Exposure Compensation: Manual Control For Automatic Modes

Exposure Compensation: Manual Control For Automatic Modes

"No collection without compensation." - Jeff Rich

     "What??? A manual control for my automatic mode?!" Yes, I know, it doesn't make any sense. But after you've read a little further, it will make perfect sense and you auto-people will be glad you read this. It essentially gives you a very basic control over exposure when shooting in any of the semi-automatic modes: Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Program. But first, let's go over some basic stuff about making an exposure. 

      A photograph is made using 3 different methods of light capture at the same time: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO speed. The aperture controls how much light enters the camera at one given moment. The shutter speed controls how much time passes while light is entering the camera, and the ISO speed is a measure of how sensitive to light the film or digital sensor is. In manual mode, you have the responsibility to control each one so that it works in harmony with the other two and provides you with a properly exposed photo.

     When you're using the camera in an automatic mode, like Shutter Priority for example, you set the shutter speed to a desired amount and the camera changes the aperture and ISO speed accordingly to achieve a proper exposure based on what the light meter sees (which also involves the metering mode you've selected). In most normal environments, and aside from setting the shutter speed to a very fast or very slow setting, the resulting image will be no different than if you set the camera to full auto. So what if you're in Shutter Priority, and the camera does it's calculations and you end up with a picture that's too bright? If you increase the shutter speed, the camera will automatically compensate by choosing a larger aperture or higher ISO speed, and you'll get the same exposure again.

The "Av +/-" button on a Canon T5i

     Well, this is where exposure compensation can save the day. If your using a Canon camera, and it's not of professional grade, you'll likely have an "Av +/-" button on the back somewhere near where your right hand thumb sits. While in one of the automatic shooting modes, press this button (and hold it down) and turn the wheel with your right index finger. You should see the little bar on the light meter inside the view finder change position. It will go up to let you know that the camera is "seeing" more light, and down when it "sees" less light. The scale will show from -2 up to +2, and this is telling you by how many stops the light is changing. So, if your image is too bright, press the "Av +/-" button and turn the wheel to the left to lower the exposure. On pro grade camera like the 5D models, you would instead just turn the rear wheel without pressing any buttons first. 

     I wish there was more to say about exposure compensation, but it's a pretty simple in theory and in practice! If you normally shoot in one of the semi-automatic modes, this will be something you use a lot. If you always shoot in manual, well... you know.

     Hey thanks for reading guys, I do hope you've learned something. If you like my little blog project, please share it with your friends and click the little social media icons below the articles. It would mean a lot! If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below!

Back That Thang Up! : Hard Drive Backups

Back That Thang Up! : Hard Drive Backups

"Storing files on a computer without any backup is like putting all your eggs in one basket, and then throwing it off a very high cliff. They may be safe for a while, but eventually things will get messy." -
T.E. Ronneberg

     So first off, I'd like to apologize for such a late post. I was out of town for work and when I got back, I discovered that one of my hard drives had failed while I was gone. Thankfully, I'm a good boy and I backup my hard drives regularly! So it was only the loss of an $100 hard drive and not the loss of thousands of irreplaceable photos.
     Backing up your stuff on external drives is so easy, simple and valuable, there's really no good reason for you to not be doing it. And with the prices of hard drives consistently dropping, it doesn't hurt your wallet either.

     There's a couple different ways to backup your photos, and while some techniques are bit more advanced, they can also be more robust in features. Without going into lengthy detail on each option, here's a list of the more common ways to backup your photos and some general info about each one:

    * RAID Array Setup This is where multiple hard drives are used together as one storage device. There's different methods for configuring the drives, and each method has it's own benefits. For example, some configurations allow for better performance than one hard drive could provide, while other configurations allow for data redundancy that a single drive could not provide.      
    * Automatic Backups I know it's more of a general term, but what I'm referring to is the software that sometimes comes included with the purchase of a hard drive. Essentially, it automatically stores changes made in a specified folder onto a backup drive. Very handy if your not interested in messing around with backups all the time, as it does it all on it's own. As with anything these days, there's several different companies that make the software, and you'll have to do some research to find one that fits your personal needs.
    * Drive copying This is pretty much what it sounds like... You copy the contents of one drive onto another drive. As an exact duplicate of the original files, this is usually the safest way to backup, as there won't be any proprietary file formats to contend with in the future. However, this is also the most time consuming.
    * Cloud storage backup Putting your photos and videos out there into the great interwebs is an option with serious pros and serious cons. The good part is that it's offsite storage so that if something should happen to the physical location of your hard drives, you have another copy safely waiting thousands of miles away. This could be a real life saver in the case of theft or fire or something like that. The bad part is that those hard drives "in the cloud" could be hacked by mean people that like to steal personal data. Maybe you have nothing to "hide", but doesn't it make you feel a little uncomfortable to know that your trusting a company that's trusting employees who are trusting third parties who are trusting their employees who are trusting other employees and so on?  It's easy for Carbonite or Dropbox or whoever to say "your data is secure", but does any one person really know that that's true?
    * Burned DVDs Two words: SLOW & SAFE.
    * Thumb Drives This is a great option in my opinion, because it focuses on the photos that really matter. With this backup method, you don't copy every single photo or file on your hard drive, but instead only copy onto a thumb drive the pictures from the important shoots or the big events.This is also meant to be a temporary storage solution for short term extra backup until your other drives get settled. Then it can be erased after a week or two without worry.

