camera button friday - the 'black box' of the bosnia video/photo shoot

As an InterVarsity student 10 years ago, I participated in the Bosnia Global Project; a twinning relationship between the IFES movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Surf and Turf Region in California.  This was a monumental summer in my development as a person, leader, and global Christian.  Finally being able to return to document this now 13 year partnership has been one of my goals as a 2100 story teller.  Amy and I were there for 14 days, one of the longest shoots I have been on, but in the end we realized why we needed so much time.

The term "Black Box" is often used to explain an unknown process, like a business or decision making.  Some have devoted entire blogs to the process of explaining this Black Box of photography and video. In my own experiences, I have found that it is more of a mindset than a set of steps or parameters.   That mindset is more of a "do the best you can with what you have" attitude, pared with a "willingness to roll with what is thrown at you". Every shoot I have been on has required me to forget almost 1/2 of my plans and make up new ones.  No matter how much I know this, it still catches my off guard.  

But the new lesson I learned in Bosnia was in the "how to gain access to your subject" category.  I would have never thought that this would required us to participate so much instead of observing with our cameras.  We were forced to take coffee, eat food, walk, talk, and participate in "culture" for hours before breaking out the camera. Yes, poor us.  At first this worried me because of how expensive (time wise) it was to get only a couple shots.  But once we realized this, it made total sense, Bosnian students thrive on just being together for long periods of time.  We "knew" this, but it is a little ironic that we were trying to capture a part of the culture that we fell pray to.  In the end it yielded great shots that were more authentic and true to the project.

Almost half the time we were planning on shooting was devoted to "gaining access" by interacting with our subjects; by the end of the shoot I was glad had to had the 14 days to spend.

It is interesting that most of what we experienced ourselves has nothing to do with the final video, but it is necessary to capture the footage required for that video:  

After 2 pickpocket attempts, facing changed plans that don’t allow us to shoot video, being locked INSIDE an apartment for 12 hours, sleeping on lumpy beds, filming in the rain several days strait, and getting car sick…our project is only 25% done.  Now we need to edit.

Of course, I can reword our experience with another list too: 

After consuming 2-3 freshly baked croissants or krofna per day, drinking the strongest coffee known to man, eating amazing fresh cevapi smothered in kajmak, refreshing ourselves with $.75 gelato (but worth $3), walking the streets of a historically and religiously charged city, exploring the ruins of an ancient castle that predated the Ottoman Empire, and meeting extremely friendly and hospitable students...our project is only 25% done.  Now we get to edit.

An intro/part 1 to this project can be found here.

camera button friday - story behind the image II

Every once in a while, I take a shot that I think I will like before I even see it on the computer.  Sometimes it doesn't really look as good as I thought, but this one did.  This is a shot from Sarah and Wayne's wedding from earlier this summer.

When I first walked into the reception hall, I noticed these stairs.  They had a lot of potential because of the big window behind and the great lines that were in the foreground and background.  But I was also worried about the light and having to many lines growing out of the couples heads.

After the normal portraits were done and we were about to go inside, I remembered this location and mentioned to the bride that there was a potential shot over on the other side of the building.  She was willing to try it if I was.

Sweet.

I only took the bride because it was a bit of a complicated shot and having two people to place in the scene was going to be hard.  In hind sight, I think it was easier than I feared.

My first thought was to figure out how to fix the lighting.  The obvious choice (because I have done it a lot before) is to expose for the background, and then use an off camera flash for the subject.  Below are my two exposures; one for just the background (it is ok if the foreground and subject is to dark) and the other is adding in my flash (there is a landing landing above that was perfect for it) to illuminate Sarah.  (Simple shoot through umbrella, radio triggered on manual.)

(Yes, I know she has lines growing out of her head, this was a test shot.....I probobly wasn't even looking through the camera.)

At the same time, I was also thinking about my composition.  This post here, is where I started to think more about composition from a different angle.  Literally.  Not just how you arrange the items in your frame, but actually changing your perspective by stepping back.  The realization came one snowy day while taking pictures on my porch.  As I stood out on it I was trying to push myself to show the scene different, so I took a step inside the door to create this.

So for Sarah's shot on the stairs, I already had practiced (and more than just the snow day above) on how to step back for a different perspective.

