Natural light or flash?

Sometimes natural light is the best light, especially when it comes through a window or better yet, a window with some scrim over it. However, I like to flash the crap out of everything I shoot.

I never used to like using flash, when I was first starting photography I hated flash, partly because I didn't have a flash, but also because I didn't know how to use it, so I learned to shoot without it, using the available light, finding where the light was and moving my subjects into the light. Come Tafe and university, I still hated flash, refused to use it, I found that it got in the way of my shooting style and had to force myself to use it more and more. It wasn't until third year when I finally realised there was a reason for using a flash (obviously) and I made myself use it more and more.

Since working as a full time photographer I hardly never use flash on an assignment. The reason I use flash is because it is the easiest and best way IMO to isolate your subjects from the background. I've always loved lifestyle/editorial styled photographs and knowing how to use your flashes is the best way to do that - i've found.

There are often times when I walk onto a site and just stand there looking at the light. The old "put the hand in front of the camera and check the light" trick is used 99% of the time when walking into a room or out in the open. Often i'm looking at the quality of light, sunny, overcast, the direction it's coming from and how the shadows are falling from the light - if any.

Sometimes I come across a scene that I want to use and am too stubborn to change it even though the light isn't right. There are many times when I want to put my subject in a certain spot but the light isn't right, casting too many shadows, throwing too much light onto my subject - or not enough, that's when throwing in a bit of flash helps - a lot.

As you can see, I like using flash. I try to make it look as natural as possible, although you can tell there's flash in there I try not to make it look overdone.

So why do we go with natural light sometimes? Good question, I don't even know myself, but I normally go with natural light if i want a certain 'look'. The word 'look' is a pretty broad term, especially as a photographer but for me I will use natural light if the light is right. It doesn't really explain much, but just like when I shoot a frame and I know it's a good shot, there's something inside that lets you know "yep, that's the shot". Sometimes the natural light compliments the subject matter and I will often opt to use that instead of flash. The shot below, I didn't feel the need to have to isolate my swimmer from the crowd or from the beautiful mountains behind him, he is part of the image, a part of the story. The light hit the mountains perfectly and the sun was creating a beautiful rim light on the subjects.

Sometimes the natural light is SO good you have no option but to shoot it. The shot below in the steelworks was a natural light shooters dream. There was a BIG open doorway on left and a HUGE skylight 20m above the subject which lit up the whole area. The steelworks was under maintenance, so all the doors were open, normally it's dark and gloomy in there, however on this day everything was open resulting in a beautifully lit photo. The skylight above is what makes the photo, the light lit up enough of the steelworks to add some location and context to the shot. The beauty of soft light (like below) is that it almost creates no shadows, the light fades off gradually without the harshness which you normally see in broad harsh daylight.

 
Sometimes I mix flash with natural light. The below shot could've been replicated with flashes, but in this instance the natural light was perfect. I had my subject sit in her sitting area where the light streamed in perfectly lighting her up adequately. As my foreground subject who is a cleaner, was in deep shadow because I was exposing for the daylight outside, I added a little bit of fill flash to light up the inside of the house and her to create a more natural looking scene.

Like my point earlier, sometimes natural light is just too good to say no.

Relying purely on natural can be challenging sometimes as you need to make sure you're not putting your subjects face in complete shadow. Using natural light slows me down, it makes me wait for the decisive moment when the light falls perfectly on the subject, it's very much a waiting game, but when it works, it works very well indeed.

So what's my conclusion? I really don't have one, there is no right or wrong answer. Light is light, use what works best in your vision, use what works best to best tell your story.

Until next time..

Ciao.

How to: Panning

My friend and budding photographer Hari ased me last week to write a little post about panning - so here I am and this is how I do it.

Panning is a technique that I really love and like to use it whenever I can to add the feeling of motion and energy into a shot. There are certainly times when panning is more effective than other times and I tend to only pan sparingly. 

Panning doesn't work for all shots and there is definitely a time and place when to pan. As a news photographer i'm usually pretty tight on time, required to shoot off a few frames within minutes sometimes. Panning takes time and a lot of practice to get right. Rarely do you ever decide to pan a photo and get perfect results instantly. 

The hardest thing about panning is keeping at the same pace as your moving subject. If you move too slow or too fast, your subject becomes blurry and you end up with a whirl of crazy colours and nothing really usable - arty yes, but usable for news, no. 

