The Amazing Ice Light

The "Ice Light" is a fantastic versitile portable light used in still and moving photography. The Westcott Ice Light is a dimmable, 5,200-5,400K LED source. The first thing is that it resembles a 20.25" baton or perhaps wand is more appropriate given the soft light magic that the Ice Light conjures. Hold it as close as you want to your subject; the closer you get the more Ice Light's wrap-around quality of light becomes evident. Since it's virtually heat-free you never have to worry about injuring the talent or damaging the set. The following video gives a general run down on how it works. 

The Power comes from a built-in battery that will run for 60 minutes on a 2.5 hour charge. And at 100-240V AC, you can charge it anywhere there's electricity. There's a 1/4"-20 tap at each end to mount the Ice Light to a light stand or other accessory. The Ice Light comes with gel clips, battery power/charger cord and carry case with shoulder and belt straps. It is quite costly, around $500 Australian dollars but if you have that as spare change, it is well worth the purchase as there are so many uses for it. 

The light produces soft daylight balance and can be used indoor or out.  The light can even be used in the shot itself as the following image shows. 

Photo by: Jerry Ghionis

There are also stands that the lights can be attached to. 

Photo by: Andrew Funderburg

The light can even be used for a painting with light effect. This is very useful for interior situations with low lighting conditions. Also, those arty type of photographers would enjoy using this to paint with light at locations such as warehouses, abandoned buildings and street scenes. It can be combined with other lighting equipment such as torches and various led lighting systems. 

Photo by: The Westcott Team

So if you are looking for a piece of equipment to add to your kit that is portable and easy to use, then maybe a Ice Light is just for you. 

Photo by: Jim Schmelzer 

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Portraiture using Tilt Shift lens effect

Whenever I think or hear of tilt shift lens, I always picture those quirky cityscapes with miniature people looking like something out of a Lego movie.  

Image from: bloggs74.com

Recently I read an article where the tilt shift lens effect can be used with portraits.  I thought "That's a little extreme in depth of filed blur" however I was extremely surprised when I saw the results. The following image is a beautiful example of just how this effect can be used well.

Article by Trevor Dayley from: fstoppers

Then I thought well...it might work well with a portrait incorporated in a landscape but would it work in the studio environment? 

Image by: Brittany Mclaren.blogspot.com.au

Well it certainly does.  These images taken by Brittany Mclaren show just how the tilt shift lens can be used in many situations even studio portraits. More examples can be seen on her blog. I think the key is to not over use the effect resulting in 90% of the image being blurry.  It's important to ensure that the main area of your subject, such as the eyes and most of the face is sharp.  It is easy to loose the viewers attention if they don't know what to focus on. The following image shows extreme tilt shift effect.  The artist took this image specifically showing an extreme effect. 

Image from: The Keh Camera Blog

Ok...so it is a nice effect with portraits but what if you don't have a tilt shift lens?  Not all is lost. A few years ago there were many step needed to create a tilt shift lens effect however, Photoshop CS 6 now has tilt shift lens effect in the Blur filter section. It is a fantastic tool and not too complicated to use.  The following article gives a step by step lesson on how it is done. 

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/miniature-tilt-shift-cs6/

Is it really east to use?  Well I tired it out on a portrait I took some time ago and it was much easier than I thought.  I am really enjoying this effect and will be using more often. Have a go...it's well worth the effort. 

 Photo by :Billie-Maree Ward

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Super Sharp Splash Photography

Achieving crystal sharp images of splashing water using standard strobe is difficult if not impossible.  The camera needs to capture the water at super fast speeds and this can not be done with shutter speed alone as standard strobes only work at speeds 1/250 second or slower.  If you use this system, the results are passable if you don't need to enlarge the image or you are doing something a bit arty. The following image was shot using standard strobe at 1/250 of a second.  

Photo: Billie-Maree Ward

The secret to high speed photography techniques is using a very short duration of  flash – as short as 1/40,000th of a second. If everything else in the room is dark, the light emitted from the flash effectively becomes your camera’s shutter speed, making it perfect for capturing motion. Canon has a range of speed lights that will achieve good results with smaller set ups but what if you wanted to photograph people in action?  Then you need larger lights that have the capability to pulse light at very high speeds.  

Photo: Alex Koloskov

Which strobes have the shortest flash duration?  There are a few brands out there however the 'Broncolor' Strobe are known to produce remarkable results such as 1/8000 of a second but certainly at a price.  A short tech write up on these flashes at http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-use-flash-to-capture-razor-sharp-water-splash-photos/

Photographer Iain Crawford creates incredible images using high speed flashes. The following image is just an example of such work.

Photo: Iain Crawford: http://iaincrawford.com

This technique is also used by photographer Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz who photographs liquid separately and then morphs the images together to create works of art.

