Kate – a New York photo session
Kate - a photo shoot in New York
Kate is from Ukraine and has a deep fascination for New York. As a present, Kate's sister flew both of them out for a vacation here ... and had me photograph Kate around New York yesterday. The idea was to get a mixture of portraits of Kate and some photos of Kate in obvious New York locales. We started off in the Meat-Packing district because I wanted a photogenic spot that wasn't too crowded during a weekday (in winter), so we could have an easy start to the photo session. Since Kate might not have been experienced with photo shoots, I thought Read more inside...why use such high ISO settings with flash?
why should you use a higher ISO?
The advice for optimal camera settings for best image quality are usually: - use the lowest possible ISO: - at an aperture about 3 stops down from maximum (the widest) aperture; - at a shutter speed fast enough to avoid camera shake and unintentional subject movement. Taking this general advice at face value, means using the camera at its base ISO, which would either be 100 ISO or 200 ISO. However, while this advice is sound in theory, in practice this doesn't have direct consequence on my decision about my camera settings. In terms of Read more inside...off-camera fill-flash in bright sunlight
shooting in bright sunlight with off-camera fill-flash
This adorable kid looked at the camera briefly because I was singing to him. Kids are devious little creatures. They know when you're calling them and will purposely ignore you. So you have to be crafty too in getting their attention. Of course, you have to be ready for the moment ... and shoot a lot. Sometimes that Decisive Moment is to be found in the edit. The photo session was from 12 noon to 1pm. So the sun was high overhead. We're often told that the sun directly overhead isn't the best time to take photographs. While Read more inside...tips on posing people / working with a model
tips for posing people / working with a model
So you have a great camera and lens; and someone who is willing to be photographed and willing to work with you; and you have a great idea for a setting or backdrop ... but now what? Posing your subject is something that can be quite intimidating to a newer photographer. The pressure is now on YOU to create magic .. or at least an arresting image. Leaving everything up to the model or your subject to do, or for them to come up with ideas ... while you just click the shutter, makes you just an owner of a camera, and not a Read more inside...using narrow depth-of-field & great bokeh
creating a background with narrow depth-of-field & great bokeh
Shooting images for the review of the Nikon 85mm f1.4G AF-S lens, it struck me how truly superb this lens is. 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 Read more inside...Exposure metering for the bride’s dress
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, Read more inside...Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO
Camera settings: Shutter speed, Aperture & ISO
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 Read more inside...fire performer at PDF
After I was so thrilled with watching and photographing the fire performers at their wedding, Katie and Nathan managed to get me a ticket to the PDF event this weekend. Due to work commitments this weekend, I was only able to visit tonight (Friday), and take in the activities and spirit of the event, and chat to random people. Magical. Of the fire performers (and other participants) I photographed, I really liked the few images I got of Nichole .. and thought I'd show them here as a small glimpse of the event. Shot with the Nikon D3, using the Nikon 85mm f1.4D lens 1/125 @ f1.4 @ 3200 Read more inside...
