Techniques – Page 19 – Peter Oshkai photography

November 11, 2014November 12, 2014

Live concert and performance photography

For live concerts, the choice of gear is very important, and it is primarily dictated by the extreme low-light conditions. I wrote about dealing with dimly lit environments, such as restaurant interiors, but a live performance adds an additional challenge of fast action. Using flash is obviously not an option, as it would interfere with the performance and even if it would be allowed, it would destroy the dramatic character and ambiance of the stage light.

The most important piece of equipment is the lens. It needs to be “fast”, i.e. have a large maximum aperture, and it needs to be sharp at that maximum aperture, because I really want to shoot it wide open. In my experience, as a minimum, an f/2.8 lens is required, such as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (I shoot Canon, so this lens is my workhorse, by Nikon has a counterpart for nearly every lens I mention, for example, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S). For even better results, I often use still faster prime lenses, such as the 35mm f/1.4L USM, which is good for wider overview shots, or the spectacular, unique-to-Canon 85mm f1.2L II USM. The latter lens not only gathers enormous amount of light at f/1.2, but also produces very pleasant background blur (bokeh), which is great for isolating the subject from the background.

Even with a fast lens, I have to shoot at a very high ISO (around 16,500) in order to keep the shutter speed high for freezing the action. Fortunately, modern professional DSLRs, such as the Canon EOS-1D X or Canon EOS 5D Mark III, have excellent low-light performance (i.e. relatively low levels of noise at high ISO).

My camera settings (on a 1D X) are usually the same as for indoor sports: manual mode with the aperture wide open, the shutter speed of around 1/800 sec and auto ISO.

One note is that the 85mm f1.2L lens is perfect for close quarters, but would be too short in larger venues. In any case, in line with what I wrote about involving other people in photo shoots, it is always best to develop a relationship with performers or the organizers of the event and obtain an accreditation or some sort or permission to be close to the action, either in front of the performers or backstage.

November 9, 2014

Choosing a lens for portraits

I think there is not single lens that would work equally well for all situations and any kind of portrait. Today, a friend asked my opinion on which lens would be better for a head-to waist portrait in terms of the background blur: a 200 mm f/2.8 or an 85 mm f/1.4. This is an interesting question, as one of the lenses has wider maximum aperture and the other one has longer focal length. Both of these parameters affect the depth of field the same way – increasing either the focal length or the aperture, while keeping other parameter the same, makes the depth of field shallower (thus increasing the background blur). To what degree these parameters affect the depth of field is more difficult to say without doing a rigorous cross-comparison of the lenses. So probably, there background blur would be comparable for the two lenses.

There is another factor to consider when choosing between these lenses – the distance between the camera and the subject. For a head-to-waist portrait, I would prefer a 200 mm lens, as it would make me shoot from farther away, which would result in more flattering facial features. Generally, the closer the camera to the subject, the more prominent the protruding parts of the face (mainly, the nose) are. Subconsciously, most people find smaller noses more attractive. This is a gross generalization, of course, but it is, generally, a fact. it is based on the tendency of humans to associate smaller noses (and larger eyes, for that matter) with young age. The longer lenses compress the perspective in the image, so the noses appear not as prominent as in portraits shot from a closer distance with wider lenses.

I use a Canon camera, so for me, the lens of choice for portraits is a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (a Nikon equivalent is a 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S). Sometimes, I have a chance to use a 85mm f1.2L II USM lens. It is wider than the 70-200mm, but the bokeh produced by the f/1.2 aperture is just incredible and is well worth the inconvenience of the fixed focal length. This lens is unique lens to Canon; the closest Nikon counterpart is a 85mm f/1.4G AF-S.

November 8, 2014November 9, 2014

On feedback to and from models during photo shoots

I wrote yesterday about involving other people in photo shoots. A particularly effective way of doing this is showing the photos to models during the shoot and asking if they would like to make any adjustments. The models would have an opportunity to see if there is anything wrong with the pose, the hair, the makeup, etc., and give the feedback to the photographer. I usually show the photos on the camera’s LCD screen, but it can be done on a computer screen if shooting tethered (having the camera connected to the computer by a USB cable, so that the photos are downloaded as soon as they are taken).

Professional models are different from amateurs people in that they know the poses that work well for them and can produce those poses repeatably. They are also used to critically reviewing photos of themselves from the technical viewpoint. For me personally, having the model’s feedback is tremendously helpful, as it allows me to tap into their experience, which can save a lot of trial and error in producing the best possible image.

