Why shouldn’t I shoot my family and friends for class?

Just finishing up my Portraiture class and I must say its been the toughest one yet. Not tough because the assignments where hard but tough in the fact that each assignment required a new person. In total I needed to photograph 25 different people in 6 weeks. It was hard to find all these different people and keep them to your schedule. Everyone has family they could always use but the problem with that is your family wont end up as a paying customer later on.  They will always expect you to shoot them for free. It seems pretty sad but that is the way it works.

In all of my assignment this past 6 weeks the hardest was to find 8 people to photograph together. To accomplish this I put some feelers out weeks in advanced but most of those options fell through. My last and final option was to ask a friend if she knew of anyone that I could get to photograph. I figured since she has 3 kids and herself that would kill off half of my requirements right there. However this particular week none of her kids could show up for the event. I was lucky though because she know a lot of other people and found me the 8 I needed in the nick of time. By the end of my shooting I had people asking for a card, wondering if I could shoot an up coming event.

I was grateful that these people who I didn’t know was asking me if could do other work and that they would be contacting me in the future. Without shooting these strangers I would have never got my name or my information out there like I did. I learned the in the end it might pay off to shoot people you don’t know because they may want your services in the future. The event that I was asked about is for the republicans in town so they will probably want a hand out, however it might be one of those handouts that gets your name out there for paying work. These politicians might need head shots or things like that. While doing the event for free might make them think you will do everything for free, you can quickly let them know what you charge for those types of services.

So I recommend getting yourself out there and looking for ways to network and find potential future clients. You obviously wont get paid to shoot them for your class assignments but if they can see the quality of work you can provide them, then you might very well have made a connection to turn them into a client.

Here is my funny face shot of my 8 people. In the end this probably was my best assignment. 

TBT

Thursday Ambassador

Get More Confidence with Outdoor Flash Photography

My current class, Portraiture, has been seriously testing my skills with specific instruction and although I am feeling more confident about using my strobes I am still facing some issues on how much knowledge I still lack in problem-solving photography obstacles.  I have been scouting locations and scheduling extra shoots not only for added practice but also to cover myself for when I make those inevitable errors like forgetting to reset a setting--I have actually done a few shoots where my Auto-Focus was set to manual and I never caught it until I caught previews of noticeably-blurry photos--no one else noticed it either, but I still felt so disappointed in myself.

In an effort to get better results with my on-location, outdoor shoots using flash I had to do some extra research to help me understand what it really means about strobes being controlled by aperture and ambient light controlled by shutter speed and how to effectively use flash photography outdoors during daylight hours.  I recommend reading the entire article here but I will highlight the points that I found very informative.

An Introduction to Outdoor Flash Photography

If you're like me and knew so little about the field of photography, the challenges these classes offer to get us real-world experience should be accepted as a means to acquire or hone our skills.  Many of these assignments will provide us opportunities to venture out of the studio where we face even more elements for consideration.  Good time management is very important as well as understanding your environment.  The studio gives us greater control but how do you set up your strobes during the day..?  Using ambient light and likely a reflector card would be the first go-to, maybe even a speedlight, when shooting outdoors during the day, but effectively using flash photography outdoors can be both an invaluable skill and fun to experiment with.  This Nature photographer here cannot resist the urge to be shooting outside so it was important for me to learn how to be able to combine the two for portraiture -- Double bonus!

The first problem we face is balancing the mixed light.  You have natural ambient light and flash to consider so make time to do a custom white balance using your gray card.  

Next, since we cannot control the sun we can effectively control the strobes to light the scene.  It is often noted that we should avoid shooting when the sun is high but rather shoot early or shoot around sunset.  Sometimes we cannot avoid it so the best approach when using strobes is to first set the exposure on your camera to match the available light.  You will need to keep an eye on your shutter speed so that you are metering for an exposure that is within your sync speed.  This will help you determine the aperture at which to meter your strobes.  It is important to take test shots beforehand to obtain the correct exposure balance before you start shooting because natural ambient light can change pretty fast.  You will also need to determine the quality of light you want to create by using modifiers appropriately and also getting creative with how you use them such as for bouncing light for use as fill light as you will see later when discussing cross lighting.

