Light Happens

Saturday, August 30, 2014

The High Key Portrait

Creative Overexposure

Backgrounds are critical to photographic composition, For portraits, the background should be clean and uncluttered. Any recognizable object can distract from the subject.

In the studio, the portrait model is placed in front of smooth, featureless paper or a patch of evenly-colored cloth. But when we shoot on location, we need to select our backgrounds carefully.

If we can't find a featureless background on location, we still have options. There are techniques that will render a background invisible.

Consider placing the subject in front of a brightly illuminated area. When you expose properly for the subject's face, the bright background area will be overexposed.

Normally, we want to avoid overexposure. But every possibility has a creative application, even one that's typically thought of as a mistake.

High Key Portrait Lighting

When overexposed, the background looks washed out. Details disappear into a soft blur that surrounds the model with a halo-like glow. I find this technique to be particularly effective for models with light hair.

Special thanks to Victoria, a lovely young model who was energetic, pleasant, and hard working.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Big Apple Snapple

How Did I Miss THAT?

We can't see beyond the frame of a photograph. We can't see what's off to the side by angling our head a bit. The contents of the frame are fixed forever. Their placement requires thoughtful consideration.

A composition is strengthened when we highlight important elements and exclude items that might distract from the theme of the image. But there are always challenges when shooting in a dynamic environment.

Some objects are too small to be seen in the viewfinder. We notice them only when we blow the image up to a larger size.

Other items "get in the way" while we're shooting. We have no choice but to include them in the frame as tastefully as possible. If we wait, recompose, or attempt to switch lenses, we'll miss the moment altogether.

But there is a certain magic to photography that drives us to face these challenges and work through them.

street photography in the theater district new york

Big Apple Snapple

I spotted the man in the red soccer shirt crossing the street. The large blue bag on his cart contained cans and bottles. People gather bottles from trash cans and recycle them for cash.

If we were painting the scene, we would plan the placement of each element in advance. By contrast, a photograph can contain surprises. Oftentimes, those surprises are serendipitous.

Anyway, there he was with his bright red shirt, his big blue bag, and his long gray beard. I made a quick decision to photograph him against the busy backdrop of Broadway.

I took a look through the viewfinder and thought, "Wow! There's a lot going on here!"

I verified that my shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the man in motion.

I focused on the "LEFT TURN" street sign to prevent the camera from focusing on some distant object.

I saw the theater and the scaffolding in the left, the delivery truck and the man standing on the right. There wasn't much that I could do about them, but I felt that the two sides balanced out. I made a decision about the height of the camera based on the vertical lines in the scene, and I pressed the shutter button.

From decision to exposure, about one second had elapsed.

Now for the surprise! I was subconsciously aware of the "Snapple" sign while shooting, but I didn't notice the red "Apple" sign on the left until I saw the image on my computer.

And there they were! A nice little Apple/Snapple duo hanging out in distant corners of the frame, each balancing the other nicely: Apple and Snapple in the Big Apple.

Just another day on the busy blocks of Broadway! All that for a guy crossing the street with a bag of recyclables.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Changing of the Guard - Athens, Greece

Evzones at Constitution Square

The Evzones are elite Presidential Guards selected from Greece's armed forces.

The guards go through elaborate shift rotation exercises (a.k.a. The Changeing of the Guard) approximately every twenty minutes throughout the day. The changes are very popular with tourists.

a photo of the palace guard in athens greece

Palace Guard - Athens

The brown uniforms seen here are worn after sunset. During the day, they wear white with red vests. Note the cleats on the soles of the shoes.

Trivia - I was not aware of this when I photographed the guards, but according to Wikipedia the Evzones have a minimum height requirement of 6'1". These gentlemen are BIG. And FIT. They are well-trained, armed and ready, and they are a big hit with the tourists.

Camera: Nikon D800E (ISO 800)
Lens: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Big Church - Oia, Santorini

The Church of Panagia of Platsani

Don't worry if you can't remember this church's formal name. Everyone calls it The Big Church. It's a well-known landmark in Oia, a spectacular cliffside town on Santorini.

If you arrive in Oia by bus, you'll enter the square after passing a row of shops. It's a popular meeting point for tourists and locals alike. It's a busy place. Neighbors chat with neighbors. Travels share stories of their adventures in Greece. Tour groups listen to their guides while snapping countless photos.

a photo of the big church in oia santorini

The Church of Panagia of Platsani - Oia, Santorini

If you want take a picture of The Big Church without a single person in the frame, you'll have to be patient. Set up your tripod. Compose, focus, and meter. And then wait for a break in the continuous waves of foot traffic - five, ten, fifteen minutes...

And when you meet with that fleeting moment when the square clears, hope for perfect light and maybe a big, fluffy cloud passing behind the church.

Then there's that tree on the left. It actually sits directly in front of the church. I had to use a special optical technique in order to capture the entire front of the church.

Effectively, the image that you see is the left side of a larger, wider image. I didn't want to sacrifice resolution by cropping out part of the frame, so I used a special "perspective control" lens. This allowed me to capture the important section of that larger image without the penalty of cropping.

Santorini is filled with beautiful sites, the Big Church is unmatched for elegance and charm. This was not an easy photo to capture - I had to put some time and thought into it - but in the end, it was worth it.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens: Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5 II

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Be Ready

Political Rally - Athens

After an all-day drive from the north of Greece, I entered Athens at rush hour and worked my way toward the center of the city. Heavily armed police were everywhere; they seemed to be anticipating trouble.

I learned that the prime minister was about to give a speech in Constitution Square, just a block from my hotel. I wasn't sure whether it would be safe, but something compelled me to go out anyway.

a photo of a political rally in athens greece

Political Rally - Athens

I lined up with the other tourists to take some photos of the changing of the guard, but I noticed a crowd gathering in the square. I attempted a photo of the group against the color of the setting sun, but the difference in lighting was too extreme. The colors of the flags weren't registering.

When the prime minister made his entrance, two of his supporters lit flares. The flares provided enough light to make the shot work against the gradually darkening sky.

There was a lot of traffic on the street. I clicked off several shots, but most of contained at least part of a passing automobile. Two unobstructed exposures were all that I could manage.

The flares produced a lot of smoke very quickly. Within a few seconds, the entire scene was obscured by a thick cloud. I had taken my shots at just the right moment, a moment that would be impossible to repeat.

Be ready. It's in my signature because of the number of photo opportunities that I've missed by failing to follow this simple axiom. I'm fortunate that I didn't miss this special moment in Greece.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens: Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G AF-S VR2

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

Monday, April 28, 2014

Times Square Taxi Cabs

America's Most Famous Intersection

a photo of taxi cabs in motion in times square new york

New York - City In Motion - Times Square Taxi Cabs

Times Square, America's most famous intersection, is instantly recognizable, even for those who have never been to New York.

This is my one of my very favorite photos of Times Square. I took a number of shots of the traffic passing by. But when these two taxis passed at the same time, I knew that this exposure would be the magic moment of the evening.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III
Lens: Canon TS-E24mm f/3.5L II