MANUAL MODE; THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY PART 3: APERTURE

An artist decides what is important on his canvas and emphasizes that—“the center of interest”—over the other supporting elements in the scene.  The painter may do this with color, perhaps using a brighter color or with more directional, dramatic, lighting on his main subject. The painter may paint his main subject with sharp detail and obscure or mute detail in the background. 

It is our job as an artist to direct where the viewer looks in our images. The way we do that in photography is with what is sharp against what is un-sharp (out of focus). 

We create that with our point-of-focus and depth-of-field, which is controlled by the aperture we choose in concert with the lens focal length we pick.

These choices are the most important artistic controls we have in photography.

The core problem with the camera’s Auto Modes (don’t even get me started on the “P” mode!) is that the camera does not know what it’s being pointed at; it does not know what the subject is. Therefore, it can’t know the best f-stop/shutter-speed for that subject—just like ti could not automatically pick a focal length for your zoom lens! 

What aperture to use and why?

Forty plus years doing artistic photography (30 years as a full time professional) has taught me that each artist settles on favorite apertures, that suits their style, based on what the subject is.  In addition I will change my aperture if my subject’s orientation to my camera changes…

f2.8 @ 1/250sec., ISO 800; lens @ 200mm

My preferred aperture is f4.5 when doing portraits of individuals. Why? I’ve found that it’s the best aperture to maintain sharpness in BOTH eyes in a 2/3rds view of the face, while still creating a nice shallow depth-of-field (using my 200mm lens) that will knock the background out of focus for some nice Bokeh. 

However, in the portrait above of the boy, he started exploring and went into profile so, not having to worry about that far eye, I went to f2.8 (bumping the shutter speed up to maintain correct exposure) to really enhance my background Bokeh. 

And, just to show you that you don’t need really wide apertures to get good Bokeh…

f5.6 @ 1/125 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

Bokeh is mostly about focal length and distance between the subject and the background. In my fine art images depth-of-field is often more critical especially when I move in doing close-ups of nature—since as you move closer to your subject (at the same f-stop) your depth-of-field DECREASES. 

f6.3 @ 1/250 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 82mm

In this detail of the Ice crystal laden leaves of a weeping willow I wanted as much depth-of-field as I could get while still keeping the background (that same tree) soft to reduce its busy nature.

Then sometimes I want maximum Depth-of Field…

f11.0 @ 1/640 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 95mm

In this Black and White art piece I wanted everything crisp and razor sharp because I knew this subject would be excellent in B&W.

In our fine art photography we often build an image in layers; it’s called foreground, mid-ground (usually the subject), and background. This is how we create depth, interest and three-dimensionality. 

f8.0 @ 1/350 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 79mm

The sailboat regatta scene had some nice layers that I wanted sharp. Starting with the floating seaweed in the foreground the sunlit boats (mid-ground) and those great boats, lost in the fog, in the background; I used f8.0, focused on the seaweed, to get the foreground and mid-ground both sharp.

Knowing your depth-of-field with different apertures at given focal lengths is important in general, but it’s CRITICAL when doing group portraits.  When I do portraits outside I always try to make my backgrounds as soft as possible to make the people stand out—and if I can get some Bokeh, even better!

So, the tricky part is to stop down just enough, getting enough depth-of-field to cover ALL the subjects—especially when we place them at different distances from the camera for a nice composition. I use f6.3 on many of my single family groups. If the family is large I will go to f7.1 for more depth-of-field.

One of my favorites…

f6.3 @ 1/125 sec., ISO 400; lens @ 115mm

In the above example I know that at 6.3 with my lens at 115mm (I’m Usually at a longer focal length, like 150mm, if I can back-up) at a distance of 25 feet my depth-of-field is 5.47 feet (using my full-frame Canon 5D MKII).

As you can see the creative use of aperture and the depth-of-field it can create (along with lens choice—more on that later!) is something you don’t want to leave up to any Auto Mode.  Do something creative and show me your results! 

