My Choice Of A Tablet

In today's post, I will go bit off-topic, but not too far. I bought an iPad Air a couple of months ago, and I would like to tell you about why I chose one.

Mobile Phone Photography - Part 1: HDR

 
Mobile phones are getting better and better at taking photos, especially outdoors in good light, they are usually in our pockets all the time, they have a huge DoF, they focus reasonably quickly and they shoot good quality 1080p 30fps videos with stereo sound.

Food Photography Assignment

I was asked by one of my friends to shoot a couple of dishes for his cousin's restaurant, and since I wanted to experiment with shooting food, I readily agreed. Click through for the details.

What Not To Do As An Event Photographer

Now here's a real story that happened today during our full day department meeting at one of the hotels.

The Best Phone for Photographers

    The iPhone has gotten a lot of coverage in photography blogs (such as Strobist and Chase Jarvis) and has gained a reputation for being the best phone for photographers.  Since the iPhone revolutionized the smartphone market, however, many phones, particularly Android phones, have emerged to challenge the iPhone's dominance.  In this post, we talk to an expert on mobile phones, our very own Mohammed Shafik, to get an industry insider's advice on the best phone for photographers.

Smoke photography (Intermediate)

I finally tried smoke photography.  There are a few ways to do it - here's how I did it to get sharp smoke. Note: It has nothing to do with family photography, but it is a sample of an application of lighting knowledge.

1. What's needed.
a. smoke source. I used incense, although a cigarette can also be used.
b. flash (ideally an external flash for power and versatility). I used an SB-800.
c. a place shielded from wind, ideally one that isn't so bright, with dark walls, and with ventilation so that the smoke doesn't accumulate. I used our bathroom (which doesn't have a smoke detector).
d. optional: remote shutter release, tripod for camera.

2. Position the camera, flash, and incense.
a. Find a spot away from the wall.  The closer the wall is to the flash, the more likely the flash's light will illuminate the wall, making it harder to get a black background.
b. Position the incense reasonably close to the lens.  Smoke looks nicer when close up.  The smoke at the tip of the incense is also more organized - consider that in positioning the incense.
c. Position the flash close to the incense.  The close distance helps to increase the relative power of the flash to minimize ambient.  I positioned mine directly below the incense, and away from the lens to avoid flare.



3. Set focus. Focus is critical to getting a sharp smoke photo.  You need dim light to take smoke photos, and it's hard for cameras to focus a dimly lit subject.  Instead, put your hand or other proxy target over the incense, where the smoke will appear, and focus on the hand/target.  Once focus is set, switch to manual focus and don't change the position of the camera and the incense.

4. Set the camera exposure.
a. Set shutter speed to sync speed.  The idea is to kill ambient light to get a dark background.  1/250 for the D300.
b. Set the ISO to the base ISO. Again, we're trying to kill the ambient.  200 for the D300. 
c. Set the aperture.  A small aperture is needed to increase the probability that the smoke will be in focus.  A small aperture also helps to kill the ambient.  With a dark wall, I could get a black background with f/8.  With a light wall I needed f/16.

5. Set the manual flash exposure.
Because the position of the subject, flash, and camera don't change, I used manual flash instead for consistency, although TTL worked too when I tried it.  Using trial and error, I set the power to 1/4 for an aperture of f/16, ISO 200, or 1/8 for an aperture on f/8, with a distance of about 1 foot between the smoke and the flash.

6. Experiment with moving the smoke.
Try holding the incense and moving it, keeping it on the same distance to the camera to maintain focus.  When you get the hang of it, you can even take the shots handheld to get variety.

7. In postprocessing, consider cropping, using negatives (to get black smoke on a white background), and/or altering the color of the smoke and background.

UPDATE: Check out this related post on a secret tool for smoke photography

Sample shots:

Snapshot or Photograph? (Basic)

Many photographers describe a picture as a snapshot or photograph as a shorthand way of whether the picture has artistic merit. But that begs the question of what makes a picture a photograph rather than a snapshot.  I thought about this for a while and I think that the distinction between snapshots and photographs is that photographs are created actively, while snapshots are taken passively.  I also think the distinction isn't binary, but more of a continuum.  The more creative choices a photographer consciously makes, the more the picture would be considered a photograph instead of a snapshot.

Here's an example.  Both pictures are of the same subject (chair) at the same location (hotel room) taken within minutes of each other.  They represent the same photographic opportunity and potential, but the results are entirely different.

