Make Ambient Light Work For You

50mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/60th sec, ambient & artificial lighting

Summarizing today's post: Off-camera lighting, balancing ambient (available) light with flash, & pet photography.

Now that I've touched a bit on what it is I am doing here -- my purpose so-to-speak -- let's get back to lighting.

Using two off-camera strobes is my personal lighting of choice, as in my self-portrait (shown here). One to camera left, the other to camera right. The key light is the muscle -- illuminating the scene with the majority of the usable light -- and the fill light is there softening the shadows cast by my key light.

I've tried in the past to give a little encouragement to those who do not have but one off-camera flash at this point in their collection. Gear is expensive (I realize) and I want you to learn everything you can about one piece of equipment before you go spend more on something else. As I have said before...I could keep myself busy for a long, long time with just a single strobe.

Now, as promised, I will demonstrate how you can make that one little strobe go further. It's all about using what is already there...good quality ambient light. And striking a balance. It's all about balancing light...or leveraging light. (We'll talk a bit more on leveraging light next time.)

What you have seen me do the most in past posts -- when it comes to adding my own light with strobes -- is to "cut out" or "turn off" all ambient light before doing anything else. I do this by working indoors and setting my camera to a fast shutter speed (most often to 1/250th of a second). 

Why do this? Two reasons. To make a point with the lighting set up I am demonstrating at the time (the main reason), and two, most indoor lighting stinks when it comes to using it in your photograph. The light is either too yellow (projected by incandescent lamps) or too green (thrown off my fluorescent lights). So off with you! (I think its so neat that you can "turn off" the light you don't need without going over to the light switch...but that's just me.)

Now we are going to switch gears and move outdoors. True, you can take some good shots indoors using only one strobe, but in my opinion you get the best results by mixing controlled artificial light with available light. And the best available (ambient) light is found outside...in the shade. 

So let's go, grab your camera and your one strobe and find yourself a nice shady spot outside. The best time of day to shoot in our case is going to be right after sunset, but as long as you can find an abundance of shade (say under the covering of some thick trees) you can do this even during the middle of the day. We are looking for that pure "white light" to use as our ambient, natural light.

I am using Spooky as my subject today. Such a sweet pussy cat...she's all into what ever I am doing outside at the time. You saw the finished product up above, but let's see where I started first.

shot at 50mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/80th of a sec, natural outdoor lighting just after sunset

After adjusting my camera settings for the correct exposure using only ambient light (which always takes a few practice shots before I even focus on the subject) I was ready to go. Spooky was actually ready before I was, she had plopped down in a perfect pose. This first shot of her stretched out on the table was using only natural available light. OKAY, but her face is underexposed...a little too dark. 

Let's bring out my little SB-800 strobe and lighten her a little.

shot at 50mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/60th of a sec, strobe to camera left added, set at 1/128th power

Now, she is really getting into it! Flipped all upside down posing like a pro. My goodness. I set up my strobe to camera left and powered it down to the lowest possible setting, 1/128th. It doesn't take much to throw a little highlight onto her in this relatively low light condition (and with the strobe set up only 4 feet away). I increased the background (ambient light) just a tad by setting my shutter speed slightly slower in this photo.

Now I'm satisfied. All the colors of her coat are shining bright. Beautiful.

This is balancing light. This is how to make ambient/natural light work for you. Go try it for yourself and have some fun.

Thanks for reading!

Brant



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I Am a Photographer

Summarizing today's post: Differentiating between different types of photographers, the purpose of this blog, & encouraging you to blow the dust off your camera!

shot at 82mm, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, f/5, shallow depth of field demonstrated

I call myself a photographer, but what does that mean exactly?

For you, it may mean you are a 9-5 professional portrait photographer who works inside of a studio all day with your name, "Joe's Photography", on the front glass window. You are a true professional. Most often in this case, this business has been established for years, maybe spanning a couple generations.

For another person, being a photographer may mean they are a banker during daytime working hours, then he or she has a little side job doing freelance photojournalist gigs in the evenings. Still a professional, just at it part-time. 

And then there's the guy who just loves to take photos with the camera on his smartphone or pocket camera. A professional? No. A photographer? You bet!

