The inLIGHTin Workshop

Site Migration Almost Complete

2012-02-02T04:44:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,
I am almost finished with migrating over the inlightinworkshop.com site over to this one... I got a handful of posts to move over and then we should be all set!

Thanks for your patience!
Mike

New Site for 2012

2012-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

The inLIGHTin Workshop is making the move from WordPress over to Blogger. I am taking the next couple days to port everything over from one site to another. Half the WordPress image files were missing anyways so this will give me a chance to re-do some posts the right way and bring back all those images! I mean what good is a photography site without any working photos to show right?

So yeah just give me a couple weeks to move everything over and then we'll take things from there. 2012 is going to be an exciting time for The inLIGHTin Workshop. Keep on checking back for updates.

Thanks for all your support!
Michael

How To Build A Home Photography Studio Cheaply

2011-12-30T04:28:00.000-08:00

Q: What does $93 in flooring get you?
A: A new studio on the cheap.

With two kids and a newly built house, I really had no time (or cash) to buck up and build a brand new home studio immediately. However, the weather outside has been getting colder and my portrait shoots were still booking. No one is interested in freezing their butts off outside so I had to think fast. I was left with little to no options so off to Home Depot for some studio triage. I found some remnant vinyl flooring that came pre-cut in a 12'x8' roll. It looks A LOT like hard wood flooring and but without the hassle of installing it. So I saved myself $30-40 by buying remnant and took it home.
I did try out this setup in my unfinished basement first but didn't like that backdrop a whole lot:

I used some old curtains from our daughter's room as the backdrop and it just screamed "amateur" to me so it was off to Plan B.

I closed off part of our living room just by moving some furniture and laid out the flooring for a second time (how nice is it that this floor is portable):

For reference: To the right of this picture I have some great windows for natural lighting in the mornings, and my trusty JTL Versalight studio strobe that I had since 2002. The set screws are stripped but I love this thing. It has a 60" Photoflex Convertible Umbrella attached to it as well for a nice large, single light source. The light is fired wirelessly through a PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver / Radio Slave.

For my backdrop I just used our walls. How easy is that? The people who built our house put used some matte white paint so that is what is there now. They were also nice enough to install an outlet literallay every 10' so I did have some Photoshop work to take one out of a coupl images but shooting at f/2 with my Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Lens helped a whole lot!
This really did the trick and I like the photos a whole lot more (thanks to my daughter, Addison who was my lovely model - and turning one next week)

All in all, we have a 14'x30' living room that opens up into the dining room so I have some room behind me to step back. The best part is that when the clients leave, then I can just roll up my floor and have my house back. All you really need is about 12'x12' of space and a blank white wall and you should be well underway to making a photo studio on the cheap.

~ Mike

Teaching Photography Classes in Buffalo, NY

2011-12-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder to all you local Buffalonians that I am available for one-on-one workshops in and around Buffalo, NY.

My guesses are that a lot of people will be getting some new gadgets and gizmos within the next couple weeks (maybe that Digital camera or Digital SLRs you've been asking Santa for?) and you will probably want to actually learn how to use it properly...

That is where The inLIGHTin Workshop comes in... Simply shoot me an email at inlightinworkshop[at]gmail[dot]com or call me directly at (716) 491-8854 and we can set something up.

These One-on-One Lessons are personalized to meet your particular needs and last two hours. Price: $250 BUY YOUR TICKET HERE

You'll probably end up dropping well over $100 on photography books and magazines that you'll never get around to reading so why not just buck up, spend a little more and get hands-on knowledge that you can apply immediately and take better photographs.

The most common topics include:
- Introduction to Digital photography
- How to use your camera
- Photography 101
- How to take better pictures
- Portfolio Review
- Flash Photography (on and off camera lighting)
- and whatever else crosses your mind...

Take a look at some Testimonials and see for yourself. These classes work and will take your photography to the next level.

Remember, life is too short take crappy pictures. Call today and set up your appointment.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael

Holiday Gift Ideas For The Photographer

2011-12-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

B&H Photo and Video is the place to go for all your holiday gift ideas for the photographers in your lives. They also carry a wide selection of audio visual and home entertainment products as well.

Check them out today. I always use B&H photo for my photographic needs.
Mike

10 Ways To Boost Your Photography Business

2011-07-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Ok so listen up! I think all you business owners need to read this top 10 list that I created and apply it to your business. If you actually follow some of these things then I can guarantee that you will notice some amazing results to drum up more business and be even more profitable. I would love to hear your feedback so take a couple minutes out and comment below.

Listen: Ask your clients questions and get feedback. Send out an email blast, call or have them fill out a quick survey. Heck, even take some out for coffee and get an idea of what the industry demands.
Be Speedy: We live in an era where we want everything and we want it yesterday. So figure out creative ways to give your clients immediate gratification and they will be on cloud 9. If you spend an extra couple bucks on shipping then it more important than you think!
Be Original: Be unique AND offer products and services that are unique. Be first or be forgotten!
Create A Website For Your Clients: I think I remember reading that over 50% of couples getting married make their own website. We can take this over and make one for them! My wife even has a blog for our children so this can apply to portrait photographers as well.
Partner Up: Think how you can partner up with other businesses to come up with ways for you both to get more business.
Shave: Give your business' spending a shave. Meet with clients at a home or your studio over a Starbucks. Don't spend so much money on all that damned photo gear. Instead put money towards marketing or here's a crazy thought, start making money! I would also suggest you re-negotiate your contracts and try to save money with the business that you outsource your work to (post processing, album design, etc.). Businesses all across the board are hurting and will probably be able to work for less.
Slideshows: This can be a powerful tool. Try doing a same day slideshow for your wedding clients. Put slideshow up at reception and do the same the night of the wedding or even give a slideshow to past clients and email out for Christmas or their Anniversary!
Tag 'Em: Facebook. Have you heard of it? Why not start using it more for your business? After you shoot a wedding or portrait job, post a couple of your favorites on Facebook and tag everyone in them. It is a great way to be pro-active and tap into your client's network of friends and family. Be sure to watermark your pictures with your logo and website and it will be some very profitable free marketing for your business.
Be Passionate: Re-visit your love for photography and get inspired again. We can all get burned out so it is important to remember why we started our business in the first place.
Share The Love: There are a lot of people out there who aren't as fortunate as us. Be sure to help out in your community and it will go a long way.

Take care!
Michael

Debt... And Other Business Killers

2011-05-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

Being a business owner has both its perks and struggles. I don't think I have felt "relieved" in all my 6 years of owning my business. I never gotten that sense of true freedom. Quite frankly, there are times a week where I wish I was just doing a 9-5 gig and I could leave my work at work instead of taking it home with me.

One of the biggest problems we face, in both in life and business, is debt. Debt is such a bad thing and can really turn you into a totally different person.

I tried my best to stay out of debt for my business. I always wanted to have cash on hand to pay for new gear, client albums, prints, etc... However, the nature of our business (especially in Buffalo) is pretty unreliable. Our long winters and crummy weather makes the wedding season short and jam packed! If I was in California then at least weddings could take place all year round... This means that I have a lot less time to cram in a yearly salary. Debt was something that could have easily crept up on me to cover the slow down times and whatnot. If you are a better photographer than you are a business owner then I totally see how the camera manufacturers and photography magazines can really drive up your "wish list" of gear! Do you need an $8,000 camera??? No, do you want one, YES! If you suck it up and keep your money from burning a hole in your pocket then you will be better off than most up-and-coming professional photographers in your area. The sooner you realize that you are not one of the handful of celebrity professional photographers the better you will be! These few lucky individuals get cameras, lenses and software handed to them to try and use. It's great to shoot for the stars and try to become them one day but face the facts... There are a million other photographers better than you and I who have a bigger following than we can ever imagine so just worry about feeding you and your family first... Nikon and Canon will find you if you are worth something to them. If you are photographing the best you possibly can and are always pushing yourself to the limits then your business will succeed. If you are lucky then someone will notice. Don't get your hopes up.

You also need to get paid if you want to make your business work. My first year or two was a real learning experience because I made just enough to cover my clients albums and products and had enough cash left over to upgrade some camera equipment (thank you photo magazines!). Good thing I had a 9-5 job to fall back on because that would have been pretty really to have made a living on only a couple thousand dollars profit.

Professionals say that it takes anywhere from 3-5 years for your business to start making money... That shouldn't mean that it should take you 3 to 5 years to make money either! You need to get paid! All that these professionals (business professionals and CPAs) are saying is that businesses incur start-up costs and debt which can take roughly 3 to 5 years to pay off in order for your company to be profitable. This has nothing to do with you because you need to make money today... NOT in 3-5 years.

So be sure to price your photography so that you can make money after all your time and effort. I recommend dividing your earnings into three sections. Make 1/3 of the fee cover all expenditures for your client such as wedding albums, prints, canvases, marketing materials, etc... Make the next 1/3 cover any camera equipment, computer equipment that you may need, want or have to upgrade. The last 1/3 will be your profits that go directly to yourself. I do recommend investing some money in learning and education. Do your research and attend a photography seminar or two. Make it beneficial and attend one where you can build your portfolio so find workshops that allow you to shoot. Plus you will probably pick up a lot of helpful pointers that can help you and your business succeed.

If you charge $1,000 for your photography then first smack yourself and then chop up the money you made... Put $333 to cover client products, $333 to cover new camera gear and then pocket the remaining $334. If the client is a shoot-and-burn client then you will obviously have a lot less tangible items to have to purchase (a DVD and CD case) so all that money in the client products can be divided up however you want.

The biggest problem that new business owners don't understand is that you technically need to make double what you "actually" want to make. If you would like health insurance, retirement plan, etc... then you, as a business, need to front that. If it's your goal to make $50,0000 a year as a photographer then you will NEED to make $100,000 a year to cover your insurance, 401k and more.

It's fairly easy to gross $50,000 as a photographer but good luck trying to gross $100,000 at it!!! If you can do this then you are doing something REALLY right! Well done!

This article isn't meant for me to be a Debbie Downer on you. It is a realistic post about what it takes to be a profitable business owner. Don't fall into traps, keep your money in your hands and keep satisfying your clients above and beyond the call of duty and you will be good to go.

Thanks for stopping by,
Michael

inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions

2011-03-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce the release of our inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions.

I am super excited to unveil something that I have been working on for quite some time now. I've been crafting these Photoshop Actions for well over 2 years and have compiled my favorite 85+ actions to share with everyone. My inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions give you a whole new world of photo editing that is just a mouse click away. I made sure to make these actions as simple and effective as possible thereby being suitable for both beginners and professional photographers alike. My inLIGHTin'ed Actions cover everything from image correction (White Balance Correction, Exposure Correction, Color Correction, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, etc.) to Awesome Black and White conversions as well as a boat load of Image Effects (Film Effects, Nostalgia Effects, Color Enhancements) that will turn your JPEG files from bland to brilliant! Take a look at some sample actions below.

Price: $125

Thanks for your support
~Mike

Nikon Flash And Exposure Compensation

2011-01-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

Just a quick FYI for you Nikon shooters out there. In case you didn't know already, Nikon does something really cool (yet can bite you in the you know what) when you are shooting in Av, Tv or P modes.

Cameras are getting smarter, but they are still stupid. The technology now is better than ever yet the cameras still can (and do) get fooled.

When you set your camera up to shoot in Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv) or Program (P) mode, all that the camera does is set your Shutter and/or Aperture values for 18% gray. Awesome if you are shooting concrete, crummy if you are shooting a bride.

We therefore have to "enlighten" the camera and tell it that what it 'thinks' it knows is wrong and override the settings. This is done via the Exposure Compensation button. Set it to some plus or minus value and the camera will then over/under expose each shot by however many stops you choose...

But how does that work if you have a flash mounted to your camera?

Nikon has the best flash technology that I have seen par none and they thought long and hard about this and came up with the following:

Nikon takes the flash exposure compensation that the speedlight is set to AND THEN factors in what the camera's exposure compensation is. What this means is that if your flash is set to -1 ev (exposure value) while your camera is set to +1 ev then your flash will actually be outputting 0 ev.

If your camera is set to -.3ev and your flash is set to -.7 ev then your flash will actually operate at -1 ev...

If you are studious enough then you may be asking yourself "...but what happens when we switch our camera over to Manual mode?"

Great question and I'm glad you asked that...
When you switch over to Manual mode, the flash exposure compensation will still honor the -.3ev or -.7ev or whatever your exposure compensation (along with flash exposure compensation) is set to.

So make sure your camera's exposure compensation is set to 0ev when you want to make sure that it isn't going to affect anything.

Enjoy!
Michael

Introducing Baby Addison

2011-01-07T04:20:00.000-08:00

My wife Rebecca gave birth to our new little bundle of joy on Monday, January 3rd at 10:30 AM. Addison Julianne Bielat came into this world at 7 pounds 13 ounces. It was quite the shock for us because she came three weeks early. Man what a surprise that was!

Both Becky and A.J. are at home and doing well and our son Cameron is loving the fact that he is a big brother.

I am taking some time off to spend some quality time with the family. My workshops will still be available but I probably won't be updating this site much while I spend some quality time with the family.

Michael

Happy Holidays from the inLIGHTin Workshop

2010-12-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...

Just wanted to wish you all a safe and Happy Holiday season. Sorry for being lax in the articles lately. Life has been hectic the past month. We sold our house, we're building a new one so we are packing and moving everything into storage and all sorts of good stuff like that. Becky (the wife) only has a couple more weeks left in the pregnancy so it's likely that she will be born during this time of move to make things even more crazier over here. Then I am finishing up last minute wedding albums and fulfilling holiday orders for my 2010 photography clients.

But anyone who knows me knows that this is how I roll. If it isn't complete chaos then I had nothing to do with it ;)

I will keep you all posted with when workshops and new articles will be released.

Happy Holidays!
Mike

Advanced Lighting with Speedlights

2010-10-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

Want to start "making" photos instead of simply "taking" photos? One of the best ways to start is to incorporate some advanced lighting techniques with your flash (or flashes).

Shooting with available lighting is great and all and can really do the trick. As a matter of fact I made a career out of it for a couple years until I could afford some flashes myself.

STEP 1 - BABY STEPS:
You have to crawl before you can walk and definitely before you can run... The same goes for flash photography. It is a whole new ballgame that can really mess with your current understanding of ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed and how they work with one another. With that in mind, start off with your flash mounted on your camera. Practice fill flash techniques and practice bounce flash techniques. The good news is that you should be able to start shooting in darker locations with better results. This is true even if you have inexpensive variable aperture "kit" lenses. Simply play around with TTL mode and work on riding your flashes' exposure compensation. Not enough flash? Increase the exposure compensation. Too much flash? Dial it down and try again. I would definitely suggest using manual mode for setting your ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed... Using Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Program Mode will introduce other factors that can complicate things.

STEP 2 - HIGH SPEED SYNC (AKA Auto FP)
High speed sync is something that you may have to enable on your camera and/or flash unit. Refer to your manual on how to do this. Once enabled, you will notice that you can use shutter speeds faster than 1/200" or 1/250." This is high speed sync and it removes the limitations of having to otherwise being forced to use your camera's maximum sync speed or slower (refer to your manual for this value -- it's typically 1/200" or 1/250"). High speed sync is a life saver and is what allows you to dial down intense ambient light (like the sun) and also to be able to use wide open apertures. If you didn't have this capability then you would have to bring along a studio strobe, portable AC Power Pack and triggering device so you can shoot at like ISO 100, 1/250" at F/16. High speed sync is a lot cheaper and a lot more portable!

STEP 3 - OFF-CAMERA FLASH (MANUAL MODE)
Using your flash off-camera is a great way to learn lighting. In TTL mode, the camera does it all for you and the flash output will change from shot to shot. By switching your flash to manual mode, you are essentially treating it like a studio strobe and your flash will now only fire at the output you selected. This means your light will be consistent from shot to shot to shot. This setting is great for when things are not going to move (e.g. studio, portraits, etc...) Good luck if you are shooting sports (or a little kid on the move) this way. This is also where you can try incorporating a second (or third flash). The best part here is that you do not need the top of the line flashes, or even flashes from the same brand for that matter! You can get 3-4 cheap flashes for the price of one new model, brand name flash.
Just look for flashes that can shoot in manual mode. Bonus points if it also has a PC Sync port. Otherwise, you will have to purchase some additional items like special hot shoe mounts that have a pc sync port.

You could still fire the flashes using the Nikon wireless but your flashes have to be in direct line of sight with one another in order for it to work. Consider using a PC sync cable, IR triggers or Radio triggers for added reliability.

STEP 4 - HIGH SPEED SYNC OFF-CAMERA
Take all the techniques mentioned above and roll them into one! Incorporate a couple different flashes and play around. Try setting the flashes to different exposure compensation values and experiment.

For some extra fun, throw on some light modifiers like a softbox, gel, gobo, snoot or honeycomb / grid for added effects.

Share your flash stories by commenting below.

Thanks for stopping by.
Michael

Nikon i-TTL-BL Flash Setting

2010-10-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

I am by no means am I the most perfect amazing lighting master guru guy.
However, the one thing about me is that I am always trying to learn and re-learn stuff. For example, I was just recently taking a look at Nikon's micro-site all about their Creative Lighting System (CLS) and wanted to brush up on my TTL knowledge.

One thing jarred my memory and reminded me of something that I meant to write about for a while now-- the i-TTL BL setting. See way back in the early days of Nikon's TTL flash technology that I can remember (circa 2002), the BL in i-TTL stood for Back-Lit. Today, Nikon re-branded it by now referring i-TTL-BL as meaning BaLanced Fill-Flash!

Here is the definition from Nikon: "Nikon's i-TTL (intelligent through-the-lens) Balanced Fill-Flash automatically balances the output of the Nikon Speedlight and the scene's ambient light.

