Brett Turner Photography

Muzzle flash and pistol photography

2011-09-30T22:29:00.002-04:00

Before I start this article I should point that in careless hands guns are dangerous. I had access to an empty range and a fair amount of training in both photography and gun handling. The camera is on a tripod and tripped by remote. Remember the four rules.

I've had this in mind for a while but have been really busy with working on video for clients. The main hurdles to overcome are having a safe place to take these photos and the time to do it. The place is a private range that I could have gone to pretty much whenever, but time I had to make. The cobblers kids and all that. I finally I set aside a night to work on a project for me just because I wanted to do it. On a related note if you are married take time to date your mate.

My goal for the night was to shoot a set of photos that were properly exposed for both the gun and the muzzle flash. I also wanted the camera angle to be a bit ahead of the gun so that the inside of the barrel showed and a completely black background. Easy idea. I could have just shot the separate elements and combined them in photoshop, but I wanted to stretch a bit. So the only photoshop here is that I rotated the photos to be level.

Having not brought a black sheet to hang up and wanting the pistol only expose by flash I needed the ambient light to be very low. Nearly black. The range is outside so I had to wait till around 9pm to start working. I set up the pistol shooting position near an over head light with a pull chain. I could see to move around then turn off the light before shooting.

The muzzle flash is easy. All I had to do is set the camera on a tripod, shoot a slow shutter speed, and time the two together. The camera is ahead of the line of fire so that the photos show some of the barrel but using a telephoto lens (Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS USM) to protect my investment. It was tripped by remote so no one is standing anywhere ahead of the pistol while firing.

Lighting the gun is a bit more of a challenge because it is mirrored nickel. Straight flash will leave a specular reflection (small and bright flare/hotspot) and the rest of the gun will look black. The trick to shooting a reflective surface like the nickel S&W 39 is to light what the pistol reflects. So one flash (Nikon SB-26 1/2 pwr) is on a light stand to the right of the camera (Canon 5d mk2). I use a shoot thru umbrella with this light because I need a large light source for the gun to reflect and it gives a larger margin for error. The position of this light is dependent on the position of the pistol. The camera needs to see the reflection of the light in the mirrored surface. (Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection) The other light is to the rear of the pistol to provide detail (Nikon SB-26 1/4pwr).

I was working alone so I had to trip the camera remotely and with the camera ahead of the line of fire it is the only safe choice. If you have an infra red remote it could work but I knew that I wanted use Pocket Wizards to sync the off camera strobes so I decided to let them do all of the work. To have the Pocket Wizards trip the camera and the lights I used relay mode.

Relay mode is not too tough to do. One Pocket Wizard Plus 2 goes in the hotshoe of the camera with a wire called a pre-trigger cable connected from the port on top of the pocket wizard to the cable release port on the side of the camera. Then a Pocket Wizard Plus 2 is connected to the flash(s) and you have one Pocket Wizard Plus 2 in the hand that is not shooting. The one in the hand and the one on the camera are set to the same channel and the one on the flash(s) are set one channel higher. This way the signal from the Pocket Wizard Plus 2 in hand goes to the camera trips the shutter then sends the sync signal to the flash(s). First curtain sync is the default mode here and it is the one you want. The flash(s) fires at the beginning of the exposure freezing the gun. After the camera flash fires squeeze the trigger on the pistol. The muzzle blast exposes during part of the time the shutter is open. I set the camera for 1.5 to 2.5 to give me time to react to the camera flash and fire.

All of the above I had in my head before I started but there was one major issue I didn't plan ahead of time. I had to find a reliable, repeatable way of focusing on the pistol. Naturally this is is where the crippled auto focus on the canon 5d mk2 is useless. So manual focus but on what? I tried various stand ins for the pistols to focus on but when I went to shoot I could never seem to have the pistol at the same distance and in exactly the same place as the stand in. Little differences, yes, but I was using a 70-200 2.8 lens, so no depth of field at all. In the end I pulled out another tripod to use as a wrist rest. Problem solved with near perfect repeatability. This also helped framing.

