Depth of Field - How I use It

Simply stated, Depth of Field (DOF) is that portion of a photograph that remains in focus both in front of and behind where your focal point is made. If I focus on a particular object, depending on the focal length of the lens, the aperture, and where I focus, a certain portion of the image may or may not remain in focus. The longer the focal length of the lens, something like 200mm or 400mm or larger, the relative depth of field becomes narrower for a given aperture. The larger the aperture, say f/2.8 or f/3.5...or even f/6.3 as opposed to a small aperture like f/16 or f/22, the narrower the Depth of Field becomes.

Here are two examples. The first image is general scenic shot that required a short focal length lens 18mm along with a small aperture f/22. By doing so, virtually the entire image remains in focus from almost directly in front of the lens to all the back to the sky. This is an effective technique to use for most scenic shots.

This next image is a subject specific shot where I used a long focal length lens, 500mm, along with a relatively middle to large size aperture, f/6.3. The idea on this one was to isolate the blue bird against a blurred background. The 500mm lens does by itself shorten the DOF which in turn creates a blurred background, but when combined with a larger aperture the effect can become quite dramatic.

What is important here is understanding how to use Depth of Field effectively in a photograph. So let's discuss how I use it and what I look for.

I use a tight DOF and a wide DOF for all kinds of shots including both scenic and subject specific shots. Subject specific shots are those shots where you want to isolate your subject and emphasis its characteristics without interference from visual background noise. Portrait closeups are good examples on when to use this technique, like the image shown here.

I most often use this approach when the background is generic in nature and can be used primarily as a simple natural backdrop. When blurred, the background now becomes something that enhances the image as opposed to competeing with it. However, there are times I want to include the background as part of the portrait. This is most often applied when the background provides a Measure of Place for the portrait, like this next image which was shot as f/10 at 50mm. As you can see, the entire image remains in focus with the pillars providing a dramatic flavor to the image.

Keeping with that idea, scenic shots can be quite effective when created using a tight DOF. Shots like these are approached much the same way as closeup portraits. Hre, I wanted to isolate this branch of fall leaves against the golden brown of the background. By doing so, the background blurred as it is contributes to the color flavor of the image without interfereing with the main subject.

The point is...always be aware of your surroundings, especially what is in the background and plan your shots according to the type of DOF that will create the most appealing effect. It is a realtively simple concept that more often than not is not always properly used. By understanding how your camera / lens combination works in regards to DOF, you can use this technique to generate some amazing photographs.

A Day in The Field

Early June sometimes finds itself struggling to decide where it wants to go. It seems to know the dog days of summer are but a week or two away, yet somehow probably in defiance of the inevitable, the first week of June seems to always cling to the last remnants of spring. That is the way it was leading up to and then falling on a single June day afternoon recently. For six months we had tried to schedule a location shoot but available time and circumstance prevented us from connecting...that is until that day.

Leading up to our shoot the previous few days rain fell and the tempertures dropped lower than are typical for this time of year around these parts. Then the days turned almost perfect when highs in the mid 70's along with a light breeze. Clouds rolled in and created a covering blanket of soft white, which for a photographer is mostly perfect as the sky then becomes a giant softbox casting gently smooth light. Our day was set and the shoot was on...location was Romanza Johnson Park where Trammel Creek winds its way around the edges.

I showed up a little early to set up the changing tent and the speedlight stands...checked and rechecked the settings and the camera remote; Group A channel 1, Group B channel 1...yes, the power settings changed on queue for each. The softbox was attached to Group A light and Group B was powered down to about 1/32nd power...just enough to provide a subtle highlight. Group A is always my main light, and Group B is usually my main highlighter. Sometimes I'll use up to four lights adding a Group C and D all fired as Channel 1, but this day only two lights proved necessary and as it turned out, they worked exactly the way I planned.

My model was a delightful young lady, Sophie, who arrived shortly there after with her mom. After a quick intro as to what we were wanting to accomplish, we decided to setup along the split rail fence that stretched along the entrance road on the outer edge of the park. Because of the rain, the ground was too muddy elsewhere and the creek was running higher than normal preventing us from using the gravel bar.

