Art Show Portraits

A couple of weeks ago, my Aunt told me about an art show they were having at one of the residential aged care facilities where she works. The residents who were having their art work displayed were going to have photos to go alongside their biographies, and she asked me if I would be willing to take them.

I went today, and while I can’t show any of the photos for privacy reasons, I thought I would write a little bit about the experience, because it was so different to any other portraits I have taken. So I apologise if this ends up being a bit TL;DR with no photos to break it up. I’ll try and be succinct!

Shooting At A Con // Some Tips

There isn’t really a magic formula to taking photos at conventions. It’s like all things in life – it takes a mixture of practice, patience and grit and more luck than people like to admit. What works for me won’t necessarily work for other people, but there are several questions that I get asked a lot that I thought I might try to answer here. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and things like actual photography theory and detailed editing would take too long to go into. But I can touch on some general things to help make it all seem a little less daunting.  I’ll also pepper the blog with links to articles explaining terms that I think might need more explaining, and add some useful links at the end.

That was one of the biggest things when I started out – it all seemed too big and too complicated and I just read and read and practiced and I was lucky that I had people willing to give me advice.

EQUIPMENT

I didn’t start out using the camera or lenses I have today. When I first started taking photos at conventions, I was using a Sony “bridge” camera. It’s called a bridge camera because it’s not quite a point and shoot, not quite a DSLR. It had a fixed zoom lens and could actually zoom quite far.  It was a great camera to learn on, and I used it at a few conventions. But as I started wanting to improve myself, it wasn’t giving me enough detail in low light.

 

Misha Collins, AHBL 3 2012. This was shot using my Sony “bridge” camera

I then moved to a Canon 600D (which I’m not sure they even have anymore?) This was the camera I did quite a lot of learning on. It was close to what I’m shooting with now, just not as robust. Again, it was a great camera but it wasn’t giving me the scope I needed for the low light situations I was shooting in. At every step though, I made sure it was the fact that I felt I was outgrowing a camera rather than just upgrading because I thought it was what was expected, or thought the camera would somehow make me a better photographer. It was about what I thought me and the camera could do together.

That’s when I got my current camera body, a Canon EOS 5D MK III.

 

 

Jared Padalecki, SFCon 2015. Shot using my 5D MK III. The benefit of not only a robust camera body but hours and hours and hours and hours of practice in photography and post-processing.

I have 3 lenses – a 50mm f/1.8, an 85mm f/1.8 and a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L Series. The 70-300mm is the workhorse and the one I use most often at conventions. It is by no means what they call a “fast lens”, meaning that it doesn’t have a particularly wide aperture setting  (http://digital-photography-school.com/what-is-a-fast-lens/) So it takes a bit of work to use it in low light settings like a panel room, but I’ve used it for three years now and I’ve made it work!

If I ever wanted to experiment with other types of lenses, I would hire them. Hiring is a great alternative to outlaying money for a new lens. A quick google search brought up this example in the US, and to give you some idea, a Canon 70-200mm  f/2.8 would cost you over $2,000 US, and yet you can hire one from borrowlenses.com for 10 days for $112 US. Perfect for having before a con weekend to play around with.

Photography is an expensive hobby and despite how appealing it seems to want the best equipment, especially because you think it will make your photos better, it is unnecessary to outlay so much money on something that in all likelihood will sit in a bag in your room for the majority of the time. Unless you are seriously considering making a career or a serious hobby of photography, there are much more cost effective ways to shoot conventions and renting is a big one.

There is a lot of talk in the photography world about how mirrorless cameras are going to take the place of DSLR’s, but I have never used a mirrorless camera so can’t really comment on it. It is another route to go though, if you’re interested in looking at different equipment.

AT THE CON

My camera takes both SD Cards and Compact Flash cards, and I use CF cards 99% of the time now. When I first started out, I was extremely reluctant to go over any of my cards, especially if they had photos that I was proud of, or of cons that I wanted to remember. The hard truth is, like everything else about photography, Compact Flash cards especially are expensive. So I had to give up being precious about my cards and I had to reuse them at each con.