Immediately before the main flash goes off, the Speedlight fires a series of monitor pre-flashes, which convey Information about the scene's lighting to the camera. Combined with information from the camera's 3D Color Matrix metering system, the information is analyzed to adjust flash output to balance the scene's ambient light.

All of this complex processing happens in a fraction of a second, before each exposure, to provide unprecedented levels of flash precision and performance."

I always have my flash set to i-TTL BL with my SB-900s. Why? Because I want my lighting to be balanced with the ambient light... I found that Nikon's technology does an amazing job at "knowing" what is going on in front of it and compensating appropriately. Granted, it is just 1s and 0s and it can be fooled but so can anything else with camera technology. It is important to think in advance and realize how much light you need (and want) in your image. For example, do you want a little catch light in the eyes? Maybe a little fill flash to fill in some wrinkles or harsh shadows or maybe you want to do some dramatic lighting like the pic below:

Image shot using the Nikon D700. Off Camera Flash (camera left) set to i-TTL -2ev to resemble a car headlight in this parking garage.

Attention Canon shooters: It's important to note that Canon's e-TTL II behaves in a similar way to Nikon speedlights. That's good news for you Canon flash guys.

Thanks for stopping by.
Mike

Hildozine PocketWizard Caddy Review

2010-10-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

I recently sold off most of my studio strobes in favor of using my speedlights. I have enough Nikon SB-900 speedlights to create a simple studio that is fast to set up and fast to tear down, which is great for on-location lighting.

If you have ever shot with me then you know how much I love high speed sync (Auto FP). In my opinion, this is where Nikon's speedlights and technology really excel over other camera manufacturers.

However, there are times when I want to simply shoot with my speedlights in manual mode because I want a consistent flash exposure from shot to shot. This is when I break out my trusty PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver units and hook them up to the pc sync input of my speedlights.

My only problem with this was figuring out how the heck to mount these things!

Now I use the term 'was' because I found a solution. Hildozine makes something called the PocketWizard Caddy and it securely mounts your PocketWizard to your lightstand or speedlight with ease. No messy velcro to mount on your expensive equipment and no sloppily hanging cables and devices. Plus they are only $15 each!

The PocketWizard Caddy is essentially a plate with a elastic cord which mounts by screwing into the 1/4" thread on the PocketWizard.

The only hiccup with the design is that it covers the battery door. Granted PocketWizards seem to run forever on the same batteries, it does make for a little added hassle when you do need to replace them.

I can now mount my PocketWizard to either my speedlights or light stand with ease. No velcro all over my equipment and no mess of bungee cords and rubber bands. It is rugged and just works.

I have a total of three PocketWizards at this time and have myself two of these caddies and really love them. These are one of those products that is nice to have and is more of a convenience than anything. Hey, for $30 you can't go wrong...

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Video Light For Photographers

2010-10-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

Video light rocks! It's a continuous light source which means that you can physically "see" what the light is doing. From there, all you have to do is set your exposure up just as you would if you were shooting in natural light. No need to worry about your sync speed or anything related to flash photography. It is just good, quick lighting.

This shot was taken at an old movie theater in downtown Albany, NY. I used my generic Smith-Victor video light to illuminate my subject and worked the barn doors of the light to prevent light falling too far off of her. The video light puts out a decent amount of light so my settings were 1/60 sec. at f/2.8 @ ISO 800.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox Review

2010-09-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Honl Photographic was awesome enough to send me their Traveller8 Softbox for their speed strap system in preparation for my upcoming PPA Super Monday workshop on "Off-Camera Flash Techniques." I took it out for a spin and put it through its paces and am really, really, really happy with the results.

From HonlPhoto.com: "Create beautiful soft light from David's innovative new softbox design, with the quality and sturdiness you've come to expect from all Honl Photo Professional lighting products. Extremely easy to setup and attach to your shoe-mount flash unit using our popular Speed Strap (included). Folds flat to tuck into your camera bag, and weighs in at less than 4 ounces. Provides a pleasing circular catchlight in your subject's eyes. Fits most any shoe-mount flash by Nikon or Canon as well as larger units like the Vivitar 285."

The size of the softbox is roughly 11x9 inches folded and its look and feel is very rugged. It will definitely hold its own and I have confidence that it will not rip or tear even with me beating on it.

I photographed a senior portrait session over at a local park here and my setup was REAL simple. We're talking just my Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR Lens, PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers, Nikon SB-900 Speedlight, Portable Light stand and the Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox. I started shooting with a camera strap again which is nice because I can cart around my light stand with ease and throw my camera over my shoulder to free up my hands when working with my flash settings and whatnot.

Since I was using the PocketWizards, I had to shoot with my Nikon SB-900 speedlight in Manual mode. This also meant that I had to conform to my camera's maximum sync speed (1/250") and could not do any high-speed sync whatsoever.

I had to work the power of the flash, the distance between the flash and subject, ISO and Aperture to control the effect my flash had in the photo while my shutter speed simply controlled the amount of ambient light recorded. The Honl Traveller8 softbox is small enough to provide a tight light pattern on my subject and didn't really light anything that I didn't want it to. Since it is small, that also means that it won't get knocked over during windy days nearly as easy as my large 60" umbrella or 28" Westcott Apollo softbox. Due to the Traveller8's size and light pattern, I would really only use this for lighting a couple people. Any more and I would move to a larger light modifier like the 28" Apollo softbox or my 60" umbrella.

Here are some shots from the portrait session with the Traveller8 Softbox:

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The Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox is $70 at B&H and comes packaged with a Speed Strap so that is an added bonus.

I would highly recommend this product for it's price, portability and usefulness for on-the-go lighting. I'd love to hear your thought on it if you own one too so comment below and share your experiences.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Thanks Honl Photographic

2010-09-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

Honl Photographic was awesome enough to send over some great goodies for my upcoming PPA Super Monday Workshop all about Off-Camera Flash Techniques.

I think this means I will have to do some giveaways throughout the workshop.

This is really awesome of Honl Photographic to support the inLIGHTin Workshop like this so please check out their website at www.honlphoto.com and show some love.

Look at all the merch:

I hope to see you all on the 25th of October!
Mike

2010-09-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

Speedlights are awesome! They are portable and yet really robust as to what they offer. I guess that is why some of them run upwards to around $400+.

One of the features many have is the ability to zoom the flash head. Take my Nikon SB-900s for example, they can zoom from 12/17mm up to 200mm (on my DX/FX camera) which can give me a lot of variations of light. It is almost like a built-in snoot. Here's why: When the flash is mounted to the camera, it automatically zooms to match up with the lenses focal length and sends enough light to spread across the entire scene. Therefore, a wide-angle lens needs a lot of light spread out in order to light up everything properly. On the other hand, light needs to get thrown out, more like a "beam," when using a telephoto lens because it has to go further and cover less of the scene.

The beauty of this really comes into play when you are shooting off-camera with your flash. Take a look at the example image below:

This picture was taken at a recent wedding. I used high-speed sync to darken the background and used my flash off camera to illuminate both the bride and groom. I set the speedlight to zoom all the way up to 200mm so that it would shoot a beam of light directly on the couple's faces and fall off fairly quick. This flash was held as far out as I could in my left hand as I held my camera with my right. I used my Nikon D700's pop up flash as Commander mode only to trigger the off-camera flash for me. I believe the flash was set to +1.3ev as well. My 24-70mm lens was used here because that wide angle allows me to get in close so the flash can be close enough to hit my subjects (inverse square law 101).

Moral of the story, you don't always have time to set up and light a scene the way you want to when it comes to weddings. You have to prepare and pre-plan for these things and roll with the punches. No light stand, no softbox, no assistants holding reflectors. Just me and my flash.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Featured on PPA.com

2010-09-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

The Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the world’s largest nonprofit association for professional photographers, with more than 20,000 members in 54 countries. This association seeks to increase its members’ business savvy as well as broaden their creative scope, advancing careers by providing all the tools for success...as they have since 1880.

I am hosting a Super Monday Workshop for the PPA and they have chosen to feature me on their website:

Click here to read the entire article: http://www.ppa.com/ppa-today-blog/super-monday/super-monday-instructors-flash.php

Super excited about this one!
Enjoy.
Michael

Available Lighting

2010-09-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

Available lighting is something that I think a lot of photographers take for granted and I am guilty of this as well...

As photographers, we buy all these cool gadgets, gizmos, light modifiers and whatever else and totally over-complicate our setup.

More stuff = more problems.

This is one of the big reasons why I am downsizing all my gear for 2011. I used to think that golf had a ton of wacky gizmos but now I am thinking that photographers have them beat!

One of the things that is available to us, free of charge, is available light:

I have always tried to not book multiple outdoor portrait sessions in one single day. If you do then rock on! I prefer to shoot when the light is under that "golden hour" when the sun is setting and the light becomes softer and more easy to work with. My client gets that full hour of my time then and that light is theirs and theirs alone.

If you have ever tried doing a photo shoot under high noon sun without any overcast or shade (or worse, in a park with trees) and you will know what I am talking about! It takes A LOT more work to even out that light that you simply don't have to put yourself through. Sure you could cart along studio strobes, large diffusion tents, a staff of 12 assistants to shield the light but why bother if you don't have to??? Good luck if you are photographing children... Try moving at their speed with all that equipment!

When I was starting out I had a Nikon D100 D-SLR, two entry level lenses (variable aperture of like f/3.5 to f/5.6) and one speedlight (Nikon SB-800). I didn't have millions of things to work with yet I still got the job done. I did this by being prepared and booking my portrait sessions at logical times when the light was right.

guess what? YOU CAN TOO!

Just put your subject in a shady area or use window light to your advantage for amazing results. If your shooting outdoors, add a little fill flash (-1 ev to start) to create a catch light in the eyes for good measure.

Book some portrait jobs, build the portfolio (blog or website), book more jobs from the portfolio and keep racking in the $$$. With money you can start to upgrade your equipment. You will know what you NEED (not WANT) simply through remembering the struggles that you encounter when doing your portrait assignments. It is a slow process but a worthwhile one since debt sucks!

Available lighting... Use it!

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael

Honl Speed System Review

2010-09-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

Honl Photo http://www.honlphoto.com has some really cool light modifiers that I have been using for quite some time now. The Speed Strap system is for flashes / speedlights only. They are portable, rugged and really fun to play with.

Honl Speed Strap system

Honl Speed Strap: $10
Honl Speed Snoot/bounce card reflector - 8": $30
Honl Speed Grid 1/8": $30

Honl's Speed Strap system also has other accessories like color correction filter kits, color effect filter kits, gobos and a really cool 11x9" Traveler8 round softbox ($70) that I am drooling over.

The closest thing I have to the softbox is the Westcott Apollo 28" softbox but man does that guy take up some space even when it isn't folded up. Additionally, you need the flash to be off-camera AND mounted to an umbrella adapter and light stand for it all... Not my idea of "portable."

There isn't much to say about these things except for that they are REALLY great. The speed strap is essentially one long thin-ish Velcro strap (soft side on outside, rough side on inside) that you wrap around your flash head.

Easy to put on, easy to take off.

From there, you use the speed strap to mount the various light modifiers that I mentioned above.

Yes, the speed strap itself is essentially an overpriced Velcro strap but it looks good, holds up well and can be used for so much more than just the Honl stuff.

For example, it can stay mounted on your speedlight and hold your RadioPopper PX transmitter unit in lieu of having to physically mount a strip of velcro to your flash head. You can also hook up a PocketWizard to some velcro and strap it on the Honl and run a PC sync to PC sync cable on your camera (that is IF you have a PC sync input like on the Nikon D700) and fire BOTH your speedlight AND a studio strobe at the same time... Crazy lighting possibilities all with the help of Velcro. So yeah that Speed Strap is well worth the extra couple bucks then having to ghetto rig one yourself.

If you own an entry level flash such as the Nikon SB-400, Nikon SB-600, Canon 430EX, etc which doesn't have a bounce card then you can still save a ton of money and get the Honl speed strap and bounce card for around a hundred less then having to upgrade to a better flash unit... Great way to keep your equipment and get the most out of it. I was going to do a post on making one yourself using some foam paper found at a craft store but screw it, get a Honl and it will do wonders (and won't look like an art school project from hell)

Two big thumbs up for the Honl Speed System. Highly recommended. Check out Honl Photo's website at: www.honlphoto.com

PS, I will be rocking out the Honl Speed System at my PPA sponsored Super Monday workshop that deals with "Off Camera Flash Techniques." Come on by and try them out for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael

Host A Photography Workshop In Your City

2010-09-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

I am making a vow to make 2011 the year of inLIGHTment!

Hosting a workshop is a great way (FREE) way to get an amazing photographic eduction that is in your neck of the woods. To host an inLIGHTin Workshop, all you have to do is pick a location (such as a home or photography studio) and get people to attend. You are rewarded for your hard work by receiving a FREE Workshop Ticket (a $350+ value) and some great goodies from the inLIGHTin Workshop and sponsors.

If you are interested in having The inLIGHTin Workshop come to your hometown and do a photography workshop then all you have to do is email me at: inlightinworkshop(at)gmail(dot)com and we can get the ball rolling.

I will reply back ASAP to answer any questions and to make all the necessary arrangements.

Thanks for your support. I look forward to taking a trip to your neck of the woods in 2011!
Michael

Online Photography Workshops

2010-09-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

I did some final testing last night and things are ready to roll.

I am now offering Online inLIGHTin Workshops so you can improve your photography right from the comfort of your own home (and on your time). I have a lot of readers from across the globe and this allows for you all to experience the same learning that all the locals are bragging about.

These online workshops are are done using Skype because it is free software for Windows and Macs and allows us to not only video chat but share our screens as well (which is great for post-processing and workflow lessons).

I will be offering these Online One-On-One inLIGHTin Photography Workshops for a price of $50 per hour for a limited time only. Workshop topics can consist of anything of your choosing (photography 101, lighting techniques, posing, post processing, workflow, business, etc...).

Contact me at inlightinworkshop (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any questions and to schedule a workshop. Payment is due beforehand and is non-refundable.

Keep on shooting!
Mike

New Nikon D3100

2010-08-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Nikon recently announced a new camera body and three lenses for 2010. The camera sounds great but only one lens appeals to me and that is the new 85mm f/1.4 lens.
The Nikon D3100 has some real great bells and whistles and is quite the entry level camera! Decent low light performance as well. I think that the coolest features happen to be the higher resolution, the fact that it shoots 1080P video and that there is auto focus (finally) when shooting video!

* 14.2 Megapixels
* 3" LCD
* Live View
* HD 1080p Video w/ Sound & Autofocus
* 11-point Autofocus
* 3 Frames per Second Shooting
* ISO 100 to 3200 (Expand to 12800-Hi2)
* Self Cleaning Sensor
* EXPEED 2, Image Processing Engine
* Scene Recognition System

The Nikon D3100 is available for pre-order over at B&H Photo for under $700. If I was just starting out then you better believe that this would be the camera that I would get! Click HERE to pre-order.

2010-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

I would have to say that 90% of all photography businesses have a dreaded "slow" season. Slow is definitely a term that is loosely used. To some, it may mean NO business while others may only have monthly sales averages that are still in the thousands... Whatever the case may be, it stinks!

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your slow season:

1.) Take A Loss. A loss leader that is! The economy is tough these days so people may not be knocking down the doors begging for your business. Get your name out there, come up with sales or events that will drive traffic your way. Maybe consider doing some promotions that serve as loss leaders. Wikipedia defines a loss leader as "a product sold at a low price (at cost or below cost) to stimulate other, profitable sales. It is a kind of sales promotion, in other words marketing concentrating on a pricing strategy." So get people in the door at cost and get them to purchase prints and products afterwords.

2.) Focus On Your Marketing. Take a step back and plan out your goals and how you will achieve them. Plan out a full year's worth of marketing on your calendar. This means everything from due dates to email blast / mailing dates. Color code them and be sure to stick to your guns! We all know how postponing something one day leads to another... and another.... and another. You get the point. Having this in effect will ensure that next year, you get steady business coming in because you planned for it.

3.) Do Some Charity Work. It is always great to do something for others. Why not do some photo shoots where proceeded go to a worthwhile charity? It will make you feel great about yourself and will get your face out there in the community.

4.) Create. Put a couple orders in for some new sample products for the year and show them off on your blog or web site. Combine that with a loss leader promotion that we talked about already and you may have a hit on your hands. This could be anything from new products to new props or photo shoot ideas.

5.) Write. Get yourself involved in the photography community. Post photos, tips and tricks or write articles for various web sites and become a known face in the industry. It can help get you some street cred while showing your clients that you mean business.

6.) Learn. Attend a seminar, workshop or webinar. Join a photography forum or even buy a photography book. I am far from perfect with my photography but one of my strengths is that I am always learning... I am like a sponge when it comes to photography and am always picking up new things.

7.) Network. Go and meet with other vendors in your industry or niche market. Wedding photographers; meet with cake vendors, florists and videographers. Portrait photographers; visit boutique toy and clothing stores along with other places that cater to the caliber or clients you want to have. It takes time to do this so start building your network sooner rather than later.

8.) Update Your Portfolio. Now is the best time to add pics to your slideshows, web site and blog and get your latest and greatest work into rotation. You should always be improving so show potential clients your best work. This can sometimes be like pulling teeth but is a necessary evil and will pay off if you do the time.

9.) Do Some Spring Cleaning. Did you do some impulse buying last year? Have you upgraded your equipment or computer? Hit up eBay and sell some of your stuff that is just collecting dust so you can keep some coin in your bank account.

10.) Post a comment below. Let me know if you have some good tips on how you keep productive and busy during the slow season...

Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by.
Mike

Instaproofs.com Review

2010-08-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

I was never big on image hosting companies probably because I have always been burned in the past. I started off using Imagequix which was great but then moved to Pictage because all the "rock star" photographers were using them.