The first few shots I made were simply establishing shots to verify exposure and light angles. Turns out a few of those were pretty good shots and became part of the image grouping. As always my desire was to have the model simply be herself, yet add a hint of sassy along with a dash perky. Some models are more difficult to work with, but some, like Sophie, took to it like a pro. I never overdo instructions, choosing to drop hints and suggestions and then let the model fill in the gaps with her own style and personality. Sometimes it is necessary to encourage a bit more animation from them and then offer a range of opportunity for them to give it a try.

I almost always use a long lens as this allows for a wider range of depth of field control plus it reduces any uncomfortable personal space intrutions that might occur using a shorter focal length lens. Some of the most effective shots are done when you simply allow the model to slowly move across a few yards without posing, without becoming too static. A flip of the hair, a subtle look down, a slight tilt of the head, gentle smile...allow the natural light to work the background, but allow the model to become herself without being overly concerned about her actions. Just allow the off camera flash to fill in the rest of the light.

The key...the eyes. They must be clear, bright, and sharp with strong color definition. Always focus on the eyes, not always an easy compositional task when your model is moving toward you. The trick is to take a lot of shots so you will almost always have a few come out the way you want them to.

Most of my shoots last about an hour and half...move out much past two hours and everyone starts getting tired with a noticable drop off in energy.

Every photographer develops their own style and I haved gained a great deal of insight from many of my photographer friends. Some tend to slant toward more of an edgy look, others are very creative and stylish, still others are plain and ordinary. Over time my style has grown into a simple homey look accented with a slight amount of sass and sweetness. Mostly I just let the model be themselves as much as possible and encourage them to loosen up enough to feel comfortable with what we are doing.

All in all this early June outing turned out to be a delightful day in the field...and the results...well, I think they turned out rather well.

B-29 FIFI - A Portrait of a Legend

The B-29 bomber of World War II fame proved itself an iconic airplane both in design and function. It became the most expensive design project during the war exceeding even the development of the Atomic Bomb in cost. Almost 4,000 of them were built and two of them, the Enola Gay and Bocks Car dropped two atomic bombs on Japan ending the war.

When one of the few flying examples of the B-29, FIFI, came to Bowling Green, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to capture this beautiful airplane. What I wanted to do was photograph it at dusk using several speedlights along with some light painting, however, when I inquired about doing such a thing, the crew balked and it fell through. I was left with trying to capture the nostalgic nature of FIFI under less than ideal conditions. As a result, the images I took were made with the intent of creating black and white images. Black and white lends itself well to capturing dramatic skies when the lighting conditions are marginal. Converting to B&W allows one to take advantage of contrast which will offset the negative factors assiciated with middle of the day lighting. Another difficulty were the other people who had come to see the B-29. It was difficult to shoot around them and in some cases it became necessary to clone them out of the image in post processing, not always an easy task.

Fortunately, in spite of the tough conditions, the sky cooperated and I was presented with a blend of whispy clouds and blue skies, both of which contributed to exciting black and white conversions.

The idea behind the images was to recreate that 1940's look. The conversion process included using Nik software Silver Effects which allows for various black and white effects including simulating the use of different kinds of black and white papers. This advantage creates exciting possibilities. Most of the images that were converted used the Ilford Delta 100 Pro paper simulation. I also applied a sepia tone effect on a few of the images, along with high contrast and high structure giving the images a powerful, crisp look.

Capturing a portrait of a legend like the B-29 transported me if only for a few moments back in time to another era when because of the circumstances of the time, great planes were created which were destined to become some of the most beautifully functional machines ever created.

How The Picture Was Made - Blending Two Zones of Light

Photography requires as much post processing as it does time in the field. In fact, almost all digital images require some post processing to bring out the extra pop we all desire in our photos. Fortunately, there are a few easy to learn techniques that help us in creating a finished photograph. One of these is knowing how to blend two Zones of light.

