A Story of A Photographer Leaving Her Comfort Zone

It was the first time she had done anything like this.

After all, fear of the unknown took her outside her comfort zone. Treading on new territory, pushing the boundaries of her photography, and allowing herself to be stretched would take all the courage she could muster. In her mind, there were a good many others more qualified. In the end, none of that mattered, she would do it anyway.

Tasra Dawson** climbed onto the bus with 33 other photographers. They had met for the Pictage PartnerCon (a photography conference) in New Orleans, taking 4 days to network, learn, and be inspired by massively successful pros in the industry. Tasra herself had spoken, and helped write and produce a film series for the event along with her husband Ron, but the experience she was about to walk into was less familiar and more daunting than standing on that stage before hundreds of people:

Shooting street images of strangers… with their permission.

She would meet her goal while out on a photo walk. It was the first she had ever done. It was to be a time when photographers pile onto a bus, travel across the city, and take pictures of various things, places, and people.

The fact that this photo walk was in New Orleans was surreal for her. When Hurricane Hurricain Katrina had hit in 2006, her parents had been on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Being in a place that had been touched by the same destruction near to her parents, made her feel as though she was experiencing family history. She was seeing it all with her own eyes. She would be documenting it with her own eyes too.

Tasra breathed. She had her camera. She had her gear. She had comrades. Together, they could embark on this adventure, and she was excited about what might come her way. The sense of adventure motivated her. She was a capable and successful photographer. The confidence she always instilled in her students and blog readers would have to be placed in herself.

The tour would cover the lower 9th ward – one of the places hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. The first stop was Flood Street. She had ten minutes. She got off the bus, and didn’t allow herself any thought but one: Take pictures and go wherever it may lead.

She began to shoot. After a few shots, she turned and began taking pictures of what looked like a building just after destruction had passed – not years later. As she photographed, she noticed a man coming toward her. Her heart began to race wondering if he’d tell her to stop or get mad. She looked around for support but found herself alone.

This is it.

She took her courage and started a conversation. “Were you here during Katrina?” She asked him and received a nod in response. “Do you live around here?” His response “Not around here. I live here,” and he motioned to the building she had been photographing. He was there during the rising of the waters. He was there, in the top story of his house, when the water was up to his waist. He just couldn’t bring himself to leave, even in the face of danger; he had to stay.

For Tasra, the moment of truth came at that moment: “Would you mind if I took your picture in front of the house?”

To her relief, he said yes. After a few shots, the man asked if she wanted to go inside – inside his house. Her heart jumped. She was amazed. Amazed that the moment was not nearly as intimidating as she thought. She wondered if there were other moments and opportunities she missed because of her lack of confidence. She knew there were.

She walked into the house with a few other photographers. The first image she saw was the broken roof on the right side of the house. The light was streaming through the vacant opening, creating a beautiful shaft of light. As she took pictures, she asked about the different rooms, and the man shared. She could hardy believe how much she was able to document such a precious story of a man who would have rather died than leave his home. His courage was inspiring.

And she was able to experience this simply because she stepped out of her comfort zone.

The time passed quickly. After 15 minutes, she heard the bus honking for the return. She didn’t want to leave. The time had been unreal. As she walked back through to exit, the man passed through the light shaft – first image she had seen upon arrival. A quick snap captured one of her most precious images; not because of the rising smoke in the light, and the intense contrast of the textures, but because encapsulated in this one image was the entire story of a courageous man.

Tasra walked away with a new sense of confidence. She could be the photographer she had always wanted to be, but never thought she was. A photographer who captured beauty in stories and experiences that other people may not have. As she got back on the bus, she was content. They had only finished their first stop but she felt as though she had her story – the one she came for.

The lesson ushered in a new level for Tasra. She realized that situations may require certain risk, but sometimes the risk is not the end. There are rewards for stepping outside ones comfort zone. And often, those rewards are priceless.

** Tasra Dawson is a nationally acclaimed Senior Portrait photographer from Georgia. Tasra is involved with her husband Ron as a Creative team member for DareDreamer Media, and spends full time work as a photographer, blogger, and artist. Tasra takes part in “Pro: You”, a series of lessons learned on the road of professional photography. Her daily work can be found online at: www.TasraMar.com and www.TeenIdentity.com.

