Using Flash In Daylight

Managing Contrast and Exposing Detail

When should you use flash?

Your camera might try to answer the question for you. When light levels are low, some cameras will enable their flash feature automatically. Sometimes this is helpful, and sometimes it's a bad idea.

Flash can ruin a photo when it overpowers available light, especially when the available light has a quality that works well with the photo.

Conversely, we might want to add flash to photos taken in bright light. Flash can expose details that would otherwise have been obscured by deep shadows.

A camera set to "automatic mode" isn't smart enough to suggest all of the available options. If we want to use flash creatively, we need to make our own decisions, take control and override the camera's recommendations.

Compare the images below. See if you prefer one over the other.

I like both photos. The second photo with the cyclist in the shadows is intriguing. The rider is anonymous and mysterious.

The first photo, where the cyclist is illuminated by flash, shows more color and detail.

There's no right or wrong way to use flash or to choose to omit it. The outcomes will be different, but that's the magic of photography. We can render our subjects in different ways.

When do you use flash? When it will help you to create a photo that looks the way that you want it to look.

Flash can modify photos in many ways depending on the direction, quality, and intensity of the light that it adds to the scene. The more we understand about what flash can do, the better we can decide how and when to use it.

Gear: 

        Canon EOS 5D Mark III

        Canon 24-105 f/4L IS
        Canon 580EX II Speed Light

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

On The Edge Of A New Idea

I have an idea, something that I would like to express with my photography over the next few months. It's not all that complicated, but I've never tried anything like this before and it runs somewhat contrary to my usual approach. It will require an investment of time and effort.

At the moment, the idea exists only in my head. There's always a gap between concept and reality. Some ideas fly and others flop. It's exciting to stand on the edge of that realization not knowing which way it will go.

Public Safety

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Happy Independence Day, America!

Washington's Statue at Federal Hall, New York

New York Stock Exchange from Federal Hall

I would like to extend a very special 'Thank You' to all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, bold men who risked life and limb and property for 'truths we hold self-evident', and to those who supported and participated in the American Revolution, wagering all that they owned and held dear for a new standard of equity, prosperity, and rights for the individual. 

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon TS-E24 f/3.5L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Death Valley Sunrise

First Light At Badwater

Good morning!

There are lots of Death Valley Sunrise photos on the Internet.  I suppose that one more couldn't hurt.

Imagine the feel of salt crunching under your feet as you hike out onto the flats in darkness.  The air is silent and surprisingly chilly. You half-seriously wonder whether a pack of coyotes is going to eat you for breakfast.

Now you're in the zone! Enjoy the sunrise!

Death Valley Sunrise

This photo is brought to you courtesy of an exotic location, some timely clouds, and Canon's incomparable, ultra-amazing 24mm tilt-shift lens.

Please support our incomparable, ultra-amazing National Park system.  And watch out for hungry coyotes!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon TS-E24 f/3.5L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Simulated Candid

Earning The Trust Of Subjects On The Street

You spot a couple of tourists studying a map.  You think, "Hey! That would make a nice picture!"

Okay, Hot Shot, what do you do?  Do you point your 70-200 at them and start shooting?

"Why not?" you might reason.  "They're in a public place.  There's no expectation of privacy.  Even if they take me to court, I'll win."

The trouble is that if they look up and catch you in the act, their reaction will most likely be negative.  "Why is that creep taking our picture?" 

Tourists Reading a Map in NYC

I want my subjects to have fun. I want them to feel respected and valued. I want them to tell their friends all about the interesting photo shoot that just happened featuring THEM. If instead I leave them with a negative impression, that doesn't really help anyone.

Why take the chance of making someone angry when I can potentially flatter them by asking for their participation? If things go well, I can share my business card and have subjects become potential clients or referrals.  That's a lot better than having them point me out to a cop who could potentially drag my butt into court. 

When I approached these ladies, I said something like: "Hi, I saw you guys reading your map.  I think that would make a great picture.  Would you mind posing for shot?"

Some people refuse, but most are happy to help.  Once the subjects agree to participate, they'll do just about anything for you.  With access comes power.  I end up with shots that would have been impossible had I hidden in the shadows and shot them candidly.