Even if the subject is not a professional model, it is very useful to show the photo to her/him and ask for feedback. First of all, it helps the model relax and feel more involved in the shoot. Also, most people have preconceived ideas of what the final photo would look like. Showing the photos to them during the shoot can make a difference between satisfaction and disappointment with the final images. Seeing the photos during the shoot adjusts the expectations of the final product, and sometimes all it takes for a bride to be happy with her portrait is adjusting the position of the bouquet so that it does not cover a detail of the dress.

At first, I hesitated to show “unfinished” photos to other people, especially to models and clients. However, in my experience to date, nobody ever complained that the images were unprocessed or not sufficiently polished. At the same time, people were often able to make small, easy adjustments during the shoot, which saved a lot of post-processing work and resulted in much better final photos.

November 4, 2014November 5, 2014

Carrying a DSLR with a long lens

During some sporting events, photographers are not allowed to move along the the side of the playing field, as it is the case at the MLS soccer games, for example. In such cases, using a monopod or even a tripod (if it is allowed at the stadium) is a great idea, as it reduces the camera vibrations and helps to keep the frame level with the horizon, not to mention that it reduces the stress on your arms, as telephoto lenses are quite heavy.

However, if moving around is allowed, it can add great variety to the shots and often makes the difference between a rather boring and an exciting photoshoot. In my experience, hand-holding a lens longer than 400 mm is simply not feasible due to the weight of the system and the amount of camera shake. Attaching the system to a monopod is the solution in this case.

I often shoot sports with a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, sometimes combined with a 1.4X tele-extender, attached to a Canon EOS-1D X body. I also carry a second camera body (5D Mark II) with a shorter lens, such as a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, which I switch to if the action comes close. I carry the 1Dx-300mm system on a Black Rapid Y-strap over my left shoulder, so that the camera is at my right hip when not in use. The second camera with a shorter lens is on my left hip, attached to a SpiderHolster. My Spider carrying system has another holster on the right side, but the 300mm lens is too heavy for it. In fact, my friend tried to carry a 300 mm lens in a Spyder and found later that the pin that attaches the camera mounting plate to the belt became bent because of the weight. I suppose, this is not the worst that could have happened. At least, the pin did not break and the camera did not fall!

Initially, I was not keen on using the SpiderHolster, but I really like how the camera that is attached to it rotates and does not hit the ground if I crouch to take a low-angle point of view, which, by the way, almost always works better for sports than shooting from a standing position.

As an alternative, sometimes I use only one camera and lens at a time. I would switch lenses couple of times throughout the game to take a variety of view angles. In this case, I carry the camera on a Y-strap. It gives a good combination of mobility and weight distribution.

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November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

Using highlight tone priority in a Canon DSLR

Recording only JPEG images during a long photoshoot has many advantages over keeping the RAW images, but the main drawback is the loss of flexibility in adjusting the exposure in post-processing. When shooting RAW, even if the photo is incorrectly exposed, it is often salvageable in Photoshop or Lightroom. With the JPEG files, if the photo is over-exposed, the highlights cannot be recovered after the fact. I usually enable the highlight alert in my camera, so that any over-exposed areas in the photo appear as blinking white/black light when displayed on the LCD screen. By monitoring the highlights, I adjust the exposure as I shoot.

Sometimes, the dynamic range of the scene (the difference between the dark and the light areas) is too large for the camera too handle, so some loss of information in the recorded image is inevitable. This was the case during the first day of the Canadian University Rowing Championship last Saturday, when the bright sun was reflecting off the surface of the lake, and the rowers appeared as dark silhouettes. To minimize the over-exposed areas, some image processing can be done in camera, at the time of shooting.

In Canon DSLRs, such as my 1D X or the very popular Rebel T5i or 70D, there is a function called “highlight tone priority”, which accomplishes this. Nikon DSLRs have a counterpart called “active D lighting”.

Screenshot 2014-11-03 22.24.35

The highlight tone priority can be activated as follows (the instructions are also on page 156 of the 1Dx manual):

Press <MENU>;
Select the second tab in the Camera group of menus (see picture above);
Select [Highlight tome priority] and press <SET>;
Select [Enable} and press <SET>;
Take the picture.

As a side note, the JPEGs can still be adjusted, to a degree, in post-processing. For the rowing pictures, I used a combination of in-camera- and post-processing. The photos ended up being contrasty, but I think it generally works well for sports images.

