[Photography] How to Use Graduated Neutral Density Filters for Landscape Photography

Since the camera was invented, we have tried to copy one of the greatest wonders of our body; the human eye. Unfortunately, despite being over 100 years since the first time that we captured light, we are still far from overcoming Mother Nature.

Why? Because in the visible spectrum your eye sees much better than your camera.

Dynamic Range

The parameter that describes this behavior is called Dynamic Range. This basically defines the difference between the minimum and maximum value of brightness that a device (like your eye or the sensor of your camera) is able to record. In the real world, Dynamic Range defines the ability of your camera to see details in very dark areas and very clear (bright) areas of the scene.

If you’re wondering how much more your eye sees, the answer is staggering. Your eyes have about twice as much range that they can see and capture.

The problem

That’s why when you look at a marvelous sunset with your eyes you’re able to see all the details in the scene (in both the sky and the land). But as soon as you try to capture it with your camera, you’ll get an overexposed sky or a underexposed foreground. The Dynamic Range of your camera is only able to capture detail in one of those areas so you have to choose.

But if even the best cameras have a Dynamic Range which is only half that of the human eye. So how can we hope to shoot a beautiful sunset or a wonderful sunrise and capture all the marvelous details?

There are different methods to overcome this problem, but my favorite is the use of Graduated Neutral Density filters (GND).

What is a Graduated Neutral Density Filter?

A Graduated Neutral Density Filter is one made of two distinct parts; a completely transparent area, and a darker section. By setting the darkest part of the filter to correspond with the brightest portion of the scene, you can reduce the exposure difference (dynamic range) in the frame.

To reduce the exposure difference is to reduce the dynamic range of the scene, and thus allow your camera to simultaneously capture detail in both bright and dark areas of the scene. Basically, to make an analogy, GND filters are like a kind of sunglasses for your camera.

Types of GND filters

Graduated Neutral Density Filters are typically distinguished by the type of transition that exists between the transparent and dark areas of the filter. For this reason, we can identify three families of GNDs:

1. Hard-edge filters, which are characterized by a clear boundary (it’s obvious where one begins and the other ends) between the transparent and dark areas. They are therefore used when the separation between the bright and dark areas of your scene is very defined, such as the horizon at sea.
2. Soft-edge filters are characterized by a soft transition (they change from light to dark more gradually) and are therefore used when the transition between light and dark areas is not so clear. A classic example is a shot in a mountainous area.
3. Reverse filters, which are nothing more than hard-edge GNDs with the dark area that fades away the more you move from the line of separation to the upper border of the filter (meaning it’s darker in the middle than on the edge). Basically, they were invented to better manage sunrises and sunsets, where the light is more intense on the horizon line (middle). If you love seascapes like me, this filter will be one of your best friends forever!

Which to buy?

Another distinction is between filters is the construction material. Higher quality filters are made of optical glass. Putting an inexpensive resin filter in front of a lens worth hundreds (or thousands) of dollars is not a great idea.

Finally, GND filters are distinguished by graduation, or their ability to block light through the darkest area. Essentially how dark they are at the extreme. Normally in landscape photography, this difference is between one and four stops during sunset and sunrise, depending on weather conditions. This is the reason why you will find these gradations almost exclusively on the market.

Shop for Graduated Neutral Density filters on Amazon.com or on B&H Photo Video’s site (they ship worldwide).

How to use a GND filter in the field

The use of GND filters in the field is very simple; try to take exposure readings in the darkest and in the brightest areas of the scene (usually the sky). The exposure difference will indicate the intensity of the filter to be used. Let’s assume that the light meter reading for the sky is 1/250th, and the one for the rocks in the foreground is 1/30th. The difference between those readings is three stops (250th > 125th > 60th > 30th), so to balance the exposure you must use a 0.9 (3-stop) GND.

At this point, just mount the filter with its dark side over the brightest part of the scene. This is why a GND screw-in filter does not make sense. You would not have the possibility to align the dark area in accordance with the scene as well as a drop-in style filter.

To avoid having to hold the filter with your hands (that could be a problem if you are going to use them together with other filters) you can buy a holder, that once mounted in front of your lens will do the job for you. There are many valid solutions on the market, but the best one (in my opinion) is the V5 Pro Holder by NiSi filters. This is the only one that lets you simultaneously install three different filters and a polarizer without any vignetting issues (as wide as 16mm on full frame cameras).