In the first shot, I didn't think about the shot at all. I just took it.

In the second shot, I made several choices consciously.

- First, I observed the chair. What I found most interesting were the curves of the chair and the pattern of holes. I then visualized how I wanted the shot to look to highlight both of these aspects of the chair.
- Framing: I selected what part of the chair to photograph, and how I wanted to frame it.  I tilted the shot so that the curve would form a diagonal line across the image.  I also made sure to capture the concentric curves on the bottom right of the shot which echoed the diagonal line.
- Shooting angle: I observed the chair from various angles and distances, and chose a lower shooting angle.
- Focal length: I tried looking through different focal lengths and chose a moderate telephoto angle (50mm is equivalent to 75mm in 35mm terms).
- lighting: I moved the chair near the window so the light would shine through some of the holes.
- DOF: I chose a narrow depth of field to create a variety of light patterns in the pattern of holes.  To get the narrow DOF, I used a wide aperture, used a short camera-to-subject distance, and used a longer focal length.
- focus target: I chose to focus on the curve to draw the viewer's attention to that, and from there allow the curve to guide the viewer's eyes toward the blur from the shallow dof allows the curve to melt among the dreamy pattern of holes.
From these choices I got the shot above.

POSED VS. CANDID PHOTOGRAPHS
It is possible to create a photograph with both posed/setup shots and candid shots.  However, you are faced with different challenges in creating a photograph.  With a posed shot, it is easier to control creative choices.  However, because it is posed, there is an implied expectation that the photographer will in fact make all available creative choices.  Almost any significant flaw will make the picture seem like a snapshot instead of a photograph.  I have a lot of examples of those :( Here's the most recent one (because the subject is positioned to face the camera directly, I consider it a posed shot):


With candid shots, it is more difficult for the photographer to control all creative choices, but because it is assumed that the photographer is not 'directing' the subject, there are fewer variables that the photographer is expected to control.

Upgrade your software before your hardware

I used to upgrade my point-and-shoot camera frequently.  I thought that the nifty features of newer cameras would improve my photos.  Sure, equipment (camera, lens, accessories) can make a big difference in results.  However, equipment without technique will not improve shots, and as a beginner, the limiting factor in the quality of my pictures was my technique (or lack thereof).  To illustrate the difference that technique makes, take a look at the shots below:

Shot 1:

Shot 2:

The shot at the top is with a Nikon D300, a Tamron 17-50 2.8 VC lens, and a Nikon SB-800 flash.  The camera, lens and flash are all prosumer quality and have a total cost of easily more than $2500.  The shot at the bottom is with an average 3-year old point-and-shoot camera (the Casio Exilim EX-V7) and the SB-800 flash.  The difference between the two shots is purely due to technique (specifically, lighting).

In summary, if you're new to photography and want to improve the quality of your pictures, the biggest improvement will come from improving your technique first.  If you want to know where to start learning techniques, check out these resources:


Roadmap for Family Photographers
Beginner's Simplified Guide to Exposure
Introduction to Lighting for Family Photographers
TTL FAQ

Have fun!

Introduction to Basic Lighting for Family Photographers

(version: 1)

Lighting is critical to producing a quality photograph of any genre, including family photos.  This intro to lighting is intended not as a tutorial in itself but just to let you know the photographic possibilities from lighting.

1. What do you mean by "lighting"?

In photography, lighting is the artistic use of light and shadow in the photo.

2. Why is lighting important?

Here are some ways lighting affects your photo:

• Volume: A photo is flat. Proper lighting helps create the illusion of three-dimensionality.
• Emotion: the lighting in a photo by itself can have a powerful impact on the emotion or feel of the photo, even when other elements (such as composition and color) are unchanged.
• Beauty: some ways of lighting are more flattering for the subject than others. This applies not only to portraits but also to objects.
• Color: knowledge of proper lighting can help you to emphasize or deemphasize colors in the photo.  For example, colors are generally more washed out in bright, direct sunlight.
• Composition: the patterns of light and shadow in a photo can themselves be elements of composition.

Because of the immense impact of lighting on a photo, for many photographers, the lighting of a photograph is at least as important as (and sometimes more important than) its composition or subject matter.  Lighting can make or break your photo.  To summarize: lighting is a BIG DEAL.

3. What are the basics I need to know about lighting?

For family photographers, you should at least know concepts about the characteristics of light (see #4), portrait lighting (see #5) and the overall lighting scheme of a photo (see #6).

