From Camera To Wall - Part Three - Photographing on Location & Equipment Used

Following on from the previous newsletter 'Meeting the Family and Planning the Shoot' we are now exploring Part Three in a series called 'From Camera to Wall', this time it's 'Photographing on Location and Equipment Used'.

Location

I'm choosing to use a recent shoot in a meadow as an example, I always get there about 15 minutes before the shoot is due to start to get a feel for the light, I use a hand held light meter so I can set the camera accordingly. Checking out the angles is a must, I especially like shooting low down, sometimes lying on the ground, so the appropriate footwear and clothing for the weather conditions is a must, I've been caught out a few times by getting this wrong!

Equipment

The next thing to be sure of is your camera equipment, you have to have everything you need within easy access, a variety of pocket sizes are ideal for a lens cloth, back up memory cards and tissues all close to hand. The essentials are fully charged batteries and memory cards of at least 16gb each, I always shoot RAW files with each file size approximately 25mb, compared to Jpegs at 5mb - I'll go into this in more detail in part four.

The cameras, lenses and light meter used on the shoot, the flash is for filling in any harsh shadows.

Using at least two camera bodies, one with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens and one a 24-120mm f1.4 lens so I can shoot fast without having to think about changing lens, which would often mean missing a winning shot.

On this shoot I had a third camera body fitted with a 50mm f1.4 prime lens, I've had this lens for as long as I can remember and it never fails to disappoint, it's manual focus is a little slower than the more up to date auto focus lenses, the results more than make up for this.

I always shoot on manual mode and often a high ISO (sensitivity of digital sensor to light) about 800, so I can use a wide open aperture for shallow depth of field and a fast shutter speed.

I refer to the histogram to check my exposures are correct and adjust the shutter speed accordingly, and don't look at each image once taken as this wastes precious shooting time and interrupts the flow of the shoot. The internal light meter is a valuable tool, you can see this through the viewfinder to monitor exposure.

Using a 70-200mm lens.

Always communicate with your subjects to give them direction and to engage with them to capture candid expressions, these two cuties were a pleasure to work with. I prefer to shoot with the sun behind them, but ideally clouds give a softer light. In harsh sunlight I'd use a little fill in flash to soften the shadows.

Press the shutter when you feel their expressions are the most natural.

Shoot at low levels to include more of the foreground...

...to achieve engaging results.

Taken with the 50mm lens f4 1/1600 200 ISO works for this lens.

Select your focusing point so the rest of the image is out of focus, together with a wide open aperture results in shallow depth of field.

Please join me in two weeks time for Part Four - 'Editing and Post Production'  to learn a little more about the process "From Camera to Wall".

Thanks for reading, I hope I've inspired you!

Stella

From Camera to Wall - Part Two - Meeting the Family and Planning the Shoot

Welcome to Part Two, in a series of six fortnightly newsletters, unraveling the passage we take "From Camera to Wall"

Part one covered Framing and Hanging - today it's - "Meeting the Family or Individual and Planning the Shoot" - a paramount piece of the puzzle to achieve the desired creation. Taking place during an initial relaxed consultation to discuss the purpose of the shoot, be it a special occasion, family get together, leaving the country, gift for relatives, and many other big or small milestones.

Planning the Shoot

Finding the most suitable location makes all the difference to reflect the moment in time, such as a fun family environment or a bustling cityscape to solidify the right tone and emotion.

A location alone may not have meaning, however by simply adding a person or more to the frame naturally creates an emotion.

The images below show a small sample variety of ideas.

Some of the many factors to consider when choosing a location are:-

• Time of day

• Ease of access

• Camera angle

• Number of people and animals in the shoot

• Where the sun is at certain times of day (cloud often works better than harsh sunlight)

• Wet weather plan

• Sunny day (back lighting works best)

• Colour and style of clothes to suit the person, background/location

• Window/ambient light for inside shoots

• Composition

• Professional hair & makeup? (Oh go on!)

• Time to do the shoot (usually one hour plus)

• Special permission to use certain places

• Pathways and foliage to create depth

Please join me in two weeks time for Part Three - "Photo Shoot and Equipment Used" to learn a little more about the process "From Camera to Wall".

Thanks for reading, I hope I've inspired you!

Bye for now.

Stella

Let's Get In The Darkroom

Robin Bell in his London studio where he continues to process and print by traditional means.

For people born in the last decade of the 20th century a dark room isn't something they would necessarily associate with photography.

With this in mind, I'd like to tell them and remind others born before 1990 just exactly what did, and still does happen in the photographic dark room.

When I started my photographic career back in the 70s processing black and white film and printing the images were just as important as taking the shot. It takes a very skilled processor and printer to interpret the photographers vision - the two work together to create outstanding results.

A recent visit to Robin Bell in Fulham took me down memory lane. I was fascinated to see that very little had changed since the early days of this dying art. Robin is one of Britain's most respected black & white printers and just by spending a few hours watching him at work it was clear to see why.

Checking to see the images once processed.

Film Processing

Once the film has been loaded on the spiral it is processed in temperature controlled developer for a certain number of minutes, this depends on the type of film and the exposure the photographer has taken the images at, this process is all carried out in total darkness as stray light would fog the film.

Preparing the film for drying.

Drying

After the developing process of 3 different chemicals, developer, stop bath and fix, the film then needs to be washed in a solution to prevent drying marks and then hung in a warm air cupboard ready for printing, this last process can be carried out in normal lighting as the light sensitive part finishes once the film is in the fix solution.

In the darkroom holding the enlarger to print the image on paper, this process is carried out in amber lighting.

