The Gift of Flash - 001

Just to be clear, this new series of short posts do not refer to the following topics: the DC superhero Flash (in all his iterations), the multimedia platform from Adobe, and definitely not about a bit of unsolicited nudity. This and the other bite-sized bits of information that follow will talk primarily about the many creative opportunities that are made available to a photographer with the use of off-camera flash.

1. The ability to light glass

I'm not saying that glass can't be lit by using only natural light. It's just easier to light when you have an off-camera light source. One of the ways to light glass is... well, by not lighting it directly. This technique is called bright-field lighting. Essentially, you keep the light on the background and allow the diffuse reflection coming off it to reveal the outline and shape of the glass object. This is best carried out in a more easily controlled environment like a studio, but it can also be done outside of one when the conditions are right.

I was lucky enough to catch and capture the following setup during the department's open house a few weeks back. A shot that I could have easily struggled (or failed) to make without off-camera flash.

More to come...

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For those who are interested in the technical, you can hover your mouse cursor over the picture above to view my camera and flash settings. If you're interested in similar articles and would like to be notified when I put a new post up, either follow this blog (via Google reader) or sign up for e-mail updates on the left navigation bar. Thanks.

Stone Soup Light

*This is a repost from my Google+ stream.

This picture finally finds its way out of the freezer today (after four long years). It's my second book cover (first was surprisingly a vector illustration of molecules involved in chemical equilibrium), however it was my first paying job. But this picture is memorable for me beyond that fact because it's the first time I had to really think hard about how to make the shot with limited resources (one flash optically triggered by the popup flash on my Canon 350D) and a very small crew (just me).

I hope this isn't the last picture I get to shoot for books (about chemistry or otherwise).

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**Today was actually last Wednesday (August 22, 2012).

***And I would prefer doing an otherwise-related book rather than a chemistry one next. :-)#

Torta for Dinner

Susan has been on a baking binge lately. She is slowly notching recipe after recipe under her belt. She's starting with the standards and a number of local delicacies, nothing too hoity-toity or exotic. A few weeks back my Ma gave her a recipe for torta (mamon), which she then eagerly tried out. The recipe was actually shared with my Auntie Mye by someone from Madridejos who used to bake the treat. My Ma and Pa's hometown isn't particularly known for its baked goods, so we were a bit skeptical.

However, all that apprehension melted away after the first bite.

And since this blog isn't intentionally about food, then I'm guessing that you're here for a different kind of recipe. A list of the light ingredients can be found after the jump.

The Lit Landscape (Part 2)

I'm a fan of the hidden nook. While at Cebu Marine Resort at Cordova, where I made this picture of Mangrove saplings, with the family, I found a patch of more mature trees that enclosed a strip of sand at the end of the concrete pier. I peered in and  saw an opportunity to squeeze in an off-camera flash into the scene below.

I changed my camera settings to underexpose the scene by about two stops. I lowered myself a bit more to get a better angle.  I planned to light the tree trunk on camera left, so I changed my position to juxtapose the yellow leaves on upper camera left with the trunk. It was a matter of asking my assistant, the lovely Susan, to move into position with the flash, which had a 1/4 CTO gel on and a grid to warm up and restrict the light coming off it respectively. I shot a couple of frames and varied the shutter speed to control ambient contribution until I got a mix that I was happy with.

I could have shot the manicured lawns and the ornamented interiors of the resort, but I'm sure that most of their camera-carrying clientele have already snapped a picture or twenty of these sights. I am a fan of the concealed cranny because I believe there is beauty to be found and revealed where it is not immediately apparent.

The Lit Landscape (Part 1)

For a portrait guy, I sure have been shooting a lot of landscapes lately. Truth be told, I am working on a number of personal projects that involve portraiture, but these are just in the planning stages for now. I have resigned myself to doing more deliberate and thought-out shoots to generate pictures to add to my portfolio, since I don't have as much time and energy as I would like. As a consequence, I also get to do fewer sittings, so I grab any opportunity to use my camera in between.