Once the method was worked out I tried other pistols and discovered that the S&W 39 produced the largest blast of any of the pistols on hand. Research after the fact leads me to believe that cheap ammo is more likely to have larger blast. Next time I get a chance (or when I finally force myself to make time) I think I will expand to long guns especially a Mosen Nagant that has been idle in the safe for too long and uses really cheap ammo

Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

Lastnight we had clear weather for the eclipse up untill the totality. The timelapse video is shorter than I had wanted due to the clouds.

Getting ready for Halloween

2010-10-27T16:51:00.000-04:00

If you don't already know I really love Halloween. Last year we had a drop in at the house and had the Photobooth set up it was lots of fun. Photos can be seen here http://brettturnerphotography.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween.html. This year we hadn't really planned to have one but a little girl came up to me at church after filming the Broadway service (more on that with videos later) and asked. "Mr. Brett, are we coming over to your house on Halloween?" How could I say no? So we are getting ready for the drop in and Halloween costumes. I thought I would share a couple of photos.

This is an Ice skull that will float in the punch bowl. It is lit from behind in the photo and if I can think of a good way to do the same in the punch bowl I may.

This Photo is of the Medusa head for my younger sons Perseus costume. His idea. Yes, I am very proud of him.

NOHS Chorus concert

2010-10-07T16:59:00.001-04:00

Brett Turner Photography is proud to film and produce the official concert DVDs for both the MBMS and NOHS Choruses. This video is a sample from the October 7th preformance. DVDs and BluRays are avalable.

Published Again

2010-07-31T18:31:00.000-04:00

For her new book "With A Song In My Heart"

Eleanor W. Moylan chose a photograph of mine for the authors portrait on the back cover.

Coosaw Farms

2010-07-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

These photos come from a photo shoot that was a combination of family portraits and advertising. We took strobes and gear out to fields on the family's farm. For me this is the fun part of what we do because it is more challenging to do a studio lit portrait in the middle of a watermelon or blueberry field than in a studio. For them at least one advantage is that they didn't have to stare into the sun the whole time.

Brett Turner Photography Mentioned on WDOG Radio

2010-06-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

2010-06-22T20:29:00.001-04:00

Athens Youth Symphony demo video

2010-05-25T13:39:00.006-04:00

This is the piano concerto from the May 16, 2010 performance by the Athens Youth Symphony. This is just one of the songs, the whole concert should be available on DVD and BluRay soon. The musicians were truly impressive in person and I hope the video does them justice. Brett turner Photography was contracted to film the concert. We filmed with two canon 5d mark II cameras. Apart form being the camera system that we have and love, the Video DSLR has some real advantages for a project like this. Among other things the full size imaging chip offers very low noise in a dark hall like this one.

The Athens Chamber Singers

2010-04-11T15:29:00.001-04:00

Friendship Presbyterian Church

2010-04-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

etching large glass video

2010-02-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

promo for SC AG Heritage Museam

2010-01-15T12:28:00.003-05:00

For a while Brett Turner Photography has been asked to provide video as well as still photo graphic services. This video was done as a website promo for the South Carolina Agricultural Heritage Museum. Even tho it was always intended for the web we "filmed" in 1080p hi def. This is the first in a series of cinema and still photography with the aim of having the museum's full collection online. a long project but it looks to be fun. This kind of promotional video would be great for almost any kind of business. The web and the connection speed of the typical user (not to mention the iPhone) has developed to a point that video content is expected rather than a luxury.

Halloween

2009-11-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

This Halloween Brett Turner Photography hosted a drop in at our home. We set up lights and a background and photographed the kids in their costumes. The camera was tethered to the laptop and Using the same printer from the photobooth we could photograph and print immediately. Here are some of the photos.

The Photobooth goes live

2009-10-12T21:26:00.001-04:00

Photobooth
The Crossland High School class of 1969 class reunion was held over 3 days and Brett Turner Photography was there to cover it. The reunion started with a mixer on Friday night then a breakfast and tour of the school on Saturday morning. Saturday night was dinner and dancing followed by Sunday morning farewell breakfast At the reunion dinner Saturday night we debuted the photobooth. While I was photographing in the ballroom the photobooth was open for people to walk in and take photos of themselves and friends.

