Nikon D4 Archives - Page 11 of 16

How good are you? Ask those you impact.

by Stanley LearyOctober 28, 2014September 18, 2022multimedia / Nikon D4 / storytelling

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 1600, ƒ/9, 1/100

While in Honduras, we interviewed some of the dignitaries to put later into a larger video package.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 400, ƒ/6.3, 1/25—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and triggered by the Mini TT1 on the camera with the AC3 to control the flash’s output.

Suppose HOI, the organization I was working with, went on camera and said that the community loves its work. In that case, it doesn’t have the exact authenticity that interviewing the local mayor would add to the package.

So, I interviewed the mayor at the grand opening of the new school that HOI helped to build. Listen to his interview here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fohG5M-xxlk]
The key to documentary work is letting each person speak for themselves as much as possible.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/160

Storytelling best in the voice of the subject

by Stanley LearyOctober 24, 2014September 18, 2022multimedia / Nikon D4

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/125

After arriving in the Agalta Valley in Honduras, my first location was at this community chicken coop.

The community, with some guidance, formed its community development committee. They assessed all their resources and the needs of the community. They came up with the idea of a chicken coop.

I interviewed the president of community development. He is also one of the four families running the chicken coop.

Please pardon the voice-over by me.

I believe that the subject’s voice is one of the most powerful tools available to the storyteller. Are you letting your subject speak for themselves? Do you think the audio captures more of the story than the text?

easyCover–The Otterbox for your camera

by Stanley LearyOctober 23, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4

When I bought my Nikon D4 cameras, I was looking for a silicon cover like the Otterbox many people use on their Smart Phones.

I couldn’t find them anywhere. Just before I took off for my trip to Honduras, I searched the web again and found the easyCover [http://www.easycover.eu/].

I had invested $12,000 in two Nikon D4 cameras and wanted them to last. So taking care of them was very important.

For only $39.95, the easyCover is slim and smooth and protects your camera from bumps, scratches, sand, and dust. The custom-fit silicone provides a secure grip, and there are two included screen protectors, one hard and one soft, to shield the LCD.

The only downside is while you can still use all your buttons, it doesn’t label them. So if your camera is new to you, this could take a little getting used to. However, I can pretty much work my Nikon D4 in the dark.

Here is my review that I posted at B&H:

Saves Cameras in Fall
I recently was covering a parade in Charleston SC and was on a park bench. As I stepped down I caught my foot and broke it. Fell on my back and shattered my 28-300mm. But both cameras had no scratches. I am sure that without the easyCover on the Nikon D4 cameras there would have been scratches and more damage.
So thrilled with the covers. Wish I had them available when I first bought the cameras.
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

Nikon & Canon

They make this only for the Nikon and Canon cameras. To see if your model is available, go here to their list of cameras [http://www.easycover.eu/camera-cases]

While the easyCover doesn’t come with a warranty for your camera, I can tell you from my personal experience that for those who have been putting tape all over their cameras to protect them that I believe this is superior to that because the silicone gives you a little bump protection and video only really helps with scratches.

Pays for itself

When you sell your camera, the condition of the camera makes a massive difference in the price you get for the camera.

The price difference that B&H gives between Like New $3120 and Signs of use, but clean $2,995 is $125. The resell value alone will make this investment into easyCover pay for itself.

The Human Voice: Storytelling

by Stanley LearyOctober 22, 2014September 18, 2022multimedia / Nikon D4

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 100, ƒ/6.3, 1/320

Here is a photo of Jose Mondragon, Director, Rancho el Paraiso in Honduras, talking with Laurie Willing, the Executive Director of HOI in Tucker, GA.

No matter how well I capture their conversation, the most potent part of the storytelling is the human voice.

Listen to Jose in this package talk about the work of HOI in the Agalta Valley in Honduras.

If you want to learn more about HOI, go to their website [http://hoi.org/] and see how you can get involved.

When to use flash and not to use flash

by Stanley LearyOctober 19, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 160, ƒ/5, 1/250–off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger

Available Light

I love to use available light–that is, any light that is available to use. Ubaldo demonstrates how to rope a calf. Ubaldo teaches this during the family missions team trip each year to the kids.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 250, ƒ/5.3, 1/250

When I first started shooting, I noticed very quickly that Ubaldo’s skin was just dark enough that with the light calf, he was getting lost in the photos. Also, as you can see in this photo, I didn’t use the flash. So, as a result, your eye goes to the background more than Ubaldo and the calf, which was where I wanted you to focus.