     When I need to copy and backup new photos, what I do is copy directly from the camera to the primary storage drive. This is the drive I access when working in Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. I then copy again directly from the camera to a second drive that acts as a mirror to the primary drive. The reason I copy directly to both is that if there happened to be an error while copying to one drive, the error (hopefully) would not be likely to occur on the other drive during the second round of copying. Whereas if I only copy directly to one drive and an error occurs during copying, then duplicate that drive, then I have two bad files! This has happened to me several times, which is why I always copy directly to two different drives. After that's done, I convert the raw images to large JPGs and upload them to Flickr in a private folder. This way, if my two drives fail, I at least have high quality JPG versions to turn to.

     I know my method isn't as fancy as some other photographers, but it's cheap (2 WD My Passport drives for $99 each), it's completely under my control, and I have the 3 copies. Perhaps if gigantic loads of money start falling into my lap, I might upgrade the configuration a bit, but I don't think it's really necessary. Well that's it... hard drive backups. Don't be lazy or you'll be sorry! Get some drives, and start copying!

     As always, thanks for reading, and I really hope that you find some helpful information in all my rambling. If you have a comment or question, I'd love to hear it! Just below, there's comment boxes, and social media links, and even a cool survey! Have fun!

Photo Walks: Take A Hike!

Photo Walks: Take A Hike!

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

     I'm sure you've all heard about photo walks, but have you all participated in one? If not, you should. It's loads of fun, and you can end with some really cool pictures you'd have never thought to make otherwise! There's all different kinds of photo walks too: 

• Themed walks - Maybe the idea is to walk down a busy road and only take pictures of cars
• Group walks - You'll likely find a group on Flickr, if not check the Community section on Craigslist
• Solitary walks - You're walk'n solo. No pressure, very relaxing....
• Objective walks - For example, minimum of 100 pictures, no round objects, no red objects, etc.
• Make one up! - Be creative, be limiting, and stick to it! Your brain will work harder to make it happen!

     These are some pictures I made just this morning on a quick photo walk through my neighborhood. It's not award winning stuff, but it helped me to get the day rolling and I made some images I've never made before.

     Again, you can go with a formal photo walk group, maybe bring a friend along, or just go by yourself. There's also the option to drive more than you walk; essentially, you drive to random locations around town, get out and take pictures for a little while, drive to another location, and on and on... This can be bad on your gas mileage, but great for your practice. It also allows you to find new locations for shooting later. This how I find a lot of the spots that I take models for photo shoots. Just be careful about where your driving, parking, and walking. There's a lot of people & businesses that don't like having photographers around.

     Well that's the post for this week. I was out my own photo walk, and thought it would be good to remind you of how fun it can be...so get out there and start walking! As always, thanks for reading, and leave a comment about how you go about your photo walks!

The Quick Review: Vagabond Mini

The Quick Review: Vagabond Mini

"The truth is that it is natural, as well as necessary, 
for every man to be a vagabond occasionally." - Samuel H Hammond

     Well this is a first... a product review! And what a great product to start with, too! Yes, I know that the Vagabond Mini has been out for some time, but I just got mine, and I thought sharing some things about it could be helpful. So here we go...

• Manufacturer: Paul C Buff
• Model: Vagabond Mini
• Description: Portable AC Power Center
• Number Of AC Outlets: 2
• Maximum Continuous  Wattage: 120 Watts
• Size:  2.75” x 4.3” x 7.8”
• Weight: 3 1/2 lbs.
• Price: $239.95

     When Paul C. Buff first provided photographers with portable power, it was without a doubt very helpful. Albeit the power packs were gigantic and weighed enough to make your assistants hate you. Oh, and they had...wait for it...

     Grounding rods. 

