Here’s the second part of our interview with Brent Mail. We talk about our differing photographic styles, finding great light on location, and things we’d do differently if we could start over again. You can listen to the podcast or read the synopsis at Brent Mail Photography.
Part One is available here: http://brentmailphotography.com/photography-interview/jay-varina-patel-interview.html
Akaka falls is located just North of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i. It’s a gorgeous location and well worth the short hike… plus a couple bucks to park and use the trails. When we arrived at the falls, it was bright and sunny. The ferns were brightly lit, but the base of the falls and the left wall of the canyon were in deep shade. But I’d been watching the sky all morning, and I knew that we had enough big clouds in the sky to make the photo work. I set up my camera and tripod (we were testing Induro’s awesome CT113′s that week), and waited until a cloud blocked the direct light from the sun. Then, in that softly filtered light, I took my shot. But I still needed to bracket because the shadows were much deeper down in the valley – and the water was very bright. I took a second shot to expose correctly for the dark shadows, and a third to expose for the bright water.
Once I got home, I opened up my files and got to work. You can see the layers I used in the screen shot above. I stacked my images, and used my Intuos graphics tablet and stylus to draw simple selections. I also made slight curves adjustments to ensure that the layers looked natural together. My goal was to ensure that the scene felt natural, and that details were visible in dark and light areas alike.
A Few Simple Tips:
What other tips can you share for shooting Waterfalls?
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This is a shot from Hawaii’s big island. Pay attention to the light. Maybe you think light isn’t very important in this shot. There are no brilliant sunbeams or brightly colored skies. But I’ll argue that light is critically important to this photograph. Maybe two more photos from the same location will help convince you.
I took this shot in full sun. (Click to view larger)
As I was taking the first shot in this post, I realized that I was looking at a perfect setting for a teachable moment. I turned around and took a shot of the forest down the road – which was in bright, full sunlight. Compare it to the shady shot at the top of the post. The greens in this shot are intense… but the shadows are way too dark. The image lacks the depth that is so much a part of the first shot, and the finished photograph is unappealing.
Half of this image is in shade and the other half is in sun. (Click to view larger)
This one is even worse. To get this shot, I turned so that I could capture an image half in sun and half in shade. The colors are washed out – this is because colors look best when they are properly exposed. In this case, the shadows are too dark, and the highlights are too bright.
Soft, even lighting works very well for photographs of wooded areas like this. In the first photo, light is evenly scattered throughout the image. The soft light brings out the rich green and gold tones in the forest, and produces a sense of depth. When you are shooting in the woods, look for shady areas, and avoid a sun and shade mix.
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When you hike out to this place in De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area (New Mexico) you can’t help but smile at the funny little hoodoos that litter the landscape. They’re everywhere. And they almost seem like sculptures. It’s as if someone came out and placed them one at a time. I took this shot just moments before the sun set. I wanted to capture the shadows stretching across the desert, and the soft, golden light painting the rocks. I also wanted to show how many of these stones there were – without letting the composition get too busy. So, I chose a nice big one and got in close to it. I couched down and placed my camera so that the rock filled the foreground. The wide-angle lens helps to exaggerate the size of objects that are close – and objects that are further away seem smaller. That’s exactly the effect I wanted here. I decided not to include the sky in the photograph because I felt that it wouldn’t add anything to the image.
Yet another gorgeous spot! Jay and I visited Bowtie arch in Utah, and I recorded this short video while we were there. This is the kind of place that’s great for a personal challenge. The hike was awesome, and so was shooting!
