This photo from the Starlight, just up the street from where I live, has a certain menace to it. Maybe hints of Death Star.
Taken with the D300s and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4.
Category Archives: Photos
Creating a Wedding Party Composite with Flash
I’ve had a request to explain in more detail how I achieved the wedding party composite from yesterday’s post. I borrowed the idea from Ryan Brenizer, who uses this technique very effectively to achieve dramatic (but even) lighting over a group of people. This would be extremely difficult with a single or pair of flashes in a single image, especially on the fly and in the wild.
Here’s how it’s done.
First I set the camera (D300s with AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 17mm) on a tripod to keep the framing the same between each shot. I used manual mode to ensure consistent exposure. Settings of ISO 200, f/8, 1/250s gave this look:
The ambient light is at least a stop underexposed, which is right where I wanted it. The next step was to set up the flash. I used a Nikon SB-900 set to wireless TTL control (the Nikon CLS system is powerful and complicated… something I’m sure I’ll delve into explaining in another post) and triggered with the on-board flash. To diffuse and soften the light, I added my favourite light mod, the Lumiquest Softbox LTz. This softbox mounts to the flash with velcro and folds up to the size of a 17″ laptop, which most camera bags nowadays have a slot for. Portt, who was assisting me that day, held the flash up close to each pair of people and I took a shot for each position.
In Lightroom, I batch processed the five images for exposure, lens correction, sharpening and then opened them in Photoshop as layers in a single file. Using the first image as a base layer, I painted in the relevant bits from the successive layers and finished things off with some global and local curves and dodging/burning. Here’s the final image:
To get this look in a single image would have required some pretty tricky lighting, both to light each person evenly and to control the spill on the background. In all, the composite took just a few minutes to shoot and less than half an hour in Photoshop. An added bonus to shooting each pair separately is that I can focus on just two faces at a time (i.e. no blinkers).
A Wedding in Muskoka
Back in September I had the opportunity to photograph Laura and Jeremy’s wedding in Gravenhurst, ON. The reception took place at Laura’s family owned campground in a beautiful old barn, with the dining/dancing upstairs and a wood stove and arcade in the basement. The guests were lovely, the property was lovely and the weather was occasionally lovely (including a surprise rainbow over the barn). I have a lot of respect for Laura and Jeremy for pulling off such a well-executed event. Holly at Holly Matrimony worked tirelessly throughout the day and kept things running so smoothly. Portt was a great assistant and car-mate/cabin-mate.
Did I mention that there was a last-minute pig roast?!
Here are some of my favourite shots from the day. First off is the wedding party on the lane between the barn and the family home. I shot it with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 at f/2.5, giving just enough depth of field to keep the party all sharp.
The following photo was taken in the basement arcade. To fill-in the people in the back corner I used an SB-900 off camera left, CLS-controlled by the on-camera flash.
Below is actually a composite of five photos. Portt held a flash with Lumiquest LTz softbox close up to each pair in the wedding party. I had exposure dialed back on the camera to probably -2EV so that the softbox could provide most of the light. The images were stitched together in Photoshop, where I masked Portt out of each one. The lens flare and spots were entirely unintended and caused by the sun peaking over the top of the barn and the raindrops on my lens.
This next photo is another composite, only this time it’s from 30+ photos taken with the D7000 and a wide-open 85mm f/1.4 G (rented, not owned). The shallow depth of field of the 85 at f/1.4 makes this panorama appear like it was taken with a wide-angle lens with an extremely wide aperture. This technique was popularized by Ryan Brenizer, one of my favourite wedding photographers.
Here are four more shots from the day. First the D7000 + Sigma 50mm f/1.4 (I think Portt was holding a white reflector here)
D7000 + Nikon 85mm f/1.4 G (with Portt holding a gold reflector)
D300s with Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 (on a tripod)
D7000 with Sigma 50mm f/1.4, ISO 2500. I had to brighten the image by well over a stop… probably 2 stops… hence the noise.
Thanks for looking!
A Photo Day at the Don Valley Brick Works
Portt and I had a great photo adventure at the Brick Works this past May. Naturally, we were armed with way more gear than we should have been. Although far more developed than the last time I’d visited (over 10 years ago) there are still many cool details that reflect how the building once was.