I have had some real big issues with Pictage back in 2006-2007 so I made the move to collages.net where I stayed for a couple years. Business was picking up in 2008 and my first year promotion with collages.net was up so I switched back to Pictage (under new management. I can vouch that they did clean things up since then and are now actually great to work with). I made the switch back because I was looking to outsource some of my work like album design and print fulfillment which was well worth it. Now, that I re-branded once again as Michael Alan Bielat Photographers I am focusing less on the quantity of weddings that I shoot and more on the quality of weddings that I shoot. This involved a considerable price increase for my wedding photography services and whatnot. I am not imagining to be shooting 30+ weddings with this price increase so I didn't want to be locked into a contract with an online proofing company which I may or may not use as much as I used to... That was the only reason why I left Pictage once again.

So that left me in the market once again with needing a new image hosting company. Enter instaproofs.com! First and foremost, it is FREE to host your images with them. That's right F-R-E-E! Secondly, they have a great user interface that is intuitive to the users and allows for you to sell your prints even. No they don't have a full team to design albums for you or to handle your print fulfillment but man FREE is a tough thing to pass up!

How it works: You set up an account with instaproofs.com All you have to do is create an event and then you can use their drag and drop user interface to add images to the event. You can even FTP the images to them directly if you have more than 50 or so. A couple clickity clicks and that's it, the event is live. You can set an expiration date, add a password to the event and a whole slew of other things. You even get to add a promotion like 25% off prints to try and boost print sales.

The only gotcha with this FREE hosting thing here is that Instaproofs does take 15% out of your print sales to help keep them alive. This is great because they don't get paid unless you do. It is a real nice way to help them out so they can continue doing what they do without you being tied to any contracts or monthly payments. For example, I just got a print order for $330 and Instaproofs received around $50 out of that. No problem whatsoever in my book because I didn't have to pay a monthly fee. I don't know about you but I do not rely on my print sales from weddings or events that I shoot. I consider these a "bonus" and put it towards equipment purchases or fun stuff for the family. Since I don't rely on it, that means it isn't super important so this free hosting is great! Here is what they say on their website: "Instaproofs does what it can to maximize your time, and minimize your costs. Your 15% (maximum) commission goes to pay for the credit card processing fees, merchant account fees, image storage costs, site improvements, unlimited uploading and downloading bandwidth, stellar tech support, multiple order management tools, automated email marketing, etc."

The second gotcha is that YOU need to do the print fulfillment yourself. I am cool with this because I love WHCC so I had no problem finding a reason to use them more. I was going to use WHCC's Pickpic service and pay their one time $1500 fee to do so but they recently switched over to monthly payments so that was out of the questions. Now I get affordable image hosting AND I get to use the print lab that I love. Win-win in my book. I use WHCC's ROES interface to place the order and have the prints drop shipped directly to the buyer.

So I cannot recommend instaproofs.com enough. I never had to use their Customer Service but they are a pleasure to work with. You get to set your own prices and you get to rake in print sales without ever worrying about paying for monthly plans.

For more info, visit instaproofs at www.instaproofs.com

~Mike

PPA Super Monday Off-Camera Flash Techniques Curriculum

2010-08-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the PPA Super Monday class which I will be teaching. The title of the course is "Off-Camera Flash Techniques" (reference course # NY20) and we will be covering the following in depth. Yes, I will be covering on-camera flash techniques as well. It will be taught by yours truly and I cannot wait. I am counting down the days. Here is the info:

Date: Monday, October 25th, 2010
Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Location: My Studio in Lancaster, NY.
Price: $99
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. (Reference Course #NY20)

Off-Camera Flash Techniques Curriculum:

Introduction
Photo 101 - Crash Course (shutter speed, aperture, ISO)
Speedlight Crash Course (modes, settings, features, etc.)
Bounce Flash Techniques (on camera)
Fill-Flash Techniques (on and off camera)
Manual Flash Photography (off camera)
Portable Studio Lighting with Speedlights (off camera)
TTL (Through The Lens) Flash Photography (on and off camera)
High Speed Sync Flash Techniques (on and off camera)

We will be breaking for lunch and dinner (30 min each). Models will be on-hand so you can immediately start applying what you learned here and try out these techniques. I will teach, demonstrate and then let you try it out yourself. I will be available at that time to answer questions. The number of models available depends on the number of students so that you can all have some shooting time.

If you aren't already aware, I am a Nikon shooter and will be demonstrating with Nikon equipment. I did used to be a Canon shooter so I will be able to help you out with your questions and whatnot so no worries ;)

WHAT TO BRING:

Yourself.
Digital SLR.
Lenses (one or more).
Notebook and pen.
Speedlight(s).
Flash accessories and light stand(s)*

*Not mandatory.

I am really looking forward to this event. It's sponsored by the Professional Photographers of America. If you are a photographer and are NOT a member then you owe it to yourself to become one! I hope to see you all there. If you are a member then I believe that you get yourself a merit point for attending which looks great on your PPA portfolio.

Here are the details once again:
Date: Monday, October 25th, 2010
Time: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Location: My Studio in Lancaster, NY.
Price: $99
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. (Reference Course #NY20)

~Mike

I'm A PPA Super Monday Instructor

2010-08-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CLASS

Coming to a Studio Near You (or more like me)

(Lancaster, NY)—Many people have an interest in photography, but how many actually have the skills and knowledge to become a professional? On Monday October 25, 2010 at 9:00 AM), Michael Alan Bielat of Paramour Photography in Lancaster, New York will be sharing his expertise as a professional photographer, helping you learn and fine-tune both on and off-camera techniques, such as fill flash, bounce flash.

Michael's class, "Off-Camera Flash Techniques", is part of a nationwide educational event by Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Called Super Monday—as the majority are held on Mondays—these classes have been a huge success each year. Known for individual and focused attention, Super Monday features educational classes on diverse topics around the country, hosted by professional photographers.

“Newcomers to our photographic events are pleasantly surprised at the warm welcome they receive and the openness of sharing success stories,” commented Ron Nichols, PPA’s 2009-10 President. Indeed, photographers who attended similar classes in the past have raved about the new skills and improvements to their businesses.

Join Michael to learn and fine-tune both on and off-camera techniques, such as fill flash, bounce flash and how to use speedlights and light modifiers to create a portable studio on the go. You’ll also get hands-on experience by photographing models.

Discover more about Michael's Super Monday class at www.ppa.com.

Michael Alan Bielat is a 27 year old professional wedding and portrait photographer located in Buffalo, NY and has over 13 years of experience behind the camera. He is also the founder of The inLIGHTin Workshop which provides online education and workshops to photographers of all skill sets.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA), a worldwide association, exists to assist its over 22,000 members in achieving their professional, artistic, and fraternal goals; to promote public awareness of the profession; and to advance the making of images in all of its disciplines as an art, a science and a visual recorder of history. For more information, visit www.ppa.com.

Contact: Michael Alan Bielat
(716) 491-8854; inlightinworkshop@gmail.com

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CLASS

UPDATE:

Pre-registration for Super Monday Fall 2010 will open on August 2, 2010. Sign up by October 11th, and get this full day of instruction for $99. On-site registration (day of) is $120, space permitting. PPA members earn one merit toward a degree.

Click here to Register (Reference Class #NY20): http://www.ppa.com/education-events/sm_new.php

Want more information on PPA's Super Monday? If so, then visit the PPA website here for their FAQ: http://www.ppa.com/education-events/sm/faqs.php

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CLASS

Downsizing My Equipment For 2011

2010-08-02T03:48:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows how I like to spend! It seems like I have every photography gadget and gizmo out there! Over the past couple months I have been considering downsizing and going with the "less-is-more" approach to my photography. I know that the internet and forums make it real easy to want to buy everything that is out there but trust me! You only need a couple things to be able to take amazing photos. The rest is up to you to make your images sing!

I haven't made any drastic decisions yet but have been really considering selling my Alienbees studio strobes, Hasselblad medium format camera, gizmos and even a couple lenses (email me if interested).

I think my 2011 setup will simply be the following:

Nikon D700 DSLR + Nikon MB-D10 Battery Grip
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Lens for wide angle shots
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens (my all around lens)
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR Lens (for telephoto and portraits)
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G Lens (shallow DOF portrait lens)
Two Nikon SB-900 Speedlights (high speed sync is my friend)
Two RadioPopper PX Units (high speed sync is my friend)

It all fits in my bag, it is all nice and versatile and it simply works! I rarely do studio stuff anymore and don't feel like carting around all my studio strobes and ac power packs when doing shoots. It takes longer to setup and I feel that it can be overkill. I can pull off almost anything and everything with the gear listed above and don't have to worry about carting more stuff along.

You may be asking why I am cutting back...
Good question, see over the years I have fallen into the black hole of marketing and felt that I needed anything and everything that is out there. If it's new then it has to be the best... Well, a lot of that junk accumulated over time and I had too much stuff. There was no way I could use it all at a photo shoot. So I am going back to my roots and am minimizing my lenses and what I take with me to my photo shoots. Less is more...
Thanks!
~Mike

inLIGHTin'ed Lightroom Presets Now LR 3 Optimized

2010-07-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

Has anyone given Adobe's Lightroom 3 a run yet? It has been out for a little while now and I have been working on my inLIGHTin'ed Presets to get them optimized for it.

Well, great news everyone, my inLIGHTin'ed Lightroom Presets are now ptimized for Lightroom 3!!!

Please email me at inlightinworkshop@gmail.com if you purchased the old presets and I will gladly get you an upgrade free of charge. Just be sure to reference your e-Junkie / Paypal transaction # and I will get it to you ASAP. I am also really pleased to announce that I have been using e-Junkie to handle all the payments and also to provide you with an immediate download link. No more waiting for me to get to a computer and email you them. I know I hate waiting for stuff and I am guessing you do to.

If you don't have the inLIGHTin'ed Presets yet then now is your time to jump on-board! With presets such as "Instant Awesomeness" and my "Nostalgia" effects, you'll be sure to save a boat load of time in post-processing and a lot more time having a life... And there are 70+ more presets that I didn't even touch upon that will rock your world. If you own Lightroom (Win or Mac version) then you can use these presets.

You can purchase the inLIGHTin'ed Presets by clicking on the button below:
PRICE: $75

Thanks!
Michael

PS. Be sure to comment below and let me know what you think of LR 3 or even let me know how you like your inLIGHTin'ed Lightroom Presets.

Essential Off-Camera Lighting Gear

2010-06-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have been really minimizing my equipment over the past couple months and following the KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach to my photography. I thought golf was bad but I really think that photography has more gear and gadgets than anything else.

I used to bring out the big artillery for my wedding and portrait assignments and a lot of it wasn't needed. Sure a studio strobe and AC power pack is nice to have... But my speedlights and high speed sync techniques can also do the trick. Throw in some nice light modifiers such as a soft box or shoot through umbrella and I'm in business.

So here is my list of what I found to be essential equipment for off camera flash photography:

Bowens Portable Light Stand ($48.95)
Manfrotto Swivel Umbrella Adapter ($29.50)
Impact 60" Convertible Umbrella ($29.95)
Westcott Apollo Softbox For Speedlights ($114.95)
(2x) PocketWizards Plus II Transmitters ($169.00 each)

Nikon shooters should pick up the following:

(2x) Nikon SB-900 Speedlight ($459.95)

Canon shooters unfortunately need an extra transmitter:

(2x) Canon 580EX II Speedlight ($445.95)
Canon ST-E2 Transmitter ($229.95)

I did add the prices to show you how much each item goes for. As you can see, it can get expensive!

Want to save a bit of money? If you shoot Nikon then you can do without a second SB-900 speedlight if your Digital SLR has a pop up flash and is fairly current. You can use the pop up flash to act in Commander mode only and trigger your one SB-900 that way. This will also allow you to get away from needing those two PocketWizards. Let's tally that up for a savings in the ballpark of $797.95! The only con here is that you are going to be limited by the flashes and they need to have a direct line of sight. BUT you get to use high speed sync which is an amazing thing if you get the hang of it!

Introduction To Digital Photography

2010-05-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I frequently host very rudimentary photography classes in the community. These are for clubs, organizations and even schools. I'm not good at many other things so this is something that I can do togive back to the community that I love so much. On that note, if you are reading this and think that a photography class (intro or advanced) would be great for your club or organization then shoot me an email at inlightinworkshop at gmail dot com.

As a matter of fact, I will be teaching an Introduction To Digital Photography class at our local Gilda's Club of Western New York today from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This class will be talking all about the basics of digital photography and is heavily geared towards point and shoots (what to look for, how to use one, etc...)

Way back when, I got the chance to try out Prezi which absolutely blows Microsoft's Powerpoint out of the water. If you do ANYTHING that involves public speaking or giving presentations then I would highly stress that you try out Prezi.

Anywho, I embedded the Prezi Presentation for everyone to check out at their own leisure.

It covers:

Types of Digital Cameras
Camera Features
Bells & Whistles
ISO, Aperture & Shutter Speed
Camera Settings
Post-Processing
Prints & Products
Post-Processing
Composition

Intro To Digital Photography on Prezi

~ Enjoy!
Mike

Before You Buy That Lens...

2010-04-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

... you heard me.

Before you lay down the cash on your next lens consider purchasing something that will make your images look better.

The device pictured above is one of the many monitor calibrators that are out there today. I included a picture of the ColorMunki by X-Rite and it is my personal favorite. The ColorMunki is affordable (under $400) and not only allows you to calibrate your monitor, your projector and even your printer as well. This is great because you are ensuring that your images are accurate from capture (use a gray card) to your screen and finally to the print. What you see is definitely what you get.

So why am I stressing a monitor calibrator over getting that new camera or lens that you have been drooling over? Simple. I want your past, present and future images to look good. Chances are that your monitor is not properly calibrated so all the images that you have been editing on it are probably way off from what their true colors should be. They may look good to you on the screen but wait until you get a print back of one!

Here's the nitty gritty details on why you should calibrate your monitor:
All computer monitors are not created equal. The settings and colors are pretty out of whack by default. The big problem comes down to when you are editing your pictures. Say you used a gray card and took a properly exposed image using an accurate white balance setting... Great. However, you may get back to your computer and the image will appear too cold or too warm. Definitely not how you saw it on your camera's LCD... So you have no worries and make the image warmer or cooler and then send it off to print.

When you get the print back it is totally screwy and the colors are WAY too cool or WAY too warm. Must be your camera right? Time to get a new one... WRONG!

It is because your monitor was fooling you into thinking your image was incorrect. You over compensated when you shouldn't have and the only way you can tell is in your print.

A monitor calibrator ensures that this does not happen anymore. All you have to do is re-calibrate your screen every month and you should be all set and on your way to better looking pictures.

A monitor calibrator will prevent your images from looking, well... like crap. See, back in the film days, your photo lab would process and develop your film for you. They were your post-processors and you didn't have to do a thing. With digital, WE are each on our own. Now if you don't have a monitor calibrator then you have not been

Stop Using Program Mode!

2010-04-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

There are well over 2.5 million people out there who own a digital SLR camera... That is absolutely awesome! Digital SLRs are where it's at! Sure they are bigger and bulkier but they produce a much better image overall and allow you to do a whole heck of a lot more than what a point and shoot can. However, they are only better when you throw a little know how into the mix.... If you take the camera out of the box and keep it at Full Auto or Program Mode then you are really limiting the camera's true potential and are essentially just making it one big, overpriced point and shoot.

There are three main camera settings that will do the trick. If you memorize these three the same way you know your name, address and phone number then you will be off to a real good start.

I wrote up a nice detailed blog post about shutter speed, aperture and ISO that you should definitely check out here:
Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO Explained

Please remember at least that there are other settings beyond Full Auto or Program Mode. It isn't all about what brand or model of camera you have either. If you have an old DSLR then it all of a sudden isn't broken or obsolete when a new model comes out... That new model will not do everything for you either. It takes time and work to be a better photographer. I have been shooting film a whole heck of a lot more lately so imagine how "obsolete" I must be with my $300 film camera??? Yet, I am getting some of my best work out of it!

Listen, If you want to make your pictures look better or if you want to take your photography to the next level then you have to play around with Manual Mode and Aperture Priority Mode. I am going to just briefly talk about Aperture Priority mode for sake of boring you to tears so listen up and listen closely.

Aperture Priority Mode is one of the camera settings on almost every digital SLR out there. 9 times out of 10 I find myself being more concerned with depth of field (or lack thereof) than worrying about motion blur or camera shake... Therefore, Aperture Priority is PERFECT! You set the ISO and you pick the ideal aperture for what you are shooting and the camera does the rest and decides on the shutter speed for you. There is a nice button on the cameras that has a little "+/-" icon on it. This is the Exposure Compensation button and you can set this to a higher or lower value and it will tell the camera that you actually want your image to be brighter or darker than what it is going to "assume" you want. I say assume because a camera is just a tool and it can (and will) get fooled. From experience, I can tell you that photographing someone who is strongly back lit requires around +2 exposure compensation and typically 0 to +1 for pretty much everything else. I am mostly a portrait photographer so my subject's are always people. Things are different if you shoot nature, wildlife or landscapes and you may need to use the negative exposure compensation.

Now you're probably asking yourself "but what should I set my aperture to? I'm scarred help me!" No worries people.

Just remember, a good rule of thumb is to set your Aperture value so that it is equal to or greater than the number of people in your picture. If there is one person in the picture then use f/1.2 or higher. If there are two people then f/2 or higher. For five people, use f/5.6 or higher and so on... If you are shooting landscapes then a good default is f/16 to ensure that everything is in focus.

