Lucy And The Lens

Category: Photography Books

  • Tips I Learned From Fashion Photography 101 by Lara Jade

    “An artists vision creates the image; the camera simply captures it.” This is the opening line of the book and also the most important. Before you even pick up the camera you must have an idea of what you want to create as the camera doesn’t do the work for you, you have to do that yourself.

    Lenses

    Lara’s description of lenses opened up a whole new world to portraiture for me. I usually tend to use my Nikon 70-200 mm telephoto zoom lens for portraiture, but Lara suggested that instead a wide angle lens can introduce a dynamic angle of view and distort an image excitingly. She also recommends using a macro lens for extreme close –up beauty work which is something Id like to try.

    Photographing with movement

    Photographing your subject mid-movement creates a dynamic shot and adds interest to the image. Lens baby creates creative lenses.A fast shutter speed freezes motion, and a slow shutter speed blurs movement. Manual focus works better for fashion shots as it allows you to focus on an eye or a strand of hair.

    Preparing

    To prepare to decide beforehand what you want out of the shoot and create mood boards or Pinterest boards before every shoot. Look on websites to find models and If you can’t afford a stylist choose or source the clothes yourself. Have a plan for whether you want a location shoot or a studio shoot. Decide which will work best.

    Shooting

    Location shoots are better for new models or clients, and studio shoots are better for experienced models. High key lighting creates a comfortable dynamic to an image, and low key lighting adds a dramatic mood to an image. The best time to shoot in natural light is the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset referred to as the golden hour by landscapers. The light during these hours is soft and diffused, the angle low, and the colour warm. Don’t be afraid to experiment with over and under exposure to natural light. Use one softbox to provide soft and flattering light to your subject. Use a white reflector to highlight your subject and a black reflector on the right side of your subject to add contrast and for more variation use a black backdrop. Experiment with different coloured lights. Use a silver umbrella with a white backdrop for clear, detailed high key images. To enhance makeup use a beauty dish as your light source. Backlight create beautifully And visually dramatic photos. Add a second light for a simple backlit portrait. Use a softbox to flatter the subject and a second light behind to illuminate them. Try using natural light in the studio and enhancing it with reflectors. Use two white reflectors on either side to bounce the light back and a gold reflector to add warmth to the shot.

    Personal Assignments

    Setting yourself assignments is also vital as it helps you to find your style. Then Lara Jade sets us tasks to be open to our interpretation which I will discuss at a later stage as I’m going to give them a go. I’ve made several assignments personal to me; I’m planning a childhood memories project which I am accepting ideas of things to recreate. My crystal ball project is continuously ongoing and also the subject of my latest blog. I also like to showcase my hobbies in my work, and I’m planning a few special projects using models. The working photographer You need to be able to work closely with people, stick to a brief and create your own. Charge what you believe is a fair price for your time but never lose your integrity.

    Retouching

    To make your images pop this is something that is typically done after a shoot. I used to use photoshop files with many layers so I can always go back and adjust. Now I have changed my editing process using Lightroom to batch edit and then using photoshop to fine-tune whichever images I feel need more work. Lara states that she applies layer masks to create composites which is something I haven’t tried but id like to give a go. You can use curves to change the tone of an image by using it on the RGB channel. Use a hard healing brush to correct skin blemishes or use the spot healing brush or a clone stamp tool. Use textures to add a vintage film feel to your image. In Photoshop You can turn an image into black and white by creating a channel mixer adjustment layer by going to layer>new adjustment layer>channel mixer. Click the monochrome box. Move the RGB sliders. Then form a selective colour adjustment layer and select neutrals and move blacks slider to +30. For more contrast then select blacks and mover the slider to +10 or +20.

    Marketing

    Think about who your intended market is. Use push marketing to showcase your photography to potential clients, art buyers and directors. Also, pull marketing uses social media and word of mouth to create your brand. Think about your brand and how it appears to clients. Prepare both a physical and an online portfolio.

    I hope you enjoyed this post and you stay tuned for more of what I’ve been reading and shoots I’ve done recently.

  • Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs of People by Henry Carroll

    So after reading Henry Carroll’s other book discussing how to take great photographs in general which I posted on this blog and absolutely loving it, a couple of months later I walked into Waterstones and found that he had written another one but this time it was only to do with people, my favourite subject to photograph.

    The Question

     The first thing Carroll tells us to do before reading this book is close the book and ask yourself who am I and why do I want to take photographs of people. I think what he is trying to do here is telling us as a reader that no one is born ready to do something and until you know what your purpose is then you are not ready. In my opinion the question he asks when rephrased would work for any subject so think about what job you want to do and ask yourself that very same question who am I and why do I want to do the job or hobby I want to do and until you know then you are not ready.