Shutter speed is another important factor when it comes to panning and dragging the shutter. I've found that 1/15-1/30th is pretty sweet, depending on what i'm shooting and how fast the subject is moving. There isn't really a rule to it, I just find that anything under 1/60th gives pretty good results while panning. 

Panning too long a time, you risk losing your subject in a mix and blur of colours, pan to short a time, your subject becomes static and blurry, defeating the purpose of panning. 

Practice practice practice to get your panning technique right. The reason why I don't spend too much time on it whilst on jobs is that there is a high rate of crap photos. Photos that are either too blurry or just not sharp at all. In a situation where you have only one chance, panning is a ballsy move, but if you pull it off, you're a super star. I generally like to use it for sports as it really accentuates the feeling of movement and speed. 

Although this is shot on a different angle, this image is not bad, it's a karting shot, stock standard and you lose the 'speed' and adrenaline in the shot. It looks static, you as the viewer have no idea if they were zooming past or just having a leisurely drive on the track, that is one of the reasons I love panning. 

 I mentioned earlier that panning takes a lot of practice and sometimes you need more than a few shots to get the perfect panned photo. This is a good example of how little margin you have to play with when you're panning. In this image, the background is blurry and smooth - tick. the exposure is correct - tick, but our rider is not sharp - big fat cross. 

This image is taken only a few seconds later. It ticks all the boxes and if you want to be anal, yes, the rider is blurry too, however his head and helmet are tack sharp, and usually that's what does it for me. This image shows off the movement and speed of the rider in the shot. 

Another example of panning vs not panning. This photo I quite like, the rider is high up on the dirt bank and it's a pretty cool photo, however, looking at this photo, you have no sense of action, it's just a 'cool' shot. When shooting sports, 95% of my shots are like this ^ static as there is less chance of stuffing up and in a pressure situation, you sometimes only get one chance, i'd rather get the shot than miss it. It may not be as exciting or artistic, but it's still the shot. Better safe than sorry. 

I'll be honest with you, I hate shooting roller derby and for a few reasons. It's one of those games/sports where I have NO idea what is going on, it's frantic it's fast paced and generally, shot in really crappy lighting conditions. High ISO, crappy lights = yuk, but, I don't mind panning in it as it really adds a new perspective when you look at other roller derby photos.

So pretty short and sweet How To: this time but to basically sum it up. Here are my rules for panning:

1. Keep your shutter speed between 1/15th - 1/30th
2. practice. A lot. 
3. A longer lens usually exaggerates the sense of movement and speed - but is harder to keep subjects sharp throughout the pan.
4. I find shooting in Manual a lot better.
5. Don't pan everything, a few pans is a good way to break up sports photos but personally I wouldn't like to see too many of them in a sports spread.

So that's it.

Short and sweet!

How to: Wireless flash on the NEX system.

So my mate Wk  suggested I explain how to do off camera flash on the NEX system - so here it goes. As much as I love the NEX system, there's one thing that annoys me so very much, it annoys me so much that i've even thought about changing over to the Fuji X-System. Why you ask? The Fuji X series have something that only the new Sony NEX 6 and older 7 have and that's a hotshoe mount.

Now quick rant, Sony.. why MUST you try and be different and have designs and products that ONLY you use and no one else uses or is even interested in? No idea but it infuriates a lot of photographers who need to buy Sony only products in order to achieve what they want to do - Sounds a lot like Apple, but that's another story.

So hotshoe mount, what's so good about it? What is so good about it, is that it allows you to attach a flash via TTL cable or via wireless flash triggering systems so that you can fire flashes OFF the camera. For those who don't know, off camera flash is the sh*t. It makes photos look nicer and more dramatic. Off camera flash is what I use everyday at work to make portraits just look.. better.

So why should I care if my camera has a hotshoe or not and whether I can do off camera flash? Well, being so used to using DSLR's all of my photographic life, i've always had the opportunity to do off camera flash, from even the most basic cheapo DSLR to the top of the line DSLR, there's always a hotshoe to attach a flash and take it off the camera to do off camera flash either wirelessly or via TTL cable. TTL cable is probably one of my favourites ways for doing off camera flash as it's simple - a cable that connects your flash to your camera - and very very quick to set up. The only draw back is that you can only extend the flash as far as your arm can reach, or as long as the cable is willing to stretch.