The only hurdle you may encounter with this guideline is that your lens may not allow you to go lower than f/4 or f/5.6... This is common in kit lenses that come with the camera body in a set. However, this is the beauty of being able to change out lenses. You can add to your gear slowly but surely and phase out the kit lenses in lieu of ones that do what you need them to. If you want to go a little nuts while not spending a fortune then check this lens out. It's great for portraits of your kids and stuff like that where you may want a shallow depth of field. The lens is a 50mm prime lens (no zoom). It has a fixed aperture (that won't change on you when you zoom obviously) and allows you to be able to shoot in real low light or so you can have real shallow depth of field all courtesy of that f/1.8 aperture. All this goodness for a modest price of $125 or so:

For Nikon:
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens at B&H

For Canon:
Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens at B&H

For Sony:
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Lens at B&H

B&H Photo Video has the best prices and I use them all the time so they are a great company with great customer service. You can't get that off eBay or from a no name company that no one has ever heard of. Stick with the companies who are legit whenever you consider picking up new camera gear.

That's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!
~Mike

Shutter Speed, Aperture And ISO Explained

2010-04-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

Who could imagine that these three terms could stump so many people? I don't know about you but I wanted to control the camera ASAP when I starting off and didn't want my camera to control me. So turn your camera off auto 'P'ilot and let me help you get a grasp on shutter speed, aperture and ISO once and for all. Ready to turn that dial to Manual mode???

First off, these three settings are meant to be used in conjunction with one another. It is one big balancing act where you focus on one setting over the others in order to do different effects with your image. They are to photographers what various paint brushes are to painters.

I will talk about each setting in the order in which they should be addressed before you take a photo.

ISO: Also known as ASA back in the film days. This is the first setting you should address when you pick up your camera. The ISO is something that you set based upon what you see. If it is real bright and sunny outside then you will want to use a LOW ISO number like 100. As the natural light around you gets darker, maybe you are in the shade or indoors, then there is less ambient light so you will need to use HIGHER ISO values like 400, 800 or more. The ISO is a setting that you control based upon your surroundings. In case you care, the ISO is your film's (or digital sensor's) sensitivity to light. The lower the number means the more light needs to be used to affect the exposure. Just remember, that the higher the ISO is, the crummier the image may look due to noise and grain to being introduced.

Aperture: The next setting you should move to is the Aperture. Aperture is a the one trouble setting that is VERY hard to understand. The aperture is measured in f-stops. The higher this value is means that less and less light is entering the camera. The higher the value also means that more and more of what you are photographing will be in focus. If you are still confused then just remember that your Aperture should be set to a number that is equal to or greater than the number of people you are photographing. If you are taking a picture of your dog or child then you can use an aperture of f/1.4 or higher. If you are shooting both your dog AND child then you should use f/2.8 or higher. If it is a family portrait of FIVE family members then you should set your camera to f/5.6 or greater... Get the picture? This should hopefully help you demystify the elusive aperture!

Shutter Speed: This is all that's left now that you have two of the three settings figured out... This is the home stretch. The shutter speed is what freezes or blurs motion. Sometimes you want your image to convey motion or sometimes you want everything as sharp as a tack. Since two settings are already figured out all you really need to care about it looking at your the light meter that you can see in your viewfinder.

TANGENT: The light meter is your bread and butter. It is simply an indicator of how your image is going to look if you take the picture with those settings. If the needle on the light meter is too far to the negative then your image will be too dark and vice versa if the needle it to the plus. I typically aim for +0.3 or +0.7 for the most part.

So with this in mind, set the shutter speed to either a higher number (to center the light meter if you have too much light) or lower one (to let in more light) until the needle in the light meter is centered. The only thing you need to check is if the shutter speed is less than 1/60" of a second. Anything slower will introduce camera shake and your image will suffer. Just make sure your over 1/60 and you should be good to go for just starting off. If you simply cannot keep your shutter speed over 1/60" then this is a good indication that you don't have your ISO set up properly. Go back to the drawing board and use a higher ISO and go from there.

Still need more light? Move to a brighter location or throw a flash on your camera.

Hope this helps!
Mike

Going Prime

2010-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am a Nikon shooter... Yes, I am using prime lenses... and yes, Nikon does make fast prime lenses.

Believe it or not, you don't have to be a Canon user to enjoy prime lenses. Yeah you got me on the fact that Canon has some gorgeous f/1.2 lenses out there but Nikon is no slouch either!

As you may or may not know (or care) my wife and I work together and she has been my associate shooter for quite some time now. She was always used to using primes since way back in the day so she kept with that while I shot with almost all zooms... If you are married, and are lucky enough to work with your significant other, then you should REALLY be familiar with the saying; "What's mine is yours."

So, long story short she was a prime hog ;)

That was all fine and dandy until Rebecca took a year off to brew and raise our son, Cameron. It was during that time that daddy got to play!

I fell in love with primes all over again and passed the zoom lenses to the wife for the rest of 2009 throughout...

They are lighter, sharper (yeah that's possible, even with Nikon's über sharp zoom lineup) and allow me to really utilize my camera's amazing low-light shooting capabilities. The shallow DOF (depth of field) is also a great way to help tell a story as well. Take this shot for example:

So you may ask yourself, do I still use the zooms?
Yeah... I do. The only time you will be seeing me with zoom lenses is typically during the wedding ceremony's processional / recessional and at the reception when I am shooting the cake cutting and guest's when they are dancing. I still break out the 70-200mm zoom as well since I still don't have that 135mm prime (can Nikon beef up stock on these please??). So at this time I am probably using prime lenses 75-80% of the time.

MY CURRENT EQUIPMENT LINEUP (As of March 2010)

Cameras:
(2x) Nikon D700 DSLRs
(1x) Nikon D300 DSLR

Zoom Lenses:
(1x) Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
(2x) Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
(1x) Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

Prime Lenses:
(1x) Nikon 24mm f/2.8
(1x) Nikon 35mm f/2.0D
(1x) Nikon 50mm f/1.4G
(1x) Nikon 85mm f/1.4
(1x) Nikon 85mm f/1.8
(1x) Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR Macro
(1x) Sigma 300mm f/2.8

Speedlights:
(3x) Nikon SB-900
(2x) Nikon SB-800
Alienbee Studio Lighting
PocketWizards
RadioPoppers

I'm still looking for that Nikon 135mm f/2DC Lens and am eying up the Nikon 200mm f/2.0 VR lens to add to my lineup.

Sync Your Camera's Time

2010-03-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

There is nothing that I hate more than not having all my camera's time synced together. I have had this happen to me a couple times either with myself or when working with a second shooter. Maybe I was shooting with two different camera bodies or maybe I just got one back from a repair (they reset EVERYTHING on you BTW) but whatever the case may be, it stinks! It is also something that you can easily forget in the heat of the moment.

So here is what I do:
Go to www.time.gov and use that time to sync up your cameras... Yes all of them. Simply set the time on your cameras to the same thing and then hit the OK button when the time.gov website matches your cameras. Done!

When I am working with a second shooter on-location I just treat my camera like the time.gov site and have them sync up to my time. It's very simple yet often overlooked.

If you have more than two cameras then have a friend help you our or do a couple at a time.

Now there are EXIF modifier programs out there but it can be a hassle. Do it right the first time and save yourself the headache!

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Using Auto ISO

2010-01-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Do yourself a favor and check to see if your camera has a feature called Auto ISO. It is really cool especially if you shoot in Aperture Priority (Av) mode.

So to backtrack a little bit, Aperture Priority mode means that all you have to do is select your desired aperture and the camera figures out what proper shutter speed it should use to give your a decently exposed image. Now I say "decent" because it isn't always dead on. By default, the camera exposes for what it assumes is 18% gray. If you have a light skinned bride in a white dress then you want her to appear light or white in the image. That is where Exposure Compensation comes into play. If you need your image is under exposed (check the histogram) then dial the exposure compensation up to +0.7 or so. Vice versa if the image is too bright.

Now you still have to set your ISO but that can be a pain OR your shutter speed may end up getting set by the camera so that it is way to slow and causes camera shake or unwanted motion blur. This is where AUTO ISO comes in handy. When you enable Auto ISO on your camera, you also set a minimum shutter speed that you do not want to go slower than. For me, I toy between 1/60" and 1/80". You also get to pick what your minimum and maximum ISO should be. This is beneficial if your camera doesn't have awesome files at higher ISOs. Simply set the maximum ISO to the best high ISO files that your camera can produce. For me, I have no problem going to ISO 6400 on my D700 as long as I can ensure my images will not be under-exposed even in the slightest.

So after you set your Auto ISO up then it is time to rock and roll. What goes on in the camera is that it takes your minimum shutter speed into consideration when it's figuring out what value to use. IF the needed shutter speed is slower than your minimum then it automatically bumps up your ISO to let in more light for you and thus, allowing you to shoot at faster shutter speeds.

Hope this helps. Please comment below if you use Auto ISO and share your thoughts. Enjoy and be inLIGHTin'ed.

Getting Cheap With Your Flashes

2010-01-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

Speedlights are EXPENSIVE!

I get a lot of questions where people ask me what flash I recommend for them. Now I am a Nikon shooter so I will be using their speedlight models while getting my point across to you all.

The most popular choices for Nikon shooters are the SB-600 and the SB-800 / SB-900 models. If you are a Canon shooter then many or all of these bells and whistles also differ between Canon's 430EX and 580EX speedlights.

First, let's address the most important thing... PRICE. The SB-600 is around $200 while the latest SB-900 comes in at around $450 and up. So far so good?

Next, the SB-600 is much smaller in both size and weight (10.6 oz. to be exact). That can be nice especially if you do not have a battery grip attached to your camera or if you have a more compact D-SLR (a la the D40, D90, etc..). The SB-900 weights in at just under a pound (14.6 oz.) and it is big! It is more solid and rugged and the hot shoe is more robust.

Now for what's under the hood. The SB-600 does have less power but not enough to be a deal breaker. Flash power is rated in what's called a guide number. The SB-600 rates in at 98 while the SB-900 rates in at 111.5 at ISO 100.

Since the SB-600 outputs less power, you get more shots with your AA batteries than with the SB-900. It is almost a 2 to 1 difference so it is pretty considerable!

The SB-600 is an older model so it supports both new and old TTL modes (i.e. i-TTL, D-TTL and Auto TTL) while the SB-900 supports only i-TTL. No biggie here unless you have an older camera model like the D100.

So far the SB-600 seems to be kicking some butt right? Now for where the SB-900 excels.

First, the lens coverage is pretty substantial. You can zoom your SB-900 all the way up to 200mm and that means you have yourself a nice range to do some creative lighting. I know that I have used the 200mm zoom to get more reach or to give the effect of having a snoot attached. To contrast, the SB-600 can only zoom to 85mm. This isn't a big deal if you don't use flashes for creative lighting or off camera flash too much.

Next, the SB-900 has the ability for the flash head to turn a complete 180 degrees left and right where the SB-600 can rotate 180 to the left but only 90 degrees to the right. This can be a pain for you bounce flash shooters like me.

You also cannot hook up an external battery pack to the SB-600 while you can use the SB-8 or 9 battery pack for more oomph and faster recycling.

In wireless TTL mode, the SB-600 can only act as a remote / slave while the SB-900 can also be a master / commander flash. If you use manual mode then you can go all the way down to 1/128 power with the SB-900 while the SB-600 only goes down to 1/64 power.

Other features that are pretty nice on the SB-900 is the ability for it to receive firmware updates, has overheat protection (which you should immediately disable), adjustable light patterns and gel filter identification.

Nikon is also nice enough to include a diffusion dome, gel filters and a built-in bounce card with the SB-900.

So what is my suggestion??? Eventually get both!

Start with the SB-600 and then keep it and get the SB-900 when you get more into advanced flash techniques. Now this suggestion goes for anyone who shoots a camera other than a flagship model like the D3s. All other models have a built in flash and many of which allow for it to act as a commander flash. D3s users do not have that built-in flash so the SB-900 is really needed simply for that commander mode feature.

Nikon D700 Hot Shoe Problems

2010-01-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

So this post is more about something to watch out for.

I have a couple D700s and have had the same problem on each of my bodies with a couple Nikon SB-900 Speedlights. What ends up happening is that the speedlight flickers and misfires when any sort of movement happens. I must have gotten flashed a hundred times last week.

The D700 is an amazing camera and its low light capabilities is just stellar. However, I still use flashes A LOT and it is a real bummer that this camera can't keep up with a heavier flash.

For the time being, I took a hammer to the hot shoe, very gently, and tapped the hot shoe flaps so they fit the speedlight tighter. I also used needle nose pliers to gently pry the metal things inside the hot shoe as well to make for a tighter fit. There is a $30 Nikon WG-AS3 Flash Water Guard which I used more to keep the flash tighter to the camera ever since this happened the first time. Unfortunately, I lost mine . A new one is on the way and hopefully that can help to further keep the D700 in working order without needing to be sent to Nikon.

Anyone else have (or had) similar problems? Comment below and share your stories.

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Take The "Less Is More" Approach When Post Processing Images

2010-01-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today's article is more advice than anything else. One thing I wish I knew when starting my photography business was "LESS IS MORE." Now, what do I mean by this?

I always tended to show more images to my clients then what was really good for the both of us...

You are really doing both of yourselves a favor when you show less images. On one side, YOU don't have to finish editing as many images and that means you can save yourself time which is huge. You can also take that extra time and do a real nice job on the images that you DO show. Now YOUR CLIENT doesn't have as many images to choose from and it makes it easier for them to pick their favorites. Do them the favor of not having them juggle between two similar faces or poses. Get it done before the viewing session and your clients will spend more time buying and less time choosing.

You are also shooting yourself in the foot if you aren't doing viewing sessions.... I will save that for another time though. That's all I have to say for today.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy and be inLIGHTin'ed.
Mike

Catalog Your Photos

2010-01-05T05:05:00.000-08:00

For those who shoot in RAW mode, you will want to utilize a program such as Lightroom or Apple Aperture to ensure that you can catalog your images. There are other amazing apps out there like Bridge, Capture One and or Photo Mechanic to name a few but the global favorite is Lightroom. Any program that enables cataloging and, more importantly utilize the “meta tag” feature is okay in my book. You know the saying, “different strokes for different folks”.

Meta tags essentially add text data to each of your images. Say you took a trip to Alaska. You can batch tag all the images from that trip using special keywords from which you can search upon later. Typical keywords I would use would be : Alaska, Vacation, Landscape, and so on. If I took pictures of moose, bear or waterfalls then I would tag those appropriately. You may think that this is a very cumbersome process but there is a handy “batch” feature that enables you to type something once and then it applies to all your selected images; A VERY handy feature.

Now I do a lot of speaking engagements and workshops so I need to have all my images at my finger tips. If I am doing a speech or article on off-camera lighting for example then I can do a quick search and all images that I tagged as such and they will all show up for me. That really makes it easy for me to compile some favorite images that I can use for my workshop. For those who focus more on shooting, I cannot imagine having a lifetime of work that gets lost on a hard drive. For that reason alone, I cannot think of any better way than to catalog your work so that you can access your images when needed.
If you would like to see all your vacation photos then all you have to do is type “vacation” and they will appear. To be more specific you can type “Alaska” Now this only really works if you have one uber-catalog and then a bunch of sub-folders containing each day’s shoot.

For those who have a photography business, I would also suggest tagging your client’s names and photo shoot date as well. This makes things really handy if you ever need to access them.
Another awesome feature that these apps have is rating your images. You can flag images as well as give them a star rating (typically 0 to 5 stars). In my case, I tend to flag images that are my oh la la shots and are ones that I will most likely find myself displaying on my blog, website and so on. If I have client images from a portrait session or wedding then I give the images a star rating. My rating is really based upon keepers or tossers so all I need to do is give my images zero or one star. Now It isn’t uncommon for me to shoot over 15gb of images during a wedding so those zero star images that will NEVER get used are just taking up space on my hard drive. These crappy images can add up over a year or more so I make sure to delete these images after a 6 month grace period. To do this, all I do is search a particular sub-folder in my main catalog and do a global delete to the images that have zero stars and “poof” all gone.

That about does it for today’s tip. Enjoy and be inLIGHTin’ed.
Mike

When Gear Fails...

2010-01-04T05:06:00.000-08:00

As photographers and business owners, you have to know that your gear WILL eventually fail you. It is just a matter of WHEN will it fail...

I cannot stress the importance of having backup gear and having insurance for your equipment. I have had cameras and lenses fail on me numerous times and have always ensured that I have something to fall back on.

My general rule of thumb is to keep your old camera when you upgrade. A decent D-SLR averages around $2500 but its resale value drops considerably over time. Camera lenses on the other hand, tend to retain their value much better. I have taken huge losses on D-SLRs when selling them and upgrading. Thinking back, I would much have been much better off keeping an older camera for those "just in case" moments.

So what happens if a camera acts erratically on the job?
My Nikon D700s have been great to me. However, I have had hot shoe mount issues on two different bodies. This means that my speedlight, when mounted, sometimes misfired or doesn't fire at all. In both these cases, I had to resort to alternative measures on the fly in order to finish the job. the first thing is to try and fix the equipment on site. This meant bending the hot shoe prongs or wedging something in between the flash and the hot shoe for a more "snug" fit. This got me through the day but afterwords it was off to Nikon for repair. I had this just happen to me on the New Year's Eve wedding that I shot. My flash kept popping in my face and was acting up. So I ended up using my pop up flash in commander mode and shot the rest of the day with my speedlight on a light stand with the CLS system. If I had line of sight issues then I just threw some Pocket Wizards on there and I was all set to finish off the night.

Now what happens if your equipment flat out breaks, or gets stolen on the job? I have had two lenses break on me from being dropped. It wasn't fun and I had to send them off to get repaired which can be quite costly. My most recent "oops" was my Nikkor 24-70mm which fell from about 3 feet onto carpet and literally cracked in half. It is times like this where having insurance comes into play. Because I have insurance, I now have a brand new 24-70mm sitting in front of me.

My rule of thumb here is that if you cannot afford to immediately replace something then get it insured.

If your gear is stolen then that is a really bad thing and can really be a downer. Once again the show must go on so you better have backup equipment in the car to keep things going. In order to still have your client's images at least backup your images regularly or get multiple cards that are smaller in size and keep swapping them out. The full cards can then be kept on you or in a safe spot somewhere else.

