Photo Tip of the Month: Cameras on the Cheap – Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget

Good portraits can be taken with modest or small cameras, such as the one with a Brazilian girl, taken with a Leica D-Lux 4 (the same as a Panasonic DMC-LX3) compact camera, which fits in a pocket. This allows us to take a camera anywhere. But unlike most camera phones, we can take fantastic looking photos suitable for magazines or gallery shows.

An amazing sunset.  Fascinating looking people.  Vibrant landscapes.  Whether traveling abroad or exploring our own neighborhood, we want to take great photos without busting the bank.  Is this possible?  I get asked for recommendations for good bang-for-the-buck cameras more often than any other question, so I’ll start here.

When film cameras were king, camera technology didn’t change that much.  Sure, cameras got smaller as they went along, but a good camera made in the 1960s wasn’t all that different from a good camera made twenty years later.  Not so with digital cameras, which are continuing to evolve at a breakneck pace.  What does this mean for us?  We can get great cameras that have features that didn’t exist at that price point – if at all – even a few years ago.  We have, for example, the Sony Alpha A55 or A75 interchangeable lens cameras, with their groundbreaking translucent mirror technology, allowing light to pass straight through to the sensor without needing to move the mirror away to allow exposure.  What does that mean?  Less bulk, and fast continuous shooting rates previously unthinkable at this price.  Mirrorless cameras such as the Panasonic G2 also cut down on the size and weight, removing the optical viewfinder and the swinging mirror.  Cool.  Better cameras for less money.  I like it.  Oh, and it has a touch-screen.  Even among more “normal” DSLRs, you have major bang-for-the-buck cameras like the Canon T3i or even a Nikon D3100, which you can grab for under $600 with a kit lens.  Even these last two DSLRs are still lighter and smaller than professional DSLR cameras, such as the venerable Nikon D3s, an incredible full-frame camera which is amazing for low-light photography, although the $5000 you spend for it may lighten your wallet enough to compensate for its weight.

But, you say, that’s fantastic, but some of us still can’t afford the new Sonys or Canons or Nikons.  But these enormous leaps in new technology can often drive the price of cameras that are just a few years old down.  Buying used cameras such as the Nikon D50 DSLR for under $200 can get our foot in the door.  This is a camera that I owned for years, and I used it to take photos that appeared in books, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, the Huffington Post, photo assignments for Jimmy Page and Jack White, and even winning photo contests.  While not state of the art, it’s good enough that you can’t really blame the camera if you aren’t getting great looking shots. And there’s always film cameras.  You can get amazing deals on film cameras that people are virtually giving away.

What kind of lens would you use with a DSLR?  Depends.  You need to start thinking about how you like to shoot.  What’s your photography personality?  Do you tend to prefer wide-angle?  Telephoto?  Portraits?  Something else? As I fell in love with photography more and more, I explored this with what I call a “walkabout lens”, an 18-200mm AF-S VR Nikkor telephoto, which is extremely flexible for many sorts of situations, which is why I love it for travel photography.  It’s not without its drawbacks, though.  It’s a little heavier than many fixed-length lens (prime), has lens creep, alters its aperture as you change the zoom, and isn’t quite as sharp as a prime lens.  For prime lens, a good choice is a high-speed 50mm lens, such as a the AF F/1.4D 50mm prime, or what must be one of the best bargains in DSLR photography, the AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D from Nikon, which sells for under $125.  New.  Brand new.  They’re a good travel lens, and are outstanding for portraits and low-light photography.  And at 8 ounces, they’re light.

And there’s always compact cameras to consider.  Fuji X100 makes a good lightweight camera, although at about $1200, it’s not cheap.  The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is physically identical to the Leica D-Lux 4, a fantastic camera that does surprisingly well in low light situations, at a little over $500.  I own the D-Lux 4, and can assure you that it takes vibrant, sharp photos.  The Panasonic G2, Canon G11 or G12, and other compact cameras are quality cameras worth looking into.  They’re lightweight and small.  I like that. In a later post, I’ll discuss why I never leave on a trip without a compact camera.

-Ken

Advertisement

Photo Tip of the Month: Seriously Cheap Studio Lighting Kit…and Happy New Year!

