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Posts Tagged ‘portraits’

Photography, Portrait, Technology | 0 comment

Leaf Shutter Lenses Part 1 – Tech Thursday

ballroom dance photography - ©TimeLine Media

The wintry weather finally broke for a little bit last week! I finally had a good chance to test one of the best features of the Fuji X100s camera – the leaf shutter lens. Most cameras produced today have focal plane shutters which have a curtain that opens and closes in front of the sensor. With a leaf shutter lens, there are blades built into the lens itself that opens and closes as the shutter opens and closes in the camera. As you press the shutter button on the camera, there is no difference in the operation between these two types of lenses. Where the big difference comes is in the fastest flash sync speed that is possible when using a leaf shutter lens. This opens up a lot of creative possibilities!

Camera Tech

On typical DSLRs, between 1/160th to 1/250th of a second is the fastest shutter speeds that you can use if you want the flash to fully expose the frame. If you use a strobe with a DSLR and have your shutter speed set higher (ie 1/500th second or higher) you will start to get a large black band on your photo where the curtain is still covering a part of the sensor since the shutter speed is too high. This is not a limitation for leaf shutter lenses such as the one in the Fuji X100s. When shooting indoors, like ballroom dance competitions, this limitation is not a problem as 1/250th second is plenty fast to control the light coming into the camera.

ballroom dance photography - ©TimeLine Media
ballroom dance photography – ©TimeLine Media

The limitation of 1/250th really impacts outdoor shoots. If you want to use a flash, and you have to keep your shutter speed at 1/250th or slower, that means you need to close down your aperture – f/8 or higher depending on how bright the sun is outside. In viewing these photos, everything including your background will be in focus making it difficult to separate your subject from the background. One solution is to not use a flash since you have plenty of light, but now all the tones in the scene are very similar making the image flat, and not as dynamic. Next week, I’ll show you how the leaf shutter lens really changes this photo with the change of a few settings in the same scene.

Flat outdoor portrait without fill flash - ©TimeLine Media
Flat outdoor portrait without fill flash – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Family, Personal, Photography, Technology, Travel | 2 Comments

Tatay and his Camera

My dad and his Nikon at the Grand Canyon

From yesterday’s post, you can see I still like to get in front of the camera sometimes. My father was the family photographer. His Nikon was always around his neck, and he brought it on every special outing. Looking back, I am now much more interested in what he was shooting, what lens, what camera body, perhaps what film he was using. I’m thankful that my dad did not shy away from having his photo taken. It would have been a shame to have so many family photos, and not have many of him on film.

Family Vacation Photos

My dad and his Nikon at the Grand Canyon
My dad and his Nikon at the Grand Canyon

If you are the family photographer, be sure to get out in front of the lens! Spending all your time behind will no doubt make your photos better, but after so many years, family will want to see you in there too. Since my dad only had the big SLR camera, all of these were taken with other point and shoot cameras, or maybe disposables. With these subjects, it really does not matter how they were captured, I’m just enjoying looking back and the times that we took time as a family to visit places away from home, and spend time together.

Parents and the camera on vacation
Parents and the camera on vacation

Just writing this post, I thought of a new assignment for myself. With the evolution of Nikon cameras, they have decided to keep the lens mount the same. I should do a shoot with my modern cameras using only my dad’s old manual focus lenses. They still mount on my cameras, and maybe they will make some different images. Will I be able to tell the difference? I’ll give it a try – see if you notice the difference! Thanks to Tatay for getting good glass that I can still use. I’ll be sure that they don’t rust away on the shelf.

Tatay and his Nikon at home
Tatay and his Nikon at home

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Photography, Portrait | 0 comment

Headshots – Northern Virginia DC Photographer

Headshot photography - ©TimeLine Media

Spring is coming soon – hopefully! We had another bout with the snow yesterday, so I had plenty of time to edit photos inside. Every so often, it is good to update your headshots. I have plenty of different images that I use for avatars and profile photos. These are from many test shoots before my clients arrive. I use myself to test lights. Thus, I end up with lots of images to choose from in the collection. This day was no different – T. and I have been coordinating a shoot. Before she arrived, I setup the lights and the background. With the small space that I was working with, I decided to use the beauty dish for the main light on the subject. This modifies produces a very nice quality of light for faces, and there is a huge drop off from the subject keeping the light from illuminating the background cloth.

Home Studio Setup

Portrait lighting testing - ©TimeLine Media - headshots of blog author
Portrait lighting testing – ©TimeLine Media

Keeping the light off the background is important to separate your subject from the background. It works really well for portraits as it gives your subject some space in the photo. This is a piece of feedback I give to a lot of photographers when viewing their portfolios. When you are taking the time to pose a subject, and you are trying to find the best angle to place them for a photo, do not place them too close to a background element. This could include walls, plants, statues, or anything that is behind them. When you place your subjects there, you can get some strong shadows behind your subjects from a flash, and your background will be in sharp focus. I try to minimize both when making portraits – I want the subject to not have any competition from distractions in the background. If you need an updated headshot, contact me at 703-864-8208 or Rassi at timelinedc.com and we can discuss what I can produce for you!

Headshot photography - ©TimeLine Media - headshots example
Headshots photography – ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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