photo deconstruction pt. 3

So, let's start addressing the issues/goals in making the final image.  First, let's freeze motion.

The most basic and straightforward way to freeze a moving subject is by using a fast shutter speed.  Remember, the apparent motion of the subject is controlled by the duration of reflected light hitting the camera's sensor.  In the following image, light was only able to reach the camera's sensor for 1/5000 sec, doing a great job of freezing the very fast moving water droplets.

That's all well and good if your shooting sports in the middle of a cloudless day in July, but our situation with the wine is a bit different.

Shooting in dim indoor lighting, we need to freeze action some other way.  The high ISO of modern DSLR's can only take us so far, particularly on a professional shoot, where a certain standard of image quality must be maintained.  So, if we can't freeze action with shutter speed, we need to do it some other way...

When a professional studio strobe releases its burst of light, it does so for a very short amount of time. For the sake of illustration, let's say that flash duration is 1/2000 sec. So, if the only light hitting the subject is coming from the strobe, and the strobe only fires for 1/2000 sec, it's as if you're using a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec, even if the shutter is actually open for 5 min, because it comes down to the absolute amount of time that light is reflecting off of the subject and hitting the camera's sensor.

This is the motion freezing technique used in studio photography.  Since everything in the image is lit by short-duration strobes, it doesn't really matter what the shutter speed is set to, as long as it's a speed that can sync with those strobes (strobe syncing is outside the scope of this discussion, perhaps it can be a future post).  Freezing motion using strobe duration is a technique that can be used to great effect with a wide variety of equipment, ranging from the very best studio lights, to the built in flash on your point and shoot camera. There are certainly tradeoffs and limitations inherent in any type of lighting equipment, but the same principles apply.

For instance, the wine image in question was made with large, expensive, professional grade portable lights, but here's an image I made with small, light, relatively inexpensive, and highly portable AA powered flashes. It was a single exposure, with the flashes firing 4 times while the shutter remained open. Because the only light hitting the punching bag was coming from the strobes, each time the flashes popped, the action was frozen, and we see nothing in between flashes because there was no other light source hitting the bag.

In the next post or two, we'll look at how we can integrate these studio lighting techniques into our location photo of the wine and food.

photo deconstruction Pt. 2

A key concept in freezing motion is as follows: the subject's apparent movement is controlled by the amount of time that light reflecting off of that subject is hitting the camera's sensor.

I phrased it that way, because in my example image, I'm trying to freeze the action of the subject in the foreground, though the background remains static. Other considerations which affected my approach to making this image, and which are frequently a part of location photography are:

1. I had to make the image within a very specific time window, mid-morning, after the business manager (art director) came to work, but before the business opened to the public.

2. Due to the size of the space, time of day, spill from out of reach windows, and other necessary operations of the business, complete control over the room's light was not an option

3. The client's time and budget constraints didn't allow for significant scouting or pre-production (i.e. it wasn't realistic to go a day or two ahead and build the room into a makeshift studio)

Luckily, the background and foreground were fairly far apart, allowing me to concentrate on lighting the subject, and the room could also be made fairly dark, relative to the lights I was using (more on that in the next post).

That's it for now. We've got the scene set, and the challenges listed. In the next post, I'll get in to how it's lit, and the concepts that make it work.

photo deconstruction

Over the next few posts, I'll talk a bit about on-location action photography and some of the considerations therein.  To help illustrate some concepts of lighting and technique, I'll deconstruct one of my recent images.  So, to start, here's the final image:

Seattle Magazine

There was a nice little article about Urban Enoteca in the February issue of Seattle Magazine, featuring photography by yours truly.  Here's a link to the web version: http://www.seattlemagazine.com/article/scoop-room-one’s-own

changing galleries

In an effort to streamline my workflow and web presence, I'm considering moving my bulk image galleries (used for client proofing, etc) from Smugmug to MobileMe. I like the MobileMe workflow out of Aperture a lot, and I think that in conjunction with image delivery on disc, it could fit the bill.

I'd be really interested in any feedback on the topic.  Thanks!