Mixed Light Sources - Window Light with Speedlight for a Quick Portrait

Recently I took the above portrait in the lounge of a private home. I used a blank white wall as a plain background, light from the open window provided the strong side light and background light, and a camera mounted sb700 pointed into the corner of the ceiling and wall behind me provided the main light. All in all it worked out quite well for a "high key" type portrait.

I shot this with my now favourite portrait lens, the AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G on the D300s.

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF-S G is my new Favourite Portrait Lens!

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while would have noticed that I really like the Nikon 50mm F1.8D on DX camera as a portrait lens, in fact it was my "go to" lens for several years when I needed to take portrait photos. This portrait was taken with the 50mm. I have not changed my opinion that the "nifty fifty" is a really nice lens for portraits, but the designation of "favourite" has now been reassigned to the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF-S G!

After several months of use I can say with full confidence that I highly recommend it as a head and shoulders portrait lens. The quality of the out of focus areas is sublime, and is only bettered by lenses costing at least two or three times as much. (The 50mm f1.8D is 4x cheaper than this 85mm, so if you are on a tighter budget then it still ranks right up there!)

The pic shown here is taken at f8.0 (on a Nikon D300s) and the background is still pleasingly blurred while beautifully sharp on the subject which isolates the subject from the background very nicely, thank you very much!

If you are from Malmö in Southern Sweden, then I highly recommend you get your own copy from Scandinavian Photo. They have it listed here: Nikon AF 85/1,8G AF-S Please note, I am not employed by or paid by Scandinavian Photo, but when I get great and friendly service from a company then I love to tell my friends about it! Tell them I sent you. :^)

Is the Decline of Camera Sales Good For Photographers?

I have read a lot lately about the declining sales of dslr and mirrorless cameras in favour of phone cameras that have boomed onto the markets in an undeniable fashion. Apparently the major camera manufacturers are scrambling to revise their targets and adjust their production and bottom lines to better reflect the current market trend. I predict that this trend will continue and that we will see a partial return to pre digital camera times when Joe Public carried small, easily portable cameras and the big cameras were left to "pros" and serious amateurs.

The cameras embedded into every smartphone are now good enough to produce nice results for the average person to get acceptable photographs without having to take an expensive course and be able to directly load the results to Facebook, Blogger, etc. Convenience always wins with the consumer public majority!

Could I now also predict a possible upturn for photography as a profession as more people decide that they would rather have a pro with a big camera take their wedding photos than Uncle John with his shiny new camera that has detachable lenses and a big flash simply because Uncle John ditched the inconvenient to carry around and use camera and now only has a Samsung S4 instead?

My theory is that as fewer people have dslr's they will come to rely on someone else, possibly the local high street professional, for their serious photography needs again. I surmise that this transition will take time to become apparent because it takes a while for these things to trickle through, but maybe the pendulum has peaked to the top of it's swing and is about to swing back.

Anybody fancy a quick look into their crystal ball and see if I'm right, or if maybe I'm just a hopeful dreamer? Haha!

Meanwhile back on Planet Earth...
;-)

Using the Sun as part of your Lighting Setup

I like to treat the Sun as an integral part of my outdoor lighting setups to add depth, warmth and ambiance to my subject. In this instance we were shooting some portraits down at the beach in Landskrona and the setting sun was giving a beautifully soft and warm light that was just perfect for portraits!

The light from the Sun is coming from near the horizon to camera right and I also have a Nikon sb700 on a pole shooting through a smallish brolly to camera left and a little above the subject. I had my assistant holding the flash and I let the Sun take care of itself. ;-)

Nikon D300s, Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G, 1/320s, f2.8, ISO 200, flash triggered via Nikons wonderful CLS wireless triggering system, hand held.

Portraits are about People! (2)

Nikon sb700 Speedlight on a pole shooting through a smallish Elinchrom shoot through umbrella to camera left and triggered via Nikon's super CLS wireless trigger system. Nikon D90 on manual mode at 1/60s, f7.1, ISO 200, handheld, with the wonderful Nikkor AFS 35mm DX f1.8 lens attached.

