Depth of Field

Here’s an interesting question I received this morning:
“Hey Chris, I had a question about something I’ve been struggling with when taking pictures. In short, how do you get good background blur yet maintain good sharpness in a group shot. I know increasing f stops (or closing aperture) will help but I don’t know what range i want to be in to get uniform sharpness through the group and blur the background. What looks good on the LCD screen isn’t always translating when I upload on my computer. Hopefully, this makes sense and any advice you could provide would be greatly greatly appreciated. I’m really enjoying your posts on your blog and FB. I never realized that setting up shots was so complicated. thanks for sharing your knowledge!

J.
And my response:
“Hey J! Great to hear from you. There are lots of variables when it comes to DOF in group photos…how big a group, what focal length you’re using, and how far away you’re shooting from, for example. My general rule of thumb when doing wedding parties and family shots with 2-3 rows of people is f5.6. Rows of 4 or more I move up as high as f8. I’m usually shooting with a moderate wide angle from 10-15 feet away. (Also remember I’m shooting on a full-frame camera, which is important since you get slightly more depth of field at a given aperture when using a camera with an APS-C sized sensor.) One key to getting the most use out of your available DOF is to focus 1/3 of the way into the group. Logic would have you focus 1/2 of the way in. But DOF doesn’t work that way…there is more “in-focus” room behind your point of focus than in front. So put your focus point on someone 1/3 of the way into the group and you’ll be maximizing your available DOF and be able to use a smaller aperture to still get everyone in focus. (And another tip is to position your group as far away from the background as possible.) There will definitely be some variations between your cameras LCD and your monitor…like brightness and color temp. However, DOF should NOT be one of those. If there is a difference, it’s probably just because your camera’s LCD doesn’t have enough detail to properly show exact DOF. Do you have a DOF preview button on your camera? Try using that if you have enough available light to see the image at that dim an aperture. Hope all his helps. Cheers!”
Here’s a group photo I did yesterday for Anchor Commercial’s holiday greeting card they sent out to all their clients. Nothing fancy, but it’s got enough DOF! 😉

Photoshop Magic

Here’s a problem I encounter all the time! I photograph a number of corporate team photos. But it’s an ever-evolving process…people leave the company, new employees are hired, etc. Here’s a team photo I took for one of my favorite clients, Caldwell Commercial, last year.

Larry just joined the team this year. Instead of dragging everyone back down there, I met up with him at the same spot I had taken the team photo. I brought along the previous team photo on my iPhone so I could position him and light him as close as possible to the original group shot.

Finally, he gets merged in with the others. MAGIC! 🙂 The key is, by paying attention to details and photographing Larry’s image with the same variables as the one I’m trying to fit him in to…the Photoshop work is a piece of cake!

Claudette Bell

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing the AMAZING low country artist, Claudette Bell. Those are her beautiful paintings behind the lamp and above the mantel. Her husband, Bill, has commissioned me to do several shoots for his company. So it was neat to see their beautiful home and get to meet his lovely wife. Visit her website at http://www.claudettebell.com/ or stop by Spencer’s Art Gallery and the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery where her fine work is featured.

Tara & Will’s eSession

I had an AWESOME Engagement Shoot with Tara & Will the other day. Will drove all the way down from Charlotte to make this thing happen. YOU ROCK, Will! It was one of those days that less “adventurous” couples would have called off due to weather…kind of overcast with pockets of rain throughout the day. But Tara & Will were all hyped up to create some unique and dramatic images. I get excited when clients are willing to push the envelope a little bit! Everything just clicked and the three of us knocked this one out of the park! 🙂

Apryl & Ben at The French Huguenot Church

Apryl & Ben were a kind referral from my friend and wonderful fellow photographer, Karyn Iserman. We originally met on Valentines Day last year. As much “in love” as these two are, I thought that rather fitting. 🙂 Since then I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through their fun Engagement Session and Apryl’s gorgeous Bridal Shoot. We photographed the Bridal Shoot on historic Church Street since that’s where Ben proposed to Apryl. Awww….

Apryl grew up in Charleston. Ben’s family moved around a bit, but finally settled here. The two met in high school. But they didn’t really start dating until they re-connected at a football game during her senior year of high school when he was home visiting from college. How romantic!

Their wedding day was absolutely perfect. After a rainy week, the weather was beautiful! They were married at the very photogenic French Huguenot Church downtown. The fabulous Melissa of Charleston Celebrations kept everything running smoothly. And the reception was at the Society Hall, just a few blocks away, where the Mighty Kicks rocked the house!

Apryl & Ben were so much fun to work with and so photogenic in front of the camera! Click Here after watching the slide show to see the rest of their photos. CONGRATULATIONS, Apryl & Ben!!!

Rindy & Josh at Blessed Sacrament

Last Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day! What better place to be than at Josh & Rindy’s wedding! I’ve had so much fun getting to know them over the last year through our get-togethers, phone conversations, engagement session, Rindy’s bridal shoot.

