Please: Who do I improve?

[Brandon Hill]

Learn to master light, and not let light be your master.

hahah, i have no idea what that means but it's awesome.

 

[JAC526]

Learn to master light, and not let light be your master.

hahah, i have no idea what that means but it's awesome.

Its like "Wax on, wax off"

 

[Derrel]

The flag and the dock shots have a wonderful, luminous quality to them. The rest, not so much. The posing on the people is also not particularly sophisticated. I think amolitor and kathy both made good replies to you. I did not read any of the replies on page 2. I would say get some books and study the work that some publisher has decided is worthy of being written down in a book. The web is tricky for a beginner; so many people offer opinions about things they themselves are just learning that I think the www is a tricky place for the novice to find her way around.

 

[dinamaria]

You can shoot in direct sunlight without a speedlight. You just have to use something to diffuse the sunlight. Like a large translucent diffusion panel or a bedsheet or the like. Just put it inbetween your subject and the sun and you get an approximation of very bright open shade. It works.

Sheet..never thought of that. Everyone has one, super clever. Thanks!

 

[ManualMode]

hahah, i have no idea what that means but it's awesome.

Its like "Wax on, wax off"

Hey, if you're going to "wax off" - don't do it in here!

 

[DiskoJoe]

Thank you pixmedic and diskojoe for being rude. I did not watermark them for this site. They were because I posted them on facebook. I did not ask for arrogance but at least it keeps me on my toes.

Its all good. Just some friendly hazing. If you want real advice I would say go shoot more, like a LOT more. Watch your framing. Framing is key. Dont chop parts of heads.

And if you are going to call people out for being rude then be fair and call out the ladies as well.

 

[DiskoJoe]

So you decided to master the art of the watermark before the art of photography. I hear thats the best way to go

Best comment ever!

If I would have had more time I would have made one of the Willy Wonka meme's for it. Read it again and think of the Wonka meme and its even funnier.

 

[PhillipM]

hahah, i have no idea what that means but it's awesome.

Its like "Wax on, wax off"

LOL... nut'n to do with Wax I "think", but maybe I should consider that...

I shoot when I want too, or the customer needs to, regardless time of day. I hear so many folks suggest to newbs that they should only shoot late in the day.

I say Rubbish. to that. Did I struggle with lighting when I first started 12 years ago? Yep. Did I learn to master lighting? Yep. As quickly as I could, to keep from going insane...

Learn to move light, block light, add light, etc.... and free yourself of becoming a slave to the sun or the time of day to shoot.

The same thing that bugs me, is when I read, "Maybe you can fix it in PS", whether is color balance, exposure, etc... Damn! Get it right in the camera. Learn to meter. Learn color Mgmt.

My edits are 30 seconds TOPS. When I have folks spend a day at the studio, they want to see those 30 second edits. They don't usually believe me. If you get it right in camera, you can do just that.

It makes life so much easier..

 

[JAC526]

Its like "Wax on, wax off"

LOL... nut'n to do with Wax I "think", but maybe I should consider that...

I shoot when I want too, or the customer needs to, regardless time of day. I hear so many folks suggest to newbs that they should only shoot late in the day.

I say Rubbish. to that. Did I struggle with lighting when I first started 12 years ago? Yep. Did I learn to master lighting? Yep. As quickly as I could, to keep from going insane...

Learn to move light, block light, add light, etc.... and free yourself of becoming a slave to the sun or the time of day to shoot.

The same thing that bugs me, is when I read, "Maybe you can fix it in PS", whether is color balance, exposure, etc... Damn! Get it right in the camera. Learn to meter. Learn color Mgmt.

My edits are 30 seconds TOPS. When I have folks spend a day at the studio, they want to see those 30 second edits. They don't usually believe me. If you get it right in camera, you can do just that.

It makes life so much easier..

I totally agree with all of this. I hear a lot of people talk about shooting "natural light" only as well. I agree that if you have great natural light don't go messing it up. But if you have a job to do and the natural light isn't great your client doesn't give a **** about that. They still expect awesome results. Introducing light, shaping light etc. (all the things you are talking about) is so important when you have less than ideal conditions.

 

[jowensphoto]

LOL... nut'n to do with Wax I "think", but maybe I should consider that...

I shoot when I want too, or the customer needs to, regardless time of day. I hear so many folks suggest to newbs that they should only shoot late in the day.

I say Rubbish. to that. Did I struggle with lighting when I first started 12 years ago? Yep. Did I learn to master lighting? Yep. As quickly as I could, to keep from going insane...