DPS thanks Tasra for the time she invested interviewing for this story.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

A Story of A Photographer Leaving Her Comfort Zone

Two Sides to Every Story: Behind the Scenes of a Photo Shoot

– Darren

TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY.

Dissecting the photo shoot “No Originality”.

Rodrigo Rey del Castillo, Producer.

THE PROJECT.

“NO ORIGINALITY” is a project that Crudo Visual ( www.crudovisual.com) did in collaboration with local photographer Alejandro Renteria and fashion designer Azucar. For this particular project we wanted to do something different, more than just showing Azucar’s new collection, we wanted to tell a story. A story that would resemble this new collection, different, colorful, somewhat elegant yet, casual for everyday use.

THE SETUP.

For this particular piece, we used actors instead of models, because we wanted to really be able to express emotions and develop character. The locations we selected were on the outskirts of the city of Miami; we wanted dust, long dirt roads, we wanted to stay away from beautiful skylines, amazing beaches, crazy nightlife and show a different side of Miami. Once again, this project needed to be different from what people are used to seeing when it comes to fashion photography.

THE SHOOT.

One of my main concerns was the safety of the photographer and assistants while doing the driving shots. These shots of the three individuals riding the blue Land Rover, were shot from another moving vehicle in front of it. The lead vehicle was rigged with lights, safety harnesses for the photographer and assistant, and radio communication between both vehicles for cues. In these kinds of setups, safety meetings are required. It only takes minutes, but helps keep everyone safe and injury free.

One important factor that we had to keep in mind was the sun’s position, making sure we got the sun light we needed on every location. We scheduled four setups on the three different locations. Even though some lighting was used, we utilized all the natural light we could.

Alejandro Renteria, photographer.
“The concept behind No Originality began as just an artistic expression of my amusement and acknowledgment of life’s inescapable cliches: machismo, religion, greed, heroism, and love. No matter what it is, it’s all been done before. However, when asked to really inspect the inspiration of it all, I had subconsciously pulled experiences from my own life to come up with the piece. It is only in retrospect that I am able to draw the comparison. Basically, you’ve got a guy who’s trying to find his way in life, and the one thing he knows for sure is that time is running out. Along his journey, he meets a woman who is off limits, and he goes for it in anyway. The situation gets worst, and he finds himself trying to find himself again. So he turns to religion for guidance. Once again, he realizes this is not what he truly wants for himself. He continues on once more and finally finds the hottest mamacita in all the land…. and she needs him. So just like in fairy tales ,they live happily ever after.– no originality!”

I’m always trying to convey a story in each of my photographs, and that was the main focus of this project. My photography background comes from studio work; so, when first approached for this project I sat down and wrote a script with detailed frames so I could recreate them later on set. I knew I was not going to have the same control I am used to in the studio environment. Preparation was the key point to make “No originality” a one day shoot. We had four scenes/setups: “The Walk,” “The Ride,” “The Rooster,” and “The Girl.” Each having subtle different color schemes, allowing them to have unique feelings as well as helping separate each chapter. Being shot in different locations and forcing us to work with consistently moving sun light. For “the Girl” section being almost nonexistent, having to use very low shutter speed and a lot of flash power with CTO to make that golden/orange feeling.

Nikon D300 with Sigma lenses?
Hasselblad 501 with Carl Zeiss

The project was a success and the first one of many collaborations with fashion designer Azucar.

Crudo Visual – www.crudovisual.com.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Two Sides to Every Story: Behind the Scenes of a Photo Shoot

An Interview with Set Designer Raffy Tesoro

In this post Dustin Carbonera interviews Set Designer Raffy Tesoro. Raffy has answered a number of questions as well as walking us through some of the shots he’s been involved with creating sets for.

Everybody seems to be into photography nowadays. Everyone wants to be the person behind the lens and capture a beautiful frame. Everyone wants to be that person who’ll be praised by people because he was able to come up with a perfect shot, of course, with the help of the oh-so-powerful Photoshop.