     Haha, yes, grounding rods. So scientific! Then the Vagabond II was released, a definite improvement of the first generation, but still a bit on the back breaking side. Well now, the company has moved from sealed lead acid batteries to rechargable Lithium batteries (Angels Singing: HALLELUJAH!) and the difference is astounding. The company completely overhauled the Vagabond power pack, partly because the new battery type forced them to, but mostly because the people at Paul C. Buff are awesome and they love to make great products for us to enjoy. Anyway, let's get into it.

     When you first open the box of your new Vagabond Mini Lithium, you'll see a very obvious red card that states some warnings about using the device near water or heavy moisture, flammable objects etc. This is important to read and these warnings should be kept in mind when using the battery pack. 

     There's also, of course, a manual that gives details on how to set it up, charge it, store it, etc. I recommend reading the manual before turning it on, as there were some things I didn't know about it and was glad I read the manual first.
 

     The first thing I did (per the manual's instructions) is to hook the charger up to it and let it charge until the LED light on the charging adapter was green. Even though the status indicators on the actual Vagabond Mini showed 75 - 100 % power, it charged for a good hour or more before the adapter LED stopped showing red. Believe me, it took a LOT of self control to not use the thing before it finished charging to 100%... I've been wanting one of these for a loooong time!

Once the Vagabond Mini was fully charged, I plugged in my monolight and started testing:

     Wow! I know, the monolight didn't change, and the light isn't any different, but it's so cool to be able to walk around with portable AC power! I used to rely on my speedlights whenever I wanted to shoot somewhere away from an AC outlet. Yes, speedlights can definitely provide substantial power. But not the way a 600 Ws monolight can! This thing is super cool.

Speedlite                           Monolight

Here's some pictures showing the lowest and highest settings of a speedlite and a monolight I have. They were all shot F11, 200/sec @ ISO 100. Notice the brightness of the room surrounding the hotspots; this is all reflected light in a 12' X 20' room with vaulted ceilings... I will definitely being enjoying the extra power wherever I go!

     As any review should have, here's a quick Pros & Cons list, and for some of the items, I'll offer further explanation.

Pros

• The fuse is easy to find a replacement for, just go to an auto parts store
• Having two outlets is great, most on location shoots need more than one light
• It's extremely lightweight compared to it's predecessors
• The strap is both a handy extra and an essential part
• Can be operated on a car battery if needed 
• The mounting hole for the light stand mount is a standard 1/4-20 size

Cons

• Lack of 2A USB port - 0.5 amps is sufficient for most small devices, but the charging rate is SO SLOOOOOWWWWW......
• The light stand mount is terrible, just hang the pack by the strap instead

• The tightening screw will bottom out before you can get it tight enough to grip the stand. And the smooth plastic that it's made of slips easily on a metal stand. I tried it on several different brand light stands of different thicknesses and it just doesnt work. The pack just keeps sliding down the stand. My only suggestion would be to add a small piece of sticky rubber pad to the inside of the plastic mount. I haven't tried it yet though.

• The small battery tab that allows one to release the actual battery from the inverter is placed in such a way that it prevents stability when the unit is set down on that side. (See pictures below) I suppose I could set it down on it's rubber feet instead...
• There are no rubber feet to set it down on.
• So far as I can see, there's no explanation of a very obvious "grounding hole" on the face of the unit. Although I can think of some possible uses for it myself, it isn't listed in the manual at all.

     Here's some pictures of that tab that's driving me nuts... I realize that there are small vent slots on that bottom side of the unit, and it would be unwise to operate the device while blocking those slots. I'll always hang or mount it when in use. 

     But speaking only about short term storage (like on a shelf): It's just that standing level in the upright position with outlets on top seems like such a normal, logical way to place the device. Do you agree? I'll probably end up at the hardware store to find some rubber or felt dots to eliminate the problem.

     Well, that's it for the Vagabond Mini quick review. I'll being testing it and playing with it a lot over the next couple of weeks, and I may post some more images in a separate blog to show you how well it's been working out. If you have any questions, corrections or suggestions, please leave them in a comment below!

     And don't forget: Sharing is caring... (click on the little social media icons below)

Memory Cards: Size Does Matter!

Memory Cards: Size Does Matter!

" Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved." - Thomas Fuller


     Sometimes, there can be so many different specifications to your camera gear, it's hard to keep track of it all, and even harder to make confident decisions about which gear to purchase. Most of the time, we lean on the "bigger is better" mantra to see us through our decision making: bigger body, longer telephoto, wider aperture, bigger memory card, brighter mono-light. However, that can often lead us to spending bigger money...and that's definitely not better. So, what should you do? Who do you listen to when making these decisions? Me! Me! Me! Listen to me!

     Just kidding. Though, I can help with this one. Deciding what size of memory card to purchase is pretty easy when you understand how you'll be using the card. For example, which of the following scenarios fits you best?