Preventative measures can be taken to prevent things from getting swiped. My personal favorite is to take a bike lock and chain up my camera bag to the DJ's table or PA system. Not going anywhere there!

Canon and Nikon shooters have certain professional services that you have to apply for which can really help for those who need gear to be repaired in a hurry. It is a pretty long process to get yourself registered with them and they do ask for a lot of info to ensure that you are a professional photographer but it is well worth it! Your gear gets top priority and that means that they can get it back into your hands faster.

Canon has their CPS: Application Here (membership fee required)
Nikon has the NPS: www.nikonpro.com (free service)

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Thinking In A Flash

2009-12-25T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have a D700 with the SB800. I know how to adjust the settings to get the right flash output after I've seen in my histogram, but in a wedding a lot of times the moment is gone and you can't take a second shot.

Please give advice on how to think through the settings? How far are your subjects when you use 1/4, 1/8 power, etc? Do you constantly change your flash or do you change your distance from the subject? Bride walking aisle?

Thank You!"

Thanks for writing. I too use the Nikon D700 and have myself the Nikon SB-800 and SB-900 speedlights. The one thing that stood out to me in your question was that you were mentioning stuff like 1/4 and 1/8 power. That is leading me to believe that you have your flash set to Manual mode and not TTL (Through The Lens). Manual mode was handled a certain way back in the film days. Guide numbers, distance to subject, blah blah blah. Technology has really advanced and TTL takes away "almost" all those complicated trig functions and stuff that film photographers had to do before. I do have an article about TTL Flash work that is worth looking at for a little more background on what it does. I moved to different hosting providers so some of the images in the article are MIA for the time being. I will get those back up as soon as possible because nothing beats visual examples of all this complicated terminology. Note, this article is in regards to the flash in TTL mode and OFF CAMERA and on a light stand. Not too many differences but just be aware that things are different than on-camera flash.

So to answer your question, I don't really think at all. You can too. Just set your flash to TTL mode and give that a whirl. End of story. What happens in TTL mode is that a pre-flash is fired just before the actual flash does. This pre-flash illuminates your subject and that information is recorded by the camera. The camera takes that, plus the focal length of your lens plus your current camera settings (shutter speed, aperture and ISO) and comes up with the proper "median" flash power that will correctly light your subject. Take a look at the image and if it is slightly too dark or too light then that is where the Flash Exposure Compensation comes in handy. Dial that up or down to tell your flash "Hey, whatever you are thinking, increase or decrease it some" and it will listen and do just that. Flashes are very obedient like that.

Great question! Keep them coming!

Take care.

Introducing Cameron!

2009-11-25T05:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry about my lack of updates. My wife and I have been busy being parents to are amazing little boy, Cameron Michael...

He was born on November 24th at 8:29am. Being a parent is the absolute best feeling in the world. It is hard to even imagine that I had a life without him in it...

Here are some pics of our little guy:

Mike

Using High Speed Sync

2009-10-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

High Speed Sync is a really great technology. Here is one shot that I just did where I used the high speed sync capabilities of my flash:

Shot with my Nikon D700, SB-900 mounted off camera and Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/5000" (try doing that with a PocketWizard!)
APERTURE: f/2.8
ISO: 200
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Live Interview with me over at photoforthepeople.com

2009-09-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

Great news! I just found out that I will be featured on www.photoforthepeople.com in a live interview. All members of the site are encouraged to log in and chat things up.

The interview will take place at 7pm EST time and should go for a couple hours. If you are a photographer of any skill set then be sure to register on the forum and be there! I will be available to answer any questions regarding photography or business.

Hope to see you all there!
Mike

The Bells And Whistles Inside Our Cameras

2009-08-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
Sorry I have been a little lax in posting the past couple days. I am right in the heart of wedding and portrait season and have been swamped with photo shoots and whatnot.

So I was with my assistant on Saturday shooting a wedding and it dawned on me that our digital SLR's have come a REAL long way! She has herself a Pentax DSLR and she was having a real tough time with it during the reception which reminded me of how spoiled my D700 has gotten me. Some might think of them as just bells and whistles but I think that many of these can be really helpful... That is IF you know how to use them! I mean heck, Program mode could be considered the best feature that camera's have since it does everything for you pretty much... Do you think DaVinci hand drew his lines or used a ruler? Know what I mean? We are given these tools so we need to utilize them to make our life easier.

Here are some features that I am particularly fond of and use often. Some are new, some are old and some have totally different names that you just need to link up with the lingo that your camera uses. My experience is with Nikon so that is what I am going to roll with.

1.) Av Mode: It really rocks. I know what my shutter speed should be, it is just that one isn't always fast enough to get to that proper setting in time to capture "the moment". I have lost some good pics by being too slow. When I do weddings and portraits, I am really only concerned with setting my aperture and ISO. I want to set it and forget it so Av mode is where it's at for me. Now Av Mode is not the say-all-be-all and that is where item #2 comes in handy.

2.) Exposure Compensation: If your shots in Av Mode, are too bright or too dark then you need to rock the Exposure Compensation to tell the camera that you want your images to be darker or lighter than what it thinks is a good exposure. Too bright, tell the EC to dial it down by -1.0 or to brighten it up by +1.0. Digital is awesome so you can do a test shot and do the proper EC based upon the histogram and image preview... Check out #3 for a better indication on if your images are over exposed. This works for all the modes except for Manual mode... Using EC in Manual mode does give you a quick way to control your speedlights TTL flash compensation however! More on that in another article though.

3.) Highlight Warning: This feature is great for a quick indication letting you know if your image is blown out and over exposed. Little "blinkies" will fade in and out in the areas that are blown out.

4.) Auto-ISO: I know I want my shots to be above 1/60" to ensure that I am showing the least camera shake and motion blur from the subject. Auto ISO gives asks for you to set a minimum shutter speed that your camera should not go under... I set mine for 1/80" to be safe. You also get to choose a lowest and highest ISO that you want to use... This works for all the modes except for Manual mode. So how it works is that as soon as your camera sees that it needs more light and has to go under your lowest shutter speed, it just kicks up the ISO for you to get the shot... Cool huh? My D700 has a minimum of ISO 200 and a maximum of ISO 6400... Why? Because those high ISO files look darned good! I do disable auto ISO when shooting with a flash however... It throws things out of whack for me and it is too much dependencies on one another for my liking.

5.) Custom Menu / Button Assignment: Nothing is worse than having a bunch of buttons that you never use. Instead, I can allocate useful features to otherwise useless buttons on my D700... I have the buttons doing cool stuff like Virtual Horizon, Access Top Item of my Custom Menu (which is set to show my Commander Mode stuff for CLS flash work) and stuff like that.

6.) 3D Matrix Metering: I don't 'use' this much but can see it being REAL helpful for sports shooters. All you really have to do is set the AF point and keep tracking in Continuous AF and you will actually see the AF point move (showing that the AF is following) with your subject as they cross your frame! You should probably enable the 51 AF points and definitely need to use the dynamic AF control.

So those are really cool features that I use and abuse. I would really just suggest cracking open your user manual and search for those little gems that may help out when you out the next time shooting.

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

inLIGHTin'ed Lightroom Presets

2009-08-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

PRICE: $75

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This collection includes Over 75 Lightroom Presets and instructional video to help maximize their potential. These presets have been divided up into categories for the ease of use.

Get the Quick Fix Preset HERE

Get the Aqua Duotone Preset HERE

Get one of the Nostalgia Presets HERE

Here is a brief description of what each category entails:
QUICK FIXES: One click awesomeness! These are great presets for your proofing needs. Apply these to all your images and grab a coffee while these presets take care of everything for you.
SPECIAL EFFECTS: These help to take Photoshop out of the equation. It is called 'workflow' not 'work-slow' people!
BLACK AND WHITE: What good would presets be without killer black and white presets?
DUOTONES: These add a little spice to black and white images.
SHARPENING: Believe it or not, Lightroom actually has useful sharpening tools!
VIGNETTE: Pick your vignette tolerance and watch it go.
WHITE BALANCE: These presets help to give you instant color correction!

PRICE: $75
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Click HERE to view more Lightroom Preset Examples!

Using the Gradient Filter in Lightroom

2009-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Lightroom 2 introduced a lot of amazing new features. One of which happened to be the Gradient Tool (shortcut = M). This tool basically makes it so that you can do without using a physical graduated neutral density filter. Granted, nothing beats getting the shot perfect in camera so using actual graduated neutral density filters is always encouraged. I use the Galen Rowell grad ND filters manufactured by Singh-Ray. I use these filters because they provide me with the best image hands down. Other filters by other companies can demonstrate an odd color cast and other undesirable effects.

Anyways, the Singh-Ray grad ND filters are amazing... BUT they cost around $250 each. That is the basically the price of Lightroom. So for those who want the best images without breaking the bank then look no further than shooting your images in RAW and using Lightroom's Gradient Tool. This tool is basically a digital graduated ND filter and can help to bring your sky or foreground in the same exposure range. The resulting image is one that has amazing sky and cloud detail while still having a well exposed foreground.

Another way to achieve a similar effect is to use HDR (high dynamic range) techniques. I personally think that HDR images can be too overwhelming. Look into it though and see if you like it.

YouTube video up soon!

Finding Your Niche

2009-08-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

A niche is defined as an employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted. Finding your niche market is crucial to any business and especially for photographers! Take a step back and think about things from a consumers standpoint for a second. What if you walked into your favorite restaurant that also doubled as a mechanics garage and pet groomer. Yeah it might be convenient this is pretty far fetched. The point is that having TOO MANY options can and usually does hurt a business more than it helps. This is why niche marketing is preferred.

Speaking for myself, I would rather take my dog to a pet grooming place that specializes in pet grooming than.. I don't know, say a restaurant that also did pet grooming.

Let's put this into the realm of the photographer. Hanging a shingle out there saying that you specialize in weddings, portraits, sports, landscapes, real estate, commercial, studio and fashion photography may seem prestigious and that you are a jack of all trades but in reality, it is probably giving your clients a less than ideal view of your business. They may think; "are they hurting for money? Is that why they try to do everything and then some?"

So what should we do as photography business owners? Well, here is the cool part. WE get to pick what we want to specialize in? This is YOUR business so if you are getting business from all different areas of photography then keep it up. Otherwise, if you aren't getting the business that you want then it may be time to re-evaluate your business approach and incorporate a niche market to hone in on your specialty. All you have to do is take the stuff that you love to photograph and get rid of the rest. For me, studio photography is cool and all but I could surely do without it. I would rather do fun, candid photos outdoors... That is where my Lifestyle Portraits come into play. They are usually outdoors and are fun and allow me to capture the moments of the shoot rather than "Say Cheese" poses.

If you love baby portraits and hate weddings, then ditch the weddings and do only what you love and are passionate about. THAT will be your niche market and you will feel rejuvenated with your business because you are doing what you love and what you enjoy doing. Nothing is better than being your own boss and nothing is better than loving what you do!

Remember the saying, "Jack of all trades... Master of none." Do what you want to do, and do it well.

So what is your niche?

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Gelling Your Lights

2009-07-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is a simple tip on how you can achieve a better (and more accurate) colors with your images. Mind you, this is for when you are shooting with a speedlight (whether on or off camera) like the Nikon SB-900 or Canon 580EX II or even with studio strobes.

Let's take this down to the most basic situation where you will be using a flash to help convey my message.

So you are shooting a wedding in a normal sized room that is light with incandescent bulbs. These bulbs are giving off a warm, amber color. If we were shooting without a flash then our in-camera white balance should be set to incandescent or a custom Kelvin temp of something like 3200K or something within that range. That is all fine and dandy so shoot away.

But what happens if the room is dimly lit and you need a flash to help light things up? Flashes are daylight balanced around 5400K so what will happen is that the light from the flash will conflict with the ambient light from the incandescent bulbs and you will get various color casts on your subjects or background. Welcome to Photoshop hell at that point!

All we need to do is gel our flashes with the proper CTO filter so we can essentially modify the daylight balanced speedlight and mold it into becoming about the same Kelvin temperature of the ambient light that is around. In the situation above, an amber filter over the speedlight would bring that 5400K speedlight down to the 3200K range. DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR WHITE BALANCE TO INCANDESCENT AND NOT FLASH!

If your white balance is still off then that is okay because you are at least in the same realm of light without worries of any serious color cast that would be noticeable. This is a very easy fix if you shoot in RAW.

Nikon's SB-900 comes with a couple gels to correct for different lighting conditions. These gels even have some intelligence to them and allows the flash to know which one is mounted. If you are shooting in Auto white balance mode then the flash can tell the camera what filter is over the flash so the camera can take the necessary actions for providing you with a fairly accurate image and color rendition. They even include a real spiffy gel filter holder that snaps on to the flash.

So what is the lesson we learned today boys and girls???

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Nikon 105mm VR Lens Review

2009-07-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Nikon 105mm VR macro lens is a relatively new addition to my camera bag. It is a very sharp specialty lens that really deserves to be recognized. The 105mm is a macro lens and the way to use it is really different from how we work with conventional lenses. I have to admit, when I put this lens on I thought it was broken. See, I put the lens on and tried stopping down to f/2.8 but couldn't. Instead, I had a very odd aperture that it was stuck at. I put two and two together and started working the manual focus ring and then figured it out and that it is just how the lens works. Being a macro lens, it is used because it provides you with a close focusing distance as well as the ability to produce 1:1, 1:2 (and so on) reproductions of your subject. This is great for flower photography, insects and stuff of that nature because you can do your cropping in camera and have the subject take up the entire frame if you so choose.

This lens can also be used as a portrait lens since it is very sharp and it is at a focal length that is flattering to your subject without any real lens distortion occurring.

There are two cons to this lens that pose a problem. The first is sort of the nature of the beast and deals with a shallow DOF (depth of field) even at higher apertures. I noticed it when I first got the lens. I started off at like f/5.6 or f/8 with flowers but noticed that the foreground leaves were still out of focus. Sure the part of the flower I focused on was 100% sharp but the DOF fell off way too soon IMHO. To combat this and get the photo that I wanted (i.e. ALL petals in focus) I had to set the aperture to f/11 or f/16... That is great and all but you need a boat load of light at times in order to get these shots. I worked my way around that by using my speedlight to compensate for the loss of light. f/11 is totally doable with a speedlight if it is very, very close to your subject. This is also where the VR (vibration reduction) comes in handy to achieve sharp images even at slower shutter speeds.

The second issue I had with the lens is that it is slow to auto focus. This lens works best when you set your focusing distance and physically move yourself and the camera back and forward until you achieve the sharpest focus. I noticed that this was a pain with a tripod!

Now imagine the trouble I had to go through to get this photo:

These bats were all huddled up and hanging on the wood rafter in a historical building in the Smokey Mountains. There was no light whatsoever. I had to have my associate hold up my iPhone to give me something, anything to illuminate these little critters. That gave my camera enough light to detect the contrast necessary to acquire focus. I had my SB-900 speedlight mounted on my camera and it was pointed directly behind me so it would hit the wall behind me and lit up the little guys... I got a couple good snaps off before I looked down and checked out that bat guano that I was stepping in. Anything for the shot right?

So back to the review. The 105mm VR is a very nice (and ridiculously sharp) lens. Remember that photo above? Well here is a 100% crop of the little bat off to the bottom right of the frame.

Yeah THAT'S sharp!

Is is necessary for 99% of the work people do? No... Well unless you photograph flowers and bugs for a living then consider yourself in the 1% range. I personally do not use this lens for portraits often. I bring it out for weddings and baby portraits to capture details. Wedding ring shots work great with the 105mm and I can get those little baby details with this lens as well. Little ears, hands and feet. The other times this lens comes out is when I do the flowers and bug photography.

It is a great lens and I would definitely recommend it.
Mike

Five Things I Wish I Knew... My Top Revelations

2009-07-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to photography in High School, around 1997. Immediately fell in love with it. I rolled my own film, worked in the darkroom and did all that fun stuff. I made the switch to digital around late 2001 and that really appealed to me as well. I was majoring in computer science so digital made the inner-geek in me absolutely ecstatic. I have learned A LOT through these 12 or so years of being a photographer. There are so many things that, for lack of a better word, were revelations. I mean these things could have made my photos so much better, cut my workflow in half or even could have just made things so much easier. Want me to share my top 5 with you?

Haha I thought you would never ask...

1.) Your Light Meter Measures Everything as 18% Gray: I was fooled for the longest time on this one. I have no idea why I never read it anywhere or figured it out on my own. This was a huge "A-Ha" moment for me. Handheld and in-camera camera light meters are made to read 18% gray at the center. I always thought that the center line in the camera's viewfinder was the perfect exposure but that isn't the case. The result was me always tweaking my photos plus or minus a stop or so. If I photographed something that was bright then my photos would be under exposed and vice versa for dark scenes. So I figured out that 18% gray is meant to be the middle ground and it is up to the photographer to take that data and make good use of it. So a bride in a white dress along a white wall needs MORE light to turn that middle gray into about +1 eV on the light meter. If you have a groom in a black tux along a black wall then you need to let LESS light in so that light meter better be about -1 eV.

Digital is a beautiful thing so you can enable highlight warnings in camera and see if you are overexposing any part of the scene. If you see those "blinkies" all over your subject then that should tell you to calm your exposure down a bit...