Sadly, it seems that the name of the game today (for some) is not really how well you do in Photoshop, not how well you know how to get a good shot. For example, we need a surreal set for a model. We shoot a model and render a nice background. Less hassle, and faster processing, and viola! A nice photograph.

Then comes Raffy Tesoro– a man who I can say is the Creator…of set designs. He is a man in between worlds; a man who knows and loves to build his set by hand, but does not fail to see the ease of using a 3D world. I had a wonderful chance of interviewing him online and learned so much about a world not ventured by most.

As note, I did not edit his answers as they were perfect as they are, at least we get a grasp of Raffy Tesoro on a more personal approach.

1. How did you start in this industry? Why did you choose this path?

I guess I was just born into it.  My parents are both artists.  My mom is a fashion designer and my dad is a lawyer by trade but an actor & theatre denizen by heart.  So I was learning how to bead and embroider when I was a kid and just kept moving on from there.  As for production design specifically, I got into it because my friend Jay Tablante sort of egged me on into it.  I started by making one set because I was bored and he thought I should just do it regularly.  I think I was too stupid at the time to say no… and here we are.  All in all I think that the path chose me more than I chose it.

Art Endures – I made this shot in November 2008 with Jay Tablante.  I wanted to show how beauty and art can and will survive the test of time.  My reference was how archeologists dig up bones and pieces of the past.  Clues to our history through art… which basically is the only thing that does survive.  Well in this case… what if they uncovered a beauty untouched by time?  To give it a sense of realism… I buried the model in 200 kilos of sand, flour and cornstarch.  Then the rest was posted in.

• Photography:  Jay Tablante 
• Hair & Makeup:  Lanie Acedilio for Paul & Joe 
• FA:  Genald Tungol for Whitewall Industries 
• Model:  Nadine Howell

2. Humble beginnings, a little history of who you are. Perhaps background on how were you as a kid?

Growing up was different for me.  When most kids were out playing, I was helping my mom make clothes.  At 12 or 13 I decided to try doing events and shows full time so I asked my mom’s director, Ogee Atos, if I could apprentice.  I was basically juggling school, fashion shows, pageants, design and a whole gamut of things.  Somewhere in between I was a bouncer, a dyer, a t-shirt maker, a talent agent, a bum, a secretary… whatever..  It seems like a lot of rubbish at the time and I was definitely finding my way through life but I wouldn’t change it for anything.  All these experiences help me with my work, my passion and my outlook in like.

Rogue – This was for Jay’s exhibit.  He wanted to make something interesting so I suggested doing a comic book character.  Together with Gelo Lico, we came up with this concept.  It was kinda fun!  I had to make that pillar and break it up so it would look more realistic.  Gelo came up with the layout and I figured out the storyline and look. 

• Photography:  Jay Tablante 
• FA/AD:  Gelo Lico 
• Model:  Rhian Howell

3. Raffy Tesoro is synonymous to…?

Strange.  That’s about it really…. ask my friends.  I never get anything normal in this life.

Rock & Roll – Nadine wanted a kinda rock & roll concept for herself.  So I took inspiration from the old Rolling Stone mag covers and came up with this. 

• Photography:  Wesley Villarica for Parallax Studios.
• Model:  Nadine Howell

4. Set design is…?

…is all about creating a world. May it be a glimpse, a touch… or an entire panoramic view of reality and/or fantasy.  Production designers like to joke that our job was the first one ever since God created a world to his liking… lol.  But yes, we create time (periods, timelines, etc.), space (rooms, worlds, props,) ideas (genres, concepts, fantasies) and whatever else.  Production design isn’t only about making things to be placed in the physical aspect of the job… but also to design an aesthetic and create concepts that are pertinent to the work at hand.  Its more mental than menial but don’t let that fool you… there’s a lot of hard, dirty, hands on work involved.  PDs are usually the first on the set and the last to leave… plus there’s a lot of prep time before construction even starts.  Photogs usually just have to show up and set lights, or MUAs just need to bring their kit and brushes.  We’re there hours, even days before anyone else is.  I’m not saying that our work is more important than anyone else’s in the team… but rather, everyone has to realize that each profession has its requirements.  This one is ours.  Gotta put in more time than the others.

