Technique for Sharp Images with Slow Shutter

I am just the king of pithy titles this week.  Feeling very literal, I guess.

A while back I wrote on the forgotten variable in low light photography.  We're all familiar with manipulating shutter speed, aperture, and ISO as a way of keeping images sharp when shutter speeds droop, but few people consider this when shooting in low light. 

The old (and reasonably true) saying is that your shutter speed should be equal to or higher than the millimeter on your lens to avoid motion blur.  Sometimes, though, we're stuck with a shutter speed that is below this rule of thumb.  Setting your mode to the fastest burst setting, and taking multiple shots for each "picture" (in other words, press and hold through multiple shutters) is a technique for increasing your changes of a sharp image.  A portion of hand-held motion blur occurs with the act of pressing the shutter.  We're pushing down with one finger, and up with our other hand holding the camera.  Once the motion is complete, the camera is steadier.

This might seem like a fairly useless tip that produces a dozen images (albeit a few slightly sharper than the others) to sift through.  But if the moment you're attempting to catch is the bride and groom's first kiss in a church that doesn't allow flash photography, it may be worth the frustration.

Making Your Favorite Lightroom Presets Easy to Find

Editing images  on a laptop has its drawbacks.  One of them is lack of screen space, which makes scrolling through Lightroom presets a pain.  I'm not a fan of presets.  I believe each image should be uniquely edited, and that you should be able to easily duplicate the look of any preset you own.  After all, presets don't import any new functionality to Lightroom, they adjust the sliders already in front of you.  But there are times when presets give me an opportunity to see wildly different versions of my images to spur my imagination.  The problem is that out of the 80 or so presets loaded on my computer, there are really only 10 or so that are interesting.  And they are a devil to find in the menus on a small-ish screen.  I always wanted a feature where you could rate and filter your presets.  Lightroom doesn't offer it, but there is another solution.

You can create a "Favorite" preset folder for your most commonly used presets.  The easiest way to do this is to copy them over from their original location.  Lightroom makes this easy with the ability to right-click on a preset and select "Show in Explorer." This takes you to the preset in it's original folder.

Copy you desired preset, go up to the next folder level (Develop Presets) create a Favorites folder, and paste in the preset. In Lightroom, the presets folders are listed alphabetically.  I labeled my folder "A Favorites" so it would be on the top of the preset list for easy access.  If you have a lot of presets, it will save you a lot of time.

The Wear Your Love Sessions

It’s good to connect with start-up companies-- I think they understand the value of imagery more than established companies.  For one, they have less to lose and are willing to be more adventuresome, and more flexible.  Jillian Leigh with Wear Your Love is exactly one of those companies.  She creates gorgeous boutique wedding dresses.  The style is simplicity and elegance.  For our shoot, Jillian wanted the dreamy quality of the beach and I suggested China Beach in San Francisco.  I picked it for  the granite cliff that would provide both a middle-toned background, and shade in case the sun was shining. 

Step back for an environmental portrait and you’ve got a stunning background as well.

It’s challenging to have your images rise above the competition-- which is exactly the point in marketing.  Emotion is one quality that can give your pictures a boost, but it’s not always easy to manufacture-- especially if you’re working with a solo model.  Research is what every working photographer should fall back on.  Jillian shared some of the images that inspired her; I studied the work of other “bohemian wedding dress” sessions; and I plotted out the sun’s travel with The Photographer’s Ephemeris, an online tool.  I reviewed my own images as well, and packed my bag accordingly.

I have an deep-seated fear of beach shoots.  The sand gets everywhere-- the reflections, the wind, the beachcombers... they're all difficult to manage. Which is part of what attracted me to the shoot.

The images were shot almost entirely in natural light, and mostly (because the day was overcast), without even a reflector.  The majority was shot on my trusty Nikon D600 with either a 35-70mm f/2.8 or my 80-200mm f/2.8.  A number were shot with a Pentax 645D and 45-80mm f/4 lens.  

On the second day of the shoot, Jillian’s boyfriend joined as a model, which revived some of the energy from the first day.  You can see more of the images we created at Hurricane Images, Inc.

