The Digital Negative

The Digital Negative by Jeff Schewe, published by Peachpit Press, ISBN: 13 978-0-321-83957-2.

I have just read this book to try to get a better understanding of digital photography.  Schewe is a photographer who has also been working with the boffins at Adobe since the early 1990’s to help develop RAW, Photoshop and more recently Lightroom for photographers from a photographer’s point-of-view.  His books are therefore as close as you can get to finding a first class knowledgable author.  He has published two books ‘The Digital Negative’ and “The Digital Print’ the later I have just began to read.

The Digital Print briefly covers the basic background of how the digital image is made in the camera but drills in to the featured and functions in both RAW and Lightroom that you will use to process your RAW file in to a presentable photo.  This includes a recommended and sensible workflow, background information from the Adobe engineers explaining why certain features work the way they do.  Chapters 4 and 5 a dedicated to Photoshop for advanced editing beyond the capabilities of RAW and Lightroom for those images worth the extra effort.  Chapter 6 covers the recommended workflow from importing pictures from the camera, storing, backing-up, making copies, cataloguing on to developing.  This book does not however cover printing as this is a topic for his second publication.

This is a good book to read, I learned a few new features in Lightroom that I was unaware of and also instructed me in the use of RAW that I am unfamiliar with as I have only used Lightroom so far.  Lightroom was was developed with a lot of the features from RAW and both will talk to one another but changes made in one will alter the other’s parameters and this is a useful thing to be aware of if you use both RAW and Lightroom.  If you want a better understanding of Lightroom, RAW and Photoshop this ids the book to read.  This is not however a detailed book for Photoshop it covers the topics that most photographers need but doesn’t look at all the magic tricks possible in Photoshop.  This is a book intended to help the modern photographer become confident and proficient developing digital photographs to a point that they can print or advance to higher levels of editing using Photoshop and plug-ins.  Not too technically challenging and easy to read and fairly easy to understand without an engineering degree.

A very good book that I would recommend.

Tutor’s report and my reflections for assignment five.

I have just received back my Tutor’s formative feedback for my last assignment for the Art of Photography Course, assignment V, Narrative and Illustration.

  Re-examining my work.

Tutor_report Shaun Mullins 512659 TAOP asst 5 V2

I enjoyed this project immensely, I found it very challenging and I learned a great deal from it.  I had read some very useful books that helped with ideas of how to plan for this project, namely: Context and Narrative, by Maria Short, Basics Creative Photography, 02, AVA.  Making Photographs, by Mike Simmons,  Basics Creative Photography, AVA.

Throughout this project I kept referring back to the brief to be sure that I understood my assignment and feel confident that I met the brief.

The brief being to imagine that I have to illustrate a story for a magazine to include the cover to illustrate and several pages inside to include captions of any length to explain and link each picture.  The cover picture will need some of the techniques of illustration that I have been experimenting with and the picture essay will be more of a narrative.

Any theme which has a narrative element could be a suitable subject for this project; so on first checking with my Tutor, I chose to use a ghost story by M.R. James as the Narrative to illustrate.

Having thus decided upon the story, I set about planning my photographs.

Reflections on my Tutors comments (see attached document).

Image 1.

My Tutor liked this image and comments that it was a good example of risk taking, although I must confess it didn’t occur to me at the time.

Image 2.

Perhaps it is a little stereotypical, I could perhaps have used a still-life image of the map and magnifying glass as an alternative.  However, the third hand was intended to complement and make sense of the caption.  ‘Oh, Parkins,’ said his neighbour ‘If you are going to Burnstow I wish you would look at the site of the Templars…’  Perhaps the third hand wasn’t needed.

Image 3.

A simple image that worked for linking the story.

Image 4.

Although it lacks a visual link to the last image (3) it is necessary to continue the story.

Image 5.

Unfortunately, I could not find a antique whistle as a convincing prop; so I had to make do with a wooden peg that we covered in dirt to make the object as ambiguous as possible.

Image 6.

I was very pleased with this image as I think that it gives an atmospheric feel to the story.

Image 7.

Probably my favourite image and was perfect for what I was looking for for the cover.

Image 8.

