Comments on: Joanna Levine

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:38:42 +0000

Nice photos.. and dope to hear you are back on the Nikon side! I’m stoked to hear that and see what you have to say about the differences. I switched a couple years ago getting into photography, and I haven’t been happier with my decision. Lookin forward to the post!

Happy holidays!

By: chris

chris — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:30:20 +0000

Thanks Kristen. I just switched to the Nikon D3, which is very different in terms of color and contrast from my Canon 1DmarkIII. It’s going to take some getting used to but so far so good.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:00:50 +0000

I really like the depth/contrast/colours here – great work in the low light!

By: chris

chris — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:21:09 +0000

Yeah the $600 is really, really sweet. I hope it stays that low for a little while so that I can get in on it. How seriously are you considering it?

By: chris

chris — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:15:00 +0000

Hi Jason, balancing flash and ambient can be very tricky. Send me an email if you’d like more details, but my basic technique is this:

1) Shoot manual.

2) Find the proper combination of shutter/aperture/iso to produce a pleasing ambient background. Ignore the exposure of the subject entirely.

3) Turn the flash on TTL and spot meter skin tones. Take a test shot. Your background should look the same but your subject should be lit by the flash.

4) If the subject is underexposed, turn the flash power up accordingly. If the color isn’t good, either gel your flash or turn your cameras WB to a colder or warmer temp. It’s your preference.

5) If the flash is totally blowing out your subject, stop your aperture down. When shooting with flash, shutter speed controls how much ambient light comes in and aperture controls how much flash comes in. It’s almost that simple.

In the case of Joanna’s guitarist, I lowered the flash power by shooting the flash directly into wood floor boards with the camera on Auto White Balance.

Bouncing the flash off the floor softened the light, warmed the WB of the light, and made the flash into a much larger light source.

I hope this helps. Chris

By: gabi

gabi — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:01:15 +0000

Well, the D700 is $600 off at Calumet right now… with a no interest for 12 months plan. A year to pay off $2,400? Not bad.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:45:35 +0000

Hey Gabi, you know, I almost bought the D700 instead of the D3 ;-) It’s definitely high on my purchase list as a backup body. Next time you go into a camera store take me with you, I’ll be the devil’s advocate. heheh

By: Jason Sheesley

Jason Sheesley — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:58:05 +0000

I’ve used my SB-800 with a SC-28 before, but never got a balance between flash and ambient that I liked. Any input on how you balance out the overall exposure? I tend to fiddle around with flash compensation quite a bit, and wondered if you did the same.

Of course, I probably just need to practice more.

By: Chris Owyoung

Chris Owyoung — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:22:29 +0000

Commissioned Shoot: Brooklyn indie/folk sensation Joanna Levine. http://tinyurl.com/6cm3me

By: gabi

gabi — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:38:14 +0000

I hate you I hate you I hate you. Hahaha. I nearly succumbed to temptation this week, I was <—that close to buying a D700, due to the seductive holiday discount on Nikons at Calumet. I stopped myself just in time.