Car and models photography

Traditional black and white models photography

Online Photography course 4:Exposure: Low Key

This is the opposite of the previous lesson. A low key photo is pretty much black on black, or at least very dark on dark. This kind of photo can create a sense of intimacy, foreboding, sadness, and / or heaviness. You might have a face or object rimmed with light in a silhouette, but dark on the side towards the camera and dark background.
The problem with shooting dark on dark is that the camera will try to lighten the image up making the picture look washed out and grey.
For this shot you’ll need a really dark cloth, preferably black, and an object that is dark or has some dark tones in it. You could shoot a portrait of a dark haired person in dark clothing against a black or dark background for a low-key portrait.
Note: Shooting an object or person that is very light or white against black has a different effect and is not really considered “low key”, although it can be striking image anyways.
Exercise: First, shoot the image with what you camera says is the right exposure. Very few in-camera meters will render this scene accurately. Now, take a meter reading on something dark/black that has the light hitting it and close the aperture two stops (i.e. if it is ƒ1.8 you’ll want to go to ƒ4.)
Compare the two images and see what difference it made.

Online Photography course 3: Exposure: High Key

A high-key photo is basically white on white. This style of photography conveys a feeling of lightness and clarity. Typically what happens is the camera wants to make the white of the photo – without dark areas to ‘balance’ the exposure – too dark. So your white’s become gray. You may have seen this particularly when shooting a snowy field on a gray day. However, exposing for high key is fairly easy.
With an in camera meter, you can measure the light hitting a white area, and open up two stops – such as changing the aperture from ƒ11 to ƒ5.6.
Exercise: Put a large piece of white paper or white fabric on a table beside a large north facing window, place an egg in the middle. Take a picture with the exposure the in camera meter suggests. You may have to use a tripod to keep the camera still if the shutter speed is too slow.
Next, meter off a white area and open up two stops – as described at the top of the this page. Compare the images.
This can work well for other scenarios where exposure is a tricky thing – like weddings where the bride is wearing white and the groom is in black. Quite often, the dress winds up blown out with no detail in the dress. By metering off the dress and opening up two stops you can prevent this from happening.
You can also use a hand held meter to measure the light hitting the subject, which will be more accurate than the in-camera meter.
Note: Be aware that some digital cameras have exposure compensation built in to prevent overexposure. If exposure is too bright the highlights could be “blown out” and detail lost int the brightest parts of the image. By artificially “darkening” the image, the camera makers try to make sure the exposures aren’t too bright. This doesn’t affect all cameras but it does seem to be the case for some. That means that the exposure needed in lessons 2, 3 and 4 may be slightly higher than suggested in the lessons. You might use the “expose to the right” method.

Online Photography course 2: Exposure (Basic)

Many cameras have more stops at either end of these scales, but these are typical. As well, most modern cameras have half stops or third stops. These make learning a little more difficult, but keep the above numbers in mind to do proper exposures.Note: Completing this lesson requires a camera capable of manually setting exposure.
What is the right exposure? Not to make this complicated, but exposure is a choice you have to make. The exposure you choose determines how the image looks. But, we’ll start with a basic understanding and work up from there.
Exposure consists of four factors:

1. how much light is in front of you – which can be changed by adding lights or flash,
2. how sensitive the film is to light – called ISO (remember, I use the word “film” to refer to whatever medium used for capturing the image, whether it is the Digital Camera’s sensor or actually film,)
3. the amount of light going through a lens – called the aperture,
4. how long the film is exposed – called the shutter speed.

