Critique: Portraits w/ strobes and gels

The subject is very concentrated on what she was looking at. The split gel colors are very appealing to see. The contrast and lighting is split evenly so the photo doesn’t look blotchy or uneven. The blue gel goes very well with the mood and subject’s expressions. The subject seems to fit in very well with the scenery and not seem like an outcast or the background being in more focused than the subject.

Indeed Job Search

Photography Jobs:

  1. Forensic photographer
  2. Nature Photography
  3. Sports photographer
  4. Scientific photographer
  5. Medical photographer

Photography Jobs Questions :

Do you meet the qualifications for the job? I believe I partially meet the qualifications for these jobs.

What skills would you need to get the job? I would need to know how to use the cameras and knowledge on that subject as well.

Why would you want to have this job? It is interesting and thrilling to be able to be a forensic photographer.

What is the starting pay for the job? $52,024

Would you be able to support yourself if you worked at this job? Yes, I would be able to support myself and possible be ahead and thriving.

Create a list of expenses you would have if you have if you lived on your own and worked at this job? I would have to pay for my bills, my car, food, clothing, and any other basic human necessities.

What are your actual career goals for your future? My actual career goals is to become a child protective social worker.

What every beginner should know

RAW – The downside to the jpg format is that it’s a compressed file. Not all the information that should be there is present.

Color, contrast and detail are all affected by this compression. To put simpler, shooting in RAW format will give you access to the full capabilities of your camera.

Selecting focusing points manually – Most cameras come with different autofocus modes like One-shot AF, Servo AF and AI Autofocus

Learn All AF modes – All of these modes have different uses, depending on subject and situation.

The one-shot mode will stop refocusing once it’s locked onto the subject. It will remain locked as long as you hold your finger on the shutter release, half pressed.

AI- Servo AF mode won’t lock the focus and it will constantly refocus. It is a great focusing mode for sports and other fast moving subjects.

AI focus will automatically from one -shot to Servo if it detects movement in the frame.

This is a very brief explanation of AF modes. It’s best to read your camera’s manual and to experiment with all of them.

our camera has the option of selecting the autofocus points for you, but it can’t always anticipate correctly to change the AF points manually is a useful skill.

Aperture Priority – Most cameras come with different autofocus modes like One-shot AF, Servo AF and AI Autofocus. All of these modes have different uses, depending on subject and situation.

The one-shot mode will stop refocusing once it’s locked onto the subject. It will remain locked as long as you hold your finger on the shutter release, half pressed.

AI- Servo AF mode won’t lock the focus and it will constantly refocus. It is a great focusing mode for sports and other fast moving subjects.

AI focus will automatically from one -shot to Servo if it detects movement in the frame.

This is a very brief explanation of AF modes. It’s best to read your camera’s manual and to experiment with all of them.

Shutter Priority – In aperture priority mode, your camera will vary the exposure settings depending on the aperture value you set. Having complete control over aperture means control over depth of field.

This is a great setting for shooting portraits with a blurred background.

Control motion blur – The shutter priority mode works just like aperture priority, in the sense that it gives you complete control over shutter speed while making all the other settings automatically, according to the selected value.

This is a great setting for situations where you don’t want the shutter speed to go over or under a specific value. Fast moving subjects can be shot in this mode, but it’s also very useful for low light situations where you don’t want the shutter speed to be slower than what you can use to shoot handheld.

Manual White Balance -All digital cameras have a few white balance presets.While they can do a fairly decent job, we recommend learning to set white balance manually, according to each lighting situation.

Drive Modes – This isn’t a major setting, but you never know when you’re going to have drive modes. Essentially, there are three of them: single shot, continuous low and continuous high.

The first mode obviously allows you to shoot one frame at a time. It great for studio work or when shooting anything you have complete control over. CL is great for portraits when you have an expressive model and don’t want to miss any interesting faces. CH is the shooting mode for sports, wildlife and anything that moves fast.

