More tips on working with children.

There really wasn’t a plan with this photo session. She just really wanted the world to see her outfit and who am I to turn away someone who wants to get their picture taken?

When working with young children, don’t be afraid to work with what ever mood they are in. In this case, she was in a silly mood, so I told her about silly invisible giraffes that were in the room with us. She loved that and of course this got her to do more happy movements which are easily caught. Occasionally, I’d ask her to throw me a serious look which she would do and then go back to giggling and laughing. I do this not only to get a few serious look photos (I don’t think people should shy away from serious looks) but it also helps ground the child a little when they are playing during a photo session. After all, it is still a photo session and there is still heavy equipment around – always remember that as the adult it’s your job to deliver everyone and everything to the end of the session safely.

For this session, I did a two-light setup. I’m trying to brainstorm some ideas for a few photo sessions I have coming up and when in doubt I go back to some basics. I had one light with a snoot acting as a hair light and my key was an octagon with a grid on.

Another boom stand test.

More for that new location test and also, I am still working on processing work, so I need a short post again. For this test, I needed to be certain the boom stand would still work from all angles, so I ran a second setup that day. It worked and I think the location will work.

As always, a serious look can be just as good as a smile. In fact, sometimes starting with a serious look will lead to a smile when the time comes. Of course, a step ladder helps too because your subject can play with different heights.

Anyway, this was a two-light setup. One key light overhead and a second light up front as a fill light.

Testing out a new workspace.

Just a quick post because I have a lot of processing to do of a dance rehearsal I photographed and like a clown I figured I could do everything at once time rather than plan ahead accordingly and have posts ready. So, make that a free small business tip:

You can manage to accomplish a lot less then you think you can in a short time.

The flip side to this is that you can accomplish a lot more then you think you can in a long time.

Anyway, I have been allowed to operate my photography testing and practice in a different, much warmer place as opposed to the garage. So, my assistant and I were testing out the area and since the ceiling is slightly lower, I opted to test my boom stand to see if I can still do overhead lighting. And since my assistant has a performance coming up, she was practicing her vocals and that’s what we shot.

I was focusing on different angles and zooming in. The lighting set up was two lights. One overhead and one to the side with a softbox as a key light.

Test your ideas out.

I have a dance rehearsal photo session coming up and I wanted to test a two-light set up I had in mind. It worked well but there were a few adjustments I had to make and even more ideas I came up with during the test session. And that’s the point here: test your ideas. You can get a good reality check on things while at the same time come up with some better ideas for set up.

For example, for this set up I realized the grid I was using wouldn’t make too much sense for this upcoming job. Not every performer will be doing a stationary pose and with just two lights I will want the light to spread out. But I also realized not every performer will be the same size and some will likely do poses close to the ground, so I would want one of my speed lights on a third small tripod that I could rotate in and out as needed. But this also has led to other ideas that I want to try out that might help me improve the results while also reducing time between performers pose shots.

The point is, by testing my plan out I get to go into the actual session knowing what issues and solutions will be in play and already have a strategy to put my plan best into action. Will the session be a roaring success? I hope so and that is what I aim for with every session, but I know I am in a better position now to make that happen then I was a 48 hours ago. And that’s why I am recommending testing things.

#Marylandphotographer #Annearundelphotographer #Dancephotography

The other day it snowed and of course I made sure I was somewhere to snap some pictures and by “made sure” I was luckily persuaded to be some place where pictures would work out.

One note, those batteries in your camera seem to run down faster on cold days because they do. They don’t function as well in cold weather and will run out quicker. Keep that in mind when using your camera in the snow or bring extra batteries to your cold weather shoot. Also, you can always line your camera with a plastic bag if you don’t have any weather covers to protect it from the snow. Alternatively, you can always just wait for it stop snowing.

