Chicks!

Do you remember Mr Peacock? I was totally wrong about him. To be more precise, I was totally wrong about his two ladies. I was pretty sure they were in no way impressed by his loud and showy behavior. But at least one of them must have been playing hard to get. On my visit to the city farm yesterday, I saw one of the lady peacocks wandering around with four cute pea-chicks. Mr Peacock got what he wanted: offspring.

Congratulations Mr and Ms Peacock. May your four lovely children grow up to become as good looking as their daddy.

Photography tips: Get down!

Okay, I’ve got to get this of my chest. This morning, I visited the nearby city farm with my two year old son. There was this little boy petting a rabbit. And then there was this boy’s granddad taking pictures. His camera was a small sized Canon dSLR, probably a recent Rebel-version. It had a zoom lens with a red stripe, I think it was the 24-70L. (not that It matters though) Granddad was obviously very proud of his grandson and he was taking dozens of pictures of the little boy having fun at the farm. And although granddad was apparently not very old or crippled, he did not bend his knees once.

“What’s, the problem?”, you might ask. Well, the problem is that this guy spends an awful lot of money on gear and still fails to get a decent pic of his grandson. He is photographing the top of his grandson’s head, rather than the boy’s face. I see this happen a lot, people taking pictures of the top side of their dearly beloved child/grandchild/pet. It has to stop!

No matter the size or price of your camera, remember to get down to the level of the subject you are shooting. Pet or kid, you are picturing their world, and they live it at their level. Let the camera enter their world and lower it to their level as well. Don’t bother about getting dirty, a good picture is worth washing your trousers.

Really, if you weren’t already doing this, start doing it today. You’ll be amazed with the results. If you take only one lesson from this entire blog, let it be this one. Get down. Please!

Photography tips: Bounce!

Bounce lighting is a simple way to create a natural feel to your pictures. The base form of bounce lighting is aiming the head of your on-camera flash unit to the ceiling and bounce the light back from there. But why stop there? You can bounce light off about everything: a ceiling, a wall, a body of water, the list is endless, just use your imagination.

Color temperature
When you bounce, keep in mind that the surface you use to bounce off may not be perfectly white, but has a color of itself. White ceilings are often off-white, as are walls. Many objects that the human eye perceives as white have a yellowish or blueish cast. This will affect the color temperature, especially if the bounced light is your main or only light source. You can use this to your advantage as well. Using colored surfaces to bounce the light off can be used in artistic photography to create intended color casts.

Why not bounce the sun?
Bounce lighting is often associated with strobes and flashes, but there is no problem in bouncing other light sources as well. How about the sun? It is obviously impossible to aim the sun, but your subject may be moved, or the object you use to bounce the light off.

Reflectors
If you like bouncing, why not carry a bouncing surface with you? A simple foldable reflector, normally used to fill shadows in a portrait, can be used as a bouncing surface. These reflectors often come in different colors, such as white, gold (warm color portrait) and silver (high contrast lighting). Again, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Sheets of paper (or cardboard) are also lightweight and foldable and can easily be carried around. You can use a small cardboard as a bouncecard. Simply attach it on the back of your flash unit. The either fold the paper in a 45 degree angle, or put your flash in that angle (try both, and notice the difference between them). The disadvantage of this very simple method is that you loose the larger part of the light. With a little more effort (see links below), you can make a more effective bounce card.


More resources

A brief explanation
Strobist 101 on bouncing
lengthy, but very clear video on bouncecards
A DIY bounce card

CamerA AbsurdA updated

I have added a new serie of pictures from a recent shoot to my online portfolio @ CamerA Absurda. This serie, featuring male model Nicky, is called The Gardener. The Gardener is the first shoot in a series of five within the Earth People-theme, featuring different male models. Other shoots still have to be planned, so it may take a while. I´ll keep you posted though.