    * You'll probably just use it in a point and shoot to make pictures every couple of months when a birthday comes around...
    * You're a hobbyist or blogger with a decent SLR that also likes attending local events
    * Your a professional wedding or sports photographer
    * You shoot a lot of high definition video

     Scenario 1: If your not really into photography that much (why would you be reading this?), then you could certainly get by with a point & shoot camera on a regular basis with a standard memory card inside. There's nothing wrong with point & shoots, I have one too because they do a great job at what they were designed for: taking great photos quickly and easily. In fact, that concept alone is what gave Kodak so much fame & fortune. For these cameras, a standard memory card will suffice, though with everything shooting video these days, and mega-pixel numbers climbing Mount Everest, "standard" isn't really what it used to be. Look for a 2 - 4 GB card, 8 GB if they're cheap enough, and don't concern yourself with speed. The recent advances in memory card design have almost eliminated the chance that a card will be too slow for a point & shoot.

     Scenario 2: So you've got yourself an SLR ay??? Well aren't you a fancy pants... I have good news for you if you use it for strictly still photos 90% of the time: You're in the point & shoot group. "WHAT? I just spent all this money on a fancy new DSLR & I think I need to have a fancy memory card too to trick it out & feel like a pro!" You can if you want to, but it really isn't necessary. Again, the recent improvements to memory card design have made the "standard" read/write speeds so high, the chance of a card being the bottleneck for stills are rather slim. *I'm making a silly assumption that you'll be purchasing a decent brand name card, not a generic POS from who knows where that's been sitting on a warehouse shelf for 6 years. Also, eBay purchases can be trickery; a dishonest seller may place a new sticker on an old memory card. Always purchase cards from authorized retailers to avoid this.* If you must choose a speed class, go with Class 4, 6 or 10.

     Scenario 3: Professional wedding & sports photogs, I think you have it the worst. Not because you need the biggest & fastest cards (although you might in some cases), but because you panic so much about losing the images, you have to buy 3 backup cards for every one you plan to actually use! $$ CHU. CHING.$$ Not to say that "better safe than sorry" isn't something every wedding photographer should have tattooed on themselves somewhere... Anyway, You super-pros are going to be purchasing the top of the line stuff: 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or even 256 GB in size, UHS-II+ speeds. For the sports photographers, your burst mode shooting is going to necessitate a high speed card. And all those extra pictures eat up space quick when your shooting a 36 MP Nikon D800. *I still think that camera is ridiculous* Wedding warriors, you need space and speed for sure, but more importantly, you need reliability. These big, fast cards are made by companies that know their stuff and that's why your investing $400 per memory card. A sports photographer may be employed by a company that bought the camera gear. If the gear fails, not his fault. Besides, there's 500 other photographers at the event to cover the action, so there's no shortage of people to borrow a memory card from. As a wedding photographer though, your likely working for yourself, and likely haven't asked a bunch of other photographers to back you up. If your $20 memory card fails and you lose the pictures of the bride doing bride stuff, she'll probably turn into a giant *zilla like creature, eat your head and then sue what's left of you for all the money your children will ever earn. Please invest heavily in the hardware that's responsible for storing your digital photographs.

     Scenario 4: The video people need to know one thing: Ultra High Speed. Preferably UHS-II or UHS-III.

     One more thing for the still shooters to keep in mind is that sometime it's best not to put all your eggs (pictures) in one basket (memory card). Yeah, I know, this idea started out back in the beginning when memory cards were crap and failed on a regular basis and photographers were constantly losing their work. BUT, a card can still fail, and even more likely, it can be lost or stolen. I personally have lost cards at major events even though I was very careful and had a great labeling system, different pockets and cases for certain cards, etc. I guess it's probably harder to lose a card if you only have one and it's in your camera all the time. Then again, I've also had memory card read errors multiple times, even with proper & regular formatting techniques. So, I think this one is a tough choice. One gigantic card, or several small cards?

     With that looming question, I will leave you. Hope the article made some sense and helped out some. I know this one was a bit late, there's lots of life to live that gets in the way sometimes. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please let me know if theres anything you'd like me to write about or add or remove or whatever! Don't forget to share!



Also...

You absolutely MUST watch this video. This is how Lexar makes their memory cards.

Exposure Bracketing: A Tool? Or A Safety Net...

Exposure Bracketing: A Tool? Or A Safety Net...

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." - Laurence J. Peter

     If you've ever seen one of those HDR images with really dark darks and super bright whites, it's a good chance the photographer used a technique called exposure bracketing to aquire such a wide range of brightness levels in one photograph. There are other methods to making an HDR image, but that's not what is article is about. We'll discuss that another time, yeah? Anyway, let's get into bracketing. 

