coffee-shop class #3: wrap-up
03.26.08 | coffee-shop
class
we had a radtastic class of photographers attend
coffee-shop class #3 this evening. there were
lots of lightbulbs fiickering on upstairs, which
is the reason our
coffee-shop classes were started in the first
place.
one thing we talked about was how to selectively choose a background based on how well it will serve as an out of focus background. i chose a colorful graffiti wall and shot it deliberately out of focus by turning the manual focus on my lens until i liked what i saw. it thought it kinda looked like a watercolor painting or pastel smeared.... definately good enough for an available light portrait background:
you could try this technique on anything and may be surprise what creative stuff you could create!
the next step was to look at those little numbers on lens that tells me my distance in feet/meters to subject needed to focus (i had to remember to multiply 1.5 for the d-80 i was using). or you could just wing it and focus however you normally would... the key is to think about the out of focus before you shoot. that is the lesson here, folks.
i then needed a subject to drive my point home. the one and only paige elizabeth stepped right in to model :)
my 85mm lens said it would focus on anything at a distance of 4 feet on the depth of field preview measurement answer thingy, so i multiplied it by 1.5 in my head and told her to stand about 6 feet away. i fine tuned the focus on one eye (notice the other eye is slightly out of focus due to the shallow depth of field of f/1.4). i then i waited for a decent moment and snapped this shot:
no one would ever suspect the background to be graffiti, but the combination of good bokeh, shallow depth of field, and short working distance, worked to a decent effect. it helped that the alley we shot in had nice diffused light and we had a willing model readily available :)
before we went out to shoot, i gave a mini-lecture in starbucks which you can view by clicking HERE (careful: it is 11MB PDF download).
a special thanks to ken rockwell for posting a wonderful article on 85 mm bokeh comparision highlighting several of the topics we spoke about today. his images are worth 1,000 words.
mark your calendars for our next class on april 20 at 4:20pm meeting outside the denver art museum. smoke 'em if you got 'em. just kidding :)
i'll present on how to make a killer octabank-style softbox for under $50 that offers nearly identical light as this but for a $1,000 less. you will not want to miss this coffee-shop class!
ps- there will be a trash the dress session at 5pm at the denver art museum. i hope to be using my little invention during the shoot so you can see it in action.
one thing we talked about was how to selectively choose a background based on how well it will serve as an out of focus background. i chose a colorful graffiti wall and shot it deliberately out of focus by turning the manual focus on my lens until i liked what i saw. it thought it kinda looked like a watercolor painting or pastel smeared.... definately good enough for an available light portrait background:
you could try this technique on anything and may be surprise what creative stuff you could create!
the next step was to look at those little numbers on lens that tells me my distance in feet/meters to subject needed to focus (i had to remember to multiply 1.5 for the d-80 i was using). or you could just wing it and focus however you normally would... the key is to think about the out of focus before you shoot. that is the lesson here, folks.
i then needed a subject to drive my point home. the one and only paige elizabeth stepped right in to model :)
my 85mm lens said it would focus on anything at a distance of 4 feet on the depth of field preview measurement answer thingy, so i multiplied it by 1.5 in my head and told her to stand about 6 feet away. i fine tuned the focus on one eye (notice the other eye is slightly out of focus due to the shallow depth of field of f/1.4). i then i waited for a decent moment and snapped this shot:
no one would ever suspect the background to be graffiti, but the combination of good bokeh, shallow depth of field, and short working distance, worked to a decent effect. it helped that the alley we shot in had nice diffused light and we had a willing model readily available :)
before we went out to shoot, i gave a mini-lecture in starbucks which you can view by clicking HERE (careful: it is 11MB PDF download).
a special thanks to ken rockwell for posting a wonderful article on 85 mm bokeh comparision highlighting several of the topics we spoke about today. his images are worth 1,000 words.
mark your calendars for our next class on april 20 at 4:20pm meeting outside the denver art museum. smoke 'em if you got 'em. just kidding :)
i'll present on how to make a killer octabank-style softbox for under $50 that offers nearly identical light as this but for a $1,000 less. you will not want to miss this coffee-shop class!
ps- there will be a trash the dress session at 5pm at the denver art museum. i hope to be using my little invention during the shoot so you can see it in action.