Back to posting.

Alright, let’s get this up and running again. I was a bit busy over the summer with photography work and am now just catching up.

I don’t normally try to push a photo session type but if you have multiple kids at different ages, I recommend a group session for them when one goes off to college or moves to go to trade school. It will be important for them once reality sets in for each of them how things are changing, which is usually not until it happens. It will also be important to you as a parent, of course.

When working on a session like this I make sure each sibling does an individual session with the exiting student and then a group photo of them all. And of course, everything in between too. Also, I try to loop a common interest or talent. In this case, juggling and just looking awesome was their common thread and they pulled it off extremely well.

Congratulations to my assistant and model. Good luck at college and I can’t wait to see what you accomplish next!

Photographing a Kendo Tournament

I’ve been busy processing, so I haven’t had much chance to showcase a write up. However, this past weekend I went out to the Baltimore-Annapolis Kendo Tournament and took some photos. These are only from my last card of that day as my PC is overwhelmed with raw photos from 3 other projects right now but it is more than enough to write about.

Get permission. Don’t just head to an event like this and start snapping shots. Make sure the people running the event know you will be there and what you will be doing. When you show up, take some time to look around and understand what is acceptable. For example, you will notice no one in any of these photos as any shoes on so obviously I had no shoes on either. Or better yet, do some research on etiquette ahead of time.

As for capturing the action, this art moves slowly and then suddenly fast, especially with the higher ranked contenders. There may be brief moments of two individuals barely moving followed by a burst of sudden action. You really have to go with your gut on this as to when to start photographing. If you wait for the movement to start, you will likely miss the most important part of the strike entirely. It’s tricky but it gets easier as you spend more time with it. Also, a step stool doesn’t hurt so you can get over the crowds. Gear wise it was me, a 70-200mm lens, and a step stool.

If you are more interested in the content of the photos rather than how to take these photos, and are 12 years old or older, I suggest you get in contact with the Baltimore-Annapolis Kendo Club. They are very welcoming and would love to hear from you. You can find more information at https://www.facebook.com/bakendo and their main page at https://www.baltimoreannapoliskendo.org/ (check out their “Getting Started” tab)

Dramatic Prom Dresses

Once it got dark, we left the park and headed outside my studio. There I set up my fog machine and 2 strobes. The key light had my octagon softbox again. The backlight is where the magic happens for this though. I took my other strobe and put a gel on it and then aimed it at my subject. Once I laid down the fog like I wanted I’d take my subject’s picture. The light would hit the fog and light everything up and you get a really awesome shot.

It isn’t that easy though. Two things must be managed at the same time. First, your subject has to be between your light and your camera. That sounds easy, but remember, there is a wall of fog between your subject and that light, so it isn’t that easy to see. I ended up using a strip of paper to mark where I needed to stand.

The next problem was the fog itself. Once the machine puts it out, you need to move because even light wind will carry it all away. So, you need to figure out how much you want out and how much time you have once it is out. Now, I love my fog machine, but it is as cheap as they come, so it only puts out fog for about 10 seconds and then needs a minute to cool down. The short answer is you figure it out by trying it several times. Practice.

Prom Dress Photos in the Park

Continuing from the previous post, when we got done with the studio, we headed to Kinder Farm Park and made good use of the weather and location.

Once again, your local parks are great for a photo session and often are available for one too. If you are doing this commercially you need to get a permit. Even if you are not doing it commercially, if someone could mistake you for doing it commercially you probably want to get a permit. Thankfully, permits are free in Anne Arundel County and only cost the time to send the email. If this is the case for you too, I recommend you be specific in your request and play with an open hand. For example, I like to move with an external flash, so I always make that clear in permit requests.

We made good use of the cloudy weather by making the sun appear. By that I mean I put orange gels on my strobe and used it as sunlight. I find a single orange gel doesn’t work well enough and usually stack two of the oranges to make this happen. Your milage may vary depending on your gels and your external light.