Josh proposed at Disney World by having the divers in the big tank at dinner hold up a sign asking Rindy to marry him! Isn’t that AWESOME!?! He and Rindy’s brothers are really in to motorcycles. Since I used to be a motorcycle fanatic myself (owned a half-dozen or so in my life) we had an instant connection. Plus Rindy’s Dad is a big photo buff…how cool is that?!? On top of all the mayhem of planning a wedding, Rindy was studying for her MCATS….now THAT’s impressive!

Josh and Rindy have been dating since middle school. They truly are a match made in heaven. After the slideshow, CLICK HERE to check out the rest of their pictures. CONGRATULATIONS you guys!!!



Adrienne & Corey’s eSession

Adrienne & Corey are getting married December 12th. So the other day we hooked up downtown to do their Engagement Shoot! It was a FANTASTIC afternoon with the sunlight sifting through the trees and buildings with a magical glow. Adrienne & Corey were fun, easy going, and a gorgeous couple. I CAN’T WAIT to photograph their wedding!!!

School Portraits

Something I LOVE about my profession is that no two weeks are alike. One week I might be shooting a beautiful wedding, the next I might be shooting Serena Williams at the Family Circle Cup. This week, I was photographing the school pictures for the Child Development Center at Ashley River Baptist Church. Since I’m truly just a kid at heart anyway, I felt right at home. 🙂

Many of you have asked me how I set up for assignments like these. So here’s a couple shots of this year’s set up. We decided to do an all-white high-key setup this year. To properly do high-key, it’s CRITICAL that you light the background separate from the subject. This allows you to over-expose the background by a stop or so to give it that angelic glow. I have two Alien Bees with umbrellas lighting the white seamless background, and one AB in a large soft box lighting the kids.

Another great tip when working with kids is to always use a remote triggering device. Children are just TOO FAST to try and jump back to the camera to get the shot. Their smiles light up their face for an instant, the next they’re digging for gold or admiring the ceiling tiles. I use a Pocket Wizard, attached to a PW Caddy, strapped to my belt. When I get the reaction I want, a quick tap to my hip transmits the signal to my receiver, which is picked up by the receiving Pocket Wizard, instantly firing the camera.

Strobist Gathering

Recently a bunch of us Charleston photographers, David Hobby followers, and Strobist aficionados got together for a little “Strobist Gathering”. My good friend Charlie Thiel did a great job organizing it and helping the Canon folks with their questions about E-TTL. My buddy Robbin Knight set up an outdoor location-type shoot and helped show off what Radio Poppers can do. My friend Mahmood Fazal helped folks with Pocket Wizards. And finally, I set up a completely wirelss studio and helped answer questions about Nikon’s CLS system. It was a total BLAST and we all had a great time…especially once we hit the pizza joint at the corner after we were done. 🙂 Part of the purpose of the gathering was to raise awareness and support for http://www.charlestonkidswithcameras.org/.

Here’s a “before” shot while I was setting up, taken by my friend Kip Bulwinkle.

Here are a couple shots I took with my lighting setup.

I used my Nikon D2x with the WT-2a attached. This allowed the images to magically pop up on my laptop, allowing everyone to see exactly what I was getting.

Here’s a crude (HA…understatement!) diagram of my setup.

Here’s a quick grab-shot of the scene outside with some of the location shooters.

Flash Freeze

I created this image at Erin & Jason’s wedding last week. Everyone was marveling at how dramatic the moon was that night. It didn’t take much prodding to get Erin & Jason to join me for a daring adventure to capture that drama in an image of them! 🙂

Working with a minimalist amount of gear, I had my two Nikon D3’s, each fitted with a Nikon SB-900, plus one remote SB-800 on a Bogen 3333 stand I had used earlier for group photos.
I set the SB-800 off on camera right, zoomed to 70mm to concentrate the beam of light on them. I took the SB-900 off one camera and flipped it to remote mode (I LOVE how quickly you can switch modes on the 900 vs. the 800). This one was placed behind the couple for a rim light. I positioned Erin & Jason so that the street light in the distance was behind her veil. And there’s some landscape lighting on the famous Pineapple Fountain I liked.
To pick up the ambient light of the moon, street lamp, and landscape lighting, I used ISO 1600, f2.8. Even so, I was at 1/30th of a second. I was using the D3 with the 70-200. I had no tripod with me. So you’re probably thinking at that slow a shutter speed, this image is going to be blurry, right? Well, by carefully placing Erin & Jason so that all the ambient light was behind them, the couple was pretty much pitch black at this point. The only light hitting them from the camera side was the off-camera SB-800. This is VERY IMPORTANT! By doing this, I am essentially using the high-speed burst of light from the strobe to FREEZE them in place. At this point, the shutter speed of the camera is only affecting the ambient light, it has nothing to do with the exposure of the main subject. So even hand-holding that long lens at such a slow shutter speed, Erin & Jason are as sharp as a tack!
And that’s how you use Flash Freeze to save your behind when you don’t have a tripod with you! 🙂