Stephanie the Chihuahua of Emergency Kits 4 All wants you to know 1.) that it is possible to buy good studio lighting on a shoestring budget, 2.) these lights don’t make me pant because they don’t give off much heat,  3) that you should have an emergency kit for you, your family, and your beloved pets, and 4.) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  This is a raw photo before I color-corrected or did much of anything else, just so I could show you how it comes out.

Seriously Cheap Studio Lighting Kit For Photographers On The Go
Professional photographers who do a lot of work in studios need a professional setup. This can cost a truckload of money. But what about the rest of us who might only occasionally require studio lighting? Was it possible for the photographer on the go to get cheap studio lighting that was light, portable, and durable…something that didn’t suck?

What Was I Looking For?
I’m a WYSIWYG person and don’t need to freeze fast action, so I was looking for continuous lights, not speedlights (although I do have a Nikon SB-600, a good quality speedlight).

I initially considered hot lights, but dismissed them because photofloods were not terribly energy-efficient and require replacing more often, while halogens look great but also aren’t as energy-efficient.  And they both give off a lot of heat, something that wasn’t too fun to think about during the summer when I was considering these.

That left cool lights.  Fluorescents, to be exact.  These gave off less heat, were far more energy efficient, the bulbs lasted a long time and were cheap to replace.  Nice.

Now to find the exact kit. After searching the photography forums, looking at reviews, and other sources, I came across a kit that fit the bill:  theFlashpoint 3 Fluorescent Light Kit from Adorama.  They mimic daylight at 5500 degrees Kelvin. Each 85 watt bulb was the equivalent of 425 watts of light output.  Not bad. They had three lights with seven foot stands that were reported to be solid, one 33″ shoot-through umbrella and one 33″ reflective white umbrella with a black back, and a carrying case.

I assembled everything while watching TV in 30 minutes. I undoubtedly could have done it in less time if I were actively focusing. Assembly is easy, in other words.

The lights were plenty bright. The stands, including the base and the latches for allowing you to extend the stands, seem surprisingly sturdy for a $149 budget kit (note:  the kit now sells for $169 as of this writing, still a great bargain). You can adjust the stands for wider stability if needed. The kit breaks down and packs away in the included bag in a matter of minutes. I put a bit of bubble wrap around the bulbs to make sure they’re well padded. The black bag fit everything with room to spare.

The lights are fluorescent and did not flicker during the 20 minutes I was using them, giving off noticeably less heat than their incandescent counterparts.  I used the lights in the evening, and turned off my regular house lights so I could control the color temperature better. This worked very well, and I was able to get some test shots quickly and effectively without much maneuvering of the lights.

I have since shot three commercial product shoots, and it’s worked really well every time, setting up in minutes, perfect for the photographer on the go, shooting on location.

My friend has a hot light lighting kit that she purchased for about $200.  I used her kit when I was shooting her wedding last year. Her kit came with two lights/stands, two shoot-through umbrellas, and no carrying case.  The lighting kit I purchased had three lights/stands instead of two, gave off more light, ran cooler and “greener”, and had noticeably sturdier stands.  I’d say I got a great bargain.

What I Added To My Portable Photo On The Go Studio Lighting Kit
It was $149 (okay, now $169), so I was beyond happy.  Still, I felt it needed a little bit more.  The cords are rather short.  This was easily remedied.  I threw in a couple of power strips and a few extension cords.

Also, I wanted a black backdrop.  Now, I happen to be a recording engineer, so I have numerous microphone boom stands laying around, so I didn’t need to buy stands.  I never priced them out, but boom stands cost anywhere from $50-100 each. I also went to Home Depot and bought a few clamps for several dollars.  I wanted a black black black backdrop.  Construction paper is awful for this.  It reflects too much of the light back.  I don’t like things that wrinkle, so I dismissed curtains.  Black bedsheets aren’t black enough and are too sheer.  I decided on a large $40 black velour cloth, which soaks up the light quite well, almost as well as velvet.  With not too much hassle, I had my backdrop. If you look at the photo, you can see that it is a good dark black…black black.