Compare that to the first photo and this photo.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 200, ƒ/5, 1/250–off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger

I always prefer not to use a flash if the light works for me. However, if I can improve the photo and draw you using flash, I will use it.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 450, ƒ/14, 1/250–off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger

When photographing Francisca Padilla, the gardener, I wanted to show that she was in the Agalta Valley. I wanted you to see the mountains. Well, the problem was where she needed to stand. She was backlit. So I am using the off-camera flash. My assistant holds it about 45º to my left and the subject’s right. This way, I could underexpose the scene, which helped the mountains pop slightly.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 4500, ƒ/6.3, 1/250

For the teacher’s photo, I chose not to use a flash. Instead, there was a large window on my left, a smaller strip of windows on my right, and overhead lights.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 9000, ƒ/6.3, 1/250

The photo of the girl at her desk is from the same classroom as the teacher above. I liked the light as it was and didn’t add the flash.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 400, ƒ/4.5, 1/100—Off-camera fill-flash using the Nikon SB-900 & SB800. The flash is on the Pocketwizard TT5 and triggered by the Mini TT1 on the Camera with the AC3 to control the flash’s output.

When I was photographing this scene without flash, the outside was overpowering the people, making them heavily backlit. So I added the flashes to help light the room up and balance it to the outside light. But, again, I wanted the audience to see the school’s location.

When do you use the flash?

You must know what you are trying to capture in each situation and why? Will the flash help you tell the story?

If you are looking for a simple formula or always use the flash kind of an answer, you will not hear that from me.

Mastering photography isn’t just learning exposure, lighting, and composition. Mastering photography is mastering the craft so you can control it to help the camera capture your vision.

Fuji X-E2, 18-55mm, ISO 500, ƒ/8, 1/500

My parting Shot–Moonrise over Rancho el Paraíso located in the Agalta Valley of Honduras.

Meet Honduran Chicken Coop Entrepreneur Claudio Cesar Aguirre

by Stanley LearyOctober 15, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4 / storytelling

Nikon F4, 14-24mm, ISO 160, ƒ/8, 1/100

I met Claudio Cesar Aguirre, an entrepreneur in Honduras. He was one of a few families that came together. They started a chicken coop with a small grant from some organizations, government agriculture department training, and a few other entities.

What is the big deal with a chicken coop? Didn’t everyone have chickens? Before they started their business, there were no other chicken coops in the area. A family had enough chickens to get eggs, but most families did not have enough chickens to count on eggs.

The chicken coop is actually about solving a problem of more than just having some eggs around. It is a nutrition issue. Most kids going to school in the area would go off without protein and just some tortilla, beans, and rice at the most.

Just imagine your household; you buy the eggs at the grocery store and have them in the refrigerator. But, then, imagine being so far away from grocery stores that there were no eggs to buy.

Here you see Claudio’s wife, Blanca Aparicio, gathering the eggs from the chicken coop. They live in the small community of Santa Anna, Olancho, Honduras.

Claudio is part of a community development committee, and they brainstormed many ideas considering the resources they had in their community and what they didn’t have for starting businesses.

With enough eggs every day from the chickens, the development committee is now thinking of a new startup business that the community could use. They now believe a bakery would be great.

It only takes a pebble dropped into the water to affect the entire pond. The ripples seem to sustain themselves for a while from that first drop.

Dr. German Jimenez works for Honduras Outreach and says that prevention, like good nutrition, is making a huge difference. Celebrating 25 years in Honduras, the President is honored next month for their service. The President believes that HOI embodies his purpose of a “Better Tomorrow.”

Broken foot, broken lens, and no place to stay helped remind me of community

by Stanley LearyOctober 14, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4

I sent this out as my e-newsletter, but I thought I would also post it here.

Nothing throws a monkey wrench into your plans than an accident like mine of breaking my foot yesterday in Charleston.

This trip was supposed to be an excellent weekend for our family in Charleston, SC.

This June, Dorie, my wife, started a one-year Clinical Pastoral Education working as a Chaplain at the VA Hospital in Atlanta, GA.

She missed out on going to the beach with my parents, sisters, and their families this past summer. The trip was to be a fun weekend. I was supposed to be at The Citadel football game photographing her firing the cannon during the game. Instead, my daughter Chelle will be there in my place.

Besides breaking my foot, the story gets worse. While in the ER, we got a message from Hotwire that our hotel was overbooked. No Hotels were available within the Charleston 25-mile radius. So Hotwire couldn’t find another hotel room.

