CameraTalk » Photographers

In: Series – Emily R

Kenny Smith — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:53:04 +0000

Worked with model Emily updating her portfolio. In this shoot we really went for lively natural poses, and focused on the overall colour palette.
Emily naturally has a real outgoing personality and turned out to be real athletic. I don’t know many models would just do a handstand on a whim, but it went real well with what we were doing.
Styling, hair and Make Up by Mel Grafton.
View the whole series

Tech Info: Canon 1Ds MkIII, 17 – 40mmL, 50mm 1.4, 20mm 2.8, Available light and a large reflector

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www.kennysmithphotography.com

Technique or Instinct?

Gabriela Sousa Rocha — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:57:35 +0000

There’s a lot of talk about what makes a good photographer. Some say an eye for art. Others argue having impeccable technique is more important. Some say the difference is in the equipment used. Let’s analyse the implications. I believe following the line of thought is important no matter the conclusion. Not everyone sees photography as a form of artistic expression, principally because an electronic device stands between the person and the final picture. I must say I disagree. Photography is definitely a form of art in my opinion and, therefore, it does take an artist to take good photographs. On the other hand, we can’t disregard that the artist still has to know how to operate a camera. I can imagine that non-technical, instinctive photographers get the best images when the light is perfect. But they probably struggle in low light, have a hard time with strobes and in situations where the camera fails to translate their point of view. In those cases, technique is all important. It can get you out of a lot of trouble and not hinder your artistic sensitivity. I’ve seen photographers with extreme technical prowess who produce boring photographs because their technique overpowers their creativity. Photographic images should first and foremost be an expression of the photographer’s creativity and sensitivity. Technique should be no more than a means to an end (producing the shot you envisioned). It takes a combination of the technical and the instinctive to make a great photographer.

A 7D, a Monopod, and a Cheap Trick

Gabriela Sousa Rocha — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:59:16 +0000

Those who follow this blog will be familiar with my dilemmas in stabilising video DLSRs. In this post, I will share a cheap trick that actually worked.

I was filming a wedding last weekend and although we have a professional video camera for the job, the second filmer always uses the 7D (believe it or not, the image quality is better).

The story begins at my father-in-law’s house, a few hours before the wedding. He has fishing gear all over the place. Between rods and lines and bait, something caught my eye: a fishing belt.

I had an epiphany. A much smoother image might be possible if I use a monopod and support it with the fishing belt… And it will be less physically demanding.

The monopod, combined with a ball head, gives me a great flexibility when it comes to framing. So the ball head and the monopod with the added leverage of the fishing belt, meant I could do almost anything I wanted.

I must say I was pleased with the results. Even when filming and walking, the images were super steady.

When it comes to filming with a DSLR, this really makes life easier if you’re on a budget. I liked it so much, I shelled out $15 on a fishing belt of my own!

Crop photos for impact

Alex Harrison — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:05:27 +0000

Enough said from me.

Hopefully someone with more nous will tell us their methods of deciding what to leave in or take out.

How To Get Amazing Surfing Shots

Gabriela Sousa Rocha — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:20:09 +0000

Amazing surfing images can be shot if you get yourself in the water. And it’s easier than you might imagine. All it takes is a confident swimmer, a waterhousing, a DSLR and a fisheye lens. Most photos you see that are taken inside a barrel have been taken this way.

The procedure involves setting your camera to manual. Keep the shutter speed high, usually 1/1000 sec, and set your aperture to 4.5. If it’s a cloudy day or low light conditions apply, you might need to change the settings or alternatively, leave your camera on auto ISO.

Once you have the settings adjusted, focus on a close object (e.g. 1.5m away). Set your lens to manual focus. You don’t want to have to autofocus in the water. Believe me, you will make less mistakes this way.

Make sure your waterhousing is sealed, then get in the water. (Refer here to some tips on maintianing underwater equipment.)

Position yourself at the impact zone — that’s right, you’re going to get smashed. Since you’re using a fisheye, you want the rider you’re shooting to come close to you. So work together. If he gets barrelled, even better.

Respect your limits. If the waves are huge, don’t go out. Swimming with a waterhousing is tough. If you’re not comfortable in the ocean, this is not for you.

If you need a waterhousing, take a look delmarhousings — these waterhousings are awesome!

Click here if you’d like to check out some amazing water shots… amazing!

Storytelling, In:Series

Kenny Smith — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:29:09 +0000

As I eluded to in a previous post, Mike our web guy here at KSP and I have been working on ways to get out the work for your enjoyment beyond delivering our commercial product to our clients.

They say that great photographers need to be great storytellers, and often out of all the frames I’ll shoot, only one or two will have a life beyond sitting on a disk drive.

In order to storytell a bit more, and share some of these images with you, we’ve built a new page on the KSP website, called “In:Series“. This page will contain picture tales narrated by imagery which, when you look at it altogether, tells a certain story that I hope you will find interesting.

You can view the new In:Series page here.

This first Series is set on the East side of the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where I stayed as a guest of my friend Debbie, her husband Ivan, and their 2 boys Christian and Allen when I was over there in January.

You can view my blog post with more pics from Hawaii here.

On the Verge

Glen Ryan — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:44:42 +0000

‘On the Verge’ – adding Glidetrack to my HDSLR macro rig

After some field testing last spring I’ve now started to redevelop the HDSLR macro rig for my endangered WA flora documentary project – On the Verge.

The new rig is built around a Glidetrack Shooter HD and the Micro Nikkor 200mm ED – which allows me to use both Canon HDSLRs (5D and 7D) and the Nikon D3s (or whatever comes out soon to replace the D700) if I need to.