4. Characteristics of light itself:

• Intensity - the brightness of the light source.
• Quality (hard vs. soft) - hard light casts high-contrast shadows with clear edges. Soft light is scattered and produces blurry or no shadows.  Example: direct midday sun in summer without clouds produces hard light.  An overcast day produces soft light.   The larger the apparent size of the light source to the illuminated object, the softer the shadows will be.
• Direction - self-explanatory.
• Shape - is the light beam wide or narrow?  Does it cast a pattern (for example, when you shine the light through the leaves of a plant or through a glass of water)?
• Color - the obvious examples are when gels or filters are used.  But different sources of light also have different color temperatures.  Extreme examples are candlelight (warm colored) or old fluorescent lights (greenish).  Less obvious examples are shade (bluish) and flash (slightly bluish).
• Number of lights - actually increasing the number of lights or simulating such an increase (through time controls or reflectors or v-cards).

5.  Portrait lighting

Portrait lighting is distinct from the lighting of other subjects (such as in product photography).  Although family photographers on the run rarely have the opportunity to prepare the lighting setup for proper portrait lighting, family photographers can benefit from awareness of portrait lighting concepts to use more flattering light on subjects.

a. Light positions and functions in portraits.

• Key or Main - the light that produces the dominant highlight on the subject.  The position of the key light varies depending on the lighting scheme (see #6 below).  Note: in a few lighting schemes, there is more than one key light.
• Fill - illuminates some or all parts of the subject that are in shadow from the key light. Fill light may be omnidirectional, from the same direction as the camera (on-axis fill) or an extension of the key light (in which case it's about 90 degrees from the direction of the key light).
• Rim or kicker - a highlight on the contours of the subject generally used for subject-background separation.  Rim light is generally behind the subject, and either above, to the side, or both.
• Background - light(s) illuminating the background.
• Hair - used to add a highlight on the subject's hair.  Generally positioned above the subject.
• Catchlight - the pattern of light (if any) reflected in the subject's eyes. Not really a light position itself but something to be aware of in portrait lighting.

b. Basic portrait lighting schemes:

• Broad vs. short: when the subject's face is on a three-quarter view, broad lighting is where light illuminates the side of the face that is closer to the camera.  Short lighting is where the light is illuminating the side further from the camera.  If the subject's visible ear is on the illuminated side, it's broad. If not, it's short.
• Split: the subject is facing the camera and the key light comes from the side and illuminates only one side of the face.
• Loop: light comes from around 45 degrees from the subject's face. The nose casts a shadow pointing toward the corner of the mouth, in the shape of a loop. Can be broad or short. A fairly common portrait lighting scheme.
• Rembrandt: similar to loop, except the light is coming from a higher angle.  The nose's shadow merges with the shadow below the cheekbone. There is a tell-tale upside down triangle highlight below the eye in the side of the face that is partially shaded.
• butterfly / paramount: subject is facing the camera. Light comes from above and in front of the subject. The resulting shadow of the nose is shaped like a butterfly.

6.  The overall lighting scheme of the photo:

• Shadows and chiaroscuro: In lighting it's important to pay attention not just to the highlights but also the shadows. Chiaroscuro is the artistic technique of using highlights and shadows, often with strong ("dynamic") contrast, to create the illusion of three-dimensionality.  Caravaggio's works exemplify chiaroscuro.
• High key vs. low key: high key photos use tones that are mostly brighter (think of those mac vs. pc ads) while low key photos are darker and have lots of shadows (as in the matrix trilogy).
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Specular - diffuse - shadow - transfer: in the real world, the highlight and shadow areas are not of even brightness and can be further differentiated.  Specular highlight is the bright "shiny" part of the highlight.  Diffuse is the rest of the highlight.  Shadow is self-explanatory. Transfer is each area between each of the foregoing areas (specular-to-diffuse transfer, diffuse-to-shadow transfer).  Check out the late Dean Collins' theory of 3d contrast.
• Motivation: the logic for the direction, intensity, quality and color of artificial light so as to appear as if the artifical light is natural.  For example, if the sun is camera left (as evidenced by shadows in the background), adding light that comes from camera right will look unnatural.  Here is a good explanation of motivation.
• Background vs. subject vs. foreground: the lighting of the background, subject, and foreground are often distinct and can be analyzed as separate elements of the photo's lighting scheme. Generally, to emphasize the subject, a common technique is to underexpose the background. Alternatively, the subject might be underexposed relative to the background for photos with strong backlighting (as in many of Rarindra Prakarsa's amazing photos).
• Light ratios: the difference in intensity between two areas of light in the photo (usually comparing the highlight and fill). If the highlight is 1 stop brighter (i.e., 2x brighter) than the fill and the fill light is omnidirectional and illuminates the entire subject, then the fill is 1 unit of light, while the highlight is 2 units of light (from the highlight) plus 1 unit of light (from the omnidirectional fill) for a total of 3 units, thus the ratio is 3:1.  If the fill is not omnidirectional and illuminates only the shadow (this is less common), then the ratio is 2:1.
• Tonal range: the difference between the brightest tone and the darkest tone in the photo. Qualities to aim for (note: I'm still trying to figure this out): full range of black to white represented in the shot; a smooth transition between tones in the photo; a balanced distribution of tones that is neither dull ("A"-shaped histogram) nor contrasty ("U"-shaped histogram).