The photobooth is a fully automated camera, lights, and printer setup. It works like this: people enter, they can see themselves on the screen in front of them, they click the mouse, the camera takes 3 photos which can be the same or different poses then the system automatically prints a 5x7 comp with six photos. The six photos are so that the print can be cut into two strips to share.
The photobooth was a hit all night long. There was always a line to get in but with the printer outputting a print every 12 seconds there was no waiting or delays.
We have been working on the photobooth for a while. While the idea is simple enough I wanted to implement the photobooth in an elegant and automated way. I cant say how pleased I am with the way the photobooth worked or with the reception.
The galleries from the reunion can be seen here:

Photobooth
http://www.brettturnerphotography.com/69/SatPhotoBooth2091124/
Saturday Breakfast Tour
http://www.brettturnerphotography.com/69/SatBrkfastTour2091124/
Saturday Dinner
http://www.brettturnerphotography.com/69/SatDinner2091112/

Kathie

2009-09-20T21:35:00.000-04:00

For her birthday portrait Kathie met me at the Georgia Botanical Gardens. Though she was certainly bright, the day was very overcast and at times rainy. With a bit of luck and good lighting we were able to have a great portrait session. The Photo above is the one she chose but I thought I would show a few more.

Dayana’s Quinceanera

2009-08-16T22:01:00.001-04:00

What a great event! Brett Turner Photography was asked to cover a Quinceanera for a charming young woman named Dayana. The day started early and the music and dancing did not end untill well into the night so rather than go in to a great deal of detail I will let the photos tell the story.

Check out the full set on my main website

www.brettturnerphotography.com/dayana.html

Canon wireless ettl with the Canon G9

2009-07-09T15:20:00.014-04:00

For me one of the best things about being a professional photographer is that I have licence to indulge my child hood quest for new toys. So by now I have cameras I could have only dreamed of in highschool. The latest for me is the Canon 5dmk2. 21mp and high def video. On the other hand is the assumption that the camera makes the photos. Every photographer has heard this "what a beautiful photo, you must have a nice camera." Yes I do but it is light that makes photos. As an exercise I wanted to create some examples of photos taken using a point and shoot camera and some better lighting. Normally I use studio strobes and speedlights (flashes) which are controlled manually but out of curiosity I wanted to try out canon’s wireless ettl system.

For the purposes of this article I am going to concentrate on a fairly high end point and shoot style camera - the canon G9. Much of this information could be used with a canon DSLR’s, as the flash system is precisely the same. The effects and ideas are universal to lighting whether it is with flashes or studio strobes and could be duplicated with manual flashes and slave triggers (IR, Radio, optical). Also Nikon has a similar system, called CLS, available for their DSLR’s. It is a fantastic system, but I shoot Canons so it is not my forte. The purpose here is to deal with a very advanced lighting system available to users of a point and shoot style camera. Also, throughout the article I use the terms master and slave when referring to the flashes. These are unfortunate terms but they are the ones Canon uses in their literature and on the displays of the flashes.

First, let’s deal with the false assumption that a built in flash is actually good. The short answer is, not really. Yes there are times when the light is just too low for the imaging chip to make a clear photo, so at those times we use the built in flash and end up with photos that look like we shoved the subjects head into a xerox machine. The person usually appears shiny and pale, bordering on vampire-like and has no shadows in the face but terible shadows behind them, while the background often goes completely black. We all have these photos. Sometimes they are ok. In a restaurant where you don’t really want to see the people behind you, for example. I tend to think of these pics as documents rather than photographs. They show that someone was at a ceratin place at a ceratin time, but not much else.

What can we do to improve this? Wanting to do better is the first step. Many photographers, even some high end ones, get so disappointed and confused by flash they quit using it entirely. The problem is that the sun eventually goes down, or you walk indoors and you can’t just put the camera away because it is dark. Also, more advanced lighting allows for looks that a small, built-in flash can’t hope to create. We are creative, so why would we simply accept the world as presented to us?