We had to call AAA, and they found one last room. So now we have been on the phone with Hotwire trying to get them to cover the cost difference. We also bought insurance.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

When I fell, I not only broke my foot and had bruises in a few other spots; I fell on my Nikon D4 and 28-300mm lens. I broke the lens hood and the filter on the lens. However, the camera appears to be just fine. I have a protective cover on the camera.

I think the lens is not smooth as it was while working—so off to the repair shop.

We did not want to spend all our time in the ER and on the phone finding hotels this weekend—we were here to celebrate.

I guess you can see I am in the middle of the story of my life these past few days.

GUIDE/RESOURCE

When I fell, one of the Citadel parents rushed to take care of me. He was a trainer for many years in the NFL. He was checking me out. Someone ran and brought a bag of ice for me. The cadets got a golf cart to take me to my car. Most importantly, my daughter Chelle and my wife Dorie responded and cared for me in many ways.

At first, I thought it was just a bad sprain and only later went to the ER to rule out the break.

Where is this story going, you might be asking?

Fuji X-E2, Fujinon XF 18-55mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/9, 1/500

I took this photo this week on my trip to Honduras. We stopped to get gas, and this soccer team was all in a pickup truck, and I rushed to get the photo. They are what we call a team. It is a small community. You know because you all can see you belong to each other when you wear the uniform.

We also are all part of the community.

Do you desire a community as much as I do? I am guessing you, too, like to walk into places and feel like Norm on the TV show Cheers, where everyone greeted him with his name “Norm.”

I just loved this song, and even though the show is no longer on TV, the lyrics to this song do touch on the concept of the importance of community. In case you are too young to remember the show, here are the lyrics:

Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn’t you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

I want to tell you some key things I have discovered to help you find your community. Your community is where you will find your Guides and Resources to help you with your life story.

Fuji X-E2, Fujinon XF 18-55mm, ISO 400, ƒ/4, 1/1700

You may see something like Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and wonder if this is my community. You may have to start here to establish where you will find your community.

Fuji X-E2, Fujinon XF 18-55mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/9, 1/35

One of the great places I have found to find a community is through houses of worship. This photo is in Santidad Catholic Church in Juticalpa, Honduras, where the community is gathering for worship.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 280, ƒ/14, 1/250

The first community, most of us, are a part of is our family. Here is Wilfredo Lopez in Cocalico, Olancho, Honduras, a gardener. The community created a seedling garden which then supplied the plants for 16 gardens to help the community’s families. They came together to help solve a nutrition problem in their community.

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 1600, ƒ/16, 1/250

All animals have this instinct that community is key to survival. So here you can see how the cattle come together as a herd. Here are the cattle at Rancho el Paraíso (Paradise Ranch) that I was staying at in Honduras.

Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 450, ƒ/8, 1/100

“Birds of a feather flock together” is a true statement and will help you find your affinity group.

Find a group that has similar interests to you and join it. Get involved. Support the other people. When someone in the group’s life story does as mine and takes a turn for the worse—take this as an opportunity to build deeper relationships.

Fuji X-E2, Fujinon XF 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/9, 1/180–pop up fill flash.

Here is the Northpoint Communities in Atlanta team that was in Honduras while I was there with the writer and executive director. They were there to go into the communities and help prevent diseases by building latrines, pouring concrete floors in the homes where dirt floors existed, and helping put in stoves with chimneys. All three of these tasks saved many lives in the years ahead.

While they were giving, they talked each night about how much they were receiving by giving.

Fuji X-E2, Fujinon XF 18-55mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/11, 1/500

Even before they went to the villages, they bonded at the hotel the night before work.

This weekend my wife and daughter have loved and supported me. I feel bad that I have to be on the receiving end of all their love and attention. I would much rather be healthy and give to them.

This bible verse sums up how wonderful my wife is to me. I am truly a blessed man.

Proverbs 31:10-31
In Praise of a Good Wife
A perfect wife is the most precious treasure a man can find! Her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down. She is good to him every day of her life, [Click here to read more]

UPDATE:

The lens is off to Nikon for repair, and I met with an Orthopedist this morning.

I am rejoicing because I didn’t have to have surgery and have a boot that I can walk in. The only thing slowing me down the next few weeks is orders from the Dr not to drive.

Honduran Dentist prefers education to pulling teeth

by Stanley LearyOctober 10, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4 / storyteller

Dr. Natalia Velásquez Alonzo is a dentist in the rural Agalta Valley of Honduras. She is at her main office at Rancho el Paraíso of Honduras Outreach.

