4th of July and Narrow Depth-of-Field

We got up this morning and walked down to the beach for coffee and a muffin. There was a heavy marine layer, so it was cool to the runners and walkers.

This was shot with my wife's Nikon Coolpix P5000 point and shoot, on program mode. I fired the built-in flash through a Gary Fong Delta Diffuser. I really didn't need the flash, but had it turned on from some previous shots, where I wanted some fill, because of the overcast.

I love the P5000. Actually, I'm a big fan of P&S cameras for casual use. There was no way I was going to carry a DSLR and lens on an early morning walk, but the P&S just goes into a pocket. I'll paraphrase, but someone once said that the best camera is the one you have with you when the image appears. This was about 7AM, and getting myself to the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) was hard enough, without carrying a heavy camera.

About mid-morning, I decided to shoot some of the local parade. I was mainly interested in shooting narrow depth-of-field portraits of participants, as well as viewers alone the parade route.

I love to have the image jump off the blurred background. For those who don't know, long focal lengths and wide apertures are the key to limited depth-of-field photos.

In most of the above, I shot at f:2.8 and near 200mm. The lens was a borrowed 80-200 -- non-VR. On a few shots, I closed to about f:11. I put the camera on Aperture priority, because I wanted to maintain the wide aperture, to guarantee the narrow DOF. The sky was nice and sunny, by about 10AM, so I knew that my shutter speeds would be very fast. I put the camera, a Nikon D70s, on a monopod. The monopod was not needed to steady the camera. It's just that I knew I'd be standing along the street for a couple hours, and the camera and lens would be getting heavy.

When you click on the image, bellow, you'll be taken to a Picasa Album. There are a couple photos of helicopters and jets flying by. You will probably notice some spots on the image. That's an indicator of a dirty sensor, so cleaning it will be my next project.

Happy 4th of July!!

4th of July, 2008

Gary Fong Lightsphere or Whaletail

This question came in yesterday:

"Hi I am looking to buy two lightspheres for my 2 Canon 580EX II flashes that are mounted to light stands for quick off camera flash portrait setups. Would you recommend the clear or the cloud for this type of setup or would the whaletails be better suited for this. Thank you" - Tony

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Tony,

The whaletails give the most versatility. That is what I prefer for studio use. If you go with lightspheres, I would use the Cloud as your main light. Another Cloud or Clear is then your background or fill light.

One thing -- the Gary Fong website has an error. It lists the size 4 for the 580X-II. Actually, that is for the older , and smaller 580EX. Most people are getting size 2 for the mark II.

Gary just introduced a lightsphere-universal (has a one-size-fits-all mount), at PhotoExpo+, last month, in NY. It is only produced as a Cloud, but it will fit a variety of flash models. Unfortunately, he sold out at the show and won't have them in his eStore for a couple of weeks.

Whaletails are in stock. If you go that route, get a Studio for your main light, and a Reporter for the fill/background.

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Using the Gary Fong Lightsphere -- Video in Spanish

This is going to be Spanish Day on the blog - the first post is a video explaining how to use the Gary Fong Lightspher flash diffuser.



The second video is an explanation of foofing, by one of the top wedding photographer in the world -- Denis Reggie. If you've ever heard the term "foofing", here's the master:

Making Money with Your Camera - Quick

A number of years ago, I was one of two partners in a small, regional ad agency. We served a number of local hospitals, some ethnic food distributors, and the formed phone company - Pacific Bell. Our annual billing was just over $1 million. That's not a lot of money for an ad agency, but we were small and had low overhead.

My partner was the 'outside sales rep' -- he got the doors open so I could make presentations. We had some contract graphics designers and a copy writer. I also did copy writing, produced videos and TV commercials, and handled the commercial photography.

We won a few national awards, but, in the late 1990s, many local hospitals were being acquired by hospital management companies and many small hospital groups were being bought by larger groups. Each time this happened, the larger company would have their own ad agencies. Sometimes we were able to compete with the bigger ad agencies, and sometimes we weren't even given the opportunity.