After a nice walk in the park, it started to get dark, so we headed to another location to do another session. More on that next post.

Prom Dress Sessions 1 of 3

This weekend was amazing. I got to do some really cool photo sessions with three young women in their prom dresses. So, the next three posts are going to be built around that. This will be three different ways to do cool things with a prom outfit photo session. For the first one, I kept it close to home by doing it in my home studio.

For the studio session, I wanted to make use of color, because prom is about bright colorful outfits, especially for the girls. So, I matched a gel to each dress and used it as a backlight for that subject. Then I used a strobe equipped with an octagon softbox for a key light. For the group shots I threw in an additional light on the side as a fill light. Truth be told, I can’t recall if it was a long box or another octagon softbox, but I know it had a grid on it.

Not everything went perfectly, the red light wasn’t spaced far enough away from the other two in the group shots and basically just disappeared, but we rolled with it. The main point was to get some colors out there and that happened. When something doesn’t work during a session you have to ask yourself two questions really fast: how long will this take to fix and is it needed? In this case I decided it’d take too long, and it wasn’t needed. After that, you just move on.

In this case, it really helps that I had awesome subjects supported by their awesome moms on set.  It kept things fun and fun makes for great photos. But the fun didn’t end at the studio. When we got done, we packed up and moved on to our next location. More on that in my next post.

The Moon.

Still in the midst of a lot of photography work.

But since the moon is out, and I think I’ve got it done okay, here is another shot of the moon. There are lots of ways to photograph the moon, balancing your shutter speed/ISO/F-stop any number of ways. This time I am using a tripod. Tripods are great for countless number of photography projects.

Using a tripod allowed me to reduce my shutter speed by a significant amount, meaning I could bring my ISO down and open up my aperture. Just be sure to watch out for that button shake when you take the photo. Ideally, you will use some sort of remote or set your camera to a time delay to account for that shake. Or just be really careful when pushing that button.

Finally, be careful with reducing the shutter speed to low. The moon is moving faster through the sky then you realize and you just might get a blurry image from it moving too quickly if your shutter speed is too slow.  

Birthday Candles in the Dark

I am still rather busy, so sorry for the slow down of photography tips.

Birthdays can be tricky, especially if you are doing it in the evening or going for the candles in the dark room look. But this is where your understanding of your camera, ISO, F-stop, and shutter speed all come into play. If you understand those things then you should be able to pull off some decent birthday cake shots.

But before that, take a moment to look around and scout the best angles as well as look for foreground and background things to remove. I am talking about trash cans or maybe the table needs another wipe down. Also look for the best angle. Usually, the person or people hosting the party won’t mind adjusting a little to help you get that shot. A little though, don’t push your luck too far. Find out where they want to have the cake and work from there.

Finally, know you will be working in the dark and with a low light. That means higher ISO, wider F-stop, and slower shutter speed. That also means less movement on your end. You want to keep that camera steady. A tripod might come to mind but that may not be realistic depending on the number of people around. Your mileage will very as not all brands are uniform thus a good understanding of your gear is what matters the most.

Making golden hour

More practice with making my own golden hour. I needed my backdrop travel ready, so I did some outside work. For this sort of trick, you want to experiment with CTO (Color Temperature Orange) gels. Remember, you can stack gels so if that orange isn’t orange enough, stack another orange on it. Usually gel packs have at least 2 orange colors, if not more.

For light setup, you really want trees or tall plants, so if you are working this on property you leave on it really helps to do a poor job at the yard work, especially around fences or the property line. Obviously, you need a light stand tripod for your light. I am using a fancy outdoor strobe for this, but you can do this with a speedlight too – you just will likely need to have the speedlight closer as it isn’t as powerful.

A few other things to keep in mind. You will be shooting with a light behind your subjects so either plan for that shadow or bring another light/reflector for the front of your subjects. Speaking of your subjects, remember they can be a variable in all this depending on the age so plan accordingly. With children and babies, it’s better to move on to the next pose or location than to keep trying something they just don’t want to do. You can either waste time trying to understand why, or you can spend that time taking pictures with other poses/locations; it is your call.

