Shooting in Low Light

Last Sunday I wrote about how to get yourself out of Auto mode on your DSLR. This week I am going to touch on shooting in low light situations where you cannot use flash.

Shooting in low light can be a challenge for any photographer and many of you will be asked to do it at some point in your photography career, such as shooting bands in bars or night clubs and everyone knows how poor the lighting is in these places and generally you cannot use your flash here at it is too distracting. You also cannot use Auto mode on your camera due to all the variances in the room, your camera will constantly be confused when trying to set the exposure due to stage lights and other things going on in the back ground.

Low light photography such as this is tricky but not impossible and it’s a matter of having the right gear to get the good shots. The following information will help you accomplish your mission.

Use the fastest/widest lens Aperture-wise that you can afford. A lens such as a 50mm F/1.8 to F/1.2 will go a long way in shooting in this situation, plus they are great for group shots of the band and portraits if you move close.

Use a camera with a higher ISO range. I know last week I told you to keep your ISO as low as possible but in this case, you WILL need a higher ISO like 1600 or 3200 to get the images to come out. The thing to remember here is newer cameras are better at high ISO and although I am a Canon shooter, Nikon's dominate here, check any review on Youtube.

Move around. You are not going to get the shots you need unless you are willing to move around. Remember, you are shooting a band so you will have to get around the fans or people dancing so don’t be afraid to move up close to the stage to get the good shots.

Get the candid shots. Don’t be afraid to stick around and get shots of the band after the show or during an intermission. Some of the greatest musician or band photos are of the artists just relaxing after the show either backstage or on their bus. The shot of the bassist holding their bass and relaxing or even practicing their chords before the show can be some really great images.
Get some good group shots. Many times when a band hires you to shoot a show they are going to want to use the images on their web site or even as the cover of their new album. Make sure you get a few good shots of the band together before or after the show.

Shooting in low light can be very challenging but can also be very rewarding. Once you master this type of photography, you are well on your way to becoming an accomplished professional. I want to thank my good friend Jessi James for donating these images showing what can go right and what can go wrong. Jessi shoots band quite frequently, so she has mastered shooting in this low light situation. Jessi is a classmate here at the Art Institute working on her Bachelor's in photography.

 Now get out there and shoot some fantastic images. Give low light photography a try and feel free to post your comment or questions and post your images here or on the Google + Page.


Comments/Questions

Get out of Auto Mode

Happy Sunday Everyone, my name is Bill and I am the new Sunday Ambassador. I am a Senior at AIOP and will be here with you at least until I graduate in January. If you have any questions or need to reach me you can email sundayambassador@gmail.com. Now, let's get into my first Blog post!

One of the challenges when starting out as a photographer is getting yourself out of your comfort zone. Many students find themselves using their Auto mode on their cameras because they are intimidated by the Manual mode.

    When using Manual mode, you have to know how to use all of the settings on the camera, what is known as the “Holy trinity” of photography. What I mean by this is ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. Once you have the hang of these three settings on your camera and how to use them to create the proper exposure, you are well on your way to becoming an accomplished photography professional.

    Now it doesn’t matter if you shoot with Canon, Nikon, Sony or another manufacturer’s camera, they all have these three basic settings and balancing them is how to create the proper exposure. Additionally, all of these cameras have whats known as an exposure meter and it is usually visible on the LCD screen on the back of the camera, as well as in the viewfinder.

The exposure meter in the camera is the set of tick marks toward the top of the screen with the numbers from left to right starting with -3 and moving to +3 on the right. “Perfect” exposure is the point in the dead center with the 0 and each tick mark is 1/3 of an F-stop. When your exposure meter is to the left of the 0, your shot will be under exposed and when it’s to the right of the 0, your shot will be over exposed. The next thing you are probably asking is “ok, how do I move my indicator to the 0 when I am taking a photo, is there a proper sequence?” Yes there is and I am going to share that with you now.