First let's go back a step or two. Blending two zones of light starts in the camera and is accomplished by taking at least two separate images of the same subject, one using the ambient light and one using a speedlight(s), then blending them in photoshop as a single photograph. The reason we do this is because when using speedlights, it sometimes becomes necessary for the lightstand to be in the shot in order to get the best angle to light the subject. When that happens we need an easy way to remove the lightstand without having to perform a lot of cloning magic which can at times get cumbersome. It is also necessary because the ambient light is almost always darker than the light from the flash and we must allow for the 'Burning In' of that background light before the flash fires to illuminate our main subject.

Let's look at the portrait of a 1976 Corvette I recently made. The situation was like this. The background was the National Corvette Museum and I wanted to take the photo during that narrow window between dusk and dark. Doing so would allow for the capture of the dynamic lighting on the museum's Skydome and also allow for some of the dusky light in the sky to be captured. This however prevented me from capturing the Corvette with a correct exposure using just the available light. To accomplish that feat required the use of multiple speedlights positioned strategically around the Corvette to illuminate it.

The two zones of light then were; The background ambient light coming from the sky and the museum, and the speedlights used to expose the car. In order to have an effective light on the car required that two of the speedlights, one with a softbox attached, be in the shot. A first baseline photo was made without the lights in place and was done simply to get the ambient light exposure where I wanted it. The second shot then was setup with the lights in place to capture the car.

The first two images then shows the ambient light photo without the speedlights in the picture. It was opened as a RAW image and tweaked to obtain the desired results for the background light, then saved and opened inside the Photoshop Elements work window. The Tweak settings were noted for later use.

There were some powerlines showing in the sky in the upper left of the image so they were removed using the Healing tool. Then the second image taken using the lights was opened also as a RAW image.

Notice the softbox showing in the upper right of the image and also not as noticeable the speedlight sitting on the other side of the car firing into the window. The same RAW settings were applied so the second image would closely match the background settings of the previous image. Notice the Powerlines are also visable in the second image, but they were left alone.

Next I used the Select All option under the Select dropdown box then selected Copy under the EDIT dropdown. I then reopened the first image and used the PASTE option to overlay the second image exactly on top of the first one. This created a Layer Mask that could then be used to erase anything showing on the top layer to expose what was beneath it. In this case I simply seleted the Erase tool and expanded the brush to a medium size and erased the sky area, the softbox, and the speedlight shooting into the car.

With a little more applied tweaking of the brightness, contrast, color, and the removal of some stray artifacts to clean up the final image...the results!

1976 Corvette - A Challenging Shoot for an Iconic Sports Car

The Corvette, America's iconic sports car has survived the test of time. From beginning's in 1953 it grew in favor and reputation until today where the newest cars are so filled with technology those of us who remember the good old days can hardly fathom the engineering used to create these marvelous machines. The first one I remember seeing and knowing it was a Corvette was a black 1963 Stingray. I was 11 years old and a neighbor down the street parked his new sportscar in his driveway. It took about three minutes before every person in the neighborhood hovered around this beauty. I've been fascinated with them ever since and even today as I am able to work parttime at the National Corvette Museum, I find their styling and mystique as endearing as ever.

A friend of mine, an ex-Navy guy and former co-worker Jim Rhea, some years ago discovered an early model icon sitting in disrepair with weeds growing out of the engine compartment and vines wrapping themselves around the body and inside the cab . The floor was rotted, windows busted, upholstery torn and frayed, and the wiring in disrepair. Even so, he saw not a ruined derelict, but a great project full of potential, one that would eventually take him over 18 months to restore. When he was finished, a 1976 Corvette was raised from the ash heap of forgotten dreams and restored to its former glory.

We met up again recently to spend a couple of hours photographing his re-creation using another symbol of this beautiful car as a backdrop; The National Corvette Museum (NCM) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This is the story of how we pulled off a challenging photographic session.

My goal on this shoot was to capture a single exciting photograph of this beautifully restored vehicle. One that captured not only the car's styling but the car's muscle and pedigree. Photographing a white car against a dark background is not an easy task when using speedlights. The risk is over exposing the white and underexposing the darker areas.