When you start out with a card, if you’re going over an old card or even if it’s just out of the packet, don’t forget to use your camera menu and format your card. This completely cleans your card and gives you a fresh slate to work on. You’re much less likely to end up with a corrupted card, which is a nightmare. Take a few cards with you, since it’s always better to have more than you need than less. I actually carry a small pencil case in my camera bag, and once I have used one card I will put it in there and I know it’s used and not to go over it the rest of the weekend. Professional!

 

On the left, an SD Card and on the right a Compact Flash Card

SHOOT IN RAW. If you are at all interested in doing a lot of processing and making big editing changes to your photos after the con, shoot in RAW rather than JPEG. Raw files contain every single scrap of information; JPEG compresses a lot of that information. JPEG is fine if you are simply wanting to capture photos and share them online without too much fuss. It’s quick and you don’t need specialized software to open them and work on them. But if you’re wanting to perhaps fix up some photos – recover any exposure mistakes, make any big changes – you’ll need access to as much digital information as possible and that means using a RAW file. RAW files are subsequently much larger and take up more room on your cards. You also need dedicated software like Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom to open the files and work on them. But if you are serious about working with your photos, your best bet is to always shoot in RAW.

Always remember to have your charger and charge your batteries at night. I have a camera grip on my camera, which is an extra attachment that means that I have two rechargeable batteries working rather than one. This lessens the chances that I will run out of juice during the day of a con. It’s not necessary, but it’s something that has helped me (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847530-REG/Canon_5261B001_BG_E11_Battery_Grip_for.html) It’s also useful because it means that when I’m shooting portrait and turn the camera vertically, I have a vertically positioned shutter button and control dials. Which, again, isn’t necessary but it helps ergonomically for photographing for long periods of time.

I do have a flash gun, but I never use flash at conventions. By their nature, the reach of a flash will only work if you are in the first couple of rows at best, and if you’re that close chances are you’ll have light spill from the stage lights and won’t need it. You’re better off trying to work with your camera settings organically, rather than introducing an artificial light source that in all likelihood won’t help much anyway. If you’re not using it outside the con, it’s an expense you don’t need at one.

EXPOSURE SETTINGS

This is a topic that could take another whole blog on its own. I can put some links to some basic exposure tutorials, but it’s impossible to give a strict guideline about how to expose because every con venue is different. There’s even often differences from one panel to the next in how they are lit, and so how you need to best adjust your settings is a matter of experimenting.

If you’re working with a DSLR, you will have Automatic, Program, Manual, Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority settings. The camera picks all the settings for you if you use automatic, the camera picks settings but allows you to make adjustments if you want if you use program, and manual it is all up to you. Shutter Priority means you will set how fast or slow you want the shutter speed and the camera will adjust the other settings to compensate, and the Aperture Priority is the same only you set how wide or narrow your aperture will be. People will often talk about going “full manual” as if it’s the pro thing to do, and while it will give you maximum control over your exposure choices, it is perfectly acceptable to use the other settings, especially in an environment as complex as a convention panel where you have absolutely no control over the light sources. I will often use Shutter Priority, because I want to keep my shutter speed up to avoid camera shake, which can happen if you have your shutter set at a slow speed which you can tend to do in a situation where there isn’t much light.

Probably the single biggest lesson I’ve learned is not to be afraid of grain.

Exposure is an equilateral triangle. All three settings – shutter speed, aperture and  ISO work to expose an image correctly, but they are entirely dependent on each other. If you change one, you have to change the other two to compensate. In low light settings, one of the things that often have to be pushed to the limit is your ISO. The ISO determines the sensor’s sensitivity to light.  The higher the ISO, the more grain or noise is introduced. Have you ever taken a photo at a con and it’s come out very grainy like an old photo? That’s digital noise and often comes from having a high ISO setting.

The thing about grain is that it can be cleaned up in editing. Poor exposure is a lot harder to fix. So if you need to pump up your ISO, do it. Just be aware that it can also affect how sharp your images can look, so go high but not overboard.