7. What can I do to control lighting?

• Observation: in my opinion the most important lighting technique is observation of existing light -- observing its characteristics, imagining ideas for using it, and determining whether and how to enhance it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Choice of time and place for the photo: you can increase the odds of having lighting conditions that match your intended lighting scheme by being mindful of the pattern of light at different times of the day, weather, and seasons.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Positioning the subject: sometimes, you can control the position of the subject - in the shade, in the light, or somewhere in between, plus the direction they are facing, thus changing the direction of light relative to the subject.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Choosing the shooting angle and direction: you might not be able to move the sun, but you can choose your shooting angle and direction to change the relative direction of sunlight.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Light modifiers:  all sorts of gadgets are used to alter the quality of existing light (e.g., a white bedsheet to act as a diffuser for sunlight) or artificial light (e.g., a portable softbox attached to a flash to soften its light). Check out diyphotography.net to get a glimpse of some creative modifiers.
• Flash: by giving you other sources of light besides existing ambient light, flashes can help you gain more control of the lighting in your photo. See TTL Flash FAQ.
• Exposure: exposure controls (shutter, aperture, ISO) can be used to alter the impact of the light on the photo.  For example, a very fast shutter with shallow aperture and low ISO will virtually eliminate ambient light.
• Postprocessing: PP can be used to enhance, mitigate or simulate lighting. For example, dodging and burning techniques can make hard light look soft.

8. Where can I find additional resources on lighting?

• Strobist Lighting 101 and Lighting 102 - lighting concepts and techniques by professional news photographer David Hobby.  David's shots often require set up (thus can't be as easily used by family photogs on the run) but the logic he uses is often applicable to on-location family photos as well.
• Neil van Niekerk's On-Camera Flash and planetneil.com Flash tutorial.  Neil is a wedding photographer.  His lighting techniques are often applicable to family photos.
• Bob Krist's Secrets of Lighting on Location. Shows how renowned photographer Bob Krist lit some of his on-location (as opposed to studio) shots. Many of the techniques and logic he uses are applicable to family photos. Although the book was written before the advent of digital cameras and modern flashes, digital technology has only made the techniques more usable and easier to apply.
• Allison Earnest's Sculpting with Light.  A guide for portrait lighting.
• Light: Science and Magic. Lighting concepts.  Much of the book deals with reflection and controlling how the light appears in the photo.  Most lighting techniques are for product photography but some concepts can be applied to family photos.
• Dean Collins' videos (http://www.software-cinema.com/training). Dean was a master of lighting. Like Bob Krist's book, Dean's videos were produced before digital era. However, the concepts and ideas are still applicable.
• http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/ - discusses a variety of lighting techniques.
• This blog. Search for the tag "lighting."

Comments on first family's photo

Yahoo news reported that the first family's first official photo was released. Here's the photo, taken by Annie Leibovitz. Of course the photo looks good and I like the expressions on their beautiful faces, but from a purely technical point of view, I'm a bit surprised that the lighting looks so simple and frankly underwhelming to me.  Maybe it's "deceptively simple" and too subtle for me. It seems possible to duplicate the lighting by simply bouncing the flash behind and camera right. Or by a large umbrella or softbox. From the catchlight on the original size photo, I'm guessing Annie used a softbox. I can't tell whether a fill light was used.  Doesn't seem like it. I'm wondering whether Annie used a hair light, because the first lady's hair has a shine, but the shine could have come from the key.

