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Category: Insight

Spot vs. Matrix Metering

1/125th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

When a lot of people get a DSLR, a setting that they tend to overlook is the type of metering. Most cameras come set to Matrix metering by default and that’s where it stays. There’s a good reason for that – Matrix metering handles most situations really well. So why would you venture into the world of spot metering?

Shot on the iPhone with Instagram – never mind the goof in the shutter’s reflection

When I’m shooting something like people outdoors or indoors with a very strong directional ambient light source (like a window), spot metering is the way to go. In the photo up at the top of this post, birthday girl Caitlyn smiles for a split second for me. In this type of situation, I’ve got the camera in aperture priority mode, and the metering set to spot. Why? Well, I shoot in aperture priority mode because there are kids hopped up on birthday cake – this means largest possible aperture to get the fastest shutter speed because they are bouncing around like heated up Mexican jumping beans. There is also a huge window wall with the sun blaring right through it. For me this means I need to try to put my subject between the light source and my lens, preferably at a slight angle to get some sidelight.

1/250th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

In order to not have the camera meter for the brighter background, I use spot metering and focus on my subject to get a meter reading off of their face. This will blow out the background, but that is perfectly accepted in today’s photography as it helps isolate your subject. The face and eyes are the important part of these photos, so that is all I care about in regards to exposure.

1/125th of a sec | f/2.8 | 50mm | ISO 200

Matrix metering was designed to address this kind of shooting, but like any automatic mode it lacks the intuitive decision process of the human mind. It will try and properly expose your subject, and a lot of the time it will not get too fooled by the brighter background because it will use a database of different shooting situations to guess what you are trying to do. But, it will try not to overexpose any part of the photo, so there is a chance that it will slightly underexpose your main subject. I know with spot metering that I will get the result I’m looking for each and every time. The real trick is to remember to switch it back from spot to matrix when you’re done shooting!

More Than One Way

robo-rainbow from mudlevel on Vimeo.

I saw this video this morning (via engadget.com) and thought it was really interesting. As I read through the comments on Engadget, there was one troll on there who was complaining about the uselessness and inefficiency of the machine. I had to chime in and “feed the troll” as they say because it’s apparent that some people don’t see something like this for what it really is. There’s always more than one way to interpret art, and for something like this, the end result is not the whole point of the piece.

As you watch the video, which was carefully filmed and edited together, you see a man assembling a machine attached to a bicycle. You get close up shots of the metal work, the fitting of the electronics, and the movement of the gears and chains. Each shot isolates a feature and is dramatically demonstrated until we see it all in action – which is shown with a wide shot of it painting a rainbow on a wall. Now, to someone who’s not paying attention, the art was in creating the machine and the filming of the assembly of it. The rainbow itself was just a mere punchline to a well setup joke. If this was about painting a perfectly symmetrical rainbow, then it would be nutty. There are plenty of ways to paint a rainbow without going through the effort that was put into this.

The art is in the creation of it all. The steampunkish contraption itself, the storytelling in the filming, and the final execution all work together. It’s the act of creating something because you can. The message I took from this was that the journey is always more important than the destination. What’s your interpretation?

Musical Composition

Sherwin Sleeves (AKA Sean Hurley) is a strange cat. I don’t know if it’s the weather in New Hampshire or what, but I dig his originality nonetheless. He has gained some popularity as a regular contributor to the Ron & Fez show on XM radio, which is how I found out about him. I think my interest in his craft was gained not just by his rather odd musical interpretations of the happenings of a radio comedy show, but by the videos he’s posted and words he’s written. He is a fine pianist who can write music seemingly effortlessly. He’s a master of his art.

If you have a few minutes, watch the video above. The character of Sherwin Sleeves is a bit over the top, but I think it works. If you apply a lot of his concepts about musical composition to the art of photography, you will find that the creative process is very similar. I have been beating the drum about the correlation between music and photography since I started this blog in September, in fact my first real post here was entitled “Music & The Zone“.