At this point, the limited Dynamic Range of your image will be just a bad memory!

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[Photography] An Unconventional Composition Technique to Improve Your Photos

Last month I sat down and reread Michael Freeman’s book, “The Photographer’s Mind.” which I do occasionally. I find that by revisiting the words of other photographers I remind myself of the multitude of tools available to us. There’s so much we can do to create fresh and amazing photographs.

One of those ways is to push our skills and update our thinking. I think I’ve read through Freeman’s book about two or three times now. Every few years I take it off the shelf again. His books are insightful and interesting to read. Freeman offers up unique ideas for composition using both conventional and unconventional techniques. The books are readily available. You can also check out our review of one of Freeman’s other books here; “The Photographer’s Eye”. In this article, let’s journey through one of the concepts he discusses in his book, “Engineered Disorder”.

The details of the image are broken up into sections by the heavy shadows.

What is Engineered Disorder?

Freeman explains that Engineered Disorder is the active effort of a photographer to use non-conventional methods of composing photographs. Essentially, we are breaking the rules to create interesting images. Engineered Disorder means that we forget about conventional methods like unifying elements within the frame. We might allow ourselves to create uncluttered compositions. In one chapter Freeman talks about different methods of creating Engineered Disorder and bucking the system. He mentions using techniques such as disconnects, disruptive foreground, breaking the frame, superimposed layers and extremes of contrast. Maybe these terms sound complicated and a little too complex to understand, but they don’t have to be.

Let’s break down one of these techniques and see what’s involved in creating Engineered Disorder. We will discuss the use of extreme lighting or chiaroscuro to create disconnect within an image. It’s one of my favorite techniques. I love to include deep blacks and bright highlights in my compositions.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro – chi·a·ro·scu·ro – the treatment of light and shade in drawing, painting, and photography.

Using this technique means that we employ very hard lighting to break up the unity of a composition. The image becomes a series of pieces that communicate meaning but are broken up by dark shadows and bright highlights. Conventional composition techniques would say that using this type of technique makes for a bad photograph, but remember we are pushing the elements of composition.

The strong shadows in this image hide some details from the viewer. The leaf can only be viewed in pieces. This means a viewer has to pause and take in each part of the image separately and then piece together the whole scene. Making a viewer stop and study your image is important. Given the number of photographs out there you want to make viewers take some time to digest your images rather than scan through and move on. 

 

Experimenting with dark and light

Consider my careful experimentation with Chiaroscuro. This image portrays the common Canada goose in a much more unique fashion. In the opening moments of golden hours, these geese become elegant shadows. The different sections of light and dark create interesting graphic qualities within the image.

In this second image, I’ve used auto tone to create a more conventional image. While the actual shot is very similar, these two different treatments create considerably different photographs. Which one do you prefer?

A more conventional exposure.

Other examples

Here’s another example of Chiaroscuro. This is a photograph of a unique area near my home. Everyone calls this place The Badlands. The red and gray clay create these beautiful graphic designs which draw visitors to the area. The hills are in danger of being destroyed by visitors, but the area is truly beautiful. The shadows and the light create beautiful diagonal lines in this particular image.

This are is now off limits to visitors because of the damage caused by walking on the hills.

In this final image, the light and darks highlight different circular objects. Perhaps this image isn’t as disconnected as the others but it still presents a unique treatment for the door of a fishing boat. The image focuses on graphic design elements of the boat rather than the uses of the vessel. The image has been turned into an abstract and most viewers will need to analyze the image before they can determine the exact subject matter.

Conclusion – your turn

Experimenting with different techniques is never a bad thing. You can learn and improve your photos by playing with unconventional techniques. Creating these images certainly pushed the dynamic capabilities of my camera. Exposing for deep shadows can be a challenge all on its own, but it’s a lot of fun to try out these different techniques.

While we’ve only discussed one of the methods for creating Engineered Disorder, these three examples clearly highlight the technique. It’s better to fully understand just one compositional method rather than scratching the surface of several techniques. Give it a try, and go a little bit extreme. Break away from the conventional and search for ways to compose images that harness the power of Engineered Disorder in your photography. Please share your results in the comments below.

