[TheForge] more photo tricks

[Kenneth Mayer]

There's no need for an expensive backdrop.  Anything with a non-gloss
surface will work, even a wall of your shop.  Move the subject far from the
background object, position the camera for the perspective you desire, then
use a wide lens aperture.  This causes the background and foreground to be
very fuzzy, and the subject is in sharp focus.  The lens markings can be
used as a rough guide of distance required to the background.  Remember that
perspective is a function of the distance between the lens and the subject.

If you're stuck using a point source of light (flash unit), move it farther
away from the subject to even out the light.  A clean white handkerchief
hanging in front of the flash will soften the light and remove a lot of
glare.  You can also bounce the light off walls or ceilings, but the
reflected light will be the color of the reflecting surface.  The on-camera
flash is useless.  Use and extension/remote cord to move the flash off the
camera.  Multiple synchronized flash units can be used to minimize shadows
or create certain shadow detail.  The shadow detail is what actually conveys
the information in a photo (i.e. too much contrast is bad).

Mount the camera on a tripod or solid surface and use a remote shutter
release.  The self-timer function can be used in place of a remote shutter
release.  You just don't want to be holding the camera when the shutter
opens, or you will introduce some blurring.  The thread on a camera is
1/4-20.

Bracket your photos.  The light meter in every camera is calibrated for 18%
gray (as a result of a Kodak study long ago).  It makes snow appear as gray
(underexposes) and makes black appear gray (overexposes).  This is why you
have to manually compensate by overexposing a bright subject and
underexposing a dark subject.  Some automatic cameras have a built-in
bracketing function.  Just pick the best exposure when you get the prints
back.  Again, lighting is important.  You must use fill flash if the
background is bright or the photo will have too much contrast.  Even
inexpensive "PHD" (Push Here Dummy) cameras have a fill flash function.

Incandescent lights make everything appear red/orange.  Flourescent lights
make everything appear green.  Color correcting filters are available.
Overcast daylight or electronic flash are best for color balance on
"daylight" film.  "Tungsten" color balanced film is available for
incandescent lighting use.  Color filters can be used to introduce special
effects on a b&w photo.  Kodak has a filter book available with all the
details.

A polarizing filter can be used to eliminate glare from outdoor photos.
Remember to compensate for the reduced light by ~1.5 stops if you are using
a manual exposure (non-TTL) camera.  Auto-focus cameras require a circular
polarizer.  Manual focus cameras can use a less expensive linear polarizer.

Keep a filter on your lenses at all times.  Any filter.  It doesn't matter
if its clear, skylight or UV.  A trashed filter is much less expensive to
replace than a trashed lens.

Stacking multiple filters can introduce vignetting if used on wide angle
lens, although you may want this for artistic reasons.

Ken
:-)