Photo insights february '15

Jim Zuckerman’s

PH OTO I N S I G HTS February 2015

• White balance • When can highlights be blown • Abstractions in soap • Fisheye lenses • Online photo course • Student showcase • Photo tours 1

4. White balance 11. When highlights can be blown 17. Photographing soap 23. Whats wrong with this picture?

25. Short and sweet 27. Kaleidoscopic images 29. Ask Jim 32. Student showcase 36. Back issues

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f you like to travel independently with friends or family members, and the primary purpose of your trip is photography, you can plan your itinerary by the pictures you’d like to take. This is what I do.

For example, when I went to Malaysian Borneo for the first time, I had never been there but I had a list of places I wanted to visit based on the visual research I’d done online. I searched for ‘great Borneo photos’ and found many amazing places and subjects. Then, I got a map (also online) and put dots where these pictures were taken. I planned my itinerary based on that.

You can do this with any place in the world. You can even keep a file of the great photographs that compelled you to visit these particular places because they give you an idea of the types of photos you may want to take and also they clue you in to some of the best vantage points. In addition, you can glean the best times of day to shoot. Some locations are illuminated beautifully at sunrise, while others may be perfect at sunset. Having an app for your iPad or iPhone that shows the angle of the sun with respect to your location really helps in letting you know how land forms and architecture are lit throughout the day. This can save you a lot of frustration and help you take wonderful images. photos@jimzuckerman.com www.jimzuckerman.com

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White Balance T

he concept of white balance is derived from a principle in physics that involves a ‘black body radiator’. When this object (think of it as a black piece of metal) is heated, it starts to glow, first as a dull red, then a bright yellow, then white, and finally blue as more and more heat is applied to the metal. Those colors correspond to specific temperatures, and hence the photographic concept of color temperature. White balance is synomous with color tempereature.

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The temperature scale that is used in your camera’s menu when you look at the white balance is not Fahrenheit or Celsius; rather it is Kelvin. The Kelvin scale is used by the scientific community in many applications. Zero degrees Kelvin represents the (theoretical) state where there is no molecular movement, and water freezes at 273 degrees K. When the black body radiator is heated and glows a dull red, the temperature is

about 2000 degrees K. When it glows a bright increased to 3200 degrees. When the hot object yellow (such as the color from incandescent looks white like the color of light from a noon light bulbs or a sunset), the temperature has sun, like the ancient Ethiopian cemetery below,

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the temperature is 5500 degrees K, and when it glows blue hot it is around 6500 to 8000 degrees Kelvin. These cool, bluish tones show up in your pictures when you shoot with an overcast sky, such as in the picture of the highland cow from Scotland on the previous page as well as when you shoot in deep shade or at dusk like the shot of the Elgin Cathedral ruins on page 7, also in Scotland. I took this picture shortly before dark.

Some photographers automatically correct for a bluish color bias. This can be done at the time of shooting or in post-processing. I actually like the blue and usually see it as an artistic interpretation of a subject.

What white balance setting to use?

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If you shoot in the RAW format, you can change the white balance using the color temperature slide in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom. In essence, it doesn’t matter what WB you use simply because it can be tweaked to your taste at any time. However, when you assess your photography at the time of shooting by studying the images on the LDC monitor, I feel it is best to see the colors as accurately as possible because it’s very time consuming to alter dozens or hundreds of images in postprocessing.

Therefore, I recommend for all of your outdoor shooting, use daylight white balance. I know many photographers opt for auto white balance, but this is a mistake in my opinion.

You would think that AWB gives you accurate colors in all situations, but it doesn’t. The big-

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w

UPCOMING PHOTO WORKSHOPS Baby WildlifeWorkshop Hinckley, Minnesota June 26 - 28, 2015

Baby wolves, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, lynx, foxes, bears, plus adult animals in natural looking environments.

Frog & Reptile Workshop Close-up encounters with poison dart frogs and exotic reptiles in St. Louis, MO.

April 11 - 12, 2015

Home Photoshop workshop Learn amazing techniques to help you be more creative in photography.

May 16-17, 2015

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gest problem with it is when you photograph in sunrise or sunset lighting, such as when I shot the famous arch in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California, below. The golden colors that we love about low angled sunlight are eliminated. The yellow is ‘corrected’ to be white light, thus the shadows and texture looks normal but the colors seem diluted and unimpressive. By using a daylight white balance, you will capture what you see.