My Tutor thinks that this image could arguably have been left out of the narrative.  My feelings is that as this project is a magazine story and the story is essentially about finding a whistle in a grave-yard and whistling up a ghost, I needed to include this image (identification) to help link image 5 (discovery) with the following image 9 (put to use).  however, no two editors may agree the same outcome, therefor as a photographer, I would have at least covered myself having produced the image if an Editor had decided that he wanted it.  In this case I was the Editor.

Image 9.

My Tutor feels that my friends pose appears to be a little over-acted, I think that this is a subjective opinion, the expression was intended to suggest someone tentively blowing through an unfamiliar object.  It looks truthful to  me; but I may be biased.  The shadow effect however, appears to have worked as I wanted.

Image 10.

A simple image; but turned out to be trickier to achieve as my friend could only spare me limited time in the evening when it was already very dark.

Image 11.

It took a lot of pictures before I got this shot!  I particularly like the wide open eye that I am always drawn to.

Image 12.

As with image 10 this photo was more of a challenge as I had already lost the light; so I had to use a speedlight in a soft-box and experiment with settings on my speedlight and camera to get the effect I was looking for,  I then had to make some final adjustments in Lightroom.

Image 13

The ghostly spirit takes form using bedsheets and rushes at the professor.  I was happy with this final image, although I had to combine two images in to one in Photoshop to produce it.

A big thank you to my Tutor for his support and constructive comments.

 

 

 

Exercise – Rain

In this exercise I had to produce a single strong attractive image that would leave no doubt that the subject is rain.  This would be used as the front cover of a magazine.

I began by making a list of what rain meant to me in order to find ideas for the elements required.  I then made a short list of magazine subject matter in order to connect the subject with the theme.  (Normally of course the magazine would be the employer and therefore the task of imagination would be only limited to the elements.)  From my list I decided to use gardening and for simplicity chose to use wellington boots and an umbrella photographed through my patio windows that I first sprayed with water to create the rain drops on the glass to emphasise the rain.  My barbeque was the original inspiration for both the choice of magazine style and idea for composition (Thanks to the Great British weather barbeques are closely associated with rain) so I arranged the wellington boots and umbrella next to my brick built barbeque.  However, I did not consider it important enough to the composition of this image to produce a photo that clearly defines the Barbeque as an additional element; so if it is recognised all the good and if not it’s not important as the boots and umbrella are the important elements to be linked with rain.  By chance, the day I worked on this photograph it actually did rain anyway; so this helped by providing a nicely wet patio for the reflection from the umbrella.

I first took photos composing the image in a conventional portrait format but I felt that the images lacked something. I found by tilting the camera the images looked more interesting creating a more dynamic composition.

24-120mm f/4, @112mm, 1/100sec f/20, ISO-6400, WB-Auto.  Adjustments made in Lightroom (no cropping) and text added in Photoshop.

Tutor’s report and reflections for assignment 3

Tutor Report Shaun Mullins 512659 TAOP asst 3

Again, I read up as much as I could on this subject and taking on board earlier comments have now started to include referencing my books in my blogs.  I have also invested in a screen calibration tool called a Spyder4 which re-calibrated my screen for colour reproduction on my computer to help me when editing my photos in Lightroom or Photoshop.  This I believe is my secret to successful colour reproduction when printing.

I take Mikes point about choosing a single theme and on reflection that would have been a very good idea.

Colour harmony through complementary colours.

    I used this colour wheel which guided me in the decision to use the photo of the cat as the blue and orange appear to be opposite each other on the wheel. I think perhaps I needed an element that was a brighter orange to have worked better.

  The rose and the green background are of a similar tone to each other and so this is why they work so well.

   Yes, Mikes comments are fare, this image needed a bit more work to give it punch.

  I was trying for something more imaginative and maybe I could have cropped in tighter and shifted to grey-tone to turn the hands a neutral grey and used Photoshop the bring back the colours in the ring and nails.

Colour harmony through similar colours

   A good example of keeping it simple.

   I saw this whilst walking my dog along the river and quickly photographed it on my phone.

  I wasn’t entirely happy with this picture but it was the last image I needed for my assignment and I was pressed for time; so had to use it. The idea was sound but my choice of clothing was poor as it wasn’t strong enough for the lighting I had.

I simply added the blue straw to try to make it more interesting by adding an odd one out but is still following the rule as blue is next to green but I should have put it between green straws instead of being attracted to the contrast which was not the object of this exercise. Perhaps it was just one straw too far.  This may have been a better image to have submitted. 