    One of the things that throws new photographers off is figuring out how to adjust their settings under Manual mode so that they get a nice, clean shot with “perfect” exposure. I will share the formula that I use. The first thing you want to do is set your shutter speed and the best shutter speed to use is one that is proportional to the focal length of your lens, especially if your
lens doesn’t have IS (Canon’s Image Stabilization) VR (Nikon’s Vibration Reduction) to compensate for the shake of your hand as you hold your camera. Many students don’t realize that if you set your shutter speed too low it will actually emphasize hand shake and their images turn out blurry. So, let’s say you are using a 70-300mm lens and you are shooting at the 300mm end of your focal length, you want to set your shutter speed to 320 or 400 as it will compensate for the camera shake and your photos should turn out nice and clear and not blurry.

    The next piece of the formula is the Aperture of your camera/lens combination. You want to start with your lens at it’s widest Aperture, or lowest number if it’s easier to remember that way, so on your 70-300mm lens, let’s say the Aperture is F/4-5.6. This means that when you are shooting at 70mm your widest Aperture is F/4 and as you zoom in with the lens the widest is F/5.6 at 300mm. So on your 70-300mm lens at 300mm you start at F/5.6 and you can narrow the Aperture from there to reduce the amount of light that enters your lens. Now I don’t like to go too small on my Aperture, so I will usually top at around F/8-10. At this point you are probably wondering what ISO you should use. Well if you ask most professional photographers they will tell you that you want to use the lowest ISO you can to get the shot. Most pros won’t use anything higher than ISO 800 and the reason is as you raise your ISO you introduce more noise into your photos. What is noise you ask, noise is the little speckles you see in your images when the ISO is too high as in the example photo below, which I took in my office with low light at night time.

If you look you will see the little speckles of noise in this shot because I used ISO 3200, which on my older Canon 5D causes noise as it does not have the newer electronics of the Canon 5D Mark III, which can use ISO 3200 with less noise in the final image. But in order to prevent noise entirely, I recommend starting with your ISO at 100 or 50 if you have a Pro body that can do ISO 50, most consumer cameras like the Canon T3i you can get through AI has ISO 100 as it’s bottom end.

    So now that we have talked about ISO if you start at ISO 100 and you are shooting outdoors in good daylight, then you want to only adjust your shutter speed and Aperture to get your shot to “perfect” exposure. Now, let’s say you are shooting in low light and want to get to perfect exposure and you are using say the Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM portrait lens. In this case, again start with ISO 100 and your shutter speed at 100 and then open your Aperture wider to introduce more light, so instead of using F/5.6, open those blades and get your Aperture down to F/2 or F/1.8 and see if that will get you to the 0 on your exposure meter. If Aperture does not do the trick, then start adjusting your ISO higher but I would recommend capping it as ISO 800. If at ISO 800 you are still too under exposed then it’s time to introduce a flash to your shot. The flash will help raise the amount of light in the room, but I do not recommend using your camera’s built in flash, I would recommend an external flash preferably one that has bounce and zoom and turn the flash to point behind you at the ceiling or a wall so that the light will not be too harsh. Equipped with the flash, you can now set your ISO much lower and reduce the possibility of noise in your images.

    Now you know the formula for using your camera in Manual mode, so get out there make some awesome images! Please feel free to comment and ask any questions you might have.

 

Comments/Questions

You've Got Paying Clients - Now What?

It's such a great feeling when your work is truly valued, and especially when it starts paying the bills! There is so much more to running a photography business than just finding clients and taking pictures, of course. Following are a few steps that will take your business to the next level.

1. Surround yourself with people who are strong in ways you are not. Find a great lawyer, accountant, and insurance agent who understand the photography industry and will be able to guide you when you have questions. There are so many details that they can bring to your attention to help you save money and keep your business going in the right direction. Having a lawyer look over your contracts (remember to ALWAYS have a contract!) will save you from issues down the line.