Pseudo HDR

1/1000th of a sec | f/6.3 | 17mm | ISO 1600

Some photos just scream to be in High Dynamic Range, but sometimes you don’t have your tripod with you, or you took the shot and later realized you want it to be in HDR. That’s OK, there are quite a few ways to get the effect of an HDR image without using multiple exposures. I used to take an image and then save 3 different versions of the photo as tiffs – one correct exposure, one I pushed the brightness up to overexpose it and another that I pushed down to underexpose. I would then recombine those in Photomatix to create an HDR image – it works pretty well, but it’s a lot of work.

Here is an example of an image I made using that method:

I’ve since found a more efficient way to get the effect and it takes a fraction of the time. I use Nik Color Efex Pro’s Tonal Contrast filter. By running the photo through this plugin first, I’m able to push the dynamic range of the photo by manipulating contrast highlights, midtones, and shadows. The HDR look is really pronounced by pushing the midtone contrast way ahead of the others. Here’s a screenshot of the Tonal Contrast filter settings for the photo up at the top of this post (click it to enlarge):

I also pushed the saturation, because I like my HDR photos to be over-saturated. In doing so, it made the color of the car a purplish-blue tint. It is actually a dark gray, so when I brought the photo back into Adobe Lightroom, I used the saturation selector tool in the HSL panel to select the car and drop down the saturation. While I was there I also pushed the other colors up even more. Here’s what the settings looked like:

I also made some pretty strong adjustments in the basic panel of Lightroom. I pushed the saturation once more and also heavily applied the clarity slider, which can also be used to enhance the dynamic range of a photo. Here’s what those settings look like:

So, there you go – the end result looks very much like a traditional HDR photo. One last pointer is to make sure you have your aperture set to a small size (larger f number) so that more of the picture is in focus. HDR usually looks like crap on a photo that is exploiting a very shallow depth of field – the bokeh gets real funky and the effect just looks weird.

Here’s an alternate angle of the shot in the example above:

1/250th of a sec | f/6.3 | 17mm | ISO 720

Winter Desaturation

1/250th of a sec | f/5.6 | 300mm | ISO 1600

A popular effect in many casual portraits is the washed-out or desaturated look. Taking cues from high fashion photography, people tend to look more attractive as the facial features get even and blown out while retaining a high contrast with their eyes, clothes, and background elements. The difference is in the deliberate heavy-handed approach – you’re not trying to play a photo trick here, you’re making an obvious change to your photo’s look.

1/200th of a sec | f/5.0 | 180mm | ISO 1100

This effect works best for me when making outdoor photos, and depending on the feel I’m going for, the color of the sunlight and the time of year determines the best course of action. For a bright sunny day, where the grass is green and the flowers are blooming, it’s best to use directional sunlight in the morning or late afternoon and put the subject between you and the sun. The back-light will give a warm yellow halo effect around your subject (make sure to use spot metering to expose for your subject’s face, because matrix metering will be way off when shooting into the sun).

For winter photos, shooting on an overcast day will naturally give you a cold blue color temperature to match the dead grass and barren trees. In the shots here, I was deliberately going for photos that feel like winter in the south. Sure, the temperature was really warm for January when I took these, but the environment and color still help define these as winter/fall shots. The key here is reign in the yellow grass so that it’s no longer a warm yellow. I started the two shots above using Nik Color Efex Pro’s Bleach Bypass. I made more use of the effect’s local contrast slider more than anything else in the plugin. After I did that, I brought the photo back into Adobe Lightroom and performed some tweaks to maximize the effect as detailed below.

What if you don’t have Nik Color Efex Pro? You can still get similar results using just the basic tools available in Lightroom or Aperture. This shot of my daughter was created without the use of the Bleach Bypass filter. It is less dramatic, but for her I didn’t particularly like the hardness of the filter.