Finally, dogs are great. My dog is especially great and especially when she decides to stand in front of my shot. That happens, just roll with it. If photography has taught me anything, it is that something will get in the way of your shot at some point. You can have all sorts of reactions, or you can just move on to the step you will ultimately move on to; adjust and take the next shot. One option wastes time and other saves time, choose wisely.

Art showing!

Luis is having an art show at MICA today between 5:30pm and 8:30 at 1305 W Mt Royal Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217 in the Main building (the building is called the Main building). His work will be on display until Monday with a few pieces for sale. He will be there to talk and answer questions today so stop by and see some great art by a great artist.

And back. Shrek the Musical left me with several thousand photos to go through and I’ve just now finished processing them. My condolences if you missed the show but congratulations to the cast and crew for making a show that sold out – it was amazing!

Anyway, here are a few photos I took a few weekends ago. These are shots without a strobe – which is perfectly fine. Just be sure to understand the lighting when you choose to take them (which is a trick statement as you should always understand the lighting whenever you take pictures; strobe or no strobe). These were taken at golden hour, which means lots of shade when around trees.

As for working with a toddler, that’s still an age to let them walk around and explore but you can still give basic directions. Sit here or stand here work well, but only for a few seconds as they tend to keep on the move. Take advantage of this exploration though when they look in a direction you need or look at a flower or something. It doesn’t hurt to have a parent help with directions too.  

More Dress Rehearsal Tips

Once again, Indian Creek School is performing Shrek the Musical. Performances are on:

April 27, 2023 at 7:00 PM

April 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM

April 29, 2023 at 3:00 PM

April 29, 2023 at 3:00 PM

You can get your tickets at: https://indiancreekschool.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200436295

Tickets are selling out fast, so get yours soon.

Access and movement. Those are two things that are going to heavily impact your photo session and the more you know about both the better you can manage a dress rehearsal photo session.

Starting with access, when photographing a dress rehearsal, you want to know what space you have access to. Will you be confined to a seat? The entire audience seating location? The stage? All of these will impact where you can shoot from. But you can alter that further by simply bringing a step stool. If you are in the audience seating a step stool will bring you up to the cast level when they are on stage, making for better shots. Just be sure to position it strategically because moving a step stool mid performance can be tricky.

That leaves movement. Not just your movement, but also the movement of the cast. Musicals tell a story with dialogue, singing, and dancing. You will want to try and anticipate the movement so you can be where you need to get the photos you have in mind. Will the cast walk in the audience section followed by a spotlight? Will they do a fast tap dance? Will they have a music number that involves dancers jumping in the area? All these movements require different settings and angles to capture in an amazing manner.

It helps if there is more than one dress rehearsal, failing that it helps if you have watched a stage performance version of the show you are photographing. Failing that too, read a plot summary and talk to someone about this specific performance – that is not ideal and not something I have ever tried but if you have nothing else that is better than nothing.

Shrek the Musical at Indian Creek!

And it’s dress rehearsal time again at Indian Creek School. This time they are performing Shrek the Musical. Performances are on:

April 27, 2023 at 7:00 PM

April 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM

April 29, 2023 at 3:00 PM

April 29, 2023 at 3:00 PM

You can get your tickets at: https://indiancreekschool.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200436295

Their shows are selling out fast these days so if you plan to go, I’d recommend buying tickets sooner rather than later. Plus, this show has a really cool surprise that I think is a secret so I’ll share those photos next week. YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS SHOW!

This show has been absolute fun to photograph. There are three tips I can give for photographing a show like this:

1)      Negative space – I overuse negative space but it works, especially with musical stage performances. Position yourself in such a way that your subject can speak or sing into an empty space. Thankfully, most places keep their theaters dark while a performance is going on so angling for that void is easier. Bonus if you can get both of their eyes but don’t sweat it if you fail to do that – just be sure to get that void.

