I have been increasingly interested in making movies in addition to still photography. Imagine my delighted surprise to find an announcement this morning in my inbox about B & H’s new Educational Series For Cinema. This series will guide the user through the movie making process utilizing Canon HDSLRs and  Nikon HDSLRs.

If you want to start preparing in advance, they’ve broken it all down into the pieces-parts you’ll need to make it all happen. So start building your HDSLR solutions and let the movie making begin. I look forward to seeing you all at Sundance next year! Wait. Let me rephrase that and act like I’m from AD-lanna (Atlanta). I look forward to seeing y’all at Sundance next year.

Check out the series introductory video below:

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2011. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

Canon just keeps improving their PowerShot line of digital point and shoot cameras. I really like this line of cameras and am currently working on using up my second one in this series, the Canon PowerShot A590. The latest edition to this fun line of cameras is the Canon SuperShot G12. I haven’t gotten mine yet, but it seems there’s a lot to love about this baby.

RAW and JPEG

This is THE new feature I am most excited about. A point and shoot is for….pointing and shooting. There’s no lens changing, no shutter speed or aperture selecting etc. Actually, in full manual you CAN control exposure, but who wants to go manual on a point and shoot? If I want to go to all that trouble, I’ll bring my Nikon D700 with me. Sometimes I just want to have fun and do it quickly, easily and with minimal thinking. However, it would also be nice to be able to shoot in a less ‘contrasty’ format than JPEG.

Here are the specs:

• 10MP CCD IMage Sensor
• DIGIC 4 Image Processor
• 1280 x 720p HD Video Capture
• 2.8″ Vari-Angled LCD
• JPEG and RAW File Image Capture
• SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/MMC+/HCMMC+ Card Slot
• 28mm Lens with 5x Optical Zoom Hybrid IS
• Stereo Sound for Video
• Manual Exposure Control

If you get one let me know how you like it.

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2011. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

B & H is currently offering a really sweet deal. If you’ve been fence sitting about ordering a new camera AND Lightroom 3, now’s the time to do it. If you order ANY camera over $300 you automatically get $100 off Lightroom 3.

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2011. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

OFFER ENDS 1/8/2011 – TWO MORE DAYS FOR SPECIAL SHIPPING OFFER!

If you haven’t already finished your Christmas shopping, B & H is running some really sweet deals from now through early January. Like this Canon PowerShot A495 Digital Camera.

Its no secret I love Canon’s PowerShot line of point and shoot digital cameras. I’ve owned two and really love both of them. These little jewels have fantastic wide angle lenses, which is the way I almost always shoot with them. I am personally unimpressed with the so called zoom lenses on MOST point and shoots. But who cares about zooming when you can get wide angle shots like these:

I shot all the images in the post Down by the Sea Shore with my Canon PowerShot A590. Have I mentioned a few years back I sold three images to a soup company for packaging that I shot on the A590′s predecessor? Here’s one of them:

These are seriously sweet little cameras that are light weight, durable and easy fun to use. If you remain unconvinced about the beauty and benefits of wide angle, then you need to read Wide Angle Lenses Are For Portraits Too.

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

I’ve just gotten the heads up from Adorama that Canon is offering INSTANT rebates on certain lenses beginning March 7, 2010 through April 3, 2010. In some cases you can even DOUBLE the rebate if the lens is purchased with a Canon 5D Mark II camera body.

Here’s the list:

Canon EF 200mm f/2 L IS USM Image Stablizer Auto Focus Telephoto Lens

$500 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS -5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 200mm f/2 L IS USM Image Stabilizer Auto Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & EF 200mm f/2L IS USM Image Stabilizer Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Auto Focus Telephoto

$130 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Auto Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Ultra-Fast Standard Auto Focus Lens

$100 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Ultra-Fast Standard Auto Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Ultra-Fast Standard Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

$100 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt and Shift Manual Focus Lens

$80 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt and Shift Manual Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 Image Stabilized Lens & Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt and Shift Manual Focus Lens

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Auto Focus Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens with Case & Hood

$80 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM AutoFocus Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro Auto Focus Lens

$65 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro Auto Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Auto Focus Wide Angle Lens

$45 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Auto Focus Wide Angle Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 SF (Soft Focus) Auto Focus Telephoto Lens

