Tutorial: making a splash

There's so much to discover in the world of photography! I love to try something new every once in a while. Today I tried my hand at splash photography. To get an idea of what I mean with splash photography, do watch this clip from Gavin Hoey.

Time to get started. What do I need? A white background and a white subsurface. I used a small table and put it in front of a white door, using white cardboard as underground. I put one speedlight to the side. And for the splashy bit of the picture, I filled a wine glass with some red lemonade. Voila! 

After the set-up was done, I grabbed my camera to start the shoot. First I focused on the glass and then I switched my lens to manual. I wasn't really satisfied with the first couple of pics I took: the background was a bit grey-ish, not nearly as white as I imaged it would come out. So I cranked up the power of the flash. 

And this was the outcome, not too bad for a first timer at splash photography! 

These are the basics:

1. Put your camera on a tripod
2. Focus on your subject with F8 or more
3. Switch to Manual focus
4. Switch on your flash on 1/8 power (as a starting point)
5. Set your camera around 1/200 and ISO 200 (as a starting point)
6. Take a shot and check if you like the lighting. If the background needs brightening, put more light on it with your speedlight. 
7. Drop and shoot a lot to have a range of pictures. I prefer to work with a remote control. 
8. Import the pictures into Lightroom and edit the best one(s)
9. Start cleaning up the mess you left behind at the scene of your shoot..... 

And with photoshop/ Lightroom it's very easy to change the colors

There are loads of possibilities with this kind of photography. We'll be doing some more experimenting with this in the next couple of weeks to improve our technique. I for one prefer the background to be even more white. And it sounds like fun to experiment for example with milk and fruit and white subsurface and dye. In other words, did you like this post? Make sure to check back in a couple of weeks (at least) to read some more about splash photography! 

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Basics: know when to stop...

It goes without saying that one of the most important elements in photography is light. This blog gives some more details about exposure, aperture and other useful terms related to light. 

The amount of light captured whilst taking a photo, is known as the exposure. Exposure is controlled by:
1. Aperture
2. Shutterspeed
3. ISO

The aperture is a hole within a lens through which light travels into the camera body. With a big hole (small number, for example F/2.8), a lot of light will come onto your picture. And thus with a small hole (big number, for example F/16), less light will travel into your camera body. 

Basically, large aperture (f/2.0, f/2.8 etc.) lets in more light to the camera shutter for an exposure, whilst small aperture (f/11, f/16, f/22 etc.) has a smaller opening in the lens. 

After aperture, let's talk about shutterspeed. So a camera shutter is curtain in front of the camera sensor. This curtain stays closed until the camera fires. The faster your shutterspeed is, the faster the curtain will be closed and your picture will be darker than with a slower shutterspeed. 

And then ofcourse: ISO. ISO indicates the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive your camera is to light. A higher ISO number increases the sensitivity of your camera to light. Turning your ISO up to 400 gives you a lighter image than a picture with ISO 200. 

Be in control

These are the basics for good exposure. And good exposure is so very important for great images. Ofcourse you can use the automatic setting but then you have no influence on the actual result. Or you can choose to shoot semi-automatic. This is where for example you set your shutterspeed and the camera then decides on the aperture. You still don't have full control over the entire process. 

I always prefer to shoot manual. Good start is to shoot in Aperture Priority Mode (AV for Canon) and check the result. So set an Aperture (for example F4) and make a picture. Now check the shutterspeed and ISO that was used by the camera. Switch your camera to Manual and now you can be in control. Do you want more or less light? You want to change your depth of field? When making this creative changes, you need to know your stops: 

This table shows you all the details you need to know. It might look a bit tricky but actually it's not. Each step in Aperture, Shutterspeed or ISO is called a stop.

When you go from F2.8 till F4 it's 1 stop. If you are on F11 and want three stops back (more light) you have to change your aperture to F4. It works the same with Shutterspeed and ISO.

So let's take for example this well-exposed image that was shot with the following settings:   F5,6, 1/250 and ISO 200. What to do if you want less depth of field, you don't want the background to be that sharp. 
In this case you should change your aperture to F2.8 or F4. So you go from F5.6 to F2.8. If you take a new image now, it will be 2 stops brighter. You can (should?) compensate this with your shutterspeed and go 2 stops darker there. In this example your shutterspeed then changes from 1/250 to 1/1000. 

And finally, a 4th element can be when you work with flashes. So after aperture, shutterspeed and ISO the power of the flash can be adjusted too. When shooting full power and you switch to half power, the amount of light changes with 1 stop. Depending on your creative goal this gives you a darker image or you can composate it with aperture, shutterspeed and/or ISO as described in this blog. 

Keep the basics in mind and go out there and shoot. Shoot, have fun and get to know your stops. 

Basics: direct flash

The inspiration is flowing! So instead of waiting for the Friday blog, here's a little extra on direct flash. Just this week I took some shots of my son with a one light set-up. I thought I'd share it with you guys. 