Contrasting colours 

  I think the was stuck under another print and was missed.

   Worked better in print than on screen. I will keep this image for reference.

  I was not too familiar with the setting for the camera on my phone at the time and it was one of those moments to quickly catch the image.

  I was pleased with this image.

Colour Accent

  Again it works when I keep things simple.

  I was pushing this a bit but I thought it worked.

  Yes, on reflection I agree I should have used more skittles and given more attention to their matching colours.

  I like taking portraits and using a colour accent added an interesting element.

I learned a lot from this section of the course, much more than I originally expected.

Assignment V workbook.

For this assignment, I have decided to use an Edwardian ghost story by M.R. James as the narrative for my assignment.

The story is essentially about a college professor who is taking a short holiday on the coast and has been asked by a colleague to visit a ruined Templar’s church that is located close to where he is staying.  During the professors promised visit to the ruin he has a little dig around and finds a strange object that he later discovers is a whistle with a Latin inscription that roughly translates: “Who is this that comes?”.  He playfully blows the whistle to find out and discovers to his cost the meaning of the inscription.

For this project I enlisted the assistance of a friend who is an experienced actor and I then read through the story about five times to be thoroughly familiar with the narrative in order to be able to properly plan my images.

I then chose what I believe to be the key passages out of the text for my narrative in order to visually tell the story, I then created a word document  Story Board as copied and pasted below in order to begin visualizing the required images and sketching out the ideas.

Story Board – Oh, whistle and I’ll come to you my lad

1. If you are going to Burnstow I wish you would look at the site of the Templars….   Prof. Parkins (Graham) sitting at table with friends, map, train time-table. Graham centre, profiles of friends flanking left and right in foreground.
2. Location – He must, he quite rightly concluded, be on the site of the Preceptory he had promised to look at. Waverley Abbey. View of Graham seen from the ruins or Graham foreground and ruins in background. IDEA – Use a window in ruins to frame Graham. Step ladder may be needed.
3.  It might, he thought, be as well to probe the soil here for evidences of masonry… And now following another discovery: A portion of soil fell inward as he scrapped and disclosed a small cavity…. A hole and a pen-knife.
4.  Of course it was empty. No! As he withdrew his knife he heard a metallic clink and when he introduced his hand it met with a cylindrical object…. Close up of hand bringing whistle from hole.
5. Location – Bleak and solemn was the view on which he took a last look before starting homeward. Waverley Abbey. Long distance landscape shot of the ruins. IDEA – Use a graduation filter for the sky.
6. Location – One last look behind to measure the distance he had made since leaving the ruined Templars church showed him a prospect of company on his walk, in the shape of a rather indistinct personage…. Little Hampton. Graham walking towards camera glancing over his shoulder, occupying large area right of centre in background top left is smallish white (out of focus) running figure. IDEA Graham lit by large softbox using CLS for fast shutter speed to darken background, second softbox to illuminate white figure.
7. It was with some considerable curiosity that he turned it over by the light of his candles. It was bronze, he now saw, and was shaped very much after the manner of the modern dog-whistle…. Close up of hand and whistle lit with an amber cast candle in background.
8. He blew tentatively…. Portrait of Graham, amber cast.
9. Whether it was the wind or the excitement of golf, or the researches in the Perceptory that kept Parkins awake…. / Parkins shut his eyes and determined to give sleep a chance…. Graham on pillow. Low key image, edged lighting.
10. Location – Over-excitement asserted itself in another form – that of making pictures…. Parkins experience on this occasion was a very distressing one…. What he saw was this: A long stretch of shore – shingle edged by sand and intersected at intervals with black groynes running down to the water…. A man running, jumping, clambering over the groynes and every few seconds looking eagerly back… Far up the shore a little flicker of something light coloured moving to and fro with great swiftness and irregularity…. Declares itself as a figure in pale fluttering Draperies, ill-defined…. Little Hampton IDEA – Graham hiding with a Groyne against his back arms out face turned to one side for a profile. The white figure waving its arms top left again in the background out of focus
11. He must have slept soundly for an hour or more, when a sudden clutter shook him up in a most un-welcome manner. Graham with a startled stare, out of focus white sheeted figure in background.
12. It is a horrible, an intensely horrible face of crumples linen…. He could not keep back a cry of disgust…. And the linen face was thrust close to his own. Face to face. Sheeted face top left, Graham’s bottom left. IDEA – Scream mask from novelty shop with a sheet then overlaid with separate image of crumpled white linen in Photoshop for texture affect.