Learn to move light, block light, add light, etc.... and free yourself of becoming a slave to the sun or the time of day to shoot.

The same thing that bugs me, is when I read, "Maybe you can fix it in PS", whether is color balance, exposure, etc... Damn! Get it right in the camera. Learn to meter. Learn color Mgmt.

My edits are 30 seconds TOPS. When I have folks spend a day at the studio, they want to see those 30 second edits. They don't usually believe me. If you get it right in camera, you can do just that.

It makes life so much easier..

I totally agree with all of this. I hear a lot of people talk about shooting "natural light" only as well. I agree that if you have great natural light don't go messing it up. But if you have a job to do and the natural light isn't great your client doesn't give a **** about that. They still expect awesome results. Introducing light, shaping light etc. (all the things you are talking about) is so important when you have less than ideal conditions.

I have accepted that I will need to take a hands-on workshop in order to master OCF. In the mean time, I've been working on mastering "natural light," meaning whatever I've got around me. There are ways to modify and diffuse the sunlight without additional flash. Take a look at the photo below. Taken around 2:00PM, very harsh lighting. The tall trees helped to soften the light, and was even able to retain some detail in the sky. Processed the RAW file, slight crop and a tiny exposure adjustment to compliment the haze already provided by the local conditions.
View attachment 27528

 

[JAC526]

I totally agree with all of this. I hear a lot of people talk about shooting "natural light" only as well. I agree that if you have great natural light don't go messing it up. But if you have a job to do and the natural light isn't great your client doesn't give a **** about that. They still expect awesome results. Introducing light, shaping light etc. (all the things you are talking about) is so important when you have less than ideal conditions.

I have accepted that I will need to take a hands-on workshop in order to master OCF. In the mean time, I've been working on mastering "natural light," meaning whatever I've got around me. There are ways to modify and diffuse the sunlight without additional flash. Take a look at the photo below. Taken around 2:00PM, very harsh lighting. The tall trees helped to soften the light, and was even able to retain some detail in the sky. Processed the RAW file, slight crop and a tiny exposure adjustment to compliment the haze already provided by the local conditions.
View attachment 27528

That's a nice shot given the conditions. I guess the other point to make is these conditions limit you to certain types of shots. For example, backlight them and add a reflector in front to fill their faces. That shot works in bright sunlight. However, you don't have much flexibilty.

I took this in the middle of the day on the beach in full sun:


untitled-7992 by JChick526, on Flickr

I used an umbrella high and camera left. The sun was camera right. Without that flash I don't think I could of gotten that shot (now I get to sit here and wait for someone to tell me I'm an idiot and tell me exactly how to do that shot without flash).

I feel like introducing light just opens up a ridiculous amount of possibilities in less than ideal conditions. I still have sooooo much to learn though. It is somewhat daunting.

 

[Dikkie]

Dont chop parts of heads.

I would

Cut heads or other body parts.

Like rule nr 2 or 3 in these examples:
10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

Probably depends on the taste of the photographer... But I like it when not all stuff is visible and you have to imagine how the rest of the body or head would look like.

 

[amolitor]

There's a series of portraits in a recent New Yorker that chops heads. All the photos are taken from quite low, as well.

It's very effective and powerfiul, for a couple of reasons, and since it's in the New Yorker, we can pretty much assume that it's in line with Current Thinking or whatever you'd like to call it.

 

[ManualMode]

I totally agree with all of this. I hear a lot of people talk about shooting "natural light" only as well. I agree that if you have great natural light don't go messing it up. But if you have a job to do and the natural light isn't great your client doesn't give a **** about that. They still expect awesome results. Introducing light, shaping light etc. (all the things you are talking about) is so important when you have less than ideal conditions.

I have accepted that I will need to take a hands-on workshop in order to master OCF. In the mean time, I've been working on mastering "natural light," meaning whatever I've got around me. There are ways to modify and diffuse the sunlight without additional flash. Take a look at the photo below. Taken around 2:00PM, very harsh lighting. The tall trees helped to soften the light, and was even able to retain some detail in the sky. Processed the RAW file, slight crop and a tiny exposure adjustment to compliment the haze already provided by the local conditions.
View attachment 27528

Don't hate, but I am not a fan of the lighting in this shot at all.. the subjects are lovely though

 

[jowensphoto]

Jac- you're absolutely right, OCF (as I'm currently learning) really does open up a lot of new possibilities.

Manual- I'd love to hear your thoughts on the photo, but as not to hijack the OPs thread, perhaps in PM?