Making the Photo

As you probably know, a photo will always be rooted in composition- and by this, I mean the focal length (zoom) you choose, the angle with which you hold the camera, and those together generally determine how the “objects” are placed in the photo.

Along with that, aperture will be next in line, and there are two extremes- keep everything in focus (high aperture), or blur the background (low aperture). That’s not a technical description, but its the basic thought process when setting up for a photo, and of course you can choose anything in between for a “kind of blurry” background.

When taking photos of a “moment”, it is also important to lock in your settings as much as possible. I suggest going into manual mode, and making sure all your settings are correct. Next, if you can, pre-focus on the spot that you want to make the focal point, and turn the lens into manual focus mode. After this, there is no way your shot will be blurry, or over/under-exposed.

Last is the retouching, and this is where a sunny day can turn moody real fast. What I described above is just getting data to me- you captured a moment, with the right amount of light, and right framing for you to take it back to your lab and play with it. For a lighter mood, try increasing vibrance, adjust the temperature just a hair warmer that it should be, and try masking in a layer of a Gaussian blur on the light for a nice glow. For a darker mood, lower the saturation, deepen the shadows, intensify the highlights, sharpen, and vignette.

There is a lot more that might go into a photo, but hey, thats a start. Here is the same “moment”, just different.

Lighting

It is not like this is the only photography discipline where lighting is important, but it is essentially the one thing that can, and will, make or break your fitness or bodybuilding photos. You are looking to capture muscles, veins, and body shapes, and to do this you use highlights and shadows- if you understand that, your way ahead of the game. Here are my general lighting tips, then we will look into some details:

• You generally want a good source of light coming from up high, either on an angle like rembrant lighting with a soft-box/umbrella, or from a beauty dish directly above the models head. This will be the drama light, creating shadows under muscles, and highlighting the peaks of them.
• Unless you want to be super-moody, you will want some type of fill light so the model isn’t only lit from the top. While you need to show off shapes, you want to avoid creating bags under a models eyes, and bring out details in the scene.
• Having some type of rim light, or background lighting can make the model a bit sharper in the photo, and allow them to stand out.

The photo above is using an overhead 36″x24″ soft-box, along with a white shoot-through umbrella coming straight on from about 4-feet off the ground. The soft-box is set just a little brighter, so it will dominate the scene, while the umbrella provides some needed fill light (notice the weight he is holding is also light up from the bottom). I discuss some post processes below.

In this photo, I used a mixture of some natural light coming in from outside, along with a soft-box low to the ground, behind the model, and angled towards his shoulder. The natural light was acting as a soft fill onto the models whole body, and then I used the soft-box shooting down his chest and stomach to highlight muscles and contours. Remember, the best way to mix ambient light with flash is to first get your exposure settings where you want without the flash, then bring the flash in and adjust it’s power accordingly.

Post Processing

I am a big advocate of using Photoshop, and with fitness photos it gives you the ability to play with nearly every aspect of the lighting and contrast, which is really important. Here are the major aspects of my post processing for these types of photos:

• Contrast: I really love tonal contrast filters, and the grittiness you can get from them. You will almost for sure want to add contrast to the photo, my only suggestion is to watch out for adding too much in the face, it can make wrinkles and baggy eyes stand out.
• Saturation: I really like adding a layer of the photo with zero saturation, and then playing with it’s opacity until the photo looks good. Generally speaking, I prefer a less saturated look for intense photos, but may choose to pump up the vibrance for a girl model, or livelier photo.
• Sharpness: If your contrast still isn’t enough, trying using an un-sharp mask, or basic sharpening. Sharpening can lose details though, so don’t go too far.
• Masks, Painting: I use a lot of masks. I tend to use a screen mask for whitening eyes and general brightening, a levels mask for creating more contrast in eyes, and a multiply mask for darkening and vignetting.

This photo is nearly all natural light, with the exception of some small fill flash using a shoe-mounted Canon 420EX at 1/64 power. It is really not doing much, just adding a slight “pop” of light to the model’s body.

Tricks of the Trade

My first trick is to use some type of posing oil for the model. You don’t want them looking shiny, but you want some “glean” to them- it makes for better lighting. I have used a mixture of bronzer, olive oil, baby oil, and water. Just layer it on 2-3 times, and you are all set.

Second, decide if the photo is sweaty or not, and stick with it. Your model might be doing pushups and small workouts to keep their pump going, but make sure to wipe off beads of sweat if your going for a model/fashion look. If you are going for post-workout sweaty, use a spray bottle with water to get the sweating effect.

Lastly, become friends with the model. Ask them what feels natural, what they would like to do, and remember that they will become drained from holding these poses. Don’t hesitate to take control and show them how to stand, but if doesn’t feel natural to them, it probably wont look natural on a camera.