1/200th of a sec | f/5.0 | 170mm | ISO 1600

You can see that I needed to be a bit more heavy-handed with my Lightroom basic adjustments without the use of Bleach Bypass:

In the shot below, I used a different approach which resulted in a much warmer effect because I wanted to have contrast between the pavement and the grass. Although it’s more saturated than the other photos, it still has that grainy high contrast and desaturated feel to it. Another factor that is more of a way of exploiting your lenses shortcomings is to shoot at a high ISO. Depending on the lighting, this can give your shots a graininess that looks quite gritty. I’m pretty sure if I was shooting these with faster glass, I would have chosen to add the grain in later to taste, but since I wasn’t, I chose to take advantage of the high ISO look (and by take advantage, I mean I didn’t have much of a choice).

1/200th of a sec | f/4.8 | 140mm | ISO 800

iPhone Photo App Review – 100 Cameras In 1

The Albermarle | Charleston, SC

There are hundreds of good photo manipulation applications in the iTunes App Store for the iPhone, and a lot of them seem to favor the trend of vintage photography – a trend that is exploiting the poorer resolution of mobile phone cameras when compared to today’s full featured cameras to create a comfortable photo of moments or things that are reminiscent of the shots from affordable cameras from the time before digital. “100 Cameras In 1” attempts to separate itself from the Hipstamatics and instagrams that lead the charts by doing two unique things in it’s latest release.

The Albermarle | Charleston, SC

The first thing that sticks out for me in this app is the use of texture blending as an effect. By blending a layer of adjustable translucent texture – from rough surface areas to stones and splatters, you can add a graphical element to your photos that look as though they were printed on recycled paper with expired chemicals and a clumsy hand. This might sound messy, and to the heavy handed photo editor, it can very well be, but it can also make a common image very uncommon. Not that there’s a substitute for composing a good image, but it can force attention to an image that might get overlooked – bringing out the subtleties in a composition through it’s brand of distracting imperfections. One improvement on this would be the ability to add your own custom textures.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge | Mt. Pleasant, SC

This photo made while crossing the bridge above was a throw away shot that I made while trying to capture this one. In an effort to prove my point, I took this otherwise ho-hum image and gave it new life with 100 Cameras In 1. While it’s still not my favorite image by any means, it is more interesting to me than the original. The texture and color effects add mystery and intrigue – it almost makes you search for a deeper meaning to the photograph. It tasks you to search for a reason amongst the chaos of imperfection.

The other feature that is new to version 2 is the ability to change each of the 100 presets with a granular slider. Depending on the nature of the effect, “the slider will change the effect of the texture using overlay, hardlight, luminosity, the texture itself, or other methods.” states the developer, Stuck In Customs (AKA Trey Ratcliff). What this does is allow you to add a hint of an effect and combine it with other effects to create something truly original without overdoing it. The results are simply amazing, and it becomes almost too easy to create images that would take a good level of expertise in Photoshop to replicate through more traditional techniques.

The photo above is of my son – I originally took it on New Year’s day to SMS it to our pediatrician because he was swelling up from an infection. I imported the photo into 100 Cameras In 1 and started playing with the effects. I ended up with an overly saturated image using a texture that created a type of effect on his skin reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh’s painting style.

Here’s a promo video from the Stuck In Customs website. They have a page dedicated to information about the app, including a bunch of sample photographs as well as news and tips.

For only $2, you really shouldn’t even think twice about adding this fantastic app to your iPhone arsenal.

Recalibration

1/80th of a sec | f/7.1 | 34mm | ISO 200

Like many a tool or machine that you use to get a job done, you creative mind needs to be re-calibrated every once in a while to ensure it’s operating to its full potential. If you feel like your in a slump, or if you’ve taken a break from shooting for awhile, a great way to get back into a groove is to revisit some of the basics.

1/50th of a sec | f/7.1 | 50mm | ISO 200

I’ve been busy with life and haven’t had time to do much creative shooting lately which has been feeling a bit like a rut, so yesterday morning I picked a building that I pass by quite frequently and pulled over to shoot the basics for a few minutes.

1/80th of a sec | f/7.1 | 38mm | ISO 200

What were the basics that I was focusing on? Well, the primary theme I set for myself for this set of pictures was lines, and the secondary theme was texture. I concentrated heavily on my composition and moved around to deliberately position the forms of the building in ways that pronounced the direction and conversion of the lines. The best way to define texture in this situation is to search for contrasts – light against dark, straight against curved.