I already mentioned that I also threw in some bubble wrap and a couple of towels to protect the kit.  With this and a couple of spare fluorescent bulbs, all is good.  I have a kit that gives provides good flicker-free lighting, sets up easily, and is durable and cheap.

This worked out very well for me.  What are your needs?  What are you looking for in a budget studio lighting kit?

Disclaimer
I do not work for or own stock on Adorama, nor am I sleeping with anyone from the company. I just like this product.

The above photo was shot with a Nikon D90 and a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens.

Featured Photo – God Lives in the Details

Beautiful abstract colors.  Can you tell what this is?

Fantastic details are all around you.  But they can get lost, particularly when you are traveling, particularly at tourist sites, and particularly when you are freezing your you-know-what off.

This photo was taken at the El Tatio geysers in Northern Chile. There are 70 geysers at El Tatio, one of the highest fields of geysers in the world, containing about 25% of the world’s geysers.  Lots of hissing steam – early morning steam that condenses in the bitterly cold morning air. The steam plumes disappear as the air warms up. And at 4200m (about 13,800 ft), the air gets darn cold. -8ºC (17 F), to be exact.

But the ground near the geysers and bubbling pools of smelly arsenic are some interesting things. If you look closely, you can see some amazing textures and colors.   The details.

When I showed the above photo to my friends, some thought it was a satellite photo.  Some thought it was taken in an industrial setting.  And some did guess that it was some sort of hot pool or geyser.

El Tatio Geysers, Atacama Desert, Northern Chile

Equipment:  Nikon D90, Nikkor 50mm f1/4 prime lens for the bubbling detail shot, Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens for the geysers with a Tiffen circular polarizer.

Photo Tip of the Month: 5 Ways To Take Beautiful Portraits – Even If You Don’t Speak Their Language

Featured Photo – How I Reposition Dogs In A Photo (sort of a bonus Photo Tip of the Month!)

You never know where you are going to get a really fun photo of a dog.  This one was at a photo shoot for commercial products.  Christal Smith, owner of Emergency Kits 4 All (www.ek4a.com), wanted her chihuahua next to some of the emergency kits.  Between placing the product  on the black backdrop, I took a photo of her dog.  I liked this, but wanted to reposition this sweet but hyperactive chihuahua to create the photo that you see directly below:

Final version of this overhead photo of Stephanie the chihuahua after moving Stephanie’s position in Photoshop CS4.

The above photo, however, wasn’t the original.  She’s a very quick moving chihuahua, and was just about to wander out of frame in the original shot, shown below:

The original photo of Stephanie the chihuahua before I moved her positioning using Photoshop CS4.

You can see she was bunched in the lower left corner.  I liked this because the placement is unusual.

But after a while, I decided to experiment with her placement within the photo.  I opened up this original photo in Photoshop CS4 and reoriented Stephanie’s position with the Ruler Tool (right-click the Eyedropper Tool to select the Ruler Tool).  You then simply draw your line from one position to another on your photo. Not to worry, dear reader, the line is not permanent.  Then, go up and select Image > Image Rotation > Arbitrary and hit “OK”.   Boom.  This repositions your photo.  Looks funny with you photo askew, doesn’t it?  But I wouldn’t leave you hangin’.  We ain’t done yet.

I went to Color Picker (again, on the left Tool Bar, which are the two squares.  I selected black for both the foreground and background color so I would match the black background of my photo.

After this, I created a new workspace (File > New), making sure to select Blackground Color in the pulldown menu entitled “Background Contents”.  I made this MUCH larger than the original Stephanie photo.  I then simply moved the photo around using the Move Tool (the thing at the top of the Tool Menu that looks like a cross made up of arrows at the top), cropped, and voila…a new version of the photo in just a couple of minutes!!!

This is sort of a bonus Tip of the Month.  I started writing and kept going.

This was shot with a Nikon D90 and a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens, 1/80 second at f/1.6 with a black velour cloth, lightweight travel tripod, and portable studio lighting.  I am going to discuss portable studio lighting and the tripod in upcoming Photo Tip of the Month articles.