From the background it looks like ambient was killed (intentionally I assume).  Looking at the exif, I'm kinda puzzled too. It says:

• Canon 1Ds MkIII
• f/8, 1/125, ISO 400, 0 EV.

If I wanted to take this same shot, I would have instead gone to max sync speed (1/250 for the 1Ds MkIII)  and used a lower ISO.  Because there's no ambient anyway, the faster shutter and lower ISO wouldn't change the lighting of the shot.  The lower ISO would have less noise (though I concede that the 1Ds probably has negligible noise even at ISO 400) and the fast shutter would minimize blur from subject movement (though I am guessing that with virtually no ambient, the light was all flash, thus shutter speed was effectively the duration of the flash, i.e. 1/1000 or faster).  On the other hand, if Annie bounced the flash and didn't use a softbox, I can understand the use of ISO 400.  I doubt she did though, because bouncing can be more unpredictable for white balance, and there may be unintended reflections.

If I were to take my own version of this shot, I would have allowed more ambient light, because I think the darkness in the rooms in the background seems unnatural and to me off-putting. Or with Annie's unlimited resources, I would have placed another flash in the rooms at the back to light them up. The light from the flash also looks a bit cold. Perhaps it needs a gel. I might have also placed a gold reflector in front of them and bounced a bit of flash into it to add even more sparkle and warmth to their eyes.  In terms of composition, I think I would tried a very slightly lower height to decrease the negative space on top. I also think I would have picked a room with a less somber color (given the current economy).  In terms of choice of equipment, I believe the leader of the free world and his family deserve a shot from a medium format camera (digital or otherwise) for posterity.

Scan the Frame

Summary: I improved the composition of my shots by taking a moment to scan the frame.

The Issue:
Old habits die hard.  When composing a shot, I usually frame the shot, move the focus point to the point of interest where I want to focus (usually the eyes), half-press the shutter then take the shot.  Although I do think about the background and the rest of the picture, I tend to do so only while thinking of the shot, before I look through the viewfinder.  The problem with that process is that I'm too focused on the point of interest and not sufficiently mindful about the rest of the picture when taking the shot.  The result is that sometimes I inadvertently leave out important elements of the picture.

For example, this shot would have looked better with our toddler's hands visible in the frame.

Sometimes, I can crop to disguise the error. Other times, I can't, or I would have to crop very tightly.

The Solution:
Awareness of the problems created by my old habits led me to take a second to scan the frame just before taking the shot.  It's not easy to resist the temptation to simply take the shot when our toddler is running around and suddenly has a great expression on his face.  But taking a moment to scan the frame improved the composition of my shots and helped me to ensure that all important elements are there.

I'm also considering getting a wider-angle zoom like the Tamron 17-50 VC if I can find a way to fit it into our budget. :)

Evolution of a family photographer

Although my photography skills still need a lot of improvement, I find it nice to look back once in a while to see some progress and chuckle at my naivete.  As I look back, I also see how our baby has grown into a toddler in just a couple of very short years. I'm sure in the blink of an eye he'll be married and have his own kids.

I started out taking snapshots just like everyone else, without any knowledge of photography:

Like most people, I figured out that the deer-in-the-headlights look is not very flattering. So I turned off the flash:

 

Sometimes, though, the shots came out blurry:

 

I thought, there must be a better way to take photos. So I learned about exposure and about how I could get sharper shots in low light without a flash by getting a camera equipped with a wide aperture lens.  After doing some research on cameras, I chose a Pentax K100D because of the shake reduction and excellent high ISO performance, and paired it with a Pentax 50 f/1.4. I got shots like this:

Then one day, my bro (who had more experience in photography) asked me to buy a flash for him. First thing I thought was wow these flashes are really expensive for something so simple! Second thing I thought was, what's so useful about a flash?  So my bro told me about how you can bounce the flash to the ceiling and get more natural looking light. I researched this some more and found Neil van Niekerk's planetneil.com blog. That convinced me to get an external flash with bounce and swivel, the Pentax AF540FGZ.  By bouncing the light from walls (not just ceilings) I got shots like this:

I noticed though that sometimes, the colors in the shot looked kind of strange and figured out that the flash was picking up the color of the surface it was bouncing from:

I learned about color temperature, and tried to use that to fix the white balance issues in my shots with Picasa (back then I didn't know about the neutral picker, or magenta-green tint or RAW).  Playing around with Picasa, I also learned about improving contrast, which helped me get improvements like this:

I plateaued there for a while, not seeking any development of my photo skills.  My shots seemed better than the previous month's not because I became a better photographer but primarily because each month our baby became a little cuter:

and a little cuter still

Armed with the planetneil techniques and just minimal photo skills, I managed to get some decent holiday shots:

Without adequate knowledge of flash exposure though, I got inconsistent results like this flash underexposure:

Playing around with the flash one day, I tried using the flash off-camera for fun:

So I got a cactus trigger and used it to trigger the flash wirelessly, often rather ham-handedly:

I turned to Strobist.com to try to get a better understanding of lighting. I read Light: Science and Magic and learned about reflections (or avoiding them).

