Photography: Rule of Thirds December 2, 2008

Whenever you go to take a picture, move your camera. Rule of Thirds is a very basic element in photography that teaches photographers to get out of the narrow concept that everything needs to be dead center.

The Rule of Thirds is a good principle to keep in mind when arranging your subject matter within your photo: Imagine two horizontal and two vertical lines dividing your photo into thirds with four intersecting points—just like a tic-tac-toe board. The Rule suggests that you place your main subject where the lines cross rather than centered in the frame, and situating the horizon on the upper or lower line usually makes a well-composed landscape photo. For portraits, placing the person’s face where lines cross can make a more compelling photo than if the person is centered. – http://blog.webshots.com/?p=715

Photography: The Gear October 29, 2008

There’s a black list of gear every photographer needs, which varies depending on who you talk to. So, if I had all the money in the world, here is what I would consider the ultimate “camera bag” (this would have to be Santa’s sack to all fit in one bag).

Camera body:
Go Canon or Nikon and don’t waste your money on anything else. These two companies dominate the industry and it becomes a challenge to have something less common, especially if you are looking for a job. I’ve heard that the East Coast primarily uses Nikon while the West Coast favors Canon. I’ve used both and I admit that I prefer Canon. While the quality is pretty matched, Canon is more popular where I live and the shutter release is quieter than Nikon, which is extremely important to me when I’m trying to be stealth (no invisibility cloaks on the market yet, so being quiet is the best I can do).
Two picks for Canon:
The latest and greatest, EOS-IDs Mark III. You can read about the features and specifications on Canon’s website. I love this model of camera bodies because it is designed for vertical photos. Rather than turning the camera and stretching your wrist in an uncomfortable position, there’s a second shutter release button on the side.

For a slightly cheaper option, the EOS 5D Mark II. I’ve used this camera pretty extensively and I really like it. It doesn’t have the second shutter release, but I’m pretty sure you can get an attachment for it. The LCD screen is larger than older models and of course the quality is fantastic.

Other must-have lenses:
16-35
25-105
70-200
300
If super-close-ups are your thing, like photographing flowers, insects, rocks, whatever, you’ll also want a macro lens. Macro lenses bring into sharp focus tiny details that many lenses can’t pick up and focus on; sometimes even the human eye can’t detect its sharpness.

With any lens, if you can get an f/2.8, splurge for it. The quality of the lens is what makes for a clearer photo.

Those cover all the basics, for interesting fish-eye affects to capturing your french horn player in the marching band.

Flashes:
You don’t have to have a specific brand of flash. Flashes are universal, so just because you have a Canon camera, you don’t need a canon flash. This is probably the one area where it’s safe to cut-corners and reach out to a cheaper competitor.
You’ll want at least one flash with a bounce card (you can even make one out of cardboard and white paper and attach it to your flash with a rubber band), and a slave/transmitter so you can get the flash off your camera. When you can hold a flash away from the camera, the light will look a lot more natural and less harsh. For studio stuff, you’ll want at least two flashes, stands, transmitters, and umbrellas.

After you throw away your retirement fund on all that cool stuff, you’ll need a place to put it all.
A backpack is essential to keep it all safe and in one place. Bags are nice, backpacks are better for your shoulders. Even better, get a camera bag on wheels. Like the wheely luggage, it’s a muscle-saver. And if you want it all at your fingertips, I recommend something like the Think Tank. It attached around the hips and has compartments for everything. The bad part is that the basic belt is pricey enough and then each compartment is sold separately. Did I mention that photography is a really expensive hobby???

And the stuff you should always have with you:

- 2 fully charged batteries

- extra memory cards

- lens cleaner and tissue

-shower cap or plastic bag (just in case you find yourself in a wet situation–you always want to be prepaired!)

Photoshop.com September 30, 2008

Check out Photoshop.com. It’s a great way to store, share, and edit your photos. You don’t pay a dime to register and you get 2G of free space to store your photos and videos. Here’s a screen shot of the home page, showing My Library of photos and what albums I’ve created.

You can also perform simple, yet very useful edits. Obviously you don’t have the same amount of control as you would in Photoshop, but it’s a very easy way to do basic editing, such as cropping, red eye reduction, and tinting. I recommend this especially for beginners not comfortable with Photoshop but still want to manipulate their photos. Below is another screen shot of the editing window. It’s very simple to navigate and you can custom create album slideshows – you can even pick a song to go with your photo slideshow, though the music on the site is pretty hokey. You can share your albums through email, giving access to your photos only to whom you want to see them. You can also log into your other photosharing accounts, such as Facebook or Flickr and upload your photos from those accounts into Photoshop.com. Because of it’s editing capabilities and classy slideshows, it’s a great alternative to those sites.

Photography: Using Reflectors September 30, 2008

Wouldn’t be so nice and easy if everywhere you went to shoot had absolute perfect light? Unfortunately, good lighting can sometimes be a challenge – but not impossible to find. If you’re doing a formal shoot, a portrait for instance, take the time to find a place with good lighting. Lighting kits are nice, but not always necessary. Sometimes a simple reflector will do the trick.

You can buy a reflector (I have a reversible one that is silver one side and gold on the other and folds up nicely into a little bag), or you can just buy a piece of white poster board. Reflectors simply bounce light. If you’re taking a photo of someone or something outside in the sunlight, you might face heavy shadows in places you don’t want them.  You can angle a reflector to bounce light into those dark areas. It’s much better to have all your lighting and coloring right when you take the picture, rather than trying to correct it in Photoshop.

Here is an example of a portrait taken with available (or ambient) lighting and a reflector. I looked for a room with good natural light. In this case, a glass door. The subject is sitting on the floor of her master bedroom, maybe a foot away from the door. I leaned a gold reflector at about a 45 degree angle slightly behind her to catch the light strongest through the glass and bounce back to her to light the dark side of her face and hair. The gold reflector gives a warm feeling and almost looks like a light is there, rather than a shiny piece of plastic.

In this case, an assistant would have been helpful. I leaned the reflector against a bed post, and hoped it did what I needed it to as the subject moved. This picture could be improved by having the light directed from behind her to give some separation between her hair and the background. An assistant is good to have to adjust the direction of the light without you, the photographer, missing a shot (especially important when photographing little ones!)

Notice the background is almost black. I adjusted my light meter only to my subject, leaving the dark background slightly underexposed and not a distraction. There were some small objects visible towards the bottom, which I got rid of by using the burn tool in Photoshop – totally ligit for something like this.

The burn tool is found in the PS tools palet. You can adjust the brush size simply by pressing [ for smaller and ] to make it bigger. At the top of the screen you can also adjust the intensity of the burn tool and the range it adjusts; shadows, highlights or midtones. But that’s for another lesson…