I then sketched out the ideas for each shot, one or two of the images only needed one sketch; but others took up to three or four drawings to find the idea that I settled with.

Having selected the scenes from the story and created some visual ideas I was then able to decide what shots required locations and what did not and from that what type of locations needed.  Then it was a simple matter of finding the locations to suit.  I had discovered Waverley Abbey near Frimley, Surrey, quite recently and my friend Graham has a holiday flat in Little Hampton with perfect beech locations; so I had my locations.

I did not decide which image would be my front cover image until I had already made two-thirds of the images.  I felt that image number six was best suited for my front cover, I think that it compliments the title very well.  My reasons is that the silhouette of a figure in the distance and just the feet of someone in mid stride in the foreground suggest that either may respond to a call from the other and the title helps to link the two subjects together.  The beech had a fairly steep slope to the sea as you can see from the image however, the tide was just on the turn and the sand was too soft and wet to be able to photo any closer to the surf; so obtaining reflections and a better view of the beech proved impractical.  I was pleased however to catch a good colour in the sky just as the sun began to set, the weather was very much like the day we visited Waverley Abbey; so I was happy that the sky for this image and image V are both correct for the time line in the story.

Story boarding with sketches and final image, starting with my cover shot, image VI.

Image VI.    Location – One last look behind to measure the distance he had made since leaving the ruined Templars church showed him a prospect of company on his walk, in the shape of a rather indistinct personage…. Little Hampton. Graham walking towards camera glancing over his shoulder, occupying large area right of centre in background top left is smallish white (out of focus) running figure. IDEA Graham lit by large soft-box using CLS for fast shutter speed to darken background, second soft-box to illuminate white figure.

Sketches for image VI for ideas and it was the final sketch that led me to my resulting picture.  The resulting image was photographed on the beech at Little Hampton, late afternoon just as the sun began to set.  The figure was my wife standing to attention and my friend posed to suggest he is in mid-stride but was in fact motionless. 24-120mm f/4 @34mm 1/125, f/5.6, ISO-100, matrix metering, WB-Auto.

 

Image I.  If you are going to Burnstow I wish you would look at the site of the Templars….   Prof. Parkins (Graham) sitting at table with friends, map, train time-table. Graham centre, profiles of friends flanking left and right in foreground.  I kept this image simple and I decided just to have my friend posed studying a map with someone’s hand (mine) pointing out a place on interest on the map.  Camera was set on a tripod with timer set to trip after 15 seconds to take x 3 pictures 3 seconds apart, 85mm f/1.4, 1/125, f/1.8, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-Auto, remote speedlight in a soft-box and reflector.

 

Image II.  Location – He must, he quite rightly concluded, be on the site of the Preceptory he had promised to look at. Waverley Abbey. View of Graham seen from the ruins or Graham foreground and ruins in background. IDEA – Use a window in ruins to frame Graham. Step ladder may be needed.  On location at Waverley Abbey, standing on a small portable step ladder, I used the stone window opening to frame my friend Graham posing as the professor as he stops to survey the ruin for the first time.  Thus creating the moment when he recognises that he has found the Preceptory including a suggestion of the ruined church in the same image without un-necessary detail.  24/120mm f4, @48mm, 1/40, f/9, ISO-400, matrix metering, WB-manual.

  

Image III.  It might, he thought, be as well to probe the soil here for evidences of masonry… And now following another discovery: A portion of soil fell inward as he scrapped and disclosed a small cavity…. A hole and a pen-knife.

    Initially the idea was to simply create a still-life; but my friend Graham brought a pen knife with him on location which he happily posed to suggest digging amongst the ruins which I feel works well.  I had originally thought to use my garden or some waste land for the shots of finding the whistle as I didn’t want to be seen digging around a historic site.  But the site had lots of broken walls with small openings in them that could be employed for the shots and simple posing the hand and penknife against the stones and by craves in a broken wall suited my requirements perfectly.  24/120mm f/4 @35mm, 1/2500, f/4, ISO-400, matrix metering, WB-manual.