    The Answer

     The Answer is also personal because everyone will have a different answer to the question and the way I’m looking at it on a deeper level is that not everyone will be asking himself or herself the same question. My Answer is to the exact question Carroll poses who am I and why do I want to take photographs of people. My name is Lucy and I am a media graduate with a passion for taking photographs. Yes I love taking photographs but why people in particular, you ask? I love the way that you can tell a lot about a person by the way that they express themselves and I want to capture that in my photography. Photographing people for me tells a story and every person has a different story to tell and I want to convey that message in the photographs that I take.

    Composition

     Carroll states that when you are composing a shot of a human subject you need to trust your instincts and think about whom you are photographing. What is their mood? What is your mood? Where is the shoot taking place and what’s going on around you?

    In photographing people the rule of thirds is the most important aspect of composition because placing your subject in the centre of the frame or in the far right third of the frame creates an essentially perfect composition.

    Carroll depicts that linking layers is a brilliant idea as you keep one eye on the subject and the other on the background. In my eyes this means that you need to let the background compliment the subject and not the other way round.

    Think about who you are shooting and where and play around with different camera angles to change the perception of a subject.

    Lens Choices

    My favourite idea Carroll has is that nothing impacts your composition more than your choice of lens. I have three lenses now and for my first studio shoot since university I only had the lens that the camera came with (18-55mm) so this was restrictive as you could see too much of the background which was distracting. Now I use a Nikkor Telephoto Zoom lens (70-200mm), which is a lot better for portraits, and you can see more of the subject. A couple of months ago I bought a brand new Petzval (85mm) Lomography art lens, which so far I have only had the opportunity to test once. This lens is made for portraits but on a recent shoot to Crosby I used this lens to get a different perspective of Anthony Gormley’s Another Place because I had already shot it a year before. The Petzval lens comes with fixed aperture plates that allow me to change the aperture according to the setting. It is also manual focus, which means the lens pushes me to find my own clarity to the extent that I want it to be. The best thing about this lens is that it allows me to obtain different shaped apertures where the light hits the out of focus areas of an image or reflects off a subject.

    Breaking the Rules

     It is important in photography to create your own rulebook by thinking outside the box or recreating interesting images. In life I always go with my instincts and I feel that these rarely fail me. Carroll illustrates that the same rules apply with photography: “Shoot what your comfortable with, step outside of the comfort zone but don’t shoot anything that makes you feel uncomfortable to be shooting.” In my opinion if you abide by this then you will develop your own style and others will be able to know your images by sight.

    Context

     The subject has to blend into the environment and you can also use a plain backdrop to isolate your subject so nothing distracts you from them. When taking an image of a person always be on the lookout for juxtaposition because in photography opposites attract. You can reveal a lot about a subject by the traces they leave behind. So don’t always photograph a person photograph things that belong to them in order to obtain a different dimension to their story.

    The Gaze

     One of the hardest things that you aim to do when photographing people, is to achieve a natural look because in order to do that you have to appear unobtrusive. This statement is one of the most accurate descriptions of my beliefs about photographing people that Carroll expresses: “ A smile is a mask that a person wears, you can see a lot more by breaking your subject out of their shell to see another side of them.” This means a lot to me because only when your subject gets comfortable with you do you start to notice what they are trying to tell you through their body language and their attire.

    Control

     There are many different techniques you can use in order to photograph a subject. You can make them feel a little bit uncomfortable for a different dynamic to a shot or you can give them something playful in order to expose their subconscious.

    Nobody is perfect so looking for flaws in a subject is what makes them unique and interesting. But always remember the only subject you have complete control over is yourself. This last statement has stuck with me and I am planning an exciting new self portraiture project that so far until I complete it, only one person other than me knows what I’m planning which makes it all the more intriguing.

    Black and white or colour

     I tend to shoot in colour and when I envision the shot as black and white I use a Silver Efex Pro filter taken from the Google Nik collection on my photoshop and typically choose the high structure black and white effect as it is usually images where I want to add depth to the background that I add these too.

    Conclusion

    To conclude in referring back to Carroll’s original question who are you and why do you want to take photographs of people? This post is my answer so yes I love taking photographs but why people in particular, you ask? I love the way that you can tell a lot about a person by the way that they express themselves and I want to capture that in my photography. Photographing people for me tells a story and every person has a different story to tell and I want to convey that message in the photographs that I take.

     

     

     

     

  • Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs by Henry Carroll

    I was given Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs as a Christmas present by my uncle and auntie who clearly know me very well as anyone that I’m related to or good friends with knows that one of my greatest passions is my photography.

    Although I read this book and made notes about it a little while ago I was unsure at that point what I was going to do with the information other than let it help me inform and shape my photographic style. It wasn’t until I decided that I was going to pursue photography and create a website that I had an epiphany that I could use what I learnt from this book as my inspiration for a topic.

    My favourite part of this book is the bold subheadings that give you a brief overview of the fundamental principles of photography and I thought there is no better way to summarise my thoughts on this book than use those subheadings, which I loved as the building blocks.