The first problem was to identify the basic process. I decided on using four speedlights, wished I had five, one with a softbox positioned so as to capture the lines and aesthetic values of the car. The idea was to position the car in front of the Sky Dome at the NCM and shoot around the dusk hour so we could capture not only the car but the dynamic flavor of the cone-shaped Sky Dome as the backdrop. I decided to once again use the flash sync process known as Rear Sync, where the flash does not fire until the end of the shutter cycle. This would allow for burning in the background and then filling in the car with light at the last moment.

We also needed to figure out how to best position the car in relation to the Sky Dome which took some trial and error. Once we had the basic configuartion figured out, it was a matter of positioning the lights to illuminate the car while we also captured the background in the same shot.

The basic exposure values were ISO 400 - f/8.0 @ 2.5 seconds with the lens set at 20mm and secured on a tripod. I used manual focus to make sure the car was the primary focal point Once the exposure was set, the camera was not touched and was fired using a remote cable.

The lights were setup in this manner: The main light with a softbox was positioned about 6 feet in front of and slightly to one side of the car somewhat above eye level with the softbox rotated to the horizontal position. It was also set to about 1/4 power initially. This was my key light. One speed light, set to 1/16th power and zoomed in tight, sat on the ground slightly pointing toward the front tire. This not only brought life to the tire, it created a seam along the front curve of the body fender. A third light, also set to 1/32nd power, was pointed toward the rear tire well which rounded out the side lighting on the body. The fourth light, set to 1/64th power was positioned so it would shoot into the cab area thus illuminating the inside of the car.

My camera was positioned at about 45 degrees from the front and was positoned above eye level. With this as a starting point, we made several exposures and checked the results, then tweaked the lights as needed moving them in and out or to one side to even out the light on the car. We eventually had Jim hold the key light and angle it down so as to illuminate the top of the car with more light.

Although not bad for a first attempt, there are a few things I would do differently next time. Even so, the shot came off pretty well. Thanks to Jim for allowing me to capture his iconic car in front of an iconic museum.

The Night Train Portrait: Applying Rear Sync Flash as Part of the Photographic Equation

Shooting with off-camera lighting is possibly one of the most misunderstood elements of photography. Many photographers shy away from using them simply because they do not understand how. I know because I was for many years one of those photographers who relied on the excuse, "I prefer to use available light," which really meant I had no clue how to use speedlights. Yet, after studying the results of other photographers who did use speedlights, I became convinced of the value and creative power off camera flash can generate. The principles behind their use are actually quite simple, however, learning how to apply their power to my photographic desires has been an uplifting challenge I continue to develop.

One of the most creative ways to use speedlights is to apply what is known as Rear Sync Flash. Rear Sync is fundamentally quite simple. It is best used in low-light situations where it allows you to apply a slow shutter speed to pickup more of the ambient light, then freeze your subject with the flash which fires at the end of the shutter cycle. In other words, the shutter opens and remains open for an extended period of time before the flash fires just before the shutter closes. This also allows the camera to pickup some movement before freezing the subject. Used creatively, you can obtain some amazing results.

Trial and error, and applying visual compositional equations that work allowed me over time to build confidence in using off camera lighting. The Night Train Portrait shown here is one of my first portraits using speedlights where I stretched the imaginative realm beyond what I would ordinarily do. It was a moment when the use of artificial light became a larger part of the equation and was blended with a wonderful nostalgic setting along with appealing ambient light. It became a moment where the creative impact of off camera lighting was applied fully to create an exciting photographic moment.

Lets look at how this image was set up. The background, the Bowling Green Historic Railpark and Train Museum, was a key element in the design of this image. I wanted something classic and nostalgic as a background, yet interesting. Bold, yet simple. A place where design and simplicity of character were present. The bold incandescent lighting in front of the building provided a contrasting warm tone that worked well against the dark blue of the sky at dusk.

The model, the lovely Dallas, provided a delicate strength to blend with the contrasts of the background. By shooting from a low perspective, I was able to partially isolate her against the smooth texture of the sky. Although I knew pretty much how I wanted to setup the shot, applying the lighting took a bit of planning as well. On most location shoots I will use one light, sometimes two. For this image I wanted to take it to an entirely new level. To concentrate on creating one photograph, and one look. To experiment with Rear Sync creative lighting.

