New Blog Up

 

Yay, I finally got my new blog up with a new tutorial on how to shoot under bare sunlight.

Please visit my the new site at:

http://endernygen.com/blog/2011/06/shooting-portrait-under-bright-sun/

I will be working to migrate all this site to there so please bookmark the new URL.

Thanks!

Rebooting

A lot of things have been happening lately. I quit my job as a photographer for a local university and decided to venture on my own. To make some extra money, I also freelance as a web designer and had to re-learn a plethora of old tricks from my previous life as a programmer. Which in a way, turned out to be a great thing since it forced me to update my professional website and that in turn forced me to re-evaluate my style. Long story short, all the vanilla, “typical headshots” portraits (including processing techniques) had to go. No more of that. I want something more dramatic or else I will not have any future.

Anyway, here’s what in store…

- Migrate this blog to be a part of my professional website at http://endernygen.com

- Focus the blog entirely and exclusively on artsy, high-end portraiture

- Make it awesome.

In a way, that will be like a start. It will detail my progress as a newbie photographer entering the field and my subsequent hire by Vogue to shoot a spread in 10 years. Or not… but I learned that if you want $10, ask your mom for $100.

Oh and if you have Twitter, follow me at:
http://www.twitter.com/endernygen

And on Facebook at:
 http://www.facebook.com/endernygen

Any suggestions would be welcome!

See you on the other side!

Bokeh / Depth-of-Field Preview

 

Did you ever had trouble mentally visualizing what a bokeh / DOF background would look like? Try this: select a low-aperture number, point at the background, focus on your finger and take the shot. Voila!

“Pull my finger!”

Ok so this may be stupidly obvious to those who already do it and not so much for others (took me awhile to figure it out).

A few caveats though: this won’t be 100% accurate because bokeh / DOF (technically not the same but for the purpose of this discussion, we’ll pretend they are) is relative to the distant the camera is from the subject (finger/model) and also relative to the distance of the subject from the background. In short, it won’t look the same unless your subject is standing at arm’s-length. Lastly, it only works if your lens allows you to focus at arm’s-length. Duh!

Summer Fun

“Watch Me Burn”

The other day, Mari and I went to Malibu beach, here in California. Surprisingly, this was my first time shooting at the beach even though  I spent a better part of a decade in California. It was a sunny and beautiful day but not without a huge scare: I almost dropped my camera into the sea and gashed my shin on a sharp rock while trying to keep the 60D out of water. I daresay I impressed the lady with my emergency camera-saving jiu-jitsu.

The shot above was shot on a sandbar (see reflection in Mari’s eyes) with a 85mm f1.8 at f4.5. The sun was right above. I’m also experimenting with the square format.

If I can get off my lazy arse, I will attempt to write a bit about what I learned while shooting at the beach.

Envy - Background Selection Part 2

Envy - Canon Rebel T1i, 85mm f1.8 at f1.8, 1/320sec, ISo 200

As mentioned in the previous post, portrait lenses and telephotos in general have a very interesting way of simplifying the background behind the subject reducing an otherwise clutter-filled scene into a pleasing image.

There are four ways to increase that effect:

• Open up the aperture (I usually shoot wide open at f1.8)
• Move closer to the subject
• Move subject further away from the background
• Use a longer focal length

In this case...



















For this particular shot, the subject is standing just in front of a background of bamboo reeds. I tried to shoot through the gate but the "beauty in a cage" look was a bit tacky. I used a 85mm (136mm on APS-C sensors) at f1.8 and still managed to get a really nice and soft background yet one that is distinct enough to the viewer. In fact, to keep that "Amazonian Beauty" look, it was important not to blur the background into oblivion. Had I moved closer to the subject, or moved her further away from the background, or used a longer lens, the background would have been green mush.

Lyons In the Grass - Background Selection Part 1

How your background looks is perhaps one of the most important aspects of a good portrait. It's actually one of the easiest to master too.

First, since we're shooting portraits, we're going to need portrait lenses (e.i very fast prime lenses of focal length of 50mm or above). In this case, I'm using my trusty Canon 85mm on a Rebel T1i that I borrowed from a friend (Sold the 5Dmk2).

Second, you need to know how to see through your lens. Let me rephrase that one, you NEED to know what your lens see! Portrait lenses are good at isolating the subject, compressing the background and simplifying it into a blurry, uncomplicated, flat, pretty thing. It means you can shoot a decent portrait ANYWHERE.

Like here...

Model: Jaclyn Lyons.

85mm at f1.8, 1/250sec, ISO 100. Bare Sunpak 383 behind model's left, about 2m away.

New Direction

Emeraldy - Canon 5Dmk2, 85mm f1.8 at f1.8. White reflector on camera left.

Holy molly, I've been away for a looooong time. I haven't been in the studio as often as before and I've found myself shooting a lot of outdoor, doing a lot of portrait work with mixed ambient/flash setups or sometime just ambient/reflector. As a results, my shoots have become much less technical and I found myself not knowing what to write about!

Anyway, that said I think I'm going to divide my upcoming posts between journal entries and technical entries . The former being accounts of my shoots, the models, locations, weather, Steve Nash and the Suns etc and the latter about techniques, gear and setups.

One-light to light them all

"Heaven Can Wait"

I've been toying the idea of shooting fashion at night under street lights so I tried to replicate that look, sort of like a proof-of-concept. When we talk about street lights, we mean harsh, very defined, very directional (high above) light.

This setup is dead simple, no diagram required, just one bare light about two meters high mimicking street-light. The good thing with a harsh one-light setup like this is that it conceals much yet is able to define curves and shadows which is a pretty good excuse to have the model in minimal clothing.

"Never Say Never"

The model is my very good friend, Dina who rocks as a model. She's one of those models who can easily flow through poses without much direction from me. The camera is a Canon 5Dmk2 with a very basic 50mm f1.4.

One thing to consider is how you light the face. Harsh light can be somewhat unflattering so you must be careful where you position the face. Long nose shadows, eyes hidden under heavy brows may be unattractive under certain conditions. Yet also be mindful that in situations like these, the goal is not to light "properly" but to light dramatically. Lastly, work around your light, don't be static, change perspective, flow through your setup and the model will flow through her poses. The shoot becomes a dance, I love it!

* John, I got the hint!