Next, in Part 4, I’ll get into creative use of your Shutter Speed.  Fun Stuff! ’Tis next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training Site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client Site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

NOTE: Go to:  http://www.DOFMaster.com and try their easy to use Depth-of-Field calculator for your camera/lens/f-stop/distance combinations. It’s vital information for the professional and very educational for the amateur. 

MANUAL MODE; THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY PART 2: ISO

This begins a series on the 3 Manual controls we have as photographers that can make it possible (provided you have the vision) to elevate photography to the level of ART.  So, I’ll start with the one control that has changed the most (none of the others have changed at all) and has in fact simplified our lives as photographers…

ISO

The biggest change here is that the sensitivity of your digital camera’s sensor is FIXED—you have NO control of this part of your camera. Because of this fact those old ISO steps no longer represent anything in todays digital cameras, they’re just numbers.

In our film days those ISO numbers, of course, were a vital part of correct exposure, because each film stock in fact had a real and different sensitivity, RMS number, emulsion character, and grain structure. In addition we had to match our lighting’s (when doing color) temperature to each film’s color temp sensitivity as well. And apart from color temp each film rendered color differently due to each film’s unique color palette—e.g. the color rendering of Kodacolor negative films versus Kodachrome or Ektachrome slide films not to mention the hundreds of other films we had from Ilford, Fuji, etc. 

In the film era we had to learn how to use each new film we decided to try. We even had to store professional films differently that the amateur films. The regular amateur films were delivered to retailer “green”, so those films could age as they were displayed at room-temperature. But, the professional films were delivered “ripe” to retailers so they were refrigerated to hold them in their ripe state.  Since we bought our pro-films in bulk that meant we also had to refrigerate all our pro-films as well.  Then, we had to acclimate (bring to room temp) any of our pro-films before we could load them into our cameras; so that took planning! So, you can see how getting rid of film has really simplified photography and in fact has freed us to be more spontaneous.

Back to your digital camera’s sensor…

What happens when you raise the ISO number on your digital camera is the camera merely under exposes the image (massively when you bump it to 1600, 3200, etc.!) then post-exposure the image processor applies GAIN to the signal from the sensor proportionate to how many stops you have under-exposed the image. Unfortunately the gain applied to boost the signal also boosts noise especially in the darkest (most under-exposed) regions. That’s why it’s better to slightly over-expose a Low Light-High ISO image than to under-expose it. And because noise is not pretty (unlike film grain) and if you want to do any photography in low light….

Buy the best DSLR you can afford…

Buying a professional DSLR, with its superior image processor, is like loading a high RMS value film (like Kodachrome 25) in a film camera instead of some cheap drugstore stuff like GAF 500! OK, if you can’t relate to that analogy, how about a Canon 5D MK IV versus a cheaper smart phone. In addition because I use top quality professional DSLR’s (and the best lenses) I’m not hog-tied to the so called “native” camera ISO (usually around 100 ISO) that many photographers suggest on the internet. Nope, I’ve always regarded ISO 100 pretty much useless—I don’t even use it in the studio!

How I approach ISO use today…

ISO is merely a tool to get me to the aperture/shutter speed combination I require to create the image I have in my head. So, most of the time my starting ISO is 400 for outdoor portraits, weddings, or fine Art. 

For example, in my outdoor, natural light, portrait sessions my STARTING ISO is 400 (nothing new here my starting films in portraits and weddings were ASA 400 or 800). 

f4.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 280mm

ISO 400 got my other variables where they needed to be. Since I had my 1.4x extender on my 70-200 f2.8 lens (for better Bokeh) my new maximum aperture became f4.0 and I stopped down to f4.5 for better D.O.F. that gave me a metered shutter speed a hand-holdable 1/320 sec., which is fine for moving children!