Modeling tips: Don’t count on the photographer

When you plan a shoot with a photographer, a couple of things should be arranged. In most cases, the photographer takes care of those, since he is the one responsible for the final result. But wait, photographers are people too. Some photographers may forget things, and some are simply sloppy planners. Being good at taking pictures is no guarantee for organizational talent, is it? So take a couple of measures, just in case the photographer forgets.

Contact the make up artist
I am assuming you or the photographer have arranged for a make up artist at the shoot. Maybe even a styling artist and a hairdresser. Contact them a couple of days before the shoot. Nothing special, just briefly discuss their plans and how it fits into the theme of the shoot. If you have any special wishes, discuss them too. Don’t try to take over the organization here, you are just calling out of curiosity. And to remind them that they need to contact the photographer if there are some details left that need coordination. But you won’t tell that of course, you are just curious and enthusiastic. Your call will make them think of those details though.

Bring stuff
No, you don’t have to bring a camera, I am pretty confident the photographer will not forget this item. I’m less sure about some other stuff though. First of all, bring plenty of clothes. Both within and outside the theme of the shoot. Even if the photographer or styling artist promised to bring clothes or if you are doing a nude shoot, your clothes may come in handy. What if you got some studio time left after the shoot or if something goes terribly wrong with the clothes provided? You’ll be more than happy to have brought that lovely dress. For similar reasons, you should bring your own make-up. This comes in handy if the make-up artist is stuck in traffic or does not show up at all (this does happen, sadly enough).

Also bring some food and drinks. If the shoot is in the photographers own studio, drinks are likely to be present, but you never know. Besides, it gives you the advantage of drinking whatever you want to drink and the gesture is often well appreciated by the other people participating in the sho

Meet Mr. Peacock

There is a small city farm fairly close to where I live. I take my kids there quite often, to give them some sense of where food comes from. And it's fun too. The farm has quite a number of pets and small livestock, such as rabits, chicken, sheep and goats, and even two large pigs.

The farm also houses a male peacock with two females. When spring comes, his feathers are marvelous and one can hear his loud screaming a couple of blocks away. This fellow does all he can to impress both females. They hardly seem interested though. Last year, after several careful approaches, he allowed me to come close enough to use my 35 and 50mm primes on him. This year, my two year old son is too loud and too fast and way too interested in this loud and colorful bird. There is no way to get near the peacock without my son chasing it away, so I'll stick to the 90mm instead.

Photography tips: find a model

So you want to be a model photographer? The first thing you’ll need to do is build a portfolio. But how will you build a portfolio without models? And how will you find models without a portfolio? Seems like there is no way out, but there is.

1st step: stay close
You probably know someone with a pretty face, who is willing to pose for you. Could be anyone; your sister, an uncle, someone from school, a colleague, your neighbor. If you think hard enough, you can think of someone. It does not have to be a professional model, you just need a couple of portraits that go beyond the snapshot-of-a-family-party level. Likewise, don’t use your holiday snapshots (unless they are great pics of course)

2nd step: Join a community
Once you have three or four decent pictures, join a web community for photographers and models. Well known US-examples are ModelMayhem.com and Onemodelplace.com. For my Dutch readers I recommend Dutchheaven.nl. In these communities, photographers and models (often make-up artists and stylists too) find a platform to connect to each other. Don’t just sign up and wait for things to happen. The best thing to do is approach models yourself, and arrange TFP (Time for Print) or TFCD (Time for CD) shoots. Try to aim at models slightly above your own level. Aiming lower will not get you the pictures you need to improve, whereas aiming too high is likely to lead to disappointment.

By participating in a community, you will get to work with people you don’t know. That’s a nice thing, but it is also a risk. That’s why I prefer internet communities that require photo ID to sign up. This simple threshold scares away the real idiots, but it is no guarantee.
Once you have worked with four or five different models, think about creating your own website as an online portfolio. This will give you more room for exposure and make you look more like a professional photographer. You can link from your community account to the website, and may want to put the url on your comp card as well. Meanwhile, keep working on your portfolio through TFP/TFCD shoots, gradually aiming for better models.