November 2, 2014November 3, 2014

Photographing rowing from a boat

Today, I was shooting the second day of the Canadian University Rowing Championship at the Elk Lake. Armando and I were the official photographers of the event, so we had a dedicated boat that took one of us close to the racing boats (the other was shooting from the dock). Together with me in the boat was another photographer named Kevin, who is a former rower himself, and not just any rower, but no less than a national team member and a gold medalist. He has been shooting rowing for a while and had a very specific idea about types of shots he wanted to get, but a bit concerned about falling out of our little catamaran. The previous day, I was sharing a boat with another photographer, a young lady from Netherlands, so I knew that the boat was perfectly capable of carrying two photographers. I was also happy to learn more ways of making a series of rowing photos less boring – after all, rowing motion is very repeatable, which does not give a lot of variety of poses (although facial expressions of the athletes vary quite a bit!).

Over the course of several races, we refined a strategy that allowed us to capture a variety of shots. As the race started, we would wait at the side of the course at the half-distance mark. As the boats rowed past us, followed by the boats carrying the officials, then, we would cross into the middle lane and follow the rowers. Kevin and I positioned ourselves on both sides of the boat driver, shooting, literally, over both his shoulders. We both had Canon EOS-1D X cameras. I used a 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens with a 1.4X tele-extender and Kevin had a 600mm f/4L IS II USM. The key point, which took us couple of runs to figure out, was to drive the boat between and just behind the two official’s boats, but in front of the point where their wakes intersected. This way, we avoided most severe wave vibrations. Another note is that men’s 8+ boats were fast enough to actually outrun our motorboat, which was kind of cool to watch.

As the rowers approached the finish line, we would ask the driver to kill the engine and drifted to take the shots of the athletes celebrating their victories. Then, we followed them to the dock and took some shots of the coaches greeting them after a cool-down lap.

Later, I shot some moments of celebration by the winners from the dock. Most notable was the throwing of the coxswain in the water by his grateful teammates.

It was long weekend, but an interesting experience of learning the dynamics of the rowing race and following it from the athlete’s perspective.

November 1, 2014November 2, 2014

Best Canon lens for basketball photography

During today’s basketball games, I experimented with four different L-series lenses. I used all of them on a Canon EOS-1D X DSLR with ambient light (no flashes). I shot them wide open, i.e. at the maximum opening of the aperture (minimum f-number). Here is the breakdown of their advantages and limitations.

1. Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II USM lens
(see photo above)

This is the fastest lens of the four I used, and it is my top choice for shooting indoor basketball for this very reason. It gathers enormous amount of light at f1.2, and thus allows shooting at moderate ISO even when the shutter speed is quite high (around 1/1000 sec). This, in turn, results in low noise. Another nice feature is the ability to separate the subject from the background due to incredibly shallow depth of field.

The main disadvantage of the 85mm f1.2L is that it focusses very slowly compared to the other three lenses. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to follow the subject by continuously “riding” the focus button. Because of the slow focussing, this lens produces the highest number of outtakes. However, when it does focus, the result is spectacular.

2. Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM lens

This lens is also very fast, and it offers a unique, wide-angle perspective with little distortion. It also focusses very fast.

Te main disadvantage is its short focal length. It is simply impossible to photograph close-ups of the players with a 35 mm. Another related limitation is that the depth of field is quite large, even at f1.4, so subject isolation from the background is not as prominent as for the other three lenses.

3. Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens

This lens is the opposite of the 35mm f/1.4L in that it only allows the close-up shots. The focussing speed is superb, and the background blur (bokeh) is very pleasant.

The main limitation is that the field of view is so narrow, that it is quite difficult to frame the moving subjects. Like the 85mm f1.2L , it takes a lot of practice to achieve useable results, but the few successful photos are impressive.

4. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens

The main advantage of this lens is its zoom range. It is incredibly easy to frame the action. The lens also focusses lightning-fast, and it is very sharp.

The main drawback of the 70-200mm f/2.8L is that, like the 300mm f/2.8L, it is not as fast as the other two lenses (max aperture is f2.8), and therefore produces relatively noisy photos.

So, which lens would I choose if I could only bring one to a basketball game? It depends on the level of experience. For a novice photographer, I would recommend (if cost is not a factor – all this lenses are very expensive anyway!) the 70-200mm f/2.8L. It would give the highest success rate and flexibility. My personal favourite right now is the 85mm f1.2L , despite being the most challenging lens to shoot.

October 31, 2014November 1, 2014

Shooting portraits by the bonfire

It is Halloween time, and tonight we visited the huge Oak Bay bonfire organized by the local firefighters. Photographing people by the fire is challenging, and the camera settings depend on whether the light source, i.e. the bonfire, is in the frame or not.