2)      Dancing can be tricky – Dancing is tricky. Focus on understanding your shutter speed, aperture, ISO ratio so that you can get a shutter speed with reasonable ISO and aperture. What you are going for depends on if you want to freeze the action (faster shutter speed) or blur the movement (slower shutter).

3)      Know the performance – Every place performs it differently but if you can go in having seen it before or at least have a summary of the plot you will know generally what to expect and which angles to follow based on the characters on stage.

And a bonus tip; be dressed to move fast. Musicals are fast and even the slow ones tend to be fast. I wear jogging shoes and cargo shorts as that helps me hold batteries and memory cards and helps me move at a faster pace.

Spring

It’s well enough into spring that trees and grass are changing color. Obviously, now’s a great time to start taking outdoor photos. Remember, golden hour is a great time to take photos but if you can’t time that right or are close enough then find some shade. The sun should light up the background for you. If you want to go a step further, then get an off-camera flash to bring your subject out.

When working with younger subjects remember to keep it quick and keep it fun. Otherwise, you will get tantrum town. Keep quick by having a general plan of what poses you want to try. Don’t expect to cover every pose or that every pose you know will work, but a few of them should work if you have practiced enough. As for keeping it fun, that just takes trial and error but eventually you figure something out that works consistently.

This was a two-light setup. The sun being the backlight and my strobe with an octagon soft box being the key light. The advantage of my strobe is that I could do high speed sync with it, this allows me to up my shutter speed. Without it, the best you can do is around 1/200, which is fine for subjects that stay put. In this case my subject wanted to move around so being able to get up to 1/400th worked better.

Photography research and recreation

I saw this setup online and since it involved gels and I enjoy overusing gels I decided to try it. That stated, you should always be researching photos. If you stumble upon an effect you like you should try to recreate it. This will force you to look at photography with a more critical eye regarding not only the work of others but your work as well. Furthermore, it actively helps you better understand photography techniques. Finally, practice is more worthwhile when you know what you skill you are trying to get.

Moving on to something a little more concrete – posing. When posing a subject and working with just a single key light without a fill light, make sure you consider where that light is and what it will do with your poses. Single lights work best at understanding this effect and it may seem like “well duh” when you read it here it is easy to forget during the photo session and that is, the light only lights up what is facing it. In other words, if your subject turns away from the light, they will have shadows. If the subject turns towards the light, they will light up. It is not enough to know poses in a studio setting; you also need to know what the light and shadows are doing to those poses.

This setup involves 3 lights. The key light is a speedlight with an octagon softbox and a grid. The other two lights are stobes directly behind the subject. One light is pointed at the subject and has an orange gel and the other light is pointed away and has a red gel.

Catch lights

These photos demonstrate what a catch light is. You see the light reflection in her eyes? That’s the catch light. It helps add to your photos when used properly. The good news is that it is difficult to screw up. The better news is that you have numerous ways to impact catch lights.

You can impact the size and shape of the light by changing the size and shape of your light. For example, if you use a large soft box the catch lights will be large. If you use a rectangular softbox the catch lights will be rectangle in shape. Or if you have an octagon softbox, they will be an octagon or circular in shape.

You can also change the angle of your light or the distance. Moving the light closer or further will change the size. Changing the angle will warp the shape of the catch light.

In all honesty, this is really something you want to play around with and practice to better understand and get a strong command of. Knowing something exists and knowing how to use that something are two different things. Being able to use catch lights can help you improve your photography and make better photos.

The Moon

In case you missed it tonight. Have a good evening.

Negative Space Photography Technique

Looking at the works of others is something I like to do in my spare time, and I tend to be drawn to negative space. Negative space is kind of what it sounds like; a whole lot of emptiness that emphasizes your subject. It doesn’t have to be darkness like in these photos, it could be water surrounding your subject or mountains, but it does tend to create a sort of void that becomes its own sort of subject that compares or compliments your actual subject. It comes in handy with theater photography, among other session types.