2. Talk to your accountant/banker/lawyer about incorporation. Becoming an LLC was such a great decision for me, and it shows my clients that I take my business seriously.

3. Find client management software that suits your needs and can grow with your business. Keeping track of clients, to-do lists, and payments is vital to having happy clients and clear records. Being able to do that all in one place really helped ease some of the anxiety that was always gnawing at me. My program of choice is the recently launched 17 Hats, which lets me accept credit card payments, track projects from quote and contract to completion, and sync with Google Calendar (among other things). While this is exactly the type of program I have been waiting for, there are tons of options out there that may be perfect for you such as Pixifi or Simply Studio. Have a favorite already? Leave a comment with your experience!

Happy Friday!

-Friday Ambassador

It’s raining and I have to shoot, now what?

It’s raining and I have to shoot, now what?

We have all been there, needing to get assignments done and the weather isn't it's best so what can we do? We still have a deadline that we have to make, but we don't want to get our cameras wet. For me I shoot OCR races professionally so sometimes I don't have a choice but to work in the rain. While my semi pro body is weather resistant and so is the glass that doesn't mean I should let it get wet. So what are the available options? Between myself and some of my peers we have tried several different options. I have used in the past a inexpensive bag that is made to protect your gear from the elements. The company is called Op Tech and the bags are available at most camera retailers. They cost about $8 for 2 bags. The bag is pretty simple to use and it very convenient because they fold up small and will fit in your bag.

             There are other options that are more expensive solution but It doesn't mean it's better.  One of my peers have purchased a few of the more expensive ones and they each had something about them he didn't like. The one system that he using covered the equipment very nicely but the area to look through to view the screen kept fogging up on him. That could make it difficult to get the shots if you can't seem what you are shooting. It always best to do you research before you purchase anything because you don't want to have to keep buying different ones before you find what fits your needs. 

             Weather really isn't the best reason to not meet your deadline. There are many available options for us to prepare for the nasty days as well as the nice once. It's always best to make sure you are prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at you. Sometimes you will find that you have taken your best shot yet and the weather wasn't that favorable. One of the photographers that AI have gone out and shot with never cancels for Inclement weather. The one time I went to shoot in NYC on top of “The Rock” the weather wasn't that nice and they claimed the visibility was very low. I decided to go up anyway since I was there and the view was much better then I thought,  my shots turned out great anyway. You don't want to miss out on opportunities by not being prepared or thinking you just don't want to shoot in the rain.

For more information take a look at these options, each camera will have a different sized cover but the cheaper plastic bag ones are universal.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/469774-REG/OP_TECH_USA_9001132_18_Rainsleeve_Set_of.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/815182-REG/LensCoat_LCRCPM4_RainCoat_Pro_Realtree_Max4.html

 

TBT 

Thursday Ambassador

DIY Creative Tips & Tricks to Try!

There are a multitude of tips and tricks out there for photographers that it seems like we never come across anything new - until now!  Below is a list of eight totally weird but totally cool tid-bits of knowledge to add to your growing inventory of photographic wisdom!  Some you may be familiar with, but I guarantee there is something new here to consider one day!



1.  Don't have a tripod?  Use a lamp!  

Yes, that's right, a lamp has about the same thread size as the filter thread used on tripods.  If you're in a bind or feeling innovative try this out!


2. A PEZ dispenser will fit on a hotshoe mount.

Yep, you read that correctly!  Next time you anticipate photographing a young child and need something to help them focus their eyes on your camera, try mounting a cool PEZ dispenser on your camera to capture their attention!

The base of the dispenser is just a tiny bit wider than the mount so you will have to trim a little off using a knife to get it to fit, but I am sure this cheap trick will pay off!

3.  Turn day to night!

Shooting in daylight but not getting enough diversity?  Try this trick:

Turn your flash power up really high--even to the maximum.  This will definitely make the subject extremely over-exposed but if you adjust your camera settings to expose for the subject it will make the background look extremely dark because you're not exposing for the ambient light and the flash isn't hitting it.  This will make it look like it’s night time even if it’s the middle of the day.  Try it!

