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Category Archives: Learning Photography

Panning

This is from a long time ago, when I was walking around in the Melbourne CBD. There are few places that I haven’t visited, or photographed, by now, if I’m honest. However, there’s always the opportunity for new perspective.

This shot was one of several I took of passing trains. I was at the far end of the tracks, near Flinders Street Station (Wikipedia), where there is a gate that is always open. The gate just so happens to lead on to the tracks. I have been there before, in daytime, and I have made a couple of other good photographs of various fixtures in the area around/between the tracks. This time, however, I was there at nighttime, and I wanted to see what I could make of it.

When the first couple of trains had gone by, I had decided: panning photos.

The speed
Capture details
Focal Length (real): 200 mm Aperture: f/5.0
Shutter Speed: 0.05 sec (1/20) ISO: 7200
Captured with a Nikon D3s and a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Panning is a very fun way to achieve some very interesting imagery. Your goal is to convey the sense of energy, or, more specifically, you are capturing implied motion.

The technique is simple to describe, yet requires great amounts of practice to truly master. In a nutshell…

  • You are tracking a moving object with your lens. You pick a specific point and you lock it visually in your frame, rotating your camera to maintain its relative position as it moves.
  • You are slowing down you shutter speed to something that will give you motion blur in your background. In most cases you would be aiming at something like 1/25 to 1/40. This depends on your subject, of course, as well as your focal length. The longer the focal length, the less likely it is you will be able to achieve a stable subject, but the more the background blur is accentuated, so you can raise your shutter speed.
  • You are paying very close attention to your shooting technique because you don’t want your subject to show signs of camera shake. That also takes a great deal of practice, and stabilization facilities offered by various camera systems offer some, but little, assistance.

Note that, if you are panning, unless your subject is moving in a perfect circle around you, it is technically impossible to achieve critical focus. There will always be some blur, as perspective distortion changes your subject’s footprint. However, in most cases (again, subject dependent), if the technique is executed well, the loss of detail is marginal, hopefully it is not perceptible, maybe even undetectable.

I’ll save you
Capture details
Focal Length (real): 135 mm Aperture: f/22.0
Shutter Speed: 0.025 sec (1/40) ISO: 200
Captured with a Nikon D3s and a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Like a speeding bullet
Capture details
Focal Length (real): 200 mm Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 0.04 sec (1/25) ISO: 1600
Captured with a Nikon D3s and a AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Don’t forget
Capture details
Focal Length (real): 50 mm Aperture: f/22.0
Shutter Speed: 0.025 sec (1/40) ISO: 200
Captured with a Nikon D3s and a AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D

Posted in Learning Photography

Night club and live band photography

I recently attended a birthday celebration for a close friend of mine. His fiancée arranged a surprise for him, which involved all of us joining them at a very nice club, where a fantastic band was performing live.

Overall, the evening was very enjoyable, with a lot of hit covers being played with gusto.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to try out the new D3s in that type of shooting conditions. Overall, the D3s performed admirably. For the purpose of this evening, it was paired with a Nikon 24-70mm/2.8 (or “Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED NIKKOR AF-S“, if you want to feel the full marketing department’s attack). Finally, additional illumination was provided by a Nikon SB-900 Speedlight.

The three items made for a killer combination.

From a photographic perspective, there were 2 distinct types of shooting involved.

  • Shoot the band.
  • Shoot the people.

When shooting a band, you need to take care to put it into context. This involves carefully considered framing. You need to ensure that appropriate props are included in your shots (drums, mic, guitar – whatever it is that defines the artist you are capturing).

DSC_4816

You also need to make an effort to provide a refreshing view of the artists. Aim to position yourself somewhere where the regular audience may not think of going.

DSC_4819

You also should ensure that the mood of the show is conveyed, primarily by eliminating the use of flash.

DSC_4846

DSC_4874

This, unfortunately, means no flash use. As a consequence, you would be faced with the need for

  • A fast lens
  • High ISO capability

Preferably you would have both. In this case, all these shots were shot at f/2.8, and at speeds ranging between 1/40 to 1/60. The required ISO ranged from 2500 to a staggering 12800.

Obviously you get achieve acceptable results with a really fast prime, such as an f/1.4, or even f/1.2. However, in these cases you would, quite likely, suffer significant chromatic aberrations with your aperture wide open, especially in such contrasty light.

Your other concern is shooting people. The requirements here are substantially different. There is no stage light, and, usually, there is no precious artistic context to preserve. All you need to focus on are your subjects, and, if possible, the moment they are in. This will, almost always, involve the use of your flash.

DSC_4915

DSC_5004

Overall, you are more concerned with not blowing highlights or burning shadows of the main subjects, than anything else.

You may wish to attempt shooting using both a longer exposure, and firing your flash. You would, essentially, be shooting using second, or trailing, curtain flash. This allows for a compromise whereupon you take a long enough exposure to capture enough of the background that is beyond your flash’s physical reach, and then fire the flash to illuminate, an highlight, your foreground subject. The result, if done right, is a shot that looks a lot like what you actually see.

Fun with second curtain flash

Most DSLRs, and your upper echelon P&S, should be able to provide this level of control.

Posted in Event Photography, Learning Photography

Photographing people on the street

Taking candids of strangers on the street is an artform in itself. The requirements to perform well are:

  • Be there with a camera (pretty much rule #1 in anything)
  • Spot the activity
  • Capture it in, or out of (your call), context

Oftentimes, however, you also need to interact with your subject, either to extend/elaborate on what just occurred, or to obtain consent for the photographs. In most cases, this is an easy task. Within the boundaries of common sense, people, if approached properly, and respectfully, will more than agree to pose for you. In this example bellow, for instance, all that was required was an exchange of nods between the man, and myself, and I shot off 30-40 shots in the span of 2 minutes.

Never alone
I come in peace

Beware, however, that there are, also, people that react badly to any sort of lens being pointed at them. In such cases, it is best to apease and avoid the confrontation, as your “opponent” is not approaching you from a rational standpoint.

Posted in Learning Photography, Personal Photography

Bounce flash

As any of you that have shot in low light know, the use of a flash can save you out of a dark and/or blurry photograph. In fact, you may have even used your flash during the day, if you are trying to equalise a strongly backlit subject.

However, a flash can be used to do a lot more. You can actually point it away from whatever you’re shooting, and watch what happens…

Some ideas for you to try are to point it to a wall next to your subject, or the ceiling. Things become more interesting when you have some coloured surface to bounce your light off, such as a wooden table (yes, you can also bounce the flash from the bottom up).

Simple portrait

Hmmmm...

Note : You cannot do this with a built-in flash unit. Be it a P&S (Point and Shoot, ie pocket), or DSLR, camera, that flash is built to always point the same way as your lens. You need an articulated flash unit, ie a flash that can, at least, change elevation (and, in better units, rotation).

Posted in Learning Photography, Personal Photography