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How do you deal with harsh light? Do you pack up your camera and go hang out in the hotel? Or do you hike a few trails – exploring the area and looking for shots that work even when the light isn’t “ideal”? Whatever that means. :)
You always hear about shooting during the golden hour – and that’s great advice. But most serious photographers aren’t setting up 30 minutes before sunset, and packing it in as soon as the sunset is over. Most of us are out there no matter the conditions – and we’re doing our best to work with the light we have. Learning to handle the light is a huge part of photography. Maybe the most important part. ;)
I took this shot right in the middle of a hot, sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky. Brilliant blue overhead and blinding light bouncing off every surface. Exactly the kind of light that we are supposed to avoid. But that’s actually what I wanted for this shot. I took the shot in the shade – just a few meters to each side, the face of the rock was brightly lit. But here – under a huge shelf of rock, the sandstone was cool and evenly lit. No harsh shadows. No blinding highlights. And to make things even better, the intense sunlight was bouncing all over the place – reflected light bounced and rebounded from every surface. And this is the result. The rich colors in the sandstone really stand out – and even the darkest shadows are getting some light.
I got in close to the stained rock in the foreground, and chose a composition that included the patterns and the arch itself – but none of the bright sunlit areas around me. The results is an abstract shot that shows off the incredible beauty of the location – with none of the distractions that black shadows and blown highlights would bring.
Midday light definitely isn’t ideal for most wide-angle photography. But here’s a situation where bright, harsh light was exactly what we wanted… At least indirectly. In this quick video, I show you the lighting conditions we were working with in Mule Canyon, and how reflected light enhanced the colors in the photos we want to capture.
And here are a couple of the images I took that day. Pretty incredible place, isn’t it?
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Post-production work can be just as important as field work – in this case, the range of light, and color balance needed close attention.
This shot is from Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The stunning curves and beams of light in this overhanging slot canyon make it a photographers paradise! Unfortunately, crowds of tourists make photography difficult. Luckily, the tour guides try to give everyone an opportunity to take a few photographs – holding one group back, just around the bend, while another group takes pictures, and throwing sand into the air to make those gorgeous beams of light stand out.
For good pictures, you need a tripod in here. You have to use long shutter speeds to capture a photo without a flash, since it’s very dark at the bottom of the canyon in places. In this case, I needed 1.3 seconds at f/8 – but some photos required 30 seconds or more.
I also chose to shoot at an angle for a more appealing composition… why worry about gravity when the canyon seems not to care. :)
The hardest part of getting this photo right was actually the color balance. There’s a broad range of light, here – and some of the canyon is in shade, while other areas are lit by direct sun. I’ve seen thousands of photographs of these walls – and many of them show deep purple colors alongside bright yellow and orange. But the canyon isn’t purple or yellow. The problem is that it’s tough to get an even color balance for the entire image when the light is so uneven. So, I was very careful about avoiding that purple cast. Are the colors perfect? I doubt it – I guess I’ll have to take a print back to the canyon to compare the colors in person. ;) But it’s as close to my memory of the location as I could bring it.
So, do you agree that post-production work can be just as important as field work? In this case, the image wouldn’t be the same without careful attention to color balance – and also the broad range of light represented here. I’m sure many of you can relate… and I’d love to hear your opinion.
In going back to look at the settings for this photo, I’ve discovered a treasure trove of images I never processed. Time to get back to work!
The Mike Moats Macro Light Control Kit includes a 24-inch Wimberly™ Plamp and two 14-inch Westcott™ Illuminator Reflector Panels – one is silver on one side and white on the other, and the other is a translucent white diffuser. It also includes the Finding Character in Nature ebook by Mike. I went out for a leisurely “test drive” on a lovely – and hot and humid – July morning.
At first, I felt like I was carrying around too much equipment. Tripod and camera in one hand, plamp and filters in the other – useful or not, I had to find a way to carry everything more easily. So, I clamped the Plamp onto my tripod, and hung the reflector panels from it. Now, I could carry everything with one hand. Problem solved. I chose a small thistle, and got to work. Lucky for me, I had my trusty side-kick along to document the process – thanks for helping out, Jay!
First, I set up my tripod then put the Plamp to work positioning the chosen thistle just where I wanted it. I’ll go into more detail about that fabulous little tool later – for now, indulge me while I go into some detail about controlling the light.
