EVERY IMAGE HAS A STORY
GOT A GREAT IMAGE?
SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD.
We're just relaunching in January 2012 with a new angle. DSLR Blog will be about images and their stories (we also write about other topics on Photography too). We welcome submissions from any type of photographer - from baby portraits to gut-wrentching humanitarian photography to pure art. Read our submission guidelines.Join Our Flickr Group!
Tag Archives: Flash
David Bellis: Wedding in Historic Merchant Adventurers’ Hall
It was January, late afternoon, where the couple Tom and Katy were concerned about the low light and had pretty much given up on any chance of the outside shots they had wanted post ceremony. Not wanting to disappoint them, I was mulling over the options prior to the wedding with Barry, a photographer friend, when he offered to assist by holding an umbrella, opening up the possibility of getting some very nice off camera lighting. I’d never worked with an assistant before at a wedding and was intrigued by the creative options, so agreed.
This was an image that won me a Bronze Bar from The Guild of Photographers recently.
The building in the background is the historic Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, in the center of my hometown, York, which dates from 1357 and is a popular location for wedding ceremonies in the city. York is a very photogenic city generally, with many wonderful locations to photograph bride and grooms!
I positioned the couple on the left-hand third of the frame and then did a test shot for the ambient light, which at this point was fast disappearing. The ironic thing about shooting at dusk, is that if you want to capture the lighting that you see in front of you, you need to underexpose. This is because the sensor does its best to render everything it sees in front of it as if it was shot at two in the afternoon. I then used the pop up flash on my Canon 60D to trigger the Speedlite that Barry was holding, pointing into the umbrella at camera left. The pop up flash was used as a trigger only, and did not throw any light onto the scene. The Speedlite did a fantastic job of rendering Katy’s dress and didn’t need any compensation.
The image looked good straight out of the camera, but I took it a little further in Lightroom. I decided to darken down the background some more, so used the adjustment brush to reduce the exposure of pretty much everything except the couple and a patch of lawn in front of them. Then there was just a trip into Photoshop to clone out an intrusive sign that was sticking out of the lawn to their right, and that was job done.
Vital statistics: Camera: Canon 60D with 17-55mm F2.8 lens, Canon 580EX Speedlite, manual exposure, F3.5, 1/100 sec, 1250 ISO, evaluative metering.
David Bellis is a professional portrait and wedding photographer in York, UK, a historic and photogenic city.
-
Website: http://www.bellisweddingphoto.com/
Posted in Behind the Image, Wedding Photography
Also tagged adobe, Canon, David Bellis, lightroom, photography, photos, Photoshop
6 Comments
Back to Basics: Flash or no Flash
Photo Source: http://flickr.com/photos/billselak/987323495/
Admittedly, I hate using the flash unless it’s absolutely necessary, so I may be biased when I say that I think people use the flash FAR too much. Often to the detriment of the photo they are trying to take. There are exceptions of course, but it’s very VERY rare that you actually need to use your flash under normal circumstances if you’re setting up your shot properly using a combination of the ISO setting, aperture setting, and shutter speed. To me the flash is a last ditch effort to save a photo that cannot be taken any other way, and should be avoided whenever possible.
I have worked as a professional photographer off and on (I will admit, I’ve been “off” for more of less 2 years now), and I am always amazed at just how fast many people will jump to their flash before even attempting to properly setup the shot without it.
Maybe I’m too much of a “light purest”, or whatever you want to call it, but I just don’t like destroying the natural light of the photo if it can in any way be avoided, and I would highly suggest that people only use their flash as a last resort, or as a means to get a specific lighting effect, and not as a be all and end all way of “getting the lighting right” or some other excuse to be lazy with the setup of the shot.
For the sake of natural light everywhere, I implore you, use your flash sparingly, and only when it’s absolutely needed to get the shot you want. You’ll thank me later when you don’t end up with a bunch of photos that are flooded in artificial light and almost certainly ruining at least some of the magic of the original moment. Or maybe you won’t, and you think I’m an idiot for suggesting it, who knows. By all means chew me out in the comments…you might even convince me.
SanDisk announce Extreme IV CompactFlash cards
I am quite a fan of SanDisk compact flash products, I use three Ultra II cards (and gave away one of the same as the Picture A Day Challenge Prize). Up to now I haven’t purchased the higher speed and capacity Extreme III but now SanDisk have superseded even that with the new Extreme IV. As SanDisk are usually measured as the fastest Compact Flash cards around this should rock.
More info in the Press Release
SanDisk Extreme® IV line of CompactFlash® digital film cards for professional photographers. The line is targeted at photographers who require the highest possible performance and the largest capacities for their medium format and high-end digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras. The SanDisk Extreme IV cards are available in capacities of up to 8-gigabytes (GB)1 and deliver minimum read and write speeds of 40 megabytes per second (MB/sec.)2 making these the fastest flash memory cards in the world. This exceptionally fast card speed is critical when shooting large numbers of high-resolution images.
When do you need the speed? Sports events and shooting scenarios where targets will be fast moving, where you will be using continuous rapid fire approach benefits by clearing the buffer faster with swifter writes. Also if you shoot RAW where you have higher file sizes the transfer to your computer is usually speeded up. For normal shooting the older cards would suffice although I do find there is a reliability improvement by buying the more expensive disks, I have only had failures so far on cheaper products.
Technorati Tags: sandisk, extreme, compact, flash, memory, cards, photography, news
Posted in News and Commentary, Photography Gear
Also tagged cards, compact, extreme, memory, news, sandisk
Leave a comment
Photography Lighting 101
What looks like potentially a great resource, Strobist: Lighting 101 aims to teach lighting numpties a thing or two about photography lighting
Intimidated by the idea of off-camera lighting? Don’t be. We are pretty much starting from scratch, so no worries. The first posts will be about what kind of gear you will need to do the minimalist strobe thing.
One thing I have to disagree with is their assertion that “light gives you far more bang-for-the-buck than does fast glass”. My nifty-50 lense is the best bang for buck I have ever spent on photography!
I am glad I came across these posts as I am in the market for a flash. I have had my eye on the Canon 580ex flash unit, items like the following will help me in my purchasing decisions
we are going to assume a couple of things:
1) You have a strobe that can be triggered externally via your camera’s PC connection, as seen in the first photo. (This example is a Nikon SB-28dx, a circa “D1 era” pro flash.)
2) You have a strobe that can be set to manual power and “dialed down,” as seen in the second photo.
Well it turns out the 580ex, despite being a leading model, does not have external PC control …
Technorati Tags: camera, flash, lighting, photography, tips, tutorials
Posted in Flash and Lighting, Lighting, Photography Gear, Photography Techniques
Also tagged camera, Lighting, strobist, tips, tutorials
2 Comments
Follow Us!
DIY Camera Flash Softbox
One of those expensive but really useful things is a softbox. A softbox turns harsh direct light into beautifying soft diffused light. Most portrait lighting tutorials will mention them. Anyone who does portraits really needs one of these bad boys but they are darned expensive for anyone who A) will only use it on occasion and B) doesn’t get paid for this stuff. I mean, it is a lot of money if you will be taking pictures of the kids and pets, not so much if you have celebrities as paying clients. YMMV.
Anyway, this is all moot, using this DIY Softbox I will be able to put one together myself for a tiny sum and be ready for when Natalie Portman drops in for a random amateur photoshoot.
via: Strobist
Technorati Tags: strobist, fredmiranda, lighting, flash, photography, accessories, diy, make, softbox, tips, news