Got Pets? Sharpen Your Skills!

"Look Me In The Eye"

I love animals. They can add a joyful element to your daily routine. Just go to Facebook and see how flooded pages are with pics of every one's favorite hairy critter. I find the trap for me though, when getting portraits of the animals in my life or a good friend's, is to follow them around and if you get the odd shot that works and is cute, then great. But that's what everyone is already doing! The key to a good pet portrait (and I'm in no way saying I'm an expert on this) is to bide your time, anticipate moments that reveal their personality, and find a way to include their environment so that there's a bit of a story, or even a comical twist.

"Before The Pounce"

I specifically chose three images today that go beyond your typical "beauty shot" per se and instead include an element or two that make the image unique. I could tell you all the basics of good candid photography... get down low, get at their eye level, get action shots, make sure features around the face are sharp, etc... but we know those. What I tried to do with these portraits was include an unusual element, like the point of view up into the cat tunnel, or the bright clean background making our little glossy black gentleman above pop more (and he IS an avid reader, hence the books), and I used an angle that suggests he suddenly placed himself in the shot to have a look right into the lens. And below, even though she is such a beautiful cat, the last look the little calico gave me after retreating to her favorite chair was one of reaching her limit with the photographer. Her expression along with the graphic lines of the chair overwhelming the photograph set the tone, giving it an editorial look, and even adds a touch of humour. This one image says so much more than the classic beauty close-up. Although, those will always have their place too, don't get me wrong. I'll dive more into that on Friday.

"Princess & The Camera"

And one last thing, I did use flash for all of these images, along with my 50mm prime lens for intimate DOF. I had my SB-600 with my Fong Light Sphere attached to evenly flood the space with light, kept the flash on TTL settings and let my camera make most of the decisions in regards to the amount of light so I could concentrate on getting the best moments. I will discuss this further though on Friday...

Till then, get creative with photographing the family pet! Many thanks to my friends Laurie and Josephine for letting me photograph their sweet furry friends! And thanks for the ramble folks!

Flash Fridays are Here!

The SpeedLight I'll Be Using

So here we are, my first Flash Friday for the next while and I almost don't know where to begin. I'd kindly remind you all that this is my first little journey to understanding flash, and am still learning, so would love to hear what the rest of you struggle with or tips on using Speedlights in general. Anything I might miss is simply because... well, I haven't learned it yet!

The first thing I struggled with right from the start was the term "Sync speed" and how regularly I heard it being flung about in conversation. Inevitably someone would use the term as they began talking about their first foray into using a flash, but without explaining what they meant by it. And so from the word go, I'd already be lost as the conversation or demonstration continued.

Except, here's the thing about the term "Sync Speed" and why it applies to you using your flash. You ready? All it is, is a reference to the fastest your camera's shutter can go while allowing the light from your flash to fully enter the camera's sensor for a shot. Why had no one explained this to me? Where was I when they were handing out the Sync Speed 101 brochures? I've discovered that mine for the D80 is 1/200th of a second. If I dial in a shutter speed any faster than that my camera ceases to record all of the light projected from the flash, because the curtains that move across the sensor when you press the shutter are going too fast for there to be any one moment when the whole sensor is exposed to light. Sheesh. Can anyone say "underexposed" and "weird banding across the frame"? That's what you'll get.

So if you're shooting in manual, make sure you are paying attention to your sync speed... the speed at which your shutter AND flash work in tandem. As an aside, my Nikon actually won't let me go past 1/200 on the dial when my flash is turned on. That should have been my first clue that it was already at it's optimum sync speed. And obviously, depending on what you're shooting, you need a fast enough shutter speed to ensure there's no motion blur if doing portraits, candids, or using your flash as fill outdoors in harsh sun. But as you're about to see, you can shoot well below your optimum sync speed (yours may be 1/250 or 1/150... check in your camera's manual pronto if you don't know it) if your subject isn't going anywhere, like with the Lilly photograph below.

