Monthly Archives: April 2018

The photographer told me, “I have never use a flash”.     

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“I have never used a flash.” That was a statement from a young photographer just starting to photograph weddings of her friends. She had stopped by to purchase a lens hood (very good idea for any lens) and while we talked she asked about how I dealt with contrasting shadows on sunny days and if a polarizing filter might help her get rid of them.

Polarizing light with a polarizing filter will reduce glare in the sky and on reflective surfaces like water and windows, but it doesn’t reduce shadows or contrast. It will decrease the amount of overall light coming through a lens. A polarizing filter light will polarize light reaching the lens from any angle, but directly in front of, or behind the photographer. However, using a polarizer won’t noticeably affect her wedding photographs other than to maybe darken the sky behind the wedding couple.

I told her that I always use a flash indoors and outdoors when photographing people and she said “even in bright sunlight?” I use the flash to fill or reduce the shadows caused by bright sunlight. Modern TTL (through the lens) flash technology is easy to use and almost fool proof and the days of calculating flash power are long gone.

Many photographers mistakenly think the only time to use a flash in a darkened room. And even then rely on high ISO settings when shooting low light. ISO stands for International Standards Organization and determines the sensitivity to light for which sensor is set.

I think relying on high ISO settings is great for those long shots inside the gym during basketball games or when capturing wide church interiors, but closer pictures of people with mixed lighting coming from overhead leave unflattering shadows and odd colours.

My camera is fitted with a flash bracket that lifts the flash about six inches above the lens. The camera hotshoe places the flash close and directly over the lens. A close proximity that usually causes an effect called “red eye” – the appearance of red pupils in the eyes, as well as harsh unbecoming light. Moving the flash away from the lens helps to reduce that effect, and when I move in close for photographs I place a diffuser over my flash to spread and soften the light.

I have control to balance the light over my subject with the shutter, aperture and ISO.  Balancing the light so those individuals are slightly brighter than the surrounding area and without the background to go black.

My flash is connected to the camera with a power cord that fires it when the shutter is released. I can remove it and point the flash in any direction I want; bouncing the light off walls, the floor and, if I want, higher than the people sitting in front of me. I can leave them in low light while the flash is at arms length, from an angle to the side or from above the individuals I am photographing.

When I learned to use a flash many years ago it changed the quality of my photography. I no longer had to rely only on uncontrollable ambient light and I began to notice my subjects had more “pop” and seemed sharper than those without the flash as I learned to add light to subjects.

Just like the control I gain by using different focal length lenses, the flash allows me to add light to what would otherwise be a flat image, improving the quality of my photographs and separating my photography from those who do not to use flash.

The April 2018 Vancouver Camera Swap Meet 

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The time seems to move so darned fast, has it really been six months since I just wrote about one of my favourite yearly photo events, The Vancouver Camera Swap Meet?

There was a three-day break in the heavy snow that has frequently blocked the high mountain road between Kamloops and Vancouver, and we snuck through. As I am writing this, the news report is predicting heavy snowfall and recommending extreme caution for anyone that absolutely must drive the Coquihalla highway to coastal cities.

We made it, and in spite of three days of pouring rain my friend Laurie and I had a great time. As always, we ate and drank too much and stayed up too late the night before. Nevertheless, we were up early, ate a good breakfast (with lots of coffee) and arrived by 8:00AM to spread out our array of camera equipment on the table we had rented, walked around for a quick visit with long time friends that I have been meeting once or twice a year for the past twenty years, and looked at and drooled over all the exciting photographic equipment waiting for the doors to be open to the public at 9AM.

As usual there was a rush of people as they vied for positions at each table. I will say that there is never rude pushing and shoving, those avid photographers are quite adept at peering between those in front and somehow are able to reach with long arms to pick up the camera or lens they spied.

I have never had anything stolen, but I will admit to being on edge when there is a rush of excited photographers at my table. Keeping an eye on something picked up off my table and answering questions about six different items all at the same time is unnerving.

That said, what actually happens is I get to make a lot of new friends very fast. And there are always those that come up with a wide grin and say hello as they remind me about something they bought from me last year. My feeling is that I am in a large, noisy room filled with a thousand friends.

I have written before that the Vancouver Camera Swap is filled with a diversity of human beings that I enjoy. Photography brings people of all kinds of lifestyles, interests, and photographic specialties together. Everyone is interested in photography, whether film and vintage cameras, or modern digital technology, it’s just all about photography and can be found set out on someone’s table.

Twenty years ago it was really a good old boys club at these camera sales. However, I am delighted to say that those days are long gone in a forgotten past.

Ok, I guess there are a few like me that somehow are still hanging around.

It is now over until this fall, and was no different than the last that I had an exhilarating day with other photographers, and even got time to wander when the crowd cleared at days end.

As I wrote last fall, “a good word to describe the Vancouver Camera Swap meet? Invigorating, energizing, stimulating, exhilarating? Or maybe I should just say it was just good fun.”

 

Photographers – modify the light.

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For some time I’ve been advising photographers to use a flash when they take pictures of people, whether indoors or out.

I understand that those with a few extra dollars in their pocket can purchase expensive cameras that can capture images in low light using a higher ISO, but using additional light is much more flattering for a human subject.

While sitting by the window in a coffee shop some time ago a friend casually snapped a picture of me using an ISO of 9000. I was impressed at the clarity and colour. Actually, it was a bit too clear and colourful for my old face.  Nevertheless, my comment was, “Nice picture, too bad you didn’t have a reflector”, which brings me to my topic this week – light modifiers.