What ISO to use in the studio…

Again, if you’re using a professional grade DSLR you can use any ISO you want, but there are practical limitations such as the power output of your rights. It’s definitely not practical to be using your camera’s low “native” ISO in most studio sessions. So, what ISO do I use in the studio? I use the lowest ISO necessary to get to my usual working aperture (f11.0) from my WEAKEST light. In my studio my hair light is on a lighting pack split three ways: two are on the background and one is my hair light. So, to get to f11.0 on my hair aight I needed to use ISO 200 with that bank on maximum power.

A basic studio portrait using this set-up…

f11.0 @ 1/200 sec., ISO 200

Low Light action images - High ISO

I love doing challenging low light photography. And bringing Action into the equation only makes it more fun for me!  Forty years ago when I wanted to do low light work on film I had to find an independent lab that would push-process my Ektachrome slide films to 1000 ASA—Kodak wouldn’t do it! Our options were pretty limited in the 1970’s. Now I just dial in the ISO…

                                                   f5.0 @ 1/100 sec., ISO 3200; Lens at 24mm

Again, I pick my variables and use my ISO to get me there. With my lens at 24mm I picked f5.0 for good depth-of-field. I picked 1/100 sec., (with some testing) because that shutter speed would stop the spinning ride’s red wheel, but let the people’s motion blur a little.

This is why I don’t miss film—I’m free from film’s shackles that limited my creative spontaneity!

Now, it’s your turn, go challenge YOUR creativity with some low light photography of a challenging subject and have fun! 

Next, in Part 3, I’ll go into Aperture Choice (one of the most important parts of the so-called “exposure triangle”) and why manual control of this variable is so critical in artistic photography.

Until then…have questions? Don’t hesitate to ask…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

MANUAL MODE AND THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Are you an artist if you don’t use the “M” mode on your digital camera?

Well, I guess the first question I should ask is do you aspire to be an artist?  Then, what are the defining characteristics of an artist?  And, what is art? OK, Let’s not go down that rabbit hole! (Maybe later)

If you just want to be a competent photographer I would still suggest that you stay in”M”. If you want to be the author of your images, like an artist, you should be in control of all the variables that go into creating your images. Going back to that second question….the defining characteristics of an artist; say a painter….

THE PAINTER:

1. Has an idea for a painting (In the art of Photography Ansel Adams called this “Pre-visualization”.) This is truly the beginning of the creation of Art.
2. The painter selects his canvas;
• Cotton or linen stretch canvas
• maybe cotton rag paper
• or classically on a plaster wall
3. The painter selects his paint:
• Acrylic, oil, casein, egg tempura or maybe pastels or watercolors
4. Then he uses his favorite brushes (sable, synthetic, bristle, badger, squirrel, etc.,) in the many shapes made to realize his artistic vision.
5. And finally the painter’s biggest advantage in art, over the photographer, is his control of light. In this he has god-like power to place light, in just the right amount and anywhere he wants it.

This is what an ARTIST does; he is in the control of every element and tool in his creation of art. So, having started my journey as a fine-art photographer over 45 years ago (35 of those year to date as a full time professional) my only choice was using fully manual cameras. The manual mode became the most natural way for me to do photography.  I had to pick each of my variables and have a reason for each choice.

Here’s an example from my early days…

Ektachrome H.S. Daylight
 file @ 1000 ASA Exposure: 30 seconds Title: Cement Henge

This image was completely planned—I already had a vision of the end result in my head; I just had to realize it on film.  The subject was the famous unfinished interchange for the 101-280 freeways in San Jose, California. I had been photographing it a lot in the late 1970’s and decided to try a more ambitious night version. 

This was my thought process in its creation.

1. Starting with film choice (In the film days this was always my first decision in any session) I picked EKT. H.S. Daylight (pushing it to 1000 ASA) film to match the artificial lights along the freeway (this was back before they started using sodium vapor lights).
2. I wanted to use a shutter speed of at least 30 seconds so the traffic on the ramp in front of me would blur and most importantly I wanted to capture the flashing warning light on any planes that entered and crossed my frame. I chose this view so the flight path of small planes landing at the nearby San Jose Airport would be visible.
3. Focal length; I didn’t want to distort the shape of the structures, but I did want to compress the scene (back-off and set good depth-of-field) so, I chose a focal length of 200mm. I shot ONE roll of film (36 exposures) and got exactly what I wanted! The only culls were when too many cars coming towards me (headlights!) over exposed the foreground.