If the fire is not in the picture, but simply shines the light on the subject, such as in the photo above, the basic concepts of shooting in low light apply. One needs a fast lens (one with a low minimum f-number) and a camera with good low-light performance. My wife used a Canon EOS-1D X with a 35mm f/1.4L USM lens. I usually just let the camera expose correctly for the subject and not worry about the background, which will come out either over-exposed (if it is still twilight) or under-exposed, if it is already dark. In either case, it can be ignored if it does not contain anything of interest.

On the other hand, if the fire is in the background, in other words, if shooting against the light, the dynamic range of the scene (the difference between the lightest and the darkest parts) is too great for any modern camera to handle. There is no choice but to add artificial light to the subject. An on-camera flash is far from ideal light source, but it is often the only choice in a given situation. This is what my wife used to take the image below. In manual mode, if the aperture and the ISO are fixed, the shutter speed can be used to control the exposure. When checking the exposure, it is important to look at the histogram, since images on the camera LCD screen appear much brighter than they really are.

Another challenge of shooting with a flash, with fire in the background, is that the colour temperature of the two light sources is very different. The flash is daylight-balanced, while the colour of the fire is very warm (red-orange). One way to balance the image is to correct the colour of the subject in post-processing. In Lightroom, this can be done using a local adjustment brush, which is what I did for this image. In Photoshop, this can be done using adjustment layers applied to a part of the photo.

An alternative to correcting colours in post-processing is to use gels on the flash. A gel is, basically, a piece of a coloured plastic, which is attached to the flash by a rubber band.

Personally, I prefer leaving the colour correction until I can see the photo on a computer and can experiment with various effects. After all, the warm colour of a bonfire creates a special atmosphere that is worth preserving in the final image.

October 30, 2014

How to deal with closed eyes in Portrait Pro

I have been experimenting with Portrait Pro retouching software. It speeds up the process of skin smoothing and other retouching adjustments as an alternative of doing them in Photoshop.

The workflow in Portrait Pro is very intuitive and the learning curve is not steep at all. However, there are a couple of features that took me some time to figure out.

For example, sometimes the subject has closed eyes, such as in the shot of my friends’ newborn daughter (see above), whom I met a couple of days ago. The problem is that Portrait Pro insists on creating the outlines of open eyes once you have followed the directions and identified the position of the corners of the eyes.

The solution is to follow the step-by-step guide and specify the corners of the eyes (this defines the general outline and the angle of the face) and skip the eye outline adjustment steps by pressing Spacebar repeatedly. After finishing refining of the nose, the mouth and the overall face outlines, simply toggle off the Eye Controls group of adjustments at the bottom right panel.

Another feature comes into play if you want to retouch a skin area, which is not a face. In order to do this, press “Enhance Skin Only” button at the initial interface, below the gender and age selection buttons and paint in the skin area. However, this button is not shown by default. In order to activate it, you need to start Portrait Pro not as a Photoshop or Lightroom plugin, but as a stand-alone application. Then go to Portrairpro > Preferences > General and check the “Show “Enhance Skin Only” Button” checkbox.

In general, I find that Portrait Pro works very well, but to avoid a cookie-cutter, filtered look, I prefer to apply its adjustments selectively, only to certain areas of the photo. This can be done either by using layers in Photoshop, as I described in this post, or within Portrait Pro by using a Restore Brush.

October 28, 2014October 29, 2014

Advantages of shooting in JPEG format

I usually take photos in RAW format to keep the ability to adjust exposure in post-processing. Having the large RAW files is particularly important for recovering over-exposed highlights.

However, having just completed a two-day photoshoot of a rowing regatta and two soccer games, I can definitely see the advantages of shooting JPEGs. I shot the rowing photos in RAW and the soccer ones as JPEGs as an experiment. Here are some advantaged of the JPEGs over RAW:

Obviously, the JPEGs take up much less disk space. This is particularly important in the case of sports photography, where I typically use a high-speed drive mode of the camera. My Canon EOS-1D X can shoot at 12 frames per second, which adds up to a couple of thousands of images per soccer game with my style of shooting (and I am trying to be selective and not to keep the shutter button pressed all the time!)
I can give some of the photos to the communication officer at the halftime without having to record two copies of the images (RAW+JPEG) or to switch file formats during the shoot.
Perhaps most importantly, large previews are generated much faster in Lightroom, which saves time during culling (selecting the images for publishing) and post-processing.
Finally, the JPEGs produced by modern DSLRs are very good. The noise is reasonably controlled while preserving sharpness, and the exposure is easy to monitor during shooting (by checking the histogram on the camera LCD screen) to make sure no excessive corrections would be needed in post-processing.

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