Image IV.  Of course it was empty. No! As he withdrew his knife he heard a metallic clink and when he introduced his hand it met with a cylindrical object…. Close up of hand bringing whistle from hole.  I was unable to find a suitable whistle for my prop; so we decided to simply use a wooden peg which we made dirty to try and disguise the material that it’s made from and suggest that it has been buried in the hole that the hand appears to be removing it from.  24-120mm f/4 @35mm, 1/80, f/4, ISO-6400, matrix metering, WB-manual.

 

Image V.  Location – Bleak and solemn was the view on which he took a last look before starting homeward. Waverley Abbey. Long distance landscape shot of the ruins. IDEA – Use a graduation filter for the sky.

   I chose to photograph this image from a very low level deliberately angled to create a sense of disturbing tension.  When my friend Graham saw this image he didn’t like it and suggested that I alter it to be less angled. I have respected his opinion and reviewed the image to consider his comment; but I feel that the angle creates a sense of discomfort which was what I am looking for from this image.  This is after all a ghost story and I want to create images that help make the reader feel a little uneasy.  24/120mm f/4, @24mm, 1.5000, f/4, ISO-160, matrix metering, WB-manual.

Image VII.  It was with some considerable curiosity that he turned it over by the light of his candles. It was bronze, he now saw, and was shaped very much after the manner of the modern dog-whistle…. Close up of hand and whistle lit with an amber cast candle in background.

 

I used a remote speedlight with a yellow gel set in a soft-box to create a soft candle light type of lighting to complement the text.  We used the same wooden peg that we used at Waverley Abbey and therfore I composed the picture so that the whistle is implied but not clearly seen.  85mm f1.4, 1/125, f5.6, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-manual.

Image VIII.  He blew tentatively…. Portrait of Graham, amber cast.

 

I decided that a simple image of the Professor appearing to blow on a whistle was not interesting enough; so I thought that I must have an image that implies both action and effect.  Therefor I had the idea that my friend should pose to appear to be blowing on a whistle and to create a shadow behind him to suggest that something has come to him in response.  I found this to be very tricky to light and photograph for reasonable exposure, I was also limited to time that my friend could commit.  However, I was happy with this final result.  I used a speed light with a home made silver foiled vanity dish with a honey-combed grill to help produce a beam of light to create a stretched shadow on a Chinese ornament for the sinister shadow.  I used another Chinese ornament that I put on display in the bottom left corner of this image to suggest that the shadow may be coming from it, may be not.  I used Photoshop to crop, spot heal a picture hook from the wall and adjust levels for both the shadow and the Professor separately using layers.  24-120mm f/4, @62mm, 1/125, f/4, ISO-125,  matrix metering, WB-Auto.

Image IX.  Whether it was the wind or the excitement of golf, or the researches in the Perceptory that kept Parkins awake…. / Parkins shut his eyes and determined to give sleep a chance…. Graham on pillow. Low key image, edged lighting.  To be used with image X.

   

This image juxtaposes with image X in order to suggest to the viewer both the reality of the Professors eyes shut as he tries to sleep and a scary moment in the vision that he sees every time he closes his eyes.  As this was part of a more dramatic image, kept it simple using a fast shutter speed a flash behind Graham’s head to create the edge lighting and I had to use a side table light to produce enough light on his face as I only had one flash with me.  Adjustments in Lightroom for temperature, levels and cropping.  24-120mm f/4 @55mm, 1/320, f/4, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-Auto.

Image X.  Location – Over-excitement asserted itself in another form – that of making pictures…. Parkins experience on this occasion was a very distressing one…. What he saw was this: A long stretch of shore – shingle edged by sand and intersected at intervals with black groynes running down to the water…. A man running, jumping, clambering over the groynes and every few seconds looking eagerly back… Far up the shore a little flicker of something light coloured moving to and fro with great swiftness and irregularity…. Declares itself as a figure in pale fluttering Draperies, ill-defined…. Little Hampton IDEA – Graham hiding with a Groyne against his back arms out face turned to one side for a profile. The white figure waving its arms top left again in the background out of focus.

 

  In this image I wanted to convey the feeling and impression of the professor’s nightmarish vision that he keeps seeing when he closes his eyes to sleep.  From the idea of a simple image of the Professor hiding behind a groyne from a white figure, moved on to consider a shadow or reflection of the nightmarish figure to a more simple idea of using the zoom to create a form of motion blur to imply seeing through the eyes of the nightmarish figure as it finds the hiding professor in his dream.  24-120mm f/4, 1/13, f/8, ISO-50, matrix metering, WB-Auto.

