I ended up having to use two off-camera speedlights on either side of the stage to brighten up the speaker. Both flashes had a snoot on them to help aim the light and keep it from hitting the audience. I also had to make sure they wouldn’t spill light onto the background and wash out the green colored lights.

This second images shows how it looked before I added my lights. Notice how much less detail you can see in his suit coat as well as the brightness of his skin.

It would have been much easier to shoot with the available light and then pass the blame, but a photographer’s job is to produce good photos with no excuses attached.

While the backpack is perfect for carrying everything from my studio to another location and back, it’s completely impractical to use during a shoot. Personally I group photo bags into one of two categories: transporting or shooting. The backpack clearly falls under the first category where durability, space, and weight are primary concerns. For shooting however, I need a bag that is accessible, comfortable, and snug. You’ll notice “stylish” isn’t exactly on that list… Personally, I prefer the ThinkTank Pro Speed Belt.

The belt itself is just that. A belt. But when you trick it out with some modular pouches it becomes a fanny pack on steroids that will have all the ladies wanting you.

The beauty of it is that all of the weight you are used to carrying around your neck and shoulders is now spread around your hips. Everything is close to your body, so you can run at full speed without worrying about your stuff banging around. Everything is easily accessible –no more digging around in the abyss of your messenger bag for that memory card– and often times that can mean the difference between getting the shot or missing the moment. I’ve been using my belt for over two and a half years now, and I’d be hard pressed to come up with a better solution for event photographers. If you find yourself looking for a better way to consolidate and access your gear while shooting, I suggest you give the belt a try.

Here’s a look at my setup. Clicking on the image will take you to Flickr where you can see the notes explaining what’s in each pouch.

P.S. The belt is also great for hiking. I usually strip it down until it’s just the belt and camera holster. It protects the camera and makes it easily accessible. I recently climbed Old Rag with it and I had zero complaints.

*I’m not affiliated with ThinkTank Photo in any way. They simply make good products that make my job easier, so I’m happy to talk about them.

Lesson One: Don’t delete your photos.  Today I’ve had three completely different clients say, “Hey, can you re-send the photos from ____?” They all have different reasons for needing them again, but the point remains the same. If I didn’t keep my photos long term then I’d have three disgruntled clients to deal with. It seems like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how tempting it is to delete photos when you find that your hard drives are full. Which leads us to the next point…

Lesson Two: Establish an archiving solution. The important thing is that you have a system. Buying another external hard drive to “free up space” is not a system; it’s a symptom of a bigger problem. What you need is a plan. You need to know where to export your photos when you’re done with them, and you need to know how to find them years from now. I’ve blogged about my system before, but there are many different ways to do it. Find a solution that works best for you.

Lesson Three: Create online client galleries. This is where I’ve slacked off, and I’m paying the price for it today. Basically, you want a place where you can upload your finished, high resolution jpegs for the client to access on their own. I use Zenfolio, and I couldn’t be happier with it! I create a new group for each client, and then I add a new album for each shoot. This is ideal for corporate work where you’ll do multiple shoots for the same client, or destination weddings where you will have multiple days of shooting for a single wedding. The real advantage comes from the various options available such as privacy, expiration, and access control. This means my clients can locate their photos and download the high resolution images without having to wait for me.

Moral of the story, there is nothing sexy about file management. Do yourself a favor by making it as efficient and accessible as possible.

Don’t tell him to smile. Give him a reason to smile. The difference is night and day.
 

For crying out loud pose your subjects before you start photographing them. Don’t just have them stand there assuming they know what to do. Tell them that it will probably feel awkward but look great on camera. Subtle changes can make a big difference.
 

During the first half of the shoot I used a three-point light setup. If your key light is too bright, your background light (aka rim light) will be lost. Notice the changes around his left temple. There needs to be enough room (on a brightness scale) to brighten the rim of your subject without blowing the highlights and losing detail. … Do what David Hobby does and set your key light last.
 

Hard key light combined with hard background light on opposite side of the subject produces a very stylized look. Using a fill light washes out most of that look.
 

Generally I don’t like tilted shots, but it might have helped to try some here to keep things from looking so rigid and stiff.

For the right chef the dramatic look of a key-only light setup might make for a really cool photo. …probably would work best with a softbox thought.