Some basic concepts...

Flash doesn’t care about shutter speed. Aperture is the only control over the flash. Once the f-stop is set, lower the shutter speed to get more ambient light, or raise it to have less ambient light.

The softness of the light is caused by how large the light source appears to the subject, not by the flashes actual size. The best way to quantify this is by how sharp the edges of the shadows are.

Flash direction is the biggest change you will be able to make. If the flash is close to the lens, you will likely have red-eye, so if it is higher or farther to one side it will usually look better. Remember, the xerox puts light out straight ahead.

Shadows make pictures. Without shadows we can’t really see the features of a face or other three dimensional object. The edges of the shadows tell us if the light is hard or soft. Shadows can add interest and texture.

Bounce flash is good. To bounce light off of a large surface adds softness and direction, and more flashes = more directions, qualities, and colors of light.

Light comes in many different colors. Light from a tungsten bulb is really orange, and light from a flash or from sunlight sometimes looks cold or blue. Color can be added to light by placing a filter (called a gel by theatrical and photo supply companies) in front of the source or bouncing the light off of a colored surface.

Before I bog down into the minutia of the settings and buttons lets think of a portrait setting. I was short on models today so I brought in this guy (girl?). It is a dragon mask, but it is three dimensional and reflects light so it will do for a lesson. The photo below is our example of bounce flash. For this look you only need the G9 and one dedicated Canon flash. The flash goes in the hot shoe and the head points up, so the light is softer and from a logical direction. Works but it can get boring. Canon offers a wireless flash control system for its line of DSLR’s, and it works with some of the point and shoot cameras like the G9 and the G10. The only gear you have to buy are flashes (at least one you should have bought by now any way) I have a G9, so I will use it as my example. You can attach a canon 580ex, 580ex2, 430ex 430ex2, directly to the hot shoe of the G9 and have full automatic control from the camera. The heads on these flashes both tilt and swivel so that they can be bounced off of walls and ceilings. The 580ex(II) can also act as a master to other flashes including the 580ex(II) and the 430ex(II). You can use as many as you can afford. From the master flash you can set the power of each slave unit individually or set them to automatic ratio control.

Let’s assume for a fairly simple head shot (the dragon is applying to an agency) that we want to have soft light and good separation from the background. We set the lights on stands and use photo umbrellas to soften the light. Umbrellas do this because they change the perceived light source from a two inch by three inch square into a 20-60 circle. Larger apparent size equals softer light. In this case the main light is to camera left. Broad lighting like this won’t work for everyone but our subject has chiseled features to say the least. If the intention had been to slim the face the narrow side would be lit more strongly than the broadside. For a model or a bride we might use what is referred to a butterfly or clamshell lighting. In this case the lights would be above and below the face (typically facing front) to reduce (but not eliminate all) shadows. We might want a light coming from behind the model to illuminate the hair and therefore separate it from the background.

In this case,the hair light is at extreme camera left has a magenta gel on it which gives the hair some color and add some color contrast to the face. There is also a rim/kicker light high up to camera right and just behind the model. It has an orange gel (CTO). For simplicity I did not light the background and raised the shutter speed to 1/500s to eliminate any ambient. Here is an advantage to using the G9 over a DSLR. On the DSLR the top sync speed (highest shutter speed you will be able to use with flash) is usually only 1/200s-1/250s. The G9 has an electronic shutter and may sync all the way up to 1/1000s. The settings would go something like this. On the master flash hold the zoom key until the master option comes on then roll the command dial to master on, and then tap the sel key in the center of the command dial. Tap the zoom key to access the other functions such as ratio and whether the master flash contributes to the exposure and what channel the master is on. The command dial will set the ratio. The flash in the front would be set to "slave a" on the same channel as the master. The side light to camera left is or "slave b". The master flash on the camera is set to a:b c ratio on. The ratio would be1 to 2 on the "a" side. This means that the side light is twice as strong as the front light. However, the master flash offers ratios from 1:1 to 8:1 in either direction. Our kicker/rim light is in group c and are set separately from the master flash. We wouldn’t want the master flash to contribute to the exposure because that would prevent you from moving around without changing the exposure. Fortunately the master flash can be set to control the other flashes but not contribute to the exposure. In this example we have 3 slave flashes and 1 master. As you can see the cost of this system would mount up quickly. On the other hand, you gain quite a bit for the cost. First add some photo umbrellas and stands and you have a very portable studio. Second, you can use the same system for lighting the kids’ play in that dark auditorium with out red-eye. Third, this is all transferable to your Canon DSLR whether you already have one or you plan to upgrade later. Fourth, you can start small (ish). Buy just one flash for your camera which will allow you to bounce, then add more flashes as you need them. The cost of this is considerable but not far off from using cheaper manual flashes such as the Lumopro lp120 with a PocketWizard Plus 2 attached to each. We end up around $300 per dedicated Canon flash or per manual flash plus PocketWizard. There are draw backs to either system, but the beauty of using a G9 with Canon wireless flashes, is that the camera plus 3 flashes fits into a fairly small bag and offers a great deal of control and creativity.