$35 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 SF Auto Focus Telephoto Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 SF (Soft Focus) Auto Focus Lens

Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM Medium Telephoto Auto Focus Lens

$30 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM Medium Telephoto Auto Focus Lens

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & EF 100mm f/2 USM Medium Telephoto Auto Focus Lens

Canon Also Offers Same Rebate Deal for Two Speedlites

Canon Speedlite 580EX II, Shoe Mount Flash with Guide Number of 190 Feet / 58m at ISO 100

$25 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this flash with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash with Guide Number 141 Feet/ 43m at ISO 100

$15 REBATE

You can double the rebate on this flash with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash

Canon EOS-5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera with EF 24-105 L Image Stabilized Lens & Canon Speedlite 430EX II

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2010. All rights reserved.| Permalink |

Occasionally in my web surfing I come across things that strike me as quite clever.  One such example is a homemade beauty dish I stumbled upon on lifehacker.com.  Well, actually the lifehacker page was really the entry to a rabbit hole I eventually went down, that lead to  David Tejada’s blog for commercial photographers, where he references Tyler Burk‘s instructions for this clever little item on Flickr.  Such is life in cyberspace.

Okay, so why do you want to know how to make a homemade beauty dish anyway?  Because they can turn your camera’s dedicated flash unit into a stunningly fantastic piece of advanced lighting equipment. And because you can make this version for approximately $15-$20, vs $175-$365 for one like this Dynalite Model.

If you’re still not convinced, check out the two images in this post by Evan Romine, both lit with a beauty dish.  Good stuff, no?

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low Key Lighting – Tutorial

Studio Lighting for Headshots – Tutorial

How to Set Up a Photo Booth in Your Home

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

Photographing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2009. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 4 comments

I know I’ve said this a few thousand times, but it really IS true I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was nine years old.  I celebrated my 50th birthday last May (yeah I know, hard to believe huh?) So, I’ve had a few years to rack up some doozies.

Here are some of my favorites.

1. EMBARRASSMENT COMES EARLY

My very first moment of embarrassment came right along with my first camera, which was a gift from my parents on my 9th birthday. It was a Brownie box camera, which you had to open up completely to load with roll film. We’re talking way old school here. In my excitement, I ran next door to share with our neighbors, a married couple with no children of their own at the moment. The husband, who had befriended me, marveled over it, ooh’ing and aah’ing. With a wicked gleam in his eye, he said, “betcha there’s no film in that camera.”  And I’m all “uh huh, there is too film in my camera” and he’s all “nah, couldn’t be” and I’m all “well just look then!”   Quick as a wink, before you could say ‘bad idea’, I ripped open the camera, exposing the film. Of course, I didn’t understand that at the time. I just knew he GASPED, looked SHOCKED, then burst out laughing. I did what any reasonable 9 year old would do and ran home crying. I was mortally embarrassed and vowed to never leave the house again. I still see him almost every time I go home for a visit, and he has NEVER let me live that one down.

2. OOPS, MY BAD

Early on in my photography career, I had a brand new portrait customer in with her two children for a shoot. So, I’m all wedged between my tripod and the back wall (where I was ALWAYS wishing I could back up 3 giant steps), just shooting away. Oh yeah. It was good. It was happening. Great stuff going on and I’m getting it all down on film. I was just shooting away. Shooting……and shooting……..and still shooting…..and gosh this is a really long roll of film and ….WHY AM I STILL SHOOTING?????? Why haven’t I had to change the roll of film????? WHY? BECAUSE THERE WAS NO FILM IN THE CAMERA!!! Oh yes. I had been shooting for almost 20 minutes with absolutely no film in the camera. When I realized this, I audibly gasped. Mom looked up.

Her: “What’s wrong?”
Me: “I don’t want to tell you.”

My mind was racing. Here she was, thinking we were winding down and the session was almost finished. Good thing too, as her son was nearing his personal meltdown point. Yet, not one single picture had been taken. I had no idea how she would react. I took a deep breath.

Me: “I know I’m supposed to be the professional here, but there’s no film in the camera. We have to keep shooting.”

She looked at me for a nanosecond…..then threw her head back and GUFFAWED. Literally laughed until tears were streaming down her face.

