christmas cards

It's always fun to go searching through your old images.  I was looking for an image to put on a Christmas card last night and I came across this one.  I took it 2 years ago on my way to work.  It was one of the colder December that vancouver has ad in a while and lost lagoon was frozen over.  A beautiful mist was rising from the ice that created this surreal affect.

Enjoy.

Canon XSi  10-22mm lens at 22mm,  f8 @ ISO 400

First Snow Fall

After completing a series of Corporate head shots, I left the building and was presented with this beautiful scene.  It was the first snowfall here in Vancouver and I could not resist taking this image.

Camera 7D, Lens 70 - 200mm F2.8 at 95mm  iso 800

where did the time go

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  After my last post I had to head out of town to photograph a wedding  I was gone for a week and when I got back the plane did not even get a chance to touch down before I was running around.  Being busy is great, unfortunately my blog suffered. 

Next week I start teaching my courses at Focal Point.  I will be doing one course on commercial portraiture and another on wedding photography.  There is a lot of prep involved but it's going to be a lot of fun.  Hope some of you can attend.

As for my series on composition.  Sorry for the delay on the next posting but it will be coming soon.

What about them Greeks

Last week we talked about the rule of thirds and how it can provide placement of the subject within the frame.  The Golden Rectangle is an even earlier compositional rule that came from the Ancient Greeks. It is  based on a geometrical progression called the Fibonacci series. 

The Fibonacci series starts with 0 and 1.  The series progresses by adding the last two numbers to create the next number.  By extrapolating out, series becomes 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, etc. What is interesting about the Fibonacci series is that if you take the ratio of any two sequential numbers in this series (ignoring the first ratio of 1/0 which can't exist), they will always approach 1.618. This ratio is called Phi - not to be confused by the better know Pi which is something else all together.  The Greeks used these ratios to build a rectangle the became know as the Golden rectangle.

To build a golden rectangle, you start with a square which is the first ratio in the Fibonacci series, 1/1.  Now put an identical square next to it and you have a 2/1 ratio (one side of the box is twice as long as the other). You now have a basic Golden rectangle.

To build the box bigger, add a third box along the long side.  This will give you a rectangle with a ratio of 2/3, which exactly follows the Fibonacci series. Continuing to add more boxes in the same fashion, you will build a bigger rectangle, but it will always have the same relationship to Phi, regardless of how big you make it.
.

The Greeks found references to this pattern in nature and so adopted it to their architecture.  Soon, artists recognized the beauty of this Golden Rectangle and began making works of art composed using this concept.  By making the frame of the art piece in a 1.618 ratio, artists could define focal points by placing the subject in one of the boxes within the frame. The most impact created in the smallest box - the least impact being in the largest box.  Many great works of art exhibit this theory in their compositional elements and I would recommend spending some time investigating. 

From the Golden Rectangle came the Golden Mean.  The Golden Mean is a way of finding the impact spot in a Phi based rectangle without having to draw out the boxes.  To determine the Golden Mean, and hence the highest impact point, draw a straight line from one corner to its opposite corner. The draw another line at right angles from the line you just drew up to an adjacent corner.  Where the two lines meet is the same place as the smallest box will be.  This is your Golden Mean.

Focal Point Courses

Hi folks

I'm pretty excited.  Looks like I will be teaching 2 courses at Focal Point this winter.  One course on Wednesday evenings called Commercial Portraiture and the other is a wedding photography course dealing more with the business end than the photography end.  Really looking forward to it.

See you on Sunday for my blog on technique.  I will be continuing the discussion on composition.

Divide by Three

It's Sunday morning which means it's time to talk a little more about composition.  Last Sunday we talked about making sure we filled the frame of our image with what we wanted to be in the picture. Now we need to look at where to place our point of interest within the frame.

Every image needs to have a point of interest -  a main focal point that is supported by the rest of the image.   For example, in a head and shoulders portrait, the main focal point will usually be the eyes.  In a full length portrait, the main focal point will usually be the face.  It is very common for a new photographer to want to place the main focal point right in the centre of the image.  In most cases, this will not be the most effective placement of the subject.

First seen in paintings around 1797, the rule of thirds has become the most common compositional rule for subject placement within a frame.  The rule of thirds divides the frame into 9 sections by drawing lines across the frame at one third intervals both horizontally and vertically. By placing the main focal point where two of the lines intersect will almost always create a more powerful composition than having the subject placed in the centre of the frame.  So, when you create a head and shoulders portrait, the eyes should land on one of the cross points.  When you have a larger subject, such as a full length portrait, the point of interest can be placed on one of the lines.  The key is to have your main point of interest on one of the thirds, and where the lines cross will be the highest impact points.

The intersections of the lines are called Nodal Points. When someone looks at an image, their eye flows from left to right, bottom to top to bottom, passing through the nodal points in the order that they are numbered in the diagram.  The eye will stop briefly at each nodal point but will be attracted to stay longer only if there is a reason to.  Placement of your subject on specific nodes can create some very interesting dynamics.