Styles of Wedding Photographers

2009-06-10T20:32:00.015-04:00

I was reading an on line forum today where a number of photographers were complaining about other wedding photographers. The respondents each had an opinion of the right way to photograph a wedding. The arguments stemmed from the judgmental attitude that each one’s way was the only correct way. As this went on the camps that were formed seemed to be: natural light only, automatic flash on camera, and manual flash off camera.

The natural light only camp felt that using any kind flash or strobes at a wedding was wrong because then the photographer was changing the scene and interjecting himself into the wedding. This falls some what in line with the photojournalistic idea of wedding coverage where the photographer should be neither seen or heard. He or she seeks to document what happened that day with out alteration. This is often done in black and white only and the photographer often refuses to take posed formals. I guess I understand where these people are coming from, but I have always felt it leads to some obvious flaws. First is this what the couple and or family wants? If so great. However I have had a chance to meet many "I only shoot natural light" photographers. Some were truly gifted at what they do. The others (who were in the majority) simply did not have the skill to control or modify the light and so were incapable of taking a well lit formal photo.

The auto flash on camera group clearly saw the need to improve the lighting in dark churches and reception venues. They felt that auto flash was the fastest way to cover the wedding and get a high percentage of useable photos. Here again I should point out that I have met some photographers wh could do this well. The problem here is that on camera flash while effective is not the most flattering way to light a person or a group. Often the pitfall here is that the photographer has bought a fairly low end camera with a lens that came in a kit. As such, it has what are referred to in this industry as "slow glass." (This refers to the lens’ ability to function in low light.) Often the camera bodies are similarly bad performers in low light. Such gear leads to grainy, artifact ridden images when using available light so the photographer depends on the on-camera flash as a crutch. As an aside to this approach, if a hired photographer intends to photograph your wedding using the small built in flash on his camera, you will want to find some one else.

The off camera flash only group is maybe the most dangerous. These photographers are artists, experimenters and gear heads. If this is done right, the light becomes an extension of the photographers will. He or she will have anything in their bag from the latest wireless ETTL Radio controllers to modifiers made of cardboard drinking straws and gaffers tape. This group is a toss up, as you may get brilliant dramatic photos that you love or brilliant dramatic photos that you hate. Good luck.

For me, to go to a wedding and say "I will only use ETTL" would be as unlikely as saying "I will only use off camera manual flash". Both work for me and I use both. I also use available light, which is why I have a Canon EOS 5Dmk2 and very good lenses. My one gear rule is that I don’t let my equipment define or limit what I do.

My goal at a wedding is to serve my client and to provide the best photos that I can. If that means I need to be subtle and shoot available light, then I will. If I have a moment to set up a stand and an umbrella, then I will do that. I am not going to limit myself to one way of working. After all I could probably shoot a whole wedding with my G9, but why would I want to?

