Backlit Portraits - You can Do EEEEET!

Most people take photos with the light source (sun usually) illuminating the subject because it's the obvious choice.  During the "golden hour" the sun produces a nice even glow and warms skin tones producing nice results.  I love to shoot back-lit shots - shots where there's a lot of light behind the subject.  Usually that light source is the sun but the light could come from anywhere - a street light, ambient light, another flash.  Using back-lighting accomplishes a few things: it adds another element/dimension to the photo while producing a nice hair light (in portraits) as well.

I used two external flashes to illuminate these cholla cacti.

Typically I use at least two flashes off camera, but this also can be done with an on camera flash, or an on camera flash and a reflector bouncing the sunlight back onto the subject.  I always use a gel modifier to match the color of the light source.  In the case of the sun, I use a warming modifier.  If you're using an on camera flash, you can tape (or hold) a sheet of clear orange plastic (they sell these on eBay or at a local camera/art supply store) over your flash.  If you're using an external flash, you can purchase a colored diffuser.  They're inexpensive and work really well.

Here's how I do it:

1. First of all I always shoot in RAW, and you should too.  You'll have much more control of the editing process than if you were only shooting JPEG's.

2. I shoot in Auto White Balance when I'm shooting golden hour portraits.  I've found that using the camera's sunlight white balance setting doesn't always get the correct color - the color of the sun at noon is totally different than the color of the sun at sunset.  Camera's should have a "sunset" white balance.

3. Meter for the background and adjust the flash for the subject.  This can be adjusted a few different ways but flash exposure compensation would be a good place to start.

4. Adjust the white balance in post production:

Here's the original image, auto white balance.  Decent but the color is off.

Here the white balance was set to Tungsten, couter balancing the orange glow of the sun.  Good but too much counter balance - I like little more warmth to the skin tones.

Here's the next version. I've used a tungsten white balance setting but warmed it up a bit to match the color of the sun.  I also whitened the teeth and eyes - you may want to do this so that the warm color doesn't make the teeth and eyes look yellow.  I also cropped this.

Here's a landscape version:

I used the same process here.  Without a flash this cholla cactus would have been a silhouette.  Using a colored modifier produces similar light as the sun was producing at this time of the day.

Using back lighting is easy and produces some nice results.  Whether you're using an on camera flash, a reflector, or multiple external flashes, experiment with this technique!

Family Road Trip - Oak Creek Canyon

Living in Arizona has advantages - one being the proximity to different climates and geographical changes - extreme differences within close distances.  I remember being up at NAU in Flagstaff once snowboarding in the morning and then driving south to our place on the beach in Mexico, swimming in the ocean at sunset.

We grabbed our dogs and took a short day trip to Sedona and Oak Creek yesterday.  I've never photographed Cathedral Rock and although its way overdone, its something I've been wanting to check off my list.  Kinda like a chef - gotta cook Coq Au Vin a few times before you master molecular gastronomy.

Nice place for lunch on a Sunday afternoon.

Lots of Aspen trees in this area (at least I think they're Aspen)

Old Mill - Crescent Moon Picnic Area

B&W of Mill Door

Mill with Cathedral Rock in the background - Crescent Moon

Cathedral Rock, after sunset

Climbin' trees!

Oak Creek - flowing pretty good after two days of snow

Rock piles are all over in this area. I think these trace back to native cultures and their beliefs in symbols of protection, but don't quote me.

This area is one of the most photographed spots in Arizona - this was one of two large groups of people we saw taking photos yesterday.  I waited until sunset and then I shot mine - there was only one other guy there at that point.

Example of HDR - High Dynamic Range - where multiple exposures are combined together so that all details are visible.  Nowadays cameras will do all of this for you with the click of a button.  I'm not a huge fan of HDR but I think this shot came out OK.

Cathedral Rock Sunset - I Photoshopped a few tourists out who were playing on the other side of the river.  If you look carefully there's a blurry spot to the right of the bolder in the middle of the photo - that's where they were standing.

