Outdoor Portrait Photography Basics

Look, be aware of your surroundings, and reposition yourself. You can’t afford to be lazy in photography.

In the beginning, I always thought that great portraits were either done outdoors in bright light. Wrong. I saw this article on the best times during the day to shoot. It went something like this:

Dawn: Clean, cold blueish light. No shadows, which is great!

Sunrise: Golden light, long shadows, interesting effect.

Morning: Warm light. Not bad, be careful of lighting though.

Mid-Day: Strong light, harsh. WORST time to shoot.

Late afternoon: Warm colors. Similar to morning.

Sunset: Golden light. Not bad, but tough to time. Turns into low lighting quickly. Maybe could get silhouette shots?

Dusk: Blue light. Great for architecture shots with a tripod, but not for human portraits.

Be careful with light. Here’s what happens when you’re shooting with a strong sun.

(1) If the sun is in the subject’s face – There are harsh shadows on the face, the model squints, it’s just horrible all around.

(2) If the sun is hitting the subject’s face sideways – There are harsh shadows on the face again, one side is overexposed, the other side is too dark.

(3) If the sun is behind the subject – No shadows on face! Best case situation. But the sun can cause a glare and potentially wipe out the hair or parts of the face!

(4) If you have a UV filter attached to your lens, or your lens is just super cheap – Ghosting and lens flare will appear. Look this up. This is the greenish haze that appear over the picture from the sun hitting your cheap UV filter glass. Remove it. The lens flare can be avoided by making sure there is no light hitting the lens glass directly. A HOOD works! Or get into the shade! Point your glass away from the sun!

Problem: Glare was getting dangerously close to the model’s face. Lens flare!

Problem: Sideways glare. Some pretty strong shadows on her face, unfavorable.

Problem: Facing into the sun. This was the worst possible position I could have put them in. The model is squinting and the lighting is harsh.

So, what can you do? Try to get into a shadow. City portraits can work because there’s plenty of building shadows to escape into. That will erase harsh shadows on the face. If you can’t find a shadow, face your model AWAY from the sun and point your camera wisely to avoid the glare issues. If you can shoot at early or late hours, when the sunlight is not harsh, DO IT! Below are some decent examples.

Shot into the sun at Golden Hour right before sunset!

Shot away from the sun. Repositioned and removed any UV filters to remove flares/glare.

Harsh noon lighting. Escaped it by going into the shadows between two buildings.

Dance Photoshoot Gone Wrong (Cathy)

So I wanted to practice some posed dance shots with Cathy, but someone we ended up taking really random pictures that had nothing to do with dance. But they came out really well, so nobody’s complaining! I just like to give Cathy a hard time and tell her that it went wrong. 😛

Setting and Equipment: We took these at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s New Media Lab, where we snuck in late at night. They were all taken with a Nikon D90 camera, Nikon 80-200mm AF-S f/2.8 lens, and a Nikon SB-600 Flash. The flash really came in handy, since it was late at night and dark. The white walls of the building really helped enhance the brightness of the pictures too! Great place to shoot, FYI.

I love this background and the colors. Taken at 120mm.

Background Information on Bokeh (Background Blur):

Full Frame (FX) cameras, which are top-of-the-line DSLRs with the largest sensors (they all cost over $2000) generate this amazing bokeh. It’s soft and creamy, almost has no speckles or noise at all. For Cropped sensor (DX) cameras, even the semi-professional ones, have a tough time making that same bokeh. Why? Imagine I took a picture with a DX camera, full body shot, head to toe. I shot it from 2 feet away, and the wall behind my subject is 4 feet away. If I switched to a FX camera and wanted the same exact shot, it’s not a cropped image, so it’ll take a much wider shot. So I’ll have to zoom in to get exactly head-to-toe of my subject. Thus, I might end up 1 foot away from him, and the wall remains 4 feet behind the subject.

Let’s put this together. DX (Cropped): Distance to subject = 2 feet. Distance to wall = 4 feet. FX (Full): Distance to subject = 1 foot. Distance to wall = 4 feet. From the camera’s perspective, the distance between the subject and the wall seems FURTHER apart with the FX full frame camera. Hence, the better blurring on FX cameras.

How to fake having a professional Full Frame camera:

So there are plenty of ways to blur the background by moving the subject around.

1) If you have a short lens (less than 50mm). Get as close to the subject as you physically can. Pull the subject far away from any background wall if possible.

2) If you have a long lens (80mm+). Zoom in as far as you can, the longest focal length you can go. Look through your viewfinder, and slowly walk away until your subject fits into the frame. Take the picture. Make sure subject is at least 2-3 feet away from a background wall for best effect.

3) Always use the largest aperture possible. For most cheap zooms, you’ll end up using f/5.6 since you’ll be zoomed in as far as you can go.

The pursuit of perfection.

Not everybody can afford those amazing full frame cameras, like the Canon 6D or Nikon D700, but with some clever skill and photography genius, you can surpass anybody who uses them. Remember, photography is still an art and relies on the skill of the user. The saying that a “skilled man with a stone” is equal to an “unskilled man with a sword” absolutely applies here. Sometimes it takes being at a disadvantage to realize and learn crucial techniques and concepts. By practicing positioning, you can become incredibly skilled in producing a quality of image that is unmatched, even by Full Frame standards.