If your subject is placed on nodal point 1, the eye will be drawn to stop there.  However, your brain will want to continue its journey through the image.  This will cause tension and stress, translating into a sensation of tension and stress in your image.  Nodal point 4 will do the opposite.  Because the mind has finished its journey through the image, it is comfortable to rest here before exploring the image again or moving out of the frame.  Hence a sense of calm is given to the image.

Nodal point three will give a similar sense of calm but the subject will have more power, control, or importance in the image. Nodal point 2 will have a similar sense of tension as nodal point 1 but the subject will have a better sense of power, control, or importance in the image.

Here are some tips when using the rule of thirds for portrait photography.

• The eyes are the focal of a head and shoulders portrait.  Have them on the nodal point 2 or 3
• In a full length portrait, the head and eyes should be on the upper 3rd line
• In a 3/4 length portrait, the head is the point of interest and should be in the 2nd or 3rd nodal point
• Image flow of the main subject should have the viewers eyes moving back into the image

The rule of thirds is the most well known compositional rule.  Use it but keep in mind that it is not the only compositional element.  Come back next Sunday for more compositional ideas.

First Rule of Composition

Over that past few blogs, I have been looking at using light from a hand held strobe.  The applications are endless and definitely open creative options.  Good lighting is only part of the story.  Composition plays a major role in creating a good image and that is what the next few blogs are going to be about.

The most basic concept of good composition is fill the frame.  Make sure that your image uses the entire space within the frame. Avoid including anything that does not need to be in the image to tell the story.  For example, if you photograph is of a group of people, then fill the frame with that group. If it is of a group of people standing in front of a church, then fill the frame with that - if the parking lot filled with cars is not part of the image concept, then do not include it in the frame.

Because digital photography makes post production easier, there is a tendency for photographers to "shoot loose" with the intent of cropping later.  There are a number of reasons to avoid this.  The two biggest ones are

1. Cropping your image reduces the available resolution and can potentially reduce the quality of the image.
2. It takes time.  And wen you are talking about a great number of images like you would get from a portrait session or a wedding, you could save yourself hours by getting it right in the camera.

To fill the frame in camera, you need to consider what your final output size will be because this will be your outside frame.  I prefer to have my output be the same as dimensions as my camera's sensor so that the frame of my image is the same as the frame in my viewfinder.  However, there are many situations when the output is going to be a different proportion than the sensor.  You should spend some time learning where different proportion will show up in your viewfinder.  This will save you hours of time and many headaches.

So, the first key to better composition is to fill your frame with the image you want to take.

Sisters

A week ago I had the pleasure of putting on a flash workshop.  During the workshop we talked about, and practiced, many techniques.  During this session of two sisters, I was able to use many of the techniques we discussed so I thought I would post some of the images to show how effective these techniques can be.

This first image was taken about 2 hours before sunset.  The light was harsh so we went under a bridge and found some open shade.  The light was coming in fairly evenly on both sides sides so we placed a translucent scrim on camera right to reduce the intensity of light on the shadow side.  The light direction was still high so a hand held strobe was place in a 32" umbrella and brought in from camera left to give the final lighting.

This next image was taken in a very narrow alley.  The light was totally top down creating a very unflattering light.  By using a strobe, again in a 32" umbrella, on camera right, we were able to come up with this interesting shot.

By the time we did this final image, the sun had almost gone down but we still had that warm glow of the penumbra or twilight.  this light was augmented with a strobe to camera right to create this image.

Flash workshop - big success

Last Sunday's flash workshop was great.  We kept  the class size down so that everyone was able to get lots of hands on time to practice the new techniques.

The next workshop will be on creating table top product photography for small retailers and E-tailers.  If you want to make your product shots stand out, this workshop is not to be missed.

Workshop Update

Update to the on camera flash seminar.

The date has been moved to July 18 from 2pm to 6 pm.  It will be held at the Anne McDonald Studio at 333 Chesterfield St, North Vancouver, BC.  The class size will be limited to give participants a lot of hands on time to master the techniques.  Cost is $69 per person.

Hand Held Strobe Seminar

I will be holding a 4 hour seminar on making the most out of your hand held strobe.  Learn techniques that will maximize on camera strobes and how to use strobes off camera to create studio lighting effects.

The seminar will be held on June 27th, 2010.  Cost is $69.  The location is to be decided but will be in North Vancouver.

Class size will be limited so sign up soon.

Get permision

Living in a rain forest makes for some interesting challenges. Last Sunday I was scheduled to do an engagement session.  The weather forcast for that day was not promising so I had to come up with an alternate plan, just in case. Well, the rain held off all day Sunday but an hour before we were going to head out, the skies opened up and it poured.  Fortunately, I had taken the time to come up with a plan.

Indoor shots it had to be but studio shots were out of the question.  Fortunately, I have built up a good relationship with the Pan Pacific Hotel (http://www.panpacific.com/ ) so I gave them a call and got permision to use the hotel for my engagement session.