Finding the Sweet Spot

It’s been about 15 months since I started Hurricane Images Inc.  I’d worked on occasional projects for years, and my pictures appeared in publications and brochures, but I didn’t consider myself a professional (rightly so, skill-wise).  Even when I took the plunge in 2014 I still didn’t fully qualify.  Over the last couple of months I feel like I’ve started to find a sweet spot, financially-- a magical place where my skill, portfolio, and asking price have aligned.  It’s not as much (financially) as it could be-- and not all of the work I do are in the zone-- but my hire-to-rejection ratio as increased significantly.  And I think there’s a sweet spot for everyone, regardless of skill level.

Finding your sweet spot means you hire more often, learn faster, and take reasonable risks that don't put your reputation in danger.

The question of whether to work for free is debated endlessly online, in part because everyone thinks there’s just one answer. In truth, there’s not even one good answer for one single person.  When you’re just starting out, the marketable quality of your work may be right about zero; similarly, if you’re transitioning into a new genre of photography you may benefit from greatly reducing your fee (or offering a free session) to build your portfolio and gain experience.  Free shouldn’t be a dirty word.  There’s a $$ sweet spot for your work, and it can vary based on your portfolio.  I don't, for example, in genres like "event photography" because I'm rarely excited by the project and my portfolio is strong.  It needs to be a money-maker.  I will slash my rates to work with a fashion designer who has lined up a model and MUA because the images-- and relationships-- can be more valuable than the money.

The common advice is to specialize as narrowly as possible to be successful.  Be a wedding photography (who maybe offers engagement sessions) or a headshot photography (who may also do portraits) or a product photographer (who may shoot food as well as jewelry) but don’t try to be more than one.  I don’t adhere to that advice.  I consider myself a people photographer, which means everything from headshots to weddings, fashion to editorial.  I am a better at some of these than others (and I have fuller portfolios in some versus others), so my prices reflect that.

Many working photographers say that when they raised their prices, they actually increased the amount of work the got, and I believe them.  But it doesn’t mean that’s true for the world at large.  Photographers who raised their prices and their work decreased went out of business-- only the successes get to tell their story.  Next year, I’ll probably have to raise some of my prices, too.  I won't do it across the board; I'll raise prices in a few genres.  Doing so will most likely reduce my business and knock me out of the sweet spot.  But the advantage will be that charging more will put more pressure on me to produce superior work, and with a little luck I’ll be able to find my zone again.

How will I know it’s time to bump up?  When my portfolio for that genre  is so full that new work doesn’t really change people’s impressions, and when I just don’t have time for all the sessions.

My one bit of advice for any “growing” professional:  Shoot above your price point.

Balancing Uneven Couples

As portrait photographers we're always working with an ideal of beauty on some level or another.  In life, these standards of beauty can be oppressive, damaging, but even the most independent and rebellious person tends to have at least one part of their body that bothers them because it doesn't fit that ideal.  Weight is one of the most common, and while every intelligent person knows it doesn't define beauty, most people would rather not see their weight "issue" immortalized on film.  And this is true whether their weight issue is real or not.  Couples can see beyond to the real beauty of a person, but when two people are pictured together, their difference in size can become even more obvious.

There are a number of techniques to "balance" a couple on film.  Generally speaking, each person should take up about the same amount of space in an image.  Culturally, we can see the man as a little bigger, but surprisingly they don't look any less masculine when equalized or balanced.  And if the man is a lot bigger than the woman, it can be equally distressing for them.

In standard V pose, couples of roughly equal size photograph "well."  It looks like this:

If the man is heavy set, you can have them face the camera and slide the woman in front so she covers part of his body.  This way, their space is about equal.  To keep her from becoming boxy, you have to put her weight on one foot, cock the hip, and work on the curves.

(You could have her face the camera directly and him angled towards her-- and this can work well for a certain feel-- but now he's in the feminine pose and she is in a more masculine pose.)

If she is larger than him, he can face the camera directly and she can slip her arm through his, placing her shoulder behind his.

