Photography Lesson #8 – Apertures, Shutter Speeds, ISOs

On September 29, 2011, In Lessons, Photography, By admin

This sounds like a fancy meal or even a famous cuisine. Okay it doesn’t, but it made you think about food for a second there. Well… now that I think of it, the f-stop (aperture), exposure and ISO’s are like the salt, pepper and oregano in Italian cooking. If you don’t have these basic elements understood, your cooking will not taste right and leave your friends and family wanting to go to the nearest pizzeria to satisfy their Italian taste buds. I like to cook, so why not use the analogy of cooking with another passion of mine.

So how do these three elements work together to make the perfect entrée, or in the photographer’s world, the perfect exposure? We need to identify each component individually and what it does for taking a picture.

First you have the aperture, or to simplify, the f-stops (focal-length). Aperture is just a fancy name for it. This is a measurement of how much the focal length is allowing the light in that particular lens to expose the film. Confusing still? If this helps, normally when you look at an f-stop measurement it is shown as f/16 or f/4.5. What this is really saying is that the number shown divides the focal length. The fraction provided is how much light is allowed to expose your film. The rest is just stopped, hence the name f-stop. So if you are at f/1, it means you’re letting in 100% of the light. If you are at f/16, that’s about 6.25% of light coming in to expose… kind of get it? Think of these as mathematical fractions, the lower numbers mean the bigger the piece you get or bigger the opening. On the other side of it, the larger number means the smaller opening. f/2.8 > f/22… Okay, I’ll just show you in this chart below.

The next part of this recipe is the shutter speed. The definition to this is simple. It is how long your shutter door is open to allow light in, exposing your film. This is also measured in fractions. Most of the time it is 1/40” or 1/250”. Its just telling you that it is being divided by the seconds it is measured in. Also, like the above f-stops the bigger the fraction or actual seconds given, the longer the shutter is open to expose your film. The opposite when the fraction is at 1/2000” or 1/4000” of a second, that’s pretty darn fast! This is a juggling part of photography cause it can be used to capture a speeding bullet or take beautiful long exposure shots of the stars at nighttime. Not to confuse you anymore, there is also a “B” setting that is used to describe a shutter speed. This is called the bulb. However long you physically press the shutter button down for and then release it, is how long you are going to expose your film. No set measurement there.

The ISO is the addition of the oregano for the lasagna. You can cook without it, but its not going to taste right. Understanding the ISO numbers of your film is VERY important. The ISO (or ASA) stands for the light sensitivity of the film. The smaller the number, the slower the absorption of light and the finer the picture is. The larger numbers are, the faster the absorption of light and the grainier the picture is. Here’s an example of what I am talking about with that.

     As you can see, the picture on the left was taken with an ISO of 100 and the one on the right is of the same subject but at ISO 1600. You can clearly see how the ISO number can affect your pictures in a bad way. If you are looking for quality of the lines and details, make sure you pay attention to your ISO number and know that if you want finer details, you want a lower number. So remember, if you are shooting in areas where you can control the light and are just there taking pictures, stay in the lower range of ISO numbers. If you are trying to capture high action in an indoor, low light setting (like sports photography) I would suggest the higher range of ISO numbers.

Now making the dish… You’ll often hear photographers say, “hmmm yes, I took this photo with an f/22 at 1/60, with an ISO of ehhh, 400.” **said in a American-French accent** Okay, they really don’t say it with the accent but they’re really are just telling you what is called bracketing to the perfect exposure. I’ll leave you in suspense for this one in my next posting cause bracketing can get very tricky if not done properly. I’ll even throw in a free bracketing cheat sheet if you do come back!!!

I hope by now you understand these elements in photography and see how they can affect your photographs. If not, you are craving Italian foods. Either way you’ve learned that you cannot take a great picture without knowing your f-stops, shutter speeds and ISO numbers or you cannot cook Italian food without salt, pepper and oregano. Keep shooting all. Enjoy! … I’m going to get something to eat now.

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #7 – The Miracle of the S, J, B & O’s

On November 12, 2010, In Lessons, Photography, By Ryan

If you are reading this in the Facebook notes please move onto my website www.ryanehulse.com/blog/ to get a better look at the layout!

