A Split Composition

Screen Capture taken from October 12, 2015 on-line issue of the San Mateo Daily Journal*

The Belmont Fire Department was holding an open house to give the community a chance to get "up close and personal" with some real fire engines and to meet some real fire fighters. I wanted to experiment with mixed inside/outside light situations, not realizing that the Journal had already assigned a student photographer to make a photo, and she submitted this image (Photo #1) for publication. It was accepted, and eventually published.

When I first saw the photo, I thought I was looking at two separate images. The junction between the side panels of truck and the chrome steel panel beside the control panel form a nearly unbroken line which sits on the half-way point between the left and right halves of the photo. This contributes to the "two photo" illusion. The effects could have been minimized by placing this juncture either to the left or right of center, preferably along one of the two vertical "rule of thirds" lines.

Photo #2

I submitted this image (Photo #2) which was made with the same theme as the first. I this case, I composed the image to include more of the right two-thirds, since all of the human interaction occurred there. I wanted to emphasize the human side of the encounter, and the appearance of pride by the firefighter. The unbroken vertical  side panel/sheet steel junction has much less of an impact when its farther from the center. I might has experimented with the composition more if another parent hadn't been standing right next to me, camera right.

You can see the difference an on-camera fill flash can make. I can essentially ignore the shadows and expose the highlights for improved color saturation. The fill light puts light, and detail, back into the shadows at a level that compliments, but does not overpower, the highlights. If you look closely at the fireman's face, you can can see that the highlights on his forehead, while overexposed, are relatively small. The fill flash provides plenty of detail.

Photo #3

I liked this particular image (Photo #3), even though I didn't submit if for possible publication. By using my "palm bounce" technique, I was able to through some light into the cramped, black interior of the fire engine cab. I would have loved the shot if I could have gotten a fireman (or firewoman!) beside my young subject. That's probably why I didn't submit it, although I did send a copy to her mother.

* I did not have access to the original image, so the quality has been severely compromised.

Butterfly Lighting - Again

I believe that blogging has changed how we view the progression of our educational milestones. Books, as we knew them, documented our personal explorations spread over an extended period of time and are then compressed between the front and back covers. When recalling a sequence of events that lead to that light bulb moment, it is easy to skip the inevitable trials and errors and go straight to the epiphany. On the other hand, a blog entry is often created in the moment of inspiration, and can be revised quickly and with relative ease. As a result, my blog, like my life, is subject to change as today's ideas and beliefs transform themselves into tomorrow's axioms and facts.
 
My photographic experiments often include lighting faces that are wearing glasses. This is particularly convenient, since I've been a qualified model since the mid 1950's. In a nutshell, butterfly lighting works well in this situation. By keeping the Key Light (the one that casts the shadow) and the fill light (the one that puts detail into the shadows) well off the axis, there is less light to reflect back from the center of your subject's eyeglasses. You may see the hint of glare at the top edge of my glasses, but this blends in with my eyelids and is therefore less noticeable. Keep in mind that this glare is actually the reflection of the ceiling, illuminated by my on-camera bounce.

Left: Flash Tube uncovered;    Center: Flash Tube half covered;    Right: Flash tube three-quarters covered

Controlling Output: Arcane knowledge abounds. Back in the day, flashes often had a single output level: Full.When working close to our subjects, we commonly reduced the practical output by partially covering the flashtube with our fingers, the more fingers, the less light output. This was fine when the camera was mounted on-camera. But because the Nikon SB-30 has an SU-4-type remote triggering capability, something besides fingers would be needed if it is used off-camera. I decided to leave a piece of gaffer tape on the back of the flash and use it to provide as much coverage as the situation dictated. See the above tryptic.

Post Script: The flash tube in the right image IS correctly covered. The bright portion that you see to the left of the gaffer tape blinder is decorative, and not part of the flash tube. 

Big Catchlights: In an earlier post, I used some Tupperware and a cookie sheet to bounce light on to a hardwood floor. Looking back, it would have been faster to simple place the SB-30 on the ground facing the subject, and placing a Zumbrella, or similar shoot-through umbrella, between it and my subject's face. I still get the low angle necessary to eliminate glasses-glare and a much larger light source, but gain a measure of speed and simplicity in the setup.

This is photo of a typical shoot-through umbrella, placed on a linlinoleum floor about 3 feet in front of me. The SB-30 is hiding underneath, and is triggered by an on-camera (manual) speedlight bounced off of a very high ceiling. You can see how this would provide a large catchlight and a soft fill light from below, the reasons one goes to butterfly lighting in the first place. Again, this is an easy and effective setup if your main camera-mounted speedlight is providing a bounced key light from a nearby wall-ceiling juncture. If you're finding that the fill is a bit too strong, just cover a portion of the fill light's flash tube with gaffer tape, as I did here. 

Reminder To Self: This technique only works for head shots, since the full and three-quarter length portraits will result in overexposure below your subject's waist.

My father had always told me to avoid multiple catchlights. This stands for reason: In a natural environment, there should be only one light source: The Sun. This portrait reflects this philosophy, as only a single catchlight can be seen in each eye. I continue to follow his advice, and will consider this "light under an umbrella" a useful technique for providing both catchlights and shadow detail, especially when my subjects are wearing glasses.