In general a day goes like this:

Prep shots- for makeup hair and prep I use a mix of gear depending on available time and room. During the time before the ceremony there is usually time to setup somewhat posed lit photographs. Think of these as semiformals. Best to do as much as possible while the hair and makeup are still fresh

Ceremony- natural light. I carry my camera and try to stay out of view of the video people. I also set up remote cameras before the ceremony to get angles that would be to obtrusive or disruptive.
Formals- manual strobes, as many as needed to make the backgrounds pop and provide depth of field sufficient to have every one in focus

Reception- light the dance floor with manual strobes and add fill and key from an ETTL strobe often positioned by an assistant. I usually light the cake with manual strobes on a stand for better control.

The beauty of this plan is that I can switch to other options as I need to. As I said my clients needs are the first concern.

Underwater photos

2009-06-09T21:55:00.003-04:00

On Saturday while my Wife was in meetings all day the kids and I went to the pool with the new waterproof housing. Some small problem (such as really needing goggles to see the screen while under water) were discovered and overcome. All in all, the camera preformed beautifully and the photos and video were great. Admittedly not much from an artistic viewpoint but certainly it opens new possibilities. I am looking forward to testing an underwater off camera flash idea. The prototype works well dry but we will just have to see. Anyone up for an underwater family portrait?

PocketWizard mini TT1 and flex TT5

2009-05-25T22:57:00.000-04:00

For the last month I have been trying out a new flash control system. I have been using radio triggers to sync my flashes for quite a few years and for most of the that time I have used PocketWizard plus II’s with perfect results. They have always worked flawlessly which allowed me to put flashes where I need them to add to, enhance, or replace any lighting I find. To say that these are a staple of my work, wether it is a portrait or a wedding or commercial shoot, would be like saying I should carry a camera. I love having the ability to pull small flashes out of my bag and shape the light any way I want. The only draw back was that with the PW plus II flash exposure was manual. Not so bad, but when a flash or strobe is fifteen feet in the air or hidden behind something it would be nice to be able to change settings from a distance.
Enter the PocketWizard control tl system. This system uses the new PocketWizard mini tt1 and the new PocketWizard flex tt5. It enables full automatic control and full manual control from the camera at a distance up to 800ft. Or so the advertisements say. My results out of the box were about nine feet. Needless to say I was not happy. For a few weeks I read everything I could and went back and forth with LPA who designed the new units. In the end I was dealing with Patrick Clow. I cant say enough nice things about Patrick. He has been a great help and he seems truly concerned that photographers are able to use these new tools to their full ability. He arranged to exchange my mini tt1 and my flex tt5 and suggested that I use Canon’s 430 ex2 line of flashes rather than the 580 ex II that I was using. As it turns out the whole problem comes down to radio noise (RFI) that is being emitted by some Canon flashes especaly the 580 ex II. The 580 ex II is so noisy that the receiver (PW flex tt5) cant "hear" the signal sent from (in my case) the mini tt1. Pocketwizard has announced a RFI shielding device called the AC-7. As of my writing no price or street date has been announced. Too little too late for me I have already gotten rid of my 580 ex II in favor of the smaller and apparently less noisy 430 ex II. Did pocket wizard drop the ball on this? Absolutely! It is un thinkable that a company with such a reputation for perfect reliability would rush products to market that are incompatible with canons flagship professional flash. Further more to use that flash in all of their print and web adds is inappropriate at best and seems far closer to blatant false advertizing.
In fairness I should say that the new control system works very well with the canon 430 ex II s I am now using, though I should never have had to go through a month of troubleshooting to find out. At least one person at LPA is trying to smooth this over. Thanks Patrick.

Remote birds: take 2

2009-04-23T16:26:00.011-04:00

After my previous post and photos of the birds on our porch I wanted to try to do a bit better. First I wanted to see into the nest but the ceiling prevented that so I thought a mirror might help. The photo at left shows the back of the mirror with 3m adhesive Velcro strips. Thees allow me to attach and remove the mirror when necessary.

Once installed, photographing the birds was simple. point, shoot, and later in Lightroom rotate and flip.

Turned out that not every one was happy with the mirror. The father arrived to get rid of the other birds and began attacking the mirror. Fortunately things calmed after I took the mirror down.