For a little more about how this works see the Camera Basics Page.
For the moment, we’ll set an average exposure on an average scene.
If you’re camera does not have a built in meter – its really old. But, that’s okay. You’ll just have to buy a hand held meter. If you have an SLR or advanced point and shoot digital camera, spend some time with the manual to find out how to bring up the “Histogram” which graphically shows the amount of light in an exposure.
First exercise – set your ISO to 100, set your camera to ƒ16 and the shutter to 1/125th of a second. (Some digital cameras are limited to ISO 200 – which means you have to cut your exposure by one stop, i.e. use 1/250th instead of 1/125th of a second) With this setting, take your camera out during a sunny day, put the sun behind you and shoot anything – you’ll have a well exposed image. This is called the “Sunny 16″ rule.
To make life interesting, and your photography more creative, you can change the setting and still have the same exposure. These are equivalent exposures: Try going to ƒ11 at 1/250th of a second. Push it a little further at ƒ8 at 1/500th of a second. These are all the same exposure because the same total amount of light is hitting the film.
Of course, you’re not always going to shoot with the sun behind you on a sunny day. For other situations you need to be able to find out your exposure with a meter. This can be in your camera or hand held.
Looking at any scene, your meter will give you a suggestion as to what exposure to use. Most of the time this is fairly accurate.
Using your meter, take a reading off of something with mixed tones in shade on a sunny day – you’ll find the exposure is two or three stops slower than the “Sunny 16.”
Second exercise
One of the best things to do for more accurate exposure is to meter the light hitting the specific subject you’re shooting. Find a place where there is a small patch of light such as a break in a wall, light coming directly through a window, etc. Take a picture from far enough back you get lots of the shadow area. You’ll probably find the patch of light is way too bright in the picture. Walk right up to the patch of light and see what the meter suggests you use there. Then, go back to where you’re taking the picture from – and with the camera in manual – set the exposure to what was suggested.
You can also use your hand to help determine exposure in a variety of situations. First – on a sunny day, do the f16 rule, setting the camera to f16 at 1/125 of a second. Hold your hand in the sunlight and meter it. You’ll probably notice the meter says you should change the exposure. Note how much the meter says your hand is off from the f16 rule and keep that in mind. Lets say the meter said you should expose your hand at f22. That is one stop darker than what is actually needed. Now walk into the shade and meter off your hand again. If it says f11, you know that is one stop too dark, so set your camera to f8.
Knowing what your hand is for exposure can help you set exposure in most situations – just make sure your hand is in the same kind of light as the subject you’re shooting.
A little more accurate way to do exposures is to buy an “18 per cent grey card.” Most camera stores and photo departments should have these. To use it, just put it beside the subject you’re shooting, and meter off of it. If you’re further away than is practical to walk up to the subject – set the card in the same kind of light as the subject and again meter off the card.
Third exercise – either with an 18 per cent grey card, or using your hand as described above, meter something in dark shade and find out the exposure there.
A final note – A meter is very handy for getting your exposure, but it does have a limitation. As said earlier, the meter thinks the world is 18 per cent grey. Most of the world is kind of like 18 per cent grey, but not all of it.
Look at what you’re shooting. If its black (or very dark), your meter will try to make it grey – and make the exposure too light. Conversely, if you’re subject is white, the meter will try to make it darker – or 18 per cent grey.
There are two more lessons on high key and low key photos which will help you handle more extreme situations.
Note: Be aware that some digital cameras have exposure compensation built in to prevent overexposure. If exposure is too bright the highlights could be “blown out” and detail lost in the brightest parts of the image. By artificially “darkening” the image, the camera makers try to make sure the exposures aren’t too bright. This doesn’t affect all cameras but it does seem to be the case for some. That means that the exposure needed in lessons 2, 3 and 4 may be slightly higher than suggested in the lessons. You might use the “expose to the right” method.

Online Photography course 1: Intent

Lesson 1 – Intent

Why do you want to take pictures? You may want to share with others how you see the world around you, you may want to document your life and that of the people you love, you may have a desire to create images that blow other people away. There are so many excellent reasons to get into photography and why you do so is up to you.
I’ve put this section first because when I learned photography – it was technique first and art second. That is a time honoured way of learning photography. But now that I’ve done it for 30 years I think it was a backwards way of learning photography.
Photography is an art and you are the artist. If you’re thinking you could never be an artist I have good news for you – you already are. Even just taking the time to read this page you’ve shown you have the desire make images that give you pleasure and can affect others – that is art.
Now comes the fun part – think about why you want to take pictures. Write down a list of:

1. Things you like about photography. Do you love the moment of seeing the images in prints or on your screen? Is it the challenge of making the photo? Is it the sharing the images with your friends? Is it the memories you get when you look at your photos later? Whatever it is you like about taking pictures, write it down.
2. What you want to achieve with photography. Do you want to remember what your kids are like at each stage of their growing up? Do you like flowers or architecture or mountains and want to document them? Do you want to show the human condition? Do you want to pursue a career in photography? Write down what you want your photography to do.
3. What subjects you want to shoot. Flowers, dogs, kids, models, food, people’s feet, whatever. Write down those things you find catch your eye or make you wish you had your camera when you see it.
4. How you feel about those subjects. Do you love it, hate it, feel afraid of it, laugh at it, wish it was yours? This is actually the most important section of the lesson. When you understand what you feel towards something, you’ll find your photography of it improves automatically.

Now grab your pen and start writing. Once you’re done, put it on the wall, throw it into your camera bag or put it somewhere you can easily review it. Add or change it as you grow as a photographer. But once you have the list, you have a great tool to make your photography better.
You may have noticed the link in top right corner for the book “Drawing on the artist within” by Betty Edwards. I highly recommend this book for learning about bringing out your inner artist – it is a very, very good book which taught me a lot.