According to the CIPA (Camera and Imaging Products Association) 2009 analysis of camera sales, the results were as follows:
Point & shoot = 96 million cameras sold
DSLR/ EVIL = 9.9 million cameras sold
Lenses = 16 million sold
The DSLR figures include EVIL cameras like the Olympus E-P series and Panasonic GH/F series.
With impressive numbers such as those, I thought I would share some of the methods I use while shooting for those who are new to photography or those who would just like to expand their knowledge base.
Last Friday I took the opportunity to shoot some photos for this post with the friendly staff over at Darrah Family Chiropractic located at 1791 Woodruff Road Greenville, SC 29607-5978. PH- (864) 254-9915.
I’ll let Dr. Darrah himself tell you what they’re all about…
Dr. Joshua Darrah. We'll discuss this image further just a little later.
Click on the links below for videos:
Introduction To Darrah Family Chiropractic 5 Essentials Chiropractic Care Services For Children
Since this is my first blog post in the series, lets take a moment and take a look at the gear I use.
My Gear
The rundown from left to right: 10′ standard light stand, Photoflex 36″ white shoot-thru umbrella, 34″ Rokunar Studio Pro silver-lined umbrella, 32″ Smith Victor white shoot thru umbrella with removeable black backing, 8′ standard light stand, and DIY flash bracket with umbrella holder above them.
In The Case: 120 WS Yin Yan BY120E strobe, Promura D7000TT Speedlite, Neewer Radio Flash Trigger transmitter and receiver, RPS Studio Wireless Speedlite Receiver, SD & CF memory cards, Speedlite Colored Gel Kit, spare batteries, Pentax K-X DSLR, Pentax 18-55mm f3.5 zoom kit lens, SMC Pentax 50mm f1.7, Sigma b II 60-200mm f4 zoom, Circular Polarizer, Skylight Filter, business cards, and a couple of Sharpies.
I’ve traveled with essentially the same setup for years now and have found it to be adequate. By no means does it satisfy my constant gear lust!
So let’s take a look at the environment I started this photo session with…
Dr. Darrah's X-ray Room
I chose to start the session with some 3/4 length portraits in the X-ray room. I felt that I should photograph the staff in an area with the gear that they use daily to give a little context to the subjects. The room was very small and was lit with a flourescent bank in a drop ceiling. Not exactly the most pleasing light for human subjects, so I decided to start building the shot by placing my speedlite to fire on the wall with the poster on it off camera left. I did this so it would create a lighter area on the background to give the subjects some separation from the background and a bit of a rim light. Next, I put the 120ws strobe behind the SV 32″ white shoot thru umbrella on a stand off camera right to illuminate the front of the subjects. The background/rim light from the speedlite was fired at full power and the 120ws strobe was fired at 1/2 power to create my lighting ratio. I made it a point to shoot at a high f-stop so as to illuminate the photos solely from the flashes rendering the less than optimal flourescent light null.
Heres a diagram of the setup:
Please note the fantastic artistic quality of these diagrams!
The main is feathered across the front of the subjects. I do regret not setting the speedlite higher, because as you’ll see from the photos below, I had some shadow problems on a couple of the subjects’ necks. All in all, I’m pleased with the shots given the 45 minute window I had to set up and shoot these. One thing I have found is that being quick as well as effective is always beneficial when completing assignments.
Dr. Joshua Darrah.
Stacey Darrah
Sheree Lynch
Randi Eaton
Chick Gosnell
**One thing to remember when you’re doing portraits is to watch your light placement when shooting people with glasses. If they aren’t wearing non-glare lenses (Thanks, Chick!), try to place your lights on a 45° angle in relation to them or gobo your light sources accordingly.**
For the next photos, I wanted to make use of the mural on the back wall of the practice as a background and use the patient table to seat staff members on for the group shots.
Here's another breathtaking rendering of the light placement!
I convinced Chick to sit in for a quick shot to test the light placement.
Sun-N-Fun Chico!
The light placement was essentially the same as the last setup but with the addition of a red and yellow gel on the speedlite to embellish the sunset in the mural on the background. Again, I made the mistake of not flagging the speedlite and raising it up higher on the stand so as to not spill any gelled light or weird shadows onto some of the subjects. I am pleased with the results though, and if these had been for Dr. Darrah as a client I would have rescheduled and reshot these with the corrections on the lighting. Hey, we’re all learning here aren’t we?
Your photo endeavors can be as simple or complex as you choose. The point is to just get out there and do it. Shoot and shoot, then shoot some more. You’ll always learn something that had never ocurred to you before. To me, that’s part of the joy of photography. I’ll leave you now with a group shot of the friendly, patient, and extremely helpful staff of Darrah Family Chiropractic. Go see them if you’re in the area. They’ll work to straighten you out. Literally! (…in my best British accent!).
The Darrah Family Chiropractic Staff
See you next time from Harley-Davidson of Greenville when I feature Billy Weaver and his award-winning dealership!
http://www.h-dog.com/
To book a shoot with us or a feature like this one, please visit our contact page and schedule now.
http://ascendantimaging.com/contact/