Conclusion? I loaded the camera, we kept shooting and I actually got even BETTER images, because her children had relaxed by that point and it got REAL. She became a repeat customer for many years after that, adding baby number 3 and occasionally hubby into the mix.

3.  OPEN BOX, INSERT FOOT

And then there was the time I fogged an entire box of unexposed photographic paper. Yep, all 100 sheets. How, and why was it embarrassing? Because it was at my local rental darkroom in the middle of the mad dash to the Christmas deadline aka The Christmas Crazies, when I, like many of my fellow photographers, was chained to my enlarger. I had some sort of brain fart either coming or going to the feeding room with a light tight paper safe.

The facility manager was trying to figure out when everyone would be finished feeding prints, so he would know when he could start shutting equipment down for the night. I had already been there for 8 hours and was exhausted. Without thinking, I said  “well let me see how many prints I have left to feed.” And I opened my paper safe. In the light. The manager, a personal friend btw, merely cocked at eyebrow at me, while I stood there twitching like Daffy Duck in a bad cartoon skit. Trust me, he had seen it ALL. I, however, was mortified. So were my darkroom buddies. No one said a word. Not one.

4.  CAN I GET A WARM TOWEL WITH THAT, PLEASE?

My ‘dream’ studio was housed on the ground floor of my home. I went to the gym every morning and usually scheduled my first shoot of the day at 10:00 am. This gave me time to rush home, shower, dress and head downstairs. The studio itself was always in a state of readiness for the day’s shoots.

Piece of cake if everything went according to plan. Until the morning a family of five showed up 20 minutes early and I was still in the shower. I kid you not. The doorbell actually had the audacity to ring and I had a decision to make. What to do???

Well, I greeted them at the door, in my robe with a towel wrapped around my head. Dad looked a bit uncomfortable. I invited them in, tried to act far more glib about it than I felt, gave them some reading material and went back upstairs. I returned 15 minutes later, slightly more presentable. They did not become repeat customers. Was it something I said?

5.  ANATOMY 101

One of my favorite ‘poses’ for infants who can sit alone, but not yet crawl, is the ‘Shoot the Moon’ pose. Basically, you place a naked baby on your backdrop, facing away from the camera. Then you have mom call their name and they usually look back over their shoulders at her, often with a little index finger raised. It’s so cute. You get gorgeous eyes, curious looks and sweet little baby ‘cheeks’.

Worked like a charm, until I had a customer with a little boy who had clearly never sat around much naked. He ‘discovered’ his, um ‘little friend’. Oh my goodness. He tugged on it, pulled on it, bent double staring at it and would not leave it alone. Would not. He was EARNEST. And mom was sooooooo embarrassed. We kept trying to distract him with other props and toys, but nothing was nearly so interesting as stubby. Mom was crimson. She kept saying “Oh my goodness. Oh my. Oh dear. Oh he’s just never done that before.”  And I kept trying to reassure her it was ‘normal’ and nothing to be embarrassed by, while secretly feeling like an inappropriate voyeur. But the little guy just wouldn’t let up and ultimately, even I had to concede defeat. We dressed him. He was not happy. They didn’t become repeat customers either.

6.  FEEL THE LOVE

When you work with families as much as I have, you begin to develop a sixth sense about a lot of things. You can feel when something interesting is about to happen and you develop your instincts and hone your reflexes on the shutter.

You also learn to read family dynamics and anticipate trouble. Usually.

I was photographing a set of three siblings, two boys (ages 3 and 4) and a girl, aged 6. The boys were wild. Screaming, jumping and creating utter chaos. The girl was a bit rough and tumble, but basically a good kid, sitting on her mark waiting for her two young brothers to be wrestled into submission by Dad. We were twenty minutes into an unbelievably difficult shoot and Dad was starting to lose it. His patience was frayed like an old rope.

I can usually tell when things are about to ‘pop’ in a family and will do or say something to distract and diffuse. Not this time. The little girl starting trying to ‘help’ Dad, who blew a gasket so fast it was unbelieveable. He whipped his head around, yelled “YOU’RE OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER!!!!!” And started spanking her on the legs.