 

The Exposure Triangle, from http://cafetography.co.uk/2013/10/24/exposure-triangle/

EDITING

I use a combination of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop when I’m editing. There are other options, but these are the ones I’ve always used. Unless you have the physical software from a few years ago, Adobe now works on a cloud based subscription, and you can purchase a Photographer’s Bundle that is Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC for $9.99 US a month.

I use Lightroom mainly to as a way to catalogue my photos, open the RAW files and to do very basic early touching up. I’ll open the RAW file and adjust white balance if needed, and sharpen and reduce noise in Lightroom, then export the photo into Photoshop to do the bulk of the work. Don’t be afraid of either Lightroom or Photoshop – they are daunting, but there are plenty of online tutorials to show you how to make your way around them. I’ve used Photoshop for over ten years, even before I started photography again I was using it for graphics work, and there is still a lot I don’t understand. But like most of photography, it’s about experimenting and finding what works. The beauty of it is if you do shoot in RAW, your files will not be destructed by anything you do – that original file will always still be there and recoverable for you to work from and start again. One of the joys of this is to go back on old photos and edit them with all the updated knowledge you have gained along the way.

 

Events like Karaoke at the SPN Creation conventions are a great opportunity to experiment with camera angles and pushing your editing to extremes. Matt Cohen, Karaoke, PasCon 2015

REMEMBER

The biggest tip I have for shooting at a convention is not really to do with photography technique at all. It’s to do with looking after yourself.

I am a big believer in how you are feeling affects your output. If I am having a bad day, or I’m not feeling very well, I really believe that my photos won’t be as good. A convention is a very unnatural environment. It’s frenetic and emotional and it’s very easy to get swept away in the adrenaline. But there are a few ways you can keep an even keel and it will help you avoid such a startling crash at the end of the weekend.

Drink water. All the time. Even if it’s a con like VegasCon where there is a steady supply of alcohol, drink water too. Water will help you concentrate, help you sleep and help you function.

Eat. Even if you can manage one sit down meal with friends at some point in the day, where you are actually sitting and focusing on eating it’s better than nothing. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, just one proper meal. Throughout the day, try to snack on things like nuts or fruit.Trail mix is great. You will mostly be running on adrenaline and chances are you’ll be too nervous to eat much, but try to eat something.

Sleep. Even if it’s a couple of hours a night. You’ll want to stay up all night deconstructing every photo op with your friends, and that’s part of the fun of a con. But try to snatch a few hours just so that you are somewhat refreshed for the next day.

Shower and take any medications you need. Showering will make you feel more human, and take any medications you would take at home. If you’re on blood pressure meds, or anti-anxiety meds or anything like that, be responsible and take them during the con when you should. I am on anti-depressants, and I am of absolutely no use to anyone if I don’t take them. It’s my responsibility to make sure that I do.

If you have any questions or concerns or something has gone wrong, speak to someone. A volunteer, a staff member, a friend. Don’t think that any question is stupid, or trivial. Chances are, you are not the first person to ask it and you won’t be the last.

Thank the cast, thank the staff and thank the volunteers. They all need to hear it, especially the volunteers. It’s a hard job and they have to do and put up with a lot all weekend. (If you’re at a Creation convention, thank Chris, the photographer in the photo op room!)

Have fun! It’s one of the most fun things you will ever do but it’s so easy to get caught up in feeling anxious and overwhelmed that you miss out on the fact that it is fun. Especially if you’re wanting to photograph the con, you can get distracted by wanting to do such a good job that you forget to really listen and enjoy a panel. It’s okay to say you want to sit a panel out and just be there and experience it rather than photograph it. There’s no shame in that. A few years ago, I had a bad migraine on the Saturday night at SPN VegasCon, and the next day I couldn’t focus properly to photograph Misha Collins’ Sunday panel. He brought his son West out on stage and while I was extremely disappointed I didn’t get to photograph that, I knew that in all likelihood my photos wouldn’t have been very good anyway because I was so sick. So I just got to be there and enjoy the panel itself, and there are still lots of other photos of the panel out there.

This may all seem like strange advice for a blog about con photography, but taking care of yourself on a weekend like this is a big deal, and your photos, and your experience overall, will be much better for it!