Be Ready to Improvise

It doesn’t matter how many blogs or books you read, nothing will prepare you for the particular situations you will get in to. Lights will break, equipment will fail, and you will have to improvise. However, if you know the essentials of lighting, and keep a cool head, you will be able to walk away with some great photos no matter what. Have fun!

What height do the photos appear to be taken at?

In most of the wide, full-room shots, the camera is set 12″-20″ above the counter tops or main-table’s height; this means the camera would sit about 5-6 feet off the ground. This is the one instance where you could almost get away with taking a photo in a normal standing position. However, I think getting a step stool is the best way to get the height you need, and I will go up to about 6.5 feet on my shots so the angle is not exactly eye level- I don’t particularly like that “natural” perspective.

Notes: I approximate the camera height to be 5-6 feet off the ground, assuming the table is about 3.5 feet high. Notice the towel draping off the kitchen table, I assume this was intentional to make it appear more “real” and as if someone was just in there. Lastly, the large depth of field is noticeable, in that the foreground edge of the table is in focus, as well as the hands of the clock in the background.

Does there seem to be any artificial lighting in the scene?

Generally, no. Whether or not some big soft boxes were used is entirely beyond me, but most interior photos will rely on natural lighting because it is generally very soft, and is the most pleasing. However, this can be a challenge, and reminds you to both schedule shoots in the morning or evening so the light is not too harsh, as well as take note of any trouble areas where the light may be too direct (big window facing the east for a morning shoot = sunny!). Reflectors will become your friends, and can help fill shadowed crevices in a scene.

Notes: The blinds have been pulled on the left-side of the main kitchen window to most likely diffuse the light (make it softer), while there also looks like a light source hitting the right side of the kitchen table- hallway with a window, or flash? The ratio of floor-to-ceiling interests me, as it is usually about this amount, say 80% floor, 20% ceiling. Lastly, there is one chair that is turned, giving the scene an element of a “real” house. Estimated camera height, 6 feet.

Are the windows completely blown out, over-exposed, or exposed the same as the interior?

For windows that are not covered, they are generally very over exposed. If at all possible, this is usually the most reasonable and desirable look. If windows are properly exposed, too much attention is brought too them, and more importantly, the window can no longer can act as a fill light. This said, blown-out, overexposed ANYTHING is bad, so try to keep the windows in your histogram!

On a scale from 1-10, how “perfect” is the decor and table items set/placed? Is it un-natural looking?

Usually about a 9. As mentioned above, there are usually some elements, whether it be a towel, a chair, food, or decor that lends itself to the idea of someone actually living in the room or space photographed, but everything in the good photographs is clean as a whistle and straight as an arrow.

Notes: There has been particular attention paid to how the towels are both hung, folded, and placed. This photo uses a lower angle, placing the camera just above table height. This scene would most likely not have such pleasant light if it weren’t for the overhead skylight. This angle (very straight-on) is attractive, and captures this tight space well.

Is it good to have many, few, or no vibrant items in the scene (such as flowers, linens, accesories, etc)?

Vibrant items such as flowers and fruit are very common, as they provide color, “freshness”, and a sense of a livable space. They are however used in moderation, and my findings are that while they are vibrant, they are most likely single colored, which makes them unobtrusive to the scene; accents generally are single colored in whatever type of artform you look at.

Notes: The plants and flowers take on vibrant single color accents, and are placed sparingly. This straight-on angle taken just above table-level works well as it creates nice symmetry with the overhead lights, and allows the table’s angles to show depth.

Is it the job of the photographer to allow room in the photograph for text or copy?

It appears as though the job of the photographer is to take great photos. There may, in some cases, be collaborations with graphic designers if the photo shoot is for a specific campaign or purpose, but in my experience, and in my research, there is no room for special treatment and it is the layout departments job to place the text appropriately.

What are your findings on depth of field (DOF)?

Simple- very large depth of field for wide photos, very shallow for closer details photos. When taking a photo of an entire room you want people to notice ALL the details, not just one, so keeping your aperture between 5.6-10 is good (test it though!). When getting photos of single objects, the background blur is very pleasing, and is sure to highlight whatever you choose on putting in focus.

Notes: Notice the narrow depth of field, only keeping particular objects in focus. Also, faucets are running in 75% of the photos that have a faucet as a semi-important part of the scene.

What about focal length?

This is probably the toughest one for me to judge. Wide-angle lenses will distort the edges of the frame, while a lens much past 50mm will be too tight for any normal sized house. I personally use a 35mm for most wide interior shots, and I anticipate that this is about what others use. The 35mm is “wider”, but doesn’t give that “bubbly” look that say, a 24mm will give. An as for a 50mm, I just think thats getting a little tight for full-room photos.