Image XI.  He must have slept soundly for an hour or more, when a sudden clutter shook him up in a most un-welcome manner.  IDEA – Graham with a startled stare, out of focus white sheeted figure in background.

        

I after my initial thoughts that I put down on paper my final idea through my sketches was to produce an image implying that something had just happened, something that has just woken the Professor.  I decided to photograph my friend posed in bed looking startled, seen through a reflection of the mirror on his dressing table with a vase of flowers tipped over in the foreground to imply that it was the noise from the fallen vase has just awakened him.  I used Lightroom to crop, adjust temperature and levels.  Remote speedlight in soft-box, 24-120mm f/4, @52mm, 1/250, f/4, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-Auto.

Image XII.  It is a horrible, an intensely horrible face of crumples linen…. He could not keep back a cry of disgust…. And the linen face was thrust close to his own. Face to face. Sheeted face top left, Graham’s bottom left. IDEA – Scream mask from novelty shop with a sheet then overlaid with separate image of crumpled white linen in Photoshop for texture affect.

 

 

To be used across two pages with text on top.   This is my punch-line to the story and for this shot I wanted something dramatic and suitable for a double page spread.  To obtain this image I used Photoshop to merge two images in to one by creating a background image (ghost) and a foreground image Professor’s hands.  I have a polystyrene skull which is a prop for Halloween parties which I covered with a pillow case then laid over a white sheet and photographed standing over it and using the zoom method employed for image X to suggest that it is rushing forward.  In Lightroom I adjusted the temperature, contrast, and levels which created a natural dark bokeh affect to the edges of the sheet which was a welcome and unexpected bonus as it saved me having to create it in Photoshop.  I then took a photo of Graham’s hands as he crouched in front of me reaching his hands up and positioning as directed with a white sheet draped over a door as a background.  After adjustments in Lightroom I exported both images to Photoshop, selected the ghost image first for background then selected the hands photo for foreground and using layers I painted out the white sheet draped over the door in the background of the top layer of the Professors hands to reveal to ghost background image below.  I feel that this final image captures the horror and drama that I was looking for in my “punch-line” image.  Two images combined in Photoshop.  Hands 24-120mm f/4 @44mm 1/125, f/4, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-Auto. Skull and bedclothes, 24-120mm f/4 1/15, f/4, ISO-125, matrix metering, WB-Auto.

Draft Word Document.  Oh Whistle and I will come to you my lad-draft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment four – Applying lighting techniques

The Brief

In this assignment I am using the various lighting techniques that I have learned in order to create a selection of images that bring out particular physical properties of the same object.  I have chosen to make a portrait study of my wife as my chosen subject to photograph for this assignment.

       

Shape

 

Sarah wearing a Cloche hat. 105mm f2.8, 1/250sec f/3, ISO-50.

Shape – What defines shape?

A shape is an object that stands out from it’s surroundings, in order to be seen or notices, it has a definable edge to it but it may not have much detail.  Indeed an object with a defined edge and very little or no detail is nothing more than a shape.  However, a shape has to have some quality that offers some clue as to it’s identity or otherwise it may as well be described as – and simply called – a blob.

Chosen images

 

I chose these two images to submit for assessment as I felt that both of these pictures define shape very nicely and interestingly.

My first image has Sarah looking info the picture towards the negative space.  The image has been lit to provide just enough information so as to the identity of the subject using the contrast of highlights against the dark background to define the faces edge and shape.

Sarah in edge lighting was photographed against a black back ground with two naked speed lights set on stands behind her, one to her left and one to her right, both above her and angled down towards her at 45 degrees.  The lefts light was set at 1/32 and the right set to 1/64 and both operated via the camera using Pocket Wizards.  The camera was set on a tripod with a cable release for tripping the shutter, 105mm f/2.8 lens, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO 125. Small adjustments made to sharpness and tonal contrast in Lightroom.

My second is Sarah one of her favourite hats.

