I found this pretty amazing video, shot with Canon’s latest flagship; the Canon 1D Mark IV. Apart from the content, I love the slowmotion and shallow depth of field made possible by large aperture lenses..

Last week we had our second studio lighting workshop for this year; and boy did we have fun? The “crowd” of five attendees was very lively and through all the jokes and mess about, I was bombarded with questions.

I started out by explaining what a typical studio should look like and then shared practical bits about anything from light stands, to studio flashes, light shapers and the various effects each create.

Thereafter, we discussed tonal areas (the difference between shadows, midtones and highlights), transition areas, light ratios, different types of lights, i.e. Key, Fill, Kicker, Background Lights and Gobos. Then came camera settings and the use of a light-meter. We then started building various lighting setups and everyone took a part. I will be sharing a few of the “crowd’s” shots here, but before we get to that, I felt to share a few basic elements of studio portraiture with our readers…

Essential to all good portraits is Highlights and Shadows.. and good Transitions…

What few people realise is that studio lighting is not as simple as setting up two lights, equally powered, pointing to your subject at 45 degree angle, and there you go; everything from foreground and subject to the background, the exact same tone and brightness. Maybe great for school portraits, but boring. No, no, no! Why have everything equally and perfectly lit? To add a kick to your portraits, you need those shadows as well. True portraiture is about creating a balance between highlights and shadows. Whether you go for softer, unobtrusive shades, or dark dramatic shadows (the Rembrandt way), you need those shadows just as much as you need the highlights. Then, you also need to know how to”mix” the shadows with the highlights. In photography terms, we speak of a transition” area, which in easy terms, refer to the way your highlights, midtones and shadows blend into each other. In other words, a “smooth” transition means that your highlights will gradually blend into the darker tones. A hard transition then; means that there will be less “blending in” between shadows and highlights. In other words, there will be an edgy or definte line between shadows and highlights. Typically, femaleportraits are softer and the transition areas will be very gradual and soft. Male portraits, on the other hand, may have a more definite transition area. Then there’s also the matter of light ratios…

Light Ratios and the correct way to use Key Lights and Fill Lights..

In nature we really have one single, powerfull light source; the sun. The sun is a very direct light source that creates dark and stark shadows when blazing down in full power. Sometimes other elements like water, foliage, rocks, sand, glass etc may reflect some of the light back into those shadows and reveal the most gorgeous forms and patterns.The sun then is the Mother of all Lights, the Main Light Source, or Key-Light. The other reflective sources “fills” the shadows and are  called “Fill Lights”.

True portraiture is the same. You will always have one Key-Light and may have one, or several “Fill” lights to “fill-in” some of the shadows. The shadows are neccesary and responsible for revealing form and depth, whereas highlights and midtones would reveal, spark, colour and texture. An important pointer is that there should only be a single (one only) key light to create the image and set the mood of the portrait. All other lights should contribute to that one light and play a secondary part to the  central theme. No other light should dominate the key-light, but rather assist to create the mood you have set with the key light. Typically, female portraits will have a less contrasty ratio; i.e. 1:2 or a 1:3 ratio. In other words, the shadow areas will be 2 times or 3 times weaker than the highlights. Typically, with male portraits, this ratio may be more; like 1:4 or 1:5. In other words, the shadows may be 4 or 5 times weaker than the brighter areas.

Separation between Background and Subject..

In photography, there is various ways to create separation between foreground subjects and the background, such as contrasty colours, depth-of-field, or by using light. This may be the one area where inexperienced portrait photographers falter most of the time.

Typically, the subject should stand out from the background and there should be a clear-cut line between subject and background. There are several ways to employ this by using light. I.e having your background toned down. You may for example, turn a white background into a grey one, by making your subject to stand at least 9 feet away from the background and allow minimum light spill to get to the back. In this way, a white background may come out grey, which typically works for fashion-like portraits. You may therefore underexpose your background by minus 1-2 stops against your subject. Then also, if you choose to use colour or shallow depth-of field to isolate your subject from the background, you may overexpose the background. I.e. by having a light firing at  a grey background, and overexposing it by 2 stops; it may come out perfectly white . If your subject wears a red dress or have dark features, they will stand out against that perfectly bright background.

However, an even greater method is by using a “kicker” light to shoot your subject from out the background. In this way, the kicker light creates a halo-like rim (contre-jour) against the subject’s form. In this way, the colour of your subject’s clothing does not really matter. On many occassions, I have on purpose used a white shirt against a white background. You may even use a black dress against a dark background and still come out tops with definite separation between your subject and background.