My Sorrow – This one was totally on the fly.  Well okay not really… I made the mask and had the idea in mind… the execution of it was a bit of a bitch tho. We ended up using one light and even that was gobo’d.  I wanted to convey a feeling of sadness and solitude with this but not make it come out so much in the expression.  Actually the mask was there to show how we conceal our true emotions especially when it comes to our own sorrow. 

• Photography:  Genald Tungol of Whitewall Industries
• Model:  Karen Pamintuan 
• Makeup:  Noel Flores

5. I think your Flickr site is just a little glimpse of your work and they sure are mind-blowing. How do you come up with these ideas? Any weird rituals before coming up with a design? Any memorable story?

Guh I really need to update my flickr more often.  I just think them up!  Okay that’s not the whole story but in a nutshell that’s how it goes.  I can just be watching TV and I just start thinking that it would be fun to make people fly naked through clouds of creamy cocoa.  But no… its more like a product of just being immersed in the arts for so long.  The experiences, the lessons, aesthetics, rules, etc… all go in and out in a flash but leave a mark on the idea.  A good example of this is a story I heard about this big company that wanted to update their logo… so they hired a very talented big name graphics designer to do it.  During the preliminary meeting, she was doodling on a napkin while they were talking about what they wanted the new logo to signify.  So at the end of the meeting she showed them her napkin doodle and voila… there was their logo.  They loved it.  But they didn’t want to pay her so much since they thought… she just scribbled on a napkin!  To which she said that this design didn’t come out of thin air.  Sure it was made out of nothing really… but behind it, her experiences, her travels, her studies, etc.  That cost her a lot of time, money and personal investment.  That’s what they were paying for.  Her Vision.  And this is something that most people don’t realize about artists.  We may create something out of nothing… but that nothing had to come out of something.

As for my stories…. well… they’re just too weird to be published I think.  Sometimes people think I make it up… but truth IS stranger than fiction sometimes…

Power – This is part of my personal headshot project. I’m doing a series of head shots that convey a word and a story. I get actors to do the shots and work out the emotions pertinent to the word then get my team together to create the setting, graphics, styling, makeup and whatnot in order to complete the effect. This one is “Power”. I wanted to show how the use of colors, effects, layout and placement could control people’s minds. It’s a very effective tool used by authoritarian regimes.

• Model: Gino de la Peña
• Photography: Jay Tablante
• Makeup: Noel Flores
• Styling: Raffy Tesoro
• Graphics: Gelo Lico
• Concept: Raffy Tesoro

6. How is it working with one of the best fashion photographers (referring to Jay Tablante) in the local scene?

They’re the best?  Wahahaha!  No really, they are.  I mean… with the likes of Jay Tablante, Wesley Villarica, Doc Marlon, Genald Tungol, Erik Liongoren, Dix Reyes, Neal Oshima, Wig Tysmans, Dominique James… All these guys are awesome..  I just can’t see how it can’t be fun and productive.  But we can’t overlook the rest of the team either.  The makeup artists like Omar Ermita, Xeng Zulueta, Josa Primero, or stylists like Hannah Sison, Guada Reyes… models, designers, art directors, graphics designers, and whoever else.  I mean I could name all the guys I’ve worked with but that’s gonna be a long and boring read. Regardless, they’re all an intrinsic and important part of the project.  You may have a great photog but if your model is bleh… you’ve got a problem.  OR a lousy MUA but the model is drop dead gorgeous… still won’t work so well.  We are only as strong as our weakest link after all.

It tends to spoil you in some ways since you can just pull something out of your ass creatively and they’ll understand you immediately.  God knows how many times I’ve done that to a newbie and they would just stare at me, completely flummoxed by whatever insanity I was spouting out at the time.  They all have their styles, their quirks and their perceptions… but what makes them good and talented is their versatility, smarts, creativity and experience.  It’s hard to make anything that would please yourself if the people you’re working with can’t execute the vision to your liking.  That’s just how it is.  I’d like to think I give them the same options as well.  Most of the time.