The alternative approach: Quickstart your career
There is a faster way to start. Instead of working your way up through TFP/TFCD shoots, you may want to invest in one or two shoots with very good models and make-up artists. This will give you a headstart when joining a community, allowing you to find better models willing to work with you on a TFP/TFCD basis. This strategy may work for photographers that are very talented or already have a broad experience in other fields of photography. For inexperienced photographers, it contains the risk that their inexperience shows in the pictures and the investment will be partly wasted. But then again, who is to reach anything without taking a risk or two?




pssst, you think this looks familiar? Very good, it means you read both modeling and photography tips. Which is wise, whether you're a model or a photographer.

Modeling tips: find a photographer

So you want to be a model? The first thing you’ll need to do is build a portfolio. But how will you build a portfolio without photographers? And how will you find photographers without a portfolio? Seems like there is no way out, but there is.

1st step: stay close
You probably know someone with a decent camera, who is able to take a decent picture. Could be anyone; your dad, an uncle, someone from school, a colleague, your neighbor. If you think hard enough, you can think of someone. It does not have to be a professional photographer, you just need a couple of portraits that go beyond a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror or one made by your boyfriend with his cell phone. Likewise, don’t use your holiday snapshots (unless they are great pics of course)

2nd step: Join a community
Once you have three or four decent pictures, join a web community for photographers and models. Well known US-examples are ModelMayhem.com and Onemodelplace.com. For my Dutch readers I recommend Dutchheaven.nl. In these communities, photographers and models (often make-up artists and stylists too) find a platform to connect to each other. Don’t just sign up and wait for things to happen. The best thing to do is approach photographers yourself, and arrange TFP (Time for Print) or TFCD (Time for CD) shoots. Try to aim at photographers slightly above your own level. Aiming lower will not get you the pictures you need to improve, whereas aiming too high is likely to lead to disappointment.

By participating in a community, you will get to work with people you don’t know. That’s a nice thing, but it is also a risk. That’s why I prefer internet communities that require photo ID to sign up. This simple threshold scares away the real idiots, but it is no guarantee. See the earlier article on this subject for tips on how to stay out of trouble.

Once you have worked with four or five different photographers, think about creating your own website as an online portfolio. This will give you more room for exposure and make you look more like a professional model. You can link from your community account to the website, and may want to put the url on your comp card as well. Meanwhile, keep working on your portfolio through TFP/TFCD shoots, gradually aiming for better photographers. If you think of going professional, this is about the time when you should start to contact agencies. Don’t wait until they come and discover you, go out and discover them. Check the forums of the community you joined to find out which agencies are any good.

The alternative approach: Quickstart your career
There is a faster way to start. Instead of working your way up through TFP/TFCD shoots, you may want to invest in one or two shoots with very good photographers and make-up artists. This will give you a headstart when joining a community, allowing you to find better photographers willing to work with you on a TFP/TFCD basis. Once you join the community, start expanding your portfolio as fast as you can, so you’ll reach the point where you’ll start contacting agencies much sooner. This strategy may work for models that are very talented or already have some acting experience. For inexperienced models, it contains the risk that their inexperience shows in the pictures and the investment will be partly wasted. But then again, who is to reach anything without taking a risk or two?

Modeling tips: Photographer types (5)

Photographers, you need them for the pictures. Most of them are nice people, but they also have some peculiarities. If you know how to cope with these peculiarities, you’ll get the optimal results from your photo shoots. To help you with this, this blog publishes a series of articles devoted to photographer types. Every single photographer is a unique person. Nevertheless, knowing the type could be useful for models. None of the observations in this article imply that a certain type of photographer delivers higher quality. Each category contains both good and bad photographers. The mere fact that a photographer is shy, arrogant or flamboyant tells us nothing about the quality of his or her work. It does tell us something about the way they work though.

Some models may think that there is no need to adjust to the photographer. ‘Let them adjust to me.’ If that’s you, let me ask you whether you care about the result of a photo shoot. If you don’t, stop reading (and you might as well stop modeling too). If you do, why not take all the factors into account that you can influence?

