Month: May 2014

Photographing Concerts I Prefer the Balcony

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/3.6, 1/45

From a higher perspective, I can see everyone that is performing. While I am back much further, the angle to see everyone is much better than when on the floor.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/3.6, 1/50

As you can see from the second photo, I miss seeing everyone.

From up high, I chose some overall shots with my Fujinon 18-55mm, but I also spent a lot more time using the Fujinon 55-200mm lens and picking outperformers.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.4, 1/25
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.5, 1/45
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/3.7, 1/40
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.6, 1/45

As you can see, you can see people’s faces from shooting slightly above them. Now, if the performers were on risers, you may get away from shooting on the main level with them.

While I prefer the upper shots, they are not the only ones I take. So you see, I like to move around and shoot some variety.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/30
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/40

In the lower view, you pick up the heads of the audience, which lets you know there is an audience. The leaders also give a layering effect, so you create more depth in the photograph.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/45

I had to move from the floor to find a shot between the audience’s heads. Go to the balcony if you like to pick a seat and shoot from there. You will be more pleased without moving as much as I had to do to get the variety you see here.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.5, 1/45

Lisbon, Portugal Scene Setters

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / photojournalism / storyline / storytelling
 
Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 800, ƒ/9, 1.3 sec

Who, What, WHERE, Why, When & How

We teach in Journalism 101 the five Ws and H as the questions whose answers are considered essential in information-gathering. Importantly, none of these questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”

Last week while teaching Multi-Media Storytelling Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, we covered getting images that help give context to their stories.

You can visually capture the Five Ws and Hs. Conveying a complex idea by a photojournalist with just a single still image is what the adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is all about. It also aptly characterizes one of the visualization’s main goals, allowing it to absorb large amounts of data quickly.

The power of a single image is why visual storytelling can be compelling. You can convey a lot of information to the audience in a short time.

While one image can capture “Where,” a series of photos in multimedia can do even more; depending on the sequence, some music and the human voice can pull you deeper into the story’s context.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/13, 1/180

Here is a photo of Nazaré, Portugal, where I am at Sítio (an old village on top of a cliff) overlooking Praia (along the beach). This photo is an example of how you, as a tourist, give context. Shoot too tight, and you could be anywhere in the world. But don’t make that mistake; you could have stayed home and taken photos in your backyard.

Depth-of-Field

Context photos are difficult when you use a shallow depth-of-field. Compare these two photos by changing the aperture to give a greater depth of field.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 200, ƒ/3.7, 1/1000
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 640, ƒ/10, 1/500

Wide Angle Lens

I prefer to get close with a wide angle versus using a longer telephoto lens, but here in these photos, it does work.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/500

Remember when you travel, and you want to take establishing shots that capture where you were, not just photos you could have taken anywhere.

Still image is still king in social networking

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Hotel Avenida Palace, downtown Lisbon, Portugal [Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/90]

I am returning after a week-long Visual Storytelling Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal. While doing the workshop, I started watching how the students were already engaging their audience, and then it hit me—The Still Image is King in Social Networking.

 

You can see how Esther Havens successfully shares a photo and gets more than 86 “LIKES” on Facebook. Note one thing different than most people who share photos—CAPTION!

A short caption with a strong image engages enough people to click on “LIKE,” This doesn’t include all the people who saw the picture and may enjoy it even more, but just don’t click “LIKE.”

 

My friend John Spink, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution photographer, shares a personal photo and adds a small caption. Look at the number of LIKES—73 total.

Again the key to pushing those likes up is a robust photo and good caption that entertains those that follow him.

Another friend Chuck Burton, Associated Press Photographer, shares a photo of his dad. Again please notice the image is interesting, and the caption adds more information making the picture more impact. 68—LIKES.

After talking to the students about how they already have an audience, but just to post strong images with a short caption that tells a small story Amanda Ross, one of the students, started doing this and experienced for the first time her posts taking off with “LIKES.”

 

This screenshot is that post that she shared. WOW, 8,2—LIKES.