The only disadvantage of using daylight WB is when shooting in shade the light appears bluish. This is also true at dusk. In this case, you can adjust the white balance in the camera’s menu and raise the Kelvin temperature to 6500 or higher (or choose cloudy WB) and that will bring the colors back to normal. I never do that, though. I let the images go blue and then, if I don’t like them, I’ll use the color temperature slide in ACR to make the change. You can

do this only if you shoot RAW. When shooting indoors with incandescent lights, I use the white balance setting made specifically for this type of light: incandescent, or tungsten WB. The only time I use auto white balance is when shooting florescent illumination. Some cameras now have a florescent lighting white balance setting, but either way the colors come out looking quite good.

For all of the new energy saving bulbs (which I hate), no white balance setting looks good.

You can use daylight or florescent becaue these are the best options, but the colors just won’t look correct and it’s hard to tweak them in post-processing. That’s why I suggest you avoid these kinds of lights whenever possible. §

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WHEN HIGHLIGHTS CAN BE BLOWN I

make a big deal on my photo tours and my online courses about not blowing the highlights in pictures. Blowing highlights means exposing an image such that the bright areas are devoid of detail or texture.

In other words, subjects like a white t-shirt, snow, sunny highlights, and a bright window become solid white. This is usually bad because the white areas draw attention away from a subject and they are visually annoying.

There are some situations, though, where blown highlights are acceptable. One example is the sun. From the earth, and without using a telescope, the sun never has detail. It is always a solid white disc during the day and a yellow or

red disc when it is close to the horizon. In addition, sometimes there is quite a bit of flare as in the picture of the white horses of the Camargue in France, below. Not only was there nothing I could do to mitigate the blown highlights, in this case the sun adds an ethereal, colorful, and dynamic element to the image.

Another example where blown highlights are unavoidable is the sun’s reflection on water.

It’s blindingly bright to our eyes (with no detail or texture), and that’s how it’s captured by the digital sensor. That’s perfectly acceptable.

It’s important to note that these scenarios make the histogram in the camera worthless.

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The main reason photographers look at the histogram is to make sure there isn’t a spike on the right. This indicates that the highlights have become solid white. If the sun and its reflection are always blown out, then the histogram will indicate this with a right-hand spike. Many photographers will be confused by this because they’ve been taught to avoid this, but in these cases it’s not a problem at all.

The picture on page 10 of a costumed model taken during the palace shoot I do in my photo workshop to Venice shows another scenario where, in my opinion, blown highlights are fine. There was nothing outside the windows worth capturing, and the brilliant highlights create an etherial atmosphere in this medieval environment. While the eye is somewhat diverted from the subject to the windows, the red outfit is so commanding that our attention

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returns to the subject as it should.

For the portrait on the next page of a Hamar tribal girl in Ethiopia, I shot right into the sun.

I positioned myself so the girl’s head blocked the sun itself from the camera’s viewpoint, but the sky was brilliantly intense. I exposed for the girl, and of course the sky is completely overexposed with no texture or detail. In a sense, this is just like shooting in a studio with a white background. No detail is required or desired, and even though the background is lighter than the subject, our attention is still riveted on her. This is another situation where blown highlights work and when the histogram would suggest a problem where none existed. I am a big believer in replacing the sky when it’s white, but in art there are often exceptions to the rule, and this is one of them. So is the bald eagle shot, below. The white sky works.

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When shooting at night, blown highlights are common. Street lamps, head lights, and distant office windows in highrise buildings are almost always devoid of detail. In the picture of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, below, you can see this. All of the lights on the bridge are blown out, and the same is true for many of the lights in the distance. This isn’t a problem at all, but if you habitually consult the histogram the spiking on the right will indicate that there is, in fact, a problem.

Some subjects actually look better with a blown out background. In the case of the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. on the next page, the white sky complements the structure, makes a very clean background, and doesn’t distract in any way. It was drizzling when I took this picture, and many times photographers put their camera away with in-

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clement weather. This is a mistake. Rain, mist, fog, and snow storms offer great opportunities for wonderful images, but they also create situations with white skies and other contrast problems. I go to great lengths to replace problematic skies, but it’s important to know the difference between those images that need Photoshop work to replace blown highlights and those subjects that look good with the original background.

