Lighten that Load

Good Wednesday from Prospect.

Set-up including living light stand

So here I am proposing on location headshots. You know, the one's that don't hurt. 

Well for the most part they only hurt me, lugging way too much gear for seamless shots. 

It usually takes me three trips and a car load when doing a larger shoot.

But I want a kit for those quicker runs. You know less time setting up and more with my client.

I finally decided to trim this big kit down. If I can walk out of here with one bag of stands/modifiers, one box of lighting and one camera bag with bodies/lens I'll be happy.

Well I think I've done it. Even tested it with my main digital bodies so I can handle what I need when I need it.

List is now 3 stands, 2 light booms, 2 reflector/diffusers (for white, grey, black backgrounds, 1 60" umbrella/softbox, 2-3 speedlights (1 main, 1 background, 1 hair-light when needed) , 3 pocket wizards (may make that 4), 1 light meter, assorted cables, batteries and 1 stool. Camera plus lenses (depending on the shoot).

One thing to bear in mind this is a "headshot" kit. Not a full body set. That would require an existing wall or available background.

Canon 5D markII, 85mm f1.4. ISO100, f9, 1/125th

I've included a couple of test shots to verify my lighting set-up, plus a look at the set-up.

Enjoy Derek

Fuji XPro-1 35mm f1.4. ISO200, 1/125, f5.6

Chasing Tech or integration with analogue?

Good Friday from Prospect.

I want to start this post by saying one thing. I am and always will be a student of photography.

With that said I choose what I post as a statement that is always IMHO but built of the facts and experiences I compile.

Set-up for the shoot. I'm shooting Ilford PanF50. Gotta get it quick with those rain clouds looming.
Canon 580IIx through 36 inch umbrella as main light

So, todays piece. Allot has been said about the death of film and the wonders of digital photography. Without the maturity of digital photography I would not be where I am today in my craft. The cost associated with photography has always been high but until recently you needed a ton of money to move forward. You still need cash just some of it is far more affordable. Good glass and cameras come at a cost and if you aren't wealthy or a busy full time photographer it seems, at times, unjustifiable to invest that much money.

But with the growth of digital photography and the price reductions, due to that popularity, practically everyone can have decent gear. Especially with the resurgence of the range finder design of cameras (mirror-less they call it) . That's what a range finder always was, it has no mirror. ( A mirror is used in a SLR to reflect the image in the lens through a viewfinder. A range finder has  it's viewfinder separate from the lens plane so you don't see exactly what the camera will capture.)

What I want to point out is with all the available gear, we've found ourselves chasing the latest and greatest.  Which IMHO has pushed photographers into tech geeks and pixel pushers.

Mind you I love chasing tech. I am a geek when it comes to electronic toys and I can't get enough info about them. Doesn't mean I want what I see, I just appreciate the technologies themselves. 

Using a digital camera as the polaroid
to test exposure and comp (Canon G1x set to 6x6 format)
Manually set with hand held meter
(BW conversion with Silver FX 2 as Ilford PanF50)

(Side note: did you know that medicine is exploring the use of our new sensor technologies to correct many effects of macular degeneration. Yup, they are experimenting with transplant surgery to replace/enhance the human retina with the sensor technologies we use to capture images with our cameras…cool!)

Today, everyone needs that next new toy to be a great artist. Yes, great gear makes life easier and in many ways allows us to explore more creative avenues. But, and here it is, I believe it has watered down the true expression that is photography. Images express stories not pixels and sensors. I do believe the megapixel race is over. The sensor itself, how it processes the images we capture, has a bit more to go. But that's all about fine tuning. A 35mm DSLR at 12MP is more than enough for the average photographer. 21+MP is plenty for a professional full frame DSLR. Now don't get me wrong, higher MPs are great for HUGE reproductions, but as a whole we don't need them to resolve DMax and fidelity (larger sensors do that). Available B&W sensors don't need to deal with moire along with the new crop of Fuji sensors with the new pixel arrangements that eliminate pattern caused moiré. Funny, just like the ability of film. BTW, offset printing resolved the same patterning/moiré issues with line screens many years ago with the use of stochastic screening (random patterning of variable sized dots to generate a printed image) similar to Fuji's solution.