• View more of the workshop’s images via Danie’s Facebook profile
• If you’re interested in doing any of our Lighting Workshops or need more information about it. Click HERE…

Clarens is one of the most scenic towns in our beautiful country. Recently we had a wedding there. Unfortunately I was on a tight schedule and had to drive back the following morning.

I didn’t want to let the opportunity slip completely and decided to stand up early and pass through the Golden Gate National Park on our way back. We got to bed in the morning hours (great wedding!) yet still rose up early in an attempt  to get soft light. Sunrise and sunset shots are the way all landscape photographers roll! It was bitterly cold and misty so we missed out on any sunrise shots.

Armed with my camera (obviously), the Canon EF-S 10-22 mm lens with a skylight filter and my Slik Pro DX500 tripod, I made about three stops at the roadside; and within 30 minutes I took about 20 decent photographs. It was literally a “hit and run” and I would definitely stay longer next time to make most of the awesome scenery.

Camera Settings & Post Processing…

I set the auto bracketing to 2-3 stops as to take 3 exposures of each scene. The first shot would be correctly exposed, the second would be underexposed at minus 2-3 EV and the third shot, overexposed at plus 2-3 EV. *

I later overlaid the images in Photomatix *  to create HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. As usual,when taking HDR photos, the camera was set to AV or Aperture Priority * and I used fairly small apertures (around F/11  to F/22). (Aperture priority is vital when taking HDR images to ensure that the depth of field for each photo would be the same for each exposure. Otherwise the images will not overlay perfectly)


Without a remote release I also set the camera’s drive mode to 2-second timer to and ensure that I wouldn’t record any camera movement when pressing the shutter button.

The metering mode was set to Multi-Pattern *  which is ideal for scenic shots.

ISO 100 * was set for low noise and best image quality.

For Post Processing; I used Photomatix’ Details Enhancer to overlay the images and create HDR Images. Thereupon, I opened the images in Photoshop for some basic tweaking, i.e. Noise Reduction as well as my two favourite landscape in Nik Color Effex Pro * (Tonal Contrast and Film Effects/Velvia 100) to enhance the shots.

Keep on checking out this Blog for more detailed walk-throughs on creating HDR images…

Here’s a few of the shots…

Key Notes

* To learn more about HDR photography, visit the Photomatix website, HERE

* At ISO 100, (the lowest ISO speed available on most cameras) the image quality will be best. Low ISO speeds, result in longer shutter speeds. When selecting low ISO speeds, you typically need bright , sunny conditions to hold the camera, otherwise, you will have to use a tripod to avoid blurry images.

* Multi-Pattern Meter Mode is the same as Evaluative or Matrix mode.

* Nik Color Effex is a Plugin for Photoshop. Visit their website HERE

I recently did an assignment for Interface, a Swiss Marketing Agency. It was for editorial photos and part of the assignment expected me to photograph Church Square in Pretoria. I thought to share the following two photos that did not form part of my assignment.

This first image, was taken of one of the four Boers (Settlers) at the Paul Kruger Statue. It was a fairly overcast, but still bright sky. To make a silhouette, I underexposed with 2 stops. I later cleaned it up in Photoshop and converted to black & white by using Nik Silver Effex. I also cropped out some unnecessary elements in Lightroom before exporting the photo for viewing.

This next image is an informal portrait of a man,  who calls himself Midas. He was busy washing himself. He got our attention when quarreling with some other folks who apparently told him to not wash there. Living on the street and with the knive in his belt, he surely looks a robust and tough person.

I walked up to him and asked him directly for a portrait, after which he replied that if only I can buy him a half loaf bread. I thereupon gave him a fee and then photographed him in front of the old Justice Palace. I used Nik Silver Effex to convert the image to Black and White and then Nik Color Effex, Tonal Contrast to enhance the textures and sharpness.

I would like to get your comments on these…

ED

If you’re a studio, or celebrity photographer, you should accept that your very best attempts may bore your subjects to death! Top Gear Man, Jeremy Clarkson shares a recent experience on Facebook.  Click  HERE to go straight to his Facebook notes, otherwise just read the article here below…

“Three minutes and these guys will have Camilla pole-dancing” - by Jeremy Clarkson

I have just spent all day in a photographic studio, pulling faces while a photographer took my picture over and over again. And then just once more. It was for a glossy magazine and it was the most miserable day of my working life.

As a general rule, I would not choose to swap jobs with someone who works on the mortgage applications desk at the Nationwide building society. But by 11 o’clock this morning, I would have happily swapped with someone who collects semen from racing pigeons for a living. At two in the afternoon, I sat down for a tea break and gave serious thought to killing myself. At four, I gave it a bash.