1/250 of a sec | f/2.8 | 40mm | ISO 200

By getting close and choosing the elements of the photo sparingly, you can find interesting design in most any subject. Once you start to see some of the possible images, the creative juices start to flow and before you know it, you’re shooting in the zone. I believe it’s extremely important to exercise your photographic eyes and to do that, you should properly stretch out by revisiting the basics and re-calibrating yourself.

Shallow Depth Of Field 101

1/30th of a sec | f/1.8 | 35mm | ISO 200

This is a post for the curious photography fans who have looked at a picture and wondered how to get control over making parts of the photo blurry and the main focal point razor sharp. The phenomenon is called a “shallow depth of field”, and what that means is that because a camera can only focus at one precise distance, the plane of focus in your photo is very small or shallow. In layman’s terms, it translates into this: If you have a large depth of field, more of your photograph will appear to be in focus, if you have a shallow depth of field, your focus is more selective. So, how do you control it?

The secret is a combination of things – Mainly your aperture, lens focal length, and your proximity to the subject. Let’s dissect the photo above to illustrate the effects of all of these elements to create that image.

First off is aperture. Aperture simply controls the amount or volume of light you let into the camera when the shutter opens. The larger your aperture, the more light is allowed in. The tricky thing to remember when you first learn about aperture is that the smaller the f-number, the larger the aperture. The effect on depth of field is that the larger the aperture, the shallower your depth of field becomes. The photo above is set at a very large aperture, which is written as f/1.8.

The effect of a shallow depth of field can’t be dialed in just with a large aperture, your lens’s focal length and the distance between your camera and your subject are just as important. I can shoot that same scene using the same settings, but back up the camera 10 feet and focus on the same spot and my whole body and most of the background will be in focus. That is because at 35mm, I’m at a relatively wide focal angle (even though on my cropped sensor D90, this is more like a 50mm lens, but the lens still performs as a 35mm lens optically – that’s a post for another day). So, in order to get the shot above I needed to put the camera very close to the subject (which is me BTW, this was a self portrait). In fact, when I made this photo, I had the headstock of my guitar only inches away from the lens. I chose my 35mm lens to take it because I wanted there to be a hint of the facial features defined as well as fit my upper body in the frame. In the shot below of my son holding a baby turtle, I used a 50mm lens and you can see that beyond the hands, everything becomes just a wash of color.

1/2500th of a sec | f1.8 | 50mm | ISO200

Since the focal length of the lens is greater and I’m probably about the same distance from my subject in both photos, you can see the difference that focal length of the lens makes.

What about the quality of the out of focus area?

The quality of the out of focus area is sometimes referred to as “bokeh” (which is a word that for some reason gives me the creeps). It’s based on the Japanese word “boke-aji”, which translates into “quality of blur”. Some fans of bokeh will define a good blur quality by the shape, size, and definition of the points of light that are out of focus. Basically, each point of light will take on the shape of the aperture opening, which is generally circular or polygonal. At a large aperture such as the two photos above, the blur is generally smooth. In the photo below, the aperture is a bit smaller, and you can see the points of light as circles in the trees behind the subjects.

1/125th of a second | f/6.3 | 85mm | ISO 450

Artistically, there is no right or wrong when it comes to bokeh, but it does help to understand how to control it – which in many cases comes down to the limitations of your lens. Below is an example of what I would call bad bokeh, because the blur looks unnatural and is distracting.

1/320th of a sec | F/5.6 | 300mm | ISO 200

The reason this is bad is that the circles have what appears to be vertical lines on them. In this shot it’s unnerving! That can happen for a number of reasons, commonly from a scratch or the introduction of dirt on the front of the lens. I believe this shot might be the victim of a fingerprint or dog hair, because using the same setup I took the following shot three minutes later which has much less of the line issue – I most likely wiped off the UV filter I keep on that lens.