     Exposure bracketing is rather simple, in theory as well as form. Essentially, a photo is made at the appropriate exposure settings, as usual. Then, another is made that is intentionally underexposed, and one is made that is intentionally overexposed. As stated above, one of the uses of these 3 images would be to make an HDR image. The 3 images would be combined using specialized software that allows the darker portions of the the overexposed image to show through and the lighter portions of the underexposed image to show through. This allows the photograph to contain a large amount of detail in the highlights and shadows of the final image that a single exposure would not be able to contain. 

     Two other reasons to use exposure bracketing would be:

          A) spot correction for exposure

          B) ensuring the correct exposure is captured when the photographer 

          isn't sure on how to set the controls of the camera.

     The first is a reasonably acceptable technique in my opinion, as it's meant to correct parts of the image that stand out as severely over or underexposed. It's not a fix-all for a photographer that doesn't know what they're doing. In practice, for example, the digital images would be brought into editing software of some kind, and the two extra (over & underexposed) images would be hidden layers. Then, as needed, only parts of the two extra images would be painted in as visible with medium opacity. This prevents the image from looking fake or overly processed the way an HDR can look. 

     The second reason is something I despise. Unfortunately, there are several photography blogs out there that encourage you to use bracketing every time you go out to shoot. They say it's making up for the camera's confusion in tricky lighting situations. In fact, it's making up for the photographer's confusion. I know, it seems harsh because some people are just starting out and may not be entirely sure of how to set the camera for a correct exposure. So, if you've been shooting for less than 6 months, feel free to use this technique. Otherwise, you should have learned by now how the controls of the camera should be set in most any situation in order to get a proper exposure. Yes, it may be convenient at the time of shooting to have several exposure options; it makes you feel safe. But, when your sorting through the images later, it's just more work to do in deciding which of the images you want to keep. For example, instead of having 100 pictures to choose from, you'll have 300... Or, instead of sorting through 300 pictures, you'll have to sort through almost 1,000! You'll quickly realize that bracketing hasn't as much value as you thought it did while out in the field. Now, if you shoot landscapes a lot, bracketing may be of great use to you and that's understandable. The sky is much lighter than the ground, and with pictures of sunsets being as popular as they are, a bracketed HDR type image will definitely be a part of your repertoire. However, I really feel that there's no room for bracketing when making portraits of people or animals, shooting weddings, or photographing live events. Here's why:

1. Living things move. Whether it's a bride & the swaying trees behind the bride, your pet dog, your favorite rock band or the crowd behind your favorite rock band, there's sure to be some movement. Go ahead...try to get three images that are all EXACTLY the same except for the exposure settings. Good luck. 

2. People react negatively to strange looking people. I know, that sounds, well, strange. It's not not meant to be offensive either. What I'm talking about is familiarity with normal human appearances. It doesn't matter if your wearing a black dress or a green suit, we've all seen that before. Nor does it matter if your skin is dark or light, your hair long or short; we're familiar with those normal human appearances. What we're not familiar with is a High Dynamic Range face where the pores of the skin are so visible it looks like a creature from another planet. Have you ever seen a picture of a face where the eyes or mouth have been digitally turned upside down? It's a little unsettling isn't it?This is because our brains aren't used to seeing people look like that, and our immediate reaction is usually one of dislike. If you want people to immediately dislike your photos, fine. Not me though.

 
     There are other types of bracketing that can be performed that don't necessarily effect the exposure of the image, like focus bracketing for example. That's a technique best suited for macro photographers and event photographers in my opinion, but we can discuss that in another article.

     Well, that's about it for exposure bracketing. Again, if your just starting out, use it as a learning tool, but don't use it as a crutch. Same goes for looking at your LCD screen after every image you make. If you want to get better at photography, trust your gut and learn from the mistakes you'll inevitably make. Exposure bracketing all the time won't get you anywhere.

     I do hope that you've learned something, and I very much appreciate your reading these articles!  If there's anything I've posted that's in error, or if you have any questions about the topics in this blog, please don't hesitate to leave them in a comment below. Please share this article using the icons below!
Thank you!

Model Releases & Contracts: Sign Here Please

Model Releases & Contracts: Sign Here Please

"Suddenly I had a contract and I was earning lots of money." - Diane Cilento

     OK, maybe signing a model release won't guarantee a massive income immediately, but it can be the beginning of a valuable professional relationship in which you could earn money for your work. Some may say that a model release isn't necessary for certain shoots, and though that may be legally true, it's not always the best idea. Here's some points to consider and answers to common questions...