On the same day that I shot the picture I talked about in a previous post, I found a patch of Mangroves by the concrete pier that I was standing on. I stared at them for quite some time, watching them sway about in the wind. A light must have gone on in my head because the next thing I know I was grabbing a hot shoe flash from my bag. After which the following thought process ensued ---

Shoot it in under ambient (midday) light.
Blah.

Okay, let's switch WB to tungsten.
Much better. I like how it makes the water a surreal sort of blue.

Let's light this sucker!
At ISO 200 and f/11 your flash contribution isn't registering in the image.

Power on full! We can live with the seconds-long recycle.
Okay, the flash contribution is showing, but it's lighting the stalks and it's a bit distracting.

Let's get the wife Susan to dangle the flash over the water. Maybe ask her to hold it close to parallel to the ground so it just skims off the leaves.
Nice. Great idea on skimming it off the leaves.
Hey, thanks. You helped too.

And if you're wondering why I talk to myself, those who know me well will assure you that as long as I keep the internal conversations with myself to myself, I'll be fine.

Oh yeah, the picture.

Using Custom WB as a Creative Tool

Red to Blue

In as much as it is a necessary task when shooting in RAW, I have no stamina for prolonged post-processing (PP) work. I would rather be out there making pictures rather than sitting in front of a computer monitor. I do most (lately, it seems to be all) of my PP work in Lightroom, which works for me since I mainly just make adjustments to the sliders under the 'Basic' and 'Detail' panels for the pictures that I shoot. And for this very reason, I always strive to get the shot right, as I have previsualized it, before I even press the shutter. If I can't make it in camera, then I won't fake it in post.

This brings me to an article I read on setting and using a custom white balance (WB) to create an interesting scene from an otherwise ordinary location. I didn't really fiddle with the WB setting on my camera until about two years ago when I wanted to get more consistent color temperatures when working with flash, and even then I mainly just used the preset modes. If you need a primer on WB, I recommend you read this simple and easy-to-understand article on the subject.

I wanted to test the principle of the technique, so I opted to do the reverse of what's shown in the article that I linked to above. I also wanted to find out if it would work on non-human subjects, so I choose to shoot my wife's potted plants.

Okay, on with the experiment! It starts with setting the camera's WB to 'Daylight', and then shooting the scene with a red gel in front of the lens.

I wonder if I can pass this off as an abstract art piece. I mean this guy certainly pulled it off. But I digress. I shot the concrete wall above the plants since it was as close to a neutral gray as I could get. I then used the file to set my WB to a custom value, after which I set my WB setting to 'Custom'.

So, did it work?

In Profile: Carlo Soliven (Part 2)

Part 2 - Behind the lens

I had the privilege and pleasure of having fellow photographer, Carlo Soliven, sit for me in a turning-tables sort of portrait session while he was home a few months back. You can view my post and the pictures from that shoot here.

This post is a feature of the beautiful pictures that Kaloy, as I fondly call him, makes with his camera.

As he is currently working in Singapore, let's start off with his classic shot of the iconic Merlion.

Carlo is currently making his way into fashion photography. He also utilizes an off-camera flash or two when he shoots, but is equally comfortable in natural light. Here are some of my  favorites from his more current fashion-inspired shoots.

I love how he integrates strong elements of composition into his portraits, especially the lines in both images above.

Being a strobist disciple himself, I also admire his restraint when using light. We seem to agree that drama is best created when one doesn't light everything in the frame, which he does superbly in the image above.

However, at the end of the day, when Kaloy would like to take a more deliberate pace. He goes back to shooting landscapes, which I believe he is equally good at. A zen-like exercise that I can definitely relate to.

The above shot is an HDR image of a bridge at the Punggol Promenade. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of HDR, but I definitely like the way he processes this image, still showing restraint without going overboard on all that dynamic range goodness.

Whether shooting landscapes or models, Carlo seems to have both skills in the bag.