 Metering modes – There are three metering modes in most cameras, each with a specific job. They have different names depending on camera manufacturer, but essentially they behave the same. The best way to master metering modes is to start by reading the camera manual. After that, photograph the same scene using all three modes and compare the results

ISO – Learn how to select the correct ISO value depending on the lighting conditions. Lower values are great when there is plenty of light to work with. Higher ISO values are needed for working in low light. Just keep the noise levels in mind.

Auto-ISO – We’re generally not fond of any auto setting, but auto ISO will help you when shooting hand held. It will increase or decrease the value in order to allow you to shoot with a shutter speed fast enough for hand held operation.

Exposure compensation – It is a +/- scale that will tell your camera to increase or decrease exposure, depending on your needs. It works for all semi-automatic modes (P, Av, TV) and will influence exposure in increments. Be careful not to set it too high or low from the first attempt and instead try to get to a correct exposure gradually.

Manual exposure 

The last stage of learning how to use your camera’s settings is full manual control. You can’t call yourself a real photographer until you’ve learned to control every little setting on your camera. Only then will you be able to use it at its full potential.

 

HDR Landscape

I had to take 5 shots of the same landscape. It had to be the exact same position just different apertures. I had to edit the photos and merge them together as an HDR. The photos had to be edited to make it look right and change the saturation. With the finished product, it had to be change so the exposure can be the same everywhere to be considered an HDR image. The saturation had to be brought out by the greens to stand out. It is very colorful and brings out certain colors to make it look nice. The colors make the photo seem calming and nice.

Strobe Lights

  • A head and power pack kit consists of the flash head and a small power pack that acts as the generator that supplies energy to the flash head. The flash head contains flash tubes that emit light once supplied with high voltages.
  • There are two kinds of power packs: symmetric power packs and assymetric power packs. Symmetric power packs split power equally between multiple flash heads. Assymetric power packs allow the user to vary the power supply to different flash heads.
  • If you’re shooting outdoors or with complicated modifier setups, you are going to need a lot of power to overcome the sun or the light loss caused by the modifiers. Head/pack systems have a big advantage in the power department. Whereas, if you’re shooting indoors or inside your studio, monolights will probably be more than enough for regular work.
  • If you’re shooting outdoors or with complicated modifier setups, you are going to need a lot of power to overcome the sun or the light loss caused by the modifiers. Head/pack systems have a big advantage in the power department. Whereas, if you’re shooting indoors or inside your studio, monolights will probably be more than enough for regular work.
  • There are silver-lined, white, and gold tinted umbrellas. Silver-lined umbrellas are the most efficient and can focus light more  narrowly than the other types. White umbrellas offer a wider spread of reflected light, and gold umbrellas produce a warm tone.
  • Softboxes on the other hand are usually square or rectangular. They are lightweight boxes that come with a reflective inside and a translucent front. Softboxes come in different shapes and sizes and are attached to the front the strobe over the light source. Light emitted from the strobe head gets reflected inside the walls of the softbox and diffused through the box’s translucent front creating a soft, but more focused light source illuminating the model or scene.
  • The difference between reflecting umbrellas and softboxes is that the spread of light with a softbox is more contained. With an umbrella on the other hand, light can spill beyond the boundaries of the reflective surface affecting the amount of light getting back to the subject. Spilled light can also hit walls and ceilings indoors causing it to reflect and bounce all over the place. An umbrella simply isn’t as controllable as a softbox.
  • There are two main types of light stands: lightweight stands and C-stands which are more heavy duty. Both types come in varying sizes, lengths, and prices. Heights can usually be adjusted. Sandbags can also be attached to weight the stand and better stabilize your lights.
  • When you shop for a lightweight stand, the ones with an air-shock are superior. The extra few bucks you pay will go a long way in protecting your expensive lights when you accidentally loosen a knob. The air-shock will soften the fall of your light, minimizing or even eliminating any damage. Also, make sure you get one with a wide footprint (meaning the legs of the stand spread far apart) so that your setup is stable and doesn’t fall over.
  • C-stands are frequently used in the video industry due to their durability and stability. They can come with a number of attachments like boom arms that can be mounted onto the stand. These arms allow you to add reflectors, scrims, flags and other modifier and rotate them to any angle you wish.