Featured Photo – Oblivious in Bolivia: Abandoned Bus

Contact Guinness Book of World Records. This must be the shortest vacation to Bolivia on record.

I as in San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile.  I wanted to go see Salar de Uyuni, across the Andes Mountains in Bolivia, not far away.  But no.

As near as I can tell with my less-than-fluent Spanish skills, I was turned back after 30 minutes at the Bolivian border because:
– it was snowing and they were concerned I would not be able to return to San Pedro four days later
– my visa was different because I was a citizen of the United States
– the tour operator at Estrella Del Sur did not know that “USA” stood for “EE UU” and apparently special considerations were necessary for Bolivian immigration

Consequently, this is the only photo of Bolivia in this entire collection.

Well, no.  I actually have another one. As I was lining up this photo, a young tourist inexplicably wandered right past me, walking right into frame, and pissed right next to this abandoned bus. I did what any other self-respecting photographer would do with camera in hand; I took the photo. However, I ended up using this photo because shortly after his pee break, the sun came out, making this a considerably more vibrant photo.

~~~~

This was featured in the print version of the LA Times Travel Section Editor’s Choice photo on 28 August 2011!

Nikon D90 with my trusty 18-200mm lens.

Photo Tip of the Month: How To Create Antique Photos With Sloppy Borders

Dia de los Muertos Doll Woman. This was shot with a Nikon D90 and 18-200mm VR lens. I then created an antique appearance with sloppy borders. Want to know how? Read on, my friend, read on!

HOW TO CREATE ANTIQUE PHOTOS WITH SLOPPY BORDERS  
There are some times when you want to create a timeless, vintage look.  I love the aesthetics and how it can create more emotion in a photograph.  I also love the whole idea of taking my time, getting a good strong sharp image with great lighting, and then completely screwing it up!!!

I’ve used this antique look for photos of Dia de los Muertos, pictured here and in the Featured Photo, and for photos of Civil War reenactments and postcards for assignment.  There’s several ways to do this, and some photo editing programs can do this for you automatically.  I’ll describe it using Photoshop CS4, but you can do this in other versions of Photoshop, Elements, or other photo editing programs.

ANTIQUE PAPER 
But before you begin, you need to either scan or download some antique paper.  If you can’t scan the paper, you’ll need to do a Google search on “antique paper” or “old paper”.  You can put “Photoshop” or “texture” in your search if it helps, and then download it.  One source is ibackgroundz.com.

PROCESSING YOUR PHOTO  
Now we’re ready to start screwing up your photo.  In Photoshop, open your photo.  We’re going to desaturate its color first.  I like using Image >  Adjustments > Black and White so I can control accentuate the black and white image further.  You can also simply use your Hue/Saturation function.

After this, I like to add a little bit of noise to the image.  While this step is not absolutely necessary, it adds a little more realism.  Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and add noise as you prefer.  I often add somewhere between 8-12 percent.  I also like to boost the contrast (Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast) and sometime darken the photo.  This is because the act of adding the antique paper tends to lighten the image a bit, and as well, boosting the contrast allows your image to punch through the antique paper a bit more.  You’ll see.

Now, open your antique or old paper that you downloaded.  What I do is resize the paper to make sure that it matches the photo.  However, you don’t have to do this because Photoshop will resize it for you, although it will be “edited” and you might not get all the edge textures.  Select Control-A to select the entire antique paper image, then Control-C to copy it.  If you’re on a Mac, it’d be Command-A and then Command-C.  Click on your desaturated photo, and hit Control-V (Command-V) to paste your image on top.  Done!

But, oh wait….you can’t see your image anymore, just the paper!  No problem.  Go over to Layers Menu, which typically defaults to the right side of your monitor.  There’s a pulldown menu which will have defaulted to “Normal“.  Change that to “Overlay“.  You should be able to see both your image and the antique paper magically melded together.  Nice.  I almost always keep this as 100% opacity.  If I don’t like how it looks exactly, I’ll go and lighten or darken the image or alter the contrast.

SLOPPY BORDERS  