An important factor to keep in mind is that when you shoot a subject against a white sky, the subject will always turn out too dark. The light background affects the meter such that it underexposes the foreground. Therefore, use the exposure compensation feature built into the camera to compensate. For the picture of the WW II Memorial, I lightened the metering by 1 1/3 f/stops. §

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Photographing Soap S

tanding over the sink washing dishes, most people don’t think about photography and art. But there are hidden artistic treasures in the soap solution you use to clean the eating utensils, and if you like abstracts it can be a lot of fun to experiment. This is also a good project to do when the weather is nasty and you don’t want to venture outside.

The picture below shows the colorful swirls that happen right under your nose when you’re in the kitchen. The problem is that it’s not possible to take successful images unless you cre-

ate a very specific type of setup. It’s not hard at all, but if you don’t do it right, the results won’t be satisfying.

Here is the procedure step by step.

1. Mix a solution of dish washing soap, like Dawn, in a bowl of water. The bowl should be about 8 inches in diameter. The ratio of soap solution to water isn’t critical -- just make sure it appears very ‘soapy.’ In lieu of Dawn, you can also use a child’s bubble solution made for blowing bubbles.

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2. Make either a wire frame out of a wire hangar or a plastic frame out of the lid of a Tupperware container. The picture at right shows one I made using a wire hangar. I wrapped it with sponge material to hold more soap solution, but that’s not essential if you don’t want to go to that trouble.

If you want to use a Tupperware lid, you need to cut away the center of the lid leaving only the thickened outer frame.

3. Set up your camera on a tripod with a medium telephoto lens on it. I suggest something in the 100 - 200mm range or a 100mm macro. If you use a normal non-macro telephoto, you will also need one or two extension tubes.

These fit between the body and the lens, and they allow you to focus closely. In other words, you can fill the frame with the soapy abstraction.

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4. You’ll need a light stand or even the back of a wooden chair to clamp the frame in place.

See the photo below.

5. Place a drip pan beneath the frame. In the picture below, you can see I made something that can hold a lot of water but you don’t need

this at all. Any kind of pan or bowl will work.

6. Behind the frame from the camera’s point of view place something black. I used velvet, but anything dark will work.

7. This is the most important ingredient: You need something large and white positioned in such a way that if the frame had a mirror in it, you could look through the viewfinder of the camera and see the white surface. I used a softbox in the setup on the previous page, but you could even tape 4 pieces of white computer paper together and hang this makeshift diffusion panel in front of the light source.

8. The light for this setup has to be flash, and it is positioned behind the white diffusion material.

Only flash will freeze the movement of the swirling soap colors, and only flash will allow you to have enough depth of field. Obviously you’ll

need to trigger the flash off-camera, and you can do that wirelessly with a Pocket Wizard, Nikon’s built in commander mode, or a Radio Popper. Or you can use a PC cord that connects the camera and flash.

That’s the setup. To make the pictures, dip the wire or plastic frame in the bubble solution. A sheet of soap film is suspended in the frame, and after a few seconds the pearlescent colors appear. They swirl over the entire surface of the sheet of film, and then in about 20 or 30 seconds the soap ‘pops’ and it’s gone.

Then you do it again.

As soon as you dip the frame in the bowl and lift up with the soap film, clamp it to the vertical support and start taking pictures.

Camera settings and technique

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Because this is essentially a macro shot, and because you need as much of the beautiful detail to be as sharp as possible, use the smallest lens aperture you have available -- either f/22 or f/32.

The white balance should be set to daylight, and the shutter speed should sync with the flash. Use manual exposure mode on the camera and ETTL (or iTTL) mode on the flash.

Compose the pictures such that you fill the frame with the soap solution, and as I mentioned before, it’s necessary to see the white surface of the diffusion material reflected in the soap solution when it’s clamped to the vertical support. Only then will you get the beautiful colors you see in these pictures.

To adjust the exposure, don’t vary the f/

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stop. As I said, you need as much depth of field as possible. The back of the camera will be oblique to the plane of the soap film, and that makes complete depth of field challenging. Therefore, you shouldn’t open the lens to a larger aperture if the pictures are too dark.

And if you try varying the shutter speed, that won’t affect the exposure unless it’s so long that the room’s ambient light is recorded. That’s not what you want. A slow shutter will show too much movement in the swirling colors.