* A model release is not always required
* A model release can protect both the photographer and the model
* A contract can ensure payment to the model
* A contract can help to add structure a photo shoot
* Some people feel uncomfortable signing model releases
* A model release may give the photographer a legal right to use the photo in a way the model doesn't approve of later on.


What happens when...

* What happens when there's a mutual agreement to change the terms of the original contract?

     As long as there are signatures from both parties, an addendum to the original contract should be perfectly acceptable. Of course, this would only be necessary after the original contract was in play and found to be unsatisfactory.

* What happens when there's a disagreement about the terms of the contract?

     Work together, and look for ways to compromise on the terms. Some items may be easier to change than others, and some "can't" be changed.


* What happens when the model refuses to sign a model release?

     This depends on what your doing. If it's some random person on the street that you snapped a candid shot of, don't worry about it. You don't need a release to take photos. However, you may be photographing a bikini model in some provocative poses with the intent to sell them to a calandar making company. This is a situation where you'd really be better off getting a release. If the other party is hesitant to sign the release, try discussing the terms of the release until you find an agreement. If that doesn't work, and they refuse to sign a release, have a friend witness the situation at hand so that they can confirm your story should the situation get nasty in a legal manner down the road.


What does the contract cover?
     Most simple contracts will just briefly cover the basics, so as to keep everyone out of trouble. The longer more complex contracts, usually signed by professional super models, cover lots of very detailed scenarios and give little slack to either photographer or model. Here's a few things you'll find in a basic contract:

1. Compensation: Your trade or compensation agreement, also know as consideration.
This is where payment for the model is listed and explained. It may be as simple as a single print, or it could be $10,000. It depends on who's involved and how the photos are to be modified and used.

2. Permissions: The photographer has permission to edit & modify the photos as they see fit.
If your a new model, and not paying the photog, be prepared to accept the images however they may be presented. Unless you request something and they agree, your pretty much going to get whatever they think looks good. And it may not look very good.

3. Poses: The poses that were used during the photo shoot were entered into willingly by the model.
This is an important one to remember during the photo shoot. A photographer should never force, convince, coerce, or trick a model into any pose that could be viewed as inappropriate or dangerous by the model, their representatives or guardians. When in doubt, politely ask if they'd be OK with a pose, and if they say no or say nothing at all, then let it go and move on. Especially for beginners in both modeling and photography, an "appropriate" or "inappropriate" pose may be hard to judge at first. But as with many things, time and experience can be great teachers.

4. Usage: The photographer may use the photos in any way they want.
Essentially, a photographer is just trying to clear the path for gallery showings, art shows, web galleries, prints, and the like. In some contracts, it may specify that the images are not to be used commercially or sold without permission and that could apply to both parties. If you see a clause like this in the contract, of course read it over carefully and ask questions, but it's mostly likely written with good intentions and you'll likely find it in all model releases.

5. Liability waivers: The photographer is held blameless for photo modifications, damage/theft of personal property, injury, etc.
This one sounds like the model is signing there reputation and good health away, but again, it's just a way for the photographer to steer clear of trouble when the model doesn't like the way an image was edited, or trips on the threshold of the studio doorway and gets hurt. It's a safety net for unreasonable claims or accusations. Legitimate claims of intentional malice would likely not be affected by a release form, at least not in a courtroom. A judge can tell when someone is lying, whether it's the photographer or the model.

6. Signatures: Confirming the model's age and signing on the dotted line.
This is where the contract will confirm that the model is of legal age to be photographed & signing contracts without the permission of a parent or guardian. If the model is not legally allowed to sign a contract on their own, then do not proceed with the photoshoot until a parent or guardian is present! Or even cancel the whole shoot if necessary. The legal trouble involved with photographing a minor and using those images without a release is definitely something you don't want to be involved with. Always ask for and check IDs also. Once you have your legal ducks in a row, have two copies of the release ready. Sign both, and have the model sign both; then you each get a copy for your records.



What should be offered in a trade contract?
     It depends on how many pictures are being made, the expectations of the model, the cost of prints, cost of clothes, etc. If the shoot is 200 pictures, you might end with 10 really nice and unique images that are print ready. A print could cost anywhere from $1.00 to $20.00 each depending on where they come from, so 5 - 10 prints should be acceptable. If the model is given the option to keep clothing items from the shoot, then how much they keep may depend on how much the items cost you. Is their time worth a $20 scarf or a $300 jacket?

What if the model or photographer wants to sell an image?
     This is something that will be covered in most every model release, and it's very important. Since the photographer is the owner of the images, than their photos should not be sold without prior permission. However, the images bear the likeness of the model, so they should not be sold without the models permission either. So, for most starting photographers and anyone doing a trade shoot, it's best to have a clause in the release that states neither party can sell an image without prior consent from the other.