I’m going to tell you the easy way to do sloppy borders first.  Pay for it.  Yes, pay for it.  The time you save is worth it.  I was doing this by hand for the longest time, but with the time involved, it’s just not worth it when you can pay $40 and have it done effortlessly and quickly.  Go to James Cook Photography and follow the directions for buying and installing.  What you are downloading is a script, which is a method of automating tasks in Photoshop, and a series of sloppy borders.  If this does not work for you, fret not, you can either find scripts for your photo editing program or do this by hand (more on this later).

And just as a disclaimer, I don’t know James Cook, I get no kickback from him, I am not dating his daughter, any of that.  I am simply mentioning this because it’s easy to install, works efficiently, looks great, is relatively cheap, and gives you numerous border options.  It works on CS2 through CS4, and there’s another one for CS5 as of this writing.

Using the James Cook Sloppy Borders is easy in Photoshop.  Go to File > Scripts > JcpSLOPPY.  This will produce a pop-up window.  Follow the easy directions.   I like “Sloppy Borders 2”.  The script automatically flattens your image.  If you don’t want that, go back through two layers of undo and the layers will reappear.  Bang.  Done.

SLOPPY BORDERS WITHOUT SCRIPTS OR ACTIONS 
This is the way I did sloppy borders before using the James Cook Photography script.  It’s time-consuming, but you have a lot of control over your image.  But first, you’ll either have to scan some sloppy borders or search around for one.  “Sloppy border image” are good keywords for your search.  If possible, look for ones in which the middle is transparent so it doesn’t affect the color of your image.  There’s a number of free ones available, and you may want to download several to try them out.  Deviant Art has some good ones that are PSD files that are transparent in the middle so you don’t have to create that yourself.  If that link doesn’t work, try Design Resource Box.  

After you download the sloppy border image, open it in Photoshop.  You’ll probably need to resize it slightly larger than your desaturated image for this to work.  Select Control-A to select the the sloppy border image, then Control-C to copy it.  If you’re on a Mac, it’d be Command-A and then Command-C.  Then, click on your desaturated photo, and hit Control-V (Command-V) to paste the sloppy border on top.

Unless you’re extraordinarily lucky or good at guessing how large the sloppy border should be, you may have to resize your border several times.  Eventually, you’ll get a size that seems to work for the majority of your photos.  You can save this as a template if you wish.

When you paste border on top of your image, you may jiggle the border around.  You can do this by using the Move Tool, which is the icon with the four arrows criss-crossed like a cross on the left side, and adjusting the canvas size (Images > Canvas Size).  You can always crop later, but this gives you a little wiggle room if you need to adjust the sloppy border without it “disappearing” off the canvas.   Now it’s just a matter of massaging this until you like it.  When you’re satisfied, either save this as a PSD file (this is larger because you are saving all your layers, but you can go back later and adjust it more if you wish).  Or you can get rid of the layers by flattening (Layer > Flatten Image).  You can also Save For Web, which will automatically flatten it for you.

Obviously, you can make your photo look antique or have sloppy borders alone, not both.  But you’ve just gotten two tutorials for the price of one.  And considering that the price is free, you’ve really lucked out today.

Welcome to the Photo On The Go Ken Lee Photography Blog!

Photo on the go: Hiking in Northern California, immensely enjoyable when you can take great photos with camera equipment that is light and small enough to fit in a hip pack.

Welcome, welcome to my shiny new Photo On The Go Blog!  We’ll cover all sorts of photography here, but with an emphasis on photography on the go and long exposure photography.  This is for the spontaneous and want to keep the load light, those who wish to take better photos without requiring a pack mule to haul expensive equipment, and those who want more photography and less fiddling.  And it’s for people who have a fond interest in long exposure photography, such as coastal photography or star trails.

This photography blog will offer a Tip Of The Month article, techniques, cool Photoshop tips and tricks, creative and cheap alternatives to expensive studio gear, and other tips you’ll enjoy.

Between these monthly articles, I’ll be posting Featured Photos with the stories behind them, and what techniques and equipment were used, both during and after the shoot.  And occasionally, I’ll post links on creative uses of gear, great values, and anything else of interest.  I’ll try for about once a week for these.

So kick off your shoes, grab a drink, and stay a while!