Taken on a bridge over the moat at the Landskrona Citadel shortly after sunset.

Portraits are about People!

I know it seems a rather obvious statement, but if you are going to make portrait photography your speciality, then the most important skill is not whether you have mastered the convoluted workings of a modern camera, or if indeed you have a really great "top of the range" piece of high megapixel wizardry, or if your lens can outresolve even the best that aliens on another (more advanced) planet may or may not have. It doesn't even matter if you have the best software that money can buy, or indeed rent, and have taken all the right courses, purchased all the right plugins, and know all the right scripts that a (sometimes dodgy) education can buy. Heck, it doesn't even matter if you can ride a unicycle! What does matter is your people skills!


I love working with people, which is why I love taking portraits, shooting weddings and events, and anything else that involves being around and interacting with humans of all shapes, sizes, creeds, nationalities and eccentricities. I worked in retail, sales and other customer centric businesses for many years and loved every minute of being of service to others!

I have found in my years of photographing people that the first and best thing is to get them to calm down, relax and stop thinking of the camera as an assault weapon bent on their destruction. I know they feel that way because that is exactly how I feel every time the roles are reversed and I find myself on the wrong end of the photo capturing device.

Spend time talking about what they do, what their hopes and aspirations are, how it's going at work, where they went to school, how many languages they speak... etc. etc. Really just become their new, and trusted, friend. As quickly as possible. And it doesn't help to try and fake it either! It has to come from the heart or they will see right through your facade and you will never get the best out of them. Ever.

So really what I have to say is this. If you are not a "people person" then probably portrait photography is not for you. If you are not sure if you are, well then maybe you aren't and a career in landscapes would be more your cup of tea. How do you know for sure? Well, do some soul searching, ask yourself if you genuinely care about people, be honest with yourself. If you do, then brush up on those communication skills because they will set you apart from the rest and your clients will keep coming back as well.

Anybody can learn how to use a camera, but very few photographers know how to get the best out of their subjects. The ones that do are already known to us because it's this one skill that makes their portraits stand out from the crowd.

The pic above is of an up and coming young singer songwriter in Southern Sweden called Fatima Al Atar. Look out for her soon to be released CD, judging by her voice I think she could be the real deal!

Happy shooting!

A (fairly) Standard Three Light Portrait

Three Elinchrom lights used. Main light camera left Elinchrom 4 bounced into a black backed umbrella from about 45° up and 45° to the subject. Fill light camera right Elinchrom 4 about 1 stop down from main shot through a transparent umbrella. Back light Elinchrom 2 right and behind subject in a medium sized softbox. Nikon D300s and Nikkor 50mm f1.8D.

All this and another light, light stands, plus a background stand, backdrop, two cameras complete with lenses, plus a tripod all fit into one large rolling case to become my highly portable studio ready to leave and shoot on location at any time. Very convenient indeed!

Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G = Smooth as butter backgrounds!

Even on my crop frame D300s and at a small distance from the subject this beautiful lens renders lovely out of focus backgrounds! This was set to f2.8. Taken during our Sunday cycle through the countryside.

Just to give an idea of how sharp this lens is, here is a pic also taken on Sunday with the 85mm f/1.8, and included is a 100% crop of the windmill section below that:

100% crop:

One last point, if there is any distortion from this lens I am totally unable to see it! :-)

Available Light and the Nikkor 50mm f1.8D = Great Portraits!

My friend Mario is a well known figure in Malmö as he goes around reaching out to the homeless and needy of the city offering them food, friendship and a helping hand. He does all this without pay, and many times without thanks, but keeps simply plugging away. A real hero in my book!

Taken handheld with a D300s, 50mm f1.8D lens and whatever light was available. An aperture of f2.8 ensured a lovely out of focus rendition of the background and sufficient shutter speed to give a sharp portrait.

For those of you that care, here are the settings I used according to the exif data:
Manual, f2.8, 1/125s, ISO 400, auto white balance, and a quick run through DXO Optics Pro 8.

Another - Single Elinchrom Softbox Portrait

From the same session as the portrait below.

Single Elinchrom Softbox Portrait

More often than not one light is all that is needed.