I was embarrassed for EVERYONE. First of all, it was o.v.e.r.  I sat there with all these emotions rolling around inside me, wanting to say  ”Hey Dad, do you really think I’m gonna get good pics of your kids now????” His daughter was crying and so very embarrassed to be spanked in front of me. Her little face was red and swollen and snot was flying. For good measure, the boys started wailing because…well, just because. Mom looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. Dad had that ‘deer caught in the headlights of a car’ look in his eyes. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

I just sat down and sighed audibly. I said I thought it might be best if we concluded the session. I didn’t charge them a sitting fee and I never saw them again. I still cringe every time I think of them.

7.  WHEN IN DOUBT, DROP KICK IT

After several successful years in business, I was finally able to afford to step up to a medium format camera. I purchased two Bronica bodies, and all the accessories and gear to complete them.

I had several NFL players and their families on my list of customers. I was in the middle of a session with one such family, with the action moving fast and furious. I was photographing mom, dad and their two very young, active children. My studio was completely set up to deal with this type of situation, with the lights suspended on an overhead track system, I used a radio release so I wasn’t tethered to sync cords and my tripod was mounted on a dolly with wheels, so I could zoom up and down. I went to flip my camera from horizontal to vertical as fast as possible so as not to miss any of the action. I must have forgotten to lock my camera to the tripod head. My beautiful Bronica went crashing to the CONCRETE floor, where it broke into all its separate pieces-parts. I was looking at a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment scattered all over the floor. Defensive lineman Dad’s eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open. My heart sank, right before it stopped completely. But of course, I couldn’t let this show, because uncomfortable customers don’t make good photographs. So I came back to life and simply said “Don’t worry, I have another one,” and my assistant grabbed the extra body from the workroom and we continued shooting, like nothing had happened.

After they left, I cried. I took it to a camera repair shop to see what the extent of the damage was. Surprisingly, other than a few dings, the camera was still functional. I used it without incident for several more years. The lens survived too. Without a scratch. The film back, on the other hand, never did close right again and would sometimes fly off the camera unexpectedly.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low Key Lighting – Tutorial

Studio Lighting for Headshots – Tutorial

How to Set Up a Photo Booth in Your Home

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

Photographing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2008. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 4 comments

I love shooting with wide-angle lenses. Why? Because they’re fun, funky and slightly out of kilter. Sort of like some of my favorite people! But seriously, the word on the street used to be NO WIDE ANGLE LENSES FOR PEOPLE SHOOTING.

But WHY?

Michał Grajkowski

Because of their inherent tendency to distort things.  People were afraid it wouldn’t be a pretty picture.

Steve Rideout

So what’s wrong with a little distortion?  Nothing, if you use it judiciously.  People (read adults with any sense of vanity whatsoever) fear being made to look strange and goofy (read fat).  It is true that capricious use of wide-angle lenses can render subjects looking downright strange.  And it is also absolutely true that whatever sticks out most, can be made to look bigger.  If that something happens to be a stomach….well, there ya are.

Ward

However, that need not be the case.   I LOVE all three of the images above because all of these photographers have totally ROCKED ultra wide angle for all she’s worth.   However, that said, I realize not everyone is as hardcore as I am.   So gentle reader, I will show you how to moderately rock it wide.

The first thing to understand is this; the further away from the subject and the more perpendicular to the horizon the ‘film’ plane is, the less distortion.   It is when we move in close and tilt the film plane off axis that distortion creeps  nay, BOUNDS in.   And that, my friends, is where the fun is.   Allow me to demonstrate.

This image was taken with a moderately wide (Nikon 20mm f/2.8) angle lens.   Notice there is very little distortion, because I am several feet away from the subject and I am shooting from a ‘straight on’ perspective, neither tilting the camera up or down.

In this next shot of the same girl, I have stepped in much closer to the subject and am now shooting slightly down at her.Notice how the steering wheel and arm closest to the camera loom large?However, because this is neither an extreme wide angle (14mm or wider) nor am I shooting from an extreme angle, the subject is not grotesquely distorted.  Instead, we have created a feeling of childlike wonder and audaciousness, while also emphasizing the size and scale difference of the steering wheel in proportion to the child.

A moderately wide-angle lens is great for conveying a sense of movement, as well.  The key is to work ‘with’ the lens, not against it.  In this image, I waited until the boy swung towards the camera to click.  Because I was shooting from a low angle, I knew the center of the image would ‘bow’ outwards, and therefore emphasize the swinging motion.