It really is a simple set-up with just one Speedlite and a white background, in this case a door,

I put the flash on a light stand, and I got the light stand to be high up. I asked the very patient model to stand against the white door. And this is the result. I've used no modifiers, only the flashlight on the light stand. 

If you want more shadow, move your model a little further away from the background. If you have the room, move the light stand to try different lighting and don't forget to move yourself. Have fun out there! 

Basics: off camera flash

Photography with flash gives you a wealth of possibilities. Bear in mind though, the light is nothing to be incredibly enthusiastic about, if you don't do anything with it. You might want to try to bounce the light on the wall or the ceiling. But believe me when I tell you that you should take the flashlight off your camera and put it on a light stand, in order to create even better results with your flash photography.

Before you jump into flashphotography and spend loads on new equipment: make sure you come to grips with how light works first, what light can do in your pictures. Don't over-complicate it and start out simple. There is a ton of stuff on the market. Start with one flash on a light stand.  If you shoot your subject in different angles, you can create lovely images. Next step is to attach an umbrella. If you're still very much into flashphotography, I'd say that's the moment to check out what's more to buy for further enhancing your flashphotography.

So let's take a look at the flash on the light stand:
It's real easy of you've got a Swivel adapter. Mount the adapter on your light stand and then attach your flashlight.

Next up: the communication between your flashlight and camera. There are several options:

1. Use Cord. Attach the cord between your flash and camera and you're ready to go. You can even use more flashes. For example the Speedlite flashes from Canon can communicate with each other (Master/Slave).

2. Use a radio trigger and receiver. Like with the aforementioned, there are several options here too. From expensive like the Pocket wizards  (very good quality) to the more affordable Cactus or Yongnuo.

3. The latest generation flashlights has a built-in receiver. So in this case you only need a transmitter. For example the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT.

It can be triggered by using the Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter.

Nearly every brand has its own system of transmitters. Yongnuo (Chinese) is the more affordable alternative to Canon. It's pretty good, but not Canon quality. the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT is the Chinese answer to the Canon ST-E3-RT) transmitter. 

 I

It's compatible with the Speedlite 600EX-RT flash but also with the cheaper alternative from Yongnuo (Yongnuo Speedlight YN568EX II). This flash can also communicate with the Canon flashes (Master/Slave).With the transmitters from Canon/Yongnuo can you trigger 1 up to 15 flashes and control them all (in groups). 

When shooting with flash, it's possible to shoot in ETTL and manual. For example, you can set group A in ETTL and B in manual.

Let me short describe what ETTL and manual is. 

ETTL mode

This is when the camera dictates the power. The flash measures the amount of light that is needed. You, as a photographer, can use flash compensation. This works best for fill and flash shoots where the subject-to-flash distance is variable. Take for example athletes in action. 

Manual mode

This is where the photographer dictates the power. When you shoot in manual, you control all the light of all the flashes used for the shoot. This works best for consistency and shoots where the subject-to-flash distance is fixed. 

So now you know how to fix your flash on a light stand and how to trigger your flash. This is the moment to start shooting in ETTL and/or manual mode. But, don't forget to use the ambient light too in your shoot (ambient means the light that is already near when your flash is off). 

When you use flash, don't forget your zoom functionality. It makes a big diffence using 24 mm or 105 mm. Using 24 mm is for example great to light your background.

It's also possible have more than one flashlight, to combine several flashes to have more power. Check out this video of Dave Black. He shoots with 3 flashes in a softbox and makes the most amazing pictures.

Last but certainly not least, there are several modifiers for your flash. Modifiers are used to modify the light (on your subject and/or background). Let me take you through a few of them: 

Umbrella

Cheap and gives very soft light. You can use different colors (white, black, silver, gold)

Softbox 

A softbox diffuses the light into a pleasing soft and even light. When used properly, it reduces harsh shadows. Westcott has a great product range with softboxes. Depending on the model (and the color inside) the light bounces off differently, which creates a different atmosphere. 

You can use a grit to control the light of your softbox

Start with one flash and if you like it you can use a second or even a third flash. Remember that you can create wonderful images with just one light. 

SnootIt is nothing more than a sort of tunnel for the light to go through. It gives you great control over where to aim your light. It can be combined with a grid.

A great product that can be used for this is the Flashbender. It can be used as snoot but also in many other ways, depending how you bend your flashbender.

GelsWith gels you can give your light different colors. That gives you lot of options to be creative.

As with nearly all the topics in my photography tutorials, there's so much more information available out there on the net. So if you'd like to dive into flashphotography a little more, do check out Zac Arias. If you ask me, I consider him to be one of the best there is in single light flashphotography. He's got a really interesting blog and this Youtube Movie is so worth watching. Besides Zach, I also like the videos of Tyler Stableford and Bob Davis.  

Myself, I'm shooting with Canon and I also learned a lot from Syl Arena. This guy has a great blog.

Finally, an example of a picture I shot with just one Speedlite. Now go out there and have fun!