Readers know what harsh sunlight looks like on our subject’s face in a photo, or have winced at the loss of detail caused by the direct light of a camera-mounted flash.  A flattering photograph isn’t just capturing or adding light, but modifying it’s path to the subject.

Modification might be as simple as bouncing the flash off the ceiling, or a wall. The pop-up flash might work at parties, but using a flash off-camera gives more control and pleasing results.

When outdoors without a flash a reflector is an easy to use light modifier. Place the subject out of the direct sun and direct the sun in a controlled way back to the subject using a reflector. Reflectors come in all sizes, shapes, colours and surfaces. Silver is gives cool cast, gold is warm, and white is neutral. I prefer the compact folding reflectors that fit in my camera bag. Reflectors are great outdoors, and are perfect with a bounce flash in that basement studio.

More and more photographers are using wireless flash. A small flash mounted on a stand can be aimed at the ceiling, a wall, or a reflector, for much nicer light than if pointed directly at the subject.  But the wall, ceiling, and reflector only give a broad indirect light. Yes, it is better than a bare flash, but not very controllable.

My choice is umbrellas, softboxes, and other devices that modify and control the light.  I like bouncing and reflecting light in some conditions. However, those I mentioned give more control as they reshape, restyle, alter, modify, and soften the light from a flash.

Umbrellas come in several types. Choose a shoot through or reflective, large or small. The reflective umbrellas are available with different surfaces – silver, gold, white – each has its own way of changing the light. For example, I like the soft broad light reflective umbrellas give when photographing several people or families.

Many portraitists seem to prefer softboxes. Whereas umbrellas give more control than a flat reflector, a softbox directs and defines light much better than an umbrella. Softboxes also come in many sizes and shapes depending on use – rectangle, square, octagon, etc.  When viewers see that soft shadowed “Rembrandt style” lighting in a portrait, they can safely assume the photographer used a softbox.

For photographers that want more luminosity than umbrellas and softboxes there is the beauty dish. A beauty dish provides a glowing kind of light, very directional, easy to control, and when used with diffuser it has an attractive smooth light.  There are, of course, many modifications to each of those I have mentioned. Again, it depends on how a photographer wants to apply light to a subject.

My set up much of the time is a simple flash above and behind me using either a softbox or an umbrella, with a sidelight bounced off a reflector, and backlight directed at the background with only a small dome diffuser covering it.  That’s one quick, effortless setup that I can easily carry in two small bags – one bag for light stands and light modifiers and one for my flash units, camera and lenses.

That gives me light that is more controllable and attractive than a pop-up or on-camera flash, the sun, or relying on a high ISO.

Composing a photograph includes eliminating the irrelevant   

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Years ago the Hasselblad camera company published a series of photography pamphlets. While I had my Hasselblad I collected and studied the information contained in them.

Recently I thumbed through one titled “The Eye, The Camera, The Image”.  Although meant for medium format film cameras it’s filled with information that is still appropriate for digital camera users.

I skimmed over topics like Using the focusing hood magnifier, Colour film and colour balance, Types of exposure measurement, Double exposure and Polaroid film, all are interesting reads if one is concerned with photographic history, however, not practical or useful for those searching to be a better photographer in our modern digital age.

However the topic, “We see far to much” caught my attention and it said,

“The eye is our organ of sight. It’s lens has a focal length of about 17mm and covers a 150-degree vertical and 120 degree horizontal field; the binocular vision provided by our two eyes gives a 180-degree angular field. We seldom have any need for images encompassing so wide a field. The wealth of detail in such a field would be rendered small and insignificant when reduced to images formed in a camera when composing a photograph outdoors or elsewhere. We always need to crop our field of view.”

In my experience, most successful photographers want to “tighten up” on their composition, by that; I mean they only include those elements that add to the visual discussion of a photograph. Beginners are apt to aim with only the excitement of their subject in mind and don’t pay attention to other additional features captured by the sensor.

Photographers printing or posting their photos are surprised when they look and find a picture filled with irrelevant and disruptive items they wished they hadn’t included.

Hasselblad continues, “This elimination of irrelevance is vital. The trick often involves excluding most of what you see. Making a selection is a basic feature of all art, whether it is painting, drawing or photography. Art consists of picking out the most interesting, most illustrative, most instructive, the loveliest or most emotional components among a myriad of components in a subject.”

Photographers should train themselves to be specific with a subject, only showing the viewer what is important. How do we slow down to do this in an age of auto focus, auto aperture and rapid-fire shutter release? I have an easy answer – get a good tripod!

I know many photographers have never owned or used a tripod and some have only experienced rickety, inexpensive models. Using a sturdy, well-made tripod makes one slow down and pay attention to the subject in the viewfinder or LCD. In addition, the process of setting up the tripod and attaching a camera gives photographers time to think about composition.

I agree with Hasselblad’s contention that “we see far to much” and need to eliminate irrelevant items in our photos.

When an interesting subject is seen, stop the car and get out. Don’t be lazy and merely hunker down against the window to take the shot. Get that sturdy tripod out of the trunk; and as you do that think about, or “previsualize”, the photograph about to be made.

Set up the tripod, attach the camera and look through the viewfinder. I suggest making several shots starting from a narrow, limited view and zooming the lens out to a wide-angle view. That way there will be several choices for that picture.

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To sum up, eliminate those elements inconsequential to the picture and compose for only those items important to the final photograph, not by looking at the subject and snapping away in a hurried fashion to include everything seen in the viewfinder, and take my advice, use a tripod.