Also, in the back of my mind, was a tutorial that Steve Salt and I had taught during a composition class for the Black Hawk Photo Group.  Below is a shot I took (while modeling) as everyone else worked the angles of the stair well to create interesting leading lines.  I bet you Sarah looked more beautiful than I did on her stairs, but that is not the point, the point is to train yourself to see.

So before the image of Sarah on the stairs was created, I had already practiced many of the techniques, mindset, and tricks to create this image.  Proof that practicing, just for practicing sake, pays off when you are needing to create stellar images.  So if you are shooting weddings, or just wanting great low light shots of the grand kids, know how to get the shot before the situation presents itself.  Raise your chances that you will succeed by practicing on your friends, on the cat, or stuffed animals, whatever.  It will be worth it when the "real" opportunity arises.

There is another "story behind the image" here. I think I like this series and may try and do more....

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camera button friday - seeing light

At our last Photo Group, I talked a little bit about light, but we spent most of our time walking around and photographed in good light.  The main points of my ramblings can be found here, but you really need to get out and play with light to really understand it.  That is what I tried to do in this workshop. For example here: different angles of light on the same subject.  Why and how does it look different?

You can search all over the internet for it and everyone is in agreement that the 'golden hour' is the best to shoot in, and it is not just because it looks golden.  It has everything to do with direction.  There are no harsh shadows underneath the subject, making it look like a black hole of shadows.  (Just a heads up, the 'golden hour' is not really an hour, it is the 30 minutes or so before sunset, or after sunrise.)

Another benefit to the direction, is how it renders shapes that are normally flat looking, like here, where the light was creeping over these hills.  At another time of day, the entire field would be lit, creating less drama on the landscape and not accentuation the rolling hills.

I also talked about how clouds effect your subject.  If you are in full sun (nothing between the sun and your subject) you have to watch out for floating clouds.  If they pass in front of the sun right as you take your photo, it will change how the object looks.  This is obvious, but not to many people are aware enough to think about it.  Similarly, on a cloudy day, you have to watch out for including the sky in your shots, it will often lead to white, unattractive sky's.

As I walked around, I started to play with shafts of light.  Below are two photos in one to show how I found the light; the top image of the entire scene, the bottom is the photo I was going for; just the shaft of light.

I started to realize that I really like the drama that these shafts of light create.  If I expose for the highlights, I know the shadows will go black, creating great contrast and therefore drama.

 

I started also playing with backlight more.  I have become a fan of it (if you havn't noticed) and really wanted to experiment more and see how far I could push it.

All of these examples here are of one evening, in one setting.  There are a lot of ways to see light in many different scenes, and different conditions.  So, the main point is that you have to go and practice.  This is mostly because you have to train yourself to see light the way your camera does.  Observe the light, and wonder how to create an image with what is in front of you.  Sometimes this means intentionally going out to find great light at the right time, and place something interesting in front of your camera.  But you have to see the difference between what your eye sees and what your camera sees, so that when you see something you can know if it will be worth taking the time to pursue

camera button friday: there is no right lens

We are having amazing weather here in the Midwest (almost 10 days in a row of record high temps...it is in the 80's when it normally is below freezing!) therefore, a great excuse to revisit Parfrey's Glen.  This is one of the places I have told myself I should re-visit all year long, both because it will look very different in the seasons (here in the snow) as well as I feel I need to challenge myself to see it in a different light. (pun intended)  

So to challenge myself, I intentionally took the "wrong" lens - a wide angle.

"Naturally," you say, "it looks amazing." But, in practice, it is really tough.  The scene is very cluttered, super unorganized, and just doesn't make sense....like this image below, which represents most of the images I came home with.  BAD!!!!!!

The photo made sense in my head...just not in camera.

A telephoto lens would yield more images because (once you get over the grandness) this is a place for capturing details.  So at first, I even resorted to using the wide angle like a detail lens by getting really close. 

Any exercise like this that limits you, is always disappointing in the beginning.  It was only after I learned to see past the obvious, and really LOOK at a scene to find the images, that it started to get fun.  This takes time, and an imagination....oh, and work.

A wide angle was the perfect tool for some shots, this last shot (and the first) couldn't have been done without the wide angle...but they really took a lot of work to get, not just the climbing (or the crouching for the first shot) and jockeying my eye-line, but a bit of 'seeing' the shot before it was captured because otherwise I would not have looked so hard for it. There are several images before and after these that didn't work.

