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Bokeh: How we love thee

I shot a corporate annual conference dinner the other evening, then posted the images on-line for the attendees to download. We used flash at the start of the event. In an attempt to capture the feel of the evening I switched to my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF-D and shot wide open at f/1.4 in the dimly lit rooms.

I love the lens for it’s sharpness and speed. It works amazingly well with the high ISO capabilities of the D700 which I had set to ISO 1000.

Nearly all of the feedback I have received were on the photographs with the heaviest bohek.

“Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning “blurred or fuzzy”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field.”

I like the bokeh too but the comments got me to thinking about why. I will hazard a guess that it most closely mimics the human eye’s ability to sharply focus and isolate upon a single subject within a busy field of view.

Pay attention to your vision the next time your gaze is fixed on just about anything. Notice the ‘bokeh’ effect of the background when concentrating on your morning coffee cup; the sharpness of the person across the room while all else seems to disappear.

Let me know.

Lincoln Memorial

On a recent trip to Washington, DC, see Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos, I did the tourist thing early Saturday morning before heading back to Texas. I went out at 7am to avoid the heat and the crowds.

I walked from the Washington Monument, past the World War II Memorial headed for the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool. There were a few joggers, a few Ron Paul supporters (interesting group of characters) and city workers. As I approached the Lincoln Memorial a small group of tourists were already starting to mill around. I noticed this black city worker mopping the steps, back and forth, back and forth and I knew right away I wanted to include him in the photograph.

When I got to the bottom of the steps the group of visitors were all over the steps and inside the memorial. The worker patiently continued his work, waiting when the people blocked his path.

Standing there with my Nikon D300, waiting for the moment I wanted to capture I was approached by, wait for it — a Canon shooter. He was carrying two cameras (a Rebel XT and a 5D). We had a brief discussion about the light and our shared hobby. Nice fella; other than the Canon part.

Just as we were parting ways I got this photograph. It’s the best of the three I took of this man maintaining the monument’s appearance. The fact that it is a black man working for the Federal Government at the Lincoln Memorial somehow struck a cord with me. I mean no offense to the man doing an honest job, the fact Lincoln’s eyes appear to be watching him, makes, to me anyway, this photograph sort of special.

Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos

I’ve spent the last three days here in Washington, DC on business. Meetings with the 2661837879 36a304139e m Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos FAA, HHS and the WAAS office. Long times between meetings and I’ve been done pretty early in the day. So, I placed a casting call on ModelMayhem to see if I could pass the time doing what I like to do, take pictures. 5 or 6 TFCD models responded and I set up sessions with two of them. As my luck would have it – both at the same time. That wasn’t a problem for me (read assistant) or them though so we met at my hotel and headed for the National Mall to shoot. The plan was to use the monuments as the background. Sounded way cool.

We chose the new WW II monument because it had a nice water fountain. We got there around 7pm, good light, not huge crowds. As one model was getting her ticket from the Park Police (wrong way on a One Way street) the other model (Emily) and I set off to set up and shoot along the granite outside wall of the monument. I Danielle 087 Hassled by the Washington, DC Park Rangers for taking photos used 2 SB800s, at first to fill then to light her. Nikon CLS is so cool. So far so good. I get about a dozen shots off when the other model, Danielle walked up. She dismissed the ticket as part of life in DC and we starting posing her along the same wall Emily had used. About 10 minutes later I hear:

Sir – Sir:

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Strobist “On Location” kit.

This is my on ‘location’ kit. 2xSB-800s, SB-600, PhotoFlex LiteDome Q3 9, a Wescott 32″ umbrella and two or three stands.

I have replaced the SB600 with a SB900 since this article was written.

Flashes controlled with the D300′s Commander mode.

2557914641 0da787e03e m Strobist On Location kit.

the result

Taken with my ‘location’ kit. In this case, the location was my media room.

My daughter the ax murderer

A couple of weeks ago as I was watching television my 14 year old daughter popped in and asked if she could borrow some of my clothes. I actually did ask “Why?” All she said was she wanted to play a trick on her sister so I said sure but don’t get them messed up.

15 minutes later I looked up and saw her walking through the house carrying an ax. Okay, so that got my attention.

