Cowboys compete in steer wrestling at the 27th Annual Pana’Ewa Stampede Rodeo put on by the Hawaii Horse Owners in Hilo, Hawaii, on February 18, 2019. [NIKON D5, 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 1600, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000, Focal Length = 210]

The number one problem with people’s photos has always been blurry photos.

The four leading causes of blurry photos are:

1. The subject moves while the shutter is open
2. The camera moves while the shutter is open
3. Out Of Focus
4. The Depth Of Field is too shallow

Addressing the first two by using a proper shutter speed.

Shutter Speed

Minimum Shutter Speed [seconds] = 1 / Focal Length [mm]

If you have a 200mm lens on your camera, then the slowest you want to handhold the camera to take an in-focus photo is 1/200.

Now, in this case, where the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, is speaking,g I am on a tripod shooting at 600mm. Since she is not moving all that much, I was able to shoot at 1/100 because the camera is on a tripod.

When you are shooting something where the subject is moving, and the camera is moving to capture an image, as in sports, you need a breakneck shutter speed.

In this photo, the football players are moving very fast. Over the years, I realize I need to speed up the shutter speed to get sharp images.

When I started shooting sports with film, the highest ISO I could shoot was ISO 1200. Film’s ISO kept me shooting around 1/500 for most sports.

Only during day games was I able to get genuinely razor-sharp images.

Besides shooting at 1/4000 shutter speed, I am also using a monopod.

Most photographers on the sidelines of a football game use a monopod to help steady the camera.

Out of Focus

If your subject isn’t moving that much, like my person speaking, start by switching from multi-point to single-point focusing. There is either a joystick or pad on many cameras that lets you move your focus point around. Move this to the person’s face and as close to the eyes as you can.

You need to know that your camera has limits and that certain situations are difficult for the camera’s technology to work correctly. Here are some for you from my Nikon D5 camera manual.

 

Too Shallow Depth-of-Field

If your lens is wide open at an aperture of ƒ/2.8 or wider ƒ/1.4, then the depth-of-field is relatively shallow. The other piece affecting this is how close you are to the subject.

The closer you get, the more depth of field will get even shallow.

The top-of-the-line cameras tend to have the best focusing systems, which will track subjects allowing you to get that razor-sharp image. In addition, combining the best quality lenses and cameras can let you shoot wide open and get sharp photos.

However, if you cannot afford a 300mm ƒ/2.8 lens and have a 300mm ƒ/5.6 lens while you think that the depth-of-field is greater, your photos may not be in focus because the lens is too dark for the camera sensors to focus.

The other problem is a fast lens, but the focus system is struggling to keep the subject in focus. Difficulty focusing is where you close down the aperture to give you a little more wiggle room in the depth-of-field that your photos are still sharp.

Chick-fil-A Long Point Road FSU, Mount Pleasant, SC [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 400, ƒ/5.6, 1/6 – (3) Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT]

I am enjoying capturing some of the Chick-fil-A restaurant designs around the country. The designers are restrained in some ways to create a space that is an efficiently run restaurant and fits within a community.

The new restaurant in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, used a lot of landscaping to help the building fitting within the community.

The palmetto has been a symbol for South Carolina since the American Revolutionary War when it was used to build a fort on Sullivan’s Island that withstood British attack—putting these on the property helped tie to the state’s traditions.

The second photo may do a better job of showing the design of the building, but when you eliminate some of the landscape architecture, it loses a sense of place. Now the building could be anywhere other than in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Now the thing about this view is even tho I am showing more of the landscaping; it still could be almost anywhere in the US.

This last angle is where I started shooting before sunrise. I also was lighting just the building when I started. The trees and shrubs around the building were silhouetted. My first thought was that it would work since this is how the palmetto tree appears on the flag [silhouetted]. Well, the trees were new to the location, had been trimmed, and didn’t read as clearly as I wanted them to appear.

I took the flashes and located them further back, lighting up the foliage and the building before sunrise.

The only thing I think would have dramatically improved the photo is if the flag waving in a breeze.

Hopefully you are seeing here that it is not just setting a camera on a tripod and pushing the shutter release. You need to often add light to help accentuate and draw out the elements in the photo to help add to the photo.

