STROBES OUTDOORS

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

I shot this iPhone pic of my assistant Jon as we were setting up for an exterior portrait shoot. I didn't realize until later how funny the picture turned out, as it appears that Jon unwittingly became a conductor of electricity.

When using strobes outside in full sunlight you can run into problems. The prominent issue is the fast shutter speed and high "f" number required to make a decent exposure. It is best to use manual exposure mode for shoots like this, with your shutter speed set to 1/200. This number is a safe average of most camera shutter sync speeds. If you have a faster shutter speed than what your camera is made to handle, the strobe or flash will have no effect.

Next, your aperture, or "f" number will probably be quite high because of the locked shutter speed of 1/200 and the bright daylight. You may find that the proper exposure is f8, or f14. This can be a problem because when the aperture number increases, less light is available from the flash/strobe to the subject. It is not that the flash or strobe becomes weaker, rather it takes a more powerful flash to counteract the smaller lens opening.

If you find that you need more flash power even though it is broad daylight, but you are at max power on your flash or strobe, then try these techniques:

Use a polarizing filter on your lens. This will drop your aperture f-number down approximately two stops (depending on the type of polarizer). When you use a lower f-number there will be more effective light power traveling from the source to the subject.

Another option is to simply place the lights closer to the subject. This instruction may seem laughable due to its obvious nature, but many new photographers do not realize that effective light power increases when the distance between light source and subject decreases.

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

EMOTION AND GEOMETRY

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

I rarely have success with silhouettes, but I do enjoy this (almost silhouette) photograph of a young boy in the Magdalen Islands. There is enough exposure to see the boy without blowing out the background, and the low sun supplies the image's warmth.

In most of my images I try to combine two major elements; emotion and geometry. My favorite images emote a sense of mystery or contemplation, set in a composition of rectangles, circles, and/or triangles.

When learning how to craft good photographs, ask yourself what emotion is presented to the viewer, and what compositional design elements are supporting the subject matter. In this case, the boy presents the viewer with a contemplative scene, set within a triangular composition.

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

MID-CENTURY MODERNISM

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

I was staying at a hotel in Caracas, Venezuela a few months ago, and when I looked out across the street I was taken by a tile design on the side of an apartment block. I immediately thought "late fifties" era Modern, and as I got closer I read the inscription, "E. Tamiazzo, Hecho En Caracas, Oct. 1955".

No doubt most of the city dwellers walk by that piece everyday without noticing it. It often takes fresh eyes from outsiders to appreciate the qualities of particular cities. I did a search for Tamiazzo, but nothing came up under English Google results. Maybe a Spanish speaking person can help me out with a bit of information. The remarkable thing about this mural is that the individual tiles were only a few inches square. It must have taken a long time to create the wall art.

When photographing artwork on buildings, a good way to present the artwork is to make the structure darker than the mural. The structure is necessary, to show the viewer the context of the artwork, but it should remain secondary in importance. Place your camera on high contrast, and if needed, increase the contrast afterward in an image editing program. Most of the time you are looking for a gritty, high contrast scene, especially if you are shooting in a city environment. If you are a RAW shooter, you can also try the "clarity" tool in Photoshop Raw converter. This tool will keep light levels relatively stable, but will increase the graphic appearance of the image. As in my above sample photo, try to arrange the composition in such a way that the building also acts as a design element with vertical or horizontal lines.

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

JAPAN & NIKON D90

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

With regards to talking about D-SLR filmmaking, I am a bit outdated dealing with the D90, especially with the recent introduction of the Nikon D300s. However, it takes awhile to put short films together, and this one that I did in Japan was shot entirely on the D90. The future looks bright for creating films on these new and relatively inexpensive cameras, considering each new model will benefit from the shortcomings of the last model. Hope you enjoy the film, and to see it larger on Vimeo, click on the "JAPAN" link below the film.

JAPAN from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.

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

STAR PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

Most of you know how to take great star trail photos, where you set the camera on a tripod at night and keep the shutter open for a few hours. The result is beautiful streaks of colored light streaming through the night sky.

