The monkeys are working. We will be back up and running soon.
The monkeys are done with their work and have gone back to their typewriters. The old site is updated and loaded onto a new server and all is right with the world again.
My friend Scott recently sent me a Twitter message asking where to get a chromakey background and how big it should be. I hope I was helpful, suggesting a few different places I have bought such things. Honestly, just between us, I am a big fan of eBay for this sort of thing. Yeah, I love B&H and Adorama, but the real bargains for things like this, which do not need warranties, is eBay.
The other part is a little more complicated. This goes for any kind of background, not just for chromakey. When I set up a shot, I typically start assembling the equipment with the background. It’s just going to sit there, as the least dynamic piece of the shoot. See the picture below:
The subject goes in front of the background, then the camera and the lights are off to the sides (not pictured in drawing). You want to have about four to five feet between the subject and the background. This will eliminate shadows from your lights. Then your camera has to be some distance back, depending on the type of lens you use and how tightly you crop the image.
Based on all this, you may need a larger background from time to time. For most shots you want a perfect isosceles triangle between the camera and background. Those angles shouldn’t change a bit. All you might change is the distance between the camera and subject.
Here is an easy way to see how large a background you will need for your shoot. Set up your camera where you think it should go and have a friend put markers at the edge of what you can see. Or do it yourself, for crying out loud! Measure between the two points and you have the width of your background.
If your area marked is too wide, move the camera closer or else change to a lens with a more narrow angle. You can also improvise a bit by simply cropping in Photoshop when you are done with the shoot.
On a related note, keep an eye out for an upcoming post on what different types of lenses can do to your picture. We will look at wide angle, normal and telephoto lenses and discuss how they make the photo look different.
Technorati Tags: background, chromakey, shadows, isosceles triangle
I have been working with candy for a few weeks, so here is a video of my latest shoot – photographing candy. As you know, food photography is one of the things I love most. The hardest part is being stuck with all the sugary goodness after I am done shooting. Whatever will I do with it?
Technorati Tags: candy, photographing, food, photography
Have those camera settings been mystifying you? Want to take your photography to the next level? Learn photography in five short weeks with veteran photographer Carl Weaver. Carl has taught photography to numerous others and now you can learn as well.
The schedule is set for five Sundays, starting May 4th and ending June 1st. Two sections will be available, so you can choose either 12-2 or 3-5 in the afternoon. That’s ten hours of instruction. In that time, we will look at the camera as a technical tool and will get practice with portrait, product, food and other types of photography.
You will get theory and practice in a real studio setting, giving you the knowledge and experience to take the great shots you want.
Students should bring their cameras with them to the first class, and if possible should also bring a sample of their work for us to talk about.
Cost: $295
Reserve your spot now before the classes fill up! If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.
What: Introduction to Photography Class
When: Five consecutive Sundays, April 4th through June 1st
Time: 12-2 or 3-5
Where: Carl Weaver Photography, 5407 36th St. N., Arlington, VA
Technorati Tags: photography, Carl Weaver, camera, portrait, product, food, photography, Photography Class
I just got a Nokia N95 cell phone and am delighted with its camera capability. Actually, this post is a might bit premature, as I have not even paid for it yet, officially still testing it out, on loan from my friend Don.
One feature I was especially excited about was being able to connect to ShoZu. ShoZu allows you to directly send photos and videos darn near anywhere you might want them online. I love to share photos on Flickr and quickly got online and signed up at ShoZu.
It didn’t work. I tried again. It didn’t work. After messing with it for a while, I said to heck with it and took it off my phone. As a last-ditch effort, I emailed their tech support. They got back to me today and explained the drill. It took about three minutes to fix. I quickly posted on Twitter about this solution and had more than one person ask me for the solution. Apparently it wasn’t obvious to many people.
It’s wicked easy to fix but not obvious, as their initial instructions online don’t seem to work. Here is the solution. If this helps you get set up, let me know and show some link love!
It sounds as though you may have activated ShoZu
on your phone as a ‘new user’ rather than an ‘existing user’. To see if
this is the case, open ShoZu and click on ‘Options’ -> ‘Go to’ ->
‘Settings’ -> ‘My account’. If the username displayed on the ‘My
account’ screen is different to the one you log into the ShoZu web
portal (http://www.shozu.com/portal/login.do) with you will need to
deactivate ShoZu and then reactivate it using your existing username and
password. You can deactivate ShoZu from the ‘transfer status’ screen in
the settings menu and when you reactivate just make sure you activate as
an existing ShoZu user (this can be done by clicking on ‘Options’, then
‘Sign-in to account’).If you added Flickr as an upload destination from the phone, you would
have been sent an email with a Flickr authorization link. Clicking on
the link will authorize ShoZu to upload images to Flickr on your behalf.
If you did not complete this step, this may explain why your images
aren’t arriving at Flickr.
And now here I am, happy as a clam that everything works:
Technorati Tags: Nokia, N95, cell phone, camera, ShoZu, Flickr, Twitter
Some great photography enthusiasts came to this past weekend’s workshop on portraits, product photography and home studios. I had encouraged them to bring a selection of things to photograph for the product photography part of it and they got very creative. One person brought tulips and another brought jewelry she had just purchased.
Somebody got the idea to put it all together and thus we have the tulip wearing an earring. Other things we had to photograph included wine and various knick-knacks from my own shelves. All that stuff I tote from one home to another has to be good for something, right?
