When a KFC Family Meal is Worth More than a Photograph...apparently.

Is this what our images have been relegated to?

Yes, its an interesting title. But I have to be honest - its an interesting story, one which, as photographer, I am saddened to relate. Here is how it goes.

While we were on a shoot a couple of weeks ago, I took an incidental but rather beautiful portrait of someone who was there at the location. It was beautifully lit with studio lighting, captured in a wonderful moment and taken with 30 years of experience. Yes, it was quite lovely, even if I say so myself. Little were we to know then that it would be the last photograph taken of this person. Yes, within a couple of weeks, this person unexpectedly passed away. When this happened, we naturally got a call from the grieving family. "It is a beautiful photograph", we were told. "Its how we want to remember (this person)".  A moment like this can make a photographer feel like they have done something that has lasting and positive results. 

My wife and I have gifted our photography many times. We have often done this as an act of gratitude, or perhaps as an act of compassion. However, in this case there were reasons why this was not possible.  But there was the opportunity to reduce our price, which we did. When the woman with whom I was speaking asked me the price of a print, I reduced it significantly from our usual price and explained to her that I had done such, with compassion and sympathy. The woman then paused with apprehension, told me that she would consult with her sister about the purchase, and get back to me. Now, her reduced price for the print was being halved due to the fact that her sister was being asked to contribute. This brought the print price for each to below that of a family meal at KFC!

Knowing that the funeral was being held in the next few days, I contacted the family again, asking if she wanted to me to rush the print over so that it would be there for the actual service. I was kindly told that the portrait was not wanted. Suddenly, a photograph that allegedly meant so much became something that meant nothing at all. Why? Because it would cost her about the same as a meal at KFC. The last photograph taken of the person she loved so much, an image that honoured, dignified and beautified this person, suddenly became completely unwanted....unless it was either free, or perhaps significantly less than the price of a family meal at KFC. 

This being the case, I have to admit to feeling glad that I did not offer the print as a gift of sympathy. Gifts are hopefully appreciated. While I certainly can empathise with their loss, I find it difficult to comprehend their perspective on the worth of this beautiful and final portrait of someone they apparently loved so dearly, especially when it had become so affordable. I am left wondering what she thought the price would be? Would I just hand it over as if it required nothing to achieve, no costs and no time on my part to arrange? What would you pay for the final photograph taken - particularly one as beautiful as this - of someone you loved so much? Where will your family meal at KFC be in a year? Ten? Twenty? The portrait of your loved one would still have shone from its frame during all those years.

In a way I feel sorry for this family, whose complete lack of appreciation has cost them this memory of their lost loved one. And then, on the other hand, I am saddened and insulted on  behalf of the person who has died. 

While my heart goes out to the family as a result of their loss, all I can say to them with regard to this precious photograph, I suppose, is....'Enjoy your chicken'.

-Shelton Muller

Living in Pictures

Is Your Business a 'Non-Profit' organisation?

The digital era has turned photography into a commodity.There was a time when photography was mysterious, a skill to aspire towards, an art. Now, an image costs nothing to take, so it means nothing to own. Many of today's photographers are coming out of the woodwork with little understanding of light, lenswork and composition, adding a funky Lightroom preset that makes it look 'arty' and hoping that people will rave about their images on Facebook. No wonder professional photographers are struggling. The entire concept of the value of beautiful and masterful images by photographers who know their craft has been lost on the masses. Apparently, if you have a good camera, you can do it yourself. And yes, if you buy your pencils from the same place Shakespeare did, you can also pen a beautiful sonnet.

So, if you are a photographer who creates masterful images, or you are at least aspiring to that endeavour while in the meantime trying to make or supplement your income, you will need to know how to value your images yourself and then sell them confidently. This is why I have attached the image above.

Its a portrait of Lee Andrikopoulos. Along with his wife, Lorna, Lee runs a business called Instinctive Desires. He is one of the most inspirational and effective speakers I have heard on the subject of the emotional sale. While spending an afternoon recently in their home having lunch, Tash and I embarked upon a few portraits of them. What the heck....I am too lazy to get my lighting gear and backdrop out of the car, so why not drag it all into their living room and do a few portraits? After all, its fun too!

Well, thanks Lee and Lorna for using this one in your latest promotions for a seminar I hope I can attend. I am honoured!