 

USEFUL LINKS

Exposure Guide – http://www.exposureguide.com/exposure.htm

Cambridge In Color: Learn Photography Concepts –  http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/learn-photography-concepts.htm

Digital Camera World Lightroom Tutorials – http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/tag/adobe-lightroom-tutorial/

Digital Camera World Photoshop Tutorials – http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/category/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/

Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC Photographer’s Bundle – http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html?promoid=KSDQE

Borrow lenses US – borrowlenses.com

Fstoppers – https://fstoppers.com/

How To Become A Rockstar Photographer – http://howtobecomearockstarphotographer.com/ – a great blog that is geared towards concert photography but the principles between that and con photography are often the same

Digital Photography School on twitter – @digitalps

Fstoppers on twitter – @fstoppers

 

 

 

Osric Chau and Timothy Omundson, AHBL 6 Melbourne 2015

Rob Benedict, Louden Swain Saturday Night Special, PasCon 2015

Bruce Campbell, OzCC Melbourne 2015

Misha Collins, DenverCon 2015

Jensen Ackles, DenverCon 2015

Osric Chau with fans, Karaoke VanCon 2015

Briana Buckmaster, PasCon 2015

Gil McKinney, Louden Swain Saturday Night Special, DenverCon 2015

SPN Cast, Louden Swain Saturday Night Special, VegasCon 2015

Matt Smith, Whoniverse Melbourne 2015

Mark Sheppard and Osric Chau, Jus In Bello V, 2014

Suitable For Framing

Framing is the technique of drawing attention to the subject of your image by blocking other parts of the image with something in the scene *

There’s an old writing technique that says that it is more effective for a writer to “show” rather than to simply “tell”. The same can be said for photography. While the nature of photography means that everything is more or less there in front of you to see, there actually is this element of holding back, of not quite showing your whole hand in order to tell a more impactful story.

One of the simplest ways to do this is through framing and composition. Framing, like the quote above says, is the act of drawing attention to something in your shot. Composition meanwhile, is all the individual elements that are in a photograph that help to draw the attention of the person looking at it. Things like rule of thirds, depth of field, colour, repetition and framing are all methods of composition.

When we take a photo, the particular framing of the photograph is one of the biggest things we think about. Framing is hugely influential in the way the photograph will look overall, even down to the emotion it will evoke. Not only is it an aesthetic decision, but it ultimately becomes a narrative decision – what are we choosing to put in, and almost just as important, what are we choosing to leave out?

Boiled down to the simplest choices – will we shoot a photograph in landscape or portrait? Will the main focus of the photograph be centre-framed, or framed at an extreme left or right side of frame? When I first started taking con photos, one of the first aesthetic choices I really felt comfortable making on my own was that I didn’t really like shooting centre-framed shots. I’m not sure why; I didn’t understand why I was doing it, it was just a personal stylistic choice that I made that has stayed with me ever since.

 

Jensen Ackles, ChiCon 2012

 

Timothy Omundson, AHBL 6, 2015

 

That’s not to say that I don’t centre frame at all – I do, and I do a lot more now. But I am still a huge advocate for negative space and the strength it can give an image. Negative Space is basically all the parts in a photograph that aren’t the subject of the photograph. So in the photo of Timothy Omundson above, the black above and around him is negative space. It’s an element that can be used as another way of telling a narrative through your image – is there lots of negative space because the subject is isolated emotionally and physically? Is it being used to denote space and vastness, like in a photo of a hot air balloon in the sky? For the photo above, I liked the way he was looking up into the space. The blackness added a sense of drama. It’s not necessarily telling a story, but to someone looking at it maybe it will.

I’ve been looking at the incredible photographs by Vivian Maier recently, and the photo below seemed like a really good example of the way negative space can denote a sense of the unknown. Who is this woman and where is she going? Towards that car? Does the act of us looking at her going towards the black negative space give us a sense of excitement because she’s obviously all dressed up to go somewhere? Or does it make us feel kind of uncomfortable because she is heading into the unknown?