So when I was shopping for a new little camera I foolishly forgot to check for hotshoes and ability to do off camera flash. So I ended up buying the 5n and look, 90% of the time I love it, but that off camera flash thing really irks me sometimes. This is how my NEX setup looks like most of the time - With the EVF on. Coming from a DSLR background, looking through viewfinder has always been something i've gotten used to as well as enjoyed. With many mirrorless cameras they don't have built in EVF's, except for the more expensive models. So, as you can imagine I like to have the EVF on 100% of the time if possible. This is where that stupid Sony "smart" port comes in. If you haven't noticed, the 5n does NOT have a built in flash, the flash comes separately and connects where the EVF is connected.

So, the flash goes in the "smart" port and you can't use the EVF anymore, whats that got to do with off camera flash you ask? Well one solution i've found to overcome the off camera flash problem is to use a Nikon speedlight - SB910 to be exact - and have it fire wirelessly as a slave unit every time it picks up external flashes. (Menu > SU-4 mode)

5N with the EVF taken off and flash attached.

So like I said, the Nikon SB910 picks up flash from the camera and that somehow triggers it to fire in sync with the camera every time the camera flash fires. How it works, too technical, but trust me, it works. 

The NEX flash is sh*t. I mean really sh*t. On the very rare occasions that I do use it, I like to use it with a little DIY light bouncer (card wrapped in aluminium foil) The light bouncer bounces the light from the flash to the aluminium foil card and forces the light to bounce of surfaces such as roofs and walls to create softer diffused light. The light from bouncing it off walls and ceilings is ok, but can only be used if there is a ceiling or wall nearby to bounce off, as you can imagine it doesn't do much outdoors.. 

When I do off camera flash with the NEX I use it with the diffuser to ensure that light from the flash is not affecting the exposure or lighting in my picture. (essentially blocking the light)

Again, I have no models to take photos of so have to use myself - sorry in advance. So as you can see, the flash is being fired off from camera right, creating a nicer light on the subject (me). This type of lighting- rembrandt- is pretty stock standard for most portraits and being able to do it on the NEX system really gives me the ability and opportunity to do some more serious portrait work with the NEX. I'm not keen on using the 5n without the EVF as it's something i'm so used to, maybe one day down the track i'll buy a second hand NEX 7 or 6 when the prices drop as they have built in EVF's - wishful thinking.

Anyway, enough of looking at my face, some more real world examples of using off camera flash on the NEX system. PS I know i said i wouldn't do anymore macro photos, but it's not my fault it's been raining!

This photo is similar to the one I shot the other day, the only difference is that this photo was shot at night, not in the afternoon. The flash is on a tripod, behind me to the left and I aimed the flash to illuminate the background, with a bit of spill light from the flash to light up my subject.

With this other photo, I used the flash as my main light source which gives you a black background, good for isolating subjects and keeping the photo quite clean.

Anyway that's about it from me this time, unfortunately I don't have many photos to show because I didn't have much time to take photos after work this evening, so yeah.. hopefully I can show you some more real world examples in the near future!

PS those photos of the NEX were lit with.. you guess it, off camera flash! Except with the D3s and with 2 flashes. One bouncing off the wall on the left and another flash set up behind the camera (nex) to create some rim lighting. Off camera flash FTW!

HOW TO: Macro on the cheap.

I know i've done my post for the day for my 365 project, but I was thinking to myself, since i've been doing so much macro lately, I may as well explain how I do it.

There's a lot of different ways you can do macro photography, bellows, macro lenses, extension tubes, tripods, ring flash, no flash, hand held, etc etc. I do it the simplest of simple ways - The cheapest too!

              1. Camera

              2. Extension tube

              3. Lens that has an aperture ring to manually open and close the aperture.

And that's pretty much it.. told you it was simple. I've always loved doing macro photography, something about noticing things that people often ignore or overlook - Kind of the same feelings I have towards news/documentary photography and perhaps why I love them both so much? 

--------back to my how to-------

I used to do macro work with the D3s and i'd use extension tubes as well, however as those who are familiar with sensor size and all, I'd essentially lose magnification in my images due to the fact I was shooting on a full frame sensor. Macro is pretty much the only time I hate having full frame. The good thing about the Nikon was that I had all my fancy equipment that allowed me to do macro "properly" using flashes and such to illuminate the subjects better. Not only does flash illuminate your subject and potentially isolate it from the background, it also has the ability to 'freeze' an image in the frame. Now I know that sounds stupid cos you're thinking "hang on mate, images freeze action anyway." well yes, you are correct - to a degree. Flash freezing (not food) basically keeps your subject frozen in the shot even if there is a little bit of motion blur due to shakiness from the user or not a fast enough shutter speed. - Quick run down - Images are gathered on a digital sensor and exposure is determined by amount of light hitting the sensor as well as how much time is given to the sensor to expose a frame. How the flash works - in this case macro - is that, by pulsing out a beam of light at phenomenally fast speeds, you are essentially able to freeze an object in your frame regardless of your shutter speed. 