*All pictures in this post are copyrighted to Carlo Soliven and used with his expressed written permission.

In Profile: Carlo Soliven (Part 1)

Part 1 - In front of the lens

There is always a ton of some trepidation when one is asked to make a portrait of another photographer. It isn't just because one runs the risk of looking like a complete idiot in front of someone who could very well know what you're trying to achieve and realizes, before you do, that you're failing miserably. It's also because most photographers are a lot more comfortable behind the lens rather than in front of it. As such, there's a lot of fidgeting and wrangling before you finally get one to relax long enough just so you can shoot a picture of them blinking.

I had such a challenge an opportunity when I had my cousin, Carlo, sit for me. We started out with a standard head-shot-type image. Three lights in total --- one key, two rims --- with the subject on a black background.

You might think that Mr. Soliven doesn't smile all that much, but we actually went through a LOT of shots just to get to this one, since we were laughing most of the time. In fact, we were laughing so much that we actually had to shoot one in profile just so we wouldn't have to make eye contact, which always led to us chuckling in a second or two.

It was unexpectedly one of my favorites from the set. Plus, I actually managed to get a sharp enough picture as I actually stopped suppressing a laugh long enough to press the shutter.

I was pleased with the shots I got so far, but I also wanted to throw in a picture that told the viewer that he is looking at a photographer. I wanted to achieve this without bringing in the oft-used camera into the frame because that has been done by nearly every photographer who has ever shot a photographer. I decided to bring in a ring flash adapter into the picture to not just add an interesting element into the frame, but also to show that this is someone who shoots using off-camera flash.

Carlo actually bought and liked this idea and the resulting image. However, I thought that the ring flash adapter might compete for attention with the subject since it was the brightest element in the picture, so I decided to shoot one where I could exploit the aforementioned quality by using it as a framing device.

I rendered the resulting image in black and white, which in my opinion made it a lot more interesting. However, it doesn't really matter what I think looks interesting because at the end of the session it's all up to the subject to decide whether I made the whole awkward experience pay off.

I hope I did.

Note: 'Part 2 - Behind the lens' will feature Carlo's more recent work and will be posted soon.

Sasha — Bohemian at Busay

Carlo and I got to shoot Sasha again the last time he was home from Singapore. We initially planned for a hippie/Bohemian-themed shoot, but decided to deviate from that eventually to make use of what the location had to offer since it was quite a long way from the city. It was a warm and windy day, which did not only feel odd, but left us parched at the end. We were holding on to our lighting equipment the whole time because there was no picking it up from the foot of the mountain on the other side. All in all, it was a typical sojourn into a faraway place just to make pictures.

*You can view and comment on each picture in this set by viewing the album here.

BPI Science Awardee Shoot: Shedding Light on Excellence

I have known Denniell Ann (simply Denden to people in the department) since she fortuitously found her way into the B.S. Chemistry program about four years ago. Ever shy and self-effacing, I asked to shoot her for an article that I wrote for the USC Department of Chemistry's blog (which you can read here). I did this, not only to celebrate her many notable achievements, but I hoped to infuse her with a you're-only-limited-by-your-imagination kind of confidence before she headed out into the matrix real world.

As I have come to learn, it is always good to get your standard 'crowd-pleasing' keepers done before you experiment with something... less conventional. So, I went for an evenly lit, high-key-type look for the pictures below.

 

Even Steven

Three lights were used to create the look. Due to mixed light sources in the room, I decided to kill off ambient contribution completely. I used a flash set at about 1/16 power, above and behind me as on-axis fill. This allows me to build upon how the shadows in my image will look like before I bring in additional lights. A second flash in a Westcott Apollo soft box at about 1/4 power was placed above (pointing down) and to the right of the subject at an angle of about 45°. A third flash was shot through a LumiQuest SoftBox III and placed on a short stand behind the subject pointed up at the white projection screen. A few test shots, tweaks and adjustments in her pose gave me the pictures below.

The first was shot with a 70-200 mm lens.