Strings – Did this shot with Jay Tablante and a bunch of other photogs for our Singapore workshop. I created a concept for them where I wanted pure elegance… like timeless jewelry shots… but using only the simplest of materials… like white thread.

• Photography:  Jay Tablante
• Model:  Rhian howell

7. Any favorite style (?) that is you see is prominent in your work. It’s like if we see ___________, that’s Raffy Tesoro.

I don’t think I have any defining style really… other than that I like detail.  Not just detail in the sense that oooh there’s so many things going on… but more like how the whole thing was thought up down to the last few bits here and there.  I have some pretty ornate stuff and I also have a good number of minimalist work… since for me even the lack of detail is a detail in itself, as long as you thought about it first.  Plus I always need a story or an idea in the shot.  If it doesn’t than its just a snapshot, no matter what it is.  Unless your concept WAS to make a snapshot…

Temple Warrior – Made this for a fashion show some time back.  Decided to give it an amazon feel… and like she was guarding something important.  Heh.

• Photography:  Jay Tablante
• Makeup:  Omar Ermita
• Model:  Michelle Fedalto

8. Opinion on the digital age: with advanced (?) technology on our side now, we can make sets through clicking. Some photographers even use shoot the model and render a 3D background. Any thoughts on this?

Not that keen about it.  I don’t hate photoshop or digitech.  They are tools just like any other.  The beef I have with it is that its extremely abused and creates a veneer of laziness in everyone.  I just love (insert sarcasm here) how people would shoot something… then when they check the LCD and see things off here and there… they’d just say, “oh we can photoshop that” instead of fixing it in situ.  If that was the case… I’d solve every design problem with my favourite tool as well:  A hammer.  “Oh… wall’s not in the right place.  A hammer can fix that.” Or,  “Hey the model’s not in her light.  No prob… gimme my hammer..”  See what I mean?

Any good piece of art has to be convincing…  and that means there has to be a healthy balance of all the skills, talents, tools and ideas involved.  I use graphics if the shot calls for it.  Same way that I call for a nude if I think the concept needs it as well more than “oh… the model’s hot, let’s strip her.”  Believe me I’ve heard that line waaaay more times than I’d like to.  But yes, there is a reason to making art… and doing it well means you have to draw the audience into the world you’re creating.  A one-sided world made by one tool or thing usually doesn’t make it very appealing.  Despite the fact that most who look are laymen, always remember that everyone has the capacity to detect a lie.  If you look at it in a certain way, all forms of art are lies.  So be a good fibber.  :p

I’m a huge advocate of learning the old techniques.  It instills discipline and a deeper understanding for the craft.  I usually explain this to people when they question why I push for this by telling them about my Zombie theory.  Imagine that you’re in a reaaaaaalllly bad B-movie situation where you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and a gazillion shuffling zombies are comin round lookin for a lovely brrraaaaaainnns buffet.  Guess what… you’re on the menu!  This scene is never complete without managing to escape long enough to find a decrepit barn with a battered Ford inside.  YOU’RE SAVED!!! Except when you discover that its a stick shift and you’ve only ever driven an automatic.  Poor, poor you.  Hope you find a shotgun…. except… dammit you don’t know how to reload the thing since the only time you’ve EVER used a firearm was for Time Crisis 2.  And the list goes on and on…

Bottom line is:  don’t gimp yourself by not learning the old ways.  Yes, technology has made things more convenient, but to deny oneself of a proper learning experience isn’t good for the artistic technique or creative output.  Its part of earning a proper education in whatever career you’re passionate about.

Priscilla – This was for a men’s magazine that never launched.  Got our friend Priscilla to model for us… and when I got to the venue I found out that it was basically a blank hut made out of concrete and steel pipes.  So I had to make do with some wood, cloth and whatever else I could find to make this into something shootable.

• Photography:  Wesley Villarica for Parallax Studio
• Model:  Priscilla Mereilles
• Styling:  Rachel Lisbeth So

9. (Cliche question, well, all of them are) Tips for the starters in this field?