"Lilly #2"

This photo was taken with the flash OFF camera about a foot from the flower, since I was just using the flash with a small diffuser attached to it (which we'll get to in an upcoming post) and manually made sure it was on full power and could be triggered by my tiny on-camera flash (dialed down all the way to 1/128 sec.) in Nikon's Commander mode in the Custom Setting Menu and under "Built-In Flash". I chose my aperture for the shot before I dialed anything else in, knowing I wanted a decent depth of field for the petals and stamens. Then I chose my shutter speed after some playing and adjusting and deciding I needed to allow some available light that was already hitting the flower from above to be included in the shot as well as the flash to light any areas that had too many shadows. In the end, my exposure for this one was 1/25th of a sec. @ F/14, ISO100, 150mm focal length (such a slow lens at that aperture in low light situations hence the slow shutter speed regardless of the flash) with the camera on the tripod, and I was very happy with the light. It was a simple set up but you start small and move on from there as you learn right?

Flash is such a broad topic, so rest assured that I'll be blogging about the distance of your flash in relation to your subject, diffusers, reflected and bounced light, soft boxes, set-up, gels, remote triggering, and portrait and outdoor use... and a whole lot more as I learn a little something more each week.

Play with your flash in relation to various light and exposures this week... and thanks for the ramble!

Lines = Designs ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Up and Out"

This is the last reflective, sky bound, architectural shot for a little while anyway. Tomorrow I'm diving into what I'm learning about flash photography and apparently this has hit a nerve with many of you. I've gotten tweets and emails from many of you who have mentioned you'll be tuning in because of always having been confused or intimidated by flash... just keep in mind, I'm still figuring it out myself and have a long way to go, but I'll enjoy sharing the things that are beginning to make sense.

In the meantime, I love playing with mirrored effects in PSPx3 when it comes to architecture. You can focus purely on elements of design. I love that the patterns are made of walls of glass reflecting the sky. It's simple, but my screen comes to life with the pattern.

Off I go to decide which area of flash to even start with tomorrow... our jumping off point. And it would seem others have used a flash theme this week too... if you'd like to check out some tips from the master of flash himself, Rick Sammon, you can find his blog feed listed along the right side of my blog in the group of blogs I read or you can simply click here.

See you all tomorrow! Thanks for the ramble!

The City Within ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"The City Within"

Glass. Steel. Brick. Reflection. Blue. Design. Contrast.

The old being crowded out by the shiny and new. The warmth of the traditional surrounded by cool innovation. A glimpse perhaps at that which still stands the test of time, immovable and sure despite the glitz and glamour.

Or a just lucky reflection caught on a citywide ramble?

See what can happen when you look past the obvious? A whole other world is at your disposal before you even press the shutter.

The Flower and the Flash ~ Mono Monday!

Lilly #1 ~ A Study in Flash

A teaser image for a new post coming soon on Flash Photography. Meaning, I really have no time to truly blog today so a sneak peek at a new project is what you get.

I am just learning what my solitary speed light is capable of in terms of light. In commander mode, in manual, outside, inside, it is truly broadening my scope of how I can add drama to any subject and it is allowing me to shoot no matter what the circumstance. This is big for me, I cannot tell a lie.

That I waited for almost five years before I really decided I had enough of being terrified of flash says... well, I'll let you decide what it says. But be nice. At any rate, the first thing I know is that still life and florals have expanded possibilities now that I can play with flash exposure. Today's photograph in B&W is proof. Highly defined subject details, easy use of negative space, lots of drama due to the variety of tones and the contrast created by the seamless back drop. I kept my speed light with a big diffuser very close to the subject, with reflectors to control the light back towards the subject... am working on documenting a shoot to show you exactly what I did for the upcoming post. But for now, if you're not even sure how to activate you speed light, I found this video very helpful last year for the true beginner, as well as this longer video here. If you're not a Nikon user, all you need to do is search YouTube for your flash name and you'll be able to filter through tons of demos.

Exciting isn't it? So Friday, I'll begin my series on exploring flash...

I hope you'll join me!

As you were. Thanks for the ramble!