Saturday, September 25, 2010

GET MORE: Gear. Equipment. Technique. My Own Rambling Experience.



My previous post brought up a few details that I thought would make a good follow up piece.
These relate to a few techniques and items of gear that I used on the Butter Factory shoot.

Much of what I know has been gleaned from the works and advice of other photographers.
In the interests of paying things forward, I'd like to share a few lessons and techniques that my experience has taught me.

More after the jump




First up is the Tronix Explorer XT
Not to knock (un)available light photographers, but there is nothing that separates poor photography from art more than meticulously planned lighting - which invariably means studio lighting and the tons of modifiers available to make magic with light.

This is all very well in a studio setup, but what happens when you want to use that lighting in locations where power outlets are lacking?

Invariably, you could invest in top of the range lighting systems which come with their own battery packs. (Think $$$, and lots of it)

Or, you could opt for something a little less pricey, which is what I did.

At a little more than $800, The Explorer XT is by no means an item you could buy on a whim.
The clincher for me was that it would allow location work that I otherwise would only be able to do if I sold my current lighting setup (Interfit) and invested in something far more costly.

Two things to remember with a sine wave inverter:


1) They need to remain on charge when not in use, or they could lose power permanently.
(I actually sent a mail to Tronix asking about this, and apparently they'll work just fine if allowed to charge for an uninterrupted 24 hours once per week.)

2) They do not fare well supplying continuous power.
What this means for me is that the strobe lights will work fine, but having the modelling lights turned on would not be a good idea.

This unit fared brilliantly during the shoot, and is likely to continue giving me joy down the track.



Secondly, we have the combination of Studio strobes and hot shoe flashes.

As far as lighting goes, I have 3 studio strobes and 2 Canon 580EXII flashes at my disposal, each with their own unique pros and cons.

The studio strobes are more powerful and are capable of creating a quality of light that I cannot achieve with the speedlites.
The speedlites however are very portable and versatile enough for quite a number of projects.

Ordinarily a shoot will require one or the other.
On the odd occasion a need will arise for both types to be used.
Sometimes I also have need for 4 lights or more, and in this case I have to use both types.

With the Butter Factory shoot I needed the 1m x 1m softbox to create the soft light on my subjects - cue the 600Ws Interfit Stellar strobe.

The speedlite was necessary for a few reasons:
1) I didn't want another strobe running off the Sine wave inverter (It could easily handle it, but I wanted to play it safe)
2) The speedlite was small enough to fit behind the couch without trouble and provide illumination for the shelves on the wall.
3) I have a little more options wrt gels on the speedlites - even if, in this case, I settled on something as basic as a CTO gel to warm the wall.

The trick with all of this is finding a way to trigger everything easily.
The strobe uses an Elinchrom Skyport, whilst the speedlite was triggered with a Pocketwizard Mini.
Fortunately, the Pocketwizard transmitter has a hotshoe above it, which allowed me to slot the Skyport transmitter on without trouble - and Robert's your mother's brother.





I must mention that ordinarily I could get away with a Pocketwizard only; the speedlite's flash will trigger the studio strobe, provided the strobe can "see" the flash.
Again here I chose to play it safe, and opted to use both the transmitters as the speedlite was firing away from the strobe.

The last thing I want to do in front of a client is fiddle with gear that isn't performing as it should.

Lastly, I want to share a lesson that the experience taught me.
In hindsight, this should not have occurred, but sometimes in the face of something new you end up being so overwhelmed by the experience that your normal routine is disturbed.

In this case I left one little element out of my preparation for the shoot that had me kicking myself repeatedly in post-production - I neglected to do a thorough clothing inspection before we started shooting.

Admittedly, the darkness of the location contributed, as I would have picked up on this if we were shooting outdoors.

Take a look at Steve's hat.
This little item is such an integral part of his character, and as such is evident in every shot - necessitating a touch up in every shot.
For a photographer - time is money, and unnecessary time spent editing can be a very costly mistake - especially if it could have been avoided with 2 minutes of primping before the time.



So to wrap up I'd like to share the post-game summary from the shoot - the little lessons I ALWAYS write down the minute I get home.

1) Low ambient light creates problems that you have to overcome.

-Find a way to illuminate your subject so that the camera can focus without difficulty. (Torch, modelling light etc...)
-Your environment/backdrop may have to be lit with flash.
-If you have to light the background with flash, be creative enough that your lighting does not ruin the ambiance.

2) Examine your subjects clothing before and during the shoot.

- Fluff, lint and other elements can cause nightmares in post.
- Changing poses can lead to make-up smudges on clothes, be prepared.

3) Don't skimp on your location preparation.

- Knowing the lighting conditions and options for setups will save a lot of headaches and spare you the ignominy of looking like an amateur in front of your client.

4)Be confident and methodical.
- This comes with experience.
- You will get the most from your clients if they truly believe that you know what you are doing and are focused on getting things perfect.

Happy snapping fellow photographers.



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Friday, September 17, 2010

Persistence pays off



Part of the process of building your skills as a photographer depends on pushing your boundaries at times and trying something new.
Getting out of your comfort zone can mean many different things - from new equipment and techniques to new locations and unique subjects.

The old truths remain valid - for great images, find something interesting, put it in an interesting place and light it well.

