How to Shoot Location Photography at Noon

Posted on 14 December 2011 by Sean Farmer

When you are doing a location shoot, one of the key points of consideration when deciding when and where to do the shoot is that of daylight. In general there are three types of natural light you can get while doing a location shoot, morning light, noon light, and afternoon light. Each of these provides it own unique set of advantages and challenges.

Mid-day shoots can prove challanging to get a good shot from. Image by Image by Robert Bejil

Probably the hardest of the three is shooting during noon light, ironically because this is the time of day where you are receiving the most natural light. Since typically this natural light is so strong due to the fact that its source is almost directly overhead, you start to run into a slew of other issues such as lack of direction, over exposure, and washout.

Low ISO and High Shutter Speed

This step should seem pretty obvious to anyone who has used any type of SLR or DSLR camera, but one key point about this step is not the variables listed in the titled, but the one variable that is not. Aperture. Obviously, your going to want a higher f-stop to compensate for the shear amount of natural light at noon. However, here is the point where you need to bypass those shutter speed/aperture equations “photography schools” teach. You will want to set your ISO as low as it will possibly go, this will allow your image to retain the most detail, even in over exposed areas. Setting your shutter speed higher will allow you to catch the most detail the fastest. Aperture should be your compensation variable for achieving good exposure.


Shoot in the Shadows

Using a building as a shadow can aid against over exposure. Image by Image by Robert Bejil

Obviously, you do not want to stick strictly to the shadows of a building or other object, as that defeats the purpose of a location shoot. What you will want to do is use the shadows cast by trees, building, or other objects to create contrast in your image. These shadows will help prevent against a completely washed out image, and might even help prevent over exposure. Using shadows to contrast an image is intended mostly for background contrast, not model contrast. On a model these shadows can look out of place, and take away from the entire image.

Correct Modeling

Using the models own body you can create shadows and contrast, even in the brightest daylight. Image by Robert Bejil

The same principles as shooting in the shadows applies here. Since there is such an abundance of sunlight from directly above, if you simply shoot someone standing straight in front of you, you are most likely going to get an image of a person with really bright hair, over exposed body, and an underexposed face. Work on positioning your models so that they are working with the omnipresent lighting. Have them tilt their heads forward or backward to either allow more or less light on their face. Remember that most location photography is “What You See Is What You Get” lighting.


External Flash

Yes, seriously. If you lower your ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture, so that even in broad daylight your image comes out slightly under exposed, you can used an external flash to create a more controlled lighting model. You will need to make sure you use an angle for the flash in order to avoid over exposure from a straight on flash. The use of reflectors can help aid with this.

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How to Photography Tattoos: Macro Tattoo Photography

Posted on 26 December 2011 by Sean Farmer

Tattoos have moved from a taboo rebellious statement of yesteryear into a mainstream phenomenon in modern society. With this transition from taboo to mainstream there has been a massive change in the way tattoos are perceived, one such change has come in the way tattoos are shown. Everybody wants to show off a new tattoo, and many shops like to keep records of previous tattoos to show off past work to potential clients. One of the best ways to do this is through tattoo photography.

Tattoo photography is separated into two broad categories: Macro Tattoo Photography and Model Tattoo Photography.

Because the way each of these types of tattoo photography is done I will cover it in two separate sections dealing with each different type, Macro and Model. In this section, we’ll cover Macro Tattoo Photography.
Macro tattoo photography is a photography type dealing strictly with an individual tattoo’s artwork rather than the over all composition that multiple tattoos create on a model. This is the most common type of tattoo photography, because it shows off a person’s individual piece, making it perfect to show off new tattoo work for both a tattoo shop and the tattooed. Shooting macro tattoo photography is fairly easy but requires a few steps to execute perfectly.

1) Face the tattoo towards the camera the way it’s meant to be shown. This is the most important step in setting up a macro tattoo shot. Many people will want to strike a pose that looks “cool” when shooting the tattoo, but since this type of tattoo photography focuses on one work in particular, if it’s viewed any other way than the way it’s meant to be than you risk distorting the image, making it unrecognizable. This is especially true of upper arm and leg tattoos.

Image by Michael Tatoo

2) Isolate the tattoo as best as possible. You want to try to remove any unnecessary distractions from the images. For example if you are trying to shoot a calf or ankle tattoo, you want to make sure that you zoom in enough to remove any dead space around the leg, but you want to leave enough space so that the tattoo’s location can still be identified. Also you want to make sure that you don’t accidentally catch the other leg in the shot, unless it has had some work done as well.

Image by St3ve

3) Light the tattoo properly. This cannot be emphasized enough throughout photography, but when your dealing with tattoos it’s an even more important concept. Human skin is naturally oily, and when shooting macro tattoo photography you are emphasizing a section of skin, meaning that if you fail to set up a proper lighting system the tattoo might appear either overly reflective or way to dull. A good light set up for a tattoo is a simply three point light system, with a key, soft, and back light.

4) Tattoos look better with higher contrast and sharpness. This is for the most part a completely factual statement. When you increase the contrast of a tattoo you help bring out the colors of the tattoo and make them define themselves as real colors, rather than tinted skin. Increasing the sharpness will make the line art of the tattoos stand out more and create a surreal look to the tattoo, while keeping the artistic appearance.

Image by Tattoo Lover.

One main thing to keep in mind when doing macro tattoo photography is that how you shoot a new, freshly inked tattoo is fairly different than how you will shoot an older tattoo. A new tattoo will maintain a wet, sometimes bloody look, while and old tattoo will blend in with the skin more. Depending on which you shoot, you may need to adjust the lighting and the amount of contrast and sharpness of the image. Also you should always make sure you clean a new tattoo well before shooting it.

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