Excellent Aperture web feature on Gregory Crewdson. His work is amazing. I thought my process of shooting my Three Minute Series was complex, but his process makes me feel inadequate.
Equally fantastic is the night series by Jan Staller. Check out the Frontier New York series. Like Crewdson, they make images as opposed to taking them. Unlike Crewdson, he doesn't phsically construct the scene. Rather, he explored the familiar areas around him and photographed them in a manner which makes them seem simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. One of the significant things about Staller is the seeming insignificance of what he photographs. He doesn't seek out the most obvious chooses. There are no photos of the Statute of Liberty or Times Square. In most of his photos, there aren't people. This adds to the otherworldliness of his photos. The color is amazing. Most of his images contain large elements of neutrality to which the colors offer a counter point.
Here is a link to a guy who blogs about night photography. There are some links to some really good work from here.
2003 Documentary on Night Photography - FYI-All film work as it was shot in 2003.
Nice videos about digital night photography by Harold Davis. Audio quality is poor in the first one. Terrible in the second one.
Monday, March 28, 2011
A primer on night photography
In a much earlier blog posting from 2007, I talked about shooting Sunsets. I am currently teaching a Digital Photography course and the next project involved night photography. So, for their benefit and yours, here is some things to keep in mind when shooting at night:
-If you are including the moon, sunset, or sunrise, consider where it will be at the time of your shoot. OF course, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west (changes a little throughout the year, but not much). So, you will get a vastly different photo when shooting sunrises to the east or sunsets to the west.
-It is going to be very dark. Bring a flashlight. This will help you see your camera as well as see where you are going.
-You must use a tripod as exposure times will be long
-Use a remote release to trigger your camera. Or use the self timer if the timing of the shutter release isn't critical. You may want to invest in a cable release which has a timer function. This will allow you to use a shutter speed longer than what the camera otherwise offers. For example, the longest shutter speed my Nikon D300 offers is 30 seconds. If I need a shutter speed longer than that, I have to use the Bulb setting. In that mode, you have to hold the shutter release button down to keep the shutter open. This is not conducive to sharp photos. Higher end cable releases have timer functions built in that will allow you to set longer times and hold them with a single press of the cable release button.
-Use the mirror lock up or anti-shock feature of your camera. This will help insure that the photo won't be soft due to vibrations from the mirror (Only applies to those using DSLRs as compact digital cameras don't make use of a mirror).
-Turn on long exposure noise reduction if your camera has it. Most DSLRs and some compact cameras do. May have dig through the custom menus to activate it. The problem with this is your longer exposures will take a very long time to complete. Let’s say you take a 30 second exposure. First the camera takes the normal shot, and then it takes another 30 second shot in which the shutter doesn’t open. It takes the resulting noise pattern and subtracts it from the original exposure. It is very effective, but it really slows shooting down. Not a big deal when it is 80 degrees out, but it really stinks when it is 25 degrees out.
-Bring your camera’s instruction manual. You should always carry it with you anyways. If you are using a seldom used feature like long exposure noise reduction, then it is likely that you will have to look up how to activate it.
-Use your cameras lowest ISO. This assumes that you can use a very slow shutter speed as needed. For most of you this will require that you use the bulb mode in which the shutter will remain open as long as you keep the shutter release button pressed. Many of the remote releases have a provision to lock the button down until you release it. If your camera doesn’t have a slow enough shutter speed, then you may have to increase the ISO in order to obtain a correct exposure even when the aperture is lens all the way open.
-You may have to manually focus. All autofocus cameras require a certain light level to autofocus. If you are setting up in the dark, you will have precious little (if any light) so you may have to manually focus. If you have a DSLR, you can set the lens on infinity. You should note that the lens will likely allow you to focus past infinity. Past infinity?!? This is to take into account the expansion of the lens due to different weather, humidity, and pressure. So, you make have to take a few photos to insure that it is really set at infinity. Almost all compact digital cameras have a manual focus provision that entails selecting a distance from a distance scale. I simply set mine for infinity when using a compact camera. I was happy with the results. Another neat trick is to utilize an external flash. They often have a much more powerful autofocus assist light built in that will allow your camera to focus in pitch black night. So, you would use it focus, then turn the flash off.
-Consider all the ambient light sources unless. Even a very weak light adds up during a long exposure.
-Set your white balance to daylight. This will preserve the unique colors at that time of day. There is no point at getting up at 2am if you just want to take a photo that looks like it was taken at noon.
-Start taking photos before you even see the sun. There is usually a lot of color in the sky that you don't even notice until you take a long exposure photo and see it. Try it.
-Remember to expose for the highlights. Ensure that you are taking in enough light so that the histogram is very close to the right most wall without touching it. On a recent outing I noticed that some of my students were not doing that because it looked better on the LCD when it was underexposed. That is true. However, it will not look nearly as good as the image that was properly exposed once you begin editing on it the computer.