More info after the jump...


There are a number of very interesting locations in the city I live in, and one in particular has been tempting me for a while.

Butter Factory is a location I've been dying to shoot in for some time.
As its name implies, it is located in a historic building within the CBD, and because of its aged appearance, has a very specific feel to it.
Maybe it's just me, but every time I walk in there, Frank Sinatra starts playing in my head and all I want to do is plonk myslef down on one of the leather couches with a good single malt and a fat Cuban cigar and just relax.

Many months ago I started working towards getting a location shoot lined up.
From the start I knew I had 2 options: Either be ballsy and ask the proprietor for permission to drag subjects and gear in on a quiet evening or go the "quid pro quo" route.

I opted for the latter, and approached the owner offering to provide him with free interior shots in exchange for the permission to do the work I wanted to do.
This would involve more work, but I figured it was the smarter move for 3 reasons:

1) It would give me a chance to do some very detailed location scouting - both for places to shoot and times when it would be least disruptive to other patrons.

2) Knowing what kind of ambient light you're dealing with will save a lot of headaches. (Turns out the place was a photographic black hole - which made things quite interesting)

3) If it turned into a useful location for repeat work, being on the owner's good side would make future requests easier.

So, step 1.
Shoot the locations pro bono.



The above scene is actually from Butter Bank, which is a bar, under the same management, directly above the location I was angling for.





Permission to drag lights and subjects in on a quiet evening - check

Next problem - Good subjects.
The mood of the location demanded something quite specific - classy, sophisticated and mature would be the words of the day.

Enter Sarah Shields and Steve Haywood, willing guinea pigs from my BNI group who fit the brief perfectly.
Not married, or even related, they were both keen to do a little TFCD work when I had explained what I had in mind.



Steve is a local Master Jeweller, and Sarah is the General Manager of Oceans Resort Hotel

And so it happened that we found ourselves in Butter Factory one quiet Thursday evening with a car full of lighting gear and a number of little road bumps to navigate.

Lighting a Black Hole
Step number 1 for me is to work out the ambient light first.
For me, this involves working in manual and dialling in the exposure settings I am hoping to work with.
The trick here is that both your shutter speed and aperture provide their own limitations wrt safe hand-holding, sync speed and depth of field.

So, not keen on shooting slower than 1/125, and not keen on a depth of field shallower than f6.3, I dialled these settings into the camera (Along with an ISO of 200) and got...



...exactly what I expected.

Given the work I had already done in that location, I was fairly certain that ambient light would not be a part of the image.
Regardless, things can change on the day of a shoot, and I took a few shots to find out if my initial hunch was correct.

Step 2 - ramp up the ISO by 1 stop and open lens all the way (f2.8)



Better, but in the same way that a BMI of 40 is better than 50!
So, question answered.
Scientifically I could bump up the ambient light by increasing ISO to "Holy shit that's noisy" or drop my shutter speed to well within "get me a tripod and don't move a bloody muscle" range.
Realistically, for image quality, neither was an option.

So, question answered, I need flash to light my background.

Step 3 - set up a TTL flash (triggered with pocketwizard mini/flex) and take a look.
Camera settings: ISO 200, f2.8, 1/125



Better, but not quite there.
It almost approximated the the ambient light.
Problems for me - the colour and intensity of the light.

Easy fixes.
Added a 1/2 cut CTO gel to the flash - warm light, and the gel itself would suck a stop or so of light out of the flash.
- 2 birds with 1 stone

Lather, rinse, repeat...
This time I brought Steve into the shot, as I was certain I was pretty much in the ballpark.



Definately getting there, but the depth of field was a problem.
Normally I'm all for blurring everything but your subject, but this time I wanted detail in the background, because it added to the mood and "feel" of the image.

Easy fix this time.
Set aperture to f11 and the miracle of wireless ETTL flash would sort out the rest. (I do love the pocketwizard Mini)



BINGO!
Time to start making magic.

Brought in a 90cm square softbox on a 600w/s Interfit head, triggered with Elinchrom skyports.
I've found the combination of Pocketwizards and Skyports to be quite useful in certain circumstances, even if it does make the camera hotshoe look a little odd.
(Will be doing a post on this soon)

The Interfit was powered by a Tronix sine wave inverter which has been a godsend for this kind of work.

The combination worked fine; soft light on the subject, mood in the background thanks to a gelled 580EXII.

All that was left was to work on poses and switch out lenses for close in work.











BIG PROBLEM though was the ambient light which made the simple act of focussing impossible.
Once again I had the help of two fantastic assistants, Heather and Shelly.
Even with one of them using torch light to illuminate the subjects, I still got a lot more blurry shots than I'd want - not good when eyes have to be pin sharp.

Ordinarily the modelling light on the softbox would work fine, but this is not an option with a sine wave inverter.
Note to self - mains power if possible next time, or do something about the ambient light.

All in all, a very enjoyable shoot with two great people.

Great location, even if the ambient light was a problem.
Even better to know that your skills are improving, both in what you are capable of doing, and in the confidence that comes with smoothly negotiating the little hiccups that are inherent with any location work.

My thanks to Steve and Sarah for their time and patience.
It really was worth the wait.

And just to add a little to the mood, I put the images to some fitting music.






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