As you can see thoughtfully controlling your variables, just like the painter does, combined with a Creative Idea, will enable you to produce more images that will be elevated from mere pictures to, dare we say, ART! 

This is just the beginning of a multi-part series on going fully Manual and creating ART.  I will be breaking down artistic control of photography into these parts: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.  So get ready for a Jerry brain dump in small chunks to make it easier to absorb and put into practice…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

WINDOW LIGHT – THE BEST LIGHT FOR WEDDINGS

Whenever possible I use window light at most weddings.  Why? It’s simply the best soft, directional (when used properly), natural looking, light we have at our disposal.  It’s infinitely preferable to flash (especially those evil speed lights) in ANY modifier.

It’s no mystery when the great classical painters like Vermeer and Caraviggio used it so much. It’s as thought the glass has some magical property that gives it’s light a soft yet directional quality that delicately wraps my subjects and still reveals details that make the portraits rich and three dimensional. That’s why I’ve sought out any window I could find on most of the weddings I’ve done these past 25 years.

The key to using window light wether your subject is a person or a product, like food or a wedding dress, is proper placement of the subject at the window. Unlike the studio, you can’t move the light source, so the lighting pattern is determined by the subject’s POSE or the angle of view as seen at the camera.

f4.0 @ 1/125th sec., ISO 400

n the image above I placed my bride close to the window (about 3-feet away) and turned her so that I got light in BOTH her eyes. I also used a soft white reflector, on camera right, just out of frame.

WINDOW LIGHT PORTRAIT GUIDELINES:

1. Look for windows with NO direct sunlight in them. North or South facing windows are the safest.
2. For Portraits, the window is your Light Source NOT a background! You would NEVER show the soft box in a studio portrait.  I show no physical evidence of the window—not even drapes or shears. The shears usually over expose and blow-out anyway.
3. Keep your subject close to the window for the softest light (usually two or three feet); as you move your subject away from the window the light becomes harder and the level falls dramatically.
4. Because window light is so soft I usually use a white reflector, for a soft fill, on the subject’s shadow side—especially if the subject if looking toward the camera.  This is to avoid split giving the face.  If I have my subject look out toward the window, creating short lighting, then I use NO reflector.

Window light is great for showing detail in most anything—that’s why commercial food photographers use it so much. So, it’s a natural for those wedding details like the wedding cake, the bride & grooms rings or any unusual details like the brides shoes…

f8.0 @ 160 sec., ISO 400

In this image I did show some of the windows because it was an overcast day limiting any blow-out and besides I HAD to put the shoes in this window box!

We always try to do a bridal dress portrait by window light. My wide is great at “posing” the dress with the brides accessories usually while the bride is having her hair and make-up done.

 f11.0 @ 1/30 sec., ISO 400

This pure window light dress portrait was posed just like I would pose the bride, except I used no reflector on the shadow side, because I wanted VERY dramatic lighting here. This image was a PPA (Professional Photographers of America) National Merit Print from one of our first digital weddings in 2002.  

As always, questions are welcome…Look forward to hearing from you!  ’Tis next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS! SIMPLIFY YOUR COMPOSITIONS FOR IMPACT

Traditional artists know this and have the advantage of only painting (or drawing, etc.) on their canvas what THEY want us to see.  The painter can easily omit any element in a scene that hurts his composition or weakens his center-of-interest. In addition the painter decides on and creates the quality of light, its intensity, and direction EVERYWHERE in his painting.

From what I see on the internet, looking at countless websites, too any professional photographers either don’t care or don’t know how to take control of these basic aspects of their art.