They are all photographers, really. But the degree of "professional" would relate back to a couple of things. Namely...is this what they do for a living? Are they so good at what they do that they get paid for it? 

But other than getting paid for their services (or not), what sets these 3 fellows apart from one another? So many things. And are there other types/categories of photographers? You bet there are. So many in fact, it's difficult to name them all (if not impossible).

I have been struggling for awhile now, trying to decide on what "kind" of photographer I really am. More specifically...I am trying to hone a clear path for this blog. What is it I actually do and what is my purpose? In what place do I fall within the 3 examples of photographers above? The answer to that is, that I don't. I don't fall nicely into any one of those categories. I (like many others) fall into a category all my own.

I am a self-taught, no-official-training, amateur photographer. When I got my first Pentax 35mm camera at age 12, something happened...a spark started to grow. Now, 25 years later (and much more equipment later) I am still trying to define exactly what I want to do with this skill of mine. It's a work in progress to say the least. 

I am passionate about capturing images around me in this world. I am passionate about creative lighting. And I am passionate about stopping time for at least a moment, and savoring it. (The only way to stop time in its tracks is with a photograph...ever thought about that?)

Lastly, I want to help others (thru coaching) develop their love for photography and let their creativity blossom. That's it, that's my purpose. That's why I have created this blog. [you can also see my Welcome page here.] 

My target audience would be the person who has this awesome camera sitting in his/her closet, but doesn't know how to use it to its full potential. They may take it out for the kids' birthday parties and vacation, but that's it. All that's needed is the desire to learn more about that camera. I want to teach this person how to "stop time" in ways that makes the average person say WOW!

I am a photographer, who are you?

Thanks for reading!

Brant

Wow, look at you...you made it all the way thru my post! I really appreciate you as a reader. Don't forget to register your email for automatic updates up at the top. Please pass this blog post on to your friends using the Tweet, Facebook, and Google+ buttons. That would be awesome.

Example of a Portrait

Summarizing today's post: Traditional portraiture, an example of a portrait, & key vs. fill lighting.

shot at 50mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/250th, 2 strobes at 1/16 pwr

After careful examination and spending countless hours weeding thru all the many, many applications from models all over the world...I have made my final choice. The model I intend to use today as my guinea pig when showing you a classic example of a portrait will be...ME. (My original choice -- my younger brother -- didn't work out, but I'll hog-tie him down later.)

Oh well! You'll just have to suffer thru it (and maybe have a little chuckle at the same time.) Yes, this will be a self-portrait. And as such, a little more challenging because it is always easier (and preferable in my opinion) to shoot someone else rather than shooting yourself self-portrait style. It's time-consuming, and well...I just like being behind the camera like I have said before. But necessity rules the day, so you got me to look at right now.

Okay, remember the last post? (click here) I will be using the same lighting set up shown there as I will in my real-life example today. Here's the details:

I simply put one of my SB-800 flash guns on a stand about 4 feet from myself (this would be to camera-left) at a 45 degree angle. This is my key/main light. I shot it thru a white umbrella to soften the light a bit. (Most often, soft light is the order-of-the-day when it comes to portrait-style photographs.) I then set up another SB-800 off to the other side -- to camera-right -- but set back an additional 3 feet...so we'll say 7 feet from me. This is my fill light.

Once my strobes were all set up, I put my camera on a tripod and aimed it right where I would be standing. I made several test shots until I achieved proper exposure, which was as follows: 

The ISO sensitivity was set at 400 when powering the camera up, so I left it right there and worked with it. I wanted to fuzz my background a bit so I swapped to a "faster" lens that allowed me to set my aperture to a very wide f/3.2. 1/250th of a second shutter speed was an order to cut out all ambient light. Once all set, I focused on the strobes' power setting. 1/4th power...total wash out, 1/8th...better, 1/12th...still to bright. Then I found the perfect setting...1/16th power for the both of them. Slightly overexposed, but that's what I'm aiming for.