Printing

The negative is placed in a carrier above the lens in the enlarger which is then projected onto light sensitive paper, depending on the negative quality Robin chooses the appropriate grade of paper for best results, this is all carried out in amber lighting which the paper isn't sensitive to. Just like a camera, the enlarger has a lens to focus the image on the paper and a timer is set to expose for the correct exposure.

Custom made dodge tools used to hold back various tones in the printing process that need less exposure to light, and above the tools are boxes of printing papers.

The 3 trays of chemicals, from left to right, developer, stop bath and fix.

Boxes of negatives from photographers such as, Justin Leighton, Terence Donovan, John Swanell and Marcus Tomlinson.

Finishing

When the photograph has been through the chemical solutions it then needs to be washed and dried before any dust spots are retouched. Using a fine paint brush and black retouching dye in various concentrations, this technique that can take a lifetime to master!

A print of Calvin Harris perfectly printed.

A print of Audrey Hepburn Robin printed for a recent exhibition about the screen icon.

Compare Traditional to Digital Printing

The above two photographs are from the same 35mm black and white negative, the one on top was printed by Robin in the darkroom as described above, the picture bellow was by digital means.

The negative was scanned to a high resolution, then via photoshop any dust spots and scratches removed and converted to black and white so there aren't any stray colour casts, with a few tweaks of levels and contrast it is then inkjet printed.

The difference you can see is that the tonal range on the left is far richer, showing true blacks compared to the digital inkjet print on the right.

You can still achieve a good tonal range digitally by using a good quality fine art paper, but not quite as rich as traditional black and white printing.

If you would like to have a studio or location shoot in black and white film, for traditional printing, do let me know so I can dust off my film cameras to create something a little more bespoke.

Thanks for reading I'll be back next month with news about my location bluebell shoots which are soon to flower.

Bye for now

Stella

Where it all began

My journey with photography began back in the 70s, I had a fascination for being able to preserve a moment forever.

The recent photograph above with my first camera and light meter.

The picture below shows a photograph I took as I embarked on my apprenticeship 40 years ago, I came across this whilst I was having a sort out over Christmas, it immediately took me back to the day I pressed the shutter.

It was the first picture I took for my college course work, I processed the 35mm film and printed the picture too, it was the beginning of my colourful journey, as I celebrate my 19th year, today 10th February, since I opened my studio SMS Creative Photography.

Picture Library Of course photography goes much, much further back, to the 19th century. The Getty Archives in London house a vast collection of images from the beginning to present day.

The glass negatives below must be at least 100 years old. I enjoyed an educational tour of the archives given by Vice President Matthew Butson, about the millions of images available that cover almost every event photographed in history and much, much more!

Matthew Butson, Vice President, of the Getty Hulton Archive.

Rarely seen album of photographs of the Queen at home with her sister Princess Margaret. Thanks for reading I'll be back next month with more news.

Bye for now.

Stella

First Photograph of 2016

With the new year in full swing, people filled with motivation and resolutions for a prosperous and healthy year. One thing I always look forward to is the first picture of the year, it's the starting place for me.This studio shoot of Jess and Jack is particularly poignant, I've known their mum for over 12 years (when she first met their dad), capturing their joyful journey, engagement, wedding... The below iPhone pictures lead you to the one I took.

From Start 'Come on Jack, give your sister a kiss and cuddle'.

For all camera gurus and enthusiast, I used a Nikon D750 body with a Nikon 50mm lens with a wide open aperture to create that lovely shallow depth of field. This particular fixed-focus lens is one I have owned since I started my career in photography in the 70s, you have to manually focus it so I had to be super quick.

To Finish ahh, so cute, a lovely expression of sibling love, makes my heart melt. I love the relationships I have with my customers, watching their families grow and evolve and to welcome new families too.

I'll be back every month with a newsletter about what's happening at SMS Creative Photography, I also write a monthly newsletter for my classic and supercar photography branch of the business called 'Stella', just follow this link if you would like to find out more.

Thanks for reading.

Stella

Summertime Photography

Whilst you're away sunning yourself or at home relaxing, take time out to enjoy the moment. Grab your camera and photograph something tranquil, you can refer back to my last newsletter if it helps. Once you've got your image just a little post production can make a huge amount of difference to your summertime photography. Let me show you...

The photograph above was taken in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean in Barbados. It was an overcast day with a storm brewing. The contrast of clear water and the stormy sky were difficult to capture in one shot, but I knew I could improve this in Photoshop.

I always shoot in RAW, the RAW file records a greater number of pixels, giving you more freedom to edit an image. These files need to be processed in Photoshop or Lightroom allowing you much more creativity. Using layers like Levels and Curves, Hues/Saturation and Shadows/Highlights, the image can look infinitely better and true to what you had seen.

Don't be afraid to experiment. The photograph below is the end result, which in my mind is true to what I saw.

The same goes for the photograph below taken at the Soco Hotel Hastings, Barbados. It's not possible to capture an even exposure for the out and inside in one image, this can be achieved by using HDR which I mentioned in my previous newsletter . However without the use of a tripod to shoot multiple images you can still achieve this in one shot. You will need to enhance the exterior view by using the techniques mentioned above and below.

Using a layer mask and playing with a levels adjustment layer I have been able to retrieve the data lost by the harsh sunlight in contrast to the shade inside.

The final image below gives a pleasing result.

I hope this has been useful and has set you on your way in post production, for others of you who are more advanced, keep experimenting, it's the best way to learn as you can find some original tool combinations by making errors.

Enjoy the weekend, I'll be back in two weeks time with more news. Bye for now!

Stella