The photography industry has found a way to get us in this chase. Prior to digital photography you found a great camera that shot film. You saved for that great glass and used it until you wore it out. When you wanted the advantage of a new sensor, you switched out one film for another. And although the resolution was the same through the lens you picked a different ISO film for both sensitivity, grain size as well as colour balance (manipulated with on lens filters and tweaked in the darkroom). In case you don't see it, that drove the manufactures crazy. How could they sell you more stuff if that stuff just lasted? The only money making part was the consumable end…chemistry and film.

I am going to take a step forward and offer an opinion here. Film is not dead but in fact is the next great MEGA PIXEL sensor. Oh wait, it always was. I guess that's a step backward? I'm confused.

Here it is. All forms of photographic media can express the story telling I mentioned. If you've read any of my recent posts you'll already know that I've gone back to film. Not tossed out digital, but reintroduced film into my work flow. I feel that the love of photography for me has always been about the taking of images and telling my story with those pics.

The camera, for me, is my inspiration. The process of picking it up, studying my surroundings, observing the light, thinking of the subject matter and expressing the story with my camera in hand. It seems to make me a part of the moment. The act of taking the picture is just as important as processing and viewing the image I was after. Having that result appear before me only completes the experience. Hell, lets be honest, I just dig the sound of mirror slap and shutter action.

I guess my point is this. Stop chasing gear and bashing other mediums you don't use, I drive myself crazy when I chase new stuff. Just find what inspires you. That thing that drove you to a camera in the first place. Get your hands on that and go capture those stories.

Remember whats new is old and whats old is new. It's all good.

Thanks and enjoy, Derek

Calibrate Your Gear

Good Saturday from Prospect.

Today I'm going a little geeky. I'd like to share a little calibration exercise every photographer should do wether you are shooting film or digital. It's about knowing your gear.

A fitting layout for these guys. Remember them?

Recently I decided to put film back into my work flow, if for no other reason than self gratification.

Film has and always will have it's place. I'm not getting into all the reasons here in this post. It's been argued to death and this is purely a personal decision on my part to increase the quality of my work and make me a better photographer and designer.

To quote Zack Arias, I just want to suck-less every day.

Shooting film is about taking your time not shooting away and hoping you get a good shot. I will be the first to admit I fell into that digital trap early on and learned my lesson quickly. The trick to getting your work right starts with knowing your gear and planning your out comes.

The exercise before you is about aperture, shutter speed and multiple lenses in your kit, no matter what you shoot with.

Fortunately I have some great glass but every piece can have it's own little nuances that change the resulting final image. It's important to know what that is.

Here I'm setting up some interesting subjects in studio (a controlled environment) to judge those variances.

By taking the time to set-up (including using a proper light meter) a test environment like this we can judge on a common ground (good basis so to speak). 

I use Sekonic 398 and 358s depending if I'm inside or out. Although we have built in meters I have never truly trusted reflective variation in camera. I don't care what light is bouncing off a subject, I want to know what is lighting my subject. Incident meters do that. In camera meters don't, never have and never will.

Shot of my set-up

Anyway, as I said, I need to know what my gear does so I simply set-up and shoot adjusting aperture and shutter to simply see what the camera does compared to what my meters say. Then process the film and compare with the results I have for my digital gear. I've done this before with my digital gear but it was time to do it again, with everything.

My basic set-up was with two strobes. Main at 1/4 power (what you set your camera to) and the second at 1/8 power for fill (one stop difference f8 for main and f5.6 for fill). I usually shoot this way in studio or on location depending on the goal. Sometimes two umbrellas, sometimes, as you can see here, a softbox and an umbrella. Sometimes I go just for the one light (undetermined modifier) with an open strobe on the seamless to blow it out (one stop brighter).

The set-up is something that always changes and grows depending on the desired result. This one is my basic 45s so I know what it does.

This set-up let me start at my ISO, which is 100 (using Provia F100 in the Hassy and Velvia in the EOS 1V 35mm), sync at 1/200th and fstop at 8.0 shooting 1/3 increments to determine which suits my taste and accuracy on exposure. I chose 1/200 to kill the ambient and it's the fastest my Canon will sync, the Hassy goes to 1/500th but I want them as close as possible.

I've posted the digital resulting image, tweaked , to show what I've used to set the calibration, and a shot of my set-up in this post. I slowed my sync/shutter speed down to show you the overall set-up. 