Now, you may laugh at how I achieved proper focus, but you have to improvise at times. Being that my aperture was set so wide, the "fuzz factor" (I call it) was large...meaning that only a very small place between the camera and the backdrop was perfectly in focus. That's where my eyes should be. I can't be in front of the camera and focus it from behind the camera it at the same time (unless I want to dig out my remote "clicker", which I didn't). So...I found one of the pussycat's toys laying around that I could attach to the top of the backdrop and let it's little streamer (that the cats love to bat around when you wave it in front of them) hang down right where my forehead would be. Now I had a focal point. [How 'bout that? Those cats are worth something after all.]

After using the self-timer feature and shooting for about 10 minutes, I finally got what I wanted. I picked the photograph where I wasn't looking just but so dang goofy and went with it.

shot at 50mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/250th, key light only

To help illustrate the difference of using fill lighting vs. not using it, I have included another photo using only the key light. Can you tell the difference? Scroll back and forth and see if you can tell what shadows are present this last picture in comparison to the final product up above. 

Look at the left side of my face (the right side of the photograph). Those are the shadows that that the fill light corrects...or fills, just as the name suggests. Pretty neat right?

Okay, enough already. Now you've seen me on my own blog. Next time I hope I can find someone a little better-looking to be my guinea pig.

Play around a bit and see if you can hold a family member still long enough to practice your portrait shots. It really is a very practical skill that you need to master, because it's use bleeds into many other areas of photography that you will see pretty consistently.

Thanks for reading!

Brant

 Wow, look at you...you made it all the way thru my post! I really appreciate you as a reader. Don't forget to register your email for automatic updates up at the top. Please pass this blog post on to your friends using the Tweet, Facebook, and Google+ buttons. That would be awesome.  

Fill Lighting in Portraiture

Summarizing today's post: Traditional portraits, key vs. fill lighting, & a bit on the evolution of photography.

Let's talk a little more about multiple strobes. In this case, we are going to take fill lighting to another plane. More specifically, I will show you the best way to take a nice photograph in a traditional, portrait-like setting. 

Now, let me take you back in time a bit. Back in the day of 35mm film cameras (remember those?) -- before everyone had digital cameras and smartphones -- photography was different. When someone thought about a "photographer", most thought of the guy or gal in a traditional studio setting who did nothing but take portraits all day long. While portraiture is still a large part of the photography industry, the digital revolution -- which really took off about 15 years ago (but was actually started by Kodak in the mid-70s, believe it or not) -- has changed the definition of what professional photography is. 

If I had to sum up the definition of modern-day photography in one word, I would have to say... creativity. With a powerful digital camera in your hand, the sky is truly the limit in terms of what you can shoot. There are plenty of photographers out there today who make their living without stepping foot into a traditional studio setting. 

Now that everyone has a digital camera in their pocket, a lot of folks do not see the need for professional portraits. We are always snapping pictures of our friends and family all the time. However, portraiture is still an important skill to master, despite the dwindling demand in the modern world. And if you are trying to hone your skills as a photographer, you need to learn how to take an awesome portrait. If people know that you are proficient with a camera, there will be times someone will ask you to take a nice photograph of them. So I will show you what I have learned over the the last few years when it comes to taking a portrait.  

Key/Main light and Fill light position in relation to your camera and subject

First, let's talk set up. (This is where it all ties in with what we have been talking about, especially when in comes to fill lighting.) We are using a 2 light system...a key/main light, and a fill light. Here is a CRUDE drawing (this is why I stay behind a camera when it comes to demonstrating my artistic ability) I penciled to demonstrate the best way to position your lights/strobes. Your key light will be to camera left at a 45 degree angle and "looking" down on your subject (person or object you are shooting) a bit...not much, maybe at 30 degrees or so if you want to get technical. Notice in the image above that it is placed closer to the subject than the other strobe. The fill light is placed farther back and is at the same 45 degree angle, but not placed as high up as the key light (maybe at 10-15 degrees). In my drawing, I am using 2 simple strobes (off-camera flashes) fired into umbrellas to soften the light. Both strobes will be set at the same power. With the main light placed closer it will be providing the most light, giving dimension to your subject. The fill light be there to soften the shadows cast by the main light.In my next post, I will go into detail a little more and I will provide a real life example of a portrait. For now, let this sink in and play around with it a bit with your own equipment.Thanks for reading!Brant Wow, look at you...you made it all the way thru my post! I really appreciate you as a reader. Don't forget to register your email for automatic updates up at the top. Please pass this blog post on to your friends using the Tweet, Facebook, and Google+ buttons. That would be awesome.       