 

Vivian Maier, January 9, 1957, Florida

 

Which is another one of the big motivators behind things like framing and composition, it’s not only something that we choose because we think it looks good. The way we choose to present photographs goes a long way to influence how people will feel looking at them. So what we choose to show – and leave out – plays a big part in that. I noticed that when I started going back and re-cropping some of my old convention photos I could add a different emphasis to a photograph just in the way I chose to frame it. I could more or less “make” the viewer focus on what I wanted them to.

Another one of Vivian Maier’s photographs highlighted this sense of emphasis for me.

 

Vivian Maier, July 27, 1954, New York, NY

 

This couple are obviously very close, but we don’t need the extra information that would come from having them fully in the photograph. We don’t need to see their eyes, or them looking at each other. We can get all the information we need from how close they are standing to one another and their hands being loosely intertwined. It shows comfort, stability and intimacy in a non-conventional way. There are few elements in the photograph but the ones that are there all work towards that one idea. We can formulate our own stories about what is happening beyond the boundaries of the frame of the photograph just by the very small window we are shown within it.

It’s one of the things I most love about photography; that it is a tiny piece of a much greater whole. I would often cut limbs and faces out of photographs because I wanted to show this idea of the dynamic – the people I photograph could not possibly be contained in a small frame, they belonged to a time and a space well outside it. I was only there capturing what small part I could.

 

Jensen Ackles, VanCon 2015

 

Rob Benedict, PasCon 2015

 

Dani and Dad, December 2012

 

Richard Speight Jr and Misha Collins, DenverCon 2015

 

I am by no means even anywhere near the league of people like Vivian Maier, but these same principles can be used in photography no matter what level you are. It helps you to focus on what you’re trying to do with a photo, and what kind of a story you want to tell. It’s ultimately the goal of all art – to tell a story. Just like writers have rules and tricks, so do photographers.

 

 

If you would like to check out more of Vivian Maier’s beautiful  work and read the fascinating story of her life and how she was discovered, visit her site here

*This quote is from Digital Photography School Online and can be accessed here

The MacGyver Backdrop

So, today I decided to put my little project to the test.

My lovely sister and her daughter Makayla offered to help test my handmade backdrop, whom I lovingly call MacGyver.

MacGyver was made using a painter’s canvas drop sheet (a wallrunner, so not too huge and unwieldy) and special Dulux Design Suede paint in a colour called Pompeii Ash (which seems a tad on the nose).

 

 

Design Suede is one of those “texture paints” that are designed for interior walls and can give the effect of suede, or there are also types that mimic the effect of stone, or pearl. In some of the samples I’d seen, it kind of gave the same effect as some of the hand-painted backdrops I’d seen used.

Following the instructions, I went over the canvas with one coat with a paint pad (like a roller but better), left it to dry, then came back the next day and did a second coat using a special brush and using random crisscross strokes. Then I left that to dry. So all up with drying time it took about three days to finish.

 

 

Because this was purely for experimentation, I thought it would be totally fine to go ahead and masking tape MacGyver to the brickwall at the back of the house. Which didn’t work more often than it did.

But, wonder of wonders, it didn’t look to bad in the end!

 

 

Now if you’re thinking that Pompeii Ash doesn’t look very “ash-y” you’d be right – the good thing about having such a neutral colour was that in editing it could take on any appearance I wanted it to. In this instance, because of my sister’s hair and colouring, I ended up boosting the blues/purples to compliment the red of her hair. Making sure to keep an eye on the white of her shirt (to keep things as realistic as possible) I could play around by bleaching out some of the yellow and cooling the look of the photos overall. By boosting the contrast and levels and using dodge and burn selectively, I could darken the background and give it a much edgier feel than when it was simply grey.

I was so surprised with how well it worked out. At the start I was so gung-ho, but after I got the materials I honestly wasn’t sure if it would work. But I think it did! And the best part is, Design Suede comes in lots of other colours to try! And it was CHEAP. Way cheaper than having to outlay on a framework and a proper hand-painted backdrop, which I am reluctant to do until I have completely mastered portrait lighting and shooting. But here’s to experimenting!