Ahhh… This is where the truth is discovered. Today’s markets of photographs are in the digital age. Thus bringing in the digital darkroom, Photoshop. This is where the “miracles” happen. I am going to coin this phrase: “Not everyone is perfect. That’s why Adobe created Photoshop.” (Copyright Ryan E Hulse Productions, All rights reserved) Just kidding, but seriously, it’s mine!

Now, back to the miracle. If you aren’t using Photoshop then the reference to the S,J,B & O’s would not make sense to you at all or you don’t know the keyboard shortcuts to these wonderful tools. I’ll explain what each letter does below. What better way to demonstrate this process then by showing you the steps in photographs, right? I don’t want to offend any of my clients or animals that I have photographed so I have decided to use my own face to show you how it’s done. (Please, don’t be horrified!)

Okay… here is the original image that I took of myself. I know its flattering, taken from my point and shoot camera. This is to demonstrate the power of these tools. As you can see there is lots of shiny skin, pimples (stress of grad school finals), blemishes, scars, redness, pores and anything else that I failed to mention. Basic mug shot if I’d say so myself. At least my hair looks good right?! Now let’s get to the tools. (As I go keep referring to the original photo)

“S” – Clone stamp tool – This is a tool that copies a pre-selected pixel area to copy. In the original there is a harsh shadow that is to the right side of my face, your left looking at it. I want to get rid of that. By pressing the Alt key, you see a cross hair icon appear. This shows you what you are aiming for to copy. Depending on the size of your brush and softness determines how it is going to copy. Here is what I did to get rid of the shadow.

“J” – These tools are a series of a Spot healing brush tool, healing brush tool, patch tool and red eye tool. I call these the quick fix or the zit popper tools for short. What they do is match the color of the pixels in the selected pixel area and attempt to copy from the surrounding areas. The science behind how its done, I am really not sure of but it works with a few clicks to get rid of pores, pimples, blemishes, wrinkles, baggy eyes, scars and whatever else may be growing or oozing from your face. I used these tools to give myself a free facial treatment. See the results… compared to the original. Starting to look good ehh?! (TIP: the smaller the brush and the more frequent clicks, better results for making a less noticeable change to the image)

“B” – Brush tool – This is where the fun begins! Here you are painting on someone’s face. Airbrushing is more of the term for this tool. What I like to do here is select a color matching in the area I want to brush over using the eyedropper tool… or when the brush tool is selected, press the Alt key. Much like the Clone Stamp tool, click the color you want to copy and paint away. This pretty much erases the pores on the skin and gives a soft skin look. Also helps in getting rid of shine and redness too. Lots of practice is needed with this too! Took me awhile to get used to it, still I don’t know it all. (TIP: the lower the opacity and the softer the brush the more natural it looks)

“O” – These are another series of tools that take time to play with. You need to study the face in different styles of lighting to understand what the darker (shadow) parts are and the lighter (highlights) are. These tools are called the burning (darker), dodging (lighter) and sponge tool (desaturate or erase color – Black and White) Using these tools I replaced the natural shadows on my face and made it look less like I was wearing a ton of caked on makeup. Then I burned the background to make my face stand out more. This is a highly dramatic step I took here but something that I like to do. Vignetting is the technical photo term here. Now you are done! How do I look nice?! Remember, less is more with this step.

These miracle tools are a fundamental part of the editing process for portrait work in photography. There are lots of other tools, filters, blenders, layers and everything that Photoshop has to offer to keep making the pictures better. Me teaching you that over the blog might take forever. Though, I plan on keeping up the posts so stick around, practice these tools, mix and match them on your subjects. I am not giving away all of my secrets just yet, so here is my work on the final image. The before and after is scary in that I can make myself look good! Right?! Keep shooting all… enjoy!

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #6: Studio Lighting

On August 3, 2010, In Lessons, Photography, By Ryan

Lighting…. This is something that can take weeks, months or even years to perfect. I honestly don’t have all the knowledge in the world about it but ask any photographer, if you look like you know what your doing that is half the battle. Taking the correct exposure with that lighting is the other.

To get a better understanding of lighting, you need to know the types of lighting that work well in studio settings. Now you’re starting to think…. “I don’t have hundreds or thousands of dollars to invest into the studio lights.” Well you can start with the two light sources the man upstairs gave us. Light from the sun (direct) and any light reflected off of everything else (bounce or aka fill light). This is where things get interesting. If light didn’t reflect, we would not be able to see anything and photography would not exist!