 Depending on how much you want to over- or under-expose the background will determine the level of drama you want to create.  This is where we learn what it means about what shutter speed and aperture control.  Changing the shutter speed slower than sync speeds typically around 1/200th will control the exposure of the background.  Slowing it down will brighten up the background thus lessening the contrast and opening up the shadow regions.  The aperture will control the subject and how over- or under-exposed it is.  Say you metered for f/8 @ 1/200th and you are ok with the illumination of the background but you want to emphasize your subject by making them brighter you would open up the aperture to f/5.6 or f/4 or something similar and let more light in.  If you wanted them a bit more under-exposed you would stop down the aperture and close it down to something similar to f/9 or f/11 while the background remains constant.

Something to consider about light placement is outdoor cross-lighting.  This is where the lights face the direction of the sun and the model is captured in between--something comparable to shooting under the mid-day sun with no shade.  It is highly recommended to have the sun illuminating your subject and your strobes fill their shadowed side or you will end up running into issues with them squinting.  Follow the same instructions for metering and checking the desired exposure.

These tips will help you achieve more effective outdoor lighting and  increased success when using your strobes outside.  As with pretty much everything we learn, practice does indeed make perfect and hard work almost always pays off.  Let your passion and curiosity inspire you to be the best photographer you can be.  Do you have tips about flash photography outside or questions I might be able to answer?  Please leave a comment below!  

Works Cited

Eftaiha, Diana. "An Introduction to Outdoor Flash Photography." photography.tutsplus. Envato Pty Ltd., 15 Dec. 2010. Web. 8 Aug. 2014. <http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/an-introduction-to-outdoor-flash-photography--photo-4272>

All images are my own and from my recent experiences using my strobes during the day.

Increasing your portfolio without breaking the bank or paying out of pocket.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I wanted to talk about a great experience that I had last weekend. I recently joined a group called the Philadelphia Glamour Photography Group on Meetup.com. I joined at a time when they were just about to have their huge meet up that they have every year at Riddley Creek State Park, in Media, PA. The meet up was on a Sunday, close to 160 Models, Photographer's and MUA's showed up.  This whole thing was new to me, I was a bit overwhelmed as I didn't know any of the member's yet, but I did go with a friend, her boyfriend and her kids. That made it a bit easier when they arrived. Other than being overwhelmed, I was really taken back, by how inviting, accepting and friendly everyone was. They had a small ceremony for one of the members that  had recently passed and had planted a tree in his honor. This was very moving, being able to be a part of this was truly amazing.

Now on to my point... Many of us want to increase our portfolio, but you don't want to have to pay a model or you may not have the money. This meet up was free to everyone involved. The MUA's were paid for their work, understandable as they need to replace their makeup. Models brought many different outfits and then it was like a feeding frenzy. Models changing outfits, changing locations several times during the day. All with over a 60 or so different photographers asking them to do different things. Every model will get copies of their photographs, usually in digital form. (I'm assuming), but this was an opportunity to really expand your portfolio with several different models with different looks and not breaking your bank or paying out of pocket. There are many other groups that do similar meetups, some charge depending on the event, but I suggest that you take a look at this option and find  a group in your area or even start one of your own. So get out of your comfort zone and start taking a chance!  I did and I will never regret it.

Below are some of the photos I took during this meet up.

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  

                                                      

   Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

                                                              

Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Photographing Children is never an easy task.....

Good Morning and Happy Sunday!!  I hope everyone had a great week. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing a friends 3 year old son. This wasn't the first time I have photographed kids before, I have two of my own kids and a niece and nephew and have done several other children’s sessions prior.  So I wasn't as surprised when we got of to a very rocky start.

I went to the session with my business partner, and he had never been to Valley Forge Park before so he met us at around 9:30 AM to start the session. I have met Hunter (my friends son) many times before, but he was never the subject of a photo session, needless to say, what happened next really didn't surprise me or Harry (my business partner).