4.  Macro photography without a macro lens.


Take it off, turn it around and shoot!  It is recommended that you use a tripod when shooting this way, maybe this would be a good opportunity to try out that lamp!

"There are four things you need to know about using this trick: (1) Your camera won’t take a picture with the lens off unless you’re in manual mode.  (2) The best focal length seems to be around 50mm, so either a 50mm prime or an 18-55mm kit lens would be perfect! (3) Obviously, you lose autofocus since your lens isn’t attached to the camera.  Focus is achieved by simply moving closer to or further away from the subject, and (4) The camera can’t open up the aperture, so you’ll do it with your hand.  On the back of the lens (the side you mount on the camera), move the little plastic slider piece that controls the aperture.  If you look in the lens while doing it, you’ll see the hole open up." (Harmer)

5.  Delete tourists without all the editing.

Got an awesome shot but people keep getting in the way?

Step 1: Set your camera on a tripod, or lamp.

Step 2: Take a picture about every 10 seconds until you have about 15 shots, depending on how fast and how many people are walking around.

Step 3: Open all of the images in Photoshop using File > Scripts > Statistics.   Choose “median” and select the files you took.  (The “statistics” script is only available in Photoshop Extended or in the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, however, you can get a somewhat similar effect in recent versions of Photoshop Elements by going to Enhance > Photomerge > Scene Cleaner.)

Step 4: Boom!  Photoshop finds what is different in the photos and simply removes it!  Since the people moved around, it fills the area where someone was standing with part of another photo where no one was there and now you have a clean scene as if you were the only one there!


 6.  Shaped bokeh.

Have you ever seen bokeh with lights in the shape of hearts, trees, or other shapes?  Here is a trick to get the shaped effect without buying an expensive shape kit!  All you have to do is cut out a piece of black paper the size of your lens glass.  Then use a sharp knife or razor blade to cut a shape on in the middle of the paper.  The shape should be slightly bigger than a nickel.  You will only see this effect if you are shooting with a large aperture like 1.4 or so; if you’re shooting at f/5.6 on a kit lens you probably won’t see the effect at all.

I have actually tried this myself and was unable to get a completely satisfying result.  I definitely got it to work--I tried hearts and stars--but I had a really tough time trying to get rid of the vignette.  I was using a full frame camera so maybe if you try this using a crop sensor I would really like to hear about your results!

7.  Circular reflector as a backdrop.

Sometimes when you're on location you might get a shot that would look really good against a white background.  This is where your reflector will come in handy!

"The trick for making this technique work is to use positive exposure compensation.  The camera will try and dim down the white background to a dull gray because it thinks the white is overexposed. About 1 stop of exposure compensation will make the reflector background look bright white." (Harmer)


8.  Insulation reflector board.

Some of my favorite pieces of equipment have cost me less than $1, this is practically no different.

Most circular reflectors only work for a headshots of one person.  You can purchase a large, full-body reflector but they can often cost around $70.  Simply purchase insulation board for $5 and then cover the back and edges with white duct tape.  You can find insulation board with reflective silver backing at any home improvement store and now you will have a large, lightweight multipurpose reflector!





Do you have a cool trick or tip to add to the list?  Let me know in the comments below!  If you get a chance to try one of these out I would love to hear about your experience too!

Thanks for reading today!

Works Cited

Harmer, Jim. "9 Weird Photography Tricks That Actually Work!" improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "bokeh trick." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "candy dispenser camera trick." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "crowd before-after." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "day-night flash." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "JIM4025-300x198." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "lamp camera trick." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "lens backwards." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Harmer, Jim. "reflector board." Photograph. improvephotography. Improve Photography LLC, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.  <http://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ >

Arrivederci, Adios, Au Revoir, Goodbye

This post is bittersweet because this is my last post as your Sunday Ambassador. As of yesterday I posted my final assignment as a student here at AIOPD. I will admit that I am happy and sad at the same time. I have met some outstanding professors and peers that I will surely miss but I vow to remain in contact with them while I am in graduate school. Before I part ways I've created a list of things that I wish I had known before I started school here. How many can relate?