Anyway, always keep in mind that a lot is usually going on when it snows. Kids go sledding, dogs get confused, and most wild animals become easier to spot (unless you are someplace with polar bears). You get some very unique behaviors going on so constantly be looking around to see who is doing what when you are on scene photographing. For sledding, I find waiting until the very last second you can get out of the way to get out of the way works well. For dogs the trick is still to get down to their level. For wild animals, well that’s not my primary photography focus so it’s still luck for me and honestly a telephoto lens does help there.

Also keep in mind that the snow will make your sensor all sorts of wacky. It really helps to have photo processing tools to fall back on or at least an understanding of how to work the white balance in your camera.

Posing

Back from a week off. I needed that break to plan out the year. Anyway, to the topic at hand; posing.

Posing is a complex skill that plays by the same rules of pretty much any other skill – the more you practice it the better you get at it. If you never practice posing, then it will forever be an uphill battle for you.

Early on two things you want to work on is:

1)      Pose knowledge

2)      Communication skills

For pose knowledge I advise two things. First, simply research poses online. Start with learning basic poses and looking at photos with people posing in them and then figure out why those poses work. There are compositional reasons for those poses that make them work and understanding the bigger concepts can help you come up with poses that better fit the shot you are trying to compose. Second, practice poses on your own. It is a lot easier to remember poses if you have actively practiced them yourself in front of a camera or a mirror.

Next up is communication skills. You can have all the pose knowledge that has ever existed in human history, and it means squat if you can’t communicate that knowledge to your subject. This is another skill that you sort of just have to practice and self-reflect on, making note of what worked and what went horribly wrong. Also, keep in mind that these skills will shift based on the subject. For example, a 4-year-old takes directions in a different way from a 40-year-old. The more you work with each group the better you get at communicating with each group.

All these photos were done with a two-light setup. My subject here is perfectly capable of following pose directions but since she is four turning every direction into a game or a joke worked better. I find she really enjoys doing the exact opposite of “don’t do this!” and she usually does so with delight. I also knew she’d have fun on a stool that spins and would be willing to climb a step ladder.

Happy New Year!

On to 2022 we go!

More strobe testing.

Another strobe test. This time outside as the strobe in question is built to overpower outdoor light we went outside. I put it through its paces and even tested out the high speed sync. Keep in mind if you do get a speed light or a strobe and it doesn’t have a high speed sync mode you will be limited to a shutter speed to over 1/250. Otherwise, you will get light sync issues which means half or all of your picture will be a wall of black. You don’t need high speed sync in order to use strobes, I have two really strobes that lack this feature, but this is why I recommend you understand what type of photography you want to do before investing in strobes. If you know you what you are trying to do then you will have a better idea what strobe to get for the work you want to do.

Anyway, these photos were done on a cloudy day. Cloudy days are great because they act as a giant softbox, distributing the light even everywhere. As previously mentioned, I used a strobe but I attached a softbox so this would be a two light set up. I started by adjusting for the daylight and then zeroing in the strobe. All these shots were taken with whatever we found walking up a short road and back. It helps to have access to some amazing locations but you can still do decent photography out in the neighborhood.

New strobe test.

I got my hands on a new strobe and I was testing it out in a two light studio set up on myself. I really like how this worked out and can’t wait until I can bring it out to the next outdoor event I shoot because I have some ideas. Anyway, this also required me to use my dreaded tripod. Don’t get me wrong, I understand what tripods do for photography and how to use them, I can even understand why other photographers love them, but I dislike using them. I feel like I am fighting the cursed thing the entire time I am using it. But if I want to test out a light on myself, I must bite the bullet and use the tripod.

I went on to test it further, but I am holding those photos back just in case I run out of time this week for other projects I want to share and have something to fall back on.

As previously stated, this was a two-light test. One strobe with a softbox as the key light and a speedlight with no modifier as back light. Use what gear you have to make your photography work, but I can honestly say the sweet spot feels like two lights. Sure, you can do great stuff with 3 lights or even 4 or 5 lights, I’ve done several projects with 3, 4 or 5 lights, but that’s extra time you have to spend setting up those lights. 2 lights still feels quick while still offering various lighting techniques.