Since Hunter had never met Harry before so he was a bit stand offish. After about an hour Hunter finally calmed down and crying stopped. Hunter is a very energetic 3 year old, who show tons of love especially to his mom. Finally we were able to get the shots we were looking to get and it did take some time, a lot more time than the scheduled session was planned for. 

By the end of the day, a 1 hour session turned into a 3 hour session. Hunter became Harry’s best friend, and we used that to our advantage to get some amazing photos of him. Photographing children is never easy, it takes patience and someone who has the love for photography to capture the images that are envisioned. I love photographing children in an environmental setting, it allows them to be themselves and allows me to capture those special photos that would never be taken in a studio setting. It also helps create memories of the moment for everyone involved, which I find difficult to achieve in a studio setting.

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

 Photos by Wayne Salat and Harry Fish of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Would I Buy This Photography?

What a great Thursday! A new sessions starts with opportunities to learn and try new things!

I just finished watching a free Creative Live Seminar over the past three days with a Canon Explorer of Light Award Recipient, Clay Blackmore. I didn't get to watch too closely, but I enjoyed a Master Class with him in Italy last fall, so this was really review. I went back and reviewed my work since last fall, and I’m pleased to see that most of my portraits since that time have turned out great!

When you are photographing people, ask yourself, “Would I buy this photograph if it were me?” If we want to have successful photography businesses, we have to create images people want to pay for! Knowing how to light people and pose them to make them look good is extremely important. This posing chart for men and women done by Monte Zucker is available on his website at: http://www.photographeveryone.com/posing

There are two basic poses to remember: feminine and basic. Explained in very simplistic terms, the feminine pose turns the body at about 45° to the camera, drop the shoulder farthest away from the camera and has the female subject tip her head toward the higher shoulder. The light should cross the front of the body rather than come straight at it which will emphasize curves and details in clothing. This pose is excellent for women with thin to normal size bodies and youth to middle age. The basic pose works for men, and heavier and/or elderly women. The reason is the light is directed straight at the front of the body, and this will show less details and neck wrinkles or curves than the feminine pose. The head should be straight with body (like the line a tie creates) rather than tipped, especially in men.

Then there are three camera positions: front, 2/3s, and profile. If you turn your subject to create these different camera positions instead of moving your camera, remember that your lighting will need to move with them to create the same lighting pattern. (It may be easier to move your camera, if your background is suitable from the different angles.)

All of these use the Loop Lighting patterns. You will learn about different lighting patterns in Advanced Studio Lighting, but don’t be afraid to learn what they are and explore outside of class. A great book I got, after a seminar by the authors at WPPI convention, is The Portrait - Understanding Portrait Photography by Glenn Rand and Tim Meyer. (Sorry profs J, but it was much more helpful than the textbooks we used.)

Once you master these in the simple posing above, you can start using it in creative and fun posing situations and with multiple people in your image.

Now all you need to do is practice. I suggest you find a statue of large stuffed figure you can practice on. They don’t get tired or angry by being photographed over and over. Start there and when you feel confident enough, move to real people. Clay Blackmore said it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to be good, and 100,000 hours to be a master!

Do you have any portraits you would like to share with us?

Works Cited

Clay Blackmore. Explorers of Light. Canon, Inc. 2013. 1 Aug 2013. http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/contributors/explorers/blackmore_bio.shtml#

Rand, Glenn. Meyer, Tim. The Portrait. Rocky Nook, Inc. Santa Barbara, CA. 2010. Print.

Zucker, Monte. Posing Guide. How to Photograph Everyone. 2013. 1 Aug 2013. http://www.photographeveryone.com/posing

Lighting Class

Happy Sunday Everyone!!  I hope you enjoyed the past week. Today I wanted to talk a little about lighting. In the past I was always afraid to use studio lighting, I found it intimidating and difficult to do. Over the years I have tried and tried to figure out studio lighting. I just never seemed to be able to get it right. So when I saw what my next class was that was coming up I was really excited. The class was PH136 Lighting class.  As I went through the course outline, I looked to see who my instructor was going to be. I found out that my instructor was Reuben Njaa, so I did what we all do nowadays, I “Googled” him. What I found was someone who was amazing with painting with light, and he appeared to have so much knowledge and this really excited me. I looked over his personal website http://www.reubennjaaphotography.com/ for hours, looking at all of his amazing work.