Easter Sunday: Using Soft Light In Practical Situations

130mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/250th, strobe 1/2 pwr,

Summarizing today's post: Capturing family memories, off-camera (soft) lighting, & a few photo tips for practical situations.

Easter memories always bring me to a happy place. As a young boy we have always celebrated this happy occasion with family get-togethers. This tradition has stayed the same throughout my lifetime in fact. As life happens and schedules change, the number of family members who can come home varies. But we always get together one way or another to celebrate and remember that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead so many years ago.


This year, Easter Sunday was a little different because it was raining outside. But we made the best of it, having a family day indoors. It all worked out very nicely and we had a wonderful time. I (of course) brought along my camera to capture a few of these memories.

I'm going to sidetrack today and share some photographs I took of my family enjoying themselves on this special day. We'll get back to the topic of using multiple strobes later on, I promise. 

This is an important post for you guys who want to actually apply some of the principles that we have talked about thus far in a real-world application. Mainly, I wanted to show you what I do in lieu of taking outright snapshots. This little trick works superb for indoors...read on.

Okay, first shot (above) is of our little boy walking into Grandma and Granddaddy's kitchen and seeing what they got him for Easter. Look at the expression on his face! My God it was absolutely priceless. I knew that there would only be about 2.5 seconds that I  would have to take a photograph of him before he grabbed up his goodie bag, so I wanted to be ready.

I had a single (bare) strobe set on the kitchen table off to the left and pointing straight up at the ceiling. This created a huge light source right above him (remember apparent light size?). I had already taken a couple of test shots to adjust the power of my light to 1/2. This rather high power was necessary for 2 reasons. I had the ISO sensitivity on my camera set at a low 200 (I wanted the best quality photo) and also I was using indirect lighting (bouncing light off the ceiling). Set up, I was ready. Shot #1 a success!

shot at 70mm, ISO 200, f/5, 1/250th, strobe at 1/2 pwr

Shot #2 was -- quite literally -- just a few seconds later. Gavin had picked up his bucket of candy and money and was clutching it to his chest. Precious. How can you NOT smile at this picture? Makes you remember when you were a little one yourself I bet. 

I was able to capture this image because he and I were positioned very close to where we were in the first photograph, so no changes were necessary in settings. If he had of walked to the other side of the kitchen -- or even a few feet away -- I would have had to adjust a few things (namely, where I had my strobe situated).

This setup works very well in indoor applications where the people who you are shooting are in relatively close proximity to one another. When you set your shutter speed to 1/250th of a second, you quickly make your strobe the only light source that contributes light to your frame. That gives you, the photographer, control. And easy? Once you have your settings where you want them, it is just as easy as taking snapshots...except the quality of the image is so much better. 

Here are a few more photographs I took on this special day. Note that the only thing I did different when I moved around the room (or when moving out on the porch) is tone down the power on my strobe from 1/2 to 1/2.5 to adjust for more light colored (reflective) surfaces in the room. And then all I had to remember is to place it (my strobe) somewhere between me and the person who I was shooting.

At left below, my Mom & Dad. They are laughing about something or another! At right is my pretty wife and baby brother (not so baby...he's taller than me!)

52mm, ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/250th, strobe 1/2.5 pwr

40mm, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250th, strobe 1/2.5 pwr

40mm, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250th, strobe 1/2.5 pwr

Lastly, here are a couple of photos of my parents and Gavin playing around on the porch just before having to head back home. Priceless. 

The only real lighting difference on these last two, is that I placed my strobe on the right (camera right, that is) instead of the left. It's still pointing straight up, illuminating the whole ceiling just above them. One big, huge light source. Nice and soft.

 

35mm, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250th, strobe set at 1/2.5 pwr

It's actually pretty amazing that we got Gavin to sit still long enough for a picture, being he was so wound up on candy (and just the thrill of the day in general). It didn't last long tho, as you can see in the this last one.

"Got to go", he says!

