nicholeV photography [the blog]

What I've been up to . . .

Well, aside from everything else I have going on, I just wanted to mention what I'm working on for my Flourish site.

Currently, I'm working on creating a studio set of actions. As I've delved more and more into studio work this last year, I've realized that editing studio stuff is really different from editing photos taken without lights. So I've been creating actions along the way to help me edit my studio work. The set has BW and Color actions, all designed to be used with studio portraits.

A sample of the studio action . . .

Additionally, I'm in LOVE with a set of monogram templates that I've been working on. These are going to be a HUGE hit with my clients this year. The set of card templates is super versatile, beautifully modern and simple, and can be used for Christmas, as well as baby announcements. What more could you want?! Here's a little teaser . . .

I'm also creating a companion square (10x10, 8x8, 5x5) monogram book template that will use similar design elements, allowing you to create a fully coordinated set of items.

Sample page from the new book template:

I should be releasing the card templates within the next 2 weeks and they will include a masculine color monogram for dark backgrounds, as well as a more feminine colored monogram for light backgrounds.

Just so many fun things to work on . . . . so little time!

Possible Beginner's Workshop . . . .

Well, I keep resolving to post more to my blog. And given how much I enjoy reading other's blogs, you'd think that I'd be better about posting to my own, ha-ha! But there just never seems to be enough time in the day. Between photosessions, kids needing to be entertained and caring for a newborn, I just really don't seem to have time for much else. I hope that life will slow down a bit as my sweet baby gets a bit bigger (and therefore less needy) and my older kids go back to school. I do need to post photos from some of my recent sessions. It has been so nice to be back photographing more regularly. I missed it so much!

Anyway, I get many emails a week asking me if I will do a workshop or if I do mentoring sessions. So I've been thinking about potentially offering a workshop either this fall (like in October) or in the spring in March or both. It would be a one-day workshop on a Saturday for beginners in photography. I would cover the basics of aperture and shutter speed, as well as giving a basic discussion of composition, shooting techniques, and general photoshop work. It would include hands-on practice and interactive learning, not just lecture. The workshop would NOT cover anything about starting or running a photography business, or any more advanced discussions about photoshop or photography. Basically, it would be a workshop for someone who wants to get started learning how to shoot manually, compose photos, and edit them in Photoshop. Those who attended the workshop would leave with a solid knowledge base to continue to develop their photography skills on their own. The workshop cost would be $275-$300 and each attendee would receive a $75 gift certificate to my Flourish website. The workshop would be limited to 20-25 attendees and would be held near Provo, Utah. Those are the basic details . . .

It's kinda funny that I've taken so long to put together any kind of workshop. I mean, I'm a teacher by trade . . . . I was a college professor for 10 years and have won awards for my teaching. Teaching is as much my passion as photography, if not more so. Maybe because I understand teaching so well, I want to be sure that any workshop I offer will be a truly worthwhile, valuable experience.

Anyway, right now I'm just trying to gauge serious interest and if there is enough interest, would October be too soon to hold the workshop? If you would be seriously interested, shoot me an email and let me know.

Tips for Using Natural Light in Portraits

Well, figured it was about time to share a few more tips, cause I just can’t seem to help myself.

For many years, I shot exclusively with natural light . . . no flashes or lights or reflectors . . . just me, my camera and the light my situation gave me. Obviously, through this, I’ve learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t when shooting portraits with natural light. So here are a few tips about using natural light effectively in your photographs.

To begin with, when using natural light, you need to constantly be aware of the strength and angle of your light source. This is, for me, the most difficult part of using natural light in portraits. You really need to study the light and truly “see” how it’s affecting your image. It's really the same as using studio lights . . . except that you can't control where the light comes from or how strong it is. But you still use the light source as you would use studio lights.

So for example, when you're shooting outside, the sun shines from above for most of the day, even on cloudy days. If you just put someone outside and take a photo with the light source coming from overhead, no matter how diffused, you will get what I call racoon eyes . . . . the light will shine down your subject’s face, emphasizing the shadows underneath the eyes. You can see this on my son’s face in the shot below. This was shot on an overcast day. I attached this image SOOC just so you can see how bad the shadows are right out of the camera. Also note the brighter spots on his upper forehead and cheeks. You can clearly see how the light is skimming his face from top to bottom. It's not a flattering photo of him and there are no catchlights in his eyes, making them dark and dead.