I had a need recently to photograph non-moving stars. This is tricky for most photographers, due to the lack of professional camera equipment. The ideal situation would be a 50mm f1.4 lens with a professional camera body that works really well in low light situations. For the amateur photographer with normal equipment, here are some guidelines. Keep in mind that the results may have a lot of "noise", due to the high ISO settings. You may be able to reduce this problem by increasing the contrast of the photo afterward in an image editing program.

I will admit that the stars are starting to streak in this image, however in doing the tests with normal consumer equipment, these were the best results that I could come up with. So . . . in your camera menu turn off Active D-Lighting (if you have it), go to maximum contrast, set the white balance to 5600K, or Daylight, focus to infinity, and then put the focus on manual, set the exposure to manual, and place your camera on the tripod.

I am going to assume that you are using a lens that has a fastest aperture of f4. If your lens has a lower F number than that, all the better! Adjust your manual exposure to a shutter speed of 30 seconds, set your lens to the widest zoom (which will reduce the appearance of streaking stars), and adjust your ISO setting to 3200.

You are now ready to take the photo. Trip the shutter with either a remote shutter release, or use your 10 second timer. If you need to physically press the camera's shutter release, it probably won't be detrimental, however using a remote release technique is a good habit to get into. 

When you look at your photo on the computer screen, you will see that the results are quite mottled and grainy. Try adjusting contrast to increase the brightness of the stars, and decrease the mid-tones. For more advanced Photoshop users, you will already have other methods for noise reduction.

Here is a basic chart for different f-stop and ISO combinations, depending on the type of lens that you have access to:

F5.6 - 30 seconds - 6400ISO

F4 - 30 seconds - 3200ISO

F2.8 - 30 seconds - 1600ISO

F2 - 30 seconds - 800ISO

F1.4 - 30 seconds - 400ISO

The reason that I have chosen a 30 second exposure is that it is the easiest shutter speed for those who are learning new techniques. 30 seconds is usually the longest shutter speed that a camera can offer you, prior to manually keeping the shutter open. 30 seconds is also a fair balance between brightness levels and keeping the stars relatively still!

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

RAINY DAY PHOTOS

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

I would like to encourage you to take nature photographs when it is raining. Most photographers have a hard time with this because of the hassle, but it can be done by using a tripod and an umbrella. It is even better if you can convince a friend to come out and hold the umbrella!

I have photographed Japanese bamboo forests many times in the last 10 years of my Japan travels. A rainy day in Kyoto initially looked like a disaster, until I started shooting. The colors of the bamboo were very rich, with a nice sheen and texture. I was pleasantly surprised! My day was salvaged by a simple introduction to watery surfaces. As long as you avoid including the sky in your composition, you will find that photographing nature scenes in the rain can be quite rewarding. Watery surfaces can provide a whole new dimension to old locations that you have photographed ad nauseam. If you are shooting macro scenes of flowers and plants on a dry but overcast day, try bringing a spray bottle full of water. The colors will pop out, and your shots will go from good to great!

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

NIKON 35mm LENS & FOOD PHOTOS

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.


A friend of mine recently bought the relatively new Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 lens. I have been using it lately for food photography, specifically menu items that don't need to be blown-up beyond 8x10 inches. The most important aspect of the lens for me is the ability to get in very close to the subject matter. The closest focus distance is 30 cm, which is quite valuable for certain types of food photography. The closer your lens is to the subject, the more options you have for creative depth of field experimentations.

While professional food photographers might not use this lens because it is not full frame (DX, used with normal consumer Nikon DSLR's), it is a great lens for practicing the art of food photography. A good way to start shooting food is to offer menu photography for your local diner or family-run restaurant. They probably won't have money to pay you, but why not work out food credit? When you get confident in your food lighting skills, and are ready to handle larger commercial jobs with dedicated photography budgets, you will already have a decent knowledge of how to present and light the dishes.

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