If you are struggling to sell your work, it may be that you are struggling to value it yourself. It may be that you need the skills that enable others to value it as they should. If you can make this seminar, do so. If not, at least connect with this motivational couple and their business. You won't regret it.

For the seminar, click here

Deliberate. Simple. Beautiful.

Dancer and model, Sarah Hardy, at Black Rock, Victoria, Australia.
One flash, camera left. Nikon D700 with Tamron 10-24 lens. 

Successful images often result from the combination of simple techniques which become something greater than the sum of their parts. It is the choices we make within that process that become the difference between failure and success, and can also be the difference in interpretation of a scene or its desired outcome. I have often been in places and times with fellow photographers who interpret the same scene completely differently. Nevertheless, it is the choice of techniques combined within each image that complete it successfully - or not.

In the years I have spent training photographers I have to admit that it is this process - the combination of techniques - that is the real learning curve. I suppose it is the same in every creative endeavour. What it means for the photographer is a deliberate series of decisions that come together to create the image - which until completed - is only seen only in the fog of the creative mind.

The real situation, captured on my iPhone

The image above is naturally a combination of these kinds of decisions. Allow me to elaborate. Light is the first choice, and because there was no light to sculpt this beautiful young dancer - the lovely Sarah Hardy - a single flash and wireless receiver were placed on a stand just out of frame. Naturally the exposure setting was established for the flash, which was then balanced to underexpose the ambient light.The next part of the process was lens choice. A Tamron 10-24 wide angle lens was used, and the lower viewpoint selected to empower Sarah and simultaneously include the cloudy sky. Sarah's pose was naturally a collaboration between photographer and dancer, she being the expert in dance and me being the one with the eye in the viewfinder. 

Without this simple combination of tools and processes, this image as you see it simply would not exist. And while each of these decisions and techniques is simple, it is a very deliberate process that combines the techniques and tools to result in a final image.

When I was a teenager, I worked in photo retail in Melbourne city. One day a customer walked into the store with a large Nikon F2AS, complete with its large and heavy motordrive attached, swung neck-breakingly across his chest. Over the top of its photomic head was a Dymo label he had printed that simply said "THINK". After 30 years I still remember that customer and that Dymo label. This photographer was reminding himself that every time he lifted his camera to his eye, his mental and creative processes needed to combine to create the image he desired. For him, this was not a haphazard process. It required him to think. It is that process, combined with knowledge, tools and experience, that creates the images in our cameras that, until the moment we press the shutter, dwell only in the misty backblocks of our creative mind.

Portraits that Matter to You...

You know how mechanics often have broken down cars, carpenters often have leaky roofs and painters often have scratched and dented walls? The same can often be said about photographers, who never seem to have beautiful portraits of the ones they love. Well, a few evenings ago we turned the TV off, set up a portable studio in our living room and took a few portraits of ourselves. A friend of mine recently gave me a beauty dish, so it was a great opportunity to try it out. 

I decided that for this portrait of Tash, my wife, I would use the diffusing sock that came with the beauty dish, just to soften the specular highlights a little. Add a hair light, a portable fan and her lovely, smiling face and Voila! A portrait is made! While there, we did portraits of Annabel, my stepdaughter and I even shot my mother-in-law....with a camera....OK? Don't call the cops just yet. The image above is the jpeg, pretty much straight out of camera, resized and watermarked in Picasa. 

If you are a photographer and you are reading this, thinking 'Ya know (insert your own name here), I don't have professional portraits of my husband, wife, partner, my children, my parents, my friends....',  well, here is an idea. Turn your TV off and spend an evening with a bit of lighting, a portable backdrop and your camera in hand. Its gotta be better than watching those stupid reality shows. This is YOUR reality. Capture it, honour it, live it.

Does One Size Fit All?

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Tamron 10-24mm at 19mm.

In the fifteen or so years I have been running workshops and seminars, podcasts and presentations, there has been one constant issue that has featured among so many of those who have attended. This constant has been a lack of understanding of the nature and the true value of lenses and optical nuances. 

Now, let me make one thing very clear. I am not speaking of the technicalities of optics as I am not an expert in the field. Thats's for the guys in the white jackets. I am speaking of the benefit of lens perspective, angle of view, compression and depth of field. When it comes to creating successful, interesting, dynamic images, there are, in my opinion, few techniques which come close to the importance of the correct choice of focal length and f-stop.