So in my lovely drawing below (you can see why I never made it as a painter . .  ha-ha), you DON’T want your light source to come from overhead (A) or from below (D).  You will get funky shadows on the person’s face if that happens. You want your light source to ideally be at about a 45 degree angle to the face (B), but any light source between B and C below will give good results. So in the photo I posted above of my kids, you can see that the light is good on my daughter’s face. That’s because she has her head turned toward the sky and the light is hitting her face at a 45 degree angle. Notice that the light is even on her skin . . . there aren’t any funky shadows or hot spots.

So how do you get the light right when shooting outdoors?

Well, the simple answer is to make sure that you have something over your subject’s head to force the light to come in from the side. A tree, a doorway, a reflector, a porch . . . any number of things can fix the problem. So here is another shot of my son taken in a doorway. Notice how the light comes in from the front, not overhead, and how that opens up the shadows on his face. The light is smooth and even on his face and there are beautiful catchlights in his eyes.

So when taking portraits with natural light, look carefully at the face before taking a portrait, and then move around the person or move them into a situation where the light comes from the side or front.

Sometimes, however, it just isn't possible to move somewhere where there is something overhead. In that case, assuming that it's an overcast day, I put the person's back to the sun (wherever it may be in the sky) and place myself above them (easy to do with a child) and have them look up at me. This puts the light at 45 degrees to their face and they shouldn't squint as long as the sun is at their back. It results in a photo like the one below.

 

Well, these are my tips for the day. I hope to add to this and continue with more advice on using natural light.

A little showcase . . .

I'm so sorry that I haven't been posting here much. But I think that I've got my life pulled back together here and I'm starting to wake up from that newborn fog.

So after 2 weeks of taking photos of my new little Kian, I've realized, yet again, that newborn photography just isn't my forte. I just can't seem to get all those amazing, cuddly, nakey newborn photos. I don't know if I'm just not patient enough or what, but I can't seem to pull it off. So after two weeks of frustration and feeling like I was getting nothing worthwhile, I finally bagged it all and stopped trying to recreate all the amazing things I had seen others do. Instead, I just decided to focus on being me and how I would work a newborn into a photo.

So nothing earth shattering here as far as composition, but I think that it was a bit of a revelation for me (yet again . . . I seem to go through this every 6 months or so). I don't have to be perfect at all types and all genres of photography. I just have to be true to my own artistic sense and do what works for me and my vision. So liberating to just let it all go . . . .

So here you go, my vision
first . . . I have so many other ideas too! Just need to get out there and take more photos!

Here's little Kian . . . . and I'm sorry if he's a little magneta in these photos. He actually has intensely red/magenta skin tones that I've been trying to tone down a bit. Redheads run in my DH's family and we're thinking that little Kian here might be a redhead. He certainly has the skin tones for it. Just need his hair to grow in a bit more! Bear with me . . . there are a lot of photos here!

Thanks again, everyone! I so appreciate all your kind comments!

Well, he's here . . .

Just wanted to do a quick post and introduce Kian Thomas (yes, pronounced like Ian, only with a K, for all those who might wonder).

Born June 25th, 8lbs 4 oz., 20 inches  . . .

I'm still in that post-delivery mommy fog, so forgive the shortness of this post. More photos and details to follow!

Just one photo for now. He is a sweet, calm baby who already gives actual smiles . .  it's almost hard to believe. And he currently likes the camera . . . we'll see how long that lasts, sigh!

Three days old

Problems with Color Casts

So I’m still pregnant for another day or two, so I thought I’d try to get one last blog post in. Unfortunately, I haven’t done much shooting in a while and I’m really feeling it. The creativity is just building and building inside of me, looking for an outlet. I can’t wait to be able to move again and get a camera back in my hands. Sigh.

In the meantime, let me address another question that I get a lot.. I run an action and my photo turns into an orange/red/yellow mess, why is this?

Well, here’s the basic answer. Most actions (mine included) will not add any color to a photo that is not already there. A few actions can have a slight warming effect due to the different techniques they use, but after some serious testing on my part, the warming effect is incredibly, incredibly slight. If a photo is going over the top in reds or yellows or oranges, the color cast was in the photo to begin with. There are many things you can do in PS to remove warmness, but my experience has been that it’s a pain and difficult to do accurately. The best solution is to find out why the photo was red or whatever in the first place.   

There are many culprits for consistent color casts in a photo: source light, monitor, camera, lens, filters, in-camera settings and underexposure, just to name a few.

First of all, many times certain locations will cause a color cast. Indoor photos are almost always orange-ish due to incandescent lights and just indoor ambient light. Photos taken in the middle of a green forest are usually off the charts in the yellows, just reflecting all the green that’s around your subject. Similarly, a red wall, skirt or shirt can cause red reflection problems. When shooting in a location that has obvious color casts, shooting with a grey card (I prefer Whibal cards) can help enormously.