Getting to see people be creative like this is really quite inspiring. I love to see the energy and spark of genius that comes from simply playing and having few rules about what to do. I pretty much set up the lights, we worked on how to adjust them, how to use strobes with the camera and then let them go be creative. I poked around and answered questions, gave the occasional bit of advice for how to do something, and enjoyed watching the process.
The portrait section was good as well. I had two lights set up but encouraged the participants to try using just one to get some experience with bouncing lights and getting a really good ratio lighting effect. Another purpose to using only one light was to simulate the small, at-home studio setup, which might include only one light. How do you deal with that? The same way you deal with everything else in photography – through creativity and working within your constraints to achieve the best possible outcome.
Unfortunately, I do not have photos to share from the portrait sessions, as I spent almost all my time playing teacher and photo assistant. It’s good to step out from behind the lens from time to time to see how someone else does something. The teacher-student relationship is one inherently set up to have a one-way stream of knowledge, but it just takes observing how someone else does things to see that we all have much to learn from each other.
Want to stay on top of the latest goings on with Camera Samurai photo tours and workshops? Subscribe to my newsletter and you will hear everything that is going on.
Technorati Tags: home studio, photograph, product, photography, inspiring, ratio lighting, teacher, Camera, Samurai
Hi, folks. Come on down, learn new skills and hone the ones you already have. Carl Weaver is conducting a workshop on portraits, product photography and building a home studio. These may seem like very different topics but come to the workshop and see how I weaver them together. We will have plenty of time for both instruction and practice.
You will be able to use professional studio lights, as well as see how you might improvise to create your own lighting systems on a smaller budget or even just a smaller footprint. A studio does not have to be a huge space, just a good space for what you want to do. My studio is outfitted with both my newer, fancy professional strobes as well as my older, lower-budget lighting equipment, so you will get to see a range of different types of setups.
What: Photography Workshop
When: February 23rd, 12:00-3:00
Where: Carl Weaver Photography, 5407 36th Street North, Arlington, VA.
Cost: $35 per person
What to bring: Digital camera, flash, tripod, and any other equipment you might have.
In addition, if you plan to do some product photography, bring something interesting to shoot. We will be feeding off each other’s creativity and having a good time. The point is to have fun and build skills you can take home with you. Let’s be creative, have a good time and practice photography!
Please RSVP so I can know how many people to expect. I look forward to seeing you here. And hey – help a fella out. Tell your friends about the workshop. Bring any new people to the workshop and earn valuable discounts on future events like this, or on photography services for yourself and your family.
Technorati Tags: workshop, portrait, photography, studio, Carl Weaver Photography, creativity
This picture was taken at the Clarendon Metro station in Arlington the other night. Notice the ghosting effect the people have, due to the long exposure. Eight seconds will certainly do that! In addition, I set it to ISO 100 and f13, so I have the best sensitivity and an okay f-stop. I would rather have gone to a smaller aperture to get a better depth-of-field but this turned out pretty well, I thought, for a spur-of-the-moment shot as I was waiting for someone.
Does all this mystify you? Do you want to learn nighttime photography? Just let me know. Also, sign up for my email newsletter so you can learn more about upcoming classes, workshops and fun educational events. I have a workshop coming up about nighttime photography and all the variables that go into a great photograph.
I know you are dying for a preview, so here are some of the necessary ingredients:
Please come join me. Like I said, sign up for my email newsletter and you can stay on top of everything that is going on. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Technorati Tags: picture, Clarendon, Arlington, long exposure, nighttime, photography, photograph, picture, photo
Having consistency both in your methods and in your final product is very important in all aspects of your operations, whether you are a professional like me or if you are an amateur simply interested in getting great shots.
I used to do youth sports photography and later children’s portraits in schools. While doing these jobs I got a really good lesson in the importance of consistency. It not only allowed me to have a good looking product but also allowed me to work quickly. Photographing 300-500 people in a day, especially children, really helps a person appreciate being able to work efficiently! The most important thing is that, on the customer’s end, the final product looks best when all the pictures look the same, especially when displayed near each other in a yearbook or directory.
Look at these pictures, for example:
These are officers of a Cherrydale #42 Masonic Lodge in Arlington, VA. I shot them all the same way, one after another, with the same pose, same lighting, etc. Seeing them all neat like that makes the pictures look much better than otherwise. Imagine if some shots were cut at the waist, some at the chest, some with lots of headroom, others uncenetered. That would be a very messy display.
One way I got them to all look the same was by setting up the shot the same way every time. In addition, I adjusted the lighting very slightly for height differences to have a consistent exposure and minimize shadows.
This does something more than make the portraits look great. With so many digital tools available to us nowadays, we can easily make pictures look just fine and consistent with each other. However, as a photographer, I want to be out and about taking more pictures, not spending my time in front of the computer. Consistency enables me to spend less time messing around with the product, or at least allows me to do the same thing to every picture, often by way of a macro in Photoshop.
Remember – do the same thing the same way every time and you will get consistent results.
Technorati Tags: youth sports photography, children’s portraits, consistency, Photograph, Cherrydale, Masonic Lodge, Arlington, lighting, exposure, portraits, photographer, Photoshop
Come learn more about portrait photography, including equipment, hardware, lighting, posing, technique, personal dynamics and more. We will discuss both posed and unposed portraits, capturing meaningful images, headshots and more.
Where: Here at Carl Weaver Photography / Camera Samurai headquarters in beautiful Arlington, VA
When: December 16th, 3-6 p.m.
What to bring: Your camera, a notebook and pen, an open mind and your creative spirit
Cost: $30
I look forward to seeing you at the workshop here next Sunday!
Technorati Tags: portrait, photography, lighting, workshop