Now I am going to give you the magic rule that I was taught. “3 Lights = Professional lighting.” You can light any object or person professionally by having 3 lights present. One bounce, two main. Two bounce, one main… etc. Catch the trend here? The direct lighting can be anything that is emitting light. A lamp, flashlight or the big ball of burning gas in the sky we call the sun works very well. The positioning of those lights is what makes the subject stand out. Knowing the basics will help you to jump-start your photography. So I am going to talk about short lighting, broad lighting, split lighting, rembrandt lighting and butterfly lighting. I’ve included examples to show what I mean.

SHORT LIGHTING is where one side of the subject is directly lit. The other side is bounced. This creates a skating light across the face with a subtle bounce on the other side to show the shape of the face. Adds a dramatic feel to the picture too. TIP: Best when shooting larger people, the skating light visually thins the person out. (Not saying this subject is fat, but you can see I used the sun through the blinds to create this effect.)

BROAD LIGHTING, this is the exact opposite of short. This is adding as much light to the front of the subject as possible. Not really suitable for portrait work, tends to make people look chubby or heavier than they really are. It creates a softer feel, it all just depends on what you are trying to achieve with your works. Also placing the bounce cards behind your subject, at a 45 degree angle out of frame, to make sure light surrounds them. (Tends to create a white wash and dreamy effect illustrated here)

SPLIT LIGHTING, it looks like its name. You are splitting the subject in half with the lights. Your direct light should make a drastic line down your subject, “Splitting” them in half. This one you don’t need the 3 lights, just one direct. TIP: Works amazing with older people and black and white photos. (See the detail in the hand and skull? Very dramatic!)

REMBRANDT LIGHTING is the classic artistic lighting of portrait work. The direct light is placed at a high 45 degree angle directly in front of the subject. The bounce cards are used to illuminate the shadows (these can be placed anywhere around the subject). The trick here is to not get rid of the shadows, but to highlight them… if that makes any sense at all. This created a diffused look to the subject lighting, accenting the shadows.

BUTTERFLY LIGHTING is the flooding of light. Used a lot with extreme close-ups. This washes out a lot of detail but creates a 12 o’clock shadow on the chin and nose. By placing the lights at a higher 45 degree angle with bounce cards under gives this flooding of light. Normally called “under, over lighting.” TIP: great for glamor shots, people with beautiful color eyes and strong facial features (oval or square chin).

Here’s the last tip:  If you see a photograph that you like and want to copy. Look at the highlights in the eyes or the shiny surfaces. This will tell you where they have the lighting on the subject. Eyes never lie! Mastering the basics is what you need to do next. You can’t build a house without a foundation, right? So play around, experiment with the styles. Remember, they aren’t rules. They are just guidelines, you’re the artist! Play! Keep shooting all… Enjoy!

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #4: Eyes vs. Emotion

On May 20, 2010, In Lessons, Photography, By Ryan

This is going to be something of a psychology lesson, more than a photo lesson but the two go together very well. When in college, I took a psychology course that changed how I take pictures. Let me explain how this makes sense.

One day the class got into a discussion on emotional stressors. I was really curious about this and asked for more information on it after class. After class, my professor pulled out a bunch of flash cards and showed me each one for 2 seconds. I had to write down the first thing I saw, how I scanned it with my eyes and how I felt after looking at each card. After taking the test, she explained to me each card and what they meant. She said, “that there is no right or wrong answer to any of the cards, its just human emotion and instinct.” Then looking at the cards individually after, for a longer period of time, I noticed that there were things on the cards that I missed the first time seeing them and there is a lot more to each card then just black and white dots.

Now, how does this make a connection to photography? Out of that test I remember two cards that changed everything for me. I recreated them for you below. Time for you to take the test, look at them for 2 seconds each write down what the first thing you saw, how you scanned the card with your eyes and how you felt. Okay… READY GO!

Card #1

Card #2

Are done with that?… what were your results? Remember there is no right or wrong answer here. You can post your answers below. Now, to explain what each of these cards mean to photography.