 Up Next...More Mexico!

Having my cake and eating it too!

I love shooting food, especially for the Hyatt downtown. I always enjoy seeing my Hyatt employee friends, some who have been there since the property opened back in the 70's. It's fun to go back from time to time to say "hello". The food that I shoot is top notch and I always steal recipes and attempt to recreate stuff at home - but the best part is tasting practically everything that I shoot. I did a shoot for them yesterday and I think I gained five pounds. Here are a few shots from yesterday from the new Spring 2013 menu:

seared salmon, tomato and spring onion confit/local farm vegetables/quinoa pilaf

charred poblano stuffed shrimp and local goat cheese, oaxaca, cascabel sauce

meyer lemon pound cake/fresh berries & mascarpone cream

grilled flat iron steak/charred tomatillo jalapeno pico/braised greens/potato zucchini cakes

raspberry creme brulee bread pudding/vanilla fraiche

citrus queen creek olive oil cupcakes/mascarpone icing

brie phyllo raspberry roll

swb mac&cheese/ham, chilis, 3 cheeses

roasted asparagus and pistachio soup/creme fraiche

asian crab salad in a wonton cup

coconut panna cotta

$42 WI-FI Solution for the Nikon D4

If any of you D4 owners are frustrated by the hefty price tag of Nikon's WT-5 ($550), you're not alone.  I did a considerable amount of research and learned that other options existed.  So here's my less expensive work around solution.  Hope it helps.

For $42, TP-Link sells a Portable Battery Powered Wireless N Router.  I bought mine on Amazon here.

 

I set this up in basically three steps.  First, I configured the router via directions that came with it.  IMPORTANT - I set it up in Travel Router AP Mode.  I initially set it up for Wireless Router Mode but that didn't work.

I then connected the (powered on) router's ethernet cable to the camera.

Next I created a new Network Profile in the D4 menu.  I used the wizard and let it find the IP automatically.  Write down that IP address, you'll need it later.

Once this was all connected I used Safari on my iPad to connect to the D4's IP address (the number that I wrote down earlier).  You can also use an iPhone or a laptop, I'm assuming.  If successful, you'll see the camera's built in camera control software like this:

Here you can control the camera in Live View, view images, change camera settings, etc.  Cool!

The best part about this is the ability to view high res (large) images of photos that I've just taken.  This helps a ton when I'm out shooting, especially when a client is present.

Good luck and hope this helps!

Disneyland/California Adventure

We took a family vacation a few months ago to Disneyland to check out the new Cars Land attraction.  Disney has the whole theme building thing down to a science, and no where is that more apparent than in California Adventure.  Since the attraction was brand new, the  lines were about 3 hours long, and that was with a FastPass.

Cars Land at DCA

All about the details...

 

The layout of Cars Land: Main Street of Radiator Springs, USA from the movie Cars

Disney's California Adventure - kinda looks like the Santa Monica Pier back in the day.

This area in DCA is themed after Fisherman's Wharf in SF

Roaring waters in the back of DCA - the whole area looks like the California Redwoods

(Probably a maintenance building.  I thought it was cool.)

And of course we didn't miss the classics...

Yoho

My D7000 did a pretty darn good job in this low light.  Wish I would have had my D4 at the time!

I'm a real boy.

 

Vision.

Classic.

Turf's Up! Father and son bet the ponies.

It's never too early to introduce your kids to gambling, and the horse track is a as good as any place to do it.  Keg beer, cigars, $1 hot dogs and lost wages - what else do you need?

It was "Family Day" at Turf Paradise today in Phoenix, a place that I don't frequent nearly enough.  Basically a time warp strait back to 1977,  its a fun place to get some sun and play some numbers.  Remember: Gambling is only an addiction if you're losing.

Come on #3!

Fast shutter - this was shot at 1/2500th of a second

A panning shot - didn't come out great and neither did my quinella

Two manes.  This horse could talk.

Turf Paradise is located at 17th Ave/Bell.  http://www.turfparadise.com/