Sometimes you just have to say “Screw the three-point lighting” and just use natural window light. This way you don’t have to worry about creating the mood of the place, but you can simply capture it. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to showcase both the setting and the chef. A reflector nearby will bounce just the right amount of light back on your subject so that his face isn’t too shadowy.
 

As much as I don’t want to admit it, I am much better at working with natural light than I am at crafting light from scratch. Even an average window-lit shot from this shoot is way the heck better than any of the three-light shots. Sometimes you have to let go of your pride and preconceived notions and go with your gut. Both my client and I really wanted to nail a shot with the windows, water, and boats in the background, but as soon as we sat him down and shot parallel to the windows we knew we were onto something much better.

If your subject is wearing white (eg. chefs, brides, etc.), have them to turn their back to the light source. This will minimize the light it catches and you will have fewer blown-out highlights. Have them turn their face toward the light in order to light it properly –this is often a more pleasing pose anyway regardless of the light [see next comment]. All three of these photos had the exact same exposure settings, but the brightness in his shirt is quite different.
   

Angling his head in a different direction than his chest creates a much more dynamic pose.
 

If his face is still too dark, overexpose the white shirt by just a little bit –about 1/3 stop– then you can bring it down in post. Use the Graduated Filter to only darken the lower part of the image, not his face.
 

As a general rule, window-lit portraits look fantastic in black and white.

I should have experimented with some gelled light to give the background more color. Shouldda wouldda couldda…

Learning from other people is great, and I highly encourage it; but until you learn something yourself it’s easy to forget (or not fully understand in the first place) what the other person was trying to teach you. For example, I feel like all of the stuff I’ve written here are things that Bambi Cantrell talked about in her recent Creative Live session, but I didn’t really get it until now. There is no learning method that can replace good ol’ fashion hard work.

Compact Cameras

Asking a professional photographer about compact cameras is about like asking Lance Armstrong which bike you should get from Wal-Mart. …well, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the idea. I don’t own a compact camera, but there is one that I would like –one that I would feel is a good enough replacement to an SLR. That’s the Canon G12. It gives you full manual control over your exposure and it can shoot in RAW. From what I’ve heard, it out-performs Nikon’s comparable camera even though the latter has better specs. Then again, at $500 you might just consider getting an entry-level SLR (more on that below).

Aside from the G12 I honestly don’t have any recommendations for compact cameras. At the rate that smart phones are going, we might find compact cameras to be a dying breed. Nevertheless, if you don’t want to break the bank and you want a pocket-sized camera consider the following guidelines.

• Zoom – You’ll want a decent zoom, but make sure it’s an optical zoom; a digital zoom won’t do you a bit of good.
• Battery Life – I wouldn’t recommend buying a camera that runs on double A batteries; instead look for one that uses a custom lithium battery or something like that.  They’ll last longer and cost less in the long run.
• Shutter Delay -    The shutter delay information may or may not be readily available, but basically it’s a measure of how quickly the picture is taken once the button is pressed –this can mean the difference between getting the shot you wanted as opposed to missing the action.
• Megapixels – don’t worry about them. We are slowly coming out of the age where all cameras are measured by the number of megapixels they have, but that simply is not any way to determine a camera’s image quality. I’ve got a 20″x30″ print that was taken with a 6 MP camera; had I not told you that you never would have known by looking at it.

SLR Cameras

Despite my preference for the G12, I’m a huge fan of Nikon. Thus my suggestions will be a bit biased entirely in favor of Nikon. Canon makes great cameras too, but in my opinion everything about them feels backwards. I would also go so far as to say that Nikon has really developed an edge over Canon in the last two years as they focus on better image quality and fewer megapixels. Personally I prefer the color tones of Nikon; they just have a richer feel if you ask me.

The good news is that buying an SLR is fairly straightforward; the more you spend, the better the camera you get. Let your budget determine the camera, but be sure to leave room for a lens, memory cards, batteries, and maybe a flash if you’re feeling adventurous. There is no reason to go into debt buying a camera unless you are confident that you can make money with it –and if you can do that, you probably already have a good camera.

I don’t mean to be Johnny Raincloud here, but this needs to be said: Don’t confuse need for desire. You will always want a better camera. If you have a camera already (particularly an “old DSLR” –which is somewhat laughable to put those to words together) ask yourself how much you are using it. Chances are that the camera still takes great pictures, but you don’t use it like you could. Getting a new camera will generate some enthusiasm for a little while, but unless you make a point to get out and take pictures often you’ll be no better off with a fancier camera.