I also bought a lightstand and umbrella, and learned from Strobist.com how to do portraits with black backgrounds:

However, I felt that running back and forth between the camera and the manual flash, plus the K100D's slow (albeit usually accurate) focus were too limiting for our baby who has getting more mobile.  So I sold my Pentax gear and got a Nikon D80 (with a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8) and an SB800.

I made all sorts of excuses to take off-camera flash shots with CLS, like this shot at a friend's party:

For a while I experimented with snoots and shaping light:

But eventually, the novelty of using a snoot wore off and I reached another plateau. Sadly, for several months, I took only a few photos of our quickly-growing toddler.

Then one of our friends had a birthday party for their daughter. Some of the shots were ok but some needed improvement.  I was reminded of the limits of my photography skills. I also saw the need to do selective postprocessing adjustments, which I learned by playing around picnik.com.

To help keep me on my toes, I then created this blog and hence the roadmap.  And that's where I've been ever since.

Upping the ante by adding soft light to your rim light

 

So, you've skillfully positioned your subject to have the sun act as the rim light. That's a great way to put some drama in your shot. But there's no reason to stop there.  If you didn't use your flash for the rim light (or if you have an extra flash handy) you can use a handheld umbrella as directional fill to get a cross-lit effect.  The hard rim light (from the sun or a flash) plus the soft key light (in our case, from an umbrella) is a lighting scheme that emulates the look of a studio shot like this shot of a fireman by Joe McNally, and you can do it on the run without setting up.

In the shot above, I waited for our toddler to come into a spot where the sun was angled as rim light above and behind where I wanted to take the shot.  I had a handheld reflective umbrella-softbox (aka softbrella or umbrellabox) ready to be triggered via CLS. I shot in shutter-priority at the maximum sync speed (1/200 for the D80) to diminish the ambient and allow the light from the flash to become dominant as the key light. EXIF: f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 100.  Flash was on TTL at 0 FEC. The focus was not exact (it's a bit behind the eyes), which I tried to remedy in post processing by increasing sharpness, and increasing local contrast ("clarity" in photoshop).

In the shot below, the sun was above and behind the subject to the camera's left.  The handheld softbrella was camera right. For the exposure, I tried Neil van Niekerk's approach of using manual exposure mode, figuring that because I was underexposing the ambient anyway, then I didn't need to worry about getting exposure exactly right.  I chose 1/200 (max sync) and f/4.0 (where the lens has a higher MTF to get a sharper shot, and with a slightly greater depth of field to have more room for correct focusing).

At ISO 100, that was about 1 stop underexposed, which is fine because the flash was going to be the key light anyway.  Flash was on TTL at 0 FEC.  Although the ambient was underexposed by 1 stop, there was no need to adjust FEC.  If I had been on shutter priority, and had dialed in -1 exposure compensation, then I would have had to increase FEC by 1 stop to get the same flash exposure because with Nikon TTL, the exposure compensation setting affects the flash exposure as well.

Next time I have a similar opportunity, I would like to angle the umbrella so that its light is coming even more from the side, making the directionality of the light more apparent.

Taking Halloween pictures - part 1: the plan

Last year our toddler's Halloween pictures came out mediocre (like in the shot above) because I didn't understand how to control the flash properly.  This year, with better understanding of flash controls, I'm looking forward to the many photographic opportunities available at Halloween.

Here's my plan for this year. We're spending Halloween at Disneyland again, so it will be a good test of whether and how much I can improve my shots over last year's pictures:

1. Balance ambient and flash
a. in TTL, ambient can be controlled not just by shutter but also by ISO and aperture. Last year I controlled ambient only by slowing the shutter, which sometimes led to unintended flash blur like this:

b. I will watch flash exposure carefully and decrease FEC as necessary. TTL may be fooled with predominantly black costumes.