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[Photography] 7 Tips For Photographing Strangers

For a lot of photographers (even some of the pros), photographing complete strangers is a struggle and they try to avoid doing it. For the majority, it comes down to fear, but for some who are fearless, they fail to capture photos that really do the subject justice. Some of the most recognizable photographs in the world are photos of complete strangers. It might seem like a contradiction, but photographing people, in general, is easy but also challenging at the same time. Here are seven tips for photographing strangers.

#1 – Overcoming fear

Without a doubt, for most new photographers, the greatest barrier is fear. For some reason, people find it difficult to approach strangers to take their photo. The question you must ask yourself is, “What’s the worst that could happen?”. The person could say “No” and that’s it. In fact, you are less likely to encounter problems if you ask people before taking their photo so the only thing that is stopping you is plucking up the courage to ask.

If you struggle to do so because of your fear or shyness, simply set yourself a target that you will approach just one person every time you are out photographing. Then once you are confident enough with one, try two, three and so on until you don’t even think about it. A good trick is to always offer to email the person a copy of the photo for their personal use and most people will be flattered that you want to take their photo.

Obviously, there are times when you have to just take the photo because you are trying to capture something spontaneous and the moment will be lost if you stop to ask. You need to assess what the situation is and how to approach it before and after. For example, if you are taking a photograph of a street performer you probably won’t need to ask permission, but on the other hand, they would probably expect some form of money in return. Whereas if you are photographing children, you would be wise to ask permission from their parents first.

The only way to completely overcome this fear is to get out there and do it. The more you approach people and the more you photograph them, the easier it becomes.

#2 – Be prepared

Okay, so you have plucked up the courage to ask someone and they have agreed, so what next? The last thing you would want if you are not confident in approaching people is to be messing around trying to find the right lens or settings. The only thing that will happen is that the subject will begin to get impatient and you will rush a photo that simply won’t work or worst, is blurred.

If you are new to this the first thing you should do before you approach someone is to get your camera settings ready, and as close to what you think you will need. While there is never a hard and fast rule of settings for any situation, photographing people is fairly straight forward outdoors in comparison to other branches of photography.

So to aid yourself, think about the scene and the settings you will need and have these set before you approach your subject. You can tweak these when taking the photo, but it is easier to change your depth of field than having to change batteries or lenses. Preparation is always the key to good photography.

#3 – Keep your composition simple

I get a lot of requests from people to critique their portfolios and the majority of the people photos that I see often suffer from the same issue – over complex scenes where the hero or the main message gets lost. Whether it’s an environmental portrait or just a simple head and shoulders portrait, the main focal point should be the person you are framing your photo around. So don’t try to overcomplicate it, keep the composition simple.

Always remember the message you are trying to convey and don’t get distracted by what’s happening around it. If the subject or the action they are performing isn’t the most interesting thing that is happening in that scene, you are photographing the wrong thing.

#4 – Think about the background

One of the key techniques for keeping the composition simple is your background. Try to keep your background clear and uncluttered so that it doesn’t distract the viewer. When out and about, find a wall or some bushes that can work well as a backdrop for your portraits.

If you do find yourself in a busy place and can’t simplify the background, use a wide aperture to blur the background in order to focus on the main subject. Keep a look out for what’s happening behind your model, as unwanted elements such as power lines, garbage cans, and building works seem to draw attention.

#5 – Sharp eyes

The eyes are the most important part of a portrait and they need to be sharp otherwise, the entire photo looks soft and doesn’t work. But the eyes are also a glimpse into that person and can really make the difference between an acceptable photo and a fantastic one. One look at the great photograph of the “Afghan Girl” by world-renowned photographer Steve McCurry and you are immediately told so much about the young girl’s life. It is crucial you make sure you have focused correctly on the eyes of the person.

#6 – The conditions

One of the downsides of photographing people outdoors rather than a studio is that you can’t control the elements and more importantly, the light. But fear not, photographing outdoors is usually not that difficult. The best place to photograph people outdoors is in the shade as you won’t end up with harsh shadows on their face.

But if you do find yourself with the scenario of sunlight producing shadows on someone’s face, this is where your flash can come in really handy. Most people make the mistake of using their flash just at night, whereas using your flash to fill in the shadows can help you capture great portraits in sunlight.