-Shoot RAW file format (assuming your camera supports it). If it is worth shooting, then it is worth shooting as a RAW file.
-Consider creating a HDR image from multiple, varying exposure (I will soon post more on HDR).
-Look for reflections in water (assuming there is water) that will give you twice the color. Shooting just after it has rained is nice as there are more reflections from everything wet. It is also night to shoot when it is kind of foggy/misty out as light will create some areas of glow.
-Bring a cell phone or a buddy; preferably both. If you are trouncing around in the dark it is a good idea to have a way of getting some help should you run into any trouble. Please take this seriously.
-If you are including the moon, sunset, or sunrise, consider where it will be at the time of your shoot. OF course, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west (changes a little throughout the year, but not much). So, you will get a vastly different photo when shooting sunrises to the east or sunsets to the west.
-It is going to be very dark. Bring a flashlight. This will help you see your camera as well as see where you are going.
-You must use a tripod as exposure times will be long
-Use a remote release to trigger your camera. Or use the self timer if the timing of the shutter release isn't critical. You may want to invest in a cable release which has a timer function. This will allow you to use a shutter speed longer than what the camera otherwise offers. For example, the longest shutter speed my Nikon D300 offers is 30 seconds. If I need a shutter speed longer than that, I have to use the Bulb setting. In that mode, you have to hold the shutter release button down to keep the shutter open. This is not conducive to sharp photos. Higher end cable releases have timer functions built in that will allow you to set longer times and hold them with a single press of the cable release button.
-Use the mirror lock up or anti-shock feature of your camera. This will help insure that the photo won't be soft due to vibrations from the mirror (Only applies to those using DSLRs as compact digital cameras don't make use of a mirror).
-Turn on long exposure noise reduction if your camera has it. Most DSLRs and some compact cameras do. May have dig through the custom menus to activate it. The problem with this is your longer exposures will take a very long time to complete. Let’s say you take a 30 second exposure. First the camera takes the normal shot, and then it takes another 30 second shot in which the shutter doesn’t open. It takes the resulting noise pattern and subtracts it from the original exposure. It is very effective, but it really slows shooting down. Not a big deal when it is 80 degrees out, but it really stinks when it is 25 degrees out.
-Bring your camera’s instruction manual. You should always carry it with you anyways. If you are using a seldom used feature like long exposure noise reduction, then it is likely that you will have to look up how to activate it.
-Use your cameras lowest ISO. This assumes that you can use a very slow shutter speed as needed. For most of you this will require that you use the bulb mode in which the shutter will remain open as long as you keep the shutter release button pressed. Many of the remote releases have a provision to lock the button down until you release it. If your camera doesn’t have a slow enough shutter speed, then you may have to increase the ISO in order to obtain a correct exposure even when the aperture is lens all the way open.
-You may have to manually focus. All autofocus cameras require a certain light level to autofocus. If you are setting up in the dark, you will have precious little (if any light) so you may have to manually focus. If you have a DSLR, you can set the lens on infinity. You should note that the lens will likely allow you to focus past infinity. Past infinity?!? This is to take into account the expansion of the lens due to different weather, humidity, and pressure. So, you make have to take a few photos to insure that it is really set at infinity. Almost all compact digital cameras have a manual focus provision that entails selecting a distance from a distance scale. I simply set mine for infinity when using a compact camera. I was happy with the results. Another neat trick is to utilize an external flash. They often have a much more powerful autofocus assist light built in that will allow your camera to focus in pitch black night. So, you would use it focus, then turn the flash off.
-Consider all the ambient light sources unless. Even a very weak light adds up during a long exposure.
-Set your white balance to daylight. This will preserve the unique colors at that time of day. There is no point at getting up at 2am if you just want to take a photo that looks like it was taken at noon.
-Start taking photos before you even see the sun. There is usually a lot of color in the sky that you don't even notice until you take a long exposure photo and see it. Try it.
-Remember to expose for the highlights. Ensure that you are taking in enough light so that the histogram is very close to the right most wall without touching it. On a recent outing I noticed that some of my students were not doing that because it looked better on the LCD when it was underexposed. That is true. However, it will not look nearly as good as the image that was properly exposed once you begin editing on it the computer.
-Shoot RAW file format (assuming your camera supports it). If it is worth shooting, then it is worth shooting as a RAW file.
-Consider creating a HDR image from multiple, varying exposure (I will soon post more on HDR).
-Look for reflections in water (assuming there is water) that will give you twice the color. Shooting just after it has rained is nice as there are more reflections from everything wet. It is also night to shoot when it is kind of foggy/misty out as light will create some areas of glow.
-Bring a cell phone or a buddy; preferably both. If you are trouncing around in the dark it is a good idea to have a way of getting some help should you run into any trouble. Please take this seriously.
Monday, March 21, 2011
More on photo editing and cgi
Given that our celebrities often have their images cleaned up, why shouldn't we clean up our own images? How far is to far?
