FIT 361 Logistics of Location: 2012

Monday, May 14, 2012

Week #14: 5/14/12

"Don’t pack up your camera until you’ve left the location." - Joe McNally - From the book: The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters by Joe McNally

"Technique undoubtedly helps make photography magical, but I prefer to work with atmosphere. I think that the obsession with technique is a male thing. Boy's toys. They love playing... but once you've perfected something you have to start searching for a new toy. I would rather search for a new model or location." - Ellen von Unwerth

"The world is one huge canvas, find your location and expose your film passionately!" - Steve Denby

Top ten reasons to date a photographer

1) They work well in the dark

2) They’re used to funny smells

3) They make things develop

4) They work well on many settings

5) They know how to focus

6) They can make big things look small and small things look big

7) They work well from many different angles

8 ) They zoom in and out. And in and out and in and out and in and out...

9) They shoot in many different locations

10) They can find the beauty in anything

- Anonymous

Final Project Work-In-Progress Critique

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

© Joe Mcnally

Be aware that you should have the following when submitting your final project:

Model and Property Releases

Lighting Diagrams / Data Sheets (with camera info, focal lengths, distances, heights, light modifiers, etc.)

Equipment Lists

Call Sheets

Optional Shooting Permit (bonus points for this!)

Contact Sheet of Outtakes (with your professional looking info on top/bottom!)

Self Critique

Due Next Week:

Journals
Final Project
Department Archive Assignment + Final Project Images (see below)

Please prepare Digital Files for the Photography Department archives

(Required of All Major Photography Classes)

Image prep guidelines:

Please submit ALL 3 assignment image files plus your final project via CD/DVD
Files should be 72 DPI and 1600 pixels at the longest dimension
Save as the highest quality JPEG (.jpg) file format
Please name the files as follows: "PH361_StudentsLastName_001.jpg"

The Top 25 Best Places in the World to Photograph article

Top 10 U.S. Spots for Photography article

Choosing Light Reflectors for On Location Photography article

Monday, May 7, 2012

Week #13: 5/7/12 WIP Crit

"The students think that I am teaching photography... but not really. Creativity cannot be included in the syllabi." - Lakshman Iyer

"People say photographs don't lie, mine do." - David LaChapelle - Collector's edition of Life, the Eisie Issue, spring 1998 , Page: 137

Final Project Work-In-Progress Critique

Next week please bring your final project imagery for a work-in-progress critique.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Week #12: Guest Speaker 4/30/12

When asked how he felt about missing photographs while he reloaded his camera with film, he replied "There are no photographs while I'm reloading'" - Gary Winogrand

"A Notebook. No photographer should be without one!" - Ansel Adams

* Guest Speaker - Poul Ober *

Next week please bring your digital cameras in case we have an in-class project. Also bring your final project imagery for a work-in-progress critique. And please be aware that you should have the following when submitting your final project:

Model and Property Releases
Lighting Diagrams / Data Sheets
Equipment Lists
Call Sheets
Optional Shooting Permit (possible bonus points for this!)
Contact Sheet of Outtakes
Self Critique

The 40+ Items Every Photography Assistant Needs Now article on blog.photoshelter.com

Monday, April 16, 2012

Week #10: 4/16/12 Permits

"What happens inside your mind can happen inside a camera!" - Anonymous - advertising slogan for Minolta SRT-101/102 [Popular Photography 5/1974, p. 229]

* Lecture on Permitting is moved to Wednesday, April 18th 2pm to 3pm *

guest speaker Jennifer Lanihan will talk about the New York City still photogra

Jennifer Lanihan will talk about the New York City still photography permit process in C414

Applying for Still Photography Permits

The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting

Ed Sullivan Theatre Building
1697 Broadway - Suite 602 (6th Floor)
New York, NY 10019
Entrance on 53rd Street

Office is located just around the corner from the "Late Show With David Letterman" marquee. You will need to bring picture ID to gain access to the building.

telephone: 212-489-6710
fax: 212-307-6237
web: www.nyc.gov/film

Office HoursPermits are issued between the hours of 9:00am and 4:00pm.
On Fridays, permits must be submitted by 3:00 pm.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Week #9: 4/9/12

"…the art is in selecting what is worthwhile to take the trouble of photographing…" - Berenice Abbott

“Remember, not everything is a picture. A good eye can edit before the shutter opens." - Craig Coverdale

Video as seen on The Strobist website blog

(David Hobby's blog - one of the photographers in the video below)

Shoot-Out, GPP 2012 from gulf photo plus on Vimeo.

Overpowering the Sun article and video on Profoto's website

GuessTheLighting.com blog by Ted Sabarese

* Compare light modifiers on Hensel.com *

Mixing Ambient with Flash

Your camera's maximum flash sync speed will be an important factor in mixing ambient light with flash. Consider changing your ISO to achieve the maximum sync speed if necessary.

Shutter speed controls the ambient light and has no effect on your flash exposure.

4 Factors that do control flash exposure:

Power setting on flash
Distance to subject
ISO
Aperture

Where to start:

Find an interesting composition and try to place your model in fairly even light if possible as this will make your foreground lighting much easier. Use your in-camera light meter to determine proper exposure for the entire scene. From here, you have a few options that mainly have to due with what tonality you would like the background.

Option 1: Fill Flash with Normal BG = If you are happy with the foreground and background exposure, you can then add a fill-flash if you would like to enhance mainly the shadows of your model without effecting much of the background. Try your flash 1.5 to 3 stops under the ambient exposure (use manual mode flash setting and using a light meter read 1.5 to 3 stops more open from ambient exposure, or use -1.5 to -3 EV setting in TTL mode).

Option 2: Brighter BG = If you want the background brighter, then over-expose the ambient light by purposely shooting +1 or +2 with your in-camera light meter. Obviously your foreground subject will then be too bright. You must then diffuse or block the light from your foreground subject using something like a light panel or flex fill.

Option 3: Darker BG = This option is fairly common. If you want the background darker, then under-expose the ambient light by purposely shooting -1 or -2 with your in-camera light meter. Obviously your foreground subject will then be too dark, but you can then easily use flash to give correct exposure for your foreground subject.

Here's a tip - If you are shooting in bright conditions (outside during the day):

Immediately go to max sync speed (usually 1/125, 1/180, or 1/250 depending on your camera)
Use ISO 100
Find your aperture for the amount of ambient exposure you want (see the above 3 options)
Find your correct flash exposure for the foreground subject (manual or TTL mode)

Further explanation can be found here...

along with other great speedlight flash tutorials on photographer Neil Van Niekerk's website:

Flash and Ambient Light

Off Camera Flash
Gelling the Light for Effect

Flash Photography Tips

Further consideration is Dragging Your Shutter for brighter backgrounds (especially shot at night), or...
High Speed Sync (which allows for shutter speeds faster than max sync speed, but drastically reduces flash output)