2. Gel the flash with CTO to simulate firelight and candlelight.
Last year I didn't use a gel at all, which made the light from the flash obvious and artificial:

This year, I will be putting two layers of 1/4 CTO (so that I can remove one and get 1/4 CTO if necessary).

3. Use handheld reflective (not shoot through) umbrella:
My plan is to use soft but restricted light, kind of like this photo that I saw on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotokurse-berlin/57502154/
I don't know for sure how the shot above was taken, but I believe that look can be achieved with a gridded softbox, which makes the softbox much more directional.  (Either that or maybe a softbox was moved in very close to the subject to make the light fall off faster.)
Anyhow, a shoot-through umbrella results in more spill.  I want more directionality to add more drama.  I don't have a gridded softbox (or a softbox for that matter), but I do have a reflective umbrella, which is more directional.  Reflective umbrellas (especially the silver ones) can be more specular, but the one I'll be using is a softbox-umbrella hybrid I bought from ebay (like this one).
As an added bonus, Halloween is probably one of the few days in the year when no one will give a second look to an umbrella.

4. Use noise reduction software

Until recently, I never bothered to use noise reduction software.  Now that I understand that I can use ISO to increase ambient exposure (instead of just using a slower shutter speed), I see the need for noise reduction software so I can be more daring with higher ISOs.

The stuff I plan to bring are:

• Nikon D80
• Tamron 28-75 2.8 (I would prefer a 17-50 2.8 if I had one so I could capture more scenery as "establishing shots")
• SB800 w/ two 1/4 CTO gels
• tripod - for long exposures and as a boom for rim light

I have other more ambitious ideas like using the D80's multiple exposure mode to make ghost-like images and composite shots with a "larger" moon, but these are what I plan to do at a minimum.

A Road Map for Family Photographers

Last updated: Sept. 26, 2009.

To help family photographers, to help keep posts organized, and for me to keep track of areas where I need improvement, I put together a possible roadmap of skills for a family photographer.  The roadmap is not scientific – it’s based only on how I am gradually building upon my meager skills, and as I learn more, I'll continue to add to it.

Because of how it’s constructed, I’m hoping this roadmap is a more natural progression and helps filter what is most relevant to you based on your current development.  For example, if you’re still learning about exposure (Technique 1), explaining why smooth highlight roll-offs are important (Lighting 9) would be unhelpful and just potentially confusing.

For each skill, I categorized the skill as related to composition, lighting, postprocessing, or general technique.  I described the issue that usually leads to discovery of the missing skill.  I listed some resources for learning that skill.  Finally, I indicated what I think are the keys to improving that skill and tools that may help.   

I hope that if you reach a plateau in your development, you can use this roadmap to break through your rut by identifying areas where you may need improvement, finding the resources to improve, and putting what you learned into practice until it becomes a skill. And if you're aware of a skill, resource, tool, or key concept, pls. email or leave a comment so I can add it to this roadmap.

Category               Issue

Lighting 1               Unskilled use of popup flash results in deer-in-headlights look.

Composition 1        Boring pictures of subject.

Composition 2        Wanting portraits with “blurry backgrounds.”

Technique 1            Exposure - basics.

Lighting 2               Harsh and unflattering shadows on subjects.

Technique 2            Turning snapshots into photos.

Lighting 3               Direction of light - basics.

Postprocessing 1    Underexposed or overexposed photos, unnatural color casts, no opportunity to retake the shot.

Composition 3        Backgrounds.

Lighting 4               Desire to improve the lighting of subjects.

Lighting 5             Light quality, direction, color.

Technique 4            Sharpness

Lighting 6               Ratio of ambient and flash, controlling flash exposure.

Postprocessing 2    Polished, “professional-looking” photos

Lighting 7               Increase understanding and control of light on the subject.

Lighting 8               Search for photos with amazing natural-looking light.  Ambient light revisited.

Composition 4        Controlling color.

Lighting 9               Tonality, tonal range, dynamic range.

Technique 3            Capturing the moment.

Technique 4            Borrowing from other photographic genres (e.g., landscape)

Lighting 1

Issue: Unskilled use of popup flash results in deer-in-headlights look.

Keys: Turning off flash. Awareness of noise. Signal / noise ratio.

Composition 1

Issue: Boring pictures of subject.

Keys: Rule of thirds. Filling the frame. Perspective. Patterns. Leading lines. Appropriate use of focal length.

