TEXTURED BACKGROUNDS

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I always enjoy using textured backgrounds for fashion photo shoots. Wallpaper in old houses, curtains, or any fabric that has a certain amount of relief, or three dimensionality, can make for intriguing backgrounds. Flat, or non-textured backgrounds are not has photogenic, as there are no 'ridges' in the material to catch the light. When directional light encounters a bump or ridge in background fabric, there will always be a resultant miniscule shadow created. It is the shadows and highlights of a background that will give the appearance of depth, even in relatively flat objects such as sheets.

Remember that the appearance of depth on fabric will not be visible when light is pointed at a 90 degree angle (or straight on). You need to point the directional light at a sharp angle, 45 degrees or less. The slighter the angle, the more texture will be visible. 

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Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

GROUP PHOTOS

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I was hired to photograph wrestlers for a television series, and the requirements were individual photos of each wrestler, and a group shot. Group shots can be difficult because people in the middle, and people on the ends of the group often receive inconsistent lighting. Depending on the subject matter, it may be best to photograph the models individually, and paste them into a group setting using software like Photoshop.

This process can be tedious, because you will need to cut each model away from their background. The simplest way to do this (but not always the most accurate) is to use the Magnetic Lasoo tool.

My graphic design skills are somewhat basic, and I know of many professional designers who are masters of this process (and could do a far better job than I). Do not be intimidated by this process however . . . it is a useful skill to practice and learn. The major benefit that I can see is consistent lighting for each model. It would be impossible to get this hyper-real lighting if the wrestlers were all lined up together in a group during the photograph.

This type of photographic graphic design is quite common in the movie industry. Whenever you rent a movie, take a look at the DVD cover photos, or movie posters. 90% of the time the actors were photographed in a studio at different intervals, and later placed together for the final product; a group photograph of people who were never in a group to begin with.

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

DEFOCUSED PHOTOS

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In 1999 I lived in Nagano, Japan, working as a photographer while my wife was working as a teacher. Every week I would take the bullet train to Tokyo, and spend time in the various subway stations learning the art of street photography. I was particularly taken with the odd and wonderful results of photographing people out-of-focus.



The results were often ethereal and dream-like; long skinny arms, legs, and necks, and due to fluorescent lighting, odd color balances.

To try this technique, always have your lens at the lowest f-number, and of course in manual focus. Overexposure is also important, as this type of photography loses it's appeal if exposed properly.

Have fun experimenting!
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Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com

Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

HIGH CONTRAST - SHINY OBJECTS

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I love photographing shiny, curved objects such as metal, acrylic, and glass. These objects allow for a very high contrast appearance due to the reflective material's propensity to blow-out the highlights. This simply means that the bright reflective areas of shiny material will usually be pure white, with no color or tonal information. Most of the time this situation is undesirable; we almost always want at least a little bit of shade or color, even in the brightest highlights.




Instead of taking a normally exposed photo that has excessively white shiny reflections, why not dramatically underexpose the photo? This technique will increase the appearance of contrast, and will keep tonal information in the bright white sections of the photograph. This technique will also add to the "fine art" aspect of your image.

These sleek machines are Japanese bullet trains called Shinkansen, photographed in Tokyo Station using T-Max P3200 B&W film.
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Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com

Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

MAGAZINE STYLE PHOTOS

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When shooting interiors for magazines, you will often use strobe lights if people are NOT in the photograph, and ambient light (windows and lightbulbs) if people ARE included in the images.



When people are in the photograph it is often advisable to have them walking, which increases the dynamic aspect of the composition. For a grounding effect, placing stationary people in the background can add to the static/dynamic balance.

If you were to use a flash for my above sample photograph, the people would have a sort of "ghost trail" moving ahead of their bodies. It does not look pleasing! Instead, the technique used is to have your camera on a tripod with no flash or strobe, and experiment with different shutter speeds (or different walking speeds), until you get a motion blur that is not too abstract, and not too still. A good shutter speed to start with is 1/2 second.

If there were no people in the photograph, studio strobes would be helpful to create a more even balance between the large volume of window light, and lesser intensity of interior lighting. While you can certainly still use models with flash or strobe lighting, they will be "frozen" in place, which may reduce the image's marketability.

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Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com

Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com