Sarah in the hats was taken against a white back cloth illuminated by two speed lights in soft-boxes in order to evenly spread the light across the screen behind Sarah.  The speedlights were both adjusted to 1/16 and controlled by Pocket Wizards.  Ideally I would have liked to have included a black screen behind the camera but I did not have enough space in my dinning room.  I compensated by adjusted my ISO to ISO 50 and to be sure the back ground was as neutral as possible I used the f/3 for minimum depth of field, shutter speed 1/250 sec.  105mm, f/2.8 lens, tripod mounted camera and the shutter tripped using a cable.   Some small adjustments were made in Lightroom to sharpen the image, and add additional tonal contrast.  My choice was between this and the cloche hat to submit; and although the cloche hat produces a simple cameo effect I preferred this ‘ascot’ hat had image which retains some additional detail in tones for the hat.

Form

Describing an objects three dimensional form and or it’s volume.

 

 

85mm f/1.4, 1/250sec, f/5.6, ISO125, 3 x speedlights operated via pocket wizards, soft-box and reflectors.

In this high key image Sarah’s pose appears to be coming out of the picture frame.  For a backdrop I used a white sheet illuminated by two speedlights in soft-boxes to evenly light it and set it back about 1.5m from Sarah in order to maximize the benefit of a shallow depth of field to loose any folds/creases that might otherwise show up.  The main key light was a speedlight set to 1/64 in a 24 x 24 soft-box above and 45 degrees to Sarah’ s right (left of the picture) and a white reflector set on a stand to Sarah’s immediate left.  Sarah was also holding a silver reflector to her chest angled up to fill shadows under her chin, etc.  As a result, I think that this lighting set up has created a nice modelling effect of Sarah’s face putting a nice shadow under her nose and just over her top lip. there is soft shadow on her left cheek and nice highlights on her right cheek and on parts of her face and nose without any blown out areas.  I believe that the white background helps push the image forward and give is a nice definable edge all the way around.

105mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec, f/3, ISO125.

For my second image I chose this low key idea.  Standing on a step ladder above Sarah as she sat below me on a chair, I lit this image using a soft-box above Sarah and to her right with a white reflector to her left but moved a little further away to only give a small amount of fill-light to her left side.  I reduced the power down to 1/128 on the speedlight and exposed for the highlights.  I believe that the combination of lighting and depth of field draws the viewer through and down thus creating a sense of a three dimensional depth to the picture.

Texture

85mm f/1.4, 1/250sec, f/2.8, ISO125.

Soft – In this exercise, I have photographed for a soft look.  Using a remote speedlight set to 1/64 +0.3 EV in a large 34 x 34 soft box directly in front of Sarah and set on a stand directly above the camera. By using large diffused flat light source combined with a narrow depth of field I believe that I have produced a much more flattering soft texture to Sarah’s face.  I chose to position Sara by a window in our kitchen to help provide a natural high key background.

105mm f/2.8, 1/250sec, f/5.6, ISO125, WB flash.

Hard and sharp – A less than flattering portrait of Sarah capturing the texture of Sarah hair and to her skin, the hard edge lighting helps to sharpen the image.  To obtain this image I have used hard strobe lighting, set behind Sarah to the left side and right side of the room.  Sarah also held a reflector in front of her to bounce light on to her face.  I mounted the camera on a tripod, manually focused and operated the strobes via Pocket Wizards.  The Speed light left of camera was set to 1/16 and fitted with a reflector beauty dish with a honeycomb grill attached to direct the light.  The speedlight to right of the camera was set to 1/32 and fitted in to the shell of a 24 x 24 soft-box with a honeycomb cloth grill attached; so as to act as a large direction reflector.  Behind the camera I had set up a black screen to prevent light bouncing back on to the subject from my light green walls.  Behind Sarah I had screened off our French windows to prevent light illuminating the background.

Colour

105mm f/2.8, 1/250sec, f/4, +1step, ISO125, WB – Daylight.

In this deliberate colour cast image, I set the WB to daylight but illuminated the scene using a camera mounted speedlight set to 1/8 with a ‘Oklahoma yellow’ Rogue Gel attached and the speedlight was fitted inside a small soft-box and aimed to bounced off the ceiling from Sarah’s right to suggest that her face is being illuminated by the candle which is in fact just a prop.