Composition 2

Issue: Wanting portraits with “blurry backgrounds.”

Resources: cambridgeincolour depth of field tutorial.

Key: Understanding factors in controlling depth of field (aperture, focal length, distance of camera to subject, sensor size)

Tools: Camera with controllable aperture, Lens with normal to tele focal length.

Technique 1

Exposure - basics.

Resources: Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure. planetneil exposure metering tutorial;  Bahman Farzad’s simplified zone system.  Ken Rockwell’s zone system article. SimCam

Keys: Aperture x shutter speed x ISO = exposure. 18% grey. Exposure compensation. PASM. Understanding metering.

Tools: Search for a DSLR or camera with PASM.

Lighting 2

Issue: Harsh and unflattering shadows on subjects.

Resources: planetneil.com flash tutorial; Neil van Niekerk's On-Camera Flash

Keys: Understanding quality of light (hard vs. soft) is determined by apparent size of light vs. size of subject; bouncing flash.

Tools: External flash with bounce and swivel; light modifiers.

Technique 2

Issue: Turning snapshots into photos.

Resources: Ken Rockwell article on Artistic Synthesis

Keys: Previsualization. Taking a picture (passive) vs. making a photo (active).

Lighting 3

Direction of light - basics.

Resources: planetneil.com flash tutorial; Neil van Niekerk's On-Camera Flash

Keys: Awareness of and control of light direction (e.g. by correctly positioning subject and camera; bouncing flash from intended direction of light)

Tools: on-camera external flash with bounce and swivel.

Postprocessing 1

Issues: Underexposed or overexposed photos, unnatural color casts, no opportunity to retake the shot.

Keys: Adjust white balance, exposure, fill light, contrast, saturation, color temperature

Tools: postprocessing software such as Photoshop, Picnik.com, Picasa, Paintshop Pro

Composition 3

Backgrounds.

Key: Background and foreground elements (e.g., natural frames), eliminating distracting elements (e.g. removing trash or moving the subject to an area without trash).

Lighting 4

Issue: Desire to improve the lighting of subjects.

Resources: Allison Earnest’s Sculpting with Light

Keys: Roles of light in portraiture (key, fill, background, rim, hair); Portrait lighting styles (broad, short, Rembrandt, loop, butterfly)

Lighting 5

Light quality, direction, color.

Resources: Fil Hunter’s Light: Science and Magic.  Strobist.com Lighting 101, Lighting 102.

Keys: Shadows, chiaroscuro, family of angles.

Tools: Using flash off-camera, gobos, snoots, grids.  Studio equipment (lightstand, umbrellas, softboxes).

Technique 3

Sharpness

Resources: ?

Keys: appropriate shutter speeds, appropriate aperture, awareness of front and back focus

Tools: sharper lenses (see photozone.de lens reviews), lenses with VR, remote shutter, tripod, flash.

Lighting 6

Ratio of ambient and flash, controlling flash exposure.

Resources: Strobist.com Lighting 101, Lighting 102;  planetneil.com; CLS practical guide; Flash photography with Canon EOS Cameras; TTL FAQ

Keys: Understanding how TTL and manual mode differ, how to control each.

Tools: external flash.

Postprocessing 2

Polished, “professional-looking” photos

Resources: ?

Keys: selective adjustment (e.g. with layers), retouching techniques? adjusting tone curve?

Tools: ?

Lighting 7

Increase understanding and control of light on the subject.

Resources: Dean Collins’ theory of 3d contrast.

Keys: Awareness of specular, specular-to-diffuse transfer, diffuse, diffuse-to-shadow transfer, shadow, and how each is controlled.

Lighting 8

Search for photos with amazing natural-looking light.  Ambient light revisited.

Resources: Bob Krist’s Secrets of lighting on location. James Beltz's video on seeing the light.

Keys: Noticing ambient light characteristics, supplementing or amplifying or simulating ambient light. Light motivation for flashes.

Composition 4

Controlling color.

Resources: ?

Keys: Postprocessing, proactive use of white balance, lens filters, flash gels, choice of film and film processing.  Use of color in composition.

Lighting 9

Tonality, tonal range, dynamic range.

Resources: ?

Keys: seeing in black and white? Dodging and burning.  Using a medium with smoother highlight roll-off.

Technique 4

Capturing the moment.

Resources: ?

Keys: Building rapport with, anticipating subjects?

Technique 5

Borrowing from other photographic genres (e.g., landscape)

Resources: ?

Keys: ?