1/40th of a sec | F/5.6 | 300mm | ISO 200

To sum it up, the best way for you to start experimenting with artistically creating a shallow depth of field is to set your camera to aperture priority mode, dial in the smallest f-number you can (which means the largest aperture), zoom your lens to the longest focal length, and get pretty close to your subject. From there you can start to play with your settings to see how your camera and lens handles each setting – remember, different lenses will produce different bokeh, so try and familiarize yourself with which of your lenses make the best bokeh for your vision of the photo you are trying to create.

Insta Vs. Hipsta

Made with the Instagram App on the iPhone

Instagram is the latest in mobile phone photography apps that has grown quite popular. The idea is not that new, in fact I don’t really think it’s the best app for creating vintage style photos – I think Hipstamatic does the job fantastically. Instagram does have one thing that it does much better though, and that is the ability to take photos fast and share them quickly.

Made on the Hipstamatic App on the iPhone

I know, I know… if it’s worth doing, it’s worth taking the time to do it right – But in the world of mobile phone photography, speed and convenience are king. Hipstamtic is a fun app to play around and experiment with, but if you want to catch the moment as it happens and not wait for unreasonable times between each shot, Instamatic will be the app you’ll want to fire up. I personally like to use the iPhone’s built-in camera app and then import the photos into my 3rd party apps – a feature that is unfortunately unavailable with Hipstamatic. I only use Hipstamatic if I have the proper time to set up and take the shot – with it’s selection of lenses and film types (which are available as packs that you have to purchase within the app), you can really make some beautiful photos.

I love these apps because mobile phone cameras are limited by their sensor sizes and resolution, and by exploiting that fact by stylizing the shots you make, you open up creative doors that you might ignore with a traditional camera. On the other hand, in the right situation with the right lighting, you can make some pretty damn amazing images with an iPhone. Over at fstoppers, Lee Morris has an excellent article demonstrating a fashion shoot captured using an iPhone 3Gs. Here’s the video of that shoot:

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Extremes

Day 324 - Hotter Than Satan's Balls In July

1/1250th of a sec f/4.2 5 mm ISO 150

Some of my favorite shots comes from over saturating the photo in post. The effect of over saturation strips a lot of the variation in color & tonality that occurs naturally. It’s a great way to stylishly tackle the harsh light of mid-day, especially in a beach scene like the one above that I took with my waterproof Pentax point-and-shoot camera. At this point, we’re tip-toeing up to the line between photography and digital art, but that is for you to decide as to when it stops becoming photography and starts becoming something else. In my opinion, the elements of the photo are true as well as the composition. A good photograph still captures and defines a moment, and this definitely does that regardless of the treatment I apply to further expand what I envisioned this shot to look like when I made it.

I share this photo now because the sun came out today here in Charleston and the weather was beautifully mild. I felt a longing to be back in the middle of the summer heat while swimming in the Atlantic for hours on end. I took this shot over the past summer and I can’t wait to get back there again. I feel like we’re over that winter hump, and the light of day is going to start hanging around a bit more each day – these are simple things to look forward to, but it’s important to make a conscious effort to appreciate the gifts we are given each day.

Step into the light. So tired of being in the dark and all alone. Step into the light.

A friend of ours held a funeral this evening for her boy that passed away three months into her pregnancy. I can’t help but feel that life is so fragile, and if we don’t say thanks for what we have, we can never truly live nor strive for the most that life can offer. The tragedies in our lives act in contrast to our gifts. Without tragedy, we have nothing to gauge the fantastic things that surround us everywhere and get taken for granted. A man who loses his legs is suddenly aware of how amazing the act of walking is. A child with a loose tooth realizes how fantastic it is to be able to bite into a crisp apple again after the tooth falls out. And a parent that loses a pregnancy is able to love the children she has that much more, because the fact that they are here now is a miracle that gets easily forgotten by most of us during our daily grind.

We’ve started our year with high hopes and have had a very rocky road despite our optimism. I take each struggle as an opportunity to strengthen my resolve to accomplish the goals I have set.
It’s easy to compound the bad shit that happens and then make it worse by belittling the miracles that the negatives in our lives try to overshadow. Being happy isn’t easy when your in the dark, so I’m inviting you to step into the light, no matter how hard that seems.

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