Eventually, we decided to close the agency. Actually, I stayed on for a while, because I had a studio attached to the offices, but that, eventually, became much more than I needed. My expenses were over $4,000 a month. Even now, that's a lot of money, but prior to the year 2000, I rally had to attract a lot of clients to justify it.

I just didn't enjoy the constant beating of the bushes to get and keep advertising clients and when I got new clients, it was a full-timer job to service them. And, honestly, I just wasn't all that happy doing 'commercial' photography.

Once I decided to close the doors, I didn't have daily access to a well equipped studio, so I began to think of other ways to make money as a photographer.

Weddings and other events became the answer, but you don't just decide to be a wedding photographer, on Wednesday, and have a job on Saturday. People book their photographer 6-18 months before the ceremony. Fortunately, I had always shot a few wedding every year, so I had some work on the books, but I needed to generate some cash almost immediately.

I remembered going to an amusement park and while standing in line, a photographer came down the line, snapping pictures and handing out a small card. Now, this was pre-digital, and there was a kiosk where you could go to see the pictures. They would give you a small print, make a pin-on button, and a few other trinkets. Then I remembered seeing an old photo of my parents. It was a black and white, taken in a nightclub at the end of World War II. It was probably a 5x7 or 8x10, in a folder with the name of the club on it.

How many times have you gone to dinner and a pretty girl, with a basket of roses approached you?

I picked two local restaurants and approached the owners. They were both family owner places - not large chains. I talked to them, offered 10% of anything I made, and one agreed immediately.

I didn't go to the expense of having custom folders made, but I printed some flyers. On the flyers, I show three sizes: 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 - I used an actual photo and just overlaid the smaller sizes on top of the 8x10. I though that was better than just drawing an outline. On the flyer, I had y web address. I didn't yet have an ecommerce site, so customers had to call or email. That was almost eight years ago, Today, it would be a lit easier. Everyone has internet access and ecommerce sites are inexpensive or free, and almost automatic.

OK, so here's what I did. After getting an agreement with the owner, I showed up at the two busiest nights - in this case, Wednesday and Saturday. After a few nights, he agreed to put a flyer and a small poster board display of images from the previous evenings. People would stop and look at them and even ask what nights the photographer was available!!!

I'd dress nicely - usually a blazer and open-neck dress shirt. Check the style of the customers and dress in a similar fashion. The best time to approach a table seemed to be right after the dinner order was taken. Once the food arrives, people don't want to be bothered -- and they my has spinach in their teeth :-).

I didn't normally ask if they wanted a photo. I'd just motion for them to squeeze together. Nearly always, they'd do it. At times, I could sense that they didn't want a record of the occasion. That might have been when they were having dinner with someone they weren't supposed to be having dinner with!!

I'd hand them a flyer -- with a business card stapled to it - and tell them that their samples would be online with about 4 hours. Surprisingly, I would get orders that night.

I won't tell you that I ever got a lot of repeat business from those couples - none ever called me to shoot their wedding - but I did get some birthday parties and a few family portraits. As my website improved, my volume of 'add-on' inquiries did increase. Also, I think that most of the restaurant's clientele were married couples and families. Had I picked a more 'romantic' location, I might have gotten other types of work.

After about 3-4 weeks, I went back to the other restaurant - the one that turned me down - and made a second presentation, based on my experience at the first place, and they agreed, so I added Friday evening and Sunday brunch.

I only did this for about five months. In that time, I was finding corporate events, more weddings, and even some commercial work from previous clients, so I decided to give myself some nights off.

Was it enough to pay all the bills? No, not at that time. Probably not now, either. But, today, it is much easier. You have many more ecommerce options. You could even use your laptop to set up a slide show, if there is space near the register. One of my former interns does this. The restaurant is so supportive that they even allow the customers to add the print sales to their dinner checks. She feels that this is the perfect way to do it. People are happy, feeling good, and have their credit cards in their hands :-) This venue has a trio that plays music throughout the evening, and they make several announcements about the photographer and the slide show.

