The key to fireworks is the foreground. The context helps give a sense of place.

When I started shooting the July of 4th fireworks this year in Roswell, GA, the location was slightly different than years past. I wasn’t sure exactly where they would be in the sky. I had a general idea, but I had a few problems when they started.

As the sun set, all the street lights in the parking lot we were in started to come on. When I first started shooting, this is what I was getting. The street light was creatine a flair and wasn’t very interesting. The street lights were distracting.

Using a tree in the parking lot to help with the street light also blocked some of the lower flying fireworks.

I picked up the tripod, went closer to the shops, and pointed the camera toward the high school where the fireworks were being launched. It gave me the best photos of the fireworks and making the street lights no longer a problem, but you only see a couple in the lower left.

I determined that the best place was to shoot the fireworks wide with a 14-24mm lens. This let me show all the community that turned out for the fireworks and helped to tell the story.

Earlier in the fireworks performance, I shot this with my Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 at 58mm. Fireworks look great, but this could be anywhere in the world. The wider shot helped me to show you what it looked like where I was in Roswell, Georgia.

Carry a couple of different lenses so you can change your approach if necessary. Be willing to move to get a different perspective. Most of all, take lots of photos. Only a few will be the keepers that you want.

Technical

ISO:                        100
Aperture:             ƒ/11
Shutter Speed:  5 seconds to 14 seconds [using Bulb]
White Balance: Fluorescent to match the Street Lights

I used a tripod and a cable release. I would start taking photos and stop after 2 to 4 fireworks go off.

Getting a well-exposed, color-correct photo will bring the most out of any subject.

When your photo is well exposed, you will see all the gradations on a grayscale. When you have your digital camera set to the proper white balance under flash you get the most dynamic range possible.

The color space of flash is dead center in the color wheel. Other lights like Tungsten, Fluorescent, Mercury Vapor, LED, and others are skewed off the center of the color wheel. While you can color correct these images by adding or subtracting colors to try and slide them back to the center, your color is never as good as under pure flash.

I shot this photo outside on the shaded side of my house. I color-corrected using “Custom White Balance.”

Using the ExpoDisc, I put this over the front of the lens and did an incident light reading and custom white balance.

I do this when shooting in the studio because softboxes often have a slight color cast that I can correct.

I cannot stress enough that the one thing that separates the very top photographers from the rest technically usually is white balance.

Colors pop when your exposure and color balance are on target.

SOBERING statistics published earlier this month show that the annual rate of suicide in the US has risen by almost 28 percent between 1999 and 2016.

I believe this is affecting businesses as well as individuals.

For this topic, I believe many of us are experts. Almost everyone will go through events that cause upheaval and crisis.

Depression causes one to look for relief. Unfortunately, many who are dealing with addiction start with depression.

I believe that in today’s economy, companies are showing signs of depression.

When you are depressed, you are prone to reach for things that give you pleasure but are not always the best. Ask any addict.

So many of us are looking for Likes or comparing our life to other people’s Facebook feeds.

We have gone from liking a post to loving, laughing, wow, sad, and even mad.

We are losing our compasses on how to navigate life. Instead, we are now looking to measure what is good or bad based on skewed analytics.

Opioids are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Many in business reach out for things like an opioid to make them feel better. That person has more followers than us. Let’s hire them. They can make it better. Remember, opioids not only can relieve pain, but they can also anesthetize you. I think many in business today are operating in a fog.

Communications departments have moved away from a solid story to choosing to use work based on the content providers’ social media feeds of likes and several followers.

Teaching in college and workshops, I experience more students who feel like they are already good photographers based on their social media likes from friends.

Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York, said, “Photography felt like a treasure hunt, and even though I sucked at it, I’d occasionally stumble upon a diamond. And that was enough to keep me wanting more.”

Stanton’s success is based on one simple truth–Everyone Has A Story!

People were drawn to his storytelling, which led to his massive following, but he didn’t go out and find someone doing something and copy it. Instead, he just went with his interest in the people on the streets of NYC. At first, he focused on visually exotic people, but slowly he discovered that everyone had a story.

Instead of trying to find the next “Cool Trend,” why not go with storytelling?

Stories allow the listener to learn vicariously and discover lessons seemingly on their own.

Stories make us feel a part of the situation.

Storytelling is tapping into people’s emotions that will help you to influence or persuade them.

Stories build connections between people. Those who tell stories are the ones making solid connections with their audience.

Storytelling is powerful because it engages the entire brain. A story, if broken down into the simplest form, is a connection between cause and effect.

Let me work with you and make your stories visual to be more engaging.

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.