The pictures above and below show the rig with a Canon 5D2 on a old Manfrotto 029 three-way photo head – simply because it was lying around unused when I took these images – plus the Genus Matte Box, rails and Nun’s Knickers. Obviously a video head can be used instead – but just testing it here. The Genus MB is ideal for this rig as it is not too heavy and provides both shading and multiple filtering options.

The Glidetrack is the HD version of the Shooter – this is basically a more industrial version of the SD Shooter used by Philip Bloom on his recent ‘Prague’ test of the Canon 1D IV (see link at end of post). As I wanted to use the matte box and probably add a follow focus / monitor down the track I went for the slightly heavier version – although it’s still compact enough to travel with relatively easily!

The 200mm Micro Nikkor can go 1:1 from about 25cm which provides a pretty useful working distance for getting really close-up. Not so crucial with flowers but helps with insects and other animals.

For stills I generally use a 105 2.8 VR Micro Nikkor (on Nikons – doesn’t really work on Canon!) as it is much more flexible hand-held with the VR and the shorter focal length.

The 200mm is virtually impossible to use hand-held without camera shake – but is ideal on a tripod – a rig like this for video – and being an older design it has an aperture ring so I can use it on the Canons (which I can’t do with the newer G series 105mm VR).

On the Canon 7D this is effectively is a 320mm f4 1:1 macro lens – which will give it another dimension for getting up closer from further away!
I’ve found the Canon 70-200 2.8 with 2 x converter OK for some macro work at a pinch but this combo is obviously not ideal – and offers nowhere near the magnification of the 200 Micro Nikkor. I didn’t go for a Canon Macro lens – like their excellent 180mm 3.5 – as this wouldn’t give me the option of using it on the Nikons as well.

Using the Glidetrack is excellent for very stable low shooting (which can be great for backlighting) with or without the actual gliding element being used. Even using a video head on the Glidetrack the camera can be used much closer to the ground than a traditional tripod set-up – and the smooth gliding can actually be very effective for adding something to relatively static macro shots – like flowers. On uneven or slightly sloping ground the handles can also be adjusted to keep it level. It can also obviously be added to a tripod where low level shooting is not required – or even used as a hand-held shooter – although probably not for macro, particularly with this set-up!

On my last WA field trip I used the 5D2 on a Gorillapod for low shots but it was a bit too low in a lot of cases (and focussing was a pain!) I also couldn’t really load it up with gear. (Plus there’s not a lot of gliding or panning options on the Gorillapod!).

So I’m looking forward now to my next WA field trip with the Glidetrack and some more time to really develop this project. Will probably require driving over rather than flying but this will mean more flexibility when I get there – plus no compromises on the actual gear I can take!

Just a little background…

One of my real passions is propagating, promoting and protecting Australian plants – in particular the rare and endangered flora of Western Australia which often now only survives on fragile roadside verges (hence the working title of the documentary ‘On the Verge’).

I’m also a big fan of conservation through cultivation and have been trialling the propagation (mainly through grafting) of some of the rarer WA Grevilleas for several years now. I have a pretty big collection myself and am always keen to get these into cultivation and into other gardens to help with the long term preservation of this unique biodiversity.

I have also have a pretty large image library of these plants – and one of the reasons I have been keen to converge into HDSLR video is to extend this collection with video footage and hopefully produce some documentary material which will help raise awareness of the issue of these endangered species and their roadside verge habitats.

So on my last trip to WA I took the Canon 5D2 and shot some video alongside my Nikon stills gear – more as trial than anything else – with an eye to developing a more extensive documentary project in 2010 and beyond.

On this previous trip I had both limited time and space so I didn’t take a tripod at all – just the 5D2 and a Gorillapod for video. This was actually OK – and I did shoot some useful footage with it (including the rare Grevillea thyrsoides ssp thyrsoides – see below).

I was mostly using the 90mm tilt/shift with either a 2 x converter and/ or extension tubes on the Canon with the Gorillapod. The 90mm tilt/shift can be great for macro but I found that even with the 2 x converter I couldn’t get in tight enough sometimes – and other times I was just too physically close to the subject.

With hindsight a real tripod would have been ideal – but I didn’t have one – so I just worked with what I had. I spent most of my trip researching locations and shooting stills in between wind and rain – so it was no big deal at the time.

But from this initial experience in the field I have now started to rebuild the rig around the Glidetrack and the 200mm Micro Nikkor. I just need to find some time in the schedule now to test it out a bit more – before finding the time to drive to WA for a month or two in the spring!

More on the Glidetrack at www.glidetrack.com/

See Philip Bloom’s ‘Prague’ at http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/22/prague-a-canon-1dmkiv-pre-production-test-film/

Tilt/Shifts always pay for their spot in the Domke – and they double as handy macro options at weddings - 90mm TS/E 2.8 on Canon 5D2 1600 ISO

Our gallery my culture

Glen Ryan — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:03:18 +0000

A short piece featuring the indigenous artists of the Yurauna Centre Workshop at the National Gallery of Australia from 2009.

The stills were used in a separate short documentary created by the students themselves of their workshop at the NGA. This was produced by Andy Heaney who also shot video footage (see second image below) and created the music. Andy also supplied the music for my video piece.

My video footage was shot during the actual workshop part of the day with a Canon 5DMkII and 70-200 2.8 L with 2 x converter. The workshop covered (among other things) new directions in digital media and the role of the internet for artists. So I thought shooting some HDSLR footage would fit in well with that.

our gallery my culture from Glen Ryan on Vimeo.

All stills/5DMkII footage was shot at 1600 ISO — some stills on Nikon D700; some on the 5DMkII.

Music by Andy Heaney.