1. I had to take Science, Math, English, English again and more English.

I will admit that this threw me for a loop. I thought that I was in art school? "How dare they put me into one of these classes!" I'd say to myself. I had to get over it and push forward. Luckily I passed the Math!

2. People can be brutally honest.

Showing my work every week was not a problem until I came across an assignment that got the best of me. I was not confident in that work but I had to show something. I had to learn that feedback is not only in the form of positive comments, but also negative.

3. The IDEA Survey will email you reminders and flood your inbox if you do not do the survey.

I get all my emails on my phone so I can try to check them as they come in. Sometimes I was waiting on an important email when a reminder would come through letting me know that I needed to fill out the survey. Point is, fill out the survey and get it over with.

4. No questions are stupid questions!

As a student I found myself emailing the Professors a million different questions. At times I thought that they would find it irritating but I think that they like when a student ask questions. I think....

5. Invest in quality equipment.

In the beginning I think I had a cheap $20 flash from Amazon. I thought that was all I needed to get me through the class that I was in. The next class required more equipment on top of that. I realized that in order to be prepared, I had to invest in quality equipment that would last me as a student and professionally.

6. The closer I got to the end, the more was expected of me as a student.

No longer could I use the excuse, "I don't know how to do it." I was expected to know video, lighting, HDR, editing and so forth.

7. Finally, I never knew how much I have grown until I look back at my work and see the progression.

I love going back and seeing where I came from. I have learned so much here at this school that I sort of want to do it again. I credit this school for teaching me to really find out who I am as a photographer.

Also I cannot stress the fact how important it is to BE ORGANIZED! I have a folder name AIOPD and within that folder there are the names of each individual classes. Within that folder is a breakdown of weekly assignments. I cannot stress how important it is to maintain a level or organization because not only does it help you as a student, but as a photographer as well.

With that being said, this is my final goodbye.

Happy Shooting!

Quiana P Jackson. The Dance, 2014.

The importance of a backup plan.

            A backup plan is an essential part of photography. Not only for your school assignments but also for your jobs you should always have that backup plan. While you always hope everything goes smoothly you never know. If you don't have a plan “B” then you could end up loosing a job or failing your assignment. One thing I always do when I have something that requires a model is I make sure I ask more then one. This way if my preferred model can't make it then I have someone else to take there place. Another important thing to think about is having backup equipment. Especially if you are doing a job for someone. Nothing is more embarrassing then not being able to complete the job because your equipment failed. If you are shooting for a wedding then you could wind up getting sued if you don't get the job done.

            I personally don't have a backup pro body but I do have a mirror less camera that I can use if needed for my assignments. It still shoots in RAW and has the capability to swap out the lens. I wouldn't rely on this camera though if I was doing pro job like a wedding or a Sweet 16. If you can not afford to purchase back up equipment then make sure you rent something to use for those jobs.
         
            There are many rental companies that are available to rent all types of equipment. Depending on how long you need to have the rental equipment it is always cheaper to purchase it is you need something for weeks at a time. However if you just need it for the weekend then by all means rent it. When choosing a rental company you need to look at how they have the rentals set up. Most of them will place a hold on your credit card for most of the replacement cost of whatever you are renting. While this doesn't matter to much with a regular credit card, this can make things very difficult if you are using a debit card. Now suddenly your bank account shows no funds because it is reserved just in case you brake or loose the rental equipment. There are many different rental companies so it doesn't hurt to google them and shop around. Also some of your local camera stores may offer rentals as well.


Thursday Ambassador