But that’s just my 2 cents. Your mileage and organization skills may take you in a different direction.

Dance photos

Here is some dance pose photography work we did last night in studio. This was all basics. Basic poses and basic lighting. When I have a creative idea in mind I like to start with the basics and ease into it. That way if there is something I am missing I am more likely to see it. Granted I can’t always take my time but for now I can and sort of build to the ideas I have in mind. From here I am going to go in two directions. One direction is testing a quick simple off camera flash setup I have in mind to better photograph posed shots with dancers between dances at dress rehearsals and a more complex setup for in studio work I have in mind.

Anyway, for this set up it was a generic one speedlight up above with a softbox and two strobes to the left and right with no modifier aimed at the subject acting as kicker lights.

Merry Christmas.

#marylandphotographer #annearundelphotographer #photographytips

Photography Basics

It’s days before Christmas so I don’t have too much right now. So, let’s go back to some basics. Here is an easy step by step for how to manage a session using flash of any sort.

Step 1: Compose the shot.

Step 2: Adjust for the natural lighting.

Step 3: Add and adjust flash as you want. Not all at once, you need to adjust for each individual flash so if you have 1 flash, step 3 has just one step. If you have 29 speedlites on tripods all around (you monster) step 3 is 29 steps long.

Step 4: Take one more look to see if it’s composed to how you want it.

Step 5: Take the picture.

Step 2 and Step 3 is where a lot of people go wrong, at least its where I’ve gone wrong early on. I’d add and adjust for flash and then wonder why my background was blown out. You get the background down to levels you want it to be (thus step 2) then you add flash to bring back out your subject (thus step 3). Of course, you also need to consider the inverse square law of light, but there’s a reason that’s usually talked about on its own – it’s simple to see but complicated to explain.

Anyway, these photos were just another test with a speedlite. Then the puppy escaped the fence by walking right through it like it was the terminator or something, so we puppy back and moved somewhere else.

Tired after work.

My older niece works at a big chain store as a cashier. Needless to say, her work right now leaves her exhausted at the end of each day of work. So, I made it a point to get her just after work one day and took her picture. And what goes well with an exhausted person? A crying baby of course!

To be clear, the baby was fine, she was just upset her mom, who was right off camera, wasn’t holding her and this session was 3 minutes for her just to minimize the tears.

When bringing themes together in your photo try and think about what you are aiming for. Are you comparing, contrasting, or coordinating (or all three)? It is a lot like setting up your lighting. You don’t just throw light anywhere; you add light that adds to what you are trying to do with your composition. The same is with themes. You must consider what you are doing with them when you use them otherwise you are just rambling randomly at the viewer and unless that is what you are for you need to be organized with what you are adding theme wise.

These photos were done with a single strobe with a grid on that was located just to the side.

For the dogs.

All he wanted to do was just relax in the yard, but then the puppy came along and just wouldn’t stop biting his face. His head is lifted in some of these because she can’t bite his face or ears if he does that. Unless she gets up and climbs on him. Then he tried moving to the other side of the yard, but she just followed him. I don’t want to call her a jerk, but she’s a jerk.

As always, be patient with pets, they don’t know what a camera is, and they just want you to be happy. For these photos I just let the chaos play out. The big guy decided to relax in the yard, and I knew the puppy would do what the puppy does best – play. These two actually play well together. The rest was just getting on the proper angle and since they were playing, they didn’t really care where I moved.

For lighting, this was 100% the sunlight. Sure, the shadow placement wasn’t the best but bad shadow placement is better then losing the action in this situation. There is no guarantee they’d keep playing if I got them to move and there is even less guarantee that they would stay in the area that would have been ideal. So, I just went with what they were offering, and it worked out well. Making these decisions and gambles are part of photography.