Once you narrow it down to a couple choices find a way to get your hands on each camera and play with them for as long as you can. Borrow one from a friend, or at least test out the model at a local camera shop. Chances are pretty good that one will feel more intuitive and comfortable than the other. After budget, I would say that this is the most important factor in your choice. If you don’t feel comfortable using your camera you will likely get frustrated and not take as many pictures or you’ll just keep it on Auto and never use all the features you paid for.

Don’t overlook the option of shopping for used cameras. You could buy a decent camera used, play with it for a year or so, and then sell it again putting that money toward a better camera. It requires more work and more time searching, but it’s the most cost effective option in the long run. Just make sure to do your homework and only buy a used camera if you feel completely good about it. Aside from physical damage I would say the most important thing to check is the number of actuations (ie. shutter clicks) when buying used. If the seller doesn’t know the number or doesn’t know how to find out (hint: check out Opanda or Exif Viewer) then it’s probably not worth buying from them.

As for lenses, some of them may come with a “kit” lens, which is usually the 18-55mm. It’s a decent little lens, but not spectacular by any means. If you’ve got the room in your budget, I would suggest going for the 18-105mm lens, or even the 18-200mm VR2.

Don’t forget to add a memory card. You probably don’t need to spend the extra money on a super fast card at this point. Also, you’d probably be fine without an extra battery –all of Nikon’s cameras should be able to get at least 1,000 shots on a single charge, probably more.

Hopefully that helps! Feel free to share with the rest of us if you have any tips from your own search.

First is the (hopefully) obvious stuff:

• Decide what type of work you want to be doing in the studio and plan accordingly.
• Consider your light source –north facing windows are ideal because they never receive direct sunlight.
• Measure everything. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble if you know exactly how much space you have to work with.

The two most important things for me are 1.) having an open, adaptable space to do creative portraits and personal projects, and 2.) being able to precisely control the light.

The first goal is a combination of several smaller decisions which I will highlight in Part 2 once I actually finish them (ie. the next time I’m procrastinating). For now I want to focus on my second objective. To properly control the light you’ve got to minimize bounced light. Shooting in a small space with white walls makes it nearly impossible to isolate your light because white is so reflective even if it’s a matte paint. The best way to get around this is to darken things down.

Take a photographer’s Color Checker to Home Depot and tell them you want middle gray in flat paint. Don’t get confused by the term “18% gray” which is often used in reference to metering and exposure. The percentage refers to the reflectivity of the material, not the brightness. In other words, there is also 18% black and 18% white and 18% green, etc… You don’t want your walls to be reflective at all; they are much easier to work with if they are completely flat. The important thing is to get a medium gray color. I opted for a shade halfway between black and white. It’s light enough for a livable space, but it’s also dark enough to soak up most of the light.

Avoid any color in your paint. If you have a green wall, for example, any light that hits it will bounce back as a green color. It may be cool for a shot or two, but it will annoy the crap out of you in short order. If you need color, you can add a gel to your flash. The whole point of creating a neutral (gray) space is that you can make it whatever you want. Also, the darker walls will respond better to color gels than a white wall. In other words, if you’re trying to create, say, a blue background it’s much easier to do this by pointing your blue-gelled flash at a gray wall than a white one. White walls tend to make colors more pastel.

I only used one coat of paint. Even though it seems good enough I can see advantages of having a second coat, mostly because I would’ve been less stingy with the paint and had fewer visible strokes. Then again, I can always re-paint later.

I left the ceiling white. Some people suggest painting it black for a photo studio but personally I like having the option to bounce my lights off the ceiling for a large overhead light source that doesn’t take up any space overhead. Secondly, I don’t want my clients to think I’m some goth emo freak who lives in a cave with a black ceiling. You’ve got to consider the psychology of the space as well as the efficiency of it.

It took me a while to make up my mind about which walls I would paint. Should I leave one white? Maybe paint one black? Eventually I realized that it would be best to paint everything gray and use the backdrops to change things up as needed. My setup allows me to cover two walls with backdrops (more about that in Part 2). If I want a pure white background I simply use my giant white paper roll. If I want black I can underexpose the gray walls until they appear black in the photo or just use a black paper roll. In the end it’s much easier to have a neutral space that can be changed quickly and easily.