Photo: Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz

As you know, water and electricity is not very safe so be very careful in the studio.  Have all equipment well covered and waterproofed.   The following video shows how the Broncolor is used in the studio.  Note: there are cheaper strobes out there that will work for you.  I have just used Broncolor as an example to show how well the technique works. 

http://youtu.be/LhLGEuWfnZk

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Refraction (refection) Photography in Glassware

Refraction photography is not simply scientific photos of science experiments but when some artistic flare and forethought it used, it is a great way to pass a nice day out in the field.  When I first started on my photography journey, one of the first assignments I ever shot was the reflection of Flinders street station in Melbourne through a wine glass filled with water. I remember feeling a little foolish placing my wine glass at different locations and filling it with water.  I certainly got a few strange looks and often people coming up to me asking what I was doing.  I wish I still had that image (which was shot on negative by the way) to post here but the following image will give you a bit of an idea as to what I mean by refraction or reflection photography using glassware.   

http://alexicirelli.wordpress.com/2011/04/

The key to creating successful images is to ensure you have a nice clear bright day.  You will need plenty of light to get a clear image in the water of the glass. Pick locations which are reasonably open (in saying this I would like to experiment with street scenes) to start with. 

Image by David Rigg - Fine art America

To make the experiment a little easier at first, simple fill the frame with the glass at first.  Make sure you turn the camera focus to manual and focus on the image in the glass, not the glass itself. I like to use an aperture of around f f8 as I like to have the background blurred a little so that the focus is on the image in the glass. As with anything photography, experiment and see what you come up with.


http://www.aaanything.net

As you become more experienced, try sunsets, people, famous landmarks (if you can get to them) or anything you think will work.  Use your creativity and see what is successful or not.  This is often how some great techniques have been discovered.  Just give it a try. 
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Cloud Photography

Cloud photography is not simply pointing your camera up to the sky and taking a series of images of clouds (although there is nothing wrong with that either. There are some wonderful images of clouds) No...I mean actual clouds which are created indoors...yes that's right, inside clouds. 

Recently I read an article in 'Picture Correct' about Dutch photographer Berndnaut Smilde.  Since 2010, he has been working on various photo series of clouds floating within mansions, beside fashion icons and in vacant German churches.  It is so fascinating how he creates actual clouds using a specific machine.  This is not the only thing he needs to do but he also sprays the floor and walls with water to ensure that the clouds look authentic.  

Image from the Telegraph

After the environment is all really to go, the machine is turned on and multiple images are shot. In the final editing process the machine is Photoshopped out and the images enhanced.  

Image by: Berndnaut Smilde

Berndnaut now uses this method in his portrait photography. Famous people pay a small fortune to have these unique images created for them. In 2013 he was commissioned  for Harpers Bazaar to create a beautiful series of images.  The following portrait is of Karl Lagerfield.


Image by: Berndnaut Smilde

To see how these images are created, the following video is an interview with Berndnaut himself explaining the processes and technical aspect of his cloud photography. 

Another artist, Spanish photographer Lola Guerrera, creates similar images outside.  These are artificially colored clouds which he created in the Mexican desert and are quite stunning.  His web site is written in Spanish but there are a few examples of his 'Nebula Himilis'  series.  

Image by: Lola Guerrera

Even tough most of us don't have a cloud making machine in the garage, these type of images can be created in Photoshop with good technique.   Photographer Rose Hardy who is known for her beautiful self portraits and other works has created an image (there may be more) editing clouds into her photo.  I am assuming here (I may be wrong) that they are Photoshoped and not created with a machine.  

Image by: Rose Hardy

If you are looking for some extra inspiration for your photography, clouds may be just the thing you need whether they be outside or inside clouds. 

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Balance outdoor and indoor lighting

Nothing looks worse than a photo taken indoors with a window in the background that has the highlights completely blown out. It could be the best view in the world - but looking at the photo you'd never know, because it's nothing but an overexposed blob.



The window view is completely gone!

 

Alternatively - if the background is correctly exposed - the indoor becomes way too dark.                    

 



Window view back - interior gone

 

 





A bit of flash is quite obviously required here - but how do you keep that nicely exposed background as well? The answer of course is the balance the flash and the outside light, so that they both meter the same. It is plain now that 2 other pieces of equipment are required here, superfluous of course to your camera, those being a light meter and a flash of some description - studio or speedlight. For a room of this size, and taking into account that it is broad daylight outside (meaning that it's very bright), more than one light would no doubt be handy.

The following photos were more close up, with a daylight background through a large window and only one flash was used/required. A light meter reading was taken of the light passing through the windows, and our flash light power was adjusted accordingly, so as to match the light meter reading of the ambient light passing through the glass. For example - because the focus of the photo was not the outside background, the subject was to be shot as F4.5 (125th), giving the background a blurred effect. The flash was then adjusted accordingly to match - F4.5.

Nice colourful blurred background

This photo was shot at F8 - the background in the shot was more in focus this time and of course the flash power was adjusted to produce light at F8.

Background light balances perfectly with interior flash

 This is a nice little tip if you happen upon photographing real estate. Of course this is a very short and basic tutorial, but we hope it gives you somewhere to start!

PBC