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October 31, 2010
photography questions & answers
Continuing on the theme where I look at specific search engine queries via Woopra, and answer a selection of 10 questions more directly…
01) why doesn’t my light meter display an accurate reading when using a speedlight?
Aside from the (small) chance of your light meter being faulty, the most likely reason why you might get a faulty or obviously incorrect reading from your flash meter when metering your speedlight’s output … is that you are shooting in TTL mode. Most flash meters are fooled by the pre-flash that the camera uses to determine TTL flash exposure (and the final output of the flash).
You can see the position of the pre-flash there, a low output burst of light from your speedlight. The camera senses how much of the light is returned, and from that will calculate the TTL flash exposure you should need. Hand held light meter readings are usually triggered by that pre-flash, and since it is lower in intensity than the actual output from the speedlight, will give you a reading that just doesn’t make sense. I drove myself crazy with this one weekend, when I couldn’t figure out why my flash meter would give me an f2.8 reading, no matter what aperture I set my camera to.
Next question …
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Comments (16)
October 29, 2010
It is with great surprise and pleasure that I noticed someone mention that my book on flash photography has been translated into Polish! (Thank you Robert Gabriel for pointing this out to me.) I know there are numerous photographers in Poland who regularly visit my site, so I am sure it is with their interest and support that this came to be. Thank you!
(I was going to use Google Translator to mutilate this into Polish for me, just like I did with the announcement of the Portuguese translation published in Brazil. But somehow my blog template doesn’t recognize the Polish character set at this point.)
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Filed under: news — Neil vN @ 11:04 pm
October 27, 2010
creating a background with narrow depth-of-field & great bokeh
I met up with my favorite model Anelisa yesterday in New York, specifically to shoot images for a more extensive review of the Nikon 85mm f1.4G AF-S lens. And then it struck me how pointless it is in a way. This is truly a superb lens. It improves on the legendary Nikon 85mm f1.4 AF-D lens in some key areas. (For me the updated lens was an immediate upgrade.)
But ultimately, you could get similarly beautiful images with any short portrait lens that gives you a very narrow depth-of-field AND has great bokeh. (Just to reinforce that again .. narrow DoF and bokeh are not the same thing. But I digress.) So, whether you’re shooting with a Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens (B&H), or the Canon 85mm f1.2 (B&H), or Canon 85mm f1.8 (B&H) … these images are easily attainable. It is more about the technique and thought-process and approach, than any specific piece of equipment. However, you do need photo equipment that enables you to achieve what you want to, technically and stylistically.
So walking around with Anelisa, looking for great backgrounds I saw this fantastic Art Deco styled exterior of a diner. And I knew that with the various colors and shadings in the late afternoon, it would give beautifully colored reflections at various angles. Here is the pull-back shot …
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Comments (34)
October 26, 2010
The way that a specific lens renders the out-of-focus areas in the background (ie, the bokeh of the lens), is always an interesting aspect of any lens’ behavior. If the out of focus areas show hard edges, or highlights with a kind of double edge, then the bokeh can appear intrusive. Then it is called harsh bokeh. If the out of focus areas are smooth without the edges being defined, then the bokeh is described as being pleasant. And then on occasion, you get bokeh that is … well, let’s just call it ‘interesting’.
I noticed that the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR macro (B&H) can at times show a weird circular swirl in the background. It is especially noticeable if there are bright out of focus highlights. The photo at the top shows this clearly, even with a background that should appear smooth. In comparison, we can see how the famed Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2 ZF (B&H), renders the highlights. Smooth. Just as you’d expect from a lens with such a reputation. (Both images were shot at f2.8 although the Zeiss is capable of f2 which is exceptional for a 100mm macro lens!)
Just for interest here, I thought of showing how a few other lenses compare in how they render the background …
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Filed under: bokeh — Tags: bokeh — Neil vN @ 4:46 am
October 22, 2010
review: Nikon 85mm f/1.4 G AF-S
So after a slight delay, my copy of the brand-new Nikon 85mm f1.4G (B&H) actually did arrive. I was itching to try it out on a photo session, and yesterday afternoon had my assistant, Jessica model for me. During the short photo session, I used the new 85mm f1.4G and the classic 85mm f1.4D side-by-side. As you can see in the photo above, (Just like the older version of this lens), the new lens’ extremely shallow depth of field and superb bokeh, give backgrounds that just melt away.