Note: the test image contains all of what I want to test. Bright whites, deep blacks, shin tone, wood tone with grain, my calibration fan and background texture with primaries. I'll get everything from exposure, depth of field to detail and colour accuracy from this set-up. I don't need to pixel peep this to death, just understand the basic differences between my gear so I can compensate for it on set.

Another view with the shutter speed slowed down to let the ambient light in to show the set-up a bit better

You can make up what ever interests you just include the basics of what you shoot day to day.

Once I get the processed film back and can scan them I'll share those results.

Next post is about Letting your work breath (on Tuesday).

Enjoy. Derek

Re-establishing the basics and moving

Good Wednesday from Prospect. 

Today I'm going to throw a hint at my recent projects. I'm also going to show a little how to.

Canon 5D mrkII, 85mm f1.8  at f8, 125sec 100 ISO

I've recently been following a photographer by the name of Zack Arias out of Atlanta Georgia. Great photographer. 

I probably follow him, not so much for his work, although I'm a fan, but because of his attitude to the business and his open attitude to share. He's been sharing his "One Light" philosophy with all of us. Thanks Zack!

Many photographers know this is a tough business to make a living. You gotta love it or forget it.

Personally I'm somewhat fortunate in that I have a background in the printing business and studied design and photography in college. 

I am able to put two hats on to feed myself but as the gear I use to create images matures I find myself forging ahead with shooting more and more. 

With the gear becoming mature, meaning you can rely on it, I can start forgetting about the gear and mega pixels and concentrate on what matters, getting the picture. 

Now it's back to basics for me. I went off on a tangent and forgot about getting the usable shot right away. Kinda blaming some of it on inferior gear I was using, but not all of it. I'm re-establishing composition and light in my head. Instead of cursing because the camera didn't fire because it was too slow to focus. Now I just set up and shoot, sort of. Well close enough in comparison to the hoops I had to jump through.

It's been said over and over, It's not the gear that makes the shot. Well to an extent thats true. It's just how much work you need to do after the shot to get it up to snuff. Instead of saying, "I'll just fix it in photoshop" why not just shoot it right. 

Well some cameras aren't up to that task (learned that the hard way). Between not being able to see the full frame you are composing to the camera over riding your set-up to awful noise at low light and failure to fire due to slow focus, it was becoming a burden to shoot and my confidence was failing. I mean could I honestly rely on myself to get the frame I was after. You don't get second chances when the moment is gone.

Anyway I started writing this blog and went off on a rant I don't need to get into so I'm deleting that part and carrying on with something positive, my new work.

The reason I started this blog was two fold. I wanted to share a "One Light" set-up on seamless with you and let you know I will be moving to my new site, Blog and all, to derekmasonphotography.com. It will be all fresh and new in about a week. Gotta finalize a few new images going up.

I won't abandon this one since I like the connection through Google, but I will be showing off my focused, professional work through the new one It will be more of an add on showcase while this one will be as it has been. Life in Nova Scotia, my own editorials so to speak.

Comments on both will be much appreciated to help me see what people like most. Don't worry, I'll add a link back to here from there.

For this post, here's an example of what one light, and a couple of reflectors, can do for an image.

This was on site for some corporate portraiture I did on the weekend. (In the board room with a 9 foot ceiling)

My set-up was one strobe set on a boom with a 48 in soft-box above the subject blowing slightly past so to throw some light on the white seamless, one 36" round reflector to lower stage right, for chin fill, and one 42 x 72 inch reflector to back stage left for soft back light. I also turn that big reflector around to shield a second strobe when going full white on the seamless, it doubles as a v flat or cutter to keep the second light out of the cameras frame and kill light flare (though that would be a "two light" shot wouldn't it?).

Here I had her lean slightly forward over a desk, we used as a prop, to get that spot light look on her eyes
Canon 5D mrkII, 85mm f1.8  at f8, 125sec 100 ISO

Once the shots are finalized and delivered I'll share some of those results. In the meantime, this is my wife who I dragged along as assistant. My daughter has taken up the challenge of assisting but had a minor medical procedure that stopped her from coming along. You may have seen her in my "Doin' it Seamless" blog a while back.

Enjoy, Derek.