What a nice day, as short as it was. Family is so important to me. Sometimes we take each other for granted, and that should not be. I challenge you to tell that special family member that you love them today.

Thanks for reading!

Brant

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Lazy Day: Key vs. Fill Lighting (Continued)

shot at 46mm, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250th of a sec, strobe 3ft way, 1/64 pwr

Summarizing today's post: Off-camera lighting, adding fill lighting to your key light, & solving problems with contrast.

It was a lazy Sunday. Not too many times my wife and I have the same day off together...and we made the best of it. Lazing around, snuggling up with the pussycats, and watching movies was the order of the day. When I saw Pinky and Penelope all wrapped up together in bed -- in the middle of the day, mind you -- well, you know me...I had to capture the moment.

I wanted to upload a couple of photos today to give you another example of how to use your on-camera flash (the only time I suggest you use that little built-in flash you've got) as fill lighting. Nothing new today, just going a little further with my last post "Key vs. Fill Lighting" (see here).

So back to Pinky and Penelope. 

The first picture I took (which is not shown here) was with ambient lighting only just to see what I could get. There is a window right beside the bed which was pouring in right much light (it really was the middle of the day). With my shutter speed set at a 13th of a second (pretty slow) while at ISO 200, I could obtain the proper exposure. The problem was this...they were not facing the window, hence Pinky's face was too dark, and the kitty cat was in the shadow of the bed sheet. Bummer. What to do?

I could have done several things (always nice to have the ability to utilize multiple solutions to your lighting problems just in case one doesn't produce the desired results). But what did I do? Well, I used this priceless opportunity to expound a bit on our topic at hand of course!

First, I "turned off" the ambient light. How did I do that? Did I close the blinds? Nope. I simply cranked up my shutter speed to 1/250th of a second. I clicked a test shot, and sure enough everything was almost completely black. Now I had complete control to use my own light sources. [This is why I encourage you to use the manual controls on your camera because it allows YOU to decide how to solve your problems the way YOU want. Neat.]

Next, I set up a strobe to camera left about 3 feet away and set it on 1/64th power capacity. I used nothing to soften the light, just used the bare flash head. (I did this because I wanted those hard shadow lines to appear to show you what I am about to "fix".) Okay, first photo (above) looks good, properly exposed at an aperture of f/4.5. 

Now, in any setup like this -- with one small, hard light source -- you inevitably are going to have a lot of contrast in your photo. What I mean by that is dark shadows will be there. Contrast is okay at times if that's the look you are going for. Most times however, you'll want to soften those shadows a bit. Time to problem-solve. The easiest way I can think of to lessen those dark areas is utilize our new-found knowledge of fill lighting!

shot at 48mm, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/250th of a sec, fill added at 1/64 pwr

Second shot. With everything else the same, I have added a little fill lighting using my small, built-in, on-camera flash, set also at 1/64th power.

So what's different? Well, two things...only one is a result of my fill lighting. Pinky is now smiling at me because she realizes I am taking pictures of her (oh, "there he goes again"). That's the first. The other thing that's different is the contrast in the photo has been taken down a bit, which is what I'm after. The main two points of reference where this can be noticed: the shadows cast on the pillow by Penelope's ear, and also the one cast by sheet just below Pinky's chin. Those shadows, while still there, are softened. Not as hard. Look back and forth at the two photographs and you'll see the difference. Nice, this is what I'm after.

Fill lighting is an awesome solution to the "shadow problem". It allows you to move your main light source off-axis from your camera (in order to give your subject that real-life 3 dimensional look) without creating a large amount of contrast in your final photograph. And what I have found over and over again -- when in it comes to adding my own light -- is this: THE way to make a so-so picture into a professional-looking photograph is to move that main light (the key light) off to one side or another in relation to your camera's viewpoint. You will hear me say that again and again.

Now, can you think of another way I could have solved my lighting problem in this situation? Yes you can I'm sure. Here's one: If you'll go re-read my post on March 20th -- "My Lovely Wife" (see here) -- you'll find that those same principles could have been applied here. By increasing the apparent size of my light source I could have lessened those dark shadow areas as well, reducing the overall contrast.