The tighter, more detailed photos are most likely using anything between a 50mm and a 200mm (for that “zoomed” look). There are a few instances where a macro lens can provide some added detail by getting really close to a special texture, such as hardwood floors, granite counter tops, or tiling.

Notes: This photo likely used a focal length from 50mm to 110mm (my guess), as the cabinet’s corners and edges are very straight, and not rounded by a wider angle lens. The tilted and colorful thumb-tac’ed cards and invitations give this cabinet a “fun” factor. The three books on the top shelf are stacked both ways, as it created a nice break in horizontal and vertical lines.

Notes: Two zoomed shots, the left side showing very tight and crisp angles. The right side showing the counter-top in full use, making toast for the entire neighborhood.

Portrait or Landscape? Panorama?

This can depend on both the limitations of the room, and/or where the photo is supposed to end up. Most rooms are going to “want” a landscape photograph; it makes the room look bigger, and can include everything from chairs to full counter-tops. However, there will be instances where you can’t get camera gear through a door, so the a portrait-style photo will be best for capturing all the details. I personally find that panorama stitching is a lifesaver, and I always will take my panoramas as set of portrait-style photographs.

Notes: The most interesting thing about this scene is the two place settings with full glasses of water; no food, just empty soup bowls, spoons, and glasses of water. The yellow and green fruit, along with the flowers provide nice accents to the rather dull, tan-themed kitchen. All counter tops are visible, which puts the camera somewhere around 6 feet off of the ground.

We had our first photo meetup tonight, and because of all the varying weather going on (yea, its Michigan) it seemed like a fun idea to use some snow, and why not throw a little fire in there? Long story short, we made a sweet photo, with some post processing that is in the video. Our studio still smells like burnt nylon and lighter fluid, but it was well worth it, and we had a great time. If you are near Northville, make sure to get in touch with us to come hang out and make photos sometime.

This is a short photo retouch video sped up about 800%- packing about an hour of work into 5 minutes. It is a hard lighting setup with two back lights creating that arm and shoulder rim light, and then one small umbrella with a Canon 420ex right overhead. Hope you enjoy it, heres the final product:

Are you a company or sports team that needs some high quality dramatic photos like this? Be sure to visit our homepage and get in touch with us. We can help you advertise your product the right way on the web.

It was one of those days where I had an idea for a photo, knew exactly how I wanted it to look, and only had an hour to go out and take it. Luckily I came back with a set of in-focus shots, no broken bones, and was able to check this one off the list. You can click on the photo below to see it in Flickr, and of course all our EXIF data is pubic domain! In short, I underexposed the background and used a large depth of field to allow for a slow shutter speed, this way I could capture some movement. I then setup my flash so it would properly expose me for a single instant, which is why you can make out certain parts of my body in the photo and it isn’t one big blur (watch the video for more).. you can even tell I am wearing Apple iPod ear buds at full res. It was direct flash so I got the most bang for my buck out of the Canon 420ex, and of course a couple Pocket Wizards making it all wireless. Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for stopping in.

The final additions were a small umbrella to put some fill on the right side of the sculpture (keeping its power low enough where it isn’t creating conflicting shadows with the main [soft box] light), and a ground reflector to bounce some light into the lower cracks and crevices. That’s it! I made some small tweaks afterwards to make it the photo I wanted, and all is done. Hopefully you found it interesting, watch the video for all the intermediate photos, and happy shooting.

1. Edges

Your photo will be sitting on top of some fairly even colored website background, so the last thing you want is the edges of your photo to be a similar color; you want contrast here folks. The two ways to accomplish this is either by taking a photo in a proper setting and working in harmony with the website’s colors, or use the common trick of add a contrasting border to the photo, preferably in CSS.

On the left, you see that a deep colored photo sits fine on the light background. On the right, a border adds some distinction between the website background and the photo’s background.

2. Framing and Context

When taking photos for a website, you have to keep one thing in mind: the place for your photo on the website is most likely very wide, and very short; think “panorama”. On websites, the most important content is placed “above the fold”, which is the first 600 pixels of the page, where your header, and most likely big photo of yours will be. For a full-width image, it leaves you with about 400 pixels of height, and 800-1000 pixels of width. I don’t know about you, but my camera puts out rather square’ish photos, so you MUST keep this crop factor in mind when pressing that shutter button, or else you will lose the effectiveness of the photo in context of the layout. The big sacrifice is depth of field, because you have to move further back from the object you’re shooting to get that wide-angle.

At full size, the image would be cropped to a width of 900 pixels, and a height of 400 pixels. Notice how the photo isn’t that pleasing until it is cropped this tightly.