Butr there were so many other shots that the wide angle was not the right tool for.  At first I was distracted by those "missed opportunities." I am sure that if I would have taken "all the right lenses for this subject" I would have missed several of the shots I did get.  But, I would not have worked as hard to make the images above.  I would have been distracted by all the possibilities and switched lenses to get the next shot in front of me.  The funny thing (and a little ironic) is that before I went I was debating doing this exercise because I was unsure what images I would "miss" by not having the "right lens."

I guess I "missed" shots either way.

For all you that really need to know, I used a Nikon 17-35mm of an FX body (full frame) but a 12-24mm on a DX body (or a Canon 1.6x croped body) would have yielded the same results.

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camera button friday - non camera gear review

There are so many gear reviews online about photography equipment, but what about everything else?  I never really thought about what I was wearing or what other gear I needed to get to places to take photos...until on a recent shoot it dauned on me how much I rely on this other gear. 

For starters: above are my North Face Gortex running shoes.  This is actually my third pair of Gortex Shoes (all different types actually) so I guess I really like them.  It really doesn't matter what brand or style you get, that is up to you and your foot/needs.  The point is this: on a recent trek I stepped through the ice once and needed to get through a lot of mud early on.  If my feet were wet and cold the entire trip I may not have stayed out as long.

My latest great find is the above pair of gloves, they actually keep my hands warm AND allow me to use my camera.  Yes I have a great pair of big thick gloves that will keep my hands toasty in sub -20 windchill but it is a little harder to use the camera with those "oven mits."  These beauties seem to be made for photography: a thicker back of the hand for warmth, and thinner palm for dexterity on the fingers.  The greatest part is that they are made for a hobby that is more popular than cold wheather photography: cyling.  Since these area actually biking gloves, there are a lot more demand for them and I actually found these on clearence at REI.  Again, just because the Giro Blaze is what i like, that doesn't mean it works for you, go and try out what you have locally.

There are a lot of other pieces of clothing that really help you stay warm but these two have really made more of a difference than I would normally give credit to one piece of gear.  Don't get me wrong; I love a good pair of wool socks, merino wool base layers, a hat, and a simple shell do a lot of good...but these were my best purchases for this winter so far  (And it has been a mild one, in a lot colder weather, like below 20, I would need more than this.)

So yeah, sometimes the non photographic gear is just as important as your lenses, tripod, and camera because it allows you to stay out longer and be comfortable as you shoot.

Just sayin'

A review of every lens on the market with a 35mm focal length

Hello, my name is Matt Kirk, and I read a lot of gear reviews.
And I am disappointed with almost all of them.

When I look into a review, I want some sort of insight into how this sort of gear will be more effective; but most lens reviews care a lot more about qualitative measurement of sharpness, bokeh, and color fringes than I do.  I do care about this (to a degree) but I want to know more about how this lens works in making images than how it performs technically.  These kinds of technical reviews breed unhealthy attitudes towards lenses; it is foolish that people choose to use a lens because someone says that it is “good.”  I hear a lot of this type of talk in photo chat rooms; hence I do not go near them anymore.

Therefore, I am going to write a lens review about what I think a lens review should be concerned with.  This is a review for every prime lens on the market with a 35mm focal length.  (i.e. If you shoot with a cropped camera like 1.5x or 1.6x, this is the 24mm.)

Sorry, this may be long...

Why the 35 works for me:
My photography tends to take on the form of story telling through environmental and candid portraiture; therefore, context is very important.  Even when I am not photographing portraits, the context and story is still very important to me.  Conversely, if I were a wildlife photographer, this lens may not work as well because I would need to focus on things farther away.  For the relative distances between my camera and my subjects, I have found this lens works well, not just because of the field of view, but also how that field of view looks.  It has a hint of both a standard and a wide angle.  (Of course it does Matt, it is right in the middle of a 50mm and 24mm.)  It is not as narrow as a 50mm so I can be closer to my subject for an environmental portrait, and yet is not as wide as a 24mm so it doesn’t have the extreme near-to-far distortion of a 24mm...and people don't look stretched out when they are near the frame.  The 35mm can feel like a wide angle with a step backwards, and like a detail lens with a step forwards.