I went with her and the rest of the mobile medical team to a small village El Pedrero two hours north of the ranch on these dirt roads. I felt like a bobblehead bouncing around for those two hours. About halfway there, the electricity to the area stopped.

When HOI started going to this community, they stopped before they crossed the river and crossed over in canoes. Today they have a bridge to get to the village. When they first started going, this was what most of the village people lived in.

The inside of their houses were dirt floors and walls. They let the wind and rain through.

Dr. Natalia Alonzo worked for the government as a dentist before coming to HOI five months ago. She went into the schools and taught as she is now for HOI. Here she is teaching the students about dental hygiene in El Pedrero. She prefers doing this to having to pull teeth.

Many government dentists do not have enough supplies, and so many patients have many teeth pulled with just one shot or none. So Dr. Alonzo likes working with HOI, where she has enough supplies to use what would be standard procedures to those in the United States due to the giving that supports the medical team.

Here is the medical clinic in the village of El Pedrero. The Toyota Land Cruiser is their mobile medical truck. North Point Ministries helped other groups to buy this vehicle through their “Be Rich” campaign. The idea started at North Point Ministries five years ago and caught on quickly. The message from the pulpit was straightforward–you have it, they don’t.

Teams are regularly going from the US to help transform Honduras through HOI. Their work over the past twenty-five years has gotten the government’s attention. As a result, next month, President Juan Orlando Hernández and First Lady Ana García Carías of Honduras are coming to Atlanta to present HOI with an award for outstanding service to their country.

What to include or exclude in a photo

by Stanley LearySeptember 28, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4

Nikon D4, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 140, 1/100

Theater

A great place to practice your craft is in the theater. For this production of Steel Magnolias at Roswell High School, I sat in the back row for a good reason.

On the back row, you can see the actors’ feet; on the front row; you often find the angle that has you missing their feet. Another great reason is you can shoot above the heads of the audience and be somewhat out of the audience’s view.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 1250, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

You can use your long glass for more than a football game. So here I am, shooting on a monopod and sitting on the back row. I am shooting zoomed-in with a 600mm lens at ƒ/5.6. From the first photo to this one, I can get pretty tight on the actors on the stage.

So do you shoot wide or tight? The answer is simple—BOTH.

Lighting

The good news is the stage crew and lighting crew have taken care of just about everything for you. Here I just set the white balance to tungsten, found the correct exposure, and just shot away. However, the lighting changes just once in the production to a darker scene, which makes sense as the color temperature is a little warmer.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 1600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

I prefer shooting with a cinematic approach. Cinematic is where you are thinking of filling the frame so that the viewer will experience the photos, assuming more of the screen size in a movie theater. So the size is more about proportions of 16×9 or 3×2. You are not thinking of cropping to a square or vertical.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 1800, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

I choose to fill the frame of my Nikon D4. Filling the frame means watching the frame edges to see what to include or exclude. Here in this photo, I am letting the actors on either side determine the width, and I am watching the curtains and the feet to be sure they have a little room. Too much higher, and you see the top of the set.

Now I am also thinking about what the play is all about. The actors are in a hair salon, and when I think of this place, I think of the gossip. So, I could have cropped this photo to show the two on the right much tighter. But instead, I am letting the actress sit, and the picture up on the wall shows how this is a place for eavesdropping.

Nikon D4, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 140, 1/100

Sometimes I include more around the edges to help establish the scene inside a High School theater. I am intentionally showing the audience as they watch the production.

In this last photo, you can see that the bottom of the image includes the bottom of the chair, and the top includes the pictures on the wall. Those photos are then proportioned left to right to keep the whole frame filled. Now, if this were for a print piece, I may crop a little on the left and right, but this is a great example where you make the very best you can of the composition. Again, I tried to go tighter but thought the bottom of the chair helped to anchor this photo much better.

Fuji X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 4000, ƒ/4.8, 1/500

I returned the second night to get some photos with the show’s second cast. I decided to shoot some of these photos with my Fuji X-E2 with the FUJINON XF 55-200mm ƒ/4.8 lens. The Fuji camera worked great.

Key to growing your business—Surprise your Customer.

by Stanley LearySeptember 26, 2014September 18, 2022business / Nikon D4

Nikon D4, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 50, ƒ/4, 1/160—off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger with flash at 1/128 Power

How to make emotional connections

There are brands like Apple, Starbucks, Ritz Hotels and others you can think of that have some of the most loyal customers. These are what we call Raving Fans.