Wide-angle lenses are fantastic for exaggerating size and proportion.  In this image, the girl appears to be much higher off the ground than she actually is.

You need not have an ultra wide lens to achieve a bit of whimsy in your imagery.  These shots were all taken with a 20mm prime lens on a Nikon D70, which has a DX sensor, thus effectively rendering that lens into a 35mm.

I just love FEET!

Remember, the closer you are to the subject, the more obvious any distortion will be.  Whatever body part is closest to the camera will appear bigger.

Creating a sense of depth in images you wish to ‘tell a story’ with is easy to do with a moderately wide lens.  Wedding photographers often use this technique.  This photo taken by Jennifer Esperanza illustrates my point beautifully.

Jennifer Esperanza

The ‘actual’ photographer of this image is shooting from a high perspective with regard to the subject in the foreground and is able to get all of the scene in.   We get a real sense of the setting in this image and it is a great visual story.   Notice how the door, which is near the center of the image, appears to slightly ‘bow’ outwards.   That is EXACTLY what I love about wide angle lenses, that fractured ‘Alice through the looking glass’ feel.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

Depth of Field – Photography Tutorial

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

Phototgraphing Babies, Birth to One Year – Tips and Techniques

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2008. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 11 comments

This tutorial is for those of you who would like to go a step further in polishing your photography skills.

In this tutorial, I will give you a list of all the items you will need to set up a small, functional photo booth in your home.  What is a photo booth?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Behold the photo booth:

As you can see, it is nothing more than a background stand and seamless paper.  That, and a few more pieces of equipment, which I will outline below.  I have also provided links so you can see the items I am discussing.  You will be able to set this up in any extra room in your home, then take it down and store it when you’re finished.  This equipment is also highly portable, so you can set it up on location as well.  There is, of course, an upfront cost to getting the equipment, but everything other than the paper is a one time cost.

List of essential components:

1 Camera
1 Light
1 Slave (optional)
1 Stand for light
1 Reflector (optional)
1 background stand
1 roll 5 ft background paper
1 soft box or shoot through umbrella

The Camera—You don’t need an ultra advanced camera.  In fact, you could even do this with a really good point and shoot with a zoom/telephoto lens and a built in flash.

The Light—This could be the dedicated flash for your camera, a non-dedicated flash unit or a strobe.

• If you use your camera’s dedicated flash unit, read your user guide for instructions on how to fire it off camera.

• If you use a non-dedicated flash, such as the Vivitar 285, you will need an external slave.

• If you use a strobe, you can either trigger it with your on-camera flash or the sync cord that should come with the unit.  If you have a prosumer DSLR without a sync port, you will need a hot shoe adapter.

I have been using Paul C. Buff’s White Lighting line in my studio for literally decades.  I can’t say enough good things about this product line.  FYI–I do not get a single cent from them.  I just happen to be a very happy Paul C. Buff customer and know firsthand how well-made their products are and how top-notch their customer service is.  I recently had an opportunity to use their Alien Bees B800 units during a private consulting session, and was just FLOORED by the power output from these EXTREMELY economical units.  These fantastic units cost no more than a Nikon or Canon dedicated flash unit.  One of my major purposes, aside from teaching and mentoring, is to provide real value to my readers.  Paul C. Buff is REAL value.

The Stand—Although you don’t have to have an extremely sturdy stand, I advise buying the best you can possibly afford.  Like a Chinese chef once told me years ago, you can cook small in a big wok, but you can’t cook big in a small wok.  In other words, a sturdy stand can hold a small light head, but a lightweight stand cannot hold a big light head.  I personally prefer Bogen, but Photoflex is a very good and economical choice as well.

The Reflector—The reflector is optional.  They are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to the price of most flash units and strobes, yet they can act very effectively as another ‘light’.  Of course, having a stand and arm to support them is very helpful, but once again, this is all optional.

The Background Stand—Same advice as for the light stand.  Get the best background stand you can afford.  It’s a one time purchase and you can take it with you.  Plan on needing it for the bigger rolls of paper, but you can use it for the smaller rolls in the interim.

The Background Paper—This comes in several different widths.  For the purposes of this tutorial I am referring to either the 5 ft or the 9 ft width.  The 5 ft is useful for table top, babies and non-hyper children.  You can get a gazillion different colors, so if you’re fickle, background paper is the place to ‘pig out’.  You just trim it and roll a little more down as needed. It can last quite a long time, and depending on the angle at which you’re shooting, dirt and grime won’t necessarily show.  Much.