Here are a few shots with the D7000 and Nikon 35mm f/1.8
And some HDRs with the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8
This next shot was with the D300s and 17-55. I’m using two lights, controlled by CLS and triggered from the onboard flash. The rim light, coming from the back right of the image is a snooted SB-700 at +1EV. The main light is a SB-900 with full CTO gel through a Lumiquest Softbox LTz at +3EV. Exposure compensation on the camera was dialed down to -2EV to dim the ambient and WB was set to Tungsten to cool everything down.
This setup is extremely portable. Two small light stands and two Speedlights. The Lumiquest snoot and softbox both fit in the laptop slot of my camera bag.
Finally, here are couple shots with the Bronica ETRS. First, with the 75mm f/2.8 EII and second with the 40mm f/4 MC.
Thanks for looking!
Cheltenham Badlands in Winter
Winter isn’t normally a time when one visits the Badlands near Cheltenham, ON. In the spring/summer/autumn they are covered with a swarm of GTA weekend tourists making it difficult to get any shot without people. I grew up in the area and much of my family still lives near there so I get to see the bizarre, red elephant backs throughout the year. Last weekend, on the way to visiting family, I was treated to a beautiful dusting of snow on the north side of the ridges. Better still, there was not a soul to be seen!
Here are some shots with the D300s and Tokina 11-16/2.8 (first two), the Sigma 50/1.4 (third) and Tokina 50-135/2.8 (fourth). I love how out of place these images are with southern Ontario and how only the occasional footprint gives them a sense of scale.
After the Parade
A few weeks ago, Mitzy and I went to Montreal for her birthday. After a walk through Parc Lafontaine we planned to hit up St Catherine for some shopping. Instead, we ran straight into the Santa Clause Parade. The sea of people was impenetrable, so we headed south to Chinatown. On the way I was lucky enough to grab a quick shot of this group of raggedy haired girls waiting for their bus. I was even more lucky to have the girl on the right look right at me and awkwardly smile. The super-fast autofocus of the D300s and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 combo also helped.
Fun with Velvia
Over the past year I’ve been borrowing my uncle George’s Bronica ETRS as a fun diversion from the world of digital. I’ve shot about 10 rolls with the camera now and I’m loving the camera. It’s taught me to slow down and think hard about each shot. A roll of 120 film only has 15 shots on it, requiring considerably more focus than shooting digital (or a willingness to waste a lot of film). This summer I had four rolls of slide film developed at Dwayne’s in Kansas, two rolls of Provia 100 and two of Velvia 100, and tonight I finished scanning the last roll.
Here’s an image that anybody following my Flickr site will recognize, since I also shot it digitally and with my Nikon N80. This is with the MC 40mm f/4.
I think of all the versions of the image, this Velvia shot is my favourite. The tones are natural and soft. I did have to bump up the foreground with curves and a gradient mask. I also painted in a flat curve with ‘Screen’ blending over the waterfall and trees along the horizon. It’s a shame that I didn’t take this photo a few minutes earlier, as the setting sun reflects from just a small patch at the far end of the falls The next two were taken in my mom’s garden on Velvia with the 75mm f/2.8 EII
The next two photos show the dual nature of the MC 40mm bokeh. On some images, like the first, it is incredibly harsh. I find it almost painful to look at, although the sharp bricks in the foreground really pop with a 3D effect. The image of the barbed wire shows that the bokeh can occasionally be nice with this lens. The downside to shooting film, of course, is that it took me months to even see what kind of images this lens could produce. Now that I have a better gauge of the lens’s strong points (sharpness, distortion, colour) and weak points (bokeh, vignetting with filters) I’ll be able to use it more effectively.
Thanks for looking!
“Vintage Faded” Look
Lately I’ve been playing with a “vintage faded” editing technique, where I push the shadows and pull the highlights so they clip early. Combined with a bit of cross-processing using the new RGB curves in Lightroom 4, I’m getting close to a look I’m happy with.
I’m finding that the RBG curve tool is extremely sensitive… moving a point on the curve has a strong impact on the image. When focusing on a single image there’s no problem. When trying to batch convert or save a generic preset I find that a curve that looks great on one image looks terrible on another. Maybe I should create a series of curve presets with increasing strength.
Here are a few more shots. Thoughts? Is this look successful?
Test
Owen Cherry Photography 