3. Color and Vibrancy

I have a particular issue with photos on the web that are mis-colored, and/or dull. In general, I like vibrant images and strong colors, but it becomes even more important on the web when the photo is used to grab attention, show beautiful things, and may be viewed by any range of monitor types or devices. Hover over the following image to bring it to life.

Enhancing the saturation, correcting the color temperature, and adding some contrast will help an image pop on the web.

It’s the same, but different

Of course the same photographic rules apply to web photography; there are just some added complexities, and if you’re not careful, you will have a handful of photos that end up looking a bit off once they are put into a web designers layout. My one piece of advice is that if you know the photograph might be used on the web, take one framed how you prefer, and one after taking a step back; this way, you will have a photo suitable for anything. Happy shooting.

We just got in our Black Rapid RS-7 camera strap, and really like all the thought behind this little piece of gear. Like many, the stock Canon strap wasn’t cutting it; it wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t natural to shoot with, and worst of all, its the same as everyone else’s. After hitting up some reviews and YouTube’ing for a minute, the RS-7 seemed like a good choice, and we want to give people some of our thoughts.

Our first concern was how the strap performed with a massive lens, and if it was really going to improve the comfort factor. It turns out that lens size isn’t really an issue with this type of strap because of the way it falls at your hip (lens points to the ground). With other straps that attach to the primary strap brackets, the body of the camera either digs into your side if your carrying it over the shoulder, or if you are shooting with it around your neck tourist-style it falls awkwardly into your stomach and chest.

Final Thoughts

We found shooting was a breeze, the materials it is made with to be rugged, and most of all, the hardware securing your camera to the strap itself to be substantial. Of course you could make a sling for $15, and then head right to Home Depot and get some 2×4′s for your next tripod, but we think paying for good things turns out for the best. Happy shooting.

Your on a shoot and the clouds start to roll in, you feel the moisture, and you know its about to get wet. Don’t be stuck with no options, all you have to do is remember to jam an old, used plastic bag from the grocery into that miscellaneous corner of your camera bag. Use a rubber band and poke a hole for your viewing pleasure. You do know all your buttons by heart, right?

2. Grey Paint Sample Card

If you are moving a lot and really need some control over your white balance, our best suggestion is to make sure you are taking your photos in RAW (and hey, jpeg correcting is pretty effective too) and a cheap grey card. Post process in a program like Adobe Lightroom to fix all the issues. We use free paint cards from Home Depot, “Seal Grey”, and they are pretty darn effective.

3. Fake Credential

Ok, were not suggesting you make a fake passport or start stealing identities, but having something that looks official with your picture on it and “PRESS ACCESS” can help you at least get better parking, or a couple inches closer to your target.

4. Outlet Accessories

So you had some grand plan to use a 2 studios lights at this shoot, but guess what? There is one outlet, 30-feet away, and it doesn’t have a grounding pin. Hopefully you were wise enough to bring an extension cord, but never assume you will be presented with an ample electrical system, and prepare for the worst.

5. Dust Brush

This might be more common than others, but most of the time a lens or filter doesn’t need you to be wiping [scraping] the glass, it just needs the dust to be cleared. Dust can cause some horrible reflections (flaring) and make you pretty mad you didn’t pay attention to it when you start post processing at full resolution.

6. Level

If your trekking across some uneven terrain a level can help make sure your horizon is darn close to level. Some tripods have levels built in, but they are very small and sometimes a little less responsive than we could hope for.

7. Business Cards

You need business cards if your in it to make money, but make good use of them in your camera bag too. We put one in each of our lens cases, a couple scattered in the bag itself, and even tapped to our equipment if we are going somewhere busy. Sure, it doesn’t stop thieves, but if a Lion on your safari drags it 100 miles to another tribe, or if it gets picked up mistakenly by the other media crew next to you, they know who to return it to!

8. Food

You thought this shoot was going to be an hour, in and out, right? If your selling the photos, and need the best ones, you will stay planted until you get them. Not only does it stink to be hungry, but your vision starts to get sluggish, and your reaction time goes down, so dont risk it and bring a snack.

9. Rubber Bands

There are a ton of situations where a rubber band could come in handy, but one great example is to make a bounce card on the fly. We personally use a couple different types of bounce cards, but kicking it old-school and making one from a piece of paper and a rubber band is just as effective (plus you can throw it out after).

10. Flashlight

Whether you need a brighter focus beam for low-light photography, or you are getting your creative on and exploring some old broken-down buildings, a small flashlight comes in handy. Please don’t think this replaces your speed lite, or on the flip side, dont try to use your speed lite to explore broken buildings (flash.. walk 10 paces.. repeat).