Remember, the idea is to have them take up nearly equal space in the frame.

Recently, I photographed a couple who's height difference was 1.5 feet.  We played with her on a curb and him below, and sitting in various positions.  Her in his lap but their eyes level.  One thing you never want to do his have him slouch-- that'll ruin a picture.

George, My Dead Body

How do you lug your equipment around?  As a one-man operation who often brings six light stands, two light boxes, two backdrops, a crossbar, boom, two large reflectors, and a tripod along with two camera bodies, four lenses, and three flashes, this question has plagued me.  The real solution would be to stop bringing so much stuff and learn to work my surroundings better.  And I'm moving in that direction.  But sometimes you have to bring a full studio with you.

So I started thinking outside the box.  Photography equipment is expensive, and that goes for good quality luggage as well.  I wanted something big enough to house my 45" cross bar, have wheels for rolling, handles for carrying, sturdy enough to hold 70 pounds of odd shaped equipment, and yet be somewhat compact for storage. The answer came, strangely enough, in the form of a golf bag.  I chose the CaddyDaddy Constrictor 2 Golf Bag Travel Cover. Despite its name, it's not a cover but a full bag.  I can fit my smaller light stand bag (with 4 light stands), plus two additional light stands, my big tripod, two collapsible light boxes, two 6-9 backdrops with cross bar, three umbrellas, a travel bag of equipment doodads is the side pockets, and still have room for a small electric fan. It's huge and heavy, but it has rollers.  I only wish it had a shoulder strap... but then again maybe not.  It's really heavy.  For $80 it does more and costs less than traditional photography luggage.  I call it George, my dead body. 

The Dolica Ultra Compact Tripod: Benefits and Liabilities

Since I'm not in the habit of reviewing products, when I do it's usually because I've found some I think is exceptional.  That can be hard, though, because equipment are tools, and sometimes one that excels in one aspect of their job can fall short in another.  And yet still be worth considering because of its unique strengths.  That is the case with the Dolica TX570B150SL Ultra Compact Tripod.

What's Exceptional
This unit it compact.  It measures 12.5 inches folded yet extends to 57 inches.  It's also surprisingly elegant and well thought-out.  The leg locking mechanisms are handsome and work well-- they won't sink under the weight of a Nikon D600 with 80-200mm lens, and that's not light. The ball head, too, is sturdy: it held that lens on the vertical.  I also like that it comes with a weight hook so you can attach your sand (or camera) bag to the center column.  This is especially handy, given its weaknesses.

What's Not
The Dolica is a slender unit, and that means that fully extended it will pick up the vibrations and continue to shake long afterwards.  My 80-200mm f/2.8 really isn't any steadier than in my hands.  More reasonable lenses do better-- and weighting the unit from the center hook helps-- but this is not meant for long-exposure night time photography. Frankly, I wouldn't slow the shutter past 1/20th of the second under the best of circumstances.  57 inches has its limitations as well.  With the camera on top, your lens is right about 5 feet high... which might be eye level for your average adult female, but short for a male portrait.

So Why Bother?
It's a limited tool, but that doesn't mean it has no use.  If the conditions aren't too challenging, it's an efficient way to get the camera off your face.  It can go quite low to the ground (much lower than my regular tripod).  At faster shutter speeds it's useful for bracketing exposures; if you're lens isn't huge you can accomplish moderately slow shutter speeds.  It's small enough to throw into a suitcase or leave in the trunk of your car.  And for a $70 tripod, you really can't find much better.  Another added bonus is that you can swap out the ball head for another.  I'm using my Sunpack 620 trigger ball head which not only adds a couple of inches but is easier to use.  I've kept the Dolica ballhead (worth $25 by its lonesome) for my lights and other accessories.  Comes with a decent bag, too.

If you're only going to own one tripod, this isn't it.  Spend a minimum of $120 and get something that will put a crick in your neck carrying it.  When I want the perfect shot, I'm still going to drag my big tripod behind me, but if I'm not sure I'll need a tripod, the Dolica is a smart backup.