When is a release not required?
     This is sometimes a gray area, as there are general rules to follow, but they don't apply in certain circumstances. For example, a photographer can photograph a man riding his bicycle down the street with or without the man knowing that a photo has been made. He's in a public place, and photographers have a lot of freedom to take pictures in public places. No release required. Let's say you hang the picture in your gallery to display your work...no release required. Let's say you sell a print of the image to someone who hangs it in their house... still no release required. However, if you were to sell the image and it's licensing / copyright to a magazine, and they wanted to put the image in a magazine ad, then.... THEY need to acquire a release. THEY have to track the guy down and get him to sign THEIR contract. All you did was take a picture and sell it, and a release isn't required to do that.
     If your traveling across the country and take a photo of someone's run down house and print it out life size to hang in your office, no release required. If your photographing a local model so that the two of you can gain more experience, and your intention is to post the pictures in an on-line gallery, a model release may not actually be necessary, however, being that your mostly strangers, and you want to cover your bases, it would be best to have them sign a release with the 6 basic points covered above.



     I wish I had more time to write about this right now, but... well, I don't. However, I've discovered a website that discusses this topic in far greater detail than I could ever dream to be able to and I think you'll find it to be a great read. As always, thanks for reading, and please feel obligated to share this via the cute little icon thingies below!





Full disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim to have any accurate knowledge of how the law works in regards to model releases. The above article is meant for general discussion purposes only, and you should not take any of it as legal counsel. For more information about model releases, please click on the links below, and if you have questions about the laws regarding model releases, well, go talk to a lawyer.




Links:

Dan Heller
ASMP
BetterPhoto
DPS

White Balance: More Fun Than Balancing Your Books

White Balance: More Fun

Than Balancing Your Books

 "I couldn't find a non-racist quote about the color white online." - Jesse Krause 
    

     In this article, I'll be discussing a camera adjustment that can have a huge impact on the quality of your images. Some amateur photographers may believe that it's specialized knowledge, it's tweaky, it's excessive, or not something they need to worry about. And maybe for them, that's true. But for me and my crew (that's you), this stuff is crucial. Ladies and gentlemen, I present....

White Balance!!!!

Pretty awesome drawing, right? I did it myself...

     That's right, white balance. I'm sure you've heard of it, or read an article online about it (like this one), or even played around with it on your camera. But do you know how it works? If you do, stop reading and go take some pictures. If you don't, keep reading, then go take some pictures.

     White balance is called "white balance" because your essentially balancing all of the colors in the photograph until the areas that are supposed to represent white, do so accurately. It can also be called color balance or grey balance. The main goal is find a mixture of reds, greens, and blues to get the grey or white parts of the image looking neutral. This process was originally used by technicians to correct video recordings, and film photographers just used gels & special film types to correct for unusual lighting color during exposure. Now, with the technologies available in digital cameras, color balance can be easily achieved after the image has been recorded.

     You probably already know by now that the color white is actually made up of all of the visible colors. So it stands to reason that if your adjusting a digital image to correct a "white balance", that all of the colors that aren't pure white (via over exposure) will be effected. For example, if your photo has a red cast over the whole image (and assuming you shot RAW), you could take the digital file into a photo-editing program, find your color correction tools, and lower the reds of the entire image. This would eventually fix the red cast in the parts of the image that were supposed to be white or grey or blue or whatever... But, all the parts of the image that were extremely red may now have a more green hue to them. Or, they could just be a less saturated red, or if an object in the photo was purple, it may now be blue.

    Theoretically, this should be fine because to get that red cast, you either made the photograph with the wrong white balance setting for the existing environment, or you made the photograph in an environment that had a LOT of red ambient light. So even though your corrections are effecting all of the colors in the image, this is probably a good thing as you wouldn't want to remove reds from only the blues or only the greens because you'd get some funny looking results then. Though for creative purposes, artists have certainly been know to make changes like that. But what about scenarios where you have two or more different types of lighting and each one is drastically effecting the image? In the real world, our eyes & brain are capable of adjusting, determining, and translating in real time what the scene "should" look like. But a camera, smart as it is, isn't as smart as our brains. So the images come out looking very strange because it hasn't been modified or translated. It's an exact representation of the reflected and ambient light in that scene. And since we're familiar with seeing what our brains are capable of, a non-translated version will look "off".
     