For this session, I wanted an isolated window, which I don’t have, so I made one in the basement. That’s just plexiglass held up by clamps and tripods with black backdrops around them. The light is just a speedlight on the other side of the window. To get the right reaction, I went with a toddler because a toddler is going to be fascinated with what the heck this window is doing there. Then she pulled a chair up and got a ball, so it worked out.

This was just a single light, a speedlight, with no modifiers besides the plexiglass. There really wasn’t much more to this.

Grayscale photos

I did another session outside during golden hour. Things didn’t quick work out the way I had in mind, but the photos were salvaged by grayscaling them. While I do try to use this approach as a crutch to save some photos that’d otherwise not work out, by no means does this mean anything is wrong with grayscaled photos. There is an art to doing it and not every photo will work grayscaled.

For starters, taking away the color means the subject or subjects within the photo become an even bigger focus. The less detail you have the easier it becomes to focus on the details you leave behind. This means you generally want photos that lack a busy background. A busy background might work in color but it tends to turn into a jumbled mess when you take away the color that lets you see the layers in the detail.

As for me, two things I love to do with grayscaled photos is utilize older glass panes, the messier and scratchier the better, and also do lots of framing. Grayscaling tents to make both photography scenarios more appealing to my eye. The glass adds to the drama in the photo and the framing adds to the focus of the photo. But that’s just a tiny slither of the surface of it, grayscaled photos are their own ocean of art and there are vast depths to that area of the craft.

Light Feathering

Here are some self portraits again. As always, I recommend attempting self portraits every now and then particularly if you photograph people so you and better relate with your subjects. This sort of exercise also helps you better understand posing and makes it easier to give directions in posing. Afterall, it is a lot easier to tell someone to get into the pose you have in mind if you have already practiced that pose yourself.

Anyway, I utilized light feathering in this photo session. That is, I placed the light in such a way that the primary light hitting me was just light spill over. The light in question was a photography strobe with an octagon softbox. No grid this time because I needed the light spill over. From there, I lined up the edge of the softbox with my head. Doing this casts a very clear shadow line on my face when I face the camera, so I turned to face the light more. Again, the soft box was mostly past me, so the light I do have is mostly spill over meaning less light and weaker light.

Light feathering is a great tool for low key lighting but also in scenarios where you need a weaker light, but can’t take your light down much further or just want a larger spread of the light. Practicing with it on a single light will help you not only understand how to utilize it better but also understand better how your light is spilling over when you use multiple lights.

A quick post because this week has been very busy.

This little lady got hold of some tap shoes and wanted pictures of her dancing with them. It was about at golden hour, so I turned her away from the sun. Having her face, the sun would make for brighter pictures but also lots of squinting because the sun would be in her eyes. Besides, I love when light comes through hair so her back to the sun was the best option for this situation. Also, since movement is fast for tap, I set my shutter sped up high to about 1/400th.

Now for more general advice. When you are processing photos there are lots of things you can do with the software you have access to. The thing is you need to be clear with your clients how far is far enough. The picture of her with the dog makes for several examples. You will notice she has a tiny scare on her nose, kids get scratches all the time, but do the parents want it edited out or left in? And are you going to charge for that (I generally don’t but it depends on how the requests add up). Or the dog, do I spruce up the dog or leave it be.

Another question you need to ask yourself when considering this stuff is this: is this edit issue something that could have been avoided had you wiped your subjects down with a wet paper towel? Alternatively, was the situation where that was even an option? For example, photographing a wedding you can’t exactly run around wiping down all the party guests all the time. Another question worth asking is: how much time will take to do all these edits? Processing is already a time-consuming step but throw in a ton of edits and your processing time could take a lot longer. These are things you need to consider if you are going to charge for photography and things you need to be straight forward with your clients before you take the pictures.

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