Sometimes, the subjects offer good suggestions as to how to make the photo better.  It becomes a collaborative project, and it feels much better to all involved than being stalked by a 'creep' with a long lens. 

The simulated candid is a time-honored photographic technique.  Many iconic magazine photos were taken this way.  They look completely candid, but the photographer had acquired the consent of the subjects in advance.

Again, remember the Golden Rule.  If you want to make 'people pictures', it pays to treat people as respectfully as possible.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/4L IS

This is the twenty-fifth post on Light Happens!  Thank you for your continued support!

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Composing A Photograph

Questions - Choices - Decisions

When we compose a photograph, we address and respond to a handful of essential questions:

1. What should be included in the frame, what should be excluded, and where should the components be placed for maximum impact?

2. What is the most important part of the frame/object in the frame, and how can we highlight it?

The photo below shows the façade of two buildings, but we don't see the entire buildings.  The first decision was to exclude parts of the buildings in order to focus attention on particular details.

We see fishing nets and life preservers hanging from a railing.  We see window shutters of different colors.  If the photo showed the buildings in their entirety, these smaller details might have gone unnoticed.

Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

The second decision was where to draw the lines for the section that was included.  I wanted to include the green downspout on the right side of the frame.  I thought that it highlighted the edge of the photo nicely.

At the bottom of the frame I included part of a staircase and a sloping stone wall.  The opposing angles appealed to my sense of balance.  I trimmed the lower features a bit in order to hide some potentially distracting elements.

The building on the left was tricky.  Originally, I wanted to include only the two windows with the open shutters.  However, this would have required cropping through the leftmost door.

If you put your hand over the left edge of the photo and move it in toward the blue shutter, you can see the effect that I wanted to avoid.  I felt that it would have been a distraction.  I included the leftmost window in order to avoid cropping through this door.  It's not a perfect solution, but I felt that it was an effective compromise.

I'll mention one more detail.  It's so subtle that it's easy to miss, but I felt that it was important when framing the shot.  The distance to from the bottom of the doors to the bottom of the frame is approximately the same distance between the top of the windows and the top of the frame.  There is a similar consistency between the left and right sides of the frame.  I feel that this consistency in opposing margins gives added balance to the composition.

No cropping was done in post processing (although I'm not opposed to doing so when it helps the final composition).

Evaluation

There's no mathematical test for a good composition.  If such an algorithm existed, we could let an app in out smart phones make all of the compositional decisions for us. 

That said, when we compare two photographs of the same scene side by side, one will almost always impress us as being be the better of the two.  Our minds evaluate details and pick out the better composition almost instantly.

When we're shooting we need to be aware details that could make an image seem cluttered, disorganized, or poorly arranged.  The viewer will make those assessments, and we don't want to disappoint them.

The Human Factor

We can apply guidelines and principles to the composition of a visual image, but there is always room for interpretation.  I made certain decisions when shooting the photo above, and I can justify those decisions, but someone else would shoot the scene differently.  Countless individual interpretations are possible.

Taste, style, and the experience and personality of the photographer are critical factors in composition.  A photograph is as much a portrait of the photographer as it is a collection of the elements that are visible within the frame.

Camera: Nikon D800

Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VRII

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Ghost Towns

Boom and Bust in the Old West

Ghost towns are strangely fascinating places.  Idolized in stories about the hardships of the Old West, these communities were deserted by their citizens and left to crumble in the wake of financial collapse or other turns of misfortune.

Times change, promises fade, mines close, wells run dry, and business moves on.  Today, only the shells of buildings remain, bare walls and foundations stripped of lumber, copper, and other valuable materials.

General Store, Rhyolite Ghost Town, Nevada

Perhaps the ghost town is the architectural equivalent of an obituary page, a volume of cautionary tales foretelling the demise that awaits those who take foolish risks or rely too heavily on the good graces of providence.

The ghost town is bleak, bankrupt, crumbling, and deserted, yet we still feel compelled have a glance or even spend a few hours exploring their mysteries.

The ghost town represents our fears come true.  We want reassurance that this bitter fate won't happen to us, to our homes, to our towns. 

Rough times hit everyone sooner or later.  No one understands this better than those who have seen ruin and devastation up close.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lenses: Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved