Don’t give up the ship!
Since photography has developed so fast to a computerized medium, I have no digital technical knowledge to share with anyone . . . but, I could recall situations that may be helpful to a budding photographer.
As a young man, I lived in a ship building town, and I was very busy photographing new ship’s interiors and exteriors.
One particular ship had a gigantic cargo area below deck, which I had to photograph. I set up my tripod and the heavy camera (8×10 format) with wide angle lens. Since there was very little light, I figured a time exposure of about four minutes should do it. Just when I started the exposure, all hell broke loose!
With a big BANG the deck started to shake violently, and the tripod with the camera started to move around like some sort of ritual dance. Realizing that somebody had started the huge engines, I ran up three decks to the bridge and yelled ”Stop the engines!” Now, they were testing the engines and in no mood to comply, but after some arguments, they gave in and provided me half an hour of calm, so I could finish my job.
Lesson: Let people know what your plans are!
Background on Backgrounds
Choosing a backdrop is a tough choice, there are so many things to consider. Color, width, length, portability, versatility, durability, affordability, likeability, photographability, howtoholditupability and the list keeps going. Objective is getting the right combination of all these variables for your use.
POPUPS: If you are shooting only head and shoulders, half-length and a few three quarter lengths the popups are a good choice. Look at the Twistflex available through Denny Mfg. or my personnel choice, the Botero line available from B&H Photo. A size around 5’x7’ will do for 1 or 2 people. Theses backgrounds setup in a second with no obnoxious wrinkles and are hung from a stand (I prefer two stands). Word of advice: Practice folding these things up before you’re seen in public. I didn’t, and ended up stuffing the thing in my van like an accidentally inflated lifeboat, as my customer looked on.
FULL LENGTHS: If you are doing full lengths, the biggest issues involve width of background and wrinkles. For estimating the width for a fixed location background, set up your camera with a normal lens (not a wide angle), and backup to your anticipated maximum shooting distance. From there, note the side-to-side width of your frame coverage on your reference wall. Measure the width of the reference wall visible in your view finder. This will be your required background size. Note: Changes to your lens mm, will affect the required background size. When shooting a large group or bride, you never can have too much background.
Consider the wrinkle factor if you’re using them on location. If the wrinkled look is not what your after,consider the Freedom Cloth Background from Denny Mfg., or my personnel favorites, Backgrounds-In-A-Bag available at PhotekUSA.
COLOR: This of course is a matter of taste. You will find that it is easier to lighten up a darker background, than it is to darken a light background. A darker background can be lit with varying degrees, and gels added to achieve different effects (as I have done on this background).
PRICE: Buy only what you need. It’s a nightmare to take a 12 by 20 foot background out on location when you’re only doing a head and shoulders portrait. Consider having more choices of smaller backgrounds, rather than one huge background.
Also check out Calumet Photo and Knowledge Backgrounds for other selections.
Create a Coffee Table Book (Portfolio)
Here’s a quick tip for putting together a professional presentation of a like-kind collection. Lets say you want to promote your “Seniors” sitting packages. Get together about 20 or 30 of your best Senior images and turn them into a hard-cover coffee table style book!
Most photographic printers, such as MPIX, offer this service for around $30-$50. Applications like Apple Aperture (and iPhoto) will let you order books right from the application.
You can create a custom cover, and even have a little promotional blurb on some of the pages. Most printers offer a choice of paper and cover styles, as well as sizes (5×5, 10×10, 8.5×11). Mix it up a little and use an 8×10 on one page, with a couple of smaller images on the facing page.
This is a great way to display your collection in a unique format, that you can leave out in your sitting area of the studio, or take with you to meet a client.
Think about using this for Publicity Photos, Modeling Headshots, Commercial Products, etc.
If you have any other unique formats for promotional items, let us know!
The Aliens Have Landed!
From the maker of the popular White Lightning strobes, Paul C. Buff has another offering, which should be a serious 
contender if you’re considering a new set of monolights. We recently tested the “bullet-proof” AlienBees monolights, and were pretty happy with the results.
If you’re new to photography and/or strobes and aren’t sure what a monolight is, basically it’s a self contained strobe light, with built-in power unit. Many manufacturers offer strobes in either a monolight version, or one that requires an additional power supply.
Alien Bees are not only easy to use, but also a breeze to setup and take down (weighing only 2.5 lbs each). Available in 3 watt-second ratings (400, 800, 1600) and 5 colors (yellow, black, green, pink, white) they’ve really got your options covered. The nice thing about these different WS ratings, is that regardless of which AB you choose, they are all the same size! This is especially convenient when packing your Pelican 1650s for location shoots.
ABs offers a selection of stands, softboxes, wireless triggers, and other add-ons that will connect right up to these monolights, but just about any mainstream accessory manufacturer’s products will work. The one thing (as with any strobe) that you’ll need if you plan on using softboxes, are speedrings fitted for these particular lights.
We got our hands on a few of the B800s for testing, and propped them on a couple of Avenger A635B light stands, which were especially sturdy, but easily adjusted when necessary.