Of course, there are certain times when you just cannot beat a Full Frame: extremely low-light situations. The raw speed and sensitivity of professional cameras make them nearly impossible to beat. However, shoot at a high ISO as possible, focus on getting a sharp image. I’d rather have a sharp, noisy image, than a blurry smooth image. You can always fix noise with Photoshop later.

80mm. White wall.

hehe

Trying to get a serene look. I like to take pictures from the side that bangs sweep away from. More face and less hair. Also tucked her hair behind her ear. Maybe should have photoshopped the rest of her sideburns out… Too lazy.

So artsy! This is like one of those actresses or artists who hide their face behind glasses and big hats.

MIT Ridonkulous FOOTWORK Showcase (How to shoot with background spotlights)

Alright, so we know that spotlights are cool. Especially as background for models. (Look at images below).

USE MANUAL SETTINGS! However, sometimes getting this perfect takes some work. Your camera will go crazy with the light, so you MUST use manual settings. Test out settings on a space with no spotlights at all.

Focus quickly: Also, when lighting is bad, the subject might be very dark and overpowered by the bright lights, causing your camera to unfocus, because your camera will be like “OMG! Bright lights! I can’t see the dark spots!” So, focus in on your dancer, with NO background lights. For instance, focus on the shirt. Hold down the shutter button, keeping the focus on the dancer’s shirt. Recompose the shot upwards to include the entire body and also the background lights.

 

Okay, and just in case you guys think this was an easy shoot, here’s an example of where the lighting was terrible and it was dominated by the background spotlights. My camera would NOT focus because the subject was so dark. I tilted down, focused on her stomach, and tilted back up with the new focus point.

Buy a flash unit. Forget the huge lenses. Save your money.

Gear. This is the sorest topic for some photographers, especially the students or those on a budget.

Photographers always love to show off their gear. Look at this monstrous set of Nikon equipment below (worth $10,000+)

 

There was a point in time when I thought you needed the full set: wide angle lens, mid range zoom lens, telephoto lens.To create beautiful photos, you don’t need all this. The MOST important part of getting wonderful pictures is LIGHT! Doesn’t matter how awesome your equipment is. Low-light settings slays even the largest of cameras.

Buy a BOUNCE FLASH. Even Nikon ones are $200 or less. You could have the cheapest entry-level camera, but equip it with a bounce flash, and your pictures will come out clean every time.

And here’s the cool thing about flashes. You don’t need to buy the expensive powerful flashes! The great thing about light is that when it bounces off ceilings, it stays strong! People think that if you go into an auditorium with a 4 story ceiling, you’ll need a stronger flash unit. WRONG! Light travels so fast that 4 stories doesn’t matter. 4 stories, 1 story, doesn’t matter. The light bounce will still look the same.

Don’t go for all these fancy new units that “upgrade” the previous model with new features, like a bounce card or more power. You don’t need more power. You don’t need a bounce card (use a sticky note card instead).

If you’re on a budget, get a flash and a decent zoom lens. But PLEASE do not feel pressured to buy the top-of-the-line f/2.8 lenses which cost over $1000 each.

New Logo

I just whipped together a new logo for myself tonight, on a whim. Not sure why I chose now to do it, since I drank tonight and it’s currently 5AM. I am clearly the brightest kid on the block.

Basics of Photography (Stuff you NEVER think about!)

1. How to hold your camera.

I see SO many photographers make this mistake. They clutch at the sides of their camera as if it were a brick (with both palms facing outwards).

Why is this important? Lenses and cameras start to get very heavy. Even small equipment gets heavy after a two hour shoot. Properly support your camera weight with your left hand, then your right hand is free to shoot without shaking under the weight of the camera. I also see some photographers tilt the camera the WRONG way for vertical shots. Keep the right hand on top of the camera for vertical shots. Don’t try to support the weight with your shooting hand.

2. Breathing Techniques

This is something that people rarely think about. But I see one common mistake: people inhale all the way, and hold their breath. That might cause some camera shake if you wait too long. The body’s natural breathing rest point is when you exhale 100% of your breath out. (The following pictures are from www.ArmyStudyGuide.com)

Single Target Shot: Start by breathing in and out at a very steady pace. When you’re ready to take your shot, exhale 100% out, and when there is no breath left in your lungs, hold your breath and take the shot.

Rapid Fire Multiple Shots: Start by breathing in and out at a steady pace. Hold your breath at three points: (1) as you’re exhaling, (2) 100% exhaled, (3) 100% inhaled.

2012 Fall Asian Dance Team Showcase!

My buddy, Dinh, performing at MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

Young Baller

I had the pleasure of accompanying my student to his summer camp! I loved the lake and the scenery, so I had a quick little shoot with him. 🙂

(I was not appreciative of the mosquitoes, so we high-tailed it out of there soon after.)

Wellesley Society Formal

I had the immense pleasure of photoshooting at Wellesley College today. I love shoots that have fun elements to them!

First shot: GQ Men.

Second shot: Missin’ the Love.

Me and a couple guys I met during my photoshoot!

 

InspirASIAN: Chinese Dance, Korean Hiphop

Woo! I love covering these events for MIT’s Asian Dance Team.

I love this style of photoshop, to bring out the subject. Message me if you want Photoshop lessons!

 

Andddddddd, this is for my good friend Michelle. 🙂