Therefore, the only ways to adjust exposure is to: (1) change the output from the flash using the flash exposure compensation feature, or (2) change the distance of the flash and the diffusion panel to the soap film suspended in the frame. Either of these steps will allow you to tweak the exposure. §

LEARNING TO SEE

online course

by Jim Zuckerman

The ability to ‘see photographically’, to really grasp how your camera and lenses capture a subject or scene (which is different than how we see with our eyes) underlies successful picture taking. It is the bottom line that you’ve been looking for to take that quantum leap forward in your photography.

The great thing about online courses is that they can fit into any schedule. Life gets in the way at times, and Jim puts no limit on the time you can submit your work for his critiques. CLICK THIS PAGE to read more about this course.

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BOTSWANA/SOUTH AFRICA p h o t o t o u r June 6 - 20, 2015

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What’s wrong with this picture?

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was frustrated when I took this picture of a highland cow in Scotland because I really wanted a good shot of one but this wasn’t it. The reason? I was forced to stand behind a fence on a rise of ground that put me a few feet above the cow.

If you look at this critically you can see that I was shooting downward, and usually this is not ideal. It diminishes the subject. There was nothing I could do short of climbing over the fence shooting from eye level, but I hesitated to trespass on a farmer’s land and, at the same time, I wasn’t sure how agressive this bull might be. So, I didn’t get what I wanted.

As I drove throughout Scotland I kept an eye out for more of these unique animals.

In one of the hotels I stayed in the Isle of Skye, a woman told me of a farm that had a lot of highland cows, and she was right. I found the farm and this time I was able to shoot at eye level. The picture on the next page shows the results. This is what I wanted -- a frame filling shot taken right in front of the animal. You can see that it’s much more powerful, not only because of the tight composition, but because of the eye-to-eye perspective (well, we can’t see the eyes but you know what I mean).

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I used a 70-200mm lens set to 85mm, so that tells you how close I was -- about 10 feet.

I composed the bull in the middle of the frame to underscore the symmetry of the head and the horns, and I was grateful for the overcast sky because that gave me diffused light which, in my opinion, is ideal for all outdoor portraits, whether they be human or animal.

I would have liked a little more depth of field, but f/5 and 1/250th of a second at 800 ISO were my settings. As long as the hair covering the face and the nose were sharp, I was happy. The ears and the horns were a bonus, although in retrospect I could have taken this at 1/125 and 1250 ISO. That would have allowed me to use f/11. When things are happening fast, though, and the subject is moving, it’s enough just to take a sharp picture.

I wanted that head-on type of shot, and even a millisecond could make the difference between the head slightly turned away or looking straight at me. In the precious few milliseconds I had to get the shot, I chose to concentrate on the composition rather than the depth of field. §

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SHORT AND SWEET 1. It’s not really appropriate to critique snapshots or to

judge them by artistic standards. They are simply moments we want to record, and backgrounds, lighting, composition, etc., are not part of the equation. I love this shot of my dogs even if it has artistic flaws.

3.

When you shoot flowers, examine the underside of them because you will often be rewarded with a unique color pattern, graphic design, and perspective.

In most cases, use the smallest aperture you have for complete depth of field. To blur such exquisite detail would be a shame.

2. Mixed lighting like this palace shot I set up in Ven-

ice for my photo tour group is often very beautiful.

The warm light from the sconce mixes with the daylight coming from the right through large windows.

The color of light has great visual impact.

4. Closeup portraits are great, but so are portraits that

are more distant when the environment complements the subject. Making environmental portraits is more challenging because there are so many things to consider. Make sure the light is perfect, the background is fitting, and the subject is engaged in something. §

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Photography Tours 2015 - 2016 HOLLAND/BELGIUM April, 2015

NAMIBIA June, 2015

MADAGASCAR August, 2015

VIETNAM, CAMBODIA, LAOS Sept, 2015

BURMA (MYANMAR) Sept, 2015

CUBA October, 2015

ETHIOPIA November, 2015

CARNIVAL IN VENICE Feb, 2016

WHITE HORSES, FRANCE April, 2016

MOROCCO March, 2015

BOTSWANA/SOUTH AFRICA June, 2015

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CROATIA, SLOVENIA April, 2016

For a complete list of all the photo tours/workshops Jim is conducting, go to his website: www.jimzuckerman.com.

