Day: February 5, 2012

Some things to look for in a photographers portfolio before you hire them

by Stanley LearyPhotography
Reading Time: 6 minutes

When hiring a photographer, I recommend looking for a few things in the work they show you. If you pay attention to these little things, your storytelling will improve.

Exposure

When you look from photo to photo, is there consistency in the exposure? Amateur photographers often have inconsistent exposure values.  

Skin Tones

When you look at the subject, does the skin tone look correct, and is the exposure correct? How often do you see photos shot under fluorescent lights with a green tint to the skin tone? If the main subject has good skin tone but the background is green, it might be because they used their on-camera flash.

Another color shift in skin tones is an orange cast when shooting under tungsten lights. If they used their on-camera flash, the skin tone might look OK, and the background would be orange.

If the photos are outside and the subjects are under trees, is the skin tone natural or green-cast? The leaves on the trees filter the light and give it a green tinge. 

Where does your eye go first?

When you look at the photo quickly, where do you look first? Is it the subject, or is there something distracting in the background, or off to the side? My photographers cannot understand how the photograph is about front-to-back, not just the subject. Good composition will have your eye go first to the subject, and, if they do a great job, it will then want to wander to the subtle complementary areas that give more context to the photograph.

Light value on faces

Can you easily see the people’s faces in the photos? It’s much easier to point a camera and shoot in existing light, so photographers even talk about how it makes things feel real. Great photographers can often shoot using only available light, but the light on the face must be right.

The style of helmet used here makes it much easier to see the Fencer’s face.
While seeing a fencer’s face is usually challenging, I made it stand out by lighting them specifically. 
Can you see how the face helps bring more life to the photo?

When selling, ensure your face is at its best and looks as natural as possible. Skilled photographers know how to light faces so they look natural, but most importantly, the person’s face is not in shadow and is easy to see.

Catchlights in the eyes

Often, the difference between a good and great portrait is just a catchlight. A torchlight is a photographic term used to describe light reflected in the subject’s eyes. The absence of a catchlight, even in an animal photo, can make the subject appear comatose.

Catchlight in action photos is just as appealing as in portraits.
Catchlight in action photos is just as appealing as in portraits.

Without a catch light, you can look a little more sinister.  

For the most part, a catchlight will add more life to a person than it would without one. Not having a catchlight can also help communicate. The point isn’t that they need to appear in every photo, but you should be aware that you may never see them in the photographer’s work. 

Series

When the photographer shows you a photo, do you see a series? For visual storytelling, you need overall, medium, and sometimes close-up shots. Your designers want to include background graphics or complementary graphics to complement the layout of the webpage, printed piece, or web-based multimedia package.  

Citadel Cadet prepares the Sparkling Cider for the seniors who are now getting their rings.
I chose to add a little variety shot here to show it waiting for the seniors.
The seniors run under the sword arch after getting their rings into the quad.
All the seniors grab a glass and toast to their success of making it this far at The Citadel.
After toasting, they all toss their glasses at their company’s letter. They are all in Bravo and smash the glasses on the B.
I like how I caught the glass just before it was smashed.
This doesn’t make sense without the other photos, but in the series, they help tell the story.

Variety

Do all the photos look like they were taken from the same perspective? It’s common for photographers to shoot at their standing height or at a similar distance from the subject. They may use their zoom lens to get closer, but they never get close to the subject.

Giving out door prizes at a college alumni event.
It’s the same alum event, but now the audience is listening to the development office discuss the institution’s future. The variety is not just in the close-up but also in the moment’s tone.

You should feel that your photographer offers visual surprises and delivers both safe and edge-of-your-seat compositions.

Focus and sharpness

I hate to mention this, but many photographers don’t have razor-sharp photos. This does not mean everything is in focus; rather, whatever is supposed to be in focus is extremely sharp. Many photographers experience camera shake, and their photos aren’t tack-sharp.

Moments

The family enjoys working out at the gym together.
This is where many elements come together to help create the moment, but you have to catch all the subjects in the “moment,” which is often their facial expression and their being in step together.

You will find many technically proficient photographers who meet most of what I have mentioned so far, yet, after looking at the photo, you are not moved emotionally. Great storytellers will have moments that bring joy to your heart or maybe even sadness.

It will be apparent that you felt something when viewing the photos.

The photo makes you ask questions.

If your photographer does a great job, you will want to know more about the photos. The photographer should wait for you to ask questions rather than jumping in to tell you everything. The photos should, for the most part, communicate.