     One other point to touch on is that photos whose white balance is corrected are usually done so in anticipation of a common type of viewing area. For example, how many people do you know that use only blue colored light bulbs in their house? Or how many office buildings have red carpet, red walls & ceilings, and red tinted windows? Not many right? So if we assume that a great majority of viewing environments have white walls & ceilings, regular windows if any, and tungsten or halogen bulbs for lighting, then we should be pretty safe when adjust the white balance of the photos in a "normal" fashion. Our whites will be white and our greys grey. If, however, we know that the images will be viewed in an environment with an ambient color cast of some kind, then we can pre-adjust the images using our white balance corrections so that they will look "normal" when viewed in that environment. For example, some art galleries or shows may choose to lower the brightness of the lights, which with tungsten bulbs, will create a much warmer and orange looking color in the room. If you want your photos to look their best in this environment, you'd be wise to test some different white balance settings on your photos in a similar environment prior to the show. You may find that adding a slight blue color cast could really help!
 
    OK, let's talk about some settings on your camera shall we? I'll be referring to Canon cameras, because that's what I shoot, but for the most part, all DSLRs will have the same white balance settings (though they may be listed under different names). Below are the white balance settings that I have on my cameras:

•     Auto
•     Daylight
•     Shade
•     Cloudy
•     Flash
•     Tungsten
•     Fluorescent
•     Custom
•     Kelvin  

     Thankfully, when you need to select a particular white balance setting, the name pretty much says it all. I imagine it would pretty frustrating had the camera manufactures chose "Setting 1, setting 2, setting 3" etc... The names tell you which setting to use in a particular scenario, and now we need to discuss why you should choose them. 

Auto
     Pretty self explanatory, really. This is usually the setting I choose under normal scenarios because of how accurate it is most of the time... Yes, I said most of the time. Its job is to auto-correct; so for example, if you want your image to look warm and inviting, you'll have to fix it in post or choose the daylight setting. Otherwise, this is a great "everyday shooting" selection. 

Daylight, Shade, Cloudy & Flash
     These settings are used to compensate for the higher color temperatures of different types of outdoor light and artificial strobe light. The higher color temperature outside comes mostly from reflected light in the blue sky and the strobes have a higher color temperature because they're designed to mimic the color temperature of outdoor light. What the camera does with these white balance settings is shift the colors of the photo: away from blue and toward yellow, away from cyan and toward red, etc. 

Tungsten
     The "Tungsten" setting will be very useful indoors IF there are incandescent bulbs present. It essentially does the opposite of the Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, and Flash white balance settings. In a "warm" toned environment, it "cools" the image by shifting colors toward blue.

Fluorescent
     This setting is great if your working around fluorescent bulbs. Without any kind of white balance adjustment, your images will have a slight green tint to them. I can deal with extra reds or blues, but green? No thanks... 

Custom
     This is a handy tool to use if your not sure of what the camera is seeing. Maybe your at a fancy party in Hollywood and you've forgotten everything you've learned about white balance and you don't trust "Auto" mode to protect you... 

1. Just set the white balance to "Custom"
2. Find something that's white (an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper works great)
3. Fill the frame entirely with that object
4. Take a picture
5. Select that photo as the reference 

     That reference photo will continue to be used until you tell the camera otherwise. So if your party moves to another house or local bar, be sure to make a new reference photo or use another white balance setting!

Kelvin
This setting is usually only found on the pro grade cameras and is for those photographers that really know their sh*t. The selections within this setting are all temperature selections (3000K, 5000K, 8000K, etc.). So, for example, lets say that your out photographing Rhinos in the desert plains of Africa, and one of the Rhinos stops underneath a tree to rest. You want the best photo you can make, so you have to decide which white balance setting to use. The grass in the field is yellow, the sky is deep blue, the Rhino is grey, and he's sitting under a green tree in heavy shade! I honestly don't know what the correct setting would be, but I would probably choose something like 6500K. 

     Now as you read more articles or books about white balance (and I know your excited to do that), you'll find that some say white balance should be adjusted to taste and doesn't really have to be accurate. Well, that's very nice, but... if you want to show your photographs so they accurately represent what was actually in the scene, you should try to get the white balance correct in the camera. It will mean less post processing, and what photographer doesn't want that??? I would highly recommend that you get in the habit of setting your white balance appropriately per location. Another option is to leave the camera's white balance setting on auto, and take a photograph at each location of an item that you know is supposed to be white, like a sheet of paper. Then during post, correct the white balance on batches of photos based on the white objects you photographed. If you read the article about lens caps (link) you'll see that I recommend putting a sticker inside of the lens cap as a quick way to obtain a neutral tone for color balancing in post. If you use Photoshop, remember to use a neutral gray sticker as opposed to white sticker because the white balance tool looks for neutral tones, not white.

     Well, that's about all I can think of to say about white balance. I do hope hat you've learned something, and I very much appreciate your reading these articles. If there's anything that I've posted that's in error, or if you have any questions about the topics in this blog, don't hesitate to leave it in a comment below!