    Composition

    This is the most important thing when considering how to photograph because it is the cement that holds your image together and like a puzzle without a great composition it falls apart. There is one tip on composition that I think is a brilliant piece of advice, which is, always look for something that draws the viewer into an image. I know photographers who have this down to a tee, they not only put themselves into the image by showing you what they see but they also add a little quirk, which is quintessentially them. For example, a red umbrella or a stuffed animal. But the thing that draws a viewer into an image doesn’t always have to be a physical object you’ve added to it you can also use leading lines as a way of adding depth and highlighting a key element in the image that you want the viewer to see. Creating foreground interest offers the viewer a stepping-stone into your image and ultimately makes it more intriguing to the eye.

    The rule of thirds involves picturing your image as if it was mentally divided using two vertical and two horizontal lines and you then place the important parts of the image where the lines meet. This is designed to make the image more interesting and dramatic.

    However if what I have just described are the fundamental rules of composition if I’ve learnt anything from my photographing experiences then I believe the most important rule is to not be afraid to break the rules and have fun. Also never be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and photograph something that isn’t your usual style because the results might surprise you.

    Exposure

    The next aspect of photography that Carroll discuses in his book is Exposure. Exposure is about how you as a photographer create the image by using your camera as a tool, by using the exposure triangle (Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO). The exposure triangle is the cardinal rule for a decent exposure, if you have a planned shoot always set the shutter speed, aperture and ISO before you do anything else.

    The shutter speed controls the length of time it takes for light to enter your camera, aperture controls how much light enters your camera and ISO controls how sensitive your camera is to light.

    If you are holding the camera the shutter speed should be no less than 1/60 because if it’s lower than that you will struggle to hold the camera steady. The more you decrease the shutter speed the more of a motion blur effect it creates and the more you increase shutter speed the more likely you are to freeze movement. I suggest if you’re shooting a portrait and you want the subject in full focus you should use something in between 1/125 and 1/250 depending on how close you want to be to your subject.

    When you want the subject to be seen but the background out of focus set the Aperture as low as your camera can but if you want a wider depth of field set the aperture as high as you can so everything in the frame will be in focus.

    ISO is to do with how sensitive your camera is to light so the general idea is to set it as low as possible when your in a bright place or a studio and set it high in a dark place. Increasing ISO is essential for using fast shutter speeds in low light.

    Another useful tool for brightening and darkening your subject is exposure compensation. Boosting it draws out detail in the shadows and decreasing it creates awe-inspiring silhouettes.

     Light

    The only way to learn about light is to observe it constantly even if you don’t have your camera on you. Hard light creates contrasts by using shadows and highlights, which adds depth and definition to an image. According to Henry Carroll these are unforgiving and expose all, which makes the photograph more dramatic. Soft light is the opposite of hard light and is used mainly by portrait photographers to subtly draw out form and features.

    Lenses

    Lenses radically alter your relationship with your subject and the way you take pictures. There are two types of lenses, zoom and prime or fixed lenses. At the moment I only own two lenses the 18-55mm that came on the camera and a 55-200 mm telephoto zoom lens, which I now use pretty much all the time. According to Carroll Telephoto lenses transform you into a hidden observer-someone who is suddenly able to capture subjects unaware.

    I will be buying my third lens at the end of the month as I don’t know about you but every time I start a new job I like to reward myself with some kind of incentive and this time I know exactly what I’m buying. I know I’ve mentioned this lens before and I will mention it many times because I think it is absolutely fantastic and unusual. The lens I am buying is the Lomography Petzval 85mm Art Lens, which I first saw on Emily Soto’s (NY Fashion Photographer) Facebook page and I have had the pleasure of testing it out once. This is a manual focus lens, that comes in brass or black with a variety of filters that you put inside the lens to change the colour cast or shape of your image and it creates a vintage feel to your images.

    Seeing

    Read this if you want to take great photographs states that to take great pictures that stand out from the crowd, you need to stop looking and start seeing. This is extremely true I’ve learnt that I am an observer I’m not always looking for things sometimes I see things and have a light bulb moment, get my camera ready and take the shot and if I don’t have my camera on me I will try and find a way to create the image I want using my phone. If you see something while doing street photography capture it anyway even if your camera settings are haywire as if it’s the right moment chances are one shot is better than no shot.

    Another great piece of advice I gained from reading this book is ‘don’t feel like your photographs have to explain themselves. Hold a little back. Give the viewers imagination somewhere to go’.

    So all in all as you can tell you don’t just learn by taking the photographs, you learn by reading other peoples ideas on photography and I have definitely learnt a lot from and been inspired by Read This If You want to take great photographs by Henry Carroll. So if you’re a photographer or want to get into photography I suggest that you start by reading this book and gaining a deeper understanding of the rules and how to break them.