We used them for shooting photographing school kids. We’re talking roughly 500 kids, multiple exposures, nearly 2,500 total shots (shooting with 3 setups of 3 lights each), if my math is correct, that’s about 7,500 strobe pops . . . all without any failures! That’s pretty impressive. Not convincing enough? They handle this almost everyday.
The B800s produce 320 true wattseconds and 800 effective wattseconds of power, with 14,000 lumenseconds of output. Each light is independently adjustable over a 5 f-stop range (full power to 1/32).
The Alien Bees all have a built-in cooling fan, ready for heavy all-day shooting conditions, and depending on the model, you get recycle times to full power in as little as 0.5 seconds (B400). The bees also feature “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” modeling lamps, which can be set as recycling indicators (which we didn’t use, but to each his own).
ABs can also be portably powered with the Vagabond Portable Power System, if you find yourself in an area without power (here’s that external power supply we mentioned earlier, except this one is optional).
I can’t seem to find it now, but I recall seeing something about a “trade-up” program, where you can receive credit and trade up your lower rated (B400 for example) monolight for a more powerful model (B800 for example).
Alien bees come with a reflector, a case, sync cord, power cord, gel clips, and an owners manual. Oh, and don’t forget the 2-Year Warranty!
The manufacturer website offers discounts to students (10% off), and accessory discounts for everyone else, which increase with the more lights you buy.
With a price of only $225 for the B400, $280 for the B800, $360 for the B1600, and a 60-day satisfaction guarantee . . . you’re sure to be “abducted” by another hit from Paul C. Bluff, Inc. In fact, we’ve decided to buy a couple sets!
Image Copyright
The ASMP has a nice tutorial on how to tackle the copyright process for you photographs:
You already own it. In most cases, unless you specifically signed away your rights, you — the photographer — own the copyright and the right to license and re-license the image in any way you choose. This is true even if you have not registered your copyright or put your copyright notice on the image. Where registration makes a real difference is when something has gone wrong and your rights are being infringed.
The PPA also has a Copyright Kit that you can order (members only), which explains the process and provides the necessary steps.
Check them out and decide for yourself if and when you should copyright your images. Keep in mind that you may only be able to stop the unauthorized use of unregistered images, usually with no compensation. If your images are registered with the copyright office you may be entitled to possible compensation for their usage. Also keep in mind the U.S. Copyright Laws are just that, and may not protect your images for out of country use.
The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 - Scott Kelby
I just finished reading Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book, Vol 2. It was an easy read, with lots of great tips for aspiring shooters (and possibly a new trick for an old dog). Written in typical Scott Kelby fashion, it was a little sarcastic at times, which just makes it that much more interesting.
Scott Kelby, author of the groundbreaking bestseller “The Digital Photography Book, Vol. 1” is back with an entirely new book that picks up right where Vol. 1 left off. It’s more of that “Ah ha—so that’s how they do it,” straight-to-the-point, skip the techno jargon; packed with stuff you can really use today, that made Vol. 1 the world’s bestselling book on digital photography.
If you’re looking to pick up a few pointers from a pro (and who isn’t), this book is well worth the read. If you’re a NAPP member, you can probably even get a little discount. And of course if you haven’t read The Digital Photography Book, Vol 1, then pick up a copy of that while you’re at it. Keep ‘em coming Scott!
Wedding Quick Tip
Photograph enough wedding events, and this will happen to you!
You’re positioned off the isle in a massive church about 5 isles from the front. You’re all set to go, waiting for the mother’s to be escorted down to be seated.
Your loaded with a fresh roll of film (or your card has plenty of room to spare). You glance at your strobe ready light, good to go.
Music starts up; you pick a person about ten feet down the isle to pre-focus on.
At about fifteen feet you step out and squeeze off a nice shot of the groom’s mother escorted by the brides brother.
No way to get the groom’s father, he’s tucked in to close behind in tow . . . “damn”!
You step back in the pew as the mother passes and is seated. Piece of cake, you’re all ready pre-focused, and you know the next shot goes when the next couple passes the dude in the plaid jacket ten feet down the isle. It went smooth the first time.
Here comes the mother of the bride escorted by one of the groomsmen some sort of track star! Why is he going so fast? No problem I’ll make the adjustment, and step out when she’s about five feet before the guy in the plaid to make up for the speed.
You calmly step out, squeeze a shot off. NOTHING!
You fire off another as they pass (nice side shot, NOT) no strobe!
You check your ready light . . . it’s fine.
Hit the test button on your strobe and it fires flawlessly.
It must be the pc cord or shoe? You juggle and check everything, it should be fine. Something must have just been loose.
People around you are looking at you funny, but you smile back. Are they looking at you because they noticed you didn’t get the shot, or because you’re bright red and sweating?
Here comes the bride’s maid. At the plaid man . . . step out . . . fire . . . nothing!
All of the sudden, music starts that you don’t want to hear . . . “daaaaa da ta da”. (Now’s the time to stroke out).
You glance towards your spares sitting in the last pew, about 20 feet a quarter mile down the isle. Never make it, the bride’s already started down the isle.
I don’t think stepping out and yelling, “Stop Everything” would appear to professional.
Relax and stay cool, I’ll help you through this!
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