#7 – Camera settings

As I mentioned above, there are no hard rules for photographing people and it really depends on the situation. For example, if you want to freeze the action you want a fast shutter speed whereas if you want to show movement you will need a slower one. Depending on the situation and how steady you can hold a camera, you may be able to go to as slow as 1/60^th of a second but to be safe I generally shoot at 1/100^th or faster.

If you are photographing the person moving, you will need to set your shutter speed much faster. Sometimes this may not be possible without raising your ISO. Raise it too high and your photo will end up with too much unwanted noise and it will look soft. Just remember to get yourself setup before you approach your subject.

Conclusion

The fear of having to communicate with strangers often stops newbie photographers from photographing people. This is a real shame as people often offer some of the most unique photo opportunities in a way that landmarks and landscapes can’t. Fortunately, with a bit of courage and dedication, you can capture great photographs of people, even if they are total strangers.

Do you struggle with photographing strangers? Share your experiences, tips, and advice below.

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[Photography] Quick Review of the Kupo Click Stackable Light Stand

I’ve recently started using a pair of Jinbei HD600 studio lights for my photography and what I love about them is that they are self-contained units. They don’t have any requirements for power cables, etc., as they’re battery powered, wireless studio lights. What was starting to bug me, though, was that I only had heavy light stands to mount them on. Not a problem when you’re working in a studio, but when you have to visit a client to do a headshot or a quick portrait of someone, having to take a C-Stand along isn’t always ideal (especially if you’re on public transport).

I wanted to stick with Kupo gear as I’m very happy with the quality and innovation of their products, so I asked the crew at ProTog what my options were. They suggested I hold out for the Kupo CLICK stackable lighting stands. I did and I’m very happy I did. Here’s my review…

Check out the Kupo Click Light Stands on Amazon or on B&H Photo’s website.

My wish list

I had a few simple ideal specs for the stands that I was after:

• I wanted them to be light enough to sling over my shoulder when I was on the go.
• They need to not suffer from bad build quality due to being light weight.
• I wanted to be able to quickly use them for either a well-placed strobe on an outdoor shoot, a quick portrait in an office or studio, and maybe even to mount a GoPro on to run a quick timelapse of a session.

Features of the Kupo Click

The Kupo Click had everything I wanted in a portable light stand. Let’s take a look through the feature list.

• Coming in at 1.3kg (2.9 pounds), the weight was just fine, easily able to attach a pair of stands to the side of my ThinkTank Airport TakeOff roller.
• In terms of load, the diminutive stands were capable of holding a 5kg (11 pounds) payload, more than I’d need to place atop the aluminum light-weights.
• The tubes are also double pinned to the threaded ends, this makes them a lot less likely to fail when compared with my old stands, after a few months of heavy use, the stands haven’t loosened up in the slightest.

The Click

The Kupo Click light stands allow you to click them together either side by side or on top of each other. So you can essentially have one of them flat on each side of your bag with some little attachment straps, or you can have them side by side (above) and sitting in the tripod cup on your rolling camera bag, or you can use a strap (sold separately, I didn’t get one as I used a regular strap with a clip attached to sling mine over my shoulder, see below)

The stands have a sweet built-in air damper that prevents damage to your lights if you accidentally undo the locks by cushioning the column on release. I have tested this and it works. The midsection is better than the top section at slowing descent, but it certainly does slow down the inevitable crash and ultimately a replaced flash tube!

Attaching your lights

The stands are equipped with a 5/8″ top stud with a 3/8″ threaded, plus a removable 1/4″-20 threaded top, this lets you mount a whole raft of lighting gear, as well as Sony ActionCam / GoPro mounts (The 1/4 20″ adaptor) which I like to use often on a shoot, or just to pop a camera up high for some reason or other – you can attach a regular ball head and mount your camera on that.

Bottom line

I’ve had these stands a few months now and have had many chances to use them and abuse them. They pack away well, they’re all the things I was after in a light stand. I can’t fault these stands and for the price, I’d say they’re one of the best on the market and well worth your hard earned coin. Five stars.

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[Photography] 4 Beginner Tips for Creating Dramatic Portraits with One Flash

In this article, I will explain how you can use a transmitter/receiver, or transceiver system to achieve simple dramatic portraits using only one flash. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to get you started.

