how much depth-of-field? just enough!
choosing the necessary aperture for depth of field (DoF)
Depth of Field (DoF) is one of those elementary factors in photography which seem to mystify most (new) photographers. A question that I'm often asked is, "How do you know how much depth of field you need?" Now anyone who has delved into the topic and has done some research knows that you soon stagger back .. your head spinning trying to tie together all the concepts: circle of confusion, focal length, subject distance, size of enlargement, format size, hyper focal distance, and so on. But a working approach might just Read more inside...video light & boudoir photography
using a video light for boudoir photography
An image from a boudoir photo session today. I ended up mostly using a video light (or two) for the directional and dramatic quality of the light. I tried on-camera bounce flash a few times, but even when I carefully flagged and bounced the flash, there were a number of times where I found that the bounce flash just evened out the light too much. Sometimes it is soft light, and sometimes it just becomes flat light. With the video light (held up by my assistant), I was able to ask my assistant to flag the light and drop the light off Read more inside...wedding photography – and some homework ..
Some of the questions that I'm most often asked about here, relate to wedding photography. Advice on a whole range topics such as posing people, business advice, album design .. and sometimes even lighting. Amusingly enough, I sometimes get asked this a few days before the newbie wedding photographer is going to shoot a first wedding. Regardless of the photographer's experience level though, my advice is usually fairly succinct ... that it is indeed time to do some homework. Read more inside...
Aisha, the belly-dancer ..
Aisha was the star at a recent party where she performed as a belly-dancer. Through several dance routines, I had the luxury of having enough time to move from just the safe shots, to playing around and getting more diverse images ... Read more inside...
common wisdom – Canon’s TTL flash vs Nikon’s TTL flash
Canon's TTL flash vs Nikon's TTL flash
One of the frequent topics on the various forums is the Canon vs Nikon debate ... and one of the usual replies is that Nikon is better in certain ways, and Canon is better in other ways. And the common wisdom that Nikon's flash system is superior to Canon. And this seems to be accepted as one of those general truths. Now, having shot primarily Nikon for a few years (D100 / D2H / D2x), and then Canon (mk2 / mk2N / 5D / mk3), and now Nikon again (D3) ... I have this observation about Canon's flash system vs Nikon's flash system ... they are Read more inside...more subtle fill-flash with your Nikon speedlight
In blending flash with available light, I am often after that delicate balance where the flash is just barely perceptible. This can be with flash as an equal partner to the available light, or with flash as a subtle fill-flash. But what I've found with my Nikon D3 bodies, when used with the SB-900, that the fill-flash flash is still too much, even when turned down -3EV on the flash exposure compensation. I've found similar with the various Nikon D300 and Nikon D700 bodies that attendees to my workshops use. In other words, this isn't just my cameras - this is repeatable with other Read more inside...
recap: photography workshop – San Francisco (2009)
recap: photography workshop - San Francisco (2009)
The first series of workshops for 2009 took place in California - one workshop in Dana Point, and two workshops in San Francisco. Having lived a while in the greater Bay Area a number of years ago, it was great to visit San Francisco again. This just added to the pleasure I had this week of meeting everyone who attended the workshops - and as always, seeing those aha! moments kick in at various times. Thank you to everyone who made these workshops a success, incl our three gorgeous models. A few images of our Read more inside...Bounce flash – balancing foreground and background exposure
Bounce flash - balancing foreground and background exposure
Lighting for the impromptu portrait of this little cutie was simple - just an on-camera speedlight, bounced up and over my left shoulder. This gives soft directional light. A simple technique that works every time when using on-camera flash indoors where there are light ceiling and walls around. Settings: 1/250th @ f4 @ 1000 iso; TTL flash My exposure settings was determined by the out-of-focus garden area outside, seen through a large window. It was over-cast, and therefore not super-bright. This meant that the bounce Read more inside...Photography clichés
Photography clichés
Some sayings in photography are thrown out there so often that they've achieved a life of their own, and become truisms that are summarily accepted and then perpetuated. Here they are - the 10 most annoying platitudes in photography ... The phrase clichés in photography, implies visual clichés. But tastes differ too widely, and I wouldn't want to be the Style Police and dictate to other photographers which subjects and approaches are deemed cool. Besides, I think the world could always use more photos of pretty girls sitting on train tracks. So Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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