August 31, 2009 - Self portrait

1 sec

f8.0

ISO 200

29mm

RAW

Well, it finally happened. I finally had a day where it was getting time to go to bed and I hadn't taken a single shot yet. I was sitting at my computer, trying to update the blog when it hit me.

Oh, crap! I thought. Here it is at 10:15 p.m. and I haven't taken any pictures!

I sat there wondering what I could do for a couple of minutes when inspiration hit me — do a self portrait!

I wanted this self-portrait to be realistic, to reflect how I usually do my photo work. So it had to be fairly dark. It might not be best for my eyes, but I tend to sit with the lights off so I can see the photos easily.

I set up my camera on a tripod, took a few practice shots, and then got serious. I realized right away that letting the light spill in from the kitchen didn't work for a pleasing portrait. So I attached my dedicated flash to the camera, pointed it at the ceiling, and set it to shoot in manual mode at 1/32 power (in case you're wondering, 1/2 power was enough to brightly light up the room).

I decided on ISO 200 and a full second exposure time (obviously I put my camera into manual mode in order to do that) to get a balance between a fast enough shutter speed to prevent motion blur and a slow enough film speed to prevent heavy graininess in the dark areas.

I also set the camera at head level so the angle of view might be like you were sitting down with me to look at the photos. Finally, I tried to eliminate distractions in the photo, so I cleaned up my desk (and put all of the junk on the floor). What you see in the photo is what I wanted you to see.

From beginning to end, this shot took less than 15 minutes to create, and that included using the 10 second timer on my shutter (I would press the shutter button, and then have 10 seconds to climb into my chair and position myself).

In hindsight, I wish I would have taken the time to set the camera to a wider angle (maybe more around 18-20mm) and move it closer to me and the screen. This might have further enhanced the perspective of you sitting down with me.

August 21, 2009 – Tennis portrait

1/400

f2.8

ISO 100

175mm

RAW

My two daughters have joined a tennis class, and couldn't be more excited. My wife, Rachel, has been asking for more photos of the kids, so I was happy to oblige. When I went to take the photo, however, I discovered a problem. There was a lot of stuff along the fence in the background that I didn't want in the photo, so I had to come up with a solution that would create a narrow field of vision.

I stood about 30 feet away from them and used a long telephoto lens (my 70-200mm f2.8L zoom lens) to focus on just them and leave out as much background as possible. I also put the camera in aperture mode (which should be an 'A' on your mode dial) and set it to 2.8. This wide aperture does a nice job in blurring out the background. So I had the best of both worlds — the long lens created a narrow field of vision that left out most of the clutter and the wide aperture made what was left (a bench) nice and blurry.

What also helped in the photo is most of the court was in the shade of some trees, so I had them stand in the shade in the middle of the court. There was plenty of ambient light coming down from the bright, open sky above them, which helped illuminate their faces and create a softer light that was void of harsh shadows.

Finally, a couple of more little tips. First, I knelt down to get the lens to their chest level. This subtle trick can really help make a difference in child photos. It also helped bring more of the fence into the background instead of the court surface. Second, I used the net as a sort of leading line into the photo. By placing my girls where they are, the net practically ends at them, which helps keep your attention in the center of the photo.

There's one huge thing I wish I would have done differently. It just seems awkward that my older daughter's hand is hanging limply in the middle of the photo. I should have asked her to hold the racket with both hands or drop her left arm down on the other side of the net. And while not as much of a problem, I probably should have had them swap sides and place the shorter one on this side of the net.

Photo Tip: Change your perspective

I have been very busy at work, and I apologize for not having a tip of the day for the past several days. However, this weekend I participated in Outdoor Leadership Training for the Boy Scouts of America and I got a ton of photos.

One of the training classes we participated in was Orienteering. After receiving our instructions, we had a challenge to take a topography map and determine the exact location of the tent we were at.

With the map on the ground, we took our compasses and tried to determine exactly where we were. I took several photos of my patrol trying to figure it out. Some were from the typical standing position, looking over shoulders. Here is probably the best one:



This shows the map, but there are no faces and the text on the back of the gray shirt is very distracting. Overall, I didn't like it as much.

I also took several shots from a ground-level angle. I literally laid on the ground on my side and shot with the camera a few inches off of the ground, and I like these more. You can see their faces clearly, there is no distracting wording, and with a caption you will know they are interacting with a map with their compasses.



When taking a shot, try to think of different angles and perspectives to capture the moment. Experiment with several ideas, even if you think it won't be comfortable or easy to do. Laying on the ground wasn't comfortable and surely wasn't easy to change my position when I needed to, but I think most would agree it resulted in a better shot. When you're all done, you can sit down and throw away the ones that didn't work.

Photo Tip: Clean up your backgrounds

One of the great things about being a parent is finding your kids doing something especially cute. Often, our first reaction is to grab the camera and try to capture the moment.

Today, I have two tips for you along those lines. First, and most important, is to take the shot as quickly as possible. Sometimes trying to get the perfect angle or composition will cause you to miss the moment. So don't hesitate to capture a couple of shots right away.

Second, pay attention to your background and other things that might be cluttering up the picture. Look for stuff that will distract the viewer's eye from the real focus of the photo -- things like toys lying on the floor, people walking around, bright objects, etc.

See if you can change your position to get a less-distracting background, or pick up items that don't need to be in the photo. Maybe a different perspective will remove some of the problems, too, like crouching down to take the shot.

Look at this photo of my daughter coloring. What is the first thing you notice?


Did you see the dolls? Or the bright yellow toy bin? Maybe the chairs in the background?

There's an awful lot to distract the eye in that photo! Chances are the first thing you saw was something other than my daughter coloring.

For a better photo, I took the dolls off of the table, moved the rocking chair on the right out of the way, and then moved the container of crayons from the left side of the table to the right. Finally, I changed my camera angle by squatting a little and moving to the left.

Here is the resulting photo.


Much better, isn't it? By changing my perspective, I made the background a blank wall. Now the photo has only the subject and what she is doing. There isn't anything to distract you from what I wanted to capture in the photo.

Here's another photo taken in a more real-world situation. I had taken my kids to a local park and my daughter was having a blast on some of the playground equipment. I set up to take the shot where there wasn't anything in the background. I purposefully left out the rest of the playground, the kids, and anything else that would divert the eye.


So to recap, when taking a photo many times what you leave out is just as important as what you leave in. And if it's one of those spur-of-the-moment photos, remember to take a couple of shots immediately (so you will at least have something) and then look for how you can improve the photo.