Background

I used to fear using anything other than natural light. One of the reasons was that I had a notion that using artificial lights such as off-camera flash and strobes is too difficult and requires deep technical knowledge. Well, yes and no. To master it, you have to understand lighting ratios and learn to make mental calculations of light from various sources and suchlike. But to start using it, not really.

My first experience of off-camera flash was using the Creative Lighting System (Nikon) capability between my speedlight and my camera. Most of my early attempts were unsuccessful especially with the limitations of the line of sight infrared system. It was unreliable too, especially when shooting under pressure or caught on the hoof. I also used overexposed my light with my very untrained and inexperienced eye when I was just starting out.

Wireless triggers

Enter wireless radio transmitters and receivers (or transceivers) such as the Pocket Wizard, CyberSyncs, brand’s own (Nikon and Canon) and the super affordable Yongnous. A transmitter which is connected to your camera sends the message to the receiver which is attached to the flash unit. Transceiver units, on the other hand, can act as both receiver and transmitter so that you can use them on either the camera or the speedlight but you would still need one unit to attach to each piece of equipment.

These wireless transceivers are a game changer without a doubt. They are simple to use and are reliable most of the time as well. I use Cybersyncs for my studio strobes and Yongnous for my speedlights and find the Yongnous are incredibly reliable and user-friendly with hardly any misses. However, the Yongnous cannot be used for strobes.

#1 Choose the look and mood for your portrait

Do you want super dramatic low key portraits or the other end of the spectrum – high key, bright and airy? The mood of your picture will dictate your background and of course the camera and flash settings. I have chosen a black background for these portraits to achieve a high contrast between the brightest parts of the image and the shadows. This will keep the overall mood dramatic and the lighting low key with plenty of black areas.

#2 Set up your equipment

If you have transmitter and receiver units, attach the transmitter to the hotshoe of your camera while the receiver needs to be attached to the flash (speedlight or strobe). If you have a transceiver, this can go on either camera or flash but you still need two units, one on each piece of equipment.

It’s also a good idea to put your flash unit on a light stand. I used a studio strobe mounted on a light stand but attached it to a boom arm for more flexibility in angling the light. Note: A boom arm is not necessary at all for a simple beginner setup. Without a light stand, you can always mount your flash on a cabinet or steady surface, making sure it doesn’t topple over. Most speedlights come with little plastic feet that are handy for this purpose.

#3 Modify your light

One of my rules is to always modify the light. The only time I shoot with a bare flash is when I use it as a kicker light at wedding receptions or to light a backdrop. At all other times, I will always modify it somehow or bounce it to maximize the softness of the light or to minimize the harshness depending on the situation.

For this look, I wanted the flash to point directly at the subject, in a narrow beam and not have any spill onto the background. A gridded snoot would do the job controlling the light direction, but I didn’t have one. Plus I probably would have found that the light was still a bit harsh without further modification. I ended up McGyvering my own modified snoot using a black card and the diffuser panel of a 5-in-1 reflector. I twisted the reflector (like you would when putting it away) so that it was only a fraction of its size and I then had a 3-layer diffusion panel. This was taped to the strobe and with black card wrapped around it to direct the light onto my subject like a beam.

There are two factors that are crucial for getting soft light; the distance between your subject and the light and the size of the light. The closer the light is to the subject, the softer it is. The larger your light source is, the softer it will be. My light source was not very big at all, so to leverage maximum softness I decreased the distance to the subject. The light was positioned about an arm’s length away from the subject, quite high up at a 45-degree angle. This was to mimic natural light coming from a high window.

#4 Try various settings

I wanted to shoot at f/8 so I metered the flash. You don’t require a handheld light meter to do this, by the way, you can just start with a few trial and error test shots to find the correct setting. I started off with the lowest power on my strobe but ended up cranking it up as the 3-layer diffusion cut out quite a lot of the light. My settings for these were: f/8, 1/60th,  ISO 400 and my strobe power high at 7. The strobe settings will vary depending on the brand you are using.

This is just one of the many ways you can create portraits with one flash. Try it and experiment with other angles, moods, and light settings and you may be amazed at what one light can do!

Share your portraits here too in the comments below.

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