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FISHEYE LENSES

F

isheye lenses have limited use, but I always carry one because once in a while when the right subject presents itself, they allow you to produce something very unique and visually compelling.

Fisheyes are essentially ultra wide angle lenses, and as such they have unbelievable depth of field. The picture below, for example, of the cloisters in the Gloucester Cathedral in England was shot with an f/11 lens aperture, and everything is sharp from a few inches in front of the lens to infinity. The ultra wide 15mm Canon fisheye exaggerated the length of the corridor wildly, and the curvature of the vertical lines created what looks like a tunnel.

The picture on the next page is a spiral staircase in the cathedral inside the Monastery of Melk in Austria. One of the unique characteristics of fisheyes is that when you photograph something round -- like a domed ceiling or a spiral staircase -- the lens doesn’t make it ‘more round’. In other words, the curvature of the lens doesn’t appear to be a distortion because the subject is round already. What it does give you, though, is a different look that normal rectalinear lenses don’t have.

I find that, at least according to my own taste, fisheyes are most useful with architectural subjects. I’ve used them with nature at times, but I rarely like the results. §

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ASK JIM

Every month Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com.

Q: Jim . . . I took this photo using a flash at dawn on our Venice workshop last year. I think the main

subject is stunning, but unfortunately the background isn’t sharp. How should I have handled this situation given the fact that I wanted complete depth of field?

Douglas Jackson, Dickson, Tennessee

A:

The procedure for obtaining depth of field when using flash is this: (1) Set the camera to aperture priority and choose the lens aperture you want, such as f/16. (2) Set the flash to ETTL (or iTTL). (3) Use a tripod. The reason you need to use a tripod is because in this kind of low light situation, the shutter speed will be slow. Because the light is reduced by the small aperture, and because the aperture priority setting tells the camera to balance the flash on the foreground with the ambient light in the background, the shutter has to be relatively slow. Hence, the need for a tripod.

© 2015 Douglas Jackson

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Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos photo tour

September 13 - 28, 2015 Culture • Ancient ruins • Great people photography • Temples

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

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NAMIBIA PHOTO TOUR June 22 to July 3, 2015

Wildlife Bushmen Dunes Epupa Falls

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Student Showcase

Each month, Jim features one student who took beautiful and inspiring images on one of his photography tours or workshops. It’s really fascinating how photographers see and compose such different images even though we may go to the same place. Everyone gets great images on my trips.

Alexander Decoster, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Turkey, The Pantanal, Botswana, Venice,

Š 2015 Alexander Decoster

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Student Showcase, continued

Š 2015 Alexander Decoster

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Student Showcase, continued

Š 2015 Alexander Decoster

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PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP in my home

Sat. & Sun., May 16 - 17, 2015

Photoshop is a photographer’s best friend, and the creative possibilities are absolutely endless. In a personal and ‘homey’ environment (I have a very cool classroom setup in my home), I start at the beginning -- assuming you know nothing -- but I quickly get into layers, cutting and pasting, plug-ins, using ‘grunge’ textures, modifying lighting, replacing backgrounds (like in the photo above), using layer masks, blend modes, adding a moon, and a lot more. I promise to fill your head with so many great techniques that you won’t believe what you’ll be able to do. I go over each technique several times to make sure you understand it and can remember it.

Photoshop instructors approach teaching this program from different points of view. My approach is to be as expansive in my thinking as possible in creating unique, artistic, and compelling images. In addition to showing you how to use the various tools, pull down menus, layers, and so on, I spend a lot of time giving you

creative ideas that will inspire you to produce amazing images with the pictures you’ve already taken.

I live in the Nashville, Tennessee area, and if you fly into the airport (BNA) I will pick you up. If you drive, I’ll give you my address and you can find my home on Mapquest. For the $450 fee, I include one dinner in my home (prepared by my wife who is an amazing cook and hostess) and two lunches, plus shuttling you back and forth from my home to your nearby hotel.

Contact me if you would like to participate in the workshop and I will tell you how to sign up (photos@jimzuckerman.com). All you need is a laptop and a lot of your pictures. If you don’t have a laptop, I have two Mac Book Pro laptops I can loan out for the duration of the workshop. §

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PHOTO INSIGHTS®

published by Jim Zuckerman, all rights reserved © Jim Zuckerman 2015 email: photos@jimzuckerman.com snail mail address: P.O. Box 7, Arrington, TN 37014 42