Setting the Mood // The Different Aspects of an SPN Convention

The Supernatural conventions have been evolving ever since I started going in 2011, and it feels like the more they have been changing and the more I have been learning about photography, the more I can see how there are subtle differences in the way I photograph the different “sides” of the convention.

Bear with me, this may sound very esoteric and impractical and airy-fairy and maybe will only make sense to me, but I really believe there are different approaches to the convention.

The Karaoke party is always on a Friday. It’s loose and a free-for-all (literally it’s free, anyone can walk in and attend even if they are not at the convention). It’s not about having the perfect, uninterrupted view. It’s dirty and gritty with limbs flying everywhere and it’s costumes being askew. I try to introduce a lot more movement, a lot of blur. My framing is even more extreme than it usually is! It’s harsh, contrast-filled lighting and in post-production I boost the blacks to where they are often clipped on the histogram. I usually don’t clean up any noise (grittiness) in the photos from having the ISO pushed up high. It’s probably the most unrestrained part of the convention, and consequently the most unrestrained as far as technique and editing.

Richard Speight Jr, Karaoke SF Con 2015

Osric Chau, Karaoke SF Con 2015

Lauren Tom, Karaoke BurCon 2014

The panels in contrast are all about making the guests look their best. You work out the best way to expose for the lighting, and you frame in a way that tells a story but still presents them in the most flattering way possible. If you’re lucky enough, the lighting won’t change too much during any particular panel, so your settings won’t need to change. Then you can concentrate on composition, and waiting for the perfect “beats” within the overarching rhythm of the panel.

You learn to anticipate when a question will make someone laugh, or look thoughtful. Within that framework, once you get comfortable, you can start playing with using more extreme framing and pushing boundaries in that way. Rule of thirds is a good rule for photography, but it’s not one that can’t be played around with to create your own individual style.

Misha Collins, SinCon 2014

Timothy Omundson, BurCon 2014

If the panels are black and white (and most of my photography is now!) it is still a deep black and white with plenty of tonal range, but not the dramatic high contrast of the karaoke. It’s a more even, “flatter” sort of lighting. It’s not to say that shooting the panels is boring or predictable – especially with this cast it can be anything but! It’s just a different sort of skill set that you bring to photographing it.

There are still surprises at panels, like Jensen Ackles during the J2 panel intro, BurCon 2014

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, BurCon 2014

The panels are the most difficult part to photograph and the one that requires the most time and study and experimentation to get right. I think I’m a long way from being where I want to be technically, but I’ll keep trying!

The “Cabaret” or the “Louden Swain Saturday Night Special” as it is called in 2015, is another area entirely. It’s kind of a hybrid atmosphere of the two – it’s more raw feeling than the panels, but less unrestrained than the karaoke. I don’t have experience with concert photography, but I imagine it is close to what is expected in that.

Osric Chau, Stephen Norton and Rob Benedict, Cabaret BurCon 2014

Mark Sheppard, Cabaret BurCon 2014

There’s a heightened sense of vulnerability that is present at the cabaret, because it really is something that is slowly evolving over time. The guys are putting themselves out there in ways they maybe haven’t before, or haven’t for a long while. There’s a lot of emotion, and movement and noise and it’s about capturing as much of it as you can in a frame.

Billy Moran and Stephen Norton, Cabaret VanCon 2014

Gil McKinney, Cabaret VanCon 2014

Osric Chau, Cabaret, BurCon 2014

The point of all of this is documentation and memory – you are taking photos for the people who are there, and the people who want to be there. You want an accurate memory so you can look back and know how you felt at a particular time, and likewise you want people who weren’t able to be there to get some sort of sense of what it felt like. Capturing all of this over the course of a weekend can be exhausting. It’s a rollercoaster, and the thing to remember is that for every photo that is emotional in any way, the person photographing it is feeling it too. No matter how you are capturing it – on your phone, on a point and shoot, on a DSLR – that’s the amazing thing about photography. You really are taking a moment that meant so much and freezing it so you can come back to it later. None of the techniques or rules that you learn prepare you for how to work with that emotionally.

The best photograph, no matter how you take it, is one that makes you feel.

Felicia Day and Jensen Ackles, BurCon 2013