In the first card, the heavy contrast in colors dictated what you saw first. Then scanning the card was tough because your eyes kept on going back to the first sight marked by your brain. Going back and forth probably made you feel uneasy, confused and/or frustrated. Why? I can’t tell you why… I didn’t study psychology in school. But, what you can get from this is that photographing a subject with high contrast and two separate visual points to create visual tension and trigger emotions. What I am trying to get here is that this card tells your mind what it needs to go to first. You can do this by making your subject the main focus by color, position and size. Also did you notice that the two dots are two different sizes?

The second card is different than the first, but this card is what I was trying to explain in my last lesson by how you scan the image and again dictate what you looked at first. Mostly all of you would notice that the dot in the top left corner is grey. How you scanned that image determines your emotion, each person is different so I can’t tell you exactly what you are going to feel. But, I can tell you that most of you started with the grey dot, moved to the bottom right, over to the bottom left then to the top right. This is the “natural scanning” movements of the eye. Now try to scan the dots different ways and see how you feel, it makes you feel different emotionally each way doesn’t it? So to make your photographs comfortable to viewers, keep this in mind. This is what I tried to do with the photo in Lesson 3. I’ve included it here so you can see what I mean. Most of you however, did not see the square in the top right corner.

This lesson is more about sight and emotion. The human mind is an interesting subject and digging into this more from a medical/psychological standpoint I would confuse you all. But, using this bit of information to my advantage in my photographs I am able to control, most of the time, what and how I want you to see my subjects. Who says a liberal arts education cannot help you with your profession?! Keep shooting all!

Here is a fun video on line of sight, make sure you pay attention!

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #3 – Strength in Composition

On April 29, 2010, In Lessons, Photography, By Ryan

Before I start I want you to look at the photograph that I’ve included here. I want you to note on a piece of paper what was the first thing you looked at in this picture, what was the next point your eye moved to, etc… then I want you to draw a line (almost like connect the dots) to map out how you looked at this photograph…. Keep this aside… I will explain more later on.

Composition is what can make any subject look AMAZING! Composition is the strategic placement of your subject(s) in your photographs. This means by adjusting the amount of negative space (absence of subject) and positive space (filling the frame with subject). Composition in your photographs is very important to understand. Why, because it helps create movement within your pictures. (now getting into why I asked you to draw the lines before). The boring, straight on snapshot photos with the subject in the center, level negative and positive spacing  and even shooting angles (from lesson #2) just makes it “blahh”. You say, “ehh that’s a good picture.” To make your photos stand out event more use this helpful guide called “the rule of thirds.” This will make the people say, “Wow, that’s a GREAT photograph.”

The rule of thirds is a way to equally divide your photos by 2 lines vertically and horizontally to create an invisible grid creating 9 boxes dividing the picture into thirds, hence the name.  This will help you adjust your subject in the photos properly. I have illustrated this in the picture to the right. Not only does this work for photography, it works in graphic design too. Balancing out your main points in the layouts helps in the delivery of your work. Now look at your line of sight in this photograph… does it match the line I drew for you here?

Mostly all of you looked at the moon first, went to the lights on the church front, over to the trees to the right and then back up to the top of the steeple. If you didn’t, I am curious to see what you saw first… comment below. By me having an understanding of the rule of thirds I am able to dictate movement of your eyes in this photograph by placing my subject(s) in the frame according to what I want you to see, think or feel. The whitest/brightest part of a dark image is going to the first thing your eye is attracted to… this is human nature, much like the blonde haired, blue eyed girl in the red dress at a party is the first girl that is noticed by everyone at the party. There is a reason why men go for this girl, all bright colors in a dark environment.

Another example of composition is in the video below. The strength in this message is increased because of the composition of the pups in the frame. If you watched the video without sound, you still will feel emotionally attached to the subjects without hearing the message. P.S. Adopt a dog!

To sum this all up…. Think of the rule of thirds when taking a picture. Know your subject and look at the background. Keep in mind the sight lines that you create. In the  next lesson I will dig deeper into the sight lines to help you understand that more. You can dictate how people look and feel about your photograph by understanding composition. Any comments or question add them below. Keep shooting all!

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #2: Working the Angles

On April 12, 2010, In Lessons, By Ryan

Angle Lesson - Ryan E Hulse

Work the Angles

Angles are EVERYTHING in photography! You don’t see the importance in it until you see what it does to your subjects photographed. To the right I have put together a progression of angles with a crazy looking bunny I got for Easter from my mother, long story on that… but a funny one! Thanks Mom! I figured he would be the best model for this demonstration of angles. Anyway, let me give you some reasoning behind what the angles do to the subject.