2.) Lenses Matter: I didn't invest into good glass until about 2006. I was using kit lenses which were often very slow and had variable apertures. Slow lenses are ones that are in the f/4-5.6 f-stop range and variable aperture lenses are cheaper zoom lenses and the f-stop changes when you zoom in and out. For example, if you have an 18-200mm lens then you may be at f/4 at 18mm but when you zoom up to 200mm then you will see your minimum aperture change as well up to f/5.6... I was a Nikon shooter from 2001 to 2006. I wasn't happy with what I had and made the switch to Canon for a year. I HATED the quality control issues Canon had and made the switch back to Nikon a year or so ago. Now I am super happy with my camera equipment... What changed since going from Nikon to Canon and back? My lenses. I didn't have expensive glass the first time but did when I moved to Canon. After selling that stuff off, I bought expensive glass from Nikon and boy what a difference! My photos were sharper, my color accuracy was better out of camera and the faster lenses (some with VR or "vibration reduction" / IS or "image stabilization" for Canon shooters) made it so I could take pictures relatively anywhere. Before I had the faster lenses, it seemed like I was always somewhere that didn't have enough light to shoot at shutter speeds faster than 1/60". Anything in that range or slower means camera shake or motion blur. Not always ideal for photos! Once I got lenses in the f/1.2 to f/2.8 range then that all went out the door. Suddenly I had new shutter speeds available to me that were faster than 1/60" shutter speeds. Some fast prime lenses can get you in this ballpark with ease. A 50mm Nikon or Canon f/1.8 lens can be as cheap as $100. Check out Amazon.com for that kind of stuff because they have great deals on camera equipment. Won't break the bank and it will get you some real nice results. Makes a great birthday gift too ;)

3.) Make Backups and Backups of your Backups: I had a great time at Myrtle Beach in 2004. Took lots of killer pictures and great memories of my girlfriend (now my wife) and I. It was also a bittersweet time because my wife, Rebecca, found out that her Great Grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. I managed to get some real nice pictures of her and her great grandmother before she got real sick. Sure enough, I made only one copy of the above mentioned photos and had them on an external hard drive. Formatted my cards and went about my business shooting everything else. Well, a month later, guess what decided to become a fireball and blow up on me? THAT hard drive. Bye bye photos, bye bye memories. What did I learn? Make backups of your backups!

4.) Shoot RAW: I know there are some JPEG blow hards out there where it is all JPEG or nothing. Good for you. If you don't want to sit behind a computer after a shoot then no problem. That is about the only reason I would ever even consider shooting exclusively JPEG in this day and age. Memory cards are cheap (I remember paying $200+ for a 512mb card in 2002!), RAW converters are cheap and fast and they do the job. Even my snap shots are done in RAW. WHY? I love the flexibility and love the fact that I can apply the necessary white balance, contrast, saturation and sharpness after the shoot depending on my needs. If I shot JPEG then I would be limited to what my settings were at time of capture. Last time I checked, Photoshop has a hard time of getting a correct white balance after the fact and sharpening can always be added but rarely removed! RAW also has more flexibility. In the heat of the moment, maybe you took a beautiful picture but your settings may have been off. If you shoot in RAW and your goof ups are suddenly not throw outs. I have pulled a couple stops back from a file and made it a keeper. If I shot JPEG then it would have been off to the trash can.

5.) It's Called Workflow not "work-slow": I remember editing a wedding in 2006 using Adobe Camera Raw. I was editing every photo one by one. I knew nothing about "batch processing" That wedding took me a week and now I can get one fully edited, make a blog post about it AND push it to Pictage within 2 hours tops. RAW converters like Adobe Lightroom are great tools and should be used to their fullest. Use Lightroom Presets, Photoshop Actions and Batch Processing and watch your calendar free up in no time.

There you have it, my top 5 revelations that I know I would have liked to have learned when I started off. Hopefully these can come in handy for you and you can be off to an even better start then when I did.

Thanks for reading!

Getting Down and Dirty With Off-Camera Flash: Part I

2009-04-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

I can still remember my first run-in with flash photography... It was 2002 and I just picked up my first set of studio strobes. A good friend of mine gave me a crash course in how to use them and light modifiers and whatnot and then I threw myself to the wolves and booked my first sports portraits. It was for a karate school that I taught at and I basically took those in and out portraits of the little kids for mom and dad to get a bunch of wallets of them and send off to their relatives.

Granted, I wasn't doing any Rembrandt or butterfly lighting here... It was more like lighting for a Passport photo than anything.

Long story short, I was hooked! I ran out and picked up an SB-800 speedlight the day it came out (which was in mid-2003 I believe) That was when I had my trusty Nikon D100 with me. Man I loved that camera... I might even pick another one up just because I miss it so much. Tangent. Sorry about that. So back to the lesson... Nikon has an amazing CLS system. Even back then! Their D-TTL stuff was magical and it caused me to work my butt off freelancing so I could pick up a second one! The CLS system came even further down the road and they introduced more bells and whistles which is what you see today.

With two, I was able to do all sorts of awesome flash photography. I could essentially, take my studio on-location with portability and easy set-up/take-down to get my job done better and faster... Cool.

So, I worked on it and studied lighting more and just kept experimenting. The internet was a huge help along with various DVDs and seminars that I attended. I definitely encourage learning so soak up as much information as you can so you can be all that you can be.

On that note, I hope that these next couple flash articles will help you and get you to use your flash off the camera more.

My workshops and seminars cover all the basics so for this article, I am just going to assume that you at least know the fundamentals, camera settings and lingo that I will use.

First things first, you need to think about what you are going to use as your flash settings. The two obvious choices that I can think of is whether you will want to use the camera and flash's TTL system or if you simply want to use the flash in manual mode. There are pros and cons to using either one so let's go over what they are:

TTL FLASH: (TTL stands for "Thru The Lens" BTW)High speed sync (or FP sync for Canon shooters)... This is some awesome stuff that is worth it's weight in gold! (More that high speed sync stuff later) TTL is also very easy to use. Nikon shooters do have a little more luxury in this department and have the ability to easily tweak their flash output on all slave units from their camera. Canon users don't have such a luxury and have to purchase a ST-E2 and use light ratios to get the same effect. TTL frees us up from the old days where it seemed like every photographer also needed a quantum mechanics degree as well...

Seriously with that? Well the TTL system takes care of that and calculates the proper flash output because it knows all the variables in those equations. The result it that you have your own little math geek in your flash now!
The technology does have its limitations however. For example, you will get flaky and inconsistent results if the ambient light is too bright or when commander unit is not in sight of the slave units and stuff like that. Distance from commander to slave can also be an issue. There are products out there like the RadioPoppers and PocketWizards newest product (The TT1 and TT5) that do fix these limitations. Another issue is that this stuff is proprietary so you can only have Nikon flashes with your Nikon cameras or Canon flashes with your Canon cameras... You can see that this can get expensive at $300+ a pop for their latest flashes.

Check out this video on the Mini TT1 and Flex TT5...

MANUAL MODE: Good ol' fashioned manual mode. A lot of photographers use manual mode and I do too. However, photographers such David Hobby and Zack Arias are 110% manual mode flash... Why do that if TTL is as awesome as I say it is??? Well first off, price... The only real big purchase you would make is for at least a pair of PocketWizard's or more if you want to use more flashes. There are things known as "eBay triggers" out there which may not be the industry standard, but are 50 times cheaper than a pair of $400 PWs. Not bad! You could even get away with a long PC Sync cable and run it from your camera to your flash tethered to save some cash... Also, you aren't limited to your specific camera brand's flashes. You can pick up ANY flash that has a PC Sync input and hook it up to your wireless transmitter and you are good to go! If the flash doesn't have a PC Sync input then you can always buy a hot shoe mount that has one and daisy chain it that way to work. (PC sync cable to hot shoe mount then flash mounted on hot shoe)

So you can get away with dropping a lot less for a manual flash setup... Why else does it rock? Well, TTL does all that fancy pants trigonometry stuff to do all the busy work for you with each and every shot. That means the flash output will be or can be different with each shot or composition change that you make. This could be an issue and give you inconsistent results from one to another... It's sort of the Matrix metering system but for flashes you know? Therefore you have to ride the flash exposure compensation.

Here are a couple example images that were shot with Manual Flash:

We were in a tight space in this alley and I couldn't rely on my lighting system to work in TTL mode. Also, it was dark enough where I didn't need a fast shutter speed to dial down the ambient light so I hooked up my PocketWizard Plus II receivers and shot in manual mode. All I needed to do was set my flashes up once and I could spend more time shooting and less time fidgeting with my settings.

With manual flash however, you set it and forget it... Position subject at X put light stand and flash about arms length away from them at Y, dial in your settings and every shot will have the same flash output... DONE! Unfortunately, there are bad things about this setup. The most annoying issue is your camera's stupid sync speed. The way SLRs work is that the mirror flaps up and the shutter opens for x seconds and closes and then the mirror flaps down... Many cameras have a standard sync speed of 1/200", 1/250" or even a 1/500" (like on the Nikon D70s) but check your camera manual to see what yours is... It is the maximum shutter speed that you can use when shooting with a flash. Plain and simple. If you shoot at that shutter speed or slower then you are all set... Shoot faster than the sync speed and welcome to 'blacklinesinmyphotosville'. What that nice long line is at the bottom of your picture (or left or right side if shooting portrait) is that your exposure was so fast that it didn't give the image enough time to get the full effect of the flash because it closed up too quick.

All in all, as mentioned before, I use both methods. There is a time and place for both of them. I use TTL and high speed sync when I want to shoot portraits and want overpower the sun... That means I can dial down the ambient light and get really cool portraits that are just top notch... If I were to do that in manual mode then I would need a lot more flash power (enter studio strobes and power packs which cost $$$$) to get my shutter speed slow enough so that it falls into the sync speed of the camera....

So that gives you the rundown on what your options are as far as flash modes are concerned. The next part will discuss how to go about quickly set your gear up and dialing in your settings so you can spend more time shooting and less time fidgeting with your it all. Not a bad deal right?

*Sample images coming soon

Be sure to comment on this post and let me know how you use your flash. I know there is a lot more information on the subject. This is meant to be a nice general overview of things to get people started.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Backup Your Images

2009-04-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Nothing is more important than backing up your data. Unfortunately, this is something that gets pushed to the wayside so we can get a new camera or lens gets. What good is all that camera equipment if we lose all the images taken with it???

It all boils down to storage... Here are some helpful suggestions on how you can preserve your images for years to come:
1.) Do not format your memory cards until you have backed them up. It is important to have yourself "at least" two copies before formatting your memory card!

2.) Invest in quality not quantity. It is easy to see a hard drive for $80 and want to pick it up. However, be sure to do your research and make sure that these hard drives are reliable. We wouldn't want to get into a car that wasn't reliable and take it for a drive across country now would we? Same goes for your hard drives.

3.) Go for speed. Look for hard drives in the 7200rpm or faster range. Also ensure that your external hard drives have various input jack options. These 250 gb rugged external hard drives by LaCie are portable and can withstand a good beating. Trust me, I have tried and they are still kicking!

4.) Things are always better in pairs! Do your research on data redundancy and set yourself up a nice RAID system. The basic nuts and bolts of RAID is that you can have your hard drive mirrored meaning that one could crap out and you will have an exact replica to takes its place. Furthermore, you can put a new hard drive in the old one's place and have the RAID mirroring kick right back in. LaCie also makes amazing products for redundancy. This particular model is the LaCie 5 Big Network NAS file server and it can expand to offer you up to 7.5 Terabytes of data!!!

Front:

Back:

5.) Upgrade your CDs and DVDs from the Walmart brand to archival grade. The cheap DVDs have an average shelf life of like 5 years. Go with the more expensive, but more reliable, archival disks. These last well over 90 years and are more scratch resistant.

6.) Keep a backup off-site. Take one of your hard drives or keep a running record of DVDs and send them over to your mother-in-laws house. Just keep them somewhere safe and away from where you keep your other hard drives. This goes with the saying about having all your eggs in one basket. Heaven forbid you had a fire or a natural disaster hit your house... Having an off site backup ensures that you have one copy somewhere else that is hopefully going to be out of harms way.

One can get pretty overboard with backups so be sure to do your research and follow a backup regiment that will suit your needs and fit in with your already existing workflow.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

To Pose Or Not To Pose...

2009-04-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

To pose, or not to pose: That is the question. A question all modern day wedding photographers have to face. Today’s bride is all about “photo journalism.” It’s getting to the point where they turn their head anytime someone mentions the word “pose”. However, do they really know what this term means or did they just see that buzz word in a bridal magazine?

Photojournalism, documentary, and lifestyle photography are all synonyms. They all mean that the photographer will be unobtrusive and capture those special, candid moments as they unfold. But what does a photographer do when these special moments are few and far in-between? What do you do when the story unfolding in front of you is the bride’s father not approving of his future son-in-law, or when the groom is having second thoughts or when the couple is getting married for all the wrong reasons? This may seem far-fetched but I can guarantee that it’s happened before.

A true “photo journalistic” photographer should be capturing these fights and lack of love in each other’s eyes the same way true photo journalists do when in the heart of war zones. However, do you think the bride will be happy to see these moments in her wedding album? Me either. So what do we do as photo journalistic wedding photographers? We’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t.

If we don’t hang that shingle out there saying we shoot in a photo journalistic style then we won’t get many bookings. Brides want what the magazines tell them because posed photos are old fashioned and dated. However, if they see their true wedding then they may not like what they see. No one wants a wedding album with a spread of the groom sweating bullets and getting ready to flee to Mexico minutes before the ceremony or the couple just going through the movements without any love in either of their eyes.

My solution is to create a happy medium between the two.

First, I think it is absolutely essential to educate the couple when you meet with them. All of this can be very new to them and most of their information comes from recently married friends of theirs or from magazines. I’ve seen brides asking for photo journalism one minute, yet taking out their plan book and showing me a handful of images that are nothing of the sort. The photos she takes out have been posed shots brides on gondolas in Venice or on a secluded beach in Hawaii. Yes they look amazing but they were most likely taken by a fashion photographer and are very farfetched from the norm. This just goes to show you how no matter what, every bride wants to look like a princess and they want their day to be like it was out of a fairy tale. Educating the bride will let them know how weddings typically run and to let them know that powerful images like the one’s she is showing require a large amount of pre-planning. It probably isn’t in their budget to fly everyone down to Venice or Hawaii but amazing photos can be taken really quite anywhere. It just takes a lot of grunt work, scouting and planning to find a place that is elegant and unique.

Secondly, I tell them how I photograph a wedding. This is where I mention how I “coach” the couples to create these memorable photos. I tell the couple how I offer them tips and pointers throughout the day to make the best images possible. This could mean telling them to sit by a tree together and just talk and be cuddly or even to just tell them to keep doing what they are doing, just a couple steps over so they can be in better light.
Lastly, I strongly recommend that they book my engagement portrait session. Here, I explain that it is a learning experience for both of us. I am seeing what works and what doesn’t and I get to know the best ways to photograph the two of them. On the same token, they get a chance to warm up in front of the camera and to get comfortable with it so that it will all be second nature on their big day.

When it comes to the shoot, I do exactly the things I mentioned to them and really try to keep them engaged and involved in the whole process. I treat things more like an experience than anything. I want them to feel just like they left an amusement park when I am done with them.

This coaching technique can lead one to “machine gun shooting” if you aren’t careful. Over time however, you begin to hone in on your technique and you begin to anticipate the moment that is essentially just how a photojournalist would… The only difference is that our photos will be taken in better light.

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

inLIGHTin Workshop @ IPrintFromHome.com HQ

2009-04-21T05:46:00.000-07:00

I wanted to go over my recent inLIGHTin Workshop for today's Friday Night Lights segment.

I gave an inLIGHTin Workshop to about a dozen photographers over at the iPrintFromHome.com Headquarters over on Niagara Falls Blvd. For those local to Buffalo... did you know that we have an awesome photo lab right in our backyard?

So we started at 6pm and went a little over three hours! This workshop was all about lighting. We talked about everything from free and available light, to continuous light, speedlights (on and off camera) and ended up on studio strobes... There was A LOT of content and could have easily spent an entire day talking about things...

I had a great time and wanted to thank everyone for attending. I hope to see you at other workshops of mine and as always, call or email whenever if you have any questions guys!

Here are some pics from the workshop that my assistant, Martha, shot during the workshop:

Thanks to the George and Sarah over at the iPrintFromHome.com family for letting us use their space.

Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR Review

2009-04-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

What better time to review the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR when a new one has been announced right?

Basically, I just wanted to let you know that this lens is still going to be used by myself and I do not have immediate plans to upgrade to the new 70-200mm with VRII...

Here are the differences real quick between the old model and the new one:
1.) Price! I paid around $1,800 last year from my 70-200mm while the new one appears that it will be going for around $2,400.
2.)VR vs. VR II: You basically get an extra stop of light with this newer version VR. The old one states that you can handhold the lens and get an additional three stops out of it while the new one is rated for four stops.
3.) Lens Coating & Design: The new VRII lens has the nano-crystal coating and sports a new design to boot.
4.) Minimum focusing distance has been dropped from 5 feet to 4.5 feet or so.
5.) The VRII lens is about a quarter inch shorter than its predecessor. However, it is approx. 2.5 oz. heavier.
6.) Sharpness: The new VRII is supposed to have better edge to edge sharpness on the new VRII lens.
7.) AF: Faster focusing with the A/M, M/A and M options.

So if you think that the extra $600 will help out your photography then put an order in for one of the new VRII versions... Otherwise, wait it out and continue to rock it's predecessor.

I personally love my current lens. The important things are that it is fast to acquire focus, it is sharp (even at f/2.8) and it is comfortable in the hands. Need I say more? This lens has some amazing bokeh (that is the term given to the aesthetic quality of the blurred out background in your image when using a shallow depth of field)

I chose to do this review actually because I have been using this lens for more and more of my work as the days go on. My full frame D700 rocks with this lens. I did find that DX crop cameras give me a little too much zoom (approx. 105-300mm focal lengths after considering the crop factor) for my wedding and portrait needs. This lens coupled with a 2x teleconverter on my D300 DX camera gives me an effective 600mm f/5.6 (you lose a stop of light with each x in the teleconverter so my f/2.8 bumps up to f/5.6) Not too shabby! So all in all, I can use this lens with either a DX or FX body and for various photography assignments.