Photographers will argue black and blue about lens sharpness, chromatic and spherical abberation, bokeh, blades and barrel distrotion. Blah, blah, blah. Yes these things are important, but there is a lot of snobbery in photography about technicalities, brands and types of lenses. Photographers will argue over the most ridiculous and irrelevant technicalities of lenses, little realising that they make little if any difference to the creative delivery of their images. Often these are the same photographers whose images are so ordinary and uninteresting that it wouldn't matter if they had used the bottoms of old Coke bottles inside a toilet roll. These days, if a lens is bad, its famous for being bad. This is especially true because of wonderful websites such as DPreview, and the internet in general. A lens manufacturer could not survive in this kind of environment if a lens was produced at a certain price and did not perform as expected.

A few short years ago I was in Patagonia running a photo tour on behalf of Darran Leal, a personal friend and well known Australian photographer and photography tutor. Tamron's Australian agent had recently asked me to try out their new Tamron 18-270 f3.5-6.3 zoom with vibration compensation. Having just acquired my Nikon D700, I knew I could not use it on that because the Tamron is designed for a crop sensor and not a 35mm size sensor. So I brought my trusty Fuji S5 and had it permanently fixed to that. I have never been a fan of superzooms, but I was pleasantly surprised with this lens' optical and physical performance. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised. If I had to travel the world with one lens and one camera, I could see myself seriously contemplating this as the lens I would bring. The three images below show Cerro Torre in morning light, captured using the Tamron 18-270 f3.5-6.3 at its widest (which is approximately the 35mm equivalent of 24mm), then somewhere around 70mm, and then all the way to 270mm (which is the 35mm equivalent of approximately 405mm). I was impressed. I still am, and would happily trust that lens to take me around the world if it was all I could use. 

Cerro Torre, Patagonia. Tamron 18-270mm at 18mm. Exposure 1/800th, f10.

Cerro Torre, Patagonia. Tamron 18-270 at 70mm. Exposure 1/800th at f10

Cerro Torre, Patagonia. Tamron 18-270 at 270mm. Exposure 1/640th at f10.

Model: Sarah Hardy. Tamron 70-200 f2.8 at f2.8

But the fact remains that there is no such thing as a 'one size fits all' lens for photographers. Why would anyone want that anyway? To me, there is nothing more beautiful than a long lens with a wide aperture, such as a 70-200 f 2.8, for example. Even my trusty old Nikkor 85mm f1.8 is a gorgeous thing and I still love it after all these years. We are inseparable. While doing some portraits for a client the other day, I brought out my old manual focus Nikkor 135mm f2.8 because it was the ideal focal length for the situation. It is sharper than many new lenses I have used and much sharper than my newer AF Nikkor 180mm. I am certainly not going to bow to the discussions and debates about lenses that many photographers climb into. If a lens is good, its good. If it does the job well, I will use it, no matter the brand, the age or the technology. Lenses are the tunnels that allow and alter light. That is what they do. The rest is completely irrelevant. 

On the other end of that scale, I love a good wide angle, and have used everything from 14mm on my D700 to create images that I love for their unique perspective. Again, I have been impressed with my Sigma 14mm, very impressed with the Tamron 10-24mm and I love my  AF Nikkor 20mm f2.8 prime. Lenses that do their jobs are like excellent employees. Their names and physical attributes are nowhere near as important to your business as their abilities, their potential and their results. 

Playing cards in Baktapur, Nepal. Sigma 14mm.

Learning to 'see like lenses' is as valuable in the previsualisation process as composition, or any other technique. Generally I try not to officially judge at photography events, clubs and societies. I suppose its because I am not a big believer in the process. If I were, however, I would imagine that my greatest complaint would be that of poor lens choice or lens use. Lens use is a 'make or break' technique in the creation of our images which usually suffers to convenience rather than deliberate choice. Most photographers, I believe, fall foul of the old 'stand there and zoom' method as against choosing the lens that actually makes the image succeed and walking toward or back from the subject. Nothing kills an image more than lens laziness. If you are reading this and you would like me to elaborate, I would be happy to add more blog posts about lens choice and the fine art of 'seeing like lenses'. There are, in my opinion, few components of image creation that matter as much as focal length and f-stop.

My trusty 85mm Nikkor at f1.8, doing its thang...

Takin' it to the Streets

There are some wonderful faces around. Just a walk through a city street will reveal faces by the dozn that you would love to capture. Well, why can't you? Is there anything stopping you? "Yes", you say. "I feel a bit apprehensive about asking them if I can photograph them."