Turns out they had watched a move called “The Strangers”. Her 17 year old sister had gone upstairs to take a nap and Alex decided wake her up.

Never a dull moment around here.

Something soft & sexy, something mean and something in-between

Most every time I work with a new model I get asked the same question: What should I bring to wear?

There is no doubt that clothing, makeup and the ability to ‘strike a pose’ are important to a successful portrait/modeling session. However, the most essential asset a model can bring to the studio or location is the ability to interact with the camera.

My job at a shoot is to make them look as best I am able given my limited skills with lighting and equipment. I cannot, however, do it alone. You have seen that cell phone snapshot that drew you in; you have also seen a professional portrait that, although technically sound, just leaves you feeling that something misfired. A model must have an understanding they are not trying to tease/seduce/influence me as the photographer: They must make the connection with the viewer of the photograph.

They must make the connection with the viewer of the photograph.

My answer to the outfit question: Bring something soft & sexy, something mean and something in-between.

Nikon D700 High ISO Test

A test of my D700 on the hotel deck: downtown Minneapolis. Camera set to Aperture priority mode, Auto WB, Auto ISO, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 IF-D at f1.4. The photograph to the right is ISO 11200.

See additional photographs and the “More Properties” information on D700 high ISO Flickr set for additional details.

No post processing in Photoshop CS3 other than to resize for here. All noise reduction software applied at default setting.

See gallery below to see the effect of Noise Ninja, Neat Image and Topaz Denoise.

I did not speak to the result intentionally, each should reach his own conclusion.

larrygerbrandt on Flickr had a good idea on post noise reduction sharpening so I gave it a shot.

Added: Topaz Denoise then Nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 applied to the image.

Noise reduction applied to whole photograph added to the Flickr set here.

100%-crop and noise reduction test

Young girls and tattoos

I have photographed many young females with massive tattoo displays recently. Most all of them were strikingly colorful; both the young lady and her tattoos. They have held all sorts of jobs, been from various backgrounds and nearly all under 21.

Examples: Nathalie and Emily.

The young never see themselves growing old or their bodies wearing out and loosing its youthful firmness. Although I do not have tattoos, almost got inked one night in Army boot camp back in ’72 though, I can understand one, two or a few tats to mark an occasion, person or event. To have massive, highly visible sleeves at 18 or 19 is not looking beyond the rebellious moment of youthful freedom.

I did encounter a young woman about 2 years ago, she was in her late twenties, who realized life, to include her body, moves on. She asked if I would photograph her tattoos, after a short discussion we agreed on date, time and place. During the session she explained to me her body was ‘failing her’, her words and she wanted to memorialize them as her body is now and not as her children and grandkids would eventually see them.

I am not against tattoos, I enjoy the photographic challenge of lighting them and posing the model to achieve the best effect. I never mention my thoughts about the years to come and how I have learned life and bodies change. I simply take the photographs for their grandkids.

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Using the Nikon Creative Lighting System

This photograph was taken using a Nikon D-300, the Nikkor 28-70 f2.8 and 2 SB800s. One SB800 was placed high picture right behind Emily the other was hand held slightly high picture left above her head. Although I have the equipment to mount the flashes to either an umbrella or softbox, this session was done with only the Nikon defusser on one of the strobes.

I am becoming a real fan of the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) and the ability to control the SB-800s using the Commander mode on the D300. I’ve now used them in studio sessions as fill or hair lights, outdoors from as far as 30 feet away or the sole source of light as in this photograph.

The two cautions when using the system is to remember to have the sensor facing toward the camera and don’t step to far in front of the flashes. I spent nearly 10 minutes on one outdoor shoot trying to figure out why the flash wouldn’t fire, gave up and realized, the next day, that I had the IR receiver facing away from the camera.

CLS is a great tool, take the time to learn it.

Read about us being hassled by the Park Rangers in Washington, DC during this shoot.

Also see Damien Franco’s expansion of my photo tip about Seeing the Shadows over at www.yourphototips.com.

In praise of the mature model

There is something I love about a mature woman. Their sense of presence, their no bullshit approach to life in general and men in particular.

Diane was simply a joy to work with yesterday. A classy woman with ideas about classic poses. Her eyes shared a lifetime of glances, sultry come-ons and femaleness in just the couple of hours we worked together.

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