A wider angle lens (17-50 mm) was used to make the picture below.

The white background with her white bolero (Yes, I know what that is!) made the wording on her plaque readable in the second image, so that in itself was a bonus.

Time to loosen the straightjacket.

Light Arithmetic

I would like to believe that a significant part of photography is learning and speaking the language of light. And like learning any new language, there is a period of confusion and frustration. I have read a number of books on the physics and chemistry behind photography, but I admittedly still feel lost when math decides to be a party pooper comes into play. I can and will suffer through as much of it is necessary, but in deciding on how to light a particular shoot; I rely on something much simpler (though clearly less precise) — my gut.

It may not get me to within inches of where my flash needs to be relative to the subject nor does it reveal clear-cut power settings for each strobe, but it does a pretty darn good job of keeping my head from imploding. Although there is an element of insanity randomness to my method, it is the result of a few hundred hours of real-world testing. It's an odd, yet satisfying, feeling to be able to position and set a flash to within about under a stop of where I want to be exposure-wise. Some of you might argue that I could have just bought a light meter and saved myself the trouble, but with that money I would've bought one more flash without even blinking.

Grid-lock

I have contemplated permanently attaching a grid to one of my flashes a number of times now (and that's during one of my saner days). I might just do it one of these days as the grid is one of the most used  light modifiers  in my bag (and probably my favorite). I have always loved how it restricts light, which makes it a great way to isolate (or selectively light) my subject. And plus it weighs next to nothing and requires only a Velcro strap (or a rubber band in a pinch) to attach to a hot shoe flash.

It is this very portability that allows me to bring it with me even on family trips because you'll never know when you'll need a 'kiss' of light to capture a moment like the one below.

My brother and his son were standing near the pool light, which created a warm yellow orange glow around them. However, the light was not powerful enough to illuminate their faces, so I simply popped a flash in the frame. I warmed the light up a bit with a 1/4 CTO gel to more or less match the color coming from the pool light. After making a couple of test shots, it was all a matter of waiting for my nephew to flash his endearing 'cute face'. :-D#

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For those who are interested in the technical details, here are my settings:

Camera - f/4.0, 1/25s, ISO 200, WB Cloudy | Off-camera flash (triggered via Cactus V4) - at 1/32 power, +1/4 CTO gel, through 1/8" grid

Light Stew

No, this post is not about any culinary delight or the making thereof. Although, I must admit that the title is a result of pining for a dish that falls under the stew category. But, I digress. This meandering piece is about adding an LED video light into the mix while shooting pictures using off-camera flash.

This picture is what got the gears in my head spinning.

The photo above was shot in the Forensics exhibit room during one of the chemistry road shows last year. The first stop was laid out to simulate a crime scene with a 'murder victim' to boot. To create a TV-crime atmosphere, the students who ran the room decided to go with an LED video light as a means to put emphasis on the current exhibit as the viewers were being walked through the room; and of course, to add drama. Since the lights inside the room were turned off and there was virtually no ambient contribution, I treated the LED video light like any continuous light source — like a fluorescent lamp without the weird color cast or the sun (albeit scaled way, way down) with an off switch.

And then I got to thinking, why not stick an off-camera hot shoe flash into the mix?

BTS: Dreaming of a White Christmas

As promised, here's a behind-the-scenes account of how I came up with the image that I entered into the MPEX photo contest for the month of November.

Internal Dialogue:

Me 1: Shapes and Textures? (while browsing the web page with the contest details)

Me too: Fine, I think I can come up with something decent.

Me 1: ...as inspired by the seasons of fall and winter?

Me too: Crap.


So, how did I go about creating an image inspired by seasons that I can only imagine about?

Well, I went through hunting for storm clouds, straining my calf muscles and finally scrounging for fall-en leaves. If you happened to chance upon me inside the university while doing any of the aforementioned activities, I assure you that I pose no immediate danger to you and others (to myself maybe).