These days, suspicion about a photographer's motives is not uncommon. Taking your camera to the beach or to the swimming pool to photograph your own children is tantamount to a criminal act as those who look on, eyebrows raised, wonder what you are really up to. It is sad situation and one which reveals that despite all our efforts, the wrong kind of people have won. The innocent are left to maneuvre their way around the simple act of photography because a sick few have ruined it for the rest of us.

But that does not mean that you can't photograph people in the streets. You can do so candidly, with a long lens - the ethics of which are entirely up to you. You can also do one simple but incredibly clever thing. You can engage them in the simple act of conversation. Has anyone ever heard of something called a 'greeting'?

Yes, establishing a rapport with an individual through conversation and honesty is not difficult. That only takes a few moments, and then you can pop the question. 

"Would you mind if I took a quick portrait of you?"

The worst thing that would probably happen would be a firm and unequivocal "No". And that's ok. No harm, no foul. Somewhere in the middle you may get an embarrassed question about why you would want to do so. Somewhere way up at the top of the list will often be an agreement. It may take a little explanation, but there is no harm in that either.

Successful photography requires much more than technical skills. It often requires that we step out of our comfort zones, take a risk and enable ourselves more with each experience, growing more confident, socially adept and strong with each image captured. Perhaps the lesser of the benefits will be the portraits you take.

But then again, maybe not. You may just create some timeless and beautiful works of art. You need only to ask.

What are your Instinctive Desires?

Lee Andrikopoulos of Instinctive Desires. Nikon D700, Nikkor 85mm. Photek Softlighter.

Lee, being unusually demure...

The title of this blog post not intended to be controversial, or some kind of double entendre. It is a simple question that each of us needs to examine in life. What do we really want? The easy answer to all of that is....success. 

'Success' is an interesting concept. It is a personal concept that many equate to financial wealth. That is a part of everyone's idea to some degree I imagine, as life in this world without money is impossible. Life without enough money is difficult. But the endless pursuit of it is equally inane and difficult. 

For photographers, success has to do with both creativity and financial return. For most I would also imagine that it would include other, very personal rewards that vary from person to person. But if photography is your profession of choice, your desired career, you will need to know more than just the technicalities and creativities of each image. For you to make money, you will need to know how to firstly value and ultimately sell your work. 

This is where Lee and Lorna Andrikopoulos of Instinctive Desires come in. There are some great photography workshop companies around, but who is going to teach you how to sell those wonderful images that you have learned to take? Who is going to help you to value your work and present that value with confidence to customers who have become used to the commodity that photography has become? Lee and Lorna at Instinctive Desires, that's who. That is what they specialise in and one look at their website will convince you of that. Their courses and consultations have dramatically improved the financial returns and successful workflows of the photographers whom they have assisted. 

We spent a fun filled afternoon with Lee and Lorna at their home on Sunday. It was an afternoon 14 months in the making and their hospitality knew no bounds. We ate goat and corned beef, potatoes, pumpkin and cauliflower, drank wine and giggled incessantly. Tash had promised to update Lorna's portrait so we brought out the Bowens flash heads and the fold out backdrop in their living room. When Tash was finished with Lorna, we decided it was Lee's turn. He is rather crazy...but that's fine with us. So are we, really. 

If you have read this post and you live in Australia, you would be wise to contact Lee and Lorna. If you live in another country and read this post, you would be wise to contact Lee and Lorna at Instinctive Desires. I am sure that they can hop on a plane and come to you, especially if you live in some beautiful and exotic location and there is access to red wine. Either way, your business will never be the same, and your skills in the viewing room will result in high sales and higher profits. 

Oh, and the pretty face on their website and Facebook banner....that's my wife.
Yeah... I just had to put that in.

Yeah...its the Mona Leesa....

iLoveThisBecauseItSavesYourPhotography...

Pennsylvania, USA. IPhone and Pixlromatic

No, this strange title is not a new app from the wonderful library of apps available from iTunes. Rather, it is my way of saying that photographers have so many wonderful tools these days to keep their vision alive. Carrying a camera with you these days is no different to carrying your phone, and with it, so many wonderful applications for shooting, post processing and uploading. I don't intend to make this particular blog post about that as I am sure that you already are very aware of what can be done and probably know more apps than I do. Instagram, Hipstamatic,Pixlromatic, True HDR....no, I will stop there. I will be typing all day if I continue.

