use of thirds is a pretty darn big deal!

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Learning Depth of Field

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Ah the classics. This particular sculpture of Pluto is an original from the beginnings of Disney World. No, I wasn’t a three year old prodigy photographer when I took this shot. I actually made my way to Disney World just recently, and boy did I feel old! But the nostalgia of my youth did bring back some smiles :) .

I’m using this picture to display what I’ve been playing with a lot lately: Depth of field, or as you may hear in the photography world, DOF. A shallow depth of field means only a small part of your image is clear, or in focus, and the rest is blurry (as in macro shots, for instance). Having a greater depth of field makes more of your image clear (this technique is often used in landscape photography). You can adjust your shot to get different effects by playing with your depth of field. For example, if you want to focus on one particular object and blur out the background, try zooming in as much as possible and getting as close to your object as you can without cutting it out of your shot. I love doing this with macro images, such as close ups of flowers or insects.

In the case of Pluto here, I’ve altered my depth of field, and in doing so, I’ve blurred the background, so the grass fades into the scene, and the fence doesn’t take away from the main image, which pops out of the photo. Some lenses will allow you to blur the background even more, it just depends on what you’re using. I shot this with a 55mm lens, an ISO of 100, and aperture of f5.6. Creating a shallow DOF like this really helps bring your subject to life. Oh to be young again and believe that Pluto is real…Life was so simple back then, hey?

Here’s another quick example of shallow depth of field. The Beverly logo is clear, but everything else is out of focus. Just a side note, I dare you to try this unique drink from Italy. Let me know what you think…if you can keep it down ;) .

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