My first impression already is that lens is even better than I anticipated …
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Comments (41)
October 20, 2010
exposure metering – bride & the bride’s dress
From a technical point of view, photographing a bride in her dress can be a challenge … depending on the lighting. If everything is under your control as the photographer, and you’re lighting the formal portraits with off-camera manual flash, then it is essentially a study of the zone system.
The simplest way for me then to get accurate exposure, is to use the histogram. I place my brightest relevant tone at the edge of the histogram. All the other tones will fall into place. (It is clearly explained in that linked article, and in my book on flash photography techniques.) In using flash like that as your dominant light source, you simply expose correctly for your subject – the bride in her white dress.
Now, when working with ambient light (perhaps with a touch of fill-flash), things are slightly different .. but not really. You still always (or nearly always**), need to expose correctly for the bride’s white dress, making it the brightest tone that you want to capture detail in. For this article, we’re going to look at exposure metering for available light. The same thought-process can be applied to flash or other additional lighting, but just for simplicity of explanation, let’s just stay with available light here.
So, looking at this portrait above of Jill, a gorgeous bride whose wedding I recently photographed …
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October 18, 2010
camera settings: shutter speeds, apertures & ISO values
A presentation that I’ve given on several occasions, is called ‘Just Give Me The F-Stop‘. The presentation is based on the perception that many photographers, in trying to get to grips with flash photography, try to break it down into what they think are the understandable elements – the numerical values of the settings used. They want numbers, believing that in knowing a certain image was taken at 1/125th @ f4.5 @ 400 ISO, that they might get closer to understanding lighting. They want the f-stop.
However, the scenarios we encounter as photographers vary so much, that it becomes meaningless for anyone to “give you the f-stop”.
Far more important are the methods we use in on-location lighting, such as how to get to correct exposure, and how to get beautiful light, and how to enhance the existing light with controlled use of flash. It is in this intersection between available light and flash that we get great results in seamlessly blending flash with available light. Of course, this is also true for other additional light, such as video light, or even the use of reflectors.
Regular readers of the Tangents blog will be familiar with this topic, but I’d like to expand on this idea a little more …
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Comments (29)
October 16, 2010
saddest unboxing ever
I wasn’t going to post about this, since it seemed too trivial. However, this evening I chatted again to a previous bride and groom who attended their friends’ wedding tonight … and he told me hasn’t laughed so much about an unboxing as he did at my sad whining in a recent Facebook post. So I thought I should repeat the story here then.
I pre-ordered the new Nikon 85mm f1.4G from my favorite camera store two months ago, and received notice that the lens would be delivered this past Friday. I was really looking forward to the update of the renowned Nikon 85mm f1.4D … great excitement! The UPS guy dropped the box off on Friday, and I eagerly opened it up to see a Nikon FM10 with a kit lens. A serious WTF? moment.
There you have it. Of all the zillions of orders that my favorite camera store ships out, I am sure there are the occasional mistakes that creeps in. But maaaaan, that it had to be with me! In their favor though, when I contacted the camera store, they apologized and immediately emailed me an RMA to return the camera so that they can send me my actual lens. No problem there. Their customer service has always been impeccable in my experience.
So, I’m still waiting for my new Nikon 85mm f1.4G lens … and somewhere out there, there is someone who is disappointed he didn’t receive his FM10, but instead just received a lens. I hope he appreciates it!
If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies. Thank you!
Stay informed of new articles via the monthly newsletter.
Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.
Filed under: news — Neil vN @ 11:45 pm
October 14, 2010
finding the perfect background for photographs
Photographers and clients alike regularly comment on this photograph in my portfolio, and the question invariably asked is whether this is a Photoshop effect. Far from it – this image is straight out of the camera …
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Comments (12)
October 13, 2010
photo shoot: haunted fashion (using video lights)
The previous time I photographed Anna was at a pin-up photo session. I had the opportunity again to photograph her and other models again last night … but in a completely different style and setting this time. The Valley Hudson Click group arranged a Haunted Fashion theme for this photo session.
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Comments (10)
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