Though the white balance on this photo is correct, notice the bounce of magenta along her arm and tummy from the colorful tutu. This happens everytime I shoot with any kind of colored tutu or petticoat. Just something I have to be aware of as I shoot. A little bounce, like this shot, isn't any big deal, but sometimes the bounce can reach the subject's face, and then it's a real problem.

If, however, you’re getting the same color cast consistently regardless of location, chances are there is an identifiable problem in your equipment that is causing it.

First of all, if you’re just starting out, the problem could be your monitor. You need to make sure that your monitor is color calibrated to your printing output. That’s a huge discussion in and of itself and something for another blog post sometime. But if the colors of your monitor are way off, then of course everything is going to look off to you.

After making sure that your monitor is calibrated correctly, look to your camera and in-camera settings. You really want to shoot RAW or make your in-camera jpeg settings as neutral as possible: no saturation or warming or anything. The reality is that some cameras are warmer than others. Nikon likes their photos to be color saturated SOOC; however, this often results in color casts and wrong skin tones. It’s just the hassle of shooting Nikon. By contrast, Canon files tend to be really flat and somewhat cool out of the camera, but they are also less likely to have color casts because of this. If you’re shooting Nikon, again, it’s important to make your in-camera settings as flat as possible. This will help the camera to avoid over-saturation of the image initially.    

After looking at your camera, look to your lenses and any filters you might have on your lenses. I know early on in my photographic career, I frustratingly kept getting really red photos out of my Canon equipment. After a couple months of frustration, I pulled off the supposed “colorless skylight” filter I had on my lens, placed it on a white sheet of paper and realized that it had a horridly strong red tinge to it. So I stopped shooting with it on my camera and problem solved! I’ve also noticed that certain lens types tend to have color casts. Lower-end Canon lenses (like the 50mm 1.8) are a little blue in their color, whereas Tamron lenses are decidedly orange/red. Imagine the orange mess of a Tamron lens on a Nikon body and then add some in-camera saturation settings . . . . you get the idea . . . photos taken with such a set-up would be really off in the reds and oranges. You have to spend quite a bit before you’ll get a lens that is color neutral (which is yet another reason why Canon L-lenses are so expensive). But you can get correctly white balanced images out of less expensive equipment, you just have to understand what’s going on between your camera and the lens.

In addition to your equipment, certain things that you do in PS can affect color cast. If you have a seriously underexposed image and you try to pull it up in PS, you will get a yellow cast. Just the way it is. There are ways of mitigating this, but the best solution is to expose the photo properly in the first place. If your photos are consistently dark and require you to bring them up in PS, chances are you might be having trouble with yellows in your photos.

So I’ve listed just a couple basic tips here. There is more to a properly white balanced image than this, but overall, if you’re struggling with serious color casts, chances are the problem is something or some combination of what I’ve listed.

Well all, this is most likely my last post until I have this baby, so look back for news about me and him in about a week or so! Thanks again to all of you who stop by here!

Choosing a Camera and Lenses

Well, people, I feel so bad neglecting my blog like this . . . . have I mentioned that I’m HUGELY pregnant and having a baby in no more than two weeks? Just seems like there’s so much to do and I have no energy for any of it.  Anyway, I’m determined to get a few more helpful blog posts up before I disappear for a few weeks into that void that happens after you have a baby.

So, I’m going to continue my series of posts responding to questions that I get a lot. Today’s topic is an email question I get many times a week:

Camera and Lens Recommendations

So what camera should you purchase? Which lenses are best for shooting children? Which are best for shooting weddings?

Well, overall, the answer to all these questions is “It depends.” But here are some general things to think about.

If you’re just starting out I photography, I suggest going with an entry level DSLR (like a Canon XTi). From there, I strongly suggest getting an inexpensive prime lense, like the Canon 50mm f1.8.

So how is a prime lens like the 50mm f1.8 different from say the kit lens (which comes with most entry DSLRs), which is usually a 17-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens? A zoom lens, like the 17-55 kit lens, can zoom your frame closer or farther away from the subject without you having to move. A prime lens, like the 50mm, is fixed at 50mm. If you want your subject to be closer or farther away, you have to move.

So why would you go with a prime over a zoom when it means you have to move more? Generally, primes are sharper and faster. They take cleaner, nicer, clearer photos. Also, they always have a smaller minimum aperture. So the 17-55mm f3.5-5.6 zoom lens has an aperture that varies from f3.5 to 5.6 depending on whether you’re shooting at 17mm or 55mm. This isn’t a good thing. It means that you need more light in order to get a well-focused shot. It also means that you won’t get much blur in your background. A prime, on the other hand, allows you to fix your aperture, starting at the low end of f1.8. When your aperture is f1.8, you get all that wonderful blur, called bokeh, and you need less light to get your shot. There’s significantly more to it than this, but you get the general idea.