Portrait with the Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

Have I mentioned before that the Nikkor 50mm f1.8D makes a really nice portrait lens? ;-) Hehe!

Lighting: Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2 with a snoot from above and behind the subject pointing down at the subject from the right side of the portrait. Elinchrom D-lite-it 4 with 65x65cm soft-box from above camera and very slightly left. Edited in Lightroom 4. Vignette added.

Weekend Portrait Shoot

I shot a series of portraits for a client over the weekend and decided to share this one simply because this wonderful man's face really caught my eye, some people are just great to photograph and he was a natural!

I had a load of fun and was reminded once again that I am in this because I love working with people, and seeing them happy with something as personal as their portrait just makes my day!

After the break is the "compulsory" set-up shot:

A simple three light set-up to get a nice looking portrait with some realistic depth. The whole shebang packs up into one rolling suitcase that you can spy on the table on the left. This is all really easy to cart around to clients and use on location.

(Some clever sod commented on Flickr and said: "Your post processing is amazing. You turned a middle aged Caucasian into an older African American." My answer was: "Haha! New Lightroom plugin! ;-) Just got my ever patient wife to stand in as a "guinea pig" while I fine tuned the lighting ahead of the actual shoot.")

The portrait at the top was taken with the wonderful and super cheap Nikkor 50mm f1.8D attached to a Nikon D300s.

And finally there is one of those fancy lighting diagrams that people seem to like so much:

Due credit is given at the bottom of the lighting diagram graphic. It's easy to use and looks really nice.

The Power of Bounced Flash!

Nikon sb600 atop my D300s turned backwards and about 45° upwards to bounce onto the wall and ceiling behind me. This simple technique resulted in even and soft lighting from a large light source and great highlights in the eyes of the subjects!

Portrait of Ben (with Attitude)

Elinchrom D-Lite-it 4 snooted and shot from behind and right of the subject to give a little hair light action, Elinchrom D-Lite-it 4 through a smallish softbox aimed to just skim across the subject from camera left without throwing too much light onto the background, edited in Lightroom 4.3 to grunge the portrait up a bit. I used my favourite 50mm f1.8D attached to a Nikon D300s, with all manual settings applied.

Bride and Groom Kissing outside the Chapel

An oldie from my days of film, and still one of my favourite wedding photos. I was shooting with a Nikon F801s camera and a Nikkor 50mm f1.8D lens, a real workhorse combination that served me well for many years!

I would still be happily shooting film but in South Africa it became harder and harder to find anybody who could still process film properly and without leaving smudgy fingerprints on my negatives. I think that as time went on and the old film guys who knew what they were doing in the darkroom retired they were replaced by anyone (young, cheap and inexperienced) who thought they could punch the right buttons on the mini lab machine, and the darkroom art died out.

This is the way of the world and unfortunately profits drive everything. Having recently moved to Sweden I have discovered that local processing labs simply don't exist, so film use seems to be off the cards unless I decide to process my own... C'est la vie, now I have been shooting digital for a number of years and the "old days" of film remain as a pleasant memory.

Venetian Painted Mask - a one light portrait.

Another version of a previous pic (in colour) from the same session that I posted here: Venetian Painted Mask

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 105mm with VR on, hand held, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO200, Nikon sb600 fired into a bounce umbrella to camera left.

Toni (with an "i"), photographed in my "Strobist" style studio.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 105mm with VR on, hand held, f/11, 1/200s, ISO200.
A Nikon sb600 bounced in an umbrella to camera left set just slightly higher than the subject, and a Nikon sb700 bounced in an umbrella to camera right and somewhat higher than the subject (about 45 degrees), with both sb's on light stands and triggered via Nikon's excellent CLS.
Edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Sometimes the Light is simply better without Speedlights!

It always pays to be looking out for interesting light, and shutters near sunset can be just the thing to add a bit of visual interest.

A Quick Portrait.

Took a quick portrait this evening, setting up lights, shooting and packing back down all done in about 20 minutes!

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 90mm with VR on, hand held, f/11, 1/200s, ISO200, two Nikon sb's bounced into two bounce umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.