Portrait Professional Studio is a popular photo editing application tailored to clean up portraits. Basically, if you are a portrait photographer you want to present your client at their best. Perhaps even better than their best... Check out their gallery of before and after shot. I find it disturbing.
Alien Skin's Image Doctor is a similar program, though the examples are much less egregious.
I showed you lots of fashion images that were edited with a heavy hand. They were edited to the point of barely resembling the real person. Taking this one step further, if we edit photos to the point that they no longer look like the people that were photographed, why bother to even start with a photo? Why not just use computer generated models for everything? It would save a lot of money in terms of the model and the photographer and you could make everything 'perfect' from the onset?
Poser is a very popular 3D figure modeling application. Check out their gallery. People with create a figure in Poser than bring it into any number of 3D modeling applications to make it more realistic. Daz3d is a free 3D application. Victoria is a free 3D model first created in Poser than refined in Daz3d that you can modify and use freely. Is the image of Victoria any more 'fake' (or 'real' for that matter) than the images cleaned up using Portrait Professional Studio?
Silestone -- 'Above Everything Else' from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
This video is made entirely using cgi (computer generated imagery). No lenses or cameras involved. Actually, 3D programs often use 'cameras'. They are used to position the view and composition of the still image or video to be rendered. Here is an article about the artist's short film. It includes a video on his working methods. It is nuts.
This blurry of the line between cgi and photography may still a little far fetched to some (not me), but there is already work being done in the field of computer science to create programs that can differentiate by means of data analysis when they can't be differentiated visually.
Follow up- I showed you the Tron Legacy trailer last week during class to show you how digital imaging techniques were used to create a de-aged Jeff Daniels. Here is an article about how this technology will change the face of movie forever.
misc links - will organize later
Here is the link to the article I showed you in class about composition.
Interesting article about how architectural photographers are now making use of smaller lighter tools to do the same job that they used to use bigger heavier cameras for.
Like a G6 video
Thinking of the Barn
Photo Opportunities - a series of morphed 'snap shots'. Blog article about the work. Similar image made from Flickr images.
Kodak Photo Spots are vantage points at which there is a Kodak sign indicating that it is a good point to take a photo from. Disney Land has them indicated on the park map. They are designed to facilitate the photo taking process.
What does this look like?
Kodak Photo Spots are vantage points at which there is a Kodak sign indicating that it is a good point to take a photo from. Disney Land has them indicated on the park map. They are designed to facilitate the photo taking process.
What does this look like?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Passing along this job oppurtunity
We are once again hiring Photography interns to cover local arts and entertainment events. Interns must have their own equipment and a portfolio of work as an example. We pay by the shoot and work is usually done at night and on the weekends. If you have any interested candidates please have them send me their resume and a link to their portfolio. Thanks for your time and help!
Kind Regards,
Brandy Wimberly
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Levitation/Flying/Suspension
Your project is to create a series of three images in which objects appear to be levitating or suspended in some other than normal.
Below is a video about how Denis Darzacq makes his work. Here is a portfolio of his Fall series. Here is a link to his Hyper series.
There is a good one of paper flying around in this series of self portraits.
Please think of a theme for the images. What is happening that causes them to levitate? Why are there creepy people clinging to the ceilings? Imagine a room with 4 people stuck to the ceiling and the people below unaware and going about their regular business.
Or maybe they are being beamed up by aliens. Or maybe they are spontaneously combusting. Maybe they are possessed by a demon and an exorcism is occurring. Or a person/persons constantly getting into accidents. Flying out of car windows, falling off things, etc.
Start with the idea. Then start planning, then do the shooting. You have to do all the shooting at the same location. In terms of technical matters, it is almost exactly the same as the Doppelganger Project. The only difference is that you will have to mask out supports rather than mask in another person.
You can use any photography and Photoshop trickery you want to. Create a grungy texture, make glows, whatever.
Gizmodo Levitation assignment with some good examples and write-ups.
Check out Denis Darzacq Hyper series. I like the one in front of the supermarket endcap the best.
Some interesting levitation shots by someone known as Miss Aneila.
Sokolsky did this by using cranes and wires. If he did it that way, you can handle doing it with PS.
Nice little tutorial on how to make someone appear as though they are flying.
Interesting bicycle shot with a picture of it in process in the comments section.
An unnecessary video on how to do a simple levitation. The photo is silly.
Flickr Floating People group. Some very nice work in this group.
Lei Wei is a performance artist who sets up elaborate poses then photographs them. My understanding is that he doesn't use PS.
Flickr Floating People group. Some very nice work in this group.
Lei Wei is a performance artist who sets up elaborate poses then photographs them. My understanding is that he doesn't use PS.
Below is a video about how Denis Darzacq makes his work. Here is a portfolio of his Fall series. Here is a link to his Hyper series.
There is a good one of paper flying around in this series of self portraits.
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