To prove how fast i'm talking here's an example. My camera, D3s has a max shutter speed of 1/8000 - 1/8000th's of a second.. that's, one EIGHT THOUSANDTHS OF A SECOND, flash speeds make that look laughable. On a Nikon SB800, depending on your power output, you're getting.. 

1/1050 sec.   at M1/1 (full) output 1/1100 sec.   at M1/2 output 1/2700 sec.   at M1/4 output 1/5900 sec.   at M1/8 output 1/10900 sec. at M1/16 output 1/17800 sec. at M1/32 output 1/32300 sec. at M1/64 output 1/41600 sec. at M1/128 output

source: http://www.scantips.com/speed2.html

So as you can see from that, that's INSANELY quick time durations. So long story short, if you can 'freeze' a subject at 1/41600th of a second, you can see how that will eliminate blurriness in your moving subjects. 

So like I was saying.. I used to use flash and all that on my D3s, yeah it looked a bit better but it was cumbersome, I'd use a TTL cable (basically a cable connecting the flash to the camera) and hold out approximately where I thought it'd be effective and fire away. 

There's a flash, bottom left of the frame illuminating this hover fly(?) making it pop out from the background as well as freezing him properly in the frame. How I fluked this image I have no idea, D3s + extension tubes. 

So, how am I doing it today? well like I mentioned earlier, I do it on the cheap. I use my trusty NEX 5n and there's a few reasons why I like it more than my D3s for macro. Basically it's smaller and lighter, has a 1.5x magnification due to the smaller sensor and the EVF with real time camera settings is handy for composing and seeing how the image will turn out. The BAD thing about the Sony is that it has this STUPID smart port thing that the EVF connects too, thus getting rid of a normal hot shoe, so NOONE can attach useful things like - A FLASH to it... however, if you DID want to use flash, you can use the flash from the 5n (which you have to attach and therefore lose the EVF) and fire it to set off a flash like an SB-900/910 wirelessly - Down side is that you're limited to a 1/160th shutter speed, so variable ND filters are needed if you want to shoot in the bright bright sunlight. 

As you can see from that, it's a lot of work using flash with the NEX to do macro, that's why I don't even bother. 

Enough talk, my setup. NEX 5n, Minolta 58mm f1.4 + cheapo eBay extension tubes. 

As you can see the extension tubes along with the lens and adapter make this camera look stupidly out of proportion, however, the results speak for themselves!

The extension tubes are made up of 3 sections, 1, 2 , 3. They don't line up like this I just did it for effect. Also, they're not in order because I tightened #2 too tight to the adapter that it now wont come off.. so... yeah... So how it works is, the more sections you have, the more "macro" you get. I like to shoot with all three cos I like to get in as close as possible. 

Unlike macro lenses - which are a lot more expensive - when you use the extension tubes, you can only focus SO far, I mean a few centimetres. Because the lens has been taken off the camera body, you've basically messed up the whole flange distance (distance to sensor from lens) so the lens can no longer focus from X to infinity anymore. With a macro lens you can focus from macro alllll the way to infinity,  whereas if I see something cool in the distance and try to take a photo with the extension tubes on - it's a no go. It does get annoying trying to change magnification sometimes when certain insects or such look too big in the viewfinder, so changing and swapping sections is a bit of a guessing game in how much macro I will get with different combinations of sections. 

So now that you see how my setup looks, how do I use it? well, it's simple. When using extension tubes you basically rock back and forth into focus like you're using a magnifying glass. It's as simple as that. This rocking back and forwards motion puts a little bit of stress on my back and such as it puts me in awkward situations sometimes, as well as making me hold in those sometimes awkward positions for long periods of time while I TRY DESPERATELY to hit focus quickly - PS the wind is NOT your friend when shooting macro.

Look, so that's about it. Pretty dry blog post but just thought i'd share with you all on how I do what I do. I'd post some examples but i'm sure you've all seen too many macro shots lately. ( -_-') 

Anyways hope you enjoyed my HOW TO: Macro on the cheap, and hopefully I can come up and write a few more in the future!