When shooting portraits remember that there are many different types of lighting. Each will give you a different result.(Hurter)

Split Lighting – is used when the key light illuminates only half the face. It is an ideal slimming light. It can be used to narrow a wide face or nose.(Hurter)

Rembrandt Lighting - is characterized by a small, triangular highlight on the shadowed cheek of the subject. This type of lighting is dramatic.(Hurter)

Butterfly Lighting - lighting pattern that produces a symmetrical, butterfly-like shadow beneath the subject’s nose. It tends to emphasize high cheekbones and good skin.(Hurter)

Rim Lighting - is used when the subject’s head is turned 90 degrees from the camera lens. It is a dramatic style of lighting used to accent elegant features. It is used less frequently now than in the past, but it still produces a stylish portrait.(Hurter)

Loop Lighting - This is one of the more commonly used lighting setups and is ideal for people with average, oval-shaped faces.  (Hurter)

One of the things that I remember that stands out the most is one of my first interactions with him. Our first assignment we had to post a Bio, and as the comments flowed, I had told him” I want to be just as good as you are!” His reply not only surprised me but has to this day inspired me. Reuben Njaa said this” Don’t try to be as good as me, try to be better than me”.  I keep that in the back of my head each and every time I shoot.  Thanks Reuben you have been a true inspiration.

Below are a few of the photographs I took during PH136 with Reuben Njaa

 Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

  Photos by Wayne Salat

 Photos by Wayne Salat

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Hurter, Bill. "The Five Basic Portrait-Lighting Setups." Sekonic Control Light. Sekonic, n.d. Web. 23 Jul 2013. <http://www.sekonic.com/whatisyourspecialty/photographer/articles/the-five-basic-portrait-lighting-setups.asp&xgt;.

The Art of Self-Portraiture

Saturday Ambassador

Photography students are required to explore a variety of genres, techniques and theories. Regardless of your professional interests, delving into other realms of the photographic arts can broaden your perspectives, hone your skills and make you a more attentive photographer. One pursuit that is often overlooked, however, is the art of self-portraiture.

Self-portraiture requires practice to perfect, but it is a useful skill – one that is not easy to master. The day will arrive, if it hasn't already, when you will need a profile image for a professional application, a personal "greeting" to potential customers, an identity image for a publication or some combination thereof. You could ask another photographer to create an image for you, but by doing so you lose creative control of the outcome; it becomes someone else's art.

Learning self-portraiture is also an excellent way to become a consummate portrait artist; as photographer, lighting technician and subject, you are particularly aware of every nuance of the portrait-making process.  

Here are some tips for creating fabulous self-portraits:

§  Use a stand-in, if available, (friend, family member, passer-by or even a Halloween mask on a stick, if all else fails) to determine how your lighting will appear.

§  Place an object where you will stand or sit. This allows you to find the proper spot quickly, as well as providing a point upon which to focus.

§  Ensure that your focal point is where your eyes will be in the frame. I often place a light stand in the scene with the tip at the height of my eyes so that I can focus upon that precise point, removing it upon entering the scene.

§  If the scene is a landscape and you don't have a handy light stand, mark the spot with a rock.

§  Look into a mirror and arrange your face as you'd like it to appear just before entering the scene. Also, be aware of reflections in glasses, shininess of skin, clothing wrinkles and other detriments to good portraiture.

§  Find (or create) an interesting set for your self-portrait. Decide what you want this image to say about you.

§  Practice!

You are likely to be amazed at the number of applications for exquisite self-portraiture. It is truly a worthwhile endeavor, as you may unexpectedly find yourself before the camera as video host; you may need a self-portrait for a promotional project; perhaps you'll want to refine your portraiture skills – this is a great way to do it.
       

                         

~Saturday Ambassador