Christmas Spirit

I heard on the radio that their Christmas spirit was the only one with heart and soul. We disagree. The Christmas spirit we conjured has heart and soul too – granted it’s someone else’s heart and someone else’s soul. I don’t think they will be getting a return on their heart and soul either. Anyway, be careful what spirits you invite to visit.

This idea literally came from the radio and sort of worked from there. As for props, the heart is made of white resin and painted. The crystal ball is just me not being able to resist using it again. I am overly fascinated by what it does to light flashes. It’s just so weird. I’ll likely overuse it. The headpiece came from online but days before I found stuff in the dollar store that could have done the same for cheaper. We used a little fake blood left over from Halloween. The rest my model put together on her own and she handled her own face makeup for this session.

As for lighting, things are a bit more complicated. For the first two photos it is a 4 light shot. Two speed lights to the sides of the model bouncing light at an angle upwards. 1 strobe in back to bounce light against the fog machine fog. Finally, one light positioned just behind the crystal ball with a boom stand which is edited out into the fog. For the rest of the photos, we got rid of the back light and just used the other 3.

Quick Photography Tip - Spinning Stools

It’s late and I had a long day of photography at the time of typing this so this will be a short post. Here is a little diva showing off. When it comes to young kids use what they can find, and you will have an enthusiastic subject. In this case, gloves, glasses, and stool that spins were what she wanted. What kid doesn’t like a stool that spins? However, if you want more then just a kid spinning on a stool, you can always put the stool away and use something else. Just be ready to address the “where is the stool” question. Also, I forgot to wipe her face off before this session, that’s something you need to watch for depending on what you are going for.

This was a three light setup. Two strobes with softboxes and grids up front and to the side, and a speedlight with a snoot and grid as a hair light.

Nightmares Before Christmas!

To start off our Nightmares Before Christmas fun we invited our here who is burning bright with that Christmas feeling. Unfortunately, he seems to have mistaken “feeling” with “gasoline and fire,” which happens sometimes. But hey, at least he has a friend at this time of the year. Maybe not a willing friend but a warm friend, nonetheless.

This was a year in the making. Our first attempt at this was last year but this sort of shot is challenging to do because you need two things to work perfectly and just getting anything to work perfectly is a challenge. To do this, you need the fire to burn bright and high. Meanwhile, you also need your autofocus to be able to “see” what you are focusing on and in the dark (remember, the fire is in back so we had to use a low artificial light up front). Last year the fire worked, the autofocus failed, and the small LCD screen in back lied. This year we used a different light and we learned from our mistake. I had my assistant practice earlier in the day with me, and then again just before we lit the fire and things worked out.

Anyway, I set up two strobes with grids. One strobe directly to my right and one just up front and to my left. The fire acted as a backlight. My assistant helped dirty my face up with some of her SFX stuff and then I had her take the photo. Then I took her photo. As for our friend, whom we named Yorick, well I’ll post about that on Friday if I don’t have anything else to post between now and then. Otherwise, I’ll get to it when I get to it.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas, and if you don’t like what we did here you definitely won’t like what we will be doing next week. Let’s just say we will be getting into the “spirit” of the season next week.

4 Light Test

Yet another quick post but good news, I am almost caught up on my processing work.

Never underestimate how long processing may take you, especially if you want to do it right. At this point I try to do it in 4 passes. First pass gets the best of each series of shots. The second pass crops as needed. Third pass gets the colors down. Fourth pass reviews everything. And then I usually throw in a fifth pass because I always have this awful feeling I’ve screwed everything up and I am just not seeing it. That’s yet another reason I like doing self-photos from time to time. If I screw things up with my own photos, I will be more likely to see it the next time I work on someone else’s photos. At least that’s the theory.