Many photographers assume that they can go into a venue such as a hotel or conference centre and shoot away.  This is just not so.  These places are private property and the main concern of the people who run them is the comfort and safety of their guests.  They have every right to ask you to leave.  Always get permision to use a venue.  Sometimes they will say no.  There may just be no room to have you there.  Other times they will say yes and give you access through security. Often times you will be directed to places that are just incredible, opening up the opportunity for incredible images. And remember, if you can, give something back - they are doing you a huge favour when they let you in.

Here are a couple of shots that we got while inside the hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel we found a maginicent reception area to use.  It was equiped with a fireplace, couches, super high ceilings, a grand piano, and amazing light supplied by huge windows.

The image on the left was taken with the available light only. A vignette was put on it in Lightroom and it was ready to go. The image on the right was taken with available light balanced with a Canon 580exII in a 32" umbrella off to camera left.  The rest of the images from this session were equally as amazing as these.

This couple was so impressed with the Pan Pacific Hotel that they are determined to use them for their wedding.  How did this happen? Because I asked.

Continuing education

What a month. With over 20 years in the photography business, I still find that there is so much to learn.  Especially now with digital innovations changing the industry on what sometimes feels like a daily basis.

This last month I took my annual trip to the WPPI conference in Las Vegas. Check out their site at  http://www.wppionline.com/ . A pretty intimate conference, just me and 14,000 of my closests friends.  When I first started attending these events, there were around 800 attendees.  It is great to see so many photographers from around the world that recognize the importance of continuing education to improve their photographic and business skills. The advantage to having so many attendees is that the organizers are able to support having many excellent instructors talking on a wide range of topics and a photographic specific trade show that is huge. I don't think there is any product in the market that is not represented at the trade show.

Since I've been back, I have taken much of what I learned at WPPI and added to my own course, Portraiture Framework. The course is an intermediate level program that is design to help students learn to create portraits of a consistent level and quality.  It then covers the development of a personal style based on techniques learned in the course.  The course is ten weeks longs and starts on April 13, 2010. It will be held at Focal Point in Vancouver. Log on to http://www.focalpoint.bc.ca/ to get more details and to register.  The course size is limited so don't wait too long.

Warm Winter

What an unsual winter we have had his year.  Last year this time we had tons of snow, this year, spring like temperatures in the middle of February.  Not great for the Olympics but I'm sure enjoying the sunshine.

Last week we made a trip to the cabin to enjoy some snow games and skating.  Guess what, no snow there either. But the lake was still frozen and we had sunshine most of the time. Not bad.  The ice on the lake was still 2 feet thick so walking on it was no problem. One night it rained and in the morning we woke up to some very interesting photographic opportunities. The rain left puddles of water on the lake creating a random patchwork of highly reflective areas surrounded by white.

The first image is my favourite. I wanted to create the effect that the cyclist looking like another puddle. To acheive the effect I backlite him against the sun to create a sillouette.

 The image is called Ice Cycle.

This next image is also  a favourite from the weekend.

Enjoy

Only show your best

Editing, probably one of the least loved aspects of photography. When the shoot is over and you have several hundred images to sift through, it can often feel like a chore just to get busy and get it done. Many photographers completely skip this step, showing off all the images they took.

Last week I did a session for my son. He has a profesional actor and he often models for me when I want to do some photographic experimenting. He has also worked with me on many assignments and knows how I work. He knows my rule that nobody sees their images until I have edited them.

There are many reasons for this rule.

1. I will take many exposures of the same images just to get the right expresion. I want to edit out the expresions that are not flattering to the subject.
2. I want to insure that all images with technical problems are removed of fixed.
3. The first impression and the last impression are what people will remeber about their session. Regardless of how much fun they had during the session, what they will mostly remember was if you were ready to go when they were, and how the images looked when they were presented. Therfore, only present the best from the session.
4. People tend to focus on the negative.
5. You are the profesional. Your client is counting on your opinion to help them select the best images. Showing them the "bad" images will undermine their confidence in you.

When it comes to personal images, the same thing holds true.  Make sure to edit them dwn right away.  You will be more likely to make prints from them and they will be ready to show when you want to show them.

My clients are usuall very excited after a session and are anxious to see their images. My son is no exeption. I ad to fight him off while I edited the picture, I decided to run an experiment.  I left a few of the images in that I would have otherwise deleted. True to form, he focused on the bad ones. He agreed that there were several very good images in the bunch but what about those ones. So once again, lesson learned!

Edit Your Images!

Carson Graham Cats

Some Production images of Cats put on by Carson Graham High School.  I had the pleasure of photographing the production last week during the final rehersal. The excitement level was high and they produced an amazing show.  My congratulations to their instructor Ms. Clark and their Musical director Mr. Ennis.

Congratulations to everyone involved and I look foward to next years show.

Happy New Year

Here we are at Janary 2nd, 2010.  I hope Santa was good to everyone and brought you all kinds of happiness over the Christmas break.  This new year is promising to b a busy one with lots of growth.  I will be continuing to make posts to this blog to help eveyone become better photographers. I have also started a weekly photo tip that is emailed out.  If you are interested in getting it, just send me an email at lengrinke@photolen.ca and I will add you to the list. Be sure to indicate that you want me to do this in the body of your email.

I wish everybody the very best in the new year and happy shooting.