Shooting Portraits: Jan. 15th (Week 2)

Different lenses create different kinds of portraits. Some say the 105mm is the perfect portrait lens. Others say 50mm. It also depends on how far you are standing from your subject. A longer lens won't make the nose look too big and it allows you to get a close crop without standing very close to your subject (which can make people feel uncomfortable). It's said that people's features look more flattering when the photographer is not so close (perhaps best to be 15 feet away). Also, longer lenses can help create a blurrier background.
More info on Portrait lenses HERE.


In class, try a series a portraits using the following guidelines:

1. Backlit. Place your subject with the window behind them. Use Manual Setting. Adjust your ISO, aperture and shutter speed so that the window gets blown out and the background almost looks white. Try shooting with a low number F-stop so the background is very blurry. If you have a zoom lens, try standing close and then far away (but both times cropping from the shoulders up. Is one image more flattering than the other?


2. Side Lit. Position your subject so that a window is lighting them from the side. Shoot one portrait with a reflector and one without. Notice how a reflector fills in the shadows on the dark side of the face.


3. Against a wall, with and without flash. Position your subject about a step away from the wall. Shoot one portrait horizontally with the flash up and one portrait vertically using your flash. Notice how the shadow behind the subject changes.
* Full frontal flash can be used effectively and stylistically. Take for example the work of Martin Parr, who often shoot s with a ring flash.




If you have a flash that goes on your hotshoe, try pointing it up and bouncing it off a white ceiling, into a white reflector, off a white wall to the side and directly on the subject. Each way you point the flash will create a different light on the face.

Outside:

1. Place your subject in the shade. On manual, adjust your camera settings so that the background is properly exposed. Look at your light meter if you're not sure where to start. Then pop your flash up to fill in your subject. Make sure your flash is on TTL (an auto setting).


2. Shoot your subject in just natural light (no flash) in broad daylight. If you have a zoom lens, try standing close and then far away (but both times cropping from the shoulders up. Is one image more flattering than the other? How does the background change? You can shoot on Manual (M), Shutter priority (S), Program (P) or Aperture Priority (A).

3. Shoot your subject in full sun but add flash. If it's a bright sunny day, try shooting them with the sun acting as a hair light. (You may have to crouch down low if sun is overhead)


More advanced Options:

If you have a flash for your hotshoe, you can buy a cord to be able to hold it off camera. Side lighting for portraits often makes them look more "professional". Some cameras do this wirelessly as well. It's called "Commander Mode". You can also diffuse your flash with an umbrella or a Gary Fong.

Retouching Portraits in Photoshop:

Basic retouching includes redness reduction, blemish removal, skin softening, slimming, etc. We will go over these techniques in class and there is a handout below.

Suggested assignment due Jan 15th

Shoot a series of portraits using natural light, either indoors of outdoors. Pay close attention to the direction the light is coming from and where the shadows are on the face. You can fill in shadows by holding a reflector or a large piece of white poster board on the side of the face where the shadows are.

Try shooting at a low # F-stop, like F2.8 or F3.5 to achieve a shallow depth of field (blurry background). Also, the longer you zoom out on your lens, the blurrier your background will be.

If you are shooting outdoors, you may want to choose a cloudy day when there is soft light.

If you are shooting on a bright sunny day, you may choose to shoot in the shade, where the shadows are not so harsh.

If you are shooting indoors, position your subject next to a window so they are lit from the side.

ISO: Indoors it's darker so you may need a higher # ISO (like 400 or 800) but rememeber this may add grain or noise. If outdoors during the day, shoot at 200 ISO.

Bring in perhaps 10 to 20 portraits and we will look at them together in class.

Class 1: January 8th

Topics covered today:
Basic camera functions,F-stop & shutter speed, ISO, White Balance, RAW vs. JPG

Inside the DIGITAL CAMERA:
Part 1:
First we'll go over the homework from last week. Each student was supposed to bring in 6 RAW images. Discussion will cover the differences in White Balance settings using natural light as well as how Fstop affects your picture.

Part 2:

Demo of RAW vs JPG


Part 3:

Dissecting the digital camera:

F-stop
F-stop is the same as aperture. This is the hole or opening inside the camera that lets light in. If this hole is "Wide Open", this will be a low number, like F2 or F3.5. If the hole is very small or closed down, the F-stop will be a big number like F16 or F22.
Depending on what lens you have, the lowest F-stop you camera may go is 3.5. Some lenses go lower, such as F1.8.



Shutter speed
Shutter speed= time. It's measured in fractions of seconds. It is the amount of time that "hole" stays open to let light in. A very long exposure may be 1 second. A very fast one may be 1/500 of a second.

Lenses
Long lenses are usually considered to be more than 100mm. A wide lens is usually around 18mm. A standard zoom lens is 18-70mm or 18-200mm. The length of the lens is measured in millimeters.

Deleting images vs. Formatting
After downloading photos from a card, always FORMAT your memory card instead of "deleting all". This prepares it to be able to shoot again, and wipes the slate clean. It's not great to use memory cards in different cameras if at all possible. If you have to, always format the card before using it in a different camera.

Part 4:
Shooting outside in each of the camera's modes
Shooting modes: A, S, M, P
Setting up the digital camera correctly
Click on the image below to enlarge and see an example of 6 images shot in a row on "Aperture Priority (A)". You select the aperture or Fstop and the camera selects the shutter speed. Notice how the depth of field changes.


DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CHECKLIST:

35mm Digital SLR Camera (highly recommended for this class)
Suggestions:
Canon Rebel, Canon 5D, Nikon D40, Nikon D300

Memory Cards (buy at least 4G cards)

Photoshop CS4

A card reader

External Hard Drive (at least 250G- Lacie is a good brand)

An Epson Color Printer, or a good relationship with a print lab.

Labs I use: Print Space & Adorama

USEFUL DIGITAL TERMS:

Sensor
Useful Article: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-sensors.htm

Full Frame

High Resolution or "hi-res": 300ppi (PPI, pixels per inch, determines image quality and size)

RULES OF THUMB:

-Always Shoot RAW
-Always save at least one copy as TIFF.
-Tiffs can have layers in Photoshop, JPGs are always flat
-Always save things at a 300 resolution
-Once you reduce the size of an image, you cannot make it big again without losing quality

Handouts for Class #1

Click to view larger:

Welcome to Beginning Digital Photography at FIT!

Weekly materials for this 5 week digital photography seminar will be posted on the blog and please feel free to contact the instructor, Erin Gleeson, at erin@eringleeson.com.

We will start out with how to use the basic functions of your own digital cameras. Please bring your camera weekly along with a memory card and a portable hard drive if possible. We will also look at image downloading and editing in Photoshop.

Assignments given in this class are optional but encouraged- no grades are assessed. The main goal is for you to take better pictures! And be more in control of your camera and the light around you. The goal will be to present a series of approx 10 printed images for the last week's session to share with the group and critique.

Course Overview:

Jan. 8th:
Digital Camera Basics
Auto settings on camera, F-Stop, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Flash, White Balance, ISO, lens length, motion control, light meter in camera.
Downloading your photos and intro to basic photo editing in Photoshop.

Jan 15th:
Composition
Lens Selection
Shooting portraits using natural light and/or flash
Intro to using flash on hot-shoe.

Jan 22nd:
Still life shoot, event photography, shooting indoors with flash.

Jan 29th:
Outdoor shooting: mixing flash and daylight.
Resizing images.
Printing methods and retouching for optimum prints.

Feb 5th:
Last Class, share final prints.