Social Networking Tip

People enjoy Social Networking because they enjoy the small snippets to catch up and keep connected. The key to being what Seth Godin calls a sneezer is entertaining. It would help if you kept it brief in the social networking circle. If you want to post longer posts, then you need a blog.

If you want to understand the idea of a sneezer, read Seth Godin’s book Unleashing the Ideavirus.

To show how to make your idea infectious, Seth, in his book, examines what makes a powerful ‘sneezer,’ how ‘hives’ work, and applies the concepts of critical velocity, vector, medium, smoothness, persistence, and amplifiers. As Godin shows, the now-familiar idea of viral marketing is one particular form of Ideavirus marketing. Most businesses will not be able to engage in proper viral marketing, but all can use the Ideavirus approach.

I recommend diving into understanding how social networking operates for successful people. For example, we are no longer living in a world where a marketer can effectively just push their agenda. Instead, it would help if you were interested in creating a following.

Read The Power of Pull, which explains how you must create something of interest for people to pay attention to. Just telling people, they need this is not as effective as creating content that draws them to you.

There is another book I would recommend to those trying to get their work viewed and make them relevant for clients to hire regularly.

Seth Godin wrote another top-seller Tribes:We Need You To Lead Us. 

“Real leaders don’t care [about receiving credit]. If it’s about your mission, about spreading the faith, about seeing something happen, not only do you not care about credit, you actually want other people to take credit. There’s no record of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gandhi whining about credit. Credit isn’t the point. Change is.”
― Seth Godin, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Most of the photographers I am meeting are wanting to change the world through their photographs. Many of them call their work humanitarian photography.

If you are wanting your images to change the world let the work speak for itself. Share those images and give people something they can digest in a quick glance on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or whatever social network you choose. The key is the photo, if strong, will stop them and then read your caption.

When people move from “LIKE” to “SHARE” you are now creating change.

What follows after you do this for a while? People will follow you on Twitter and request to friend you on Facebook. If you goal is to get people to follow you then this is where creating a separate page just for your photography can be a good thing. This way you are able to post those images with captions and create a following separate from your close friends.

You can also just share with your friends or the world. Just choose when you post if you want the Public, everyone, or just your friends to see the post.

Why the Still Image is King?

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read short 140-character text messages, called “tweets”. The reason for the success of Twitter is the short message. Instagram even in the name communicates that keeping it quick and short will be more successful than a larger post.

Instant Messaging also is successful due to the brevity of the message.

YouTube has grown as well as it’s own social networking platform. My recommendation is to build a following on a project with still images and captions over a period of time that builds up to the release of the video.

Your audience will be more interested in taking the TIME to watch your video if they have an idea about what it is about. Keeping your teaser short is why trailers for movies exist. Think of the still image as quick trailers that will create the audience for the release of your video.

Your audience will more likely stay tuned into the video if they are willing to commit to the time to watch it. If you are successful as a person worth following they will commit to watching it.

Photography tips from our workshop in Lisbon, Portugal

by Stanley LearyWorkflow
 
James Dockery, coordinating editor for ESPN, talks with David White and Amanda Ross about improving their photos and showing them some settings that made a difference on the camera. [Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/6.4, 1/90] 

We addressed some digital workflow issues this week with a few students. After going through this, I thought you, as a blog reader, might enjoy hearing the problems many were having and how to avoid them.

Free Space

The number one issue we had with many students was the amount of free space they had on their laptops. Due to being so full, they had no room to add software, photos, and video.

A good rule of thumb is to have about 20% of free space on your hard drive.

Filling your hard drive until it’s almost complete is a recipe for disaster. First, your computer needs some free space for creating swap space to manage memory use. Even with adequate RAM, the operating system will reserve some space at startup for memory swap space. In addition, individual applications usually use some disk space for temporary storage.

On a Macbook Pro, go to the hard drive. Highlight it and then hit ⌘-I, which will show you the free space on your computer.

 

More free space is excellent but tries to have a minimum of 20% free. Now is a good place to read about my workflow for photos if you want to know what to do.