As Ken Blanchard wrote in his book, Raving Fans, a raving fan is “a customer who is so devoted to your products and services that they wouldn’t dream of taking their business elsewhere and will sing from the rooftops about just how good you are.”

So how do you get these loyal fans of your brand?

Ken Blanchard says to give the customers what they are asking for, and then give them 1% more. That 1% more is what I call the surprise.

Knowing what customers are asking for is the key ingredient. However, Steve Jobs did more than give customers what they were asking for, Apple anticipated needs that customers didn’t even know they had until they saw the Apple product.

Probably the most famous example of total customer service empowerment is the carte blanche monetary discretion The Ritz-Carlton have given to staff members for decades: $2,000 per employee per customer, to be used to solve any customer complaint in the manner the employee felt was appropriate.

Nikon D4, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 400, ƒ/1.8, 1/200—off-camera flash using the Neewer TT850 flash & Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger with flash at 1/128 Power

I don’t have $2,000 to spare

There are more ways to give great customer service and surprises than with money.

Quick & Inexpensive Gestures

Listen and Remember—You have to really care about your customers to pull this off. This is where you listen for not just what they need but what is going on in their life. How you remember is the next time just asking them about the family member they told you about.
Thank You Note—Just a simple hand written thank you note goes a long way.
Mix Thank You Note & Remembering—Maybe the customer said something that made your day. Tell them about how that thought stuck with you and made your day.
Piece of Candy—I had a defective part from MagMod. I wrote to them and they sent me a new one and also just a small fun size bag of M&Ms. That was a great surprise. Cost very little but I have never had a company do anything like it before.
Operational Excellence—You cannot do any surprises if you product isn’t top notch. While your competition is doing everything to keep costs down, sometimes you need to spend a little more and keep that quality. One thing I notice my work stands out from many is skin tones. Too many people shoot on Auto White balance but I work hard to dial in the white balance to be very precise.
Quick Turn Around—When all your competition is always on a two week delivery, just turn your product delivery time faster. The one industry I think this is terrible is weddings. That is because many of those wedding shooters have other jobs. I know many shooters who are booked up because they deliver great images quickly.
Small Gift—You can remember their birthday or at a holiday just send a card, gift card or small gift just to let them know you are thinking of them. This works best if it is later after the job is complete and near a significant moment for the customer.
Celebrate their accomplishments—Keep in touch with your customers. If they like your facebook page you can see their posts. If something great happened in their life, comment on their post, give them a phone call or send a card.

Biggest Surprise

How you talk about your competition and your colleagues can surprise your customer in one of two ways—Positive or Negative.

James 3:16-18 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
16 Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.

You may have heard if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all. That is great advice. I challenge you to also say something nice about your competition when you can think of nothing but something positive to say.

I often have clients call me and I am booked. I tell them I can find someone for them or I tell them let me send you a couple of names and links to their websites that I recommend for them.

I do my very best to talk about all the reasons these other photographers are great for the client. I have had even a few of those photographers come back and ask to use my recommendation for others. They had never had anyone talk so positive about them and their work.

Because I talk up the photographers the customers actually get excited to meet them and ask about some of the things I have bragged about on them.

Who will you surprise today?

Peak Action + Exposure/Focus + Post Processing = Great Football Action Photo

by Stanley LearySeptember 23, 2014September 18, 2022Lightroom / Nikon D4

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 1100, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

If Ansel Adams had shot football games like many photographers, he would have never become famous.

Ansel Adams is not a great photographer because he was able to capture a great moment and compose it compellingly. However, he is a great photographer because he went beyond just the capture and spent months trying to process and print images just right.

Today’s cameras help you capture the zone system with little skill required by the photographer. But unfortunately, this technology can be a problem today. Too many photographers shoot football games, for example, and crop the photograph and then publish the photo.

The same photo as above, but this is with no post-processing other than a slight crop.

Post Processing is Key

You can see the difference between the photo above that I took into Adobe Lightroom and worked on to give me the results above versus the same Nikon RAW NEF file exported from PhotoMechanic to a JPEG after a slight crop.

Here is another example for you to see the comparison.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

No processing other than slight crop

Comparing the Histogram on the top photo

Before

After

You are not trying to get a perfect bell curve histogram. You are trying to be sure that in the top Histogram, you can see a lot of information on the far right. On the far right of the Histogram are the highlighted details. You are recovering this by sliding your highlights to the left to retrieve that information.

These are just the adjustments I made for the top photo. In the middle of the daylight, faces in helmets go black and white shirts lose details. I am trying to open up the shadows and recover the highlights.

