Anyone that knows a little about Joe McNally knows that he is the master of off cam lighting and uses the right amount of light to get exactly what he wants. My friend Mark K just went to one of Joes workshops (see previous post) and the light looks like melted butter it is so smooth. Takes a lot to get light like that. Beautiful soft light, makes me just………
Well I got to thinking about how the light works if you go the other way. Hard Light with a grid and only one of them to work with. Last Sat. I talked my very beautiful friend (and the only young person I know) into letting me try out something different for shooting Pretty Girls. So we loaded up the Jeep and got my favorite VAL, Cheryl, and wandered around PT with only an SB28 with a SaxonPc grid on it. One light, one hard light and these are a few of the results.
Shot about 300 images I am still looking at them and thinking. Some good, some ok, some I even like. Althya isn’t a pro model so that was a little challenge but we had a lot of fun. Learned I really like hard light, and the angle it hits the subject is really important. Learned the fall off worked like I thought it would with a grid and you can keep the edges semi soft. Learned I like the freedom of only one light and a VAL to run it. The plan is to do the same thing again in a week or so and use iTTL for control instead.
Tried the same thing on Sunday with a different subject and some with two lights, to get a little more hard light information. These kind of days out with the camera and a couple of willing helpers are not only fun but some of the most productive learning I can think of. Trying stuff and seeing what it will do. I’ll get some of the ones from Sunday (not so pretty guys) and my thoughts on them up in a day or so. I just wanted to get a jump on it, share these images, and get some thoughts on hard light for something you wouldn’t normally use it for.
Some things are pretty serious when you are 3 1/2 years old and you have to watch your brothers play baseball. Although the cupcakes and the tootsie pop was pretty good. It probably is time to go home now.
Both photos were shot with D300 and a 70-300 lens iso 400 in jpg ( i never shoot jpg, except sports), I was there to shoot the game for her brothers but how do you resist an ‘angel with a dirty face’.
I got to tell you shooting kids isn’t all that easy. High shutter speed, patience and motor drive and lots of chasing helps. I had a ton of fun and got to watch two baseball games, T-ball has to be seen to be believed, it is all about fun and some of the bravest coaches I have ever seen. Placing the ball on the T when a kid with a short attention span and a bat is standing that close is an act of heroism. Great afternoon and I hope I get to repeat it soon, still with a long lens….. behind the fence.
Some ideas and thoughts get better with time and some don’t. The last few weeks have been a real roller coaster of good ideas that don’t seem so good after a few days. Sometimes after a few of these you begin to wonder if all the good stories are gone or if you will be able to recognize the next one when it goes by. Shoot, shoot and shoot some more and they still are crap. I have a sign in the shop that says in Large letters ‘BANG head here’ , it might be time to take it’s advice. I know everyone goes thru these slumps where the stuff you do is just ‘good enough’ but they still are disturbing.
I think most of us who take this seriously have a little higher expectation of what we create than most. The expectations and standards we impose on ourselves are what are the driving force for creative thinking. Settling for good enough isn’t in the vocabulary. The trick may be to let go and stop trying so hard, I know when I taught a martial art it was a case of learning enough to get out of the way of what you learned. Over thinking and pushing gets in the way of what you can do if you just let it happen.
I have a few posts all ready to go on how photography relates to the fine art world and another on what makes landscapes interesting. And if they still seem like they make sense in a day or so they will be posted.
Been a little hectic here for the last two weeks so I have fallen behind on things of importance. Of late I have been feeling a little envy of those that live in the city. I would love to have access to more people to shoot (models etc) and other photographers to talk to. There is something energetic about being able to share ideas over a beer or coffee. There is something transforming about the give and take, that elevates the ideas and knowledge of those kinds of conversations.
I like being here in the hinterlands but envy those who have others to share ideas with. Since I began to exchange ideas and such online I have met and begun to feel part of a community. However that rapid fire, off the top of your head, idea testing , give and take, that happens when you share the excitement of pursuing that just over the edge idea with others is missing. Not that it isn’t possible online it is just not as spontaneous when you have to type and wait.
I have been told that conversations with me are sort of like a test, with obscure references to books, shows, and people. Bouncing ideas at the rate you think and seeing what the frame of reference really is. Hard to do when the only one there is yourself.
Which brings me to the next installment, I have spent the last two weeks in the shop in metal fabrication for a couple of different projects. (It isn’t as much fun as it used to be, concrete standing hurts). It has given me time to think about a few questions I have had, so I will be posting a few of the thoughts I think I have finally sorted out on art and photography. Back soon, off to the shop for the rest of the day.
Of late I have been thinking a lot about how captions and titles effect a photograph. It started with a conversation with an acquaintance who had taken a class in photojournalism. He stated that a lot of the learning involved being able to write clear and meaningful titles or captions to the photos that were submitted. This would make a lot of sense from journalistic direction, but then is it the whole story that only an image can tell. Is it necessary for a photo essay or other photographic endeavors?
The title and/or caption that is connected to a photo would seem to set a stage for the perception of the photo. Does this context help to make the photo a better photo or is it just a help to the observer to find meaning in the photo? My personal feeling is that the photo needs to stand alone and any title or context is only an addition to the importance of the work. Many of the reviews of work seem to have to add the life story of the artist or situation that the work was created in to make the work important or significant. If this is necessary for the observer to ‘get it’ I feel the work has failed. The saying that a photo is worth a thousand words should be more than a cliche.
Environmental portraits should be more than just an ego stroke of making someone look ‘pretty’. The photo should tell something about the subjects life story past and present. This may not be applicable to work done for all clients but I can’t help but think that these ideals can be incorporated into any photo. It may be the thing that makes the work that one step above.
Writing has always been a bit of a struggle for me, my thoughts have always moved a little faster than I can get it down on paper. Recently I have added a recorder to my bag of tricks and may be able to edit well enough to make my words on paper match my convoluted thought process. Hell if I could write I wouldn’t need to shoot the photos to tell the story.
I have noticed that a lot of the better photographers who’s work I admire are also very articulate and able to write extremely well. Yet even without the words many of their photos tell me a story and that is what sets them apart.
Forget about how the yard is supposed to look, after all the yellow really is a nice color against the green, isn’t it? Sunny day and it will rain in a day or two so why not just lay there and enjoy. You know like it was way back when and Dad wanted you to weed the yard, but the clouds were a lot more interesting.
Sometimes it is better to just lay there and dream.
There is something about B&W and square format that I really like. I think it is because in school the real serious guys were shooting medium format Hassy’s and I couldn’t afford one or the film for it. All the composition rules sort of go out the window for square format for me as well.
Foggy morning in PT and a little late for the sunrise on this. The color capture was real close to B&W with the sun angled as it was. There is something nice about being in town before everything starts up, quiet and only a few folks about. The fog on the water and just lifting really adds to that quiet serene morning feeling.
Anyone that knows a little about Joe McNally knows that he is the master of off cam lighting and uses the right amount of light to get exactly what he wants. My friend Mark K just went to one of Joes workshops (see previous post) and the light looks like melted butter it is so smooth. Takes a lot to get light like that. Beautiful soft light, makes me just………
Shot about 300 images I am still looking at them and thinking. Some good, some ok, some I even like. Althya isn’t a pro model so that was a little challenge but we had a lot of fun. Learned I really like hard light, and the angle it hits the subject is really important. Learned the fall off worked like I thought it would with a grid and you can keep the edges semi soft. Learned I like the freedom of only one light and a VAL to run it. The plan is to do the same thing again in a week or so and use iTTL for control instead.