Sure… this one’s easy.  Don’t get into it.  LOL.  Unless you’re passionate enough, stupid enough and stubborn enough to really want to… then go ahead!  I’m just saying this because a lot of people want to get into PD, Fashion, Photography, etc… because it’s hip, cool, fun… whatever.  Sure it’s all that.  But behind it is a LOT of hard work and a lot of heartache.  Be prepared for it and don’t bitch when you find out the hard way.  That’s just how life is.  Well okay you can bitch from time to time but every artist needs to cultivate patience, discipline, mental stamina, open-mindedness, morality and thick skin with a thick skull to match.  People are either going to love your work or hate it… but I take both as a compliment.  The worst thing that any artist can hear is when their work doesn’t illicit an opinion at all.  Ouch.

There’s that and there’s that one other uber-important aspect:  Education.  PDs need to know a lot about construction, safety, materials, surfaces, textures, spacial reasoning, etc… but you also need to know a little about everything.  You’re creating a world after all, down to the pots and pans, nails, bedbugs and whatever else is there no matter how big or small.  Like I said… you’re a god… even if its for a little while.

Wedding Essentials – Did this for Wedding Essentials magazine.  Made a few paintings for it and set the theme… kinda like sitting in an art gallery or something.

• Photography:  Jay Tablante

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

An Interview with Set Designer Raffy Tesoro

A 90 Year Old Example of Forced Perspective Photography

A few months back we published a collection of Forced Perspective images which was very popular with readers.

Forced perspective is defined as ‘a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.’ (Wikipedia)

This is far from a recently popular thing for photographers to do. Here’s a great example from 1918 which was submitted by one of our readers – Graham Parkhurst – that illustrates it from 90+ years ago.

The picture is of 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, in Iowa.

A few facts about the image:

• Length from base to Shoulder: 150 feet
• Right Arm: 340 feet
• Length of Torch and flame: 1000 feet
• Total Length: 1490 Feet
• Number of men in body and head of figure: 2,000
• Number of men in right arm: 1,200
• Number of men in torch: 2,800
• Number of men in the flame only: 12,000
• Total men: 18,000

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

A 90 Year Old Example of Forced Perspective Photography

13 Fabulous Photos of a Rainy Day

“rain” from cunyadenki

The following post highlighting some great ‘rain photography was submitted by DPS reader Martin Gommel from the blog KWERFELDEIN.

13 fabulous photos with rain – with these pictures, I would like to give you a little inspiration to do some photography on rainy days. Many people’s first thought when they see it raining is to put their camera away – however Stormy and rainy days are some of the biggest chances to shoot moody atmospheric images.

People struggling with the wind, wrestling with umbrellas, obscuring the face with their jacket, jumping or running around like they are being chased by blood-sucking aliens…. I tell you : When it really rains down you have an exciting and rare theater right before you waiting to be shot by a photographer!

So I encourage to to search for a place that gives you a good angle to shoot and that covers your head AND your camera and start shooting!

That’s it for now. Now I’ll leave you with some of best pictures with rain that the web has ever seen. Let’s get inspired!

“rain stroll” from jaxting

quizz

“A walk in the rain” from marcelgermain

“-” from +lyn

“English Summer” from Lady Vervaine

“cold rain” from Idle Type

“out of the rain” from glitter darkstar


“Let it Rain” from Kenny Maths

“Vampire Season” from Annadriel

“let the rain kiss you” from maggie’s world

“After the rain I” from emiguez65

“Wet Stones” from NatashaP

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

13 Fabulous Photos of a Rainy Day

What do You Think of This Image? [Community Critique]

One of the most popular parts of our forum area is the Critique section where members are invited to share an image that they’ve taken and ask for Critique. There are areas dedicated to Portraits, Landscapes, Macro, Animals/Wildlife (and more).

Once an image has been submitted other readers are then invited to share constructive feedback including encouragement on things that have been done well, suggestions on how the image could be improved and ideas on what the photographer could do next time.

The image above is a recent one submitted by member Carl Yeomans.

See the thread including the critiques given so far here.

What do you think of the image? What do you like about it? How can it be improved? Stop by the forum thread or leave a comment below - just please keep your comments constructive (if you don’t like something share how it could be improved rather than just say you don’t like it).