Two lights were required for this shot. One Key Light and one Kicker Backlight. The backlight was placed to create a halo around the model and the trailing train of material. All lights were fired remotely using a camera mounted transmitter. The train consisted of 3 yards of thin cotton material in a Burgundy color because burgundy will work with almost any color...white, blue, black, red....My model was wearing a delicately styled patterned dress which added a measure of elegance to the composition.

The Key light, set initially to about 1/8th power was on a stand set to be slightly higher than and about 4 feet in front of my model, just out of the line of sight of the camera lens.  The kicker light was placed on a stand behind the model. Its power setting was initially around 1/32 power, about 2 stops lower than the key light...just enough to provide a rim light effect. My camera, as always when using speedlights, was set to manual and the flash mode was set to Rear Sync. I used a wide angle lens and needed a bit of depth of field to keep the background somewhat in focus so I used an aperture of f/6.3. I also needed more light gathering ability so I bumped the ISO to 800 which allowed me to use a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second.

The beauty of using flash is that it freezes your subject so even with a slow shutter, my model was still sharp and clear, yet the ghost-like movement of the material was captured during the non-flash portion of the exposure. To keep the background sharp I set the camera on a tripod collapsed all the way down to its lowest level and made the shot from a low angle.

At that point it was simply a matter of choreographing an interesting look with the model which took some trial and error, but the results turned out better than I hoped for.

The Creative Edge: Finding The Right Stuff

Many photographer friends of mine are excellent photographers. A good number of them are outstanding while most are solid practitioners of their craft. From all of them I see elements of inspired creativity and from all of them I have learned a great deal about applying technique in the field. A few of them clearly stand apart from the others in their ability to be creative and unique. Often I will gain inspiration from their work, but more importantly, I gain a greater perspective of what it takes to truly stand apart from all the rest. What I see in them is their ability know the difference between creating good, routine images, to understanding and applying a creative edge to their photographs. The Truth is...they possess The Right Stuff.

There are times I am able to observe other photographers in-the-field work flow. I watch what they do, listen to them explain what they are thinking, and I see the fruits of their work. From these observations and applying what I've learned to my own attempts, I've come to understand that taking the leap from being a good photographer to one who is truly creative is often a matter of continuing to think beyond the ordinary, to push the thought process to another level, to take each new image challenge a greater distance. Think of it like this; One does not become an expert at playing the piano except by pushing to play increasingly more difficult musical scores. Only by working through the new challenges does one become stronger. The same applies to photography.

Too often I discover too late that I failed to push the creative process far enough. In other words...I settled for what I had. The results, although sometimes promising, often fell short of my expectations as a photographer. But each time I examine mediocre results, I learn a little more, begin to recognize the limitations I placed on myself, and move closer toward finding the right stuff. I've discovered that failure in a photograph is never truly a failure if you learn from it. Oddly enough, I've failed so many times one would think I would be a lot farther along my creative learning curve, but the curve is long and undulating and in some places very steep.

Finding the right stuff as a photographer I do believe requires one to try many kinds of photography. Always doing the same thing over and over tends to reinforce old, bad habits. Trying something new forces you to rethink what you are doing both in technique and in creative thinking, and it builds upon what you already know. Then, when you do return to your comfort photographic area, your ability to look at what you do from a fresh perspective opens the door for more in depth creative thinking.

Finding a Creative Edge requires a degree of imagination. I often see (and take) technically good photographs, yet they often lackthat all important artistic element, one that is difficult to teach. In workshops I have taught I almost always emphasize the concept of looking and thinking beyond the ordinary. This alone, once mastered to the point it becomes instinctive, helps you the photographer to visualize your final product before you ever release the shutter. Sometimes we get lucky and things simply fall into place in spite of our efforts, but those with the right stuff have an uncanny ability to create with their imagination, then capture it with technical skill that lies beyond the scope of what most of us possess.