Photographing Christmas and Holiday Events

Well it’s that time of the year again, Christmas season. For some us that means trying to squeeze in some time to get out with the camera and shoot some of those special outdoor Christmas light displays or maybe it’s just getting photos of the family on Christmas day. A lot of you might be trying out that new camera with the hopes of getting some great photos. But either way, whether you are photographing the symbolic subjects of the holidays or your friends and family, getting creative with your composition certainly cannot hurt. This means that by paying special attention to how you organize the various elements in each photo, you too can create your own set of great holiday memories.


For Better Family and Group Portraits

 One of the most important things to keep in mind when photographing groups and families is this: you absolutely must take a lot of photos. There is often a great deal of pressure when photographing groups. A lot of people are uncomfortable having their picture taken and want the experience to be over quickly. Plus, you need to work quickly in order to get the job done (within the limits of their patience) and to try keep the experience as fun and friendly as possible. It seems like there is always someone blinking or looking off to the side or facing another member of the group. By having a large number of photos will improve your odds of catching everyone looking their best.

 
Shoot First, Ask Questions Later  

This tip is especially true if your subject is a child opening a gift or playing with a gift for the first time. We all know that within a split second, the whole scene can change. There are often just a few brief moments when that "magic spark" appears. Of course this means having your camera on hand and the batteries fully charged. Remember, its always a good idea to have back-up batteries ready also. After all, you can't capture the moment if you don't have your camera turned on and ready to go right?. Remember, you have to be ready to press that shutter button in a moment's notice, anticipating when the magic spark will surface. If you have a digital camera that suffers from a bit of a delay when taking the picture, then you will have to become even more intuitive and skilled at anticipating the moment. Another good tip; make sure you have enough space on your memory card and carry an extra card with you. Too often people will run out of space and either have to delete some photos or end their shooting for the day. Remember, these days’ memory cards are very inexpensive, so pick up an extra one and you’ll be glad you did. 

Fill Your Frame
 
One of the most common mistakes I see in Christmas photos (or any photo really) is that people often end up with shots of their subjects way off in the distance or on the other side of a room with lots of space all around them. One of the simplest tips I can give you is to just fill your frame with your subject. You do this two ways, either by using your zoom, or just getting up and moving yourself in closer. Easy huh? While this is one of the simplest tips I ever give it is one that can have the most profound impact on your shots. Try it out, you’ll be amazed.

Photographing Christmas Lights

The best time to shoot is before it gets totally dark, plus arriving around sunset will give you time to plan your shot before the good light happens. Try to compose your shots with as much sky as possible, getting down real low. It's always a good idea to be shooting in RAW mode, but if your not, remember to set your white-balance to Tungsten. All those little bulbs are tungsten balanced and as an added bonus your sky will look even better. Needless to say, you’ll need a way to steady your camera, preferably a tripod or mono-pod or even a beanbag for those long exposures. Plus a remote trigger or cable can come in real handy. Shoot a test shot every minute or so constantly checking the LCD. Sometime between sunset and full dark skies, your Christmas lights and the ambient light with start to mix beautifully. Usually you’ll have about a 10-minute window with nice light. After that, the good light will fade very quickly and you will know it is gone when your photos start looking like the "bad light" photos you used to take.  

Bonus Tips:

If you plan to use flash, nothing screams point-and-shoot like using a pop-up flash on-camera. We're not shooting motor vehicle photos right?  Red-eye reduction is nice, but a shoe-mounted flash is so much better if you own one and your camera has a hotshoe for it. When shooting indoors, not only can you bounce off of a wall or ceiling you can add a diffuser and make it hard to know a flash was used at all. Of course you might be able to avoid using flash at all by using a nice wide aperture like f2.8 or f/4 and bumping up your ISO a little, but a little fill-flash helps to lighten up your shadow areas and can really add some dimension to your photograph.

Remember, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead, maybe even making a check list of the things to remember like batteries, extra flash cards etc. Another good tip if your using a new camera, take some time and read (or re-read) your manual and get to know its buttons and features so you can use them even better. I can’t tell you how important this is.

Well until my next post, I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season and remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

 

Creative Flash Photography - Book Review

One of the things that will always separate the amateur photographers from the more serious photographers and the pro’s is their use of lights and their lighting techniques.  If you consider yourself a photographer then you already know it’s all about the light right?

How many times do we hear people say they prefer to shoot with ambient light only?  I’ve found that quite often it’s because they get intimidated by using flash, especially off-camera flash.  One of my favorite sayings is by Zack Arias.  He says “Did you know I’m an available light photographer? I look in my bag, see that my Vivitar 285 or a Nikon Speedlite is available to me and I use that”.

Don’t get me wrong, we all love great ambient light, but even when I am shooting in beautiful ambient light, a lot of times I’ll still break out a flash just to add a little dimension and punch to my photos. By adding an extra light source, I can create my own shadows and direct the viewer’s eye to what I think is the photos story. Face it, you can have the best composed shot in the world, but if your lighting is crap, it’s a good chance that your shot will be also.