The image quality of this lens really excels when shooting wide open. Here are some sample pics from a job that I just did where the 70-200mm was used at f/2.8:

This lens is a staple for Nikon shooters. There are a couple other "necessary" lenses in Nikon's lineup that you should have with you. The 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 would have to be the other two that I can come up with. Enjoy and check back tomorrow for some awesome workflow techniques!

Thanks for stopping by.
Mike

Top 10 Tips for Better Landscape Photography

2009-04-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Tips for Better Landscape Photos:

1.) Use a tripod. I think that one is self-explanatory. Tripods stabilize your camera and ensure that your shots will be sharp. A lot of photography techniques, such as blurring waterfalls, requires a steady camera and a long shutter speed so we need that camera to be steady. I also should point out that you should look into also using a remote shutter release to also prevent any unnecessary camera movement. If you wanted the benefit of this on the cheap or if you forgot to bring your shutter release with you then you could always use the timer feature of your camera. Set it to 2 or 5 second delay and that will ensure that the camera isn't affected by you pressing the shutter.

Using a tripod allowed me to take this 16.5 minute star trail in Joshua Tree National Park. Good luck hand holding your camera that long!

2.)Use Mirror Up Mode. I am not sure if every camera has this feature but it further prevents any camera movement at time of capture. With this setting enabled, you press the shutter once to snap the mirror up and then the second photo simply takes the exposure without any internal mirror snapping. Anything to reduce movement on the camera.

3.) Do your Research. If you are planning a trip somewhere or are ready to go out and shoot then be sure that you know when the sunup/sunset times are, what the weather is like (and dress appropriately) and where the best setup locations will be. "Chance favors the prepared mind" so the more prepared you are going into the shoot, the better your images will be. A GPS is also your friend and is a great tool for landscape photographers.

4.) Invest in Filters. Certain filters are essential to taking amazing images in camera. Sure we could take multiple shots and HDR them but I am talking about technique here. Many have the "I'll fix it in Photoshop" approach to photography which I am trying to break one person at a time here. If you are just starting out then HDR your heart out until you can save up for decent filters. Call me old fashioned but I want to see an amazing image on the back of my camera in order for me to feel good about an image. Many times, this requires the use of filters. I would recommend circular polarizer filters (reduce glare and gives images more of a color pop in-camera.), ND filters (Come in various levels of intensity. These darken the overall exposure and allow you to shoot at slower shutter speeds), graduated ND filters (these are gradients that go from dark to clear. Their purpose is to darken the sky and even out the overall exposure of a landscape) and filter holders (such as the Cokin Z-Pro).

5.) Be Unique. There is only so many ways someone can take a photograph. If you are visiting a popular location frequented by photographers year round then chances are you will be taking a photo that looks just like theirs. Be unique and come up with different ideas. Maybe shoot details around the area, use tighter crops, try panoramas or use obscure things in the foreground. Just be different.

6.) The Early Bird Gets the Worm. Be willing to venture out early enough to catch sunsets. This means waking up well ahead of time, getting a good breakfast and get out to your location wit your camera ready to go just before sunset. Remember "chance favors the prepared mind." If you are a late riser then there is always sunsets to look forward to. The reason for this is that the sun isn't at an extreme such as high noon and the light is essentially fanning across the landscape. The colors in the sky are also the most impressive during these times.

7.) Composition is Key. Remember the basics such as the Rule of Thirds, the Golden Ratio, triangles, figure eights, leading lines and other compositional rules. Always strive for a foreground, mid and background to give a sense of depth and dimension. If you want to portray size then try to always have something in the photograph to serve as a reference. This could be a person hiking while you capture a majestic mountain. As always, rules are meant to be broken so if it looks good to you then chances are you have yourself a winner. "There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams

8.) Bracket Your Shots. I've had it happen to me where you get so caught up in the moment or things are a rush so you may forget to check your settings or your exposures on the back of your camera. By bracketing your shots, you can ensure that you will at least have a couple usable images from the set. On that note, always run through your camera settings to ensure they are set to what you want. For landscapes, I recommend using the largest RAW file in Adobe RGB. This will give you larger files but they will have more data and contain the most color. Film was expensive but memory card real estate is cheap so use up those memory cards. It only will cost you more time behind the computer when going through them all.

9.) Travel. Life is short. Go out and see the world. Unless Yosemite or Yellowstone is in your backyard then chances are you will have to travel some to get great images. Sure you can look for some gems in your backyard and search for local getaways but the real magic comes when you do a little traveling. I know I get burned out living in the same spot with the same things to photograph... Traveling to a new location is an eye opener and serves as a much needed revitalization. I find a whole new level of inspiration when in a new state or county. Take the wife and kids or go on a photo safari by yourself. Exotic animals and unique landscapes will not be ringing your doorbell so you have to go out and search for them. Just be safe and take a guide with you if you are unsure of your surroundings or what you will be getting into.

Not everyone has one of these in their backyard! Photo taken in Chichen-Itza, Mexico.

10) Get To Know the Area. Camp out and become a part of what you are photographing. The moods and feeling you get should be the fuel for your photographs. When you understand what you are photographing then you will be able to truly capture it's essence.

This photo tells a story to me. I shot this image after proposing to my wife in Allegheny State Park. Don't tell me that it didn't have an effect on my feelings. I find this image to be very calming, mysterious and pleasing to the eyes. I could go on for hours about this one since I think it is my favorite image to date.

Ansel Adams said the following quotes that should really hit home:
"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. "

“Simply look with perceptive eyes at the world about you, and trust to your own reactions and convictions. Ask yourself: "Does this subject move me to feel, think and dream? Can I visualize a print - my own personal statement of what I feel and want to convey - from the subject before me?”

“You don't take a photograph, you make it.”

I hope this helps in your quest for better photographs.

Enjoy!
Mike

Doing Your Time - Wait And Be Rewarded

2009-04-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

I was pretty lucky that the stars aligned fairly well for while in California. I came back with a lot of great images that I obviously couldn't have gotten here in Buffalo. Not too many cacti or mountains around here ;P

I am still going through images from the trip and it inspired me to write this little article here.

So many people focus on camera equipment and computer software but forget that great images simply require you to do your time.
What I mean by this is that the stars essentially have to align with you being there right smack dab in the middle of it all. Sometimes, you being there is fate. There is no easy way to call it anything else. It is just you and the shot right there at the right time. I have seen many powerful images through my various workshops and speaking engagements. These images were taken by self-proclaimed "amateur" photographers. They were at the right place at the right time and snap, they captured it beautifully. However, these powerful images in their portfolio were few and far in-between. It is my goal in this article for you to capture more of those powerful photographs time after time.

I think that Louis Pasteur nailed it best when he said: "Chance favors the prepared mind."
I have been hanging on this quote ever since I heard Ansel Adams say it. He was no slouch when it came to inspiration quotes either. Here are some of my favorites:

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter"

"A photograph is not an accident- It is a concept."

"The ‘machine-gun’ approach to photography – by which many negatives are made with the hope that one will be good – is fatal to serious results."

"Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop"

All of these quotes hold great value to me. How many times do we find ourselves guilty of "machine gun" shooting? I know I am an offender at times. How many times do we put together our portfolio together with quantity in mind and not quality? A portfolio is only as strong as its weakest print. Remember that.

So back to the topic at hand, doing time. For me, taking the time out to research and study what I am about to photograph. If I will be photographing some place local, I will go to the site and scout out the area. This comes in handy but what if you happen to be at the right place at the right time? You better be on your game to make the shot. Here is an example of just being at the right place at the right time.

The next shot wouldn't have been anything special if I didn't get up at the crack of dawn. If I waited any longer then the fog would have rolled out and the sky would have lost all that overcast:

This next photograph happened to be me being there at the right moment. My camera gear was out and equipped and I waited patiently until this turtle decided to swim by and make his appearance. My camera settings were right and all I had to do was press the shutter...

It isn't always easy for the amateur photographer to dedicate this much time to their hobby. Sure they have a nice camera but the 9-5 job, family and other factors can easily make it so one cannot always get out to take pictures. This means that the few times they actually can get out to shoot might not be the 'right' day. The light may be horrible, their may be no cloud cover, the seasons may not be right or it could be a slew of other reasons.

So just remember "Chance favors the prepared mind" so just sit down and do your research then you will have much more eventful shoots.

------------------------------------------------------------

If you are an IPhone or IPod Touch user then I would suggest adding the following Applications to help you be ready:

1.) PhotoCalc ($2.99)
2.) Darkness - Sun, Moon, Clock + More ($1.99)
3.) more to be updated as I find them or as they become available...

Video With The Nikon D90

2009-03-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

I have been goofing around with the Nikon D90 for some time now. I wanted to iron out all the kinks before offering this photo/video fusion to my clients so here is a sample video my wife and I shot just today. As you can see, it is of my little guy, Cameron, and his first time eating solid foods. This is just a quick run of how quick video can be taken and edited down to a decent home movie or more...

I shot this video using a Nikon D90 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. A monopod was used to stabilize the camera some and everything else was pretty much pretty basic. The video was shot in the highest high def quality that the D90 offers (720i) and then converted from AVI to MOV format on my Macbook Pro. iMovie '08 was used to edit the video and throw in the titles, transitions and music.

All in all, it took about 1 hour to edit around 40 minutes of video down to the 6.5 minute movie that you see here:

Nikon D90 Home Movie Sample from Michael Bielat on Vimeo

http://www.vimeo.com/3772052

Here are my initial thoughts about the D90...
D90 Pros:
- I love how easy it is to shoot the video and it is all on the SD card for quick transferring over to my computer. My High Def camcorder uses miniDV tapes which is a REAL pain to get the video to my computer. This isn't an issue with video being on an SD card.
- 720p High Def quality is still awesome! Don't tell me "Joe Six Pack" (yeah I'm bringing it back) can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p...
- A couple button clicks and you are recording high def video easily. It took my wife 2 minutes to get her groove on with recording video and applying her artistic eye on things. Don't let her know but it only took me 1 minute ;p
- Quiet: The shutter isn't loud when taking still captures.

D90 Cons:
- Camera shake when shooting video. The camera body is so light that it is easy to wiggle around.VR lenses will help but there aren't too many in Nikon's lens arsenal that are fast enough and worthy for all around use. My only VR lens is the 70-200mm and good luck keeping the camera steady hand holding that bad boy. I am using a monopod to steady the camera but a stabilizer will definitely be my next purchase. I may purchase the battery grip down the road to help weigh this camera down.
- Blur: The only fast and responsive way to focus is manually. The 3" LCD screen helps to judge your focus but it isn't always perfect. I like to use the shallow DOF that my lenses have so I really need to be dead on. I also like to do unique camera angles that have me looking at the LCD screen on quite the extreme angle. I look forward to how they will handle this is future camera models.
- Jello Video: The software design of things makes it so that the video appears to jiggle like jello when panning fast or shaking the camera. This isn't found on camcorders. Hopefully a firmware update can fix this...
- External Mic: No way to add one so we're stuck with the built in one which isn't anything to write home about.
- Bumpy: Video tends to flicker or jump at times. If you don't have some sort of stabilization in place then good luck! Even with stabilization, there still are some skips it seems.
- I miss the D700 feel. The buttons on the D90 are all over the place and it is missing a lot of great features that the D700 has. It is just a pain when switching between the two but hey, it's a $2000 price difference so what do you expect? This is something that I can totally live without to save that much money.

So all in all, if you have no interest in using the video capabilities of your DSLR, whether it be the Nikon D90 or Canon 5D Mark II, at least give it a go and shoot some home movies. Nothing beats capturing video to help tell a story. I played this video back after editing it and got choked up. Would I get that if I had only images? Maybe... maybe not. I do believe that there is a place for both mediums but this really gave me a nice new view of things. My little background in videography helped as well.

Otherwise, you could utilize these capabilities to the max and begin offering video options as a service. Will these videos put videographers and cinematographers out of business? Not yet.

The photos coming out of this camera are really impressive. Nikon didn't take the D300 sensor for use in this camera but they did model the D90's sensor off the D300. So it is similar but different. Can we tell the difference? Probably not. The IQ (image quality) coming out of this camera is very impressive. I shot with it all around California and really got a lot of use out of it when needing that extra zoom. With this camera being in the 1.5x crop factor, I managed to get an effective 600mm zoom when pairing up the camera with a 2x teleconverter and my 70-200mm.

Nice and sharp, even with the teleconverter mounted. I was worried about that since I need some AF fine tuning on my D700 when using the teleconverter.

The files turned out quite nicely at ISO's up to 1600. The D90 doesn't have the extreme ISOs like the D3/D700 cameras but that is something that kept the camera's cost down I am guessing...

So I am extremely happy with this camera. It replaced my camcorder and allows me to get more creative in ways that I couldn't before. I do miss doing my video so this is a breath of fresh air and has me real excited. I find myself taking this camera with me when going out and especially when hanging out with the family for shots of Cameron. It is very small and portable so I can put it into my Lowepro Slingshot 200 bag along with my SB-900, extra batteries and a couple lenses (24-70mm f/2.8 and the 85mm f/1.8) with lots of room to spare!

If you are toying around with getting a point and shoot like a Nikon P6000 then I would recommend to just go the little extra and pick yourself up the D90. It is portable enough in my opinion without getting in the way and your photos will really shine. More than what a point and shoot can do that is for sure!

Thanks!
Mike

Get Accurate Colors In Camera

2009-03-05T04:16:00.000-08:00

I think it is safe to say that RAW workflow is the standard for almost all professional photographers. Even with that, I am sure there are still many pros that choose to shoot JPEG files. There is nothing wrong with either method. If the shoe fits, right? I personally prefer a RAW workflow myself but to each his own right? Applications like Adobe Lightroom further sweeten the deal for me. Programs like this make RAW workflow a breeze. Batch processing allows you to correct one RAW file and process the same settings across multiple images. Presets can be created to recollect your favorite settings and effects even. These various methods all help save you time and allow you to spend more time behind the camera rather than editing photos on your computer. For JPEG shooters, this luxury really can only be done through the use of your in-camera settings or custom actions in Photoshop. And good luck if you need to make some drastic white balance corrections!

Your in-camera white balance setting is a great asset to JEPG and RAW shooter alike. Nailing an accurate white balance in the camera is one of the biggest time savers that I have noticed. The camera’s presets come close to accurate colors but many times they still require additional fine-tuning in order to get the most accurate colors. Auto white balance is fine for a snapshot but the white balance values are all over the place from shot to shot and good luck color correcting those JPEGS! In this article, I plan on going over how to obtain the best color directly in-camera and the tools which work for me.

Color correction was always a nightmare for me. This was my primary reason for shooting RAW for the longest time. My previous gray card targets like the Whibal and so on were 'close' but I always had too much magenta or something that looked just plain off. The RAW file has a lot more leverage when it comes to obtaining the best white balance and exposure correction. Now I don’t know about you but the perfectionist in me always questioned my white balance. I have purchased my share of gray cards and color checkers but even the most expensive one is no use when you forget to take it out of your camera bag!

Well, color correction issues became a figment of my imagination once I discovered the BRNO BaLens. The BaLens replaces your lens cap and comes in a variety of sizes so it is likely to fit any of your lenses. Its design is simple; a white translucent dome, which is about the size of a quarter, sits in the center of the cap and can be swapped out with a warmer portrait dome for warmer skin times if need be. The BaLens comes with a neutral and warm dome. The neutral one is ideal for any situation where the warmer one is most beneficial for skin tones and portraits. I prefer to just keep the neutral one on and simply dial in a little warmth to skin tones in post-production if need be.

It is very easy to switch out the different domes but I could just slide the Kelvin slider a couple hundred degrees and that seems to always to the trick for me. The BaLens did require some more steps to follow. It relies on using your test image to be stored as a white balance preset in the camera while gray cards can be captured and worked with in post-production. The steps require me to take the test shot using program mode, manual focus and auto white balance. I use Program mode only for this purpose simply because it takes care of the exposure for me without me having to fidget with my exposure. My camera is set up so it doesn’t take a picture unless focus is acquired so putting my lens into manual focus bypasses this. Because of the BaLens’ design, they recommend taking the test image using auto white balance. It’s quite straightforward from there. I have the BaLens lens cap on and take a photo of the main light source (or in between the two light sources if there are different casts to acquire an average balance). The last step is for me to use that image as the white balance preset value. Refer to your camera’s user manual for instructions on how to set the white balance preset. It sounds like a hassle but I can pull all this off in half a minute tops. Yeah the first couple tries seemed like I was all thumbs but the more you do it, the faster you get. For weddings or portraits, I just make sure to spark up a conversation or have my second shooter take them for a few images while I go through the white balance settings to make the shoot flow seamlessly.

You’re probably wondering what the results are like. Let’s take a look at the differences between my old means of white balance calibration and the new. If your computer monitor isn't calibrated then don't expect to really see any color accuracy since your monitor's color is probably off in some way. I would recommend picking up a monitor calibration device if that is the case.

So long story short, the BaLens out performs all my other white balance targets. Are there better white balance targets out there? Probably. Are they as easy to use and convenient as the BaLens? Probably not.

I hope this article was useful to you. As always feel free to get in touch with me by commenting below or register with the inLIGHTin Forum and we can chat about all things photography there. Thanks for reading and take care!

You can purchase the BRNO BaLens at the following locations:

www.balens.ca

http://amplis.com

or at any of these other fine retailers:

HERE

Thanks,
Mike

Kenny Kim Interview

2009-02-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

I first met Kenny when attending Mike Colón and Bob Davis' Master Your Craft seminar down in New York City. He was very personable and ridiculously nice. On top of that, he had these amazing shirts for sale that I had to get ;P

After that, I seen Kenny everywhere I looked, every photo blog, every magazine I seen somehow up had Kenny in it! Absolutely amazing.