Sample Photo of f1.2 Blur. All the blurriness here is due to the low f1.2 aperture of the lens.

The kit lenses that come with most entry level DSLRs are pretty terrible lenses. Generally, they have a lot of color noise (speckles in the shadows) and aren’t particularly sharp. If you can avoid purchasing it with the camera, I strongly suggest that you do. Spend the money on a 50mm prime instead. The Canon 50mm 1.8 is a good lens for the price. As I state above, it’s sharp and has significantly less noise. Also, a prime will really speed up your learning of aperture, shutter speed and manual camera metering because your aperture range is so much larger and your aperture stays where you set it.

So let’s say that you’re a little more advanced with your camera and you’re wanting to upgrade your camera and lenses. Which is the best camera? What are the best lenses for shooting children? What are the best lenses for shooting a wedding?

If you’re a serious professional and regularly taking on paying sessions, you need to have a camera and lenses that will allow you to effectively deal with a greater range of potential problems. This means a full-frame DSLR, something along the lines of the Canon 5D. However, DO NOT fall into the trap and assume that a better camera will make all the difference to your photos. The camera does matter, but the person behind the camera matters so much more. I know a lot of people who shoot with the same gear I’ve had and we all get different results, some better, some worse. So much of what makes a good photo depends on the expertise and eye behind the camera. A good photographer will take amazing photos with any kind of camera he or she is given; however, the same goes for a not-so-great photographer. Even with the best equipment on the planet, he or she still wouldn’t produce an incredible image.

So what about lenses?   

Well, for children, you need to be able to react quickly. Primes are nice, but kind of hard to use when shooting children, especially small, active children. You have to move in and out to change your frame. Of course, primes that are 50mm or less, still work just fine. Longer primes, like a 135mm prime, are more difficult. I actually prefer my Canon 24-70mm f2.8L zoom for shooting children. It allows me to zoom in and out of a scene, but because it’s an L lens with a fixed aperture, it still takes sharp, clear shots. Many times, I will shoot an entire child session with just that one lens on my camera. Of course, if the 24-70L isn't in your budget, Tamron makes a decent lens at a decent price. Most of their lenses have a slight red cast to them, but they still will take a good photo for the money.

Weddings, of course, are an entirely different thing. You absolutely cannot get by with just one lens for shooting a wedding effectively. You need a wide angle lens for group shots and panorama shots of the ceremony. You need AT LEAST one fast prime (like a 50mm or 85mm f1.2) to deal with low light situations where using a flash isn’t allowed or is impractical. You also need a zoom lens that goes to at least 200mm (like the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L). This allows you to take photos when you have to be back a ways from the bride and groom, but still need a close up shot. Also, the longer focal length is significantly more flattering for adult portraits.

Anyway, just for the record, I’m currently shooting with the Canon Mark III 1Ds with the Canon 5D as my back-up. In my bag, I have a Canon 24-70 f2.8L, the Canon 70-200 f2.8L and the Canon 85 f1.2L, as well as a Hartblei 80mm Tilt-Shift Super-Rotator lens (for some fun shots). These are the 4 lenses that I use on my shoots. With any kind of wedding shoot, I will use all 4 lenses. For a family / child shoot, I will use the lens that’s best for my situation, depending on how I want the location to look and the ages of the people I”m shooting.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks again for all of you who regularly stop by here. I so appreciate it!

New Photo Fix Action set . . . .

Well, as many photographers do, I create little add-on actions to fix problem areas in my photos as I edit. Problems like completely blown highlights (hate it when that happens) or a face that is too dark or skin that is rashy and rough. So, I finally decided to package up all the little actions I constantly use to fix these problem areas in photos.

The new Photo Fix Action set contains 12 actions that will help you target problem areas in your photos. Most significantly, this set has an action and instructions showing my method for getting just the right amount of natural-looking eye pop when editing. Additionally, the set has other add-on actions that will smooth skin, reduce noise, adjust exposure and more. Please note that this action set DOES NOT contain any full photo editing actions (like a color pop action) and is designed for Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 only. Sorry, PSE users . . . . the set just uses too many advanced features to make a PSE version.

A couple samples

Eye Pop

Skin Smooth

 

You can see examples and view all the details here

Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about this set.

And as always, thanks to all of you who stop by to check out my blog!