I hope you now can see the benefit of using fill lighting in your setup. It's just one of the many tools you should be able to utilize if the situation justifies it.

If nothing else, I hope that by looking at these two photographs you are ready to have a "Lazy Day" yourself. They are priceless...and rare. And that is why I had to capture it.

Thanks for reading!

Brant

Wow, look at you...you made it all the way thru my post! I really appreciate you as a reader. Don't forget to register your email for automatic updates up at the top. Please pass this blog post on to your friends using the Tweet, Facebook, and Google+ buttons. That would be awesome.

Key vs. Fill Lighting

shot at 44mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/125th of a sec, bare strobe left 3 ft away, 1/32 pwr

Summarizing today's post: Off-camera lighting in photography, adding fill light to your key light, & shooting in manual mode.

Now that we've looked at some of the benefits of off-camera lighting, lets go a little further. I want to introduce the idea of using multiple strobes. This is a very interesting way to shoot...one of my favorites. We'll start simple, then expound a bit in later posts. 

So when is it a good idea to introduce another strobe into your setup?

It's a good idea to add a second strobe when you want little patches of controlled light in your frame. It allows you to light multiple sides of your subject without "blowing out" one side to light the other. It also allows you light on multiple planes, such as highlighting something in the background that you want to add emphasis to. But the most simple reason to add another light source is to lighten the shadows a bit on your subject. This is called "fill lighting".

~~~~~~sidenote~~~~~~

I know what you are thinking. Geez...I've got to buy another flash now? Crap. But don't stress out, you can wait a while. Ask Santa for it. In the meanwhile, you can keep yourself busy (for a lifetime really) with that one strobe of yours, I promise. You can always use another light source as your second strobe until you get one. How? Use your imagination! Need some help? Stay tuned for my next post to give you one idea. 

~~~~~~sidenote~~~~~~

So, in my setup today we have 2 light sources. The main one will be called the "key light", which is my main light...the source throwing the most light onto the scene. And for that, I am using my trusty SB-800 Nikon off-camera strobe. The other light source, the "fill light", will simply be my on-camera flash.

Look at the photograph above. This is a picture of a precious little house plant my mom gave us a couple of years ago that we have tried hard to nurture. (Hard to imagine I would call home from work and ask my wife... "have you watered the plant lately?"...but it happens.) Anyway, back on track. 

This photo was taken with only one light source first to prove a point. After setting the shutter speed fast enough to cut out any ambient light (at 1/125th of a second), I took the shot with my strobe to camera left, positioned about 3 feet away. This was a bare flash set at 1/32 power and nothing used to soften it (like an umbrella for example). So what you see is a hard light with hard shadow lines. Kind of nice and moody actually, but not what I'm after here. I want to bring out the leaves in the background a bit. 

shot at 44mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/125th of a sec, adding on-camera fill, 1/32 pwr

Here is the second photograph using my on-camera flash as fill. It is set at manual 1/32 power as well. With every thing else exactly the same, you can now see the detail in the leaves much better. Nice.

Always remember that the way to a quality photo is to position your main light source (the key light) so it illuminates off-axis in relation to the camera, as we have discussed in previous posts. In other other words, don't ever make your on-camera flash your key light. You can use it as a fill light if necessary, but that's it. What's the result if you do use it as your key light? S-N-A-P-S-H-O-T. Snapshots have their place (as I have stated before), but I want you to avoid taking them when ever possible, and time allows. 

By definition, your fill light will be less powerful than your key light. What you are after is for the fill light to soften the shadows a bit, not blow-out and overexpose the areas that the key light is already illuminating. If you are paying attention, you will notice that both my key and fill lights were set at the same power (1/32), so what's up with that? Simple explanation. My fill light is on-camera, and my camera was set back further (approx 5 feet away) than my key light. Remember, your light source increases with intensity exponentially as you place it closer to your subject.

Hope all this makes sense. Play a little. I will submit another example using on-camera fill in my next post to help.

Thanks for reading!

Brant

Wow, look at you...you made it all the way thru my post! I really appreciate you as a reader. Don't forget to register your email for automatic updates up at the top. Please pass this blog post on to your friends using the Tweet, Facebook, and Google+ buttons. That would be awesome.