I'm Getting Better

Graduation At The Adolf School. It's that time of year, and I returned to Hillsdale High School to photograph the students receiving their GEDs and High School Diplomas through the continuation school. My primary goal was to get a series of really nice photos of the graduates as they received their diplomas from the school's director. While candid photographs of the speakers at the podium would also be part of the coverage, the one posed handshake photo would probably be the most meaningful for the graduates, along with being a five-second window where I had total control of the photograph. 

Rehearsals: To prepare for the handshake photo, I got the sixteen graduates together and introduced myself and congratulated them on their achievements. Next, I gave the both instructions and a demonstration of exactly how I wanted them to proceed. First, the would shake hands with the director (right hand, below) while accepting the diploma (left hand, above). Next, I told them to stand on a blue-tape X I had placed on the stage, about ten feet in front of where I would be standing. Finally, I told them to stay put until I gave them the thumbs up sign, a signal for them to return to their chairs on the stage.

Equipment: Since I had so little time between graduates, the equipment needed to produce consistent results. I mounted a speedlight on a seven-foot light stand for a key light and aligned it with the taped "X" I had place on the stage. I triggered the flash using a radio transmitter. Then I went and stood on the X, and made selfies until I was happy with the exposure.  At the last minute, I decided to add a CTO gel onto the speedlight so I could use the same white balance preset when I photographed the speakers standing at the podium. With the gel in place, I reset my aperture to compensate for the light loss from the CTO gel. Finally (here's the genius part) I wrote down my final exposure settings (ISO, aperture, speedlight output) on a small card and taped it to the lightstand. This way I could effortless duplicate the setting when the graduates walked off  the stage.

I knew that when I returned to my usual aisle position on the floor, I'd be changing ISO, aperture size, and exposure duration "on the fly", so I was sure my settings would be very different than those selected for the flash-lit handshake shots.

This shot of the Valedictorian was made using only the house spot lights using a 28-70 equivalent lens on my Fuji T-4. I was shooting in burst mode, trying to capture one expressive moment during her presentation. This is the one I selected (60 frames just to get this one), and it's a winner.

When the last speaker had spoken I hurried back to my shooting position on Stage Left, an waited for the presentation of the diplomas. Only one shot per graduate was needed, and the whole process went quickly.

The exposures were very consistent, and no adjustments in post processing were necessary. I did erase an errant "Exit" sign,  since the images were not headed for publication so a little retouching is permissible.

The Takeaway: I believe that if you cannot add some form of light modifier (softbox or shoot-through umbrella), positioning the key light can greatly improve the quality of the image. In this cropping of the topmost image, you can see that the highlights are position higher on the face, although fairly close to the lens axis. If you look at the shadow cast by the tip of the nose, you will see that it's quite narrow AND does NOT CROSS THE UPPER LIP. This has been a hard rule for "normal" (read flattering) portraiture, as advocated by portraitist William Mortensen (1897-1965), a classic Hollywood photographer in the 1920s and 1930s. Like all rules, he and other photographer break the rule when an unconventional., albeit unflattering, portrait. Note too that the closer you light is to the lens axis, the better the chances you'll get some nice catchlights in your subject's eyes.

Congratulations, Class of 2026!

Opening JPG Files In RAW Mode

In an earlier post I discussed how I used an umbrella as a reflector to throw some additional light back onto my subject's face. The result was not perfect, but will certainly contribute to a better rendition when it comes time to print. Reflecting on the photo session, I am reminded that I could have easily negotiated for some additional time to make the photo, but in my excitement, I was content to forgo the flash and place the open shoot-through umbrella on  the ground just out of the right edge of the frame. The result was the left frame, which shows detail in Ray's face, but not bright enough for my taste. The right frame is much closer to what I had in mind, and is the result of some judicious exposure control involving the shadows, the mid tones, and the highlights. 

Open In Camera Raw: I started the salvage operation by opening the JPG file in Camera Raw. It is  easy to find, located just below the Open command in the dropdown File Menu. 

The most striking feature is the appearance of large swaths of red and blue in the opened file. Interpretation is simple: Red indicates areas of over exposure, and the blue areas underexposure. So far as Adobe Elements is concerned, the red zones represent the highlights, and the blue regions represent the shadows. Now the information contained in a JPG file is nowhere near that of a true RAW file, so consider this a way to improve an image, not a way to recover a completely botched exposure.  

I have enlarged the sidebar to show the sliders you will be using. 

• Mid Tones: Drag the Exposure slider to the left or right until you get the skin tones where you want them. Don't worry if portions of your subject's skin turn red. AT least not yet. (+0,85)
• Highlights: Next drag the Highlights slider to the left until the (almost) all of the red highlights return to their original color. If large swatches of red are still present, return to the Exposure slider and move it to the left. (-100)
• Shadows: Finally drag the Shadows slider and watch how the shadows start to brighten. Be careful, though. If you slide it too far to the right, you may see your highlights begin to turn red. (+23)

When you're done adjusting the sliders, you should take some to admire the overall effect. Warning: That red shape in the back of Ray's truck is an orange Home Depot bucket. You may also notice some tiny red-colored highlights on Ray's hand. Fortunately they are very small, and I'll let them stay since they are neither distracting nor unexpected.

This post processing is very intuitive once you start using it. It can also correct white balance, and improve the intensity of the blacks and whites. It is well suited to my low-volume workflow. And while it is a slight improvement over the simpler Levels command, it does offer access to a variety of other adjustments, all in one application.

Would That It Were True: My editor put this together using Chat GPT and a cell phone image of me actually  photographing the hive seen in my earlier post. It shows that getting "up close and personal" is more than just a phrase. For me, it's all part of the job.