Hobart, Tasmania. iPhone and Hipstamatic

But what it does mean is that there is never a reason for not being able to create and reinfuse your creativity. Now, more than ever, you are empowered to create at any opportunity. The photograph above was taken while driving to Newark Airport through Pennsylvania.  It was a quick roadside stop to capture a rusting, old Chevy abandoned to time and space. The photograph left was taken while walking through Hobart, Tasmania. The photograph below - a walk through a small town in Pennsylvania. Each image was taken using my iPhone 4 and then processed in camera.

Once upon a time, taking a photograph with a phone went against every natural inclination in my soul. The quality was terrible and yet so many memorable moments were being captured using phones. This is not my feeling now. While I still believe in quality and the need to capture special moments and events, I have come to see that the changes made in cameraphone technology are such that these concerns no longer apply. I also still believe in the DSLR, and always will. Its just that - to be honest - I don't always have one with me.

Wedding photographer Jerry Ghionis has even shot wedding images with his iPhone and won awards for the them. While there are those who would say that he could capture great wedding photographs with a coffee mug and two pieces of sticky tape, it nonetheless indicates the possibilities of the technology and the quality possible in our phones. More than that, however, is the fact that we are always enabled to create in the moment while being assured that our images are high quality. There is no reason then for our photography to enter into a period of creative block simply because we have been 'stuck for time', as it were. These days we can take wonderful images just walking around, catching the train to work or simply sitting in your kitchen. That being the case, our eyes continue to 'see', and we can continue to capture.

Pennsylvania, USA. iPhone

Fun is Just Good Business...

Johann and Kyoko. Photography: Living in Pictures 

Thank you Natasha, Shelton and Black Tulip For The AMAZING Photo shoot last night! You Guys made it such a wonderful experience. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :)

- Johann Nogueira.

If you are going to undertake photography as a profession - even on a part time basis - it should be enjoyable for you. That almost goes without saying. Once you stop having fun, enjoying the creativity and the many other enjoyable aspects of photography that coincide, much of the reason you started the process initially is lost. Sure, every business has its stresses and challenges, but photography should be fun - for you. But what about those whom you photograph? Should it be fun for them? Absolutely. And that, my friends, is just good business, if nothing else.

Tash and I were honoured to have our friend Johann Nogueira and his partner, Kyoko, in our home for a meal last night. Johann is without doubt the most entrepreneurial person I have ever met. He is just plain smart, heading a very successful company called Nogueira Alliance. He has been a friend of Tash's since they first met about two years ago. He has also recently been working on the Living in Pictures (the new business I have joined my wife in) website. As of this writing it is  incomplete, but we are very happy. Very happy indeed. And very grateful.

Johann is one of the nicest fellows I have ever met and his girlfriend Kyoko is simply delightful. It was a joy to create some portraits of them last night over a glass of wine, more than a few hearty laughs and even a little bit of guitar accompaniment - if you want to call what I play 'accompaniment'... Anyway... Johann works in many corporate fields, but his approach and style is casual and friendly. Nevertheless, every business person needs to have a professional portrait of themselves taken for their Linkedin site, Facebook, their own website - among many other things. In this regard Johann is certainly no exception. The only problem is, he has never enjoyed the process and so has shied away from it. That being the case, the few portraits portraits of him have not represented the Johann I know. More than that, they don't represent the Johann he himself knows.

A photographer who specialises in people photography needs to do more than just light and shoot. His or her job is to find the person they are capturing - not just in shape or form, but in character. How do they do that? They do that by being more than just a person with the camera. They do that by being communicative, relaxed, humourous and thoroughly at ease with themselves and the entire process. There is nothing more unnerving than leaving something important in the hands of someone you in whom you are not entirely confident. Yourself - your portraits, wedding photographs - any of those important events and representations of yourself, are very important. So not only should you be skilled at what you do technically, you need to be skilled at helping the person be themselves in that moment. By so doing, you enable yourself andyour subject to find the person that needs to be captured and presented to the world. That is as much a part of the skill of capture as lighting, composition, lens perspective or any other aspect of photography itself. As much as any technical skill, it should be learned and honed.

The fun we had last night captured Johann's attention to the point where he asked if this is what we do at every shoot. Tash and I just looked at each other and smiled. "Yuhuh!" we said laughingly. For the photographer, that is not only a great job, it is also just plain good business. If you deliver an enjoyable experience along with a quality product, your chances of success are thus multplied. 