In the end, surprisingly, I resorted to using the dark arts chemistry.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

The above photo is my entry to MPEX's photo contest for November, themed Shapes and Textures as inspired by those very elements of the fall and winter seasons. I am very much aware that in the Philippines we only have two seasons, one is sweltering the other is torrential. I'll write a follow-up to this post to explain the reason for going with the image shown and the process behind its creation.

For now, I would like to kindly ask you to vote for this image (up to five times a day) starting from Nov. 19 to Nov. 29, 2011. But, only if you believe that it deserves your vote and a shot at winning, as only the top 20 pictures (by popular vote) get considered for final judging for the top three prizes. :-)#

The contest page can be viewed here. Click on the View Entries tab and search for my entry by using the search box on the page that opens. The title of my submission is Snow Globe. I would be grateful if you could help me get more votes by sharing this post through social networking.

Many thanks.

Watching the World Go By

Stop the World Because I Want to Get Off

*Click on the image above to view it larger on black.

Come as You Are

I have written a piece on how I perceive a portrait to be and the process behind its creation. Most of my insights on portraiture are more of the old school than of the new. This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the new styles and techniques that have emerged, but let's just say that I am more of a get-it-right-in-camera kind of photographer. If I can achieve the look that I need with the right clothes (or the lack thereof), a little makeup and flattering light, then I am more than happy to call it a day.

Watching the World Go By

Swimming with the Fishes. There is something vaguely cruel about fish in an aquarium (or any caged animal for that matter). I am in no way inferring on the capacity of fish to realize that it was deluded into thinking that the tepid water and the regular supply of food is the only world that it should (or will) ever know. But now that I think about it, things aren't that different on the other side of the glass.

*Thanks to Gary for helping me make this shot by offering to hold the flash for me.

Flash on, Flash off

I started my semi-serious study of photography about five years ago (right about the time I was gifted with my first DSLR). The first few months were a blur. I would shoot anyone and anything; but then for the months after that, I would find my camera staying in its bag for weeks at a time. After that, I became an occasion-al shooter because I would only make pictures during occasions. Two years in, I was seriously considering selling my camera and the assorted related knick knacks I accumulated over that time.

I then stumbled onto the lighting resource nirvana that is Strobist, and it was both a literal and figurative light bulb moment, so to speak. I finally broke free from the creative doldrums that had stalled me for years and the winds from the goddess of inspiration caught my sails and I have not looked back since.

As I have asserted in various posts on this blog, a secondary light source (aside from the ambient) allows one not only to make the most ordinary setting look remarkable, but it offers one additional control over how the final image will come out. And I am admittedly a disciple of the old(er) school of photographers who strive to do most of the work in camera and not have to achieve the look in post.

And so as far as I could remember, since that watershed in my brief history in photography I have always travelled with one or more lights in my bag. If I can light it, I will. If I have to use a flash on-camera, then I strive to do so … responsibly. For a while there, I tried to light every scene that my viewfinder came upon. I have long learned the folly of that conviction.

Over the next three years, I would find myself in moments where I would decide to leave the flash in the bag or to simply switch it off. Because as I had learned, the time it takes me to think about how to light the scene took twice as long for the moment to pass (and only to realize later that it was perfect as it had existed in that ephemeral pocket of time). The pictures that follow are a testament of my recovery from … err, NLSA (non-ambient light source addiction).

*The above photo was shot by J. Pahang

DPP 0811, Day 29 – Megs

Beneath that handsome exterior lies a quiet confidence, which allows Megs to both blend into a crowd and stand out at the same time.

In this shot, I didn’t want to downplay his looks, but also didn’t want it to be the only quality of his that I wanted to feature. I wanted to evoke his contemplative side, but also wanted to hint at the playful nature beneath it. The strong lines in the chosen setting were used to elicit a sense of masculinity because I wanted the ‘handsome meter’ to point towards rugged and as far away from K-pop-boy-band pretty as possible.

A simple one-light portrait, which is currently my favorite from the ones that I’ve shot for this project so far.