She says that she does make enough, each week, that she can cover the cars payment. Money from the other weeks goes into her equipment fund. So far, she managed to buy new laptop and a spare camera body.

If you are just starting out, or looking for a way to keep your day job, while getting some experience this is an inexpensive way to get started.

I'd love to hear of your experiences.

OK, what do you need to get started? First, any consumer level digital SLR. I prefer Nikon, so a Nikon D80, would be a great choice. A kit lens will work - the one that probably came with your camera. Most of the lenses that come with today's DSLRs are zooms with Nikon 18-55mm or 70mm focal range. I used a Nikon 24-120mm. You'll need a decent on-camera flash. For Nikon, consider the SB-800 Speedlight-- or SB-600 (Not the SB-400). You don't need a flash bracket, but you will want a Gary Fong Lightsphere or Gary Fong Whaletail. If you are just starting out, I'd go with a Cloud Lightsphere. If you have lots of experience with flash - and bouncing the flash (or want to use multiple, off-camera flashes) - consider the more versatile Whaletail.

Scroll down this blog for a couple of videos on how to use the Lightsphere or Whaletail.

Flash Diffuser for Pop-Up Flash

I always have a camera nearby, but I don't always want to drag out external flashes and diffusers, if it's not a 'job'. For family gatherings, a walk in the park, or just when I see a shot that I want to grab, sometimes I'm left with only the camera's pop-up flash. In most cases, that little light bar is too harsh, and I just prefer not to use it.

Well, Gary Fong has changed all that with the Puffer. The Gary Fong Puffer is a small diffuser that slides into the camera's hot-shoe and converts it into a serviceable flash for those moments when you don't have other options.

It won't fit every camera, but if your camera has a standard hot-shoe right behind the pop-up flash, you are in business.

Take a look.

The Puffer

Attaching a Gary Fong Whaletail Flash Diffuser to Your Flash

In the previous post, we answered an email question from Frank about attaching a Gary Fong Lightsphere flash diffuser to his Canon 580EX. In this post, we answer a voice mail question from John. He wants to know how to attach a Gary Fong Whaletail flash diffuser to his Nikon SB-800.

I hope this helps.

Attaching the Gary Fong Lightsphere to Your Flash

I received an email from Frank:

" Hi - Saw .... diffuser at a wedding this weekend. Did not disturb the photographer but I am interested in how this attaches to my flash and how the unit holds together. Can you help me or direct me to a location on your site?
Thanks

Frank"


Good question, Frank. There is a tutorial DVD that comes with the Gary Fong Lightsphere, but if you haven't purchased, yet, that doesn't help you :-)

So, I made a quick video to demonstrate how to attach the Gary Fong Lightsphere, and also show some of its accessories. Hope this helps.

On locatiion Shoot with Gary Fong Whaletail Flash Diffusers

Last week, I had an on location job. I took a couple of Gary Fong Whaletails, so I made three videos to show what I took, and how I used them. The first explains what I had to take prior to using small flashes. It then shows what I use, now.

Parts 2 and 3 give more detail on how I lit the subjects and shows some samples.

The original videos are posted on youtube. Youtube is a great concept, but there isn't much production value. I capture the video with an elderly analog Hi8. I then convert to analog into video and import it to a MAC Mini. From there, I use iMovie to put the video clips and stills together. The result is a rather grainy and out of focus looking production -- I hope you can get some information from them!!

Part #1



Part #2



Part #3

Model Photo Session Using Gary Fong Whaletail Flash Diffuser

I get lots of questions about how to use the Gary Fong Whaletail flash diffusers to replace studio lights.

This video demonstrates the use of two Whaletails -- a Reporter size and the larger Studio size -- in a simple two-light studio setup. The session takes place in an apartment living room. Only about a 10 foot wide area was necessary - in order to allow for a simple black muslin backdrop.