 

James Dockery, Amanda Ross, and Jeff Raymond are in downtown Lisbon waiting to eat at Restaurante Cabacas. [Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/9, 1/2.5, flash is bounced across the alley into the wall to help fill in on their faces] 

Shoot, Edit, Review & Shoot Again

The ideal way to do a story is to shoot it and review your work. Then, after editing all the work, see what is missing and schedule more time to go back and shoot some more.

All our students have spent time with their subjects, and everyone has gone back to shoot more photos and videos to improve their stories.

Amanda Ross is shooting and reviewing what she is doing as she goes. [Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 25600,  ƒ/3.7,  1/60]

Crank the ISO up

When you shoot a street scene at night, crank your ISO up so you capture the moment. For example, if you have a Fuji X-E2, you can shoot at ISO 25600 and still get OK quality photos. Yes, there is a little noise, but you will be surprised at what you can get at high ISO on some of the newer cameras.

I used an ISO 25600 of the lady with the camera above. Then the photo below is shot at ISO 400 in the middle of the day. Yes, the noise is non-existent at ISO 400, but I can live with the quality of the 25600, especially when the choice is no photo at all in this low of light.

[Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 400, ƒ/7.1, 1/800] 

Shoot Textures

When you travel, just shoot the textures you find. You can use these later for title slides or backgrounds for lower third title slides.

[Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 800, ƒ/4, 1/500] 

Photos from Sintra, Portugal and Moorish Castle

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 250, ƒ/13, 1/125

We are having a lot of fun here in Lisbon, Portugal, working on our Storytelling this week. We have taken some breaks like here, where we went out to grab some snacks and, on the way back, stopped and got some photos of the landscape.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 800, ƒ/13, 1/500

Here two of the students climbed on top of a van to shoot over the chainlink fence.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5.6, 1/280

Here is one of the pastries we enjoyed while taking a break and learning more about the culture of Lisbon.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 1250, ƒ/16, 1/500
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/3.7, 1/1000

Later today, we went over to Sintra, Portugal, where we went to the Moorish Castle. Here are some photos that I took while climbing around the castle.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 400, ƒ/3.9, 1/850

Some tips I can tell you from our outing are to be sure you have your camera with you all the time and to be ready for those special moments. I took with me on the excursion today the Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, and the 55-200mm. I also had two extra batteries, and I did need one of them.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 400, ƒ/3.6, 1/800

Most of the time, I had the 18-55mm camera, which let me shoot semi-wide-angle shots and then some portraits of this lady in front of one of the shops.

Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/4.4, 1/500

I love using the 55-200mm to pick out some close-up shots of elements around the streets of Sintra, Portugal. You can isolate things from all the clutter of the streets.

I hope you enjoy some of the places we have been with our class on Storytelling this week. Later I hope to share some of the stories the student have put together this week. They are still interviewing people and editing their projects. Stay tuned.

Workshops help calibrate you

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/240

When you participate in a photography workshop, as I am doing this week in Portugal, you can see where you are about others. In addition, workshops help you know if you have mastered a skill and subject.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/110

I am on the subway in Lisbon with one of the other instructors James Dockery. We were taking the class to a location to have some time shooting at night on the street.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/240

Here Jeff Raymond, the leader of the workshop, talks to the students about some of the technical settings on cameras.

A suitable workshop will give you some instruction time on new concepts and then some time to execute them and practice using them.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4, 1/300

James Dockery talks to the students about his experience as an ESPN editor. Your instructors need to be people at the top of their field who can teach you something you don’t know and leaders in the industry.

Find a challenging workshop that will stretch you.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/30

Find a workshop to give you access to something you want to photograph. Access to a subject you are interested in will help you get excited and stay engaged.

You are also more likely to take photos that you want to share with your friends. In addition, you will be excited to show people what you learned to do.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/40

You should have fun seeing your instructors show you how to make the most of a situation, as James Dockery did with a lady at the train station in Lisbon. How do you talk to people and engage with them to get a good photograph?

