BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Making a Background

By John Siskin

Sam V. #1 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

So there are a number of problems with small background that would make us want a professional quality background. What does that mean? Most importantly a background that is large and without seams running through it. It would also be nice to have a surface that isn’t entirely even, but you can make some significant changes with lighting. The problem is that a background like this from Calumet, or another retailer, is going to cost about $130.00 for a 10X12 foot background and a little over $200.00 for a 10X24 foot background. I would of course suggest that you get the 24 foot background, since you can have someone stand on a larger background and still have options for lighting the background since you put the background further back.

Now I can understand if you don’t want to spend the money for the background, money is hard to come by. Another reason to avoid buying a background is that if you can’t go to the store and actually see it you may end up with a background you can’t stand. That’s really annoying if you spent a couple of hundred dollars for it.

Well there is another option, you can buy cloth in 9 foot widths and dye it. This is an amazingly simple process. I bought a piece of fabric 9 foot wide (fabric widths are measured in inches, 9 foot is 108 inches) by 12 foot long. I really should have bought 24 feet, but I was just making the background for this example. The other thing you need is Rit dye, or some other fabric dye. I went to a Laundromat, since I didn’t want to use my home machine for dyeing, and put some soap and two containers of the dye in the washing machine. If I wanted a darker background I would have used more dye. When the wash was done I had a useful background. The fabric was $4.99 a yard, $20.00, and the Rit dye was $ 1.38 or about $2.75 for two. Of course I also had to drop some quarters in the washing machine. The fabric I used is bleached muslin and the dye color is taupe.

Hanging Background © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

I hung the fabric to dry in my studio. This reduces wrinkles

I got some help to sew a sleeve for a pole to hold the background. I could have done this with spring clamps but a sleeve is easier. I have got to learn to use a sewing machine.

Sleeve © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Taupe Background © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

I got on Craig’s list to find a model that I hadn’t worked with before. Sam Veta was an excellent model for this project. Notice that I used spring clamps to create a drapery effect on the background and I even lit one of the images from behind the background. I would have like to have a little less evenness in the finished backdrop. I think if I had twisted up the background more before putting it in the washing machine I would have achieved this. Alternatively you can paint some fabric dye directly on the cloth. I think this worked out very well and very economically!

Sam V. #2 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Sam V. #3 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Sam V. #4 © John H. Siskin All rights reserved

Thanks,
John Siskin

Twilight Photography: Capturing a City's Lights and Colors

By Kerry Drager

Three of my favorite photographic elements came together on a recent outing: reflections, twilight and city lights! That wasn't entirely luck. The period between sunset and nighttime is such a magical time of day, and since I was in Chicago for the awesome 2007 BetterPhoto Summit, the city's amazing reflective sculpture known as The Bean was high on my list of subjects to shoot.

In most places, the peak of twilight's visual action doesn't last long, but when you hit things right, you'll receive such a visual treat: The lights of buildings are bold and bright, and the sky takes on a dynamic color. And, thanks to the lingering daylight, shooting the city lights in early evening avoids the big expanses of blackness that occurs at nighttime.

In addition, I employed the same approach that I use for any good subject in dramatic light: I experimented with different compositions, viewpoints and lenses. Check out the two perspectives in the accompanying images - the narrower telephoto view of version #1, and the unique wide-angle look of #2.

Same subject, two views. Such a "working the subject" strategy is always a great idea when visiting a world-class subject in a world-class city!

Note: Check out my BetterPhoto online courses: Creative Light and Composition and Creative Close-ups.

1) Telephoto Perspective ... Twilight Reflection ... ... by Kerry Drager
The reflective Bean at Millenium Park in Chicago; f10 @ 5 secs; ISO 100; 50mm lens; tripod.

2) Wide Perspective ... Twilight Reflection ... by Kerry Drager
The reflective Bean at Millenium Park in Chicago; f10 @ 5 secs; ISO 100; 20mm lens; tripod. Note: The Bean attracts many camera-toting tourists - even on a weekday evening - but in case you're wondering, that's NOT me in the pic :-) /Kerry

Capturing Slow Motion When Photographing Water

By Kerry Drager

When it comes to photographing water in motion, "going with the flow" is an eye-catching approach! That means a slow shutter speed that conveys a look of fluid motion - i.e., soft and silky smoothness. But long exposures don't just happen. Here are some tips:

- Low light: Soft and even light - from overcast, deep shade, or very late or very early day - creates slower shutter speeds. At the same time, you avoid the very harsh contrast of a sunny midday.

- Highest f/number: Your lens's smallest aperture gives you the slowest possible shutter speed for the given light and ISO.

- Lowest ISO number: Set your camera for ISO 100 or 200 for a longer exposure. (Save the high ISO numbers for faster speeds in non-tripod situations.)

- Polarizing filter: A polarizer is optional, but I prefer one around water scenes. Because the polarizer is deep-tinted, it helps slow down the shutter speed. But unlike a deep-tinted neutral-density filter, the polarizer also cuts glare and boosts colors.

- Use a tripod: In addition to the tripod, a cable release keeps your hand off the camera when tripping the shutter, thus minimizing the possibility of vibration.

Note: Check out my online photo courses here at BetterPhoto.com: Creative Light and Composition and Creative Close-ups.

Waterfall Fountain by Kerry Drager
heavy overcast; 50mm lens; f22 @ 1/2 sec.; polarizing filter; ISO 100; tripod w/cable release

Talking about Strobes

by John Siskin

One problem with teaching lighting is that terminology is fuzzy. Flash used to mean a one use bulb, like a flash cube, this technology finally died in the seventies. We should call everything else strobes, but we don’t, which is confusing. Strobes make light by sending a spark through a tube filled with xenon gas; the light on all strobes is pretty much the same. What is different is the amount of light and the control systems for using the light. Manual strobes have different power levels, set by the operator, and a way to trigger the strobe when the shutter is open. These are the most powerful strobes available. The original automatic strobes used a device called a thrysistor to match the amount of light they delivered to a specified amount. The result of this is that the operator would set a certain aperture, specified by the strobe, on the lens. The strobe would keep the light constant as the photographer moved closer and further from the subject. This was a big advantage in on camera strobes. Finally we got to dedicated strobes. In the beginning these were automatic strobes that set the camera to the right aperture without the photographer having to do anything. This wasn’t much of a step forward; the light control was still done by the strobe. Current dedicated strobes are much more sophisticated, they use a light sensor in the camera body, this is called TTL metering. There are two types of photography that benefit tremendously from this technology: macro/micro work and flash fill outdoors. Flash fill is using a strobe to add light to an out door picture. This is usually done to add sparkle to the highlights in the face and eyes and to open up the shadows in the face. It can really make an outdoor picture much better. The ability to do flash fill automatically is a tremendous advantage of the TTL flash units.

When you use more than one strobe to light a shot they will work together manually. A device called a slave will trigger one strobe when another goes off. Most strobe systems will not let you use a second strobe automatically since this requires much more information to be exchanged between the strobes and the camera. This information is exchanged easily with a strobe that is mounted on the camera, but requires sophisticated radio technology to accomplish with a remote strobe. Of course you can often position a remote strobe so that the light doesn’t change the exposure in critical areas. Since we have proof images available on digital cameras it is not that difficult to set up several lights in a shot because we can see what we are doing almost instantly. This makes it much easier for the photographer to control the light in the studio or in the field.