Remote Camera

2009-03-29T15:48:00.011-04:00

Recently we have visited by a harbinger of spring. A small bird has built a nest on a light fixture on our porch. The light fixture is a left over from Halloween that I managed to put off taking down. Now that it has been adopted as a home I have a perfect excuse to leave it there. The problem I ran into is that I couldn’t get a look at the bird as every time I open the door it flew away which also complicated getting a photograph.

The first problem to solve in this nature photo is that birds are very paranoid and are notoriously hard to get near. This is partially solved by having the bird's nest literately right out of my front door. But as it wont be there if it can see me I need to not be visible. The best answer is to set the camera up out side very near the nest and trigger it from inside the house. In my case I use Canon DSLRs and have always been happy with them. Canon makes wired and a wireless remote. The wireless remote uses infrared light to trigger the camera just like a tv remote. As you no doubt know this wont work through a wall and may not work outside in daylight. So to get through the walls we need radio. There are some cheep radio triggers available but I cant say if they work well or not.

On the high end of price there are PocketWizards. These are pricey but they work every time and at a great range (up to 1600ft). PocketWizards are usually used to trigger flashes of camera (see http://www.strobist.com/) but with a pre-trigger cable they can also be used to trigger the camera.

So the basic setup works this way: nest on top of the light, camera with a telephoto lens on a tripod aimed and focused on the nest (No auto focus. Set the focus then switch AF off), PocketWizard connected to the camera by pre-trigger cord, second PocketWizard with me inside the house. When I hit the test button on the PocketWizard the camera fires.

This system works fine. I am in the house comfortable and warm and since the bird doesn’t see me she returns to the nest and poses for her portraits. This is where the second challenge comes in. I knew going in to this that it was much to dark to get sharp photographs using only natural light so we add flashes.

In this case I used 2 Nikon sb-26s one on a stand and the other clamped to the front porch light. Both flashes are set to 1/4 power and are approximately at 45 degrees to either side of the nest. The flashes don’t really seem to bother our bird but they give me the light I need. In fact at this range 1/4 power is a ton of light and I end up with f32 at ISO 100. Shutter speed on the camera is up at 1/250 to get rid of any ambient blur if the bird moves. I could lower the power but when the camera is so close to the subject depth of field is typically very shallow so f32 really helps to get the whole bird and nest in focus.

To get the strobes to fire in sync with the camera you have to use what PocketWizard calls relay mode. This is easy enough, the PocketWizard connected to the camera with the pre-trigger cord is placed in the hot shoe. Then the PocketWizards connected to the flashes are set one channel higher then the one on the camera and in the house. For example the PocketWizard in the house with me is on channel 3 the PocketWizard on the camera is on channel 3 the ones on the flashes are on channel 4.

I set this up for fun and as good practice as I am using remote cameras at weddings now. This allows me to get a second angle that I would otherwise not be able to get or that would be to disruptive. The bird photos are not by any means art but they serve the purpose of identifying the bird with out any undue stress to her and it will be a good setup for humming birds later in the season.

Friendship Presbyterian Church in snow

2009-03-10T19:31:00.002-04:00

I am told that this is the most photographed church in GA, it is Friendship Presbyterian Church in Athens GA during our recent blizzard. The preceding statement could easy be true as I have seen note cards and paintings of it. Certainly I have a pile of photos of and in it from events ranging from Sunday services to a boy scout court of honor and a wedding. I have even thought of doing a series on it titled seasons of friendship. This Photo was taken by my wife as we drove past during the storm. I had to combine two frames in Photoshop as she was shooting across me with my Canon 5d mkII.

Court of Honor

2009-02-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went out to Jon’s Boy Scout Court of Honor and because I cant help myself I had to set up strobes. I guess people will get used to it eventually. 2 sb-26s on nano stands at 45s to the front. half power zoomed to 50mm.