105mm f/2.8, 1/13sec, f/3, ISO-125

My wife is part Italian; so I thought it would be fun to try to incorporate the colours of the Italian flag in this portrait.  Controlled by Pocket Wizards I used three speed lights, two gelled and one plain, I set up white fabric backdrop that was lit on one side with an un gelled speedlight in a soft-box and on the other side a green gelled speedlight inside a soft-box to illuminate to other side of the backdrop.  I then set a red gelled speedlight in to a 24 x 24 soft-box positioned above and at 45 degrees to Sarah’s left to illuminate half her face.  I positioned a reflector to Sarah’s right between Sarah and the Backdrop to catch some of the white light and bounce on to her right side for fill light.

85mm f1.4, 1/250sec f/1.8, ISO-125 WB-Sunlight.

On reflection – I have decided to replace my image of Sarah lit by two different coloured gels in preference to this picture that on re-reading the criteria, I feel meets the requirements as stated in the brief, that is to choose a lighting and exposure that shows the subject’s colour as strongly as possible.  This image was taken during the same session for obtaining a soft look.  The lighting process and exposures were very similar.  I used a speedlight in a 34 x 34 soft-box set at 1/128; so as not to overpower the natural light coming through the kitchen window.  I feel that this has created an attractive flesh tone and the sunlight has brought out the colour in Sarah’s hair and produced a natural highlight to the side of her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using my camera’s histogram

In this exercise, I practised using my speedlight off camera for a still life. I set the speedlight in a soft-box fitted to a lighting boom and stand and complimented with a white reflector to bounce light back to fill the shadows.

My first image illustrated the result from the camera’s recommended metered exposure. As you can see the lace table cloth is grey rather than white. Immediate right is an image of the Histogram display as recorded by my camera for this shot. Note that the highlights are towards the left and closer to the centre. This is because light meters use grey as their mid-point to work-out an average exposure. Therefore a white subject or large area of white will typically be underexposed looking grey rather than white.

For this next image I have adjusting the aperture from by one stop from f/22 to f/16 which has brightened the picture and changed the grey table cloth to a much brighter white. As you can see from the accompanying image of my camera’s Histogram the graph has shifted over to the right, but is still within an expectable tolerance.

In the final image I recomposed to eliminate the dark area top right of my last picture which was the edge of my backdrop. As you can see I made no other changes and the histogram is the same as my last picture.

This emphasises the importance of the histogram as an aid to making good exposures and to make reviewing this information as a matter of habit as part of best practice. This will inevitably improve my photos, help to obtain consistent results and cut down the work time in Lightroom / Photoshop.

Exercise – Concentrating light

In this exercise I practiced a method of focusing the light on a particular subject. In this case it is a crucifix on a bedroom wall. To achieve this, I used an off camera speedlight set up on a light stand and aimed at the crucifix with an attached “snoot”. A “snoot” is a type of cone shaped tube which is wide at one end for attaching to the light and narrow at the other to concentrate the light down to a narrow beam. I made one from cardboard rolled into a tube and taped on to the speedlight. The speedlight was controlled by a Pocket Wizard and I set the light to manual and adjusted the power to 1/64. I set the camera to a low ISO, ISO 125, 1/250, f/8 in order to get a dark room and bright reflection in the mirror. I took the photo hand held, in Lightroom I cropped, made some adjustments in “Tone Curve” converted to black and white and tweaked the colour sliders in the grey-scale adjustments.

White on white

I gave myself a little challenge to take a challenging image of a white subject against a white background.
Following the steps outlined in Light Science & Magic by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Faqua, published by Focal Press.

I used a Nikon SB910 speedlight inside a soft-box fitted to a tripod that straddled the set. The speedlight was controlled by a Pocket Wizard for off camera remote control. A black card was placed to the left of the subject to help with modelling, a black gobo was suspended above the subject to create a shadow on the top of the head and prevent a highlight from forming and obscuring the top detail. A reflector was also employed as a fill light to soften shadows on and below the face. I used a handheld light meter to take an incident reading and stopped down from f/22 as recommended by the light meter to f/19 to obtain a nice white background instead of an 18% grey background.

I have only sharpened and converted to black and white in lightroom without any adjustments to contrast, tones, or exposure, etc.

Colour blindness!

Here is a classic example that it is sometimes best to take a break and come back to your work later, rather than just carry on.
This image was cropped and some colour adjustments made in Lightroom then saved as a PDF. I was originally happy with my work, but it was only when I came back to look at it much later that I realized how yellow the image was!