In a few short years, Kenny has made his way through the ranks and gotten his name out there in the industry like I have never seen before! His drive and determination has made him one of my biggest inspirations to date.

Kenny took some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for us.

		What’s one word that describes yourself? Kenny Kim: Personable What’s your businesses primary area of photography? KK: Lifestyle Wedding Photography When did you start Kenny Kim Photography? KK: This is my 3rd year going in full-time. 2006.
> What first sparked your interest in photography? KK: Shooting for collegiate sports helped me learn the techniques. I’ve been fascinated with people since I was little. I have shoe boxes full of bad photos. What made you decide to pursue a career in photography? KK: Earlier in my career, a mother of the bride came up to me, gave me a hug, and told me that I was their family’s best photographer. She said that but didn’t see a single image I shot. That’s when I knew I could make it in this business. How would you best describe yourself and your photographic style? KK: I’m fun, engaging and personable. I approach each wedding as if it was my own family’s wedding. I look for candid and natural moments. What do you feel separates yourself from other photographers in your same profession? KK: I make an effort to build relationships with all my clients. Better I get to know them, better results I get. What other photographer or photographers have been a big inspiration to you? KK: I have so many wonderful colleagues that I need to thank. Particularly - Mike Colón, David Jay, Bob Davis, Becker – They helped me to get jump start in my career in the beginning. There are many others that I love to name but the list will go on and on. What else motivates and inspires you? KK: I get energized by people and the dynamics that each couple brings. What does a typical day of yours involve? KK: Weekdays are typical. I travel a lot, but when I am at home, I get up (slowly), get some coffee and usually start out browsing the web, catch up on my email and do some editing. I try to meet with people during the day but if not, then I’m doing various things related to my business. How often do you travel for assignments? KK: I think I spent more time on the road last year then I did at home. Eek! Do you have anyone else working for you? Do you outsource your work? If so then what do you primarily outsource? KK: I outsource all my album work. I have two wonderful designers working for me. I have a degree in graphic design but I learned a lesson that just because I can do it doesn’t mean I have to do it. So I also outsource all my graphic design materials to my good friend who is also an excellent designer. As for second shooters, I get lot of inquires of people interested in second shooting with me so I usually utilize them to come help me out at weddings. I make sure they have fun and capture great images! What was the coolest assignment/location that you have ever shot and why? KK: I love destination weddings. Having said that, my answer to the question would be the “next wedding” I shoot will be my coolest one. I really want to have that mentality and approach to each client I shoot for so that they will get the best of my work. What is your absolute favorite photo that you have ever taken and why? KK: I hate those “favorite questions” but this one I took back in 2006 still brings a smile to my face. I was with the groomsmen taking some shots of them getting ready. The ring bearer was one of the groomsmen’s sons. He needed some help with tying his shoes. His father saw he was having hard time, laughed and bent down to tie the laces for him. I love the relationship between them and the ring bearer’s boxers. It was a genuine moment that I was fortunate to capture. What advice can you offer other pros out there to take their business to the next level? KK: #1 - Make your business about serving your clients. Have fun. #2 Don’t ever forget rule #1. When did you start doing conferences, workshops and/or speaking engagements? KK: I have not done any workshops or conferences of my own. I’ve mainly just helped other photographers with their own workshops. (Mike Colón, David Jay, Bob Davis, Jeff & Julia Woods). I’ve been learning a lot from them and look forward to having one of my in the future. Not sure when that will be but once I learn how to fish well, then I’ll know when it’s time to teach others how to fish. Where can we see you speaking next? KK: I will be at WPPI in Vegas. You can find me speaking at the Pictage booth on Feb 17th from 12pm to 1pm. If you do not care to hear me speak, then come hear Robert Evans who will be with me. He’s pretty famous! Where can we see some more of your work? KK: www.KennyKim.com is my web site. You can also find me on Facebook and check out some of my work there! What advice can you offer in regards to being published, appearing in advertisements and getting sponsorships? KK: Build relationships with your vendors and editors! What camera equipment are you currently shooting with? KK: Canon Mark 1D III & 5D. What’s your lens of choice? KK: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L What item can’t you leave the house without? KK: My iPhone What equipment can’t you wait for to come out and why? KK: Canon 14-300mm f/1.2L! If they ever come out with it, I’ll sell all my other lenses! Are you sponsored by any companies? KK: Boda Bag, GoBee Bags, and few others which I can’t mention right now. Do you have any plugs that you would like to make? KK: Please help support Thirst Relief International (www.thirstrelief.org). It's a great charity you can help support them by visiting THIS SITE. I donate 10% of all sales to the Thirst Relief International.

Thank you Kenny for taking the time out for the interview and also for also being a great friend and huge inspiration!

mike

Another ePhotoZine Article Published

2009-02-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

I just got another article published on ePHOTOzine.com.

This one is all about "Showing What You Want To Sell" and how to make more money even in this crummy economy.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Tips-on-how-to-make-more-money-10847

Comment and let me know what you think!

Thanks!
Mike

Want Better Looking High ISO Files

2009-02-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

... me too.

This may seem counter-intuitive but the way to get the most out of your files is to over expose them some. I am not saying to completely blow everything out... All you need is a half to full stop over exposure to do the trick. Some may argue that this is counter intuitive since you probably upped the ISO so you can obtain a faster shutter speed but every case is different.

These sample images of my son Cameron were shot in my home under incandescent light. These images were all shot in RAW and have been directly exported from Lightroom without any modifications. I then took the exported file and re-sized them for the web.

All images were shot with my Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The aperture remained at a constant f/2.8 while the shutter speed was set accordingly and ranged from 1/50" to 1/500"

Image 1:
ISO 12,800 under exposed:

Image 2:
ISO 12,800 well exposed:

Image 3:
ISO 12,800 over exposed:

Now let's take a look at how the under exposed image looks when bumping up the exposure in Lightroom approximately +.75 stops. Not too good looking huh?
Image 4:
ISO 12,800 under exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of +.75:

Here is the over exposed image dialed down -.75 stops in Lightroom. This produces a much cleaner file. The grain is there no doubt but this is at ISO 12,800 people!
Image 5:
ISO 12,800 over exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of -.75:

-------------

What do you think about this file?
Image 6:

Would you believe me if I told you this was taken with an ISO 25,600? Well it was... Not too shabby huh? I would consider that to be completely usable with a little more finesse in post.

Here is the other end of the spectrum:
Image 7:
ISO 26,500 under exposed with a +1 exposure compensation in Lightroom

Can you say yuck?

As I mentioned before, these files are un-altered except for exposure compensation where noted and a web re-size. I will try to get the full rez images up soon for viewing if you want to pixel peep the shots. Just imagine what a little noise reduction software can do along with this technique?

I would love to hear what you think so comment away!

Can I Get Your Vote?

2009-02-03T05:36:00.000-08:00

I entered in the Capital One Newsweek American Life Photo Contest and voting has begun!

So please vote for my images if you have a free second:

Image 1: Allegheny Fog
http://www.capitalonephotocontest.co...jMTFiZDQuanBn0

Image 2: Crimson Ride
http://www.capitalonephotocontest.co...0ODg1ZTkuanBn0

You can vote up to 5 times a day so please try to take a second or two out ever day until the end and vote. Look for it to take you to a confirmation page to make sure the vote went through.

I vote, enter the verification code and get to the confirmation page. From there I go back in the web browser so I get back to the image and then refresh the browser and do it all over again.

Any help would be much appreciated. Hurry because the contest ends on February 6th at Midnight.

New Article Posed in ePHOTOzine

2009-02-03T05:34:00.000-08:00

I just helped write another article all about male and female portraiture for UK's ePHOTOzine so be sure to check it out and comment to let me know what you think:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Male-and-female-portriture

Thanks!

Mike

ePHOTOzine.com

2009-01-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

News about my inLIGHTin Workshop's seem to be taking off! I was approached by someone from a UK online magaine, ePHOTOzine.com, to be featured on their site because of the workshops.

So over the past month, I have been providing them with content and articles and some are now available online (with more to follow of course):

Portrait Tips from the Professionals (Part 1): VIEW HERE

Portrait Tips from the Professionals (Part 2): VIEW HERE

My Bio on their site: VIEW HERE

Do I sense a UK workshop in the near future???

I have more articles that will be getting added from time to time so keep checking out their site. I would like to thank Nikita Morris over at ePHOTOzine for just being awesome!

*

Attn: Nikon CLS Users D700 Trick for you Off Camera Flashers

2008-10-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

I have always been a Nikon CLS fan. That was one of the biggest things that I missed when switching to Canon for those couple years. Lately, the Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) has gotten even more robust and now allows you to control your off camera flashes directly through your camera! No need to run over to all your slave speedlights and set them right there.

As a D700 user, I have found a nice little trick that will give you one click access to this menu for ease of use and so you can get to the CLS menu.

First off, I set my D700's pop-up flash to Commander Mode. I also disable the flash so it will only relay messages to my flashes and won't affect my exposure any.

Attn. Here is the important part! From there, you need to access the custom "My Menu" camera setting and Add the Commander Mode as a new item and make sure it is at the TOP OF THE LIST! You'll see why later when I talk about custom setting f5.

D700 Custom Settings used:

e3: Flash Control for Built-in Flash = Commander Mode*

*To disable the flash, dive one step deeper into commander mode (via a right click of the ) to access the wireless commander control panel and set the Built-in Flash to nothing (--) so it won't fire the flash.

f5: Assign FUNC button = "Access top item in My Menu" This will make the FUNC button (the button near the camera lens that you can feel with your pinky finger of your right hand). Easy access yet out of the way.

So all you have to do is click on the FUNC button with your one finger and you'll have immediate access to the in-camera flash control menu!

Pretty sweet huh?
Thanks for stopping by,
Mike

Nikon Review From A (former) Canon Shooter

2008-09-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

Now let me start off by saying that I used to shoot Nikon back in the day. I show with Nikon from 2001 to 2006 and had myself a D100 and a D200 DSLR bodies. I simply made the switch to Canon as a business decision. I was intrigued by their CMOS sensors and full frame technology and that they kept releasing new stuff for the professional. Meanwhile, Nikon stuff was always back ordered and hard to find and they kept releasing stuff for the beginner photographer.

I can say that when Nikon does something, they do it right! After all that time, they finally released a full frame body, the D3. What an amazing camera that made Canon do a double take. I have to admit, it made me wish I still shot Nikon. To top things, off, they wait about 6 months and then release the mini D3, the D700 for $2000 less! WOW!!!

Now where do I fit in all of this? My Canon equipment has been a bit flaky all the time and the images I got were what I thought were ideal for being digital. My 20 and 30D bodies had some issues. I had some Err messages and one of my 30D's would mess up when I filled up the buffer. It would require the batteries to be taken out to get rid of the BuF message. My 5D was decent and I only had issues with having 9 focus points all in the center (the outer 8 being pointless and had a horrible time acquiring focus). I also would have battery issues saying that it was drained when it was in fact full and stuff like that. I figured a Mark III would be the "say all-be all" camera but that has proved to cause me more grief than I can say. The current state of the camera is that it currently "thinks" it acquired focus when in fact the focus is a good 6-12 inches back from where it should be. It thus has to go in for repair. I also had intermittent IS issues with my lenses and so on...
The final straw was that my CPS membership meant nothing to them and they couldn't loan me a new body until this one got fixed or anything. All I got was 7-10 business days for the repair.

Well, being a professional, I have to have equipment that I can rely on and trust. I don't want to fear that every time I press the shutter it could be my last.

I picked up a Nikon D700 last week because I never had issues with Nikon equipment before. They are hard to come by yes, but they have proven to be very reliable systems from my use and abuse when I owned them.

I shot a wedding on Saturday with inLIGHTin member Scott and this camera just blew me away. No more machine gun shooting to hope for a shot that was in focus, no low light focusing issues, no fear of using ISO 3200 or 6400. IT WAS GREAT!

The only issues I had was the fact that the camera "feel" was still new to me so I would be looking for the shutter in the wrong spot and little stupid things like that which will go away after more use.

The camera had no issues whatsoever and the files out of the camera were literally better than what I got out of a Mark III. And that is taking into consideration the 4 hour lens micro adjustment spiel and post processing / sharpening I would have to do to the Mark III file...

Needless to say, I am a very happy camper and these lenses are so sharp they could cut you...

I will post some pics when I get a second.

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.

DIY Westcott Spiderlite

2008-09-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

So you want a Westcott Spiderlite TD5? Want to pay $415 and then over $100 for the bulbs?

... I didn't think so. The cool thing about the Spiderlite is the fact that they provide consistent lighting so you can see the effect your lights are having on your subject and it can essentially be used just like how you would use window light. I wanted to give one of these a try and I saw how simple they are but I really did not want to pay that much!

So I got the idea to make one of my own since they literally just look like 5 light bulb sockets. I jumped on the computer and Googled "DIY Spiderlite" and came across a blog post by Alex Campagna. Why reinvent the wheel if someone else already did it right?

So here are some shots and a detailed description about what I did:

Caution. This will involve some electrical knowledge so don't try this unless you can do this without getting electrocuted! I take no responsibility if you burn down your house or electrocute yourself or anything like that so do this at your own risk!

First off, all parts were purchased at Home Depot. The total bill ran me around $130 and that is with the light bulbs!

1.) First off, I bought a 2'x4' of MDF board. I chose the 1/2" wide one. This ran me like $6 and change. With this 2x4 board, I cut it up into 7"x7" squares. I think I got about 15+ squares out of the board. Next, I glued 3 of them together to give me a 1.5" thick in width.

Here, I am keeping them clamped down so they will take better.

2.) Next, I drilled 5 holes. One at each corner and one in the center. I got a nice CAD drawing by trolling around the blog referenced above. I will post it if I can find it again. I used a 1.5" drill bit for the holes.

Here are the holes all drilled out. Do yourself a favor and do this outside! It is messy. The MDF board flakes like no other.

3.) Now, I bought 5 of these rubber outdoor light sockets that are already wired up for you. These were around $2.60 each.

They fit the 1.5" hole snugly.

Here they are all in:

4.) Next, I took the sockets out for a moment and used aluminum foil and spray on adhesive to attach it to the front of the wood. This will bounce light off it and make the light reflect forward more.

5.) Next, construction adhesive was used to secure the sockets to the MDF board. I used "Power Grab" All Purpose Construction Adhesive. This was like $7 max

6.) Next, I bought a 4x4 conjunction box at around $4 and secured a wire secure thingy... I bought a 25' Extension cord ($8.88 for 25' !!!) and ripped off the female end. This is how I will get my power to the lights!
Here is the wire secure thingy:

7.) Next, I popped out all 5 of the inner circle thingys and drew the socket wires through them. This was pretty ghetto and the wires didn't fall into place perfectly. So the wires are bent and then go under the base of the conjunction box. I would have liked it if the bulbs were in the same spot as the circles on the conjunction box but whatever. I used the wire nuts to secure the wires together. They are like $5 a pack.

I don't have it pictured but I also bought 2 on/off toggle switches that turn the lights on and off. They ran about $6 each. One toggle switch controls three of the lights and the other one controls the other two lights. You need special light bulbs for a dimmer switch to work so this takes care of me being able to dim down the output of the lights by disabling two or three of them...

The easiest way to wire this is to do the following:
The extension cord has three wires: black, white and green (ground). I believe that in house wiring, black is the power ad white is common. So, I wire nutted ALL the whites together along with the green ground wire. The gauge of wire was too heavy for me to put all of them together in one so I had to daisy chain a wire between two of them to make them all fit while maintaining a connection. So the white and green wires from the extension cord paired up with a couple of the white wires from the sockets and then I had a stray white wire link the rest of the white wires to this one.

Now, the black wire completes the connection so you need to put the toggle switch in between these. The toggle switch connects or disconnects this wire so power can or cannot go through to the lights. I took the black wire from the extension cord and put two stray black wires off of that. These 2 stray wires will hook up to one of the toggle switch connections. I then took another 2 stray black wires and put them off of the other connector on the toggle switch. One stray wires then went to three of the black wires off the light sockets (you choose which ones you want that to affect) and then the other stray wire went to the remain 2 light sockets.

So the toggle switch makes or breaks a connection of power to the lights. One enables/disables three lights while the other affects the remaining two. Got it? Hopefully that isn't confusing at all. Just remember that the toggle switches need to be in between the extension cord and the light sockets and then you will be all good!

Here are the bulbs that I got. I think they were like $8 a piece and you need 5 of them. These take up a bulk of the price!

This was all I could find at the Depot that had the juice while being daylight balanced!

These are 100watts but are good on your wallet because they only draw 27watts. I think that is what that means. Note. They break easily so buy spares!

And here is the final shot of the lights in action:

Lastly, HOW DO WE GET THIS ON A LIGHTSTAND?
Unfortunately, this is where a big bulk of the money used on the project is dropped. I bought a dual sided screw. The one end was 1/4" and the other one is bigger and goes into wood. I think it was 3" long.
You screw the big boy into the bottom of the wood and then get yourself a $30 Bogen/Manfrotto Swivel Umbrella Adapter and that comes with a brass piece that takes 1/4" thread!

Then mount it all to a light stand and it's up!

Lastly, you will need light modifiers. I recommend using that umbrella adapter for all it's worth. Get yourself umbrellas and mount them on the umbrella adapter or get yourself the softboxes that collapse like an umbrella like this one made by Westcott. This one runs about $150 but it is the 28" Westcott Apollo Softbox. This can double for your off camera flash stuff so it can have dual purposes!

Thanks for checking it out and please be safe if you try this out ok? You are working with electricity here and electricity can hurt! I take no responsibility if you decide to play Frankenstein on yourself.

Welcome To The inLIGHTin Workshop

2008-08-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I have some tips and tutorials to post on here so I will make this one short and sweet.

Thank you very much for visiting. If you are a photographer then I would highly recommend bookmarking this site and checking back often. It will be well worth it!

Click HERE to bookmark this page