Like most normal people, I hate having my picture taken. It’s such a monumental waste of time. Everyone is only ever remembered for one shot. Brunel. Chamberlain. Your grandad. So why do people have 600 pictures of themselves on their Facebook page? And another 6,000 locked away in the vaults of the computer’s hard drive? It’s madness.

I cannot smile to order, and if I try, I always look frightened. And what’s more, I can let you into a little secret. The camera does bloody well lie. I know what I look like; I see myself in the mirror every morning. And yet in a picture, I look like me but with special needs.

You have the same problem. Yes, you do. That’s why the picture in your passport is of Harold Shipman. And it’s why, in your wedding photographs, you look gormless.

And it’s why, on all of your Facebook pictures, you look cross. That’s because you were waiting for some idiot to work out which button to press on your mobile phone. And then they finally figured it out at the precise moment you stopped gurning, and drew breath to say: “Oh, for Christ’s sake.”

There’s more stupidity in the world of photographs. Because when you’re on the edge in a group picture, you will always lean in. Don’t. Leaning in makes you look desperate to be part of a gang that obviously hates you. And because you’re on the edge, and most cameras have mildly wide-angle lenses, your head always ends up being so distorted that you look like the Mekon. Here’s a tip, then. When situated on the edge of a group, always lean out. And go slightly cross-eyed. It screws the shot for everyone else. And serves the photographer right for being a photographer.

Sadly, today, it was all too professional to cock about. If I’d undone my flies, one of the assistants would have noticed. So I had to stand there, on a specific mark, and look, in turn, happy, sad, ambitious, doleful, loved-up, angry, disappointed, cold, rugged, interesting and upset. At one point, I was told to look regretful. How in the name of all that’s holy was I supposed to look regretful? I’m just a fat man from the north, not Laurence bloody Olivier.

To make matters worse, I had to repeat the process on another mark. And then another. And then I had to go back to the first and run through the facial sequencing again while looking the other way. They took thousands of pictures. Thousands. By the end, the only facial expression I could muster was thin-eyed, murderous rage.

People scoff when they hear that Kate Moss is paid £10,000 a day for a modelling shoot. But trust me. I wouldn’t do another day in the studio for a billion. Even if I’d just been quoted that precise amount by a surgeon to reattach my penis.

And what makes the whole experience so sickening is that none of it was necessary. Because studio photography is no longer about art and capturing a person’s soul and walking about with a Polaroid under your armpit. It’s about maths.

I’ll let you into another little secret. I was once photographed by a magazine in bright sunshine, standing by myself on the upper deck of a multi-storey car park in Los Angeles. But the photograph that appeared showed me, at night, in Berlin, standing next to a Lamborghini. I think my stomach was a little smaller as well. And I had no bald patch.

To achieve this, modern photographers turn up with an army of people who have massive laptops. They operate a Danish computer program that means the subject can be manipulated to do pretty much anything and be pretty much anywhere. You give these guys a snap of Camilla Parker Bowles opening a church hall and they can have her pole-dancing in three minutes flat.

Remember the posters that launched David Cameron’s election campaign? Many said he looked strange in the photograph. Probably that’s because it was the 4,000th shot of the day and he was wondering what the photographer would look like without a head. But almost certainly also because his jaw had been firmed up a bit by the backroom pixel men.

It was the same story a number of years ago with Kate Winslet when she appeared on the front of GQ magazine. I’ve always wanted to meet Kate; she looks like a jolly sort who’ll drink you out of house and home. But when I saw that cover, I wanted to do a bit more than meet her … Thanks to digital enhancement, she looked stunning.

At the moment, of course, the Danish software costs eleventy million pounds and that doesn’t include the cost of the PhD you’ll need from Berkeley to understand how it works. Or the expensive thin-rimmed glasses you’ll have to wear to look the part. But as is the way with all these things, soon a home version of it will be available.

The possibilities are endless. You could be skiing in St Moritz with Hugh Grant without leaving the cupboard under the stairs. And best of all, you’ll never need to stand about in front of a mobile-phone camera again, gurning stupidly while some damn fool passer-by turns off the flash and calls your mum by mistake.

The downside is you’ll never again be able to believe anything you see. A picture used to be proof. Not any more. Soon, it’ll be no more real than one of Turner’s sunsets.

I think Jeremy got to the belly of the beast and I couldn’t agree more. I would like to get your take on it!

ED

Another few HDR landscape photos from the Kriel Photography Course.

Our Digital Photography courses website are being launched officially today and I want to welcome our Blogger subscribers who made the transition over. I hope that you will have a great experience with us and that you will benefit from the articles and posts. I would also like to encourage you to join in the fun and participate by commenting on our posts and articles.

To test the website under development, I started posting a series of hotshots (mostly HDR images) I recently took around the Kriel, Delmas and Secunda. Here’s a few more…