Off Camera Flash

Just a reminder: every now and then you should try to get the flash off the camera. It gives each shot a little different feel.

This can be done using a sync cord, infrared triggering device or, if you have a Nikon system, the camera's own pop-up flash will trigger a compatible speedlight--SB800 in this case.

For this shot I used a sync cord and held the flash in my left hand. This is a very common technique and usually when it is employed the flash is, understandably, coming from camera left. (You're holding the camera with your right hand and the obvious default is holding the flash up in your left hand.) As you can tell, however, the light in this photo is coming from camera right. All it took was a minor physical contortion. With the camera to your eye, bring your left shoulder under your chin, extend your left arm out to the right (take a quick peek to see that the flash is pointed at the subject!) and shoot.

A little extra effort and a simple portrait becomes just slightly more interesting.

Teaching and Learning

Joe McNally has put up a post called "Making Window Light." It's yet another of one of his informative posts, explaining in great detail how he works on the road. He continues to generously share many of his secrets about lighting, about how to travel light and still make images that will knock the socks off your client. All with great humor and wit.

The same is true in person, as I discovered when I attended one of his one day workshops last year. (see here) We all laughed quite a lot and learned even more. If you ever have the opportunity... take it! There'll be no regrets.

Go read the post linked above and learn some new groovy way to achieve that soft window light look with a few strobes. Then put it to practice. I intend to!

Meantime, I'd like to share a few images. After reading Joe's blog I was reminded of the many times I've made actual window light portraits. Most of my favorites were in front of one particular window in my home. Best look comes from cloudy days, but shade works as well. As long as no direct sunlight is coming through, you're good. (unless you really do want that, but that's another thing altogether)

In any case, here's to good light... and good teachers!

Gone Fishin'.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~Henry David Thoreau

There will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. ~Roderick Haig-Brown, Fisherman's Spring

'Tis the Season.

"There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot." ~ Steven Wright.

Can you sense it? Feel it? Smell it? It's in the air! Time to get the waders out. Dust off the Shimano. Put the roof-rack on the car. Time to do a little fishing!

Good Times.

"We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can." 

 -- Will Rogers

Mid Day Shooting.

This picture was taken at 12:05 PM. Bright sunny day at noon...the absolute worse time to make a photograph...EVER!

That is, unless you are aware of the difficulties and try to overcome them.

If I had exposed solely for the sky, the fisherman would have been too dark. If I exposed for fisherman, the sky would have been totally blown out, overexposed.

What I actually did was spot metered the blue part of the sky and just went with that reading...which in this case was 250th of a sec @ f 6.3. (ISO 100.) I then popped a flash in there for a little fill light. Help balance things out.

To be honest, I wasn't too sure I liked the overall photograph even after all that. But John said he thought it was cool. So this is for him!

Cheers.

Gone Fishin'!

Had an opportunity for a mini photo essay the other day. Text message said: "I'll be at the canal at ten." Cool. Grabbed my 70-200 and 17-35, a flash, and tons of memory. It was nice and overcast when I first arrived. Though, later, the sun peeked through the clouds and wreaked serious contrast havoc. No choice but to just go with it. Strong contrast tempered with a little fill flash. Anyway, here's a small sampling of those few short hours.

John the Fisherman

When I grow up, I want to be

one of the harvester of the sea...

I think before my days are done, I want to be a fisherman...

Calling John the Fisherman.

-Les Claypool, Primus

For the past two years or so, I've been shooting my own personal project down at the C&O Canal and Great Falls. Periodically, John and I meet up. As passionate as I am about my photography...it barely comes close to John's passion for fishing. As I stated in an earlier post John is one of my best subjects. Very patient and accommodating. I've got countless images of the boy at various points throughout the year. Fall, Summer, Spring (no Winter shots, but maybe that, too, one day!)

Anyway, I intend to share many of these images as time goes on.

Now, I've always been jealous of the fact that John pretty much has a personalized song by one of our favorite bands (see above). In the song, however, "John" grows up to be a fisherman of the seas, and he ends up dying when his ship goes down in a major storm. You can rest assured, though, that this will never happen to our John. We were both on a ship in the ocean once. We both puked our guts up for nearly 4 straight hours! Both vowed never to return to the sea.

Selah.

Panning.

One of our earlier posts talked about being a little more selective about which photos to keep through more and better self-editing. We've also have talked about spicing up the collection of images you show others by using silhouettes. Both were about keeping your audience interested. In that same vein let's talk about panning. Capturing someone or something in motion. On the surface panning looks easy. Just follow along with your subject and click away. True to some extent but, as with everything, it does require some amount of practice. Matching the pace of your subject isn't always easy. (Direction changes, speed changes, unsteady hands.) Also, adding flash to the equation helps add a little dynamism. Here are two panned images. One with flash and one without. This first photo I captured down on the C&O Canal towpath. I noticed a rider coming along and set my camera to a slow shutter speed. As he approached I fixed a focus point on him and followed along all the while making sure that focus point never left his body. I clicked off about three or four shots before he passed. The trees make for a good background and are well blurred to convey actual motion.

This second shot is with the flash. In this case I asked John to walk past me a couple times while I photographed him. After a couple beers he is a most willing subject! Anyway, the background is underexposed by about one full stop. This helps make the subject (John) really stand out when the flash hits him. The flash also stops the action, which keeps John sharp yet the background remains blurred. Cool effect, I think!

Next time you have your camera out remember motion. Follow along as someone walks by. See a really nifty looking car coming up the road? Pan it! Watching a child's baseball game? No better opportunity to practice than when they are running down to first base. Try it out...and above all have fun!

Cheers.