In photo #1 you see an Extreme High angle. The Extreme high angle shots give the perception that your subject is smaller, elongates the body (making people thinner), and creates the illusion of distortion. This is great when you are trying to create depth in portraits as well. (Also you see this a lot with the “MySpace” photos of girls and guys taking pictures of themselves to make them “look good”, bigger boobs, muscular chests, ripped shoulders, thinner faces and stomachs. Now you know why it makes them look good… IT’S ALL IN THE ANGLES!

Photo #2 shows a high angle shot. This does the same to the subject as the extreme high angle, yet not as intense. This is actually best used when you are doing portrait work of people who are obese (or feel that they have a double chin). Trust me, keep this between you and me… if you do it without saying it… the customer will be really thankful that you made them look thinner without even doing Photoshop work. This also works best when you have people who are tall, especially taller women. They don’t want to be seen as being really tall in photos. So keep the big and tall in mind when doing the higher angle shots.

Photo #3…. BORING!!!! Why I say this is it just is a straight on shot. This is what a lot of people make the mistakes of when taking photos of subjects. Not to mention composition errors too (ill get into this next time). It is just a snap shot to me. Yet this is what a lot of people do in photographs. As you can see on the progression of angles, it just documents what is there. Nothing more. Nothing less. This is just boring… try avoiding this while doing your own works. Change your angles!

In photo #4 you need to get low, bend your knees a bit. This is a low angle shot and what it does to your photos is the exact opposite of the high angle shots. Makes your subject look bigger, more powerful and taller too! So this is good for those shorter subjects that want to look bigger then they really are….. Random fact of Photography: Adolf Hitler only stood 5’9” and was 175lbs. He made it a national law that no photograph was to be taken of him from a higher angle. This is so you are always looking up to him. Power hungry eh?! I Think so!…. This is just something to keep in mind when using this angle.

The last, photo #5, is an extreme low angle. This, as you can see, gives the affect of distortion. Making a small subject look gigantic. This is almost like you standing at the base of the Statue of Liberty and looking up. You think to yourself… that’s a whole lot’a woman right there! This angle gives distortion again, longer bodies and depth.

So remember, when taking photos of your subjects WORK THE ANGLES! Don’t just take the photographs from eye level. Stand on a chair or climb a ladder (don’t fall off), lie on the ground or place your subject on a platform to make them even higher. If you have any questions or comments, post them below. I’d like to see what your thinking. Again, keep shooting all… practice makes perfect. Talk to you soon!

Sincerely Ryan E Hulse

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Photography Lesson #1: Understanding Photography

On April 6, 2010, In Photography, By Ryan

Mt Monadnock - New Hampshire -Ryan E Hulse

Before I begin on teaching you all on how to take pictures, I’ll give you a quick lesson on what exactly photography is. According to www.dictionary.com, photography is “the process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic rays.” Honestly, how many of you still use film cameras and go for the 1 hour developers?

If you are using a digital camera, 35mm film, medium format, large format, pin-hole, x-ray, cell phone, Polaroid or anything that falls into the definition of producing an image from light… you are a photographer. It doesn’t matter what you use in the process, it is the final picture produced. That is what makes photography so amazing.

Yet, technology has change ladies and gents. The digital camera has taken over the industry. Whether you have a DSLR or a Point & Shoot camera you still are a photographer, just in a digital age. I am not saying that digital is better than film… honestly it is not, for quality and archiving purposes. But digital gives you the instant gratification of seeing the photographs as soon as you click the shutter, instant interaction with clients and with the advancements in communications you can click, download and share it with the world in the matter of minutes.

Many people use photography as a way of documenting their everyday lives. Some use it for art. Others use it for business. The rest live it in passion. You don’t need to be an artist to understand what photography is. You need to be confident in being behind the lens. Knowing how to compose your subject, adjust the lighting, changing angles of shooting and when to capture that decisive moment to make your photographs stand out from others. It is not rocket science, it is practice! I’ll admit when I first started photography, I was not the greatest. It just takes practice and lots of it.

If you want to hear more about this, have any questions or request a topic for future posts please comment below. Thanks and enjoy shooting!

-Ryan

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