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/9, 1/30

What I like the most about this mission’s storytelling workshop is the support we get from one another. Some workshops can belittle you, so pick one where the instructors and others in the class will be encouragers.

We are working on workshops for the rest of the year to give you an opportunity like the one here in Lisbon. So stay tuned as I show you options to sign up to learn and grow this next year.

Remain Calm and Steady for great Travel Photos

by Stanley LearyTripod
 
 
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/22, 1.1 sec

One of the things many people decide to leave at home when traveling is their tripod. However, this is one of the most valuable tools for traveling for this photo. I could stop down the lens to an aperture of ƒ/22 to create a star effect from the lights.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/35

The lower photograph doesn’t have the star effect due to the shallow DOF [Depth-of-field].

One of my favorite things in new locations is to shoot sunrises and sunsets. Just as fun is those photos just after the sunsets like the ones here where you can still see some blue sky.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/2.8, 1/30

You can see some in our group using the tripod to get their shot. I recommend carrying a cable release or using about a second delay timer to trip the shutter, so you do not introduce any camera movement when firing the camera.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/3.2, 1/5

Here the shutter speed is 1/5 of a second, making the people in the train station in Lisbon, Portugal blur. In this situation, I put the camera on a column to keep the camera perfectly still.

I recommend finding a tripod that folds up very small yet will go up pretty high to around eye level when standing. They make light carbon fiber tripods that are light and just as good but not entirely light as some aluminum-made tripods.

When you travel, give yourself a little time to acclimate

by Stanley LearyNikon D4
 
Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/500

I am teaching a class with two of my friends Jeff Raymond, from ABWE, and James Dockery, ESPN, this week in Lisbon, Portugal. Our first day of class is Monday, which is today.

Yesterday we let the students shoot around the area just to get acclimated to the time zone change. These photos are while we were going around Lisbon and nearby to see some sights.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/500

I shot this one of the palaces while we drove by it. Keeping my shutter speed pretty high helped me not worry about the camera movement due to the van we were in at the time.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 100, ƒ/4.5, 1/800

I suggest a little time to acclimate to the location before diving into the story. One of the reasons is if you have never been to that part of the world, you are getting to feel the location and not just react immediately to the subject without context as you would be doing while telling the story.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 7200, ƒ/8, 1/100

Here is James Dockey, an ESPN TV editor, enjoying conversing with the lady at the coffee shop and some of the students in the class we are teaching. But, of course, one of the best ways to acclimate is to eat the food and enjoy their coffee.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 4500, ƒ/8, 1/100

James is with the ladies who served us the espresso and some pastries. While this was James’ food, I got the same. WOW, that was delicious.

We are now all rested, adjusted to the time zone, and ready to dive into our storytelling on Lisbon for the rest of the week. So stay tuned for some more from Lisbon.

Time of day can have a significant impact on your photo.

by Stanley LearyPhotography
 
Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 800, ƒ/22, 20sec [10:08 pm]

Plan your travel as best you can to make the most of a given location, especially if you want a great photograph that WOWs.

The first photo here is from dusk. Again, the city’s lights are on, giving the image a lot more pop than this photo taken late in the day.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 500, ƒ/13, 1/500 [7:51 pm]

This morning I woke up and took the exact location early.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/18, 1/500 [8:49 am]

As you can see, the exact location looks quite different at different times of the day.

As a storyteller, which photo best helps you tell the story when you first think of Lisbon, Portugal? By the end of this week of teaching storytelling in Lisbon, Portugal, I might pick a different photo than when I started, but now I have options.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 800, ƒ/20, 5sec [10:11 pm]

Here is another perspective from where I was shooting the other photos. Here it is at dusk, and here it is just an hour earlier.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/13, 1/500 [8:59 pm]

I liked the location so much that I made a panoramic of the spot. Click on it to see it larger.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 800, ƒ/22, 1.6sec [10:07 pm]

Sigma 70-200mm ƒ/2.8 great lens for party pics

by Stanley LearyDepth-of-Field / Nikon D4
 
Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/3.2, 1/80 optical stabilization on

I love to watch people and especially across the room. The lens that captures these moments the best for me is the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM for Nikon. Up to 4 Stops of Optical Stabilization makes hand-holding the lens possible in low light, which I was shooting in tonight.

Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.4 , ISO 450, ƒ/1.4, 1/100

I tried to work the room with the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.4, but I felt like the lens was too loose most of the time, and since I was further away, the depth-of-field was as silky smooth to me as with the Sigma 20-200mm because I was able to shoot at 200mm and therefore compressed the background.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/3.2, 1/50 optical stabilization on

The cool thing is shooting at 200mm, and a wide aperture gives the shallow depth of field, making the subject pop out from the room.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/2.8, 1/60 optical stabilization on

While technically, there is a separation of the subject from their environment, you now must wait for a moment where you capture the person’s personality. A technically great photo isn’t what makes the photo, but it just merely helps. It still comes down to capturing the moment.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 10000, ƒ/2.8, 1/100 optical stabilization on

While shooting all these photos, the people know me, but I have been working in the room for a while. I started with 14-24mm and introduced myself to people getting them to know I was here and taking photos.

Nikon D4, Nikkor 14-24mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/3.2, 1/100

I am shooting a full-framed image like the one above, with the 14-24mm putting me less than a foot away from the subjects. After shooting these, I start shooting the tighter shots with the longer lens. So I am now further away and picking moments.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 9000, ƒ/3.2, 1/100 optical stabilization on

Now people are more relaxed at the party. They are now into conversations and enjoying one another. When people are conversing is when I get excellent expressions.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/2.8, 1/100 optical stabilization on

I also love creating a layering effect by having something in the foreground and background. I think this helps give more depth to the photo, even with the foreground and background out of focus.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 11400, ƒ/3.2, 1/100 optical stabilization on

I love these expressions. They make you want to know what they are talking about.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/3.2, 1/100 optical stabilization on

I love shooting tight and isolating subjects but remember, when I write a blog like this, I teach something. The 70-200mm photos are just part of the coverage; I have plenty of wide-angle lens shots to help capture the context.

I think every photographer would benefit from a 70-200mm ƒ/2.8 lens in their bag. I love my Sigma 70-200mm.

What is TTL Flash, and do I need it?

by Stanley Learystudio strobes
 

In my last blog post, I explained three things that affect exposure when using flash.

  • Flash Power—The bright flash will influence if the picture is over, under, or properly exposed. You can control the Neewer flash from 1/128 to full power in 1/3 stop increments.
  • ƒ-stop/Aperture—You control how much of the light is coming into your camera by the camera iris called the aperture. These are fractions—the focal length of the lens over how wide the opening of the lens is.
  • Flash Distance to Subject—The closer you put the flash to the subject, the brighter the subject, and the further away you set it, the darker it gets. Of course, this assumes your Flash Power and ƒ-stop is constant.
TTL—Through The Lens
 
TTL metering has been around for a while with cameras. Your camera helps make the proper exposure settings based on what light hits the camera’s sensor. The TTL flash is a very sophisticated flash system that sends out a flash that tells the camera what to set the camera, and then the flash fires again, taking the photo at those settings. The first flash happens so fast that it looks like one flash went off to the human eye.
 
 
An incident meter is the most accurate way to take a reading for any photo. An incident reading is where you put the meter where the subject is located and take a reading of the light falling onto the subject. The white dome needs to be where the subject is to get an accurate reading.
 
Most incident meters have an available light setting and flash setting where you can measure the light.
 
TTL metering is a reflective reading. You are reading the light that bounces off the subject. If you take a reflective reading of a White Wall, an 18% Gray Wall and a Black Wall, all three photos will look like an 18% Gray Wall.
 
Using the settings, you get from the incident reading meter for all three walls will look like they should.
 
TTL Metering has a variable
 
As you can see, the TTL metering system has one major disadvantage of using a reflective reading to set the aperture, shutter, and ISO on your camera—the color and tone of the subject will influence the exposure and white balance, whereas the incident reading is consistent.
 