But this also is determined by how you see the world.  I have always liked wide angles; without fail, I pick up a lens and zoom it to the widest that it can go.  When I switched to a full frame camera, I thought I was in heaven with my 17-35mm, but I started noticing that there was a lot of disorder and confusion in my images.  There was too much to look at and make sense of.  Using a lens that is not as wide as I usually shoot, I was forced to think about how to fit things into the frame that I wanted.  I started to jockey my position with the other elements in the frame in order to make it all fit and work.

Now I can go back to a wider focal length and see that I do not really need to shoot at the widest all the time.  But when I do need to shoot at wider, I find that I have a lot more order to my images, and I am more aware of how the distortion is playing on my subjects.

(shot at 22mm, but with lessons learned from the 35)

Yes, it’s a prime:
A definite strength of this lens is that it forces me to think about my photography.  Since it is a prime lens, I have to work a lot more at my framing.  I can no longer stand still and compose any photograph in front of me by zooming, I need to be physically active.  This is a good thing.  Limitation breeds work, and work breeds creativity.  I have learned more about composition by being forced into this focal length than I ever did with years of using zooms.  Sometimes, zooms give me too many options, so it is easy to find a focal length that can work and create a good enough image.  But what about creating great images?  That requires work.

Some people call this concept of jockeying around for the best position “zooming with your feet.”  I think this is a misnomer.  The act of zooming changes your focal length, and therefore changes your lens properties.  Yes I need to walk closer to my subject to fill the frame with their face, but this will never look like I zoomed to 105mm.  If you want the look of a 105, you need a 105mm lens.  Therefore “zooming with my feet” is not what I am doing. I am actually changing my subject to camera distance and therefore changing how this lens sees the world.  If you stand in one place and zoom you lens, you are not seeing the world differently, just a smaller portion of the world. (That is sometimes a very powerful tool by the way.)

Many times I am a little scared to take only a prime out into the field for an assignment.  I am always afraid of “missing the shot” because I do not have the "right lens."  But if I were to carry every lens I may need, just in case, I would actually stifle myself.  I have done this, I have become really frustrated with to many options, so I resorted to putting everything away but the simplest lens combination I had.  Then I started to feel free.

“But Matt,” you are saying, “I can do all this with my 50mm too!”  Yes you can, and please do.  I have, and use, other prime lenses, and they all have this magic quality to them.  I also have zooms, and I do use them.  After using primes, it has changed how I use zooms too. I no longer carry all of the lenses I have access to out into the field; the idea here is to limit yourself, not cover all your bases.  Know what you will use 85% of the time, and only take that.  This was not intended to be “prime vs zoom” comparison. It is very difficult to compare apples and oranges.  When you crave an apple, eat one.  When I need the convenience of a zoom, I use that.

Finally:
I am not saying that the 35mm is my “shoot with one lens for the rest of my life” type of solution.  I think that is a silly question, but it is a top choices to the age old question of which tool to use when you are not sure which problem to solve.  Because of how it fits my style of photography and how it allows me to capture what I am attracted to; this lens is a great teacher, it stretches me, forces me to be creative with little, and allows me to enjoy what I am photographing.

An added benefit (and sometimes its biggest strength) is how light and small this lens is. After days of carrying around many pounds of glass, it is a treat to go this light. It is also gratifying to create compelling images with so little...it is like I am making the image and not the camera. Imagine that!

camera button friday: bad weather photo

I have talked before about how light is important to photography.  It may seam that I am about to contradict myself, but hear me out.  Sometimes, bad weather (not necessarily bad light) can create really great photography.  My favorite is dense fog but heavy snow or rain can add a lot of drama.  The trick is getting out in it and then keeping your gear dry.

I was reminded of this at our recent Thanksgiving Cabin Adventure; there was a some interesting weather that made photography more fun.

Yes the fog and the rain doesn't show up a lot in these photos, but it does make for a unique mood that I tend to like better. (Especially when the landscape looks so dead.)  Having the great beautiful light can makes your landscape shots look like the front of a calendar, nothing wrong with that, but sometimes I really like the unexpected and moody feel of foul weather photography.

So this is not a contradiction, I still think good light is very important to photography.  Believe it or not there is great light here.  It is very diffused (because of the clouds) and therefore extremely soft.  Just be careful including the sky...and if you do, be ok with it becoming a white blanket.

(post processing hint: you may need to really boost your contrast and saturation.)

Just for kicks, here are a couple images from last year that fall into this category.