Here you can see the area I then dodged in the photo to be sure you could see the player’s face. Here are the actual slider settings for the dodge here:

RAW vs. JPEG

I understand that shooting RAW takes more space and more time to process than just shooting a JPEG and using that image. However, I hope I have established this is not the way to make your work stand out.

With the RAW image, you have all the information that landed on the CMOS chip of the Nikon D4. I have a more dynamic range in the picture than can be seen by my computer monitor.

With a JPEG, the camera’s computer makes some assumptions and then tosses out some of that information to save space for your image file size.

If you shoot JPEGs for daytime football, that will become difficult for you to correct later in post-processing.

First, if your white balance is not just perfect and you want to correct it later, the nuances of color shifting this to what is possible is no longer there. So you have tossed out some of that information.

Second, all the information in those blown-out highlights is no longer there. So, for example, your ability to add folds back into those white jerseys will not be possible.

Third, the amount of information in those shadows is also lost. The camera software assumed you wanted black areas, so you have less information to open up those shadows.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, Sigma 2x EX DG APO Autofocus Teleconverter, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

Which photo do you prefer? Is this one just above or the one just below?

When it comes to evaluating the two photos, there is one thing that I look for in sports photos that is hard to see in the second unprocessed image—expression. I believe your sports photos are better when you can show the faces of the athletes; you help communicate the effort and competition of the peak action.

Notice the highlights blowing out in the lower photo and how many of the shadows are too dark.

Post-processing matters with your photos. Do more than crop your pictures and add captions; you will stand out from the pack.

Great portraits require trust between the photographer and the subject

by Stanley LearySeptember 22, 2014September 18, 2022Nikon D4

Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.8, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/400

Three things for a great portrait

Expression
Expression
Expression

Every time I get ready to do a portrait session, I have butterflies. I get incredibly nervous and anxious.

I believe most seasoned photographers and artists feel the same way. Of course, they may react differently from each other, but there is something scary when your ability to do your best relies not on just you but another person.

Yesterday I photographed Jane, and as always, I started with those butterflies and anxiety, and as time went on, I began to calm down and enjoy our time.

It’s not all about you.

In the case of portraits, it is all about capturing the subject’s best expressions.

Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/2.8, 1/200, 20″x30″ softbox powered by Alienbees B1600 and Vagabond battery pack

Jane has been one of my favorite subjects for a very long time. She made for such an excellent subject because she was willing to try just about anything, and also she enjoyed giving me a range of expressions.

First the technical

The very first thing I am doing is getting the camera settings and lighting set just right. Also, I am trying to pick a good location for the shooting site.

Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.8, ISO 100, ƒ/4, 1/250, 20″x30″ softbox powered by Alienbees B1600 and Vagabond battery pack

Here is my very first photo of Jane. I noticed what she was wearing when she arrived and noted the color. I thought the dress was similar to the color of the bricks of the Roswell Mill—just a little lighter.

An excellent complementary color to what she was wearing was green. I liked this set but quickly realized it was too busy for my taste. I felt like the setting was competing with Jane too much.

Nikon D4, 85mm ƒ/1.8, ISO 50, ƒ/2.8, 1/60, 20″x30″ softbox powered by Alienbees B1600 and Vagabond battery pack

This photo is one of my favorites from the day. You may ask why I like this so much. Well, I believe a photographer should be able to articulate why they want a specific photograph over another.

This photo, to me, feels like a Dove commercial. Dove brand has done a great deal through the years to define beauty, and having great skin and expression was core to their brand.

Today, the Dove Real Beauty Campaign is for girls and women to understand that their power and beauty do not come from a tube, airbrush, or cream but rather from their personalities and passion.

Authenticity

The key is for the photographer to be authentic with the subject. I listened a lot to Jane and her mother. I heard with my ears and eyes.

“What kind of look are you going for?” was my question, and they had an answer. Jane liked the model’s look from the 60’s Twiggy and Taylor Swift.

While that was the look, I was also interested in capturing her personality. Jane is such a ham and loves to goof around, and I tried to be sure and encourage her to be herself. So here are some other photos from our time:

One thing that helps me capture the best in people is when I am really in tune with their personalities and recognize moments that accentuate them. By the way, I am reminded repeatedly through interviews with major recording artists that most of them get butterflies and anxious just before they step onto the stage. I think those that understand how fragile relationships really are and how much they must work at them will succeed more often than those who plow ahead.

Storyteller

Category: Nikon D4