Incident vs. Reflective
 

If the situation allows you to use incident metering, you will get the most consistent results. However, there are situations where this is impractical.

At parties where you are moving around the room, getting an incident reading and then taking a photo may be impractical to get the “moment.” Roaming photos is where a flash with TTL can get you close on exposure and white balance. You may have to check the LCD for a histogram and adjust the EV of the camera and the flash. A histogram often is much more practical than incident reading.
 
The TTL will adjust pretty quickly when the subject moves toward you, like a person on a red carpet walking toward you. If you are shooting RAW, you most likely be close enough to fix it in post if necessary.
 
Most seasoned pros have TTL flashes, hot shoe flashes, and some studio strobes that are not TTL. In addition, most pros will have an incident flash meter to adjust the lights and camera.
 
If you do portraits in a studio setting, TTL flash isn’t necessary, but if you shoot pretty fluid situations, then the TTL system can help you get photos that may be impossible without them.
 

How to create photos that are spectacular!!

by Stanley LearyOff Camera Flash

[Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.7, 1/75 [Neewer TT850 on light stand bouncing. The Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger to fire the off-camera flash and control the power from the camera.]
 
“Those are spectacular!!! Much nicer to have the lighting off the camera’s direct line of sight.”
~ email from a parent
 
I photographed my daughter’s orchestra awards banquet, and while there, a guy came up and started talking to me and asking questions. I could tell from all his camera gear that he was either a pro or just a hobbyist. He wanted to know where my photos would be accessible. He had been taking pictures for a few years since his child was a senior in the orchestra. My daughter is just a freshman.
 
I gave him my business card, and he wrote, sending me a link to his photos. Then, since I knew he wanted to share, I sent him the link I had also given to the orchestra teacher to use for the newsletters and other things to help the program.
 
That is when I got the email with the quote above “Those are spectacular!!! Much nicer to have the lighting off the camera’s direct line of sight.”
 
Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ6.4, 1/30 [Neewer TT850 on a light stand in the back of the room pointed straight toward the front of the room. The Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger to fire the off-camera flash and control the power from the camera.]
I think the father noticed my flash on a light stand because my Fuji X-E2 didn’t look pro compared to his large DSLR and 70-200mm ƒ/2.8.
 
His wife later in the evening said, since you do this professionally, you can answer a question. She then pulled up a photo where you could see her reflection on-camera flash in the people’s glasses. She wanted to know how to get rid of the reflection.
 
Fuji X-E2, 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/6.4, 1/40 [Neewer TT850 on a light stand in the back of the room pointed straight toward the front of the room. The Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger to fire the off-camera flash and control the power from the camera.]
I talked to her about how your flash works, like you playing billiards/pool. By getting the flash further from the lens, you avoid the problem of reflections in the glasses.
 
Here is the Neewer TT850 on a light stand and the Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger on the Fuji X-E2]
This flash system isn’t TTL; therefore, controlling the exposure is done in a few ways.
 
  • Flash Power—The bright flash will influence if the picture is over, under, or properly exposed. You can control the Neewer flash from 1/128 to full power in 1/3 stop increments.
  • ƒ-stop/Aperture—You control how much of the light is coming into your camera by the camera iris called the aperture. These are fractions—the focal length of the lens over how wide the opening of the lens is. 
  • Flash Distance to Subject—The closer you put the flash to the subject, the brighter the subject, and the further away you put it, the darker it gets. Of course, this assumes your Flash Power and ƒ-stop is constant.
When the radio is on the same channel as the flash, you can send the signal to change the flash’s power settings. 
I put the flash off to the side of the room or at the back of the room. How do I determine where to put the flash concerning the camera? I want the FLASH—CAMERA—SUBJECT to form a triangle. Usually, the flash is between 45º to 90º most of the time.
 
What impressed the parent wasn’t my camera or my flash—he had as good of gear, if not better than what I had, but his flash was on his camera, which made my pictures spectacular. How do I know this—he said so.