The Soft Box or Umbrella—Once again, there are many different manufacturers of these products.  I’ve owned many of each. Photoflex is the economical choice and they make very nice light modifiers.  I also own two medium sized Chimera soft boxes.  They are PRICEY, but oh so nice, because they are shallow and take up that much less space.  But the truth is, I’ve used Photoflex for years with great results.

As I’ve already mentioned, my personal preference is a soft box for this application.  They give more directional lighting with more contrast, which makes for a sharper, crisper image.  However, if you don’t like soft boxes or already own an umbrella that can be converted to a shoot-through, then by all means, use it.  You’ll just have to keep a closer eye for lens flare and light spread.  I would also stick with a small to medium sized umbrella.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your light source is a dedicated or non-dedicated camera flash unit, you will want to make sure you purchase a soft box designed to fit this type of light.

And there you have it.  Your very own photo booth.  Now get shootin’ people!

For more information on positioning you lights or reflectors, see my high key and low key tutorials. Here is another post full of tips and techniques about what to do with those babies once you’ve got them on that background paper.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

High Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Low Key Studio Lighting – Tutorial

Photographing Young Children With Low Key Lighting

Using Bold Color in Portraiture – Tips and Techniques

How to Photograph Large Groups in the Studio

Make a Beauty Dish for Studio Lighting

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2008. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 2 comments

In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, the depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on either side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions. –Wikipedia

Huh? Well, the easiest way to say this is, depth of field determines, in any given photograph, what is sharply focused and what isn’t.  How do you set depth of field?  With your choice of f/stops.  What is an f/stop?  It is how big or small your aperture opening is.  What is an aperture?  Inside each lens is a shutter, shaped like a wheel composed of individual, curved, overlapping blades.  These blades can open wide or close tight, and that, in a nutshell, is an aperture.  The larger the f/stop number, the smaller the aperture opening, and vice versa.  F/1.4 is a very big opening in your aperture, and creates very shallow DOF.  F/16 is a tiny opening in your aperture and creates great DOF.  See image:

So why do f/stops, apertures and depth of field matter?  Because they will affect how your photographs look.  They will determine what the FOCUS of your images is.  How powerful is that?  Let me illustrate.  The three photographs below were all taken within seconds of each other, using the same camera (Nikon D70),  the same lens (Nikon 50mm f/1.4-16), and the same point of focus (the rose.)

The first image was taken at f/16, which is the smallest aperture for this particular lens.  Notice how much of the background is in focus.  The rose was my point of focus, but it is overwhelmed by background clutter and just one more element in a busy image, with lots of different elements competing for your attention.

The second image was taken at f/5.6, which is effectively the ‘middle’ of the focal range for this particular lens.  Notice the background has become slightly more blurred and less focused, thus making the rose stand out a bit more.  However, there is still a lot of competition for your attention.

The third image was taken at f/1.4, which is wide open for this particular lens.  Notice the absolute focus of the image is now on the rose, while all else falls out of focus.  Your eye is forced to focus on the rose and nothing but the rose.  A powerful point of focus has been created.

Shooting with a wide open aperture, i.e., shallow depth of field, is a very effective way to photograph people, even in the midst of cluttered, busy backgrounds.  Below is another photograph shot last summer in the same alley the rose grows in.  In this one, the focus in on the boy’s right eye, yet the depth of field is so shallow his left eye is slightly out of focus.

Shooting ‘wide open’ does have its challenges.  With a fast moving target, such as a child at play, it is easy to come up with totally out-of-focus photographs.  However, with practice, you can learn to anticipate the direction the action is going and you can improve your reflexes.  Remember, if the subject’s eyes are in focus, all the rest can be a blur and all is well.  So aim for the eyes, or at least one of them.

One of my very favorite lenses, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D Auto Focus AF Nikkor Lens, is also surprisingly inexpensive.

If you would like to read more, check out these articles:

Outdoor Portraiture – Photographing Families in Natural Light

Outdoor Portraiture – Overcoming Challenges

© Deborah Wolfe for Studio on a Shoestring, 2008. All rights reserved.| Permalink | 2 comments