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

What do You Think of This Image? [Community Critique]

15 Inspiring Underwater Images

Photo by wild friday

It’s slowly warming up in my part of the world (Australia) and with a vacation planned to Northern parts of the country I’m looking forward to some underwater photography. Here’s some underwater shots that we gathered a couple of years back here at DPS to get in the mood. Enjoy!

Photo by WIlly Volk

Three Books on Underwater Photography

• Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography
• The Underwater Photographer, Third Edition: Digital and Traditional Techniques
• Adobe Photoshop for Underwater Photographers

Photo by fito_fuente

Photo by Arne Kuilman

Photo by culiculicz

Photo by creativity+

Photo by mtchm

Photo by Nidriel

Photo by ƒreg

Photo by childish_david

Photo by Rigmarole

Photo by vanveelen

Photo by pterantula

Photo by Kawa0310

Photo by ucumari

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

15 Inspiring Underwater Images

Cooking up a Photograph in Your Kitchen

In this post Ronan Palliser shares some behind the scene details on the taking of this eye catching shot.

Ingredients:

• 1 small kitchen
• 5 martini glasses
• 500ml of water
• 3 drops of food colouring in different colours
• A dollop of off-camera flash (triggered by PC cord, radio receiver or infra-red such as Nikon CLS)

You will also need:

• An ironing board and a chair
• 2 sheets of white printer paper
• 2 pieces of black card (optional)
• Glass from a 16″x12″ photo frame
• An A1 size sheet of white mounting board

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 1/250th of a second

Bake at f/8, ISO 200

Preparation:

First you need to construct a mini studio. Place the two sheets of printer paper on the ironing board, and cover with glass taken from the photo frame, to create a reflective base. For the backdrop, prop the A1 sheet of mounting board up on a chair, and place behind the ironing board.

Position your martini glasses on the ironing board, in two rows – three at the back, two at the front, and adjust the position of your camera (on the tripod) relative to the whole set up so that you can compose the photograph with all the martini glasses in the frame, and the white backdrop filling the frame

Add the water to the glasses, so that each is filled to the same level, and drop some food colouring into the back row of glasses.

Lighting:

The secret to lighting glass is to not light the glass. You need to light the background, and the light that bounces back from that will backlight the glasses nicely. If you try to front light the glass you will get ugly reflections. To get some edge definition on the glass it is best if the background is only just big enough to fill the frame, and no bigger, so you can play with the distances between your camera, the ironing board and the background to fulfill this condition as best as you can. Also you can help define the edges even more by placing some black card or paper at either side of the glasses as seen in the setup shot.

To light the background, place your off-camera flash underneath the ironing board, pointing at the centre of the background with a wide zoom. Set to manual, and choose 1/4 power to start with.

Putting it all together:

Put your camera at its max sync speed, with an aperture of about f/8 to give good depth of field through your shot. I used a 50mm lens to take the shot, but use whatever you have available. Avoid wide angles as you’ll need a bigger background to fill the frame and will get distortion of the glasses.

Take a photo with the flash off to see that you are getting minimal ambient contribution to the shot. You can stop down your aperture or decrease your ISO if you have too much ambient light, or wait until it’s darker. Ideally you want the photo lit primarily by flash.

Turn on your flash, and take a few test shots, adjusting the flash power until you get a look you like. You don’t need a light meter – just make sure that the background is getting enough light to be white and evenly lit, but not too much to lose definition at the edges of the glasses due to flare. For me, 1/4 power on a Nikon SB-800 was sufficient.

With the lighting set up, you just need to check your composition and look for a shot which includes some of the stems of the glasses reflected in the base of your studio, keeping the top of the glasses level with each other.

And you’re done.

Before you disassemble your studio think about other shots you can take – for instance what about tilting everything (the base, the background and the camera) by about 15 degrees to get a shot of glasses with the water going at a seemingly impossible angle?

About the Author: Ronan Palliser is an Irish photography addict, living in Dublin. He maintains a daily photoblog at http://www.ronanpalliser.ie/blog and publishes a new photograph every day, with in-depth technical details about how the shot was taken.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Cooking up a Photograph in Your Kitchen