All of this cost me less than $40. One can of Behr Premium Ultra gray paint put me back $32. One roll of 2″ painters tape was another $6. I was able to borrow painting tools from my brother who recently finished painting his own studio. Chances are pretty good that one of your friends has some painting supplies you could borrow too.

Check back for Part 2 of this post for tips on finishing your home photography studio on a budget.

So, the purpose of this post is first to answer the question of what I use and secondly to serve as a guide so that my assistants know exactly how to make everything fit inside the backpack. I’ve tried many many variations and this one seems to work the best for me. When the backpack is fully loaded it weighs about 34 pounds, and it is designed to fit perfectly under any airplane seat. Be sure to view the image on Flickr to see the notes describing everything.

The backpack itself is made by ThinkTank Photo, and I’m a huge fan of their stuff. They make top quality gear for just about everything a photographer could need. I use their Pro Speed Belt system while I’m shooting, and it has made my job so much easier. Maybe that’s worth a post of its own…

Every night I made notes of the things I learned that day and hoped to do differently the next. I’ve copied those notes below and added some of the photos to illustrate what I’m talking about. Most of the text here was written for personal use rather than public consumption. I feel like it loses a bit of flavor every time I try to rewrite it, so this post is still a little gooey in the middle. If you have questions don’t hesitate to hit up the comments section below and I’ll clarify as best I can.

The lighting for runway fashion is very different (in a good way) than shooting events. I was able to get some surprisingly good photos with minimal effort because the lights were already set to make the girls look good. This should be true of any respectable fashion show. No additional lights/flashes were used for these two shots, but I did make sure my White Balance was set to Tungsten/Incandescent to match the color temperature of the runways lights.

At this point I got to thinking how it could be improved. It’s already good; I just feel like it could use a little extra punch to make it great. For that, I immediately thought of adding a background light (sometimes called a kicker). Here is the setup:

There are a few things I want you to notice about the diagram.

1. I does not show the runway lights which served as my main light source; they were located directly above the runway and over my camera pointing at the stage.
2. Both flashes were snooted so that light would not spill onto the background.
3. The flash on the left is the same color temperature as the runway lights.
4. The flash on the right was gelled to be warmer to add just a hint of color to the models.
5. The flashes were carefully placed behind the pillars so that their light would hit the end of the runway, but I would be in the shadow cast by the pillars. This means that I wouldn’t see any lens flares from the flashes themselves.
6. I experimented with dozens of variations on this setup mostly because I was shooting in the same place for 24 hours total; I had to get creative. The setup illustrated above is the one I relied on the most. If I had only one light I would keep the white one and not worry about the warmer one.

Use a kicker to add a little extra pop to the subject. Several of them –particularly the black girls– get lost in the background. A little rim light would do wonders. Note that only the white light was used here.

The light in the above photo was placed beside the model more than it was behind her. This is usually a better look for men than women –see Ean Williams below. So I moved it behind the pillar as illustrated above and got exactly the rim lighting I wanted here. Again, only the white light was used so far.

Then I tested my warm light only. It’s very subtle, but that’s exactly the point. I don’t want to discolor the clothing, just add a touch of warmth. Notice the orange-ish light on her back and the inside of her right leg.

Finally, here is the full setup with both lights firing.

Capture the models walking precisely when their heel touches the ground. It’s the most dynamic and illustrative pose in a typical walk cycle. Note that they cross their legs in a sexy fashion when they walk. Most girls tend to favor one side or the other. Watch them take two steps and see which one looks better, left or right, then wait for the better pose and capture that.

Shooting fashion is all about the clothes. The models, as attractive as they are, are a glorified display rack. That sounds harsh, but without that in mind it’s easy to get distracted. Don’t worry about closeup shots of their faces unless you plan on sharing them with the models and makeup artists. Hint: it helps to make friends with the models.

Continuous servo focus is crucial for runway stuff. Hint: this is not altogether different than a bride and groom walking down the aisle…

Cropping off the model’s face just above the mouth can be a good way to focus the viewer’s attention on the shirt. Including the mouth adds just enough of a human touch without drawing all the attention to the face, which is what happens if you include her eyes.

Experiment more with creative blocking/staging by using silhouettes as negative space.

Experiment with some blue lighted backgrounds.