Thank you Johann and Kyoko. You were so much fun!

Being a Duck...

Susan and Billy at Butleigh Wootten.

I knew it was a little crazy, but I really wanted to do it. When Susan and Billy asked me to photograph their wedding, which would be held on the 7th of May, 2011, I knew it could be difficult, but I couldn't say no. I knew it would be difficult because I was getting married the day after, and then heading off to the US with my wife the day after that for a working honeymoon. Nonetheless, I wanted to be Susan and Billy's photographer. Their wedding, I knew, would be a beautiful event, and it would be held at one of my favourite Melbourne wedding venues, Butleigh Wootten. I just couldn't say no.

The original idea was that Tash would shoot the wedding with me. But, as you know, the best laid plans of mice and men....Tash woke up the day before our own wedding with a screaming headache. Her back and neck were very badly out of place and needed some quick fixing. Thanks to our friend John Matthews, a soft tissue therapist who saved our day, Tash was just fine for the wedding. But on Susan and Billy's wedding day, she was out of action.

So, I headed off to their wedding with a good friend of mine as an assistant. He knew nothing about photography, but was willing to do and be whatever I needed him to do and be. And I was extremely grateful. He was actually quite awesome, I have to say.

Now, I have photographed weddings on my own many times, but not being as young as I used to be I like to have someone along these days to keep my brain fresh, and even help with the physically demanding aspects of the day. But having Tash along would have had the added benefit of another photographer. She is quite an amazing wedding photographer in her own right. She would say she has been well trained, but you can't train vision. She has a unique and wonderfully creative vision. But...suddenly the entire creative onus was on myself alone.

So, with Tash's back and nexk pain on my mind, my own wedding still requiring some finishing touches for  the next day and then three weeks of workshops to run in the US to be run directly thereafter, it would be understandable if my mind was whirring just a little. To top it off, I had forgotten all my Nikon batteries for my D700 and the one in my camera was getting lower....and lower....Can you blame me? I had a lot on my mind...(Excuses, excuses...I know...)

When these things happen to a photographer - especially a wedding photographer - nothing can be manifest to the bride and groom. They do not need to know. They also have much on their mind, and they don't need your issues on top of the natural concerns every couple has on their wedding day. They have every right to simply enjoy their day, and they don't need to know what your problems are.

As I have often taught at wedding workshops - you simply have to be a duck. For all concerned, you are sailing along smoothly on top of the water while all along you are privately paddling like crazy underneath. To be anything less than a duck would be unprofessional. Whatever is going on in your life, it is irrelevant to this event, this moment, this bride and groom. Leave it at home, and be a duck.

Thanks Susan and Billy for the honour it was to be a part of your wonderful wedding day.

The Photek Softlighter

Our friend "Retro" under the glow of the Photek Softlighter. Nikon D700, Tamron SP 90mm Macro

If Annie Liebovitz can use it on a shoot with Keith Richards, so can I - except that I am not on a shoot with Keith Richards.  This gentleman above (well, 'gentleman' might be pushing it but he's a great guy...) is an old friend of Tash's. His name is Ray, but everyone calls him Retro. That's how he likes it. Anyway...he popped around for dinner the other evening and seeing as we had only just purchased the Photek Softlighter from my friend Leo at Image Melbourne, Retro became our first -slightly coerced, slightly not - subject under its magical glow.

The Photek Sofltighter is not an umbrella, but it is. Its not a softbox, but it is. It is a mix of both in a way, and I really love what it does. The light from the flash head is reflected - just like umbrella lighting, but its diffused through a scrim - just like a softbox. Its specular highlights are soft, but evident, and used close to the face is beautifully soft, with smooth transition zones and very even light. Further back, say five or six feet, it is still soft and even light, but with a little added punch. Watch Jenn Photo's Youtube Video here if you like...

The first time you attach it to your flash head it can be a little bit difficult as the elasticised opening for your reflector is central, but of course your flash head is rarely centrally placed in any umbrella because the shaft usually runs along the flash head body. But once you have the hang of it, as it were, you can get that baby ready in a minute or so. Even if it takes you a few minutes at first, the light is worth the effort. I can see that I will be using this inexpensive and quite lovely light modifier for much of my studio potraiture.