I deliberately chose a location in the sun because I wanted to put those illuminator panels to work. The backlighting was delicious but the intensity of the light made it difficult to capture the entire dynamic range with a single exposure. I wanted to capture good detail in the shadow areas without blowing out the bright areas, and that’s tough to do with a shot like this unless you happen to have a handy little reflector panel hanging from your tripod! The silver reflector bounced light from the sun onto the front of the thistle, enhancing all those prickly details. The back-lighting outlines the plant, without blowing out the highlights. Perfect.
I took a few comparison shots to show the dramatic difference a reflector or diffuser can make – take a look at the images below.
Here’s a shot taken without any reflector or diffuser. Notice the dark background. The camera can’t handle the entire dynamic range, so the photographer has to choose between capturing detail in the highlights, or capturing detail in the shadows.
Natural Light
For this shot, I used the silver reflector to bounce light onto the flower and the shadowed background. You can see quite a bit more detail back there, and the shadows on the flower aren’t so dark. You still get the backlit effect. This reflector is great for dramatic lighting.
Natural Light + Reflector
For this last shot, I held the diffused panel just behind and to the right of the flower to filter the strong, directional sunlight. I also increased my shutter speed slightly to get the exposure just right in the camera. Notice how soft and even the light is in this image. The diffuser is perfect when you want a more subtle lighting effect.
Natural Light + Diffuser
The best thing about these little panels is that you can really extend your shooting options and expand your time frame for getting good photos. It’s no longer necessary to confine your photography to times when the light is perfect. And there’s no need to purchase an expensive flash unit for spotlighting your subject. (Of course, if you already have a flash unit, you could use the diffuser panel to soften it and remove harsh glare, or the reflector to bounce the flash for softer, indirect light. The options are endless.)
Now, let’s get back to the Plamp. This deceptively simple little tool is enormously helpful. Any photographer who has tried to capture a plant portrait knows how hard it is to isolate a subject in a weedy field or an overgrown garden. For a clean composition, I needed my pretty yellow flower to stay just the right distance from my lens, at the just the right angle. I also needed to separate it from its brothers so that I could isolate it with a shallow depth of field. I’ve abandoned shots like this in the past because I couldn’t get the plant to stay where I wanted it… this time, it wasn’t a problem. You should have seen me grinning like an idiot out there.
The padded clip did no damage to any flowers I shot that morning, so the birds and the butterflies weren’t offended and the Plamp can be used to hold a reflector or diffuser too – you can even use it to hold other plants out the frame. For those who like a shorter arm, the Plamp snaps apart pretty easily. You can actually remove some of the little ball-jointed sections to shorten it. Personally, I like it as it is.
Mike’s kit is perfect for macro photography. The illuminator panels can be used together or separately, and when I fold them up, they take up very little room in my camera bag. They’re extremely lightweight and easy to carry, too. I store the Plamp in my bag by folding it into a tight little coil. Everything in the kit seems to be very sturdy, and I don’t see any reason why these tools won’t last for many years to come.
My only regret? I wish I had another kit. Two Plamps are better than one – one to hold the reflector, and one for the flower. And Jay and I are already fighting over those reflector panels.
The Mike Moats Macro Kit is available at the NPN/OPG Store.
Dramatic sunbeams like those in the photographs you see here, occur only under certain conditions. Sunbeams appear when sunlight passes through – and is scattered by – particles in the air. In order to effectively photograph sunbeams, we need to capture them against a dark background… like heavy storm clouds. The difference between dark and light makes the sunbeams stand out.
In this shot from Glacier National Park, the sunlight scattered as it passed through particles of water vapor in the air. The dark valley provided an excellent backdrop, allowing the sunbeams to stand out. Heavy, humid air is a perfect medium for sunbeams – and because it was late in the day, the light took on a golden tone.
This photograph was taken in Arizona’s spectacular Antelope Canyon. The air is very dry here in the desert, so these is little moisture to create water vapor in the air. However, the floor of the canyon is covered with fine sand. We tossed handfuls of the sand into the air, and photographed the resulting sunbeams against the dark walls of the slot canyon.