The Ex-model
More and more models switch to photography once they turn old, fat and ugly. No. Wrong. Let’s try that again. More and more models discover the fun of being on the other side of the camera. Some of them turn out to be excellent photographers. The ex-model has a huge advantage. She (I do not know a single male model who turned photographer) knows the drill. She knows what it’s like to model and she might know some people in the business too. She knows what a good picture should look like. She also knows what you are going through doing a bikini shoot in February. Yet she’ll show no mercy putting you trough it. She knows it’s all part of being a model. She had her fair share of professional misery, so why should she save you?

Dos and don’ts
First of all, approach her as the photographer. She may talk about her modeling career for 90% of the time, and you may feel like you are working with a fellow model, but you are not. Keep the roles clear at all times. You are the model, she is the photographer. There is no problem in asking her advice of talking about her modeling experience, as long as you keep realizing that you are doing a photo shoot here.

Try to find out how long it’s been since she was a model. If it was quite some time ago, her memory may have faded and some of her advice may be outdated. Keep in mind that time heals all wounds, so her faded memory will tell her that she did not complain during her February bikini shoot. So why should you?

Whatever you do, don’t speak bad about her modeling capabilities. It is highly unproductive, plain rude and totally irrelevant. She is the photographer, remember? Her modeling capabilities don’t matter. No matter how she brags and no matter how well you know her actual qualities, do not judge her as a model. She is a photographer.

It’s okay to talk about people you both worked with (keep it polite though). It will probably bring back good memories and put you both in a good mood. Even if you share a bad experience, the fact that you both experienced it may strengthen your connection.

Other types
The intuitive type
The artist
The arrogant type
The shy type
The flamboyant type
The technical type

Pinkpop 2008

Last week, I went to the Pinkpop festival. This is an annual rockfestival in the South of the Netherlands. Its name is derived from ‘Pinksteren’, the Dutch word for Pentecost. The festival is normally held during the Pentecost-weekend, except for this year because Pentecost was so early. Dating back to 1970, Pinkpop is the oldest annual festival in the world.

I brought my Holga to the festival, rather than my ‘normal’ camera. My main target at the festival was music, not photography. When carrying my ‘normal’ camera, I have to be careful, as it is an expensive piece of equipment. With the $20 Holga, that’s a bit different. If it breaks, it breaks. Big deal. I actually lost my Holga while Rage Against the Machine were playing, but someone noticed me loosing it and handed it back to me. It is in fact a small miracle that the Holga survived the jumping crowds during an RATM-gig.

I loaded a 35mm film into my Holga, which is one of my favourite Holgamods (modifications for the Holga, more on this in an upcoming article). It delivers panorama-like pictures, with the sprocket holes inside the pic. I just shot people visiting the festival rather than the bands, as the Holga is much more suited for street photography than concert photography. Since the weather was much better than I expected, my initial guess to use a 400 ASA film was a bit off, leading to burnt highlights now and then. But who cares, Holgas are not meant to produce technically perfect pictures anyway.

Photography tips: Photographers shouldn't do sports

Lately, many of my photographing friends tell me they go to the gym to work out. Sure, sure, obesity is a big problem world wide, and exercise is one way to loose weight. I know all that, and yes, I could do with a couple of pounds less myself. Fair is fair.

But hey, come on! Summer’s here! Who needs the gym? There is a world out there, you know? And this world wants you. And it wants your camera. We all know that the normal world hides pretty pictures. It’s up to you to go out and find them. Leave your car at home. Yes, you can do that, don’t be afraid, your car won’t blame you. Take the bike. Bicycle that is, not your motorbike! Or go by foot. Slow travel gives you time to actually look at the world. That is the way to discover these hidden pretty pictures.

By the way, did you know that burning body fat is done by long exercise at not too high a pace? Yup, walking or cycling will do the trick better than exercising at the gym. And you won’t waste your time. You are doing the thing you like best: taking pics.

So photographers, get out instead of loosing your precious time at the gym. But should you still decide to go, bring your camera and do what you do best.