These days if you want to learn more about off-camera flash there are a thousand different websites and books out there to learn from. By far the best resource on the web for getting the most out of off-camera flash is the Strobist website created by David Hobby. David may have started the Strobist, but there are some other biggies out there like Joe McNally who is another master of off-camera flash. Joe and David actually teamed up a few years ago and toured the US doing seminars on off-camera flash called the Flash Bus tour. Another person I’m a big fan of is Neil van Niekerk and his Tangents blog.  Neil’s written a series of books aimed at off-camera flash that I have written about several times on my blog. If you type his name in the Search Box on this site it will bring up those reviews.  These are just a few names of people I admire personally for their work with off-camera flash. But back to my review…..

Back in July of 2015 I was turned on to another photographer, Tilo Gockel, who also does great stuff with speedlights. He was asked to be a guest blogger on the Photoshop Insider (Scott Kelby’s blog)  Tilo himself comes from Germany and has currently written two books on off-camera flash. His first book was called ‘Creative Flash Photography’ and the second is called ‘One Light'.  I have not read the second book but I can tell you from personal experience, his Creative Flash book is great. If you’re new to off-camera flash (or even if you just want to improve your own skills) these books will definitely help.  

In the book Creative Flash Photography, he has broken it down to 40 lessons, he calls workshops. These richly illustrated, easy-to-understand workshops are filled with recommendations and instructions for flash setups, along with detailed lighting diagrams, and tips and tricks for how to achieve professional looking shots using simple accessories you probably already own. He’ll even show you how to easily achieve high-end studio style shots in your own home with easily accessible equipment and even a few tips on creating your own lighting modifiers and tools. Tilo shows you how to make magic by mastering the use of your own speedlights so you too will be able to create these amazing photographs in any situation.

Mastering your flash is one of the best ways to improve your own photography. Maybe you’re ready to take your skills to the next level?  If you’re interested in either of these books just click on any of the links in this post to get you the best possible price online. Look below the main advertisements to More Buying Choices to avoid paying full price. I loved this book and I’m sure you will too!

And, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!

Testing the Phottix Odin Flash System

This is just a short article / review on the Phottix Odin Wireless TTL Trigger Set. I’ve been using off-camera flash with various wireless flash triggers for over ten years now, mostly for fill flash type scenarios at weddings or on occasional portrait sessions. Every pro or semi-pro photographer has known that for years the Pocket Wizards were always the cream of the crop. For my shooting style they tended to be on the expensive side, but they were ultra-reliable and also one of the first units to offer full TTL functions.

I’ve always been conservative (on the cheap side) when it comes to buying new gear and I need enough gear to trigger at least two flashes. I’m also a Canon guy so when Canon announced their wireless flash triggers, the Canon ST E3 RT and the 600 EX RT Speedlites, I almost went right out and purchased them. I really liked the new function screen on the commander unit, but to be honest, the price was still a major issue because if I wanted to trigger two flash units I was looking at spending well over $1300. In order for them to be fully functional, I needed to upgrade my flashes and get a TCU unit (the ST E3 RT).

When Phottix first announced they were coming out with a totally wireless flash system with TTL capabilities about a year earlier, I really wasn't in the market for a new system. I sort of put their system in the back of my head for awhile. I had been using Phottix Atlas flash triggers for a couple years, and knew they were reliable, but my units had no TTL capabilities so basically all they could do was fire my flashes.

The main feature I liked on the new Canon was that you could change any of the settings right from the camera without having to physically make changes on the flashes themselves. Then I remembered the Phottix Odin system, which could also do the same. Whenever I purchase any new product, I like to wait until they've been battled tested in the real world, so I went online and read the reviews for the Odin system to see how they held up.  Not only could the Phottix do all the same things the Canon could do, I could keep my current flashes and that alone would save over $1000. So that was enough for me to purchase the Phottix Odin system and after using them for awhile, I knew it would be a very long time before anything else came close to these units. 

I’ll be the first to tell you, they just work. Every time, no exceptions. They’re rated at 320 feet range and I believe it. Just for the heck of it I had tested my old Atlas triggers and they fired at over 300 feet. In my opinion, the Odins are just about the best thing since sliced bread. With these units you have access to 4 channels and 3 groups, plus they can sync with your camera’s shutter (high-speed sync) up to 1/8000 second. They allow you to raise or lower the power, switch from TTL to manual, adjust the zoom and set ratios if you want, all from your camera. The screen on the TCU is easy to read and all the units work on AA batteries.  Another feature of the Odin wireless system is the addition of a USB port and a USB cable so you can install firmware updates. The Odins come complete with a 3.5 sync cable, and a 3.5 to 3.5 adapter, a 6.3 adapter for studio strobes and even a lanyard. The transmitter also features a backlit LCD screen for viewing in low-light conditions and modeling flashes that can be activated right from the transmitter. There is even a switch so you can use second curtain sync!

I've been using the Odin system for over a year in the field with my 580 EXII’s and they've been great. To date, these are the easiest and most reliable triggers I've ever owned. The the real benefit is being able to make all my flash adjustments without touching the flashes. Just dial the power up/down for each flash right from the LCD screen and keep shooting. Using the Phottix Odin system couldn't be simpler and I would personally recommend them to anyone. The last time I checked they were available for use with Canon, Nikon and Sony. The prices can’t be beat either. You can get a set-up for one flash for about $329 or a set-up with two receivers for only $399.  If you’ve been thinking about picking up a set, you won’t be sorry.  Great system, great prices……..Remember, keep shooting and have some fun!