Many photographers just take a “picture” of what’s in front of them (the whole thing!) regardless of the lighting and walk away.  They LOOK at the subject, but don’t SEE the many parts (often better subjects) within the whole that often tell the audience the REAL story about the subject.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about…

f5.0 @ 1/2000 sec., ISO 125; Lens @ 70mm

Below is the over-all subject that contained the small leaf…

Over-all view 

This large backlit bush caught my attention only because of the lighting. As a whole it had little artistic merit—until I walked up to it and saw those individual ice encrusted leaves.

So, don’t just LOOK at your subjects and just trip the shutter; SEE what you can find by NARROWING YOUR VISION (use a Telephoto or Macro lens) and venture INTO the scene (you may have too get your feet wet or muddy!). And, don’t forget, SEEING is also about the light. Don’t settle for flat light; as an artist you wait for the great light or your create it.

Now go out there and SEE! ’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

COMPOSITION MATTERS EVEN IN XMAS LIGHTS PHOTOS!

I walked around my neighborhood last night to do some Christmas lights photography.  What drew me out was the fog that developed because it has started to warm up a little; it was up to 32° F and the snow was starting to melt! Even though it was 32° F it felt really cold in the fog and my hands went numb quickly in my thin gloves.  So, I decided to not take the time to set-up a tripod and just hand hold my camera using ISO 1600. 

It took me a good 15 minutes to settle on a camera position to create the kind of compositional interest I wanted. I can’t help myself—even with something as cliche as Christmas lights—the classic compositional building blocks apply:

FOREGROUND, MID-GROUND, BACKGROUND…

f5.0 @ 1/15sec., ISO 1600, Lens @ 24mm

What immediately attracted me to this view was the street light’s glow in the background (I loved that hazy glow created by the fog.).

As is usual with my style I tend to build my images from the BACKGROUND—FORWARD. 

The fountain, as center of interest, is in the mid-ground. Then I “placed” my foreground object, that tree on the right, to fill the void on the right. 

This kind of composition is all about alignment of the various elements, which I find much easier to do when I’m not using a tripod. Even with my Canon 5D MKII I expected some noise at 1600 ISO, but the RAW files looked remarkably good and after I ran my JPGS through NICK’s DeFine 2 noise reduction they looked really nice.

Now I’m scouting some more really elaborate Christmas light displays to photograph!  

’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com

CROPPING FOR DRAMATIC IMPACT IN PHOTOGRAPHY

I do most of my portrait sessions with my 70-200mm f2.8 lens. I tend to keep as close to 200mm as I can wether I’m doing a group or an individual. If I’m only photographing an individual portrait session—especially a child—I’ll add my 1.4x extender for a telephoto compression boost.  

You see it’s not just about the telephoto compression effect, knocking the background out of focus or bokeh in the background—Things that I really do Love!—It’s about dramatic impact.  It’s about storytelling (that’s why we renamed our studio The Storytellers seven years ago.) Many times—especially with individuals—the tighter the crop the more dramatic the storytelling. 

Case in point in this session of a high school senior and her horse, I did not have enough lens at the moment of capture….

f5.6 @ 1/1250 sec., ISO 400; lens at 180mm

This marvelous moment came and went in a couple of seconds. Fortunately, I was watching their interaction through my camera’s viewfinder and I was zooming in and caught the moment as I was walking towards them. So, this post capture crop was necessary to create the drama using the composition you see.  In addition, the conversion to B&W (using Silver Efex Pro-2) helped to simplify the scene by eliminating her blue shirt.

Here’s the full-frame original color version…

Original Full Color Version

I think the crop is a huge improvement over the original, but it’s not without cost.  I believe that the single biggest disadvantage we face today with our professional digital cameras versus our medium format film cameras is our loss of image quality when we do serious cropping.

In the above images my file size went from 28mb in the full-frame version to 5mb in the cropped version! So, by my math, to end up with a file size of 28mb AFTER that much cropping I would need a starting file size of 156mb!

It was much easier in our medium format film days when we could crop and use 1/4 of a negative and still produce a great wall print.

Happy Cropping! ’Til next week…

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

Client site: http://www.TheStorytellersUsa.com