Photography combines two Greek words, Photo, and Graph, which mean “drawing with light.” Sometimes the light is just perfect naturally and other times, the photographer adding or subtracting light in a scene makes a more powerful image.

When doing an interview, you need to do a few things every time.

Fill the frame

When doing an interview, you must carefully choose good composition and background. Pay attention to everything inside the frame.

Get tight on the person you are interviewing.

Kill the Noise

Once you put the microphone in place and have your headphones on, you can hear all the ambient sounds. This is where everyone is quiet for a moment while you listen.

Let’s say you hear the ceiling fan or the air conditioner running. I would turn these off for the interview.

Move to a quiet location if you cannot turn off something like a water fall or water fountain.

Steady the Camera

Use a tripod or put the camera on a table. Just keep your primary camera for the interview still. If you have a second camera to use, you can maybe put that camera on a slider or fluid head that will let you move the camera during the interview.

I believe you always need one locked camera on a tripod for the interview.

Light the Subject

I suggest finding a great place with light, so you don’t have to use lights. I find the open shade on the side of a building works as well as porches, as you see in these two photos of interviews we were doing in Togo, West Africa.

Audio is King

There are times for different microphones, just as for additional lenses. You need to know the difference between a lapel, camera & shotgun microphone.

Sharpness is Queen

Sharp focus is critical. I advise against shooting ƒ/1.4 for video unless this is your second camera perspective. Have a depth-of-field that is forgiving if the person moves during the interview.

Use manual focus and not Auto-Focus.

Lock Down the lens

Don’t zoom in and out on your primary camera. You can do some of this with a second camera, but be sure at least one camera is locked down, and you have a solid framed shot that is in focus and has enough depth-of-field that the person can move a little and still be in focus.

Here is the lighting diagram for the setup for you. I was only using the one Lasolight reflector and took sides off.

I did some headshots for my daughter and other Columbus State theater students. Here are some photos and the setup I did inside my daughter’s dorm room.

They are looking toward the camera’s perspective. The model is in front of the two side strobes.

Here is the lighting diagram for the Cole Headshot.

I used the same setup for Chelle here as well.

By turning the background lights away from the background toward my daughter, I could rim light her. I put 30º grids on the lights to keep the light from hitting the lens and causing a flair.

This one shot of Cole is with just the one Beauty Dish light straight above him. It creates what we call “Butterfly” Lighting. The light casts a shadow under the nose that often looks like butterfly wings.

This helps you see why you want to have this as the main light for headshots. It helps create the shape of the face. The shadows created by the cheekbones help contour the face.

Here the beauty dish is off to the right of Chelle.

Here is that setup of Chelle with the one light

In the next few years, I will return to Columbus State University to do more headshots for theater students. Stay tuned to see more headshots.

Chick-fil-A Sunnyvale FSU is located in Sunnyvale, California. [Nikon D5, 14-24mm. ƒ/5.6, ISO 800, 1/60–(3) Godox V860IIN + Godox X1NT]The past few posts I have shown you how I use Alienbees B1600 studio strobes to light up buildings for architectural photo shoots.

When flying to San Jose, California for another shoot I decided to only take a smaller case of three Godox V860IIN hotshoe flashes + Godox X1NT transmitter.

Now when I shot these I did change the ISO to 800 to let the flashes light up the building much easier than at ISO 100.

After I shot this photo a few times seeing about the change in the light as the sun sets the wind stopped blowing and the flag was no longer waving.

Just so you can see what the flashes are doing here is the photo without the flashes.

So you can see that you can shoot at ISO 100 here you see this photo below. This was shot 30 minutes after sunset.

While I prefer the sky in this shot the waving of the flag I think made the other photo much better.

I hope this shows that it isn’t how much gear you have, but knowing how to use it that will make or break a photo.

[NIKON D5, 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 400, 1/6, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 35)]

Getting a photo like this demands more than just a tripod and waiting for the right time of day.

Here is the result of doing just that in this photo below.

To help light up the building I used 4 Alienbees B1600 strobes with 11″ Long Throw Reflector. This is what I call “Writing with Light”, which is the definition of photography. Sometimes nature needs some help.

For half of the photos I shot at ƒ/8 with the Alienbees on full power. Then I cut the power in half on the Alienbees and changed the Aperture to ƒ/5.6.