Note to self: I’m not quite sure what the problem is, but I feel like I’ve only been getting negative feedback about the photos so far. Client hated her hair, others say, “Oh! I look awful; delete it…” It’s a bit of a blow to my self-esteem, and I think it’s worth further examination… Potential factors include alcohol, models and wannabes in a perfection driven industry, people not knowing how to pose or thinking something will look good that doesn’t, maybe I’m not any good at shooting fashion, maybe I’m too focused on the lighting to the point of not paying attention to the subject, etc…
UPDATE, two months later: It now seems to me that the models loved the photos but most of the attendees were never pleased with photos of themselves. Feel free to draw your own conclusions…

Goodness! I need to play with the Tone Curve more often! I have no idea how/why I’ve barely used it in the past, but it gives you much more finite control over the contrast of the image –far more effective than the Blacks and Contrast sliders.

Experiment with these compositions: I printed the contact sheet below and carried it in my photo bag during the next night of the show. I wanted to get some variety in my shots and these were some ideas that caught my attention while editing.

I really like the look of a “mixed sandwich” lighting in this picture. Soft light (umbrella) hitting her from the right, hard light hitting from the left. Creates a very sexy, sculpted mood.

I need to experiment more with hard lighting as my key light. All of the runway pictures are lit with hard lighting and they look amazing. The lighting on this one in particular reminds me of the work Jeremy Cowart did for the plastic surgery reality show… The key light does *not* have to be soft! Mix it up and try something different. I may be surprised…

I strongly suspect good makeup is imperative when using hard light. Anything less will result in lots of glares and highlights on her face.

Experiment with silhouettes of the models themselves.

Stand on a chair for higher perspective on runway shots. Also a good way to get crowd shots.

This one with high ISO as models are walking back (out of the main lights).

Shoot stylized, dynamic photos particularly with the painted peoples.

Play around with casting profile shadows.

When the batteries in the on-camera Pocket Wizard are nearly dead you may see odd sync issues or misfires. Changing the batteries can make a world of difference.

I wish I thought to light the models completely with rim lighting. It might have been nearly impossible to kill the ambient light and still have enough power to get the desired rim light, but it would’ve been nice to try though…

I wish I experimented with slow shutter speeds on the runway, particularly telephoto profile walking shots.

For couples, have the dude put his arm around her back underneath her arm. It’s far more intimate than if he puts his hand on the outside of her arm. The former is how I might pose with my girlfriend, but the latter is how I pose with my sisters.

It’s amazing how much difference a simple camera angle can make. In the first image the bright background draws too much attention to the pedestrian. By shifting my angle slightly I am able to hide the white wall, show more of the glass background and less of the floor, and I didn’t cut off Ben’s knee this time. Also note that a person in the background doesn’t pull your attention as much if you can’t see their face.

Use telephoto compression (more about this in a later post) to exaggerate the size of something in the background. Note that Jenny and Ben did not move between shots –count the floor tiles if you don’t believe me. The only difference is that I backed up and zoomed in.

When using an external light source/flash around sunset, place the light 180 degrees from the sun so that your subject is sandwiched between the two. The external light will function more like a reflector rather than an obvious catchlight. This produces much more flattering results. Note the harsh shadows on their faces when I put the flash to the right of my camera.

“One-handed” half dip kiss is a really sexy pose. Her right hand around his neck, left hand hangs freely. I should use this pose more often.

Don’t always assume that f/2.8 is the best aperture. Sometimes it’s better to stop it down so you can get a little more depth; bring the background into focus a little more. This image was shot at f/2.8, but I have a feeling that I would like it better if I shot it at f/5.6.

Having the dude sit facing forward instead of sideways is a great solution to the cheesy, gay back-to-back pose.

When doing a lower body shot make sure they are holding hands. It creates a stronger connection between them.

I missed an opportunity for a cool shot here. Next time I’ll try a profile shot of him kissing her hand, but he should be kissing her left hand with the ring on it. Try a close-up one with his eyes closed, and maybe a medium shot with him looking at her while kissing her hand.

This tutorial uses the following tools and settings to make the adjustments seen above:

White Balance, Contrast, Blacks, Spot Removal, Adjustment Brush, and Sharpening.

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below. I realize there are some issues with the audio (compression “hiccups” and sync) but considering that this is my first video tutorial I’m gonna let it slide.