Just as I had the strobes set the lights went off. All of them. Pitch black in the sanctuary I am stuck I cant go back to my seat and I didn’t have the camera with me any way so I couldn’t shoot as the boys started a candle light service. Fortunately after they lit a couple of candles I was able to see enough to get back to my seat. But what to do now? Some parents were using their on camera flashes but if I use my strobes it will nuke everyone’s eyes. Not really polite. More importantly it would blow the warm glowy effect of the candles. So I turned off the pocket wizard on the camera and rolled the iso up to 25600. Any other camera I wouldn’t have even tried but this was the much vaunted Canon 5dmkII. I had just gotten it a couple of days ago. Turns out I didnt need that much ISO. ISO 25600 gave me 1/250 at f 2.8. Way overkill. Droped the camera down to ISO 3200 and fired away.

When the lights came back on I went to the strobes and used them the rest of the evening. I cant overstate the jump in capability the 5dmkII represents. My 40d could have shot the same frames but I would not have shown them to any one.

Why use a scanner?

2009-02-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

I was in Alendale SC on a consulting job when Bob, the owner of the company I was at, asked about copying old photos and his yearbook from high school. His reunion is coming up and he wanted content for the reunion website. He had already tried the scanner on his desk but the size of the scanner was a bit of a handicap. Bob has a Canon G9. This is sort of a bridge level point and shoot. It has a good 12mp chip and at its lowest ISO (80) with appropriate lighting it will give comparable image quality to a prosumer Dslr. Way more than enough for the web but the lighting was the real issue. Enter the humble hardware clip on light and compact florescent light bulbs. CFLs are available in a daylight color temp and can be bought most anywhere. Four 27 watt daylight CFLs (each equivalent to 100w incandescent but almost no heat) are plenty of light for this project. In fact we only went with 4 to be perfectly symmetrical. Two could have done the job.

The biggest challenge was mounting the camera. Normally I would use a Bogen Magic Arm for this but none were available at the time. So we tore apart a cheep tripod and mounted the column and head on a projector stand. The G9 can out-put the viewfinder video either to a tv or a computer so you don’t have to stand on the desk to frame photos. We went with the computer option so that all of the cameras controls are easily at hand. The rest is point and shoot.

There are some real advantages to using a camera for copy work. The most obvious is speed. The camera captures the whole image in far less than a second a scanner can take a minute or more pre file. For my work flow it is easier to crop and edit a number of files in light room than to have to deal with individual files. Best yet the G9 is one of the few point and shoot cameras that produces Raw files so I am not losing data by making then editing jpgs. For the highest level of quality such as for restoration or enlargements I would start with the scanner or my 21mp Canon 5dmkII. But for this project and considering that Bob already had the G9, it works.

Master Craftsman

2008-11-26T20:04:00.002-05:00

While in Barnwell SC for Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to photograph the instillation of a set of stained glass windows at the Barnwell Presbyterian Church. I was thrilled to see them finally go in as in the past when I have covered a wedding in this sanctuary, the daylight (blue) coming in against the (orange) incandescent lights made color balance a challenge to say the least.

This day was no such trouble as I was shooting mostly natural light with the canon 40d and using a bit of off camera flash to open up the background.

Jason and Lizbet

2008-11-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

These are from Jason and Lizbet’s wedding. It was a great event. I arrived at Lizbet’s house around 8am and was her shadow for the day except for a side trip at lunch to get a casual photo of the groomsmen.

The ceremony was at friendship presbyterian church with the reception at Marswood hall.

The Bride and Groom and just about everyone else danced untill about 11pm. It was a long day but I enjoyed it and I think they did too.

Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

The full wedding can be seen on the main site

Family Photos, Texas

2008-09-30T11:04:00.000-04:00

This is my niece Becca and my new favorite photo.

The whole family together in one place. We only get to Texas about once a year so it is always worth packing a couple of light stands and umbrellas. Strange looks from Tsa tho.

Bob

2008-03-09T15:40:00.000-04:00

We never got around to doing an engagement portrait session for David and Mandy before their wedding. Even though they have been married for more than a year now we finally got one scheduled. These were shot outdoors with back light and fill coming from the sun and the main light was a pocketwizard synced 580exII with a shoot through umbrella. Canon 40d.

I think the results were well worth waiting for. It was a really fun shoot with two of my favorite people.