If you are in Australia, like I am, you can purchase your own Photek Softlighter at Image Melbourne. Simply click here. Its under $150, and worth every cent. 

Its a Lens, Baby!

A newspaper stand near Grand Central Station, New York. Nikon D700, Lens Baby Edge 80 Optic

I have always loved the art of manipulating and deliberately employing depth of field. In my photography I find that I have two working modes in that regard - either lots of it, or almost none at all. You will rarely find me working with an aperture of f8 or 5.6, unless I am in the studio, or I have reason to ensure sharpness through layers of people in a group - that kind of thing. Because I shoot people mostly, I find myself more often than not in the wider aperture arena.

So, as you can imagine, the new LensBaby Edge 80 is a fascinating new way for me to further explore the possibilities with depth of field. Now, I can not only minimise or maximise it....I can bend it and warp it as I see fit. Oh yeah. I am going to love that. Hey, I already do!

Walking the streets of New York in May gave me an opportunity to try out the Lens Baby without worrying too much about the consequences of making a mistake. While I love street shooting and don't want to make mistakes, no one was paying for the images and Glynn and I were walking the lengths and breadths of New York for the fun of photography, nothing else. We walked about 100 blocks that day in search of images for ourselves. Sore legs? Check. Great photographs? Well, we thought so. Either way, it was a wonderful opportunity for me to try out the new LensBaby Edge 80 that had made its way into my LowePro Pro Roller.

9th Street Billy. Nikon D700 and LensBaby Edge 80

We met many wonderful people that day as we interacted with them and photographed them. Street shooting is about being candid, or being completely and confidently interactive. So, in that endeavour we encountered buskers, waiters, film makers and  conspiracy theorists. Yes, New York has its share of interesting characters. Among these is 9th Street Billy, who engaged us in conversations about life, art, music and....well, a myriad of other things. While he spoke I clicked away, bending and shaping the LensBaby Edge 80 as best I could while he moved through his life lessons. Working with the LensBaby is never easy, although Glynn and I discovered that it works more easily with a 35mm sensor than a crop sensor camera. (Note that I refuse to use the term "full frame' with regard to my D700's sensor. All cameras are essentially 'full frame'.) There is less room for error with cameras that have a larger sensor and if there is one thing about the LensBaby Edge 80, it can be a sensitive little beastie. This is especially the case when you open it right up. With its 2.8 aperture wide open you need only move a millimetre and your sharpness is off, especially at closer proximities. For this reason, I have experimented using f4 and even 5.6 for portraits, which is a strange thing for me to do. Whatever you do, make sure you know how to use it well before you commit to paid work with it. You may find yourself dismayed at first, but as with all things, practice makes perfect.

Times Square, New York. Nikon D700
with the LensBaby Edge 80

The other thing to remember is that the natural rules of depth of field also apply, so the further you are from your subjects the less likely you are to have them out of focus. I found portraits difficult, but street scenes easier, simply due to the distance involved. Anything I captured at a distance was pretty sharp, but those close, tight portraits were more difficult. The 80mm focal length can work well with both portraits and larger expanses within the frame. At close range, though, you need to take your time. No matter what you are shooting, before you leave the scene or change composition, ensure that the sharp bits in your pictures are actually sharp!

In the 15 or so years I have run workshops, photo tours and seminars, I have always endeavoured to teach methods and techniques of in-camera capture that highlight the subject. Essentially, successful photography is about this very pursuit, not leaving the viewer to question the reason or intent of the image. These techniques have naturally included tight composition, using depth of field, lens perspective, metering techniques and prioritising light over location. Now, with the LensBaby Edge 80, I have found another means  of highlighting the subject that I am looking very much forward to exploring and employing - Light Bending. I have much to learn about the LensBaby Edge 80 Optic, but its something I am really looking forward to doing. In fact, I would love to shoot an entire wedding with the thing, but would never do so on a commissioned wedding of my own. I would be too afraid of losing those essential images to my inexperience with this beautiful new toy. I would also imagine that any bride or groom in their right mind would find two or three hundred 'lightbent' images of their wedding a little tiresome, perhaps a tad overdone. A dozen would be more than enough. Darnitall.

So...if you have a place for a third wheel at a wedding you're shooting soon....can I come along and experiment with the LensBaby? Hmmmm?

The busy streets of New York have their tenants. Nikon D700, jpeg in monochrome setting, LensBaby Edge 80