Anyway, these are the results of a 4 light setup. Two strobes with grids, a speedlight with a snoot and grid acting as a hair light, and a speedlight directly behind my head acting as a rim light. Mainly I was just experimenting. I have another series of character shots for a theater shoot coming up in about 2 months and I am starting zero in on setup for it. It’s kind of like a game of Battleship. I have a general idea of where the final result is, but I need to keep experimenting with my lights until I get a hit. Then I just work from there. I’m at the hit area but still need to figure out which direction to take the lighting. For the record, this wasn’t it. It’s close though and I am getting an idea as to where I am going to take it.

Mother and Baby Session

A few indoor photos of a mother with her baby and one annoyed cat. Remember, you don’t need strobes or speedlights to do photography. All of these were taken indoors utilizing only the window and the sunlight coming through it. For these photos I knew I had to work quickly and keep movements to a minimum. You generally don’t want to push anyone around but especially not babies because you are going to lose every time. So, I kept the photo session around one set of windows and moved myself to different angles.

As always, assume parents understand their babies and work with them to get that smile, but also just go with it some. Everything is new to babies, so they look around with wonder. Capture that too.

Simply moving can solve many of your "problems."

Another quick post as I have lots of processing still to do, but I am getting it done.

I recently had a wonderful photo session in Annapolis with an amazing family. We walked all over downtown Annapolis taking photos when we got to the docks and suddenly a person in red was doing stretches in the back, this particular situation is one of the things I love about photography because it’s not the problem it seems to be. For starters, let me be clear – this person had every right to be there and good for him for exercising! Yes, him being there posed a problem for the shot framing but not a big problem, actually he posed an easily fixed problem.

Sure, I could go into Photoshop and spend minutes or even hours editing him, or I could go into Lightroom and attempt to carefully use the heal brush and make him disappear, but why do all that work? Instead, I merely moved around so he was positioned directly behind my subjects. And with that simple movement the person in red was gone. No time is spent editing him out in processing so I can focus on other things when I am doing processing and I didn’t have to ask him to move for the shot. Never underestimate what your feet and movement can do to quietly solve your problems. You can save hours in the processing phase if you carefully consider your positioning during the actual photo shoot.

More Pet Tips

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. More pet photos. Let me get the standard tip out of the way first:

Be patient when photographing your pets. They don’t know what a camera is and they have no concept of what a picture is. Getting frustrated with them because they won’t frame into your picture correctly will just upset them and make them afraid whenever you get your camera out. Now these dogs in these pictures are starting to understand that my camera out means the treat train is arriving very soon. If you do pet photography correctly then the pets you photograph often will come to associate great things with your camera and start to pose every time.

With that out of the way, let’s get into trickier pets – pets with dark or black fur. Dark fur can pose numerous problems because it is easy to have your sensor over adjust and suddenly you got a silhouette of a dog. There are several ways you can address this issue, but you have to put a little more thought into things. Thankfully, every trick you learn to use when working with dark fur will help your photography out tremendously and will help you out in low light situations.

Anyway, the three easy approaches are this:

1) Consider your background – if you put a black dog in white snow, your scenario changes drastically. Granted you don’t always have snow, but you have greenery or other colors to play off of and help utilize the dog’s fur to make it the center of attention.

2) Use a flash to help give the dog some depth. Darker color absorbs light, which is why your camera sometimes goes overboard in trying to figure out how to deal with animals with dark fur. If you throw some light in up front that will help the sensor in your camera find that depth.

3) Processing tools. This is the easiest but does add an extra step in your workflow. You can use the shadows slider in most photo processing tools to help counter what your camera’s sensor is doing. Just be sure you are shooting in RAW format when you take the pictures. Processing tools love photos in RAW or your camera’s equivalent of RAW.

Anyway, all these were shot using light from a window. Processing tools were used to add depth to the cat and dog. Also, the cat isn’t in some sort of kitty lockup, that’s just a play area for kids so the dogs don’t mistake the toys for chew toys.