I can see the cool angle and what they are doing, but I want to know why and for whom. The photo makes me want to read the caption, “By the way,” which states it is a middle school group helping widows with repairs to their homes during the summer.
I can see the cool angle and what they are doing, but I want to know why and for whom. The photo makes me want to read the caption, “By the way,” which says it is a middle school group helping widows with repairs on their houses during the summer.

Pass the Pen + Walk and Talk

by Stanley LearyFlash / Off Camera Flash
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Getting people to do something gives you better expressions. I have two techniques for keeping people engaged when I have to set up a situation and then help it become a real moment.

Pass the Pen

Many schools love to show the seminar setting for a class.  When you photograph in a room with everyone around the table, Murphy’s Law states the action will be when their back are to you if you are photographing.

I will have a few moments with everyone and explain my dilemma. If I shot this naturally, it would take ten times longer because I am on the wrong side of the table when someone starts to talk. By the time I shift, the conversation has shifted.

I ask everyone to listen with their eyes, not just their ears. This really speeds up the number of usable images.

Typical conference table for a seminar class.

I then ask to borrow a pen, give it to someone, and tell everyone this person will talk. I ask them to tell us what they did the other day or what they are planning to do that is exciting. No one can interrupt them; they need to continue talking until I say Pass the pen. 

Even if you do not see the pen, the person holds the group’s attention and lets me take photos of their various expressions. We all get some laughs and good stories in the process.
Even in small groups, I use the pen to help the subjects relax. 
This teacher used a similar technique for classroom discussions. He had a ball of tape that he would toss to a student who raised his hand to answer a question. He tossed it to the student, and when they were done, they tossed it back to him. He was quite impressive with his tosses and catches.
As this student tosses the ball back, you can see he is engaged in the class. 
 

Walk and Talk

When you get people walking and talking, they forget about you and engage quickly. If it is just two people, I have them walk close enough to feel each other bump occasionally. I’ve one person who talks, and the other listens. I stress the importance of looking at each other and not at the ground. It’s incredible that people in everyday conversations might look at the ground or off somewhere rather than at someone. However, for a photo to communicate their interest in each other, they must have eye contact.

Again, in the group situation, I designate who is talking and ask everyone to give them their full attention, not just their ears. To the left, my assistant is walking along with them out of camera range, pointing a flash at them. I really use the Nikon SB900 with the Radio Poppers PX system to be sure the signal from the Nikon SU800 triggers the flash consistently. The flash is zoomed out to about 28 settings to light the entire group.
Here, you can see the tour guide helping the students with the campus. For this photo, I am using a Pocket Wizard Plus II to trigger the Alien Bees B1600 being fired off to the right of the group. They are walking towards me as my VALS (Voice Activated Light Stand: AKA assistant) is carrying the light on a light stand and staying with the group out of the frame.
The couple is walking and talking to each other, a good 50 yards from me. I like using the zoom lens so that as they walk closer, I zoom out.  My ALS carries the Nikon SB900 with the Radio Poppers PX system triggered by the Nikon SU800 on the camera.  I’m shooting with the flash at standard setting and zoomed to 200.
The flash off camera really helps clean up the photo.  Of n, you will have a shadow on one or more of the people.  The other advantage of the flash is that it helps draw the audience’s attention to the subjects.
Helping keep the dark skin tones with detail is improved outside with the off-camera flash.  I need to power the flash up or down on the Nikon SU800.  So, I make it +1 or -1 compared to the camera’s exposure.  One takes a second to look at the histogram and the LCD and see what might need adjusting.  By shooting RAW, I still have lots of control in post processing, but being sure shadows have detail is essential when the dark areas can be the subject’s face in a photo like this one.
Take notice of the details in the white shirt and the dark skin of the subjects in the photo. This will work easily in a printed piece. Remember, I have one person talking and the others listening with their eyes.

TTL hot shoe Flash vs Manual Studio Strobe

As your VALS walks along with the Nikon SB900, varying their distance from the subject, the camera still compensates, making sure the power stays the same. Of course, the assistant has to remain pretty close with a hotshoe flash like the Nikon SB900 because it is not powerful enough to be much more than 10 to 15 feet away.

Now, when you VALS is carrying a studio flash, the exposure will change as they change the distance to the subject.  As they get closer, the flash will get brighter, and when they move away, it will get darker.  However, they can stay further away with a studio strobe, since the strobes are much more potent than a hot shoe flash.  I am shooting with my Alienbees B1600, which is much more than 1/4 power.  I   usually run at 1/8 power.  I   like to use a grid spot so I am not lighting up the ground leading up to the subjects.  I want to hit the faces and let it drop off a little.