Sunset was at 8:26 pm. Pretty much you can bet on the best photos of buildings with lights to be 20 minutes after sunset as in this photo shot at 8:47 pm.  This is when the lights on the building and inside at matching the sky brightness.

Again here is that same scene without the Alienbees adding light to the side of the building.

Just so you know exactly the light at sunset at 8:26 pm here is that photo as well for you to see.

The problem is that the lights on the building are not showing up. We need to open up the exposure for the lights on the building by changing only the shutter speed from 1/13 to 1 second.

Tips for shooting buildings at Sunset

Arrive early and find best angle to shoot building
Use Strobes or powerful flashlights to light up building
Use a tripod and cable release with the camera
Start shooting 5 minutes before sunset
Stop shooting about 30 – 40 minutes after sunset
White Balance for Sun or Flash
Shoot in RAW

Chick-fil-A West Midtown Atlanta, Georgia at Sunrise. [Fuji X-E3, 10-24mm, ISO 125, ƒ/10, 1.6 sec]

After working on the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom, this is the processed photo.

Here is the photo with just perspective not corrected on the image.

Now when I am shooting on my Fuji X-E3, there is a level built into the camera that can be turned on to show in the display.

When I shot the building photo, it was level from left to right.

You go to the develop module and the Transform tools in Adobe Lightroom.

You can click on Auto and see if it looks the way you want, and then you can undo the change if you like.

You can also select each of the individual controls and adjust it. A grid will show up so you can get the building’s edges straight. You will need to change the vertical where you correct the building falling away from you.

Be sure to check the Constrain Crop to have a full framed image.

[Fuji X-E3, 10-24mm, ISO 125, ƒ/11, 8 sec] 6:37 am

My mornings sometimes start early for photo shoots. Today I woke up at 5:00 am for a photo shoot at sunrise. Sunrise was scheduled to happen at 6:50 am.

I arrived at about 5:40 am at the location and set up two Alienbees B1600 strobes with 50º reflectors.

You can see one of the two lights on the left and the other by the flag pole. I shot with the Nikon D5 as well as my Fuji X-E3.

I put the cameras on Manual Mode. I was shooting up to 30-second exposures with an aperture of ƒ/10 to ƒ/22. ISO was 100 on D5 and 125 on the Fuji X-E3.

This photo was taken with just available light.  It was shot at 6:34 am. The sun is slowly rising but isn’t up yet. It has 16 more minutes until Sunrise. The sky behind the building looks darker, but the longer shutter speeds make it a dark blue sky.

I find that approximately 20 minutes before sunrise and 20 minutes after sunset, you get the best ratio of the lights inside the buildings and signage versus the nighttime sky is the best. Looking at the photo above, shot at 6:12 am, 38 minutes before sunrise, the sky is too dark for me.

At 6:30 am, it sounds like 20 minutes before sunrise, and the sky perfectly matches the lights in and on the restaurant.

At 6:20 am, I can make the sky look great at a 30-second shutter speed, but the lights start to lose details. Ten minutes later, I get the sky and the lights just perfect.

Here are the tips for Sunrise or Sunset if you want to do this yourself.

TIPS

• Before the shoot, arrange to have lights turned on for the photoshoot.
• Arrive 1 hour before Sunrise or Sunset
• Use Tripod & Cable Release
• If using flash, set it to match your Aperture or -1 stop.
• Start taking photos at least 35 minutes before Sunrise and 5 minutes before Sunset.
• Take photos for about 5 minutes after Sunrise and 30 minutes after Sunset.

I bought another figurine today to help teach my student’s photography. Today we took the cowboy figurine outside, looking for suitable locations for shooting portraits.

We found a bend with a tree in the background for the first one.

By moving the figurine, we looked for good light on the face and an excellent background to match.

This is much harder to do than you might think.

We started all the photos in full manual mode. We were learning to pick the proper ISO, Shutter-Speed, and Aperture and doing a custom white balance before each new location we chose.

The first hurdle was nothing more than remembering you are taking a photo. It would help if you looked around the edges of the frame. Can it be cropped out of the picture? Can I get closer?

Just walking closer to the subject, getting as close as you could, and still being focused was an excellent place to start with our figurine.

Taking a photo in the studio on a white background is simple compared to walking outside and looking for good light and a good background.

Go to the store and buy a figurine. It is a great way to explore the light looking for a good location for a portrait.