Find, See and Feel the Light

Light enters our eyes in different qualities from various sources, in many shapes at numerous times and it’s often taken for granted.  While a good photographer can see light often ignored by others, great photographers can also feel the light.  When a great photographer wakes up in the morning from a homeostasis state their appreciation of the light that filters through the windows is more passionate than most. These types of photographers understand the qualities of light at various times of day and often it ignites their passion for photography at an unplanned moment.

They understand the purpose of light around their subject and how it intermixes with the shadows of an image to create shape and form.  They realize that the absence of light is darkness that leads to shadows and eventually light itself.  They know how to find the light first, as they’ve learned to understand it through experience incrementally. Light will speak to them without a sound. This ability came with practice.

 

Obviously one way to practice is to shoot every chance your get, yet another way is to  stop and look around you.  What sources of light do you see?  A window, a light above your head, a lamp on your desk or if your lucky, the light from your 150-gallon saltwater aquarium? If you said, “Yes, he’s right,” to a combination of the above, you’re an average photographer who probably takes great pictures. 

If you said, “wait, there’s more,” and pointed out the four walls in your room, the floor, the mirror, your desktop, your computer monitor, television, or even the light off your shirt, then you’re probably an above average photographer who takes photographs more often than pictures.  Light falls on everything in its path, however, it’s the reflection and diffusion of that light that we actually see and rarely do we focus on the source of light in its purest form.  

Practice “looking for the light” in every room you walk in for the next month—challenge yourself to find the source and direction of light in every corner, off every wall, floor or door, as even items like your refrigerator reflects light too.  Look to see how the quality of light is changed from a reflected surface.  Understand that reflected light takes on a different quality than transmitted light.

Another helpful method you can use to sharpen your skills to see light is a technique I call Quick Reaction Timing, or QRT.   I often teach this technique at my glamour workshops, it’s taught more to help mentally condition my attendees’ hand-eye coordination so they learn to “see” that fraction of time when their subject is at their finest.  The original QRT exercise is designed to help eliminate shutter-trigger-finger-hesitation but in all actuality, you’re learning to “see the light” too.

While the QRT technique is explained more in-depth in my first book, the concept is simple.  First allocate at least one day per month or quarter for yourself and your photography—at the local zoo.  Get there early and fully rested from the night before, as your mind needs to be fresh.  Early is key as the animals are at their liveliest when they first wake-up and it’s feeding time, so they’re hungry and frisky and they will be looking for light.  This is early light that changes constantly as the sun rises from horizontally oblique to directly overhead. The quality of light transforms from soft and warm to harsh and bright during this constant change of light direction.  The animals change with the light too, from seeking soothing warmth to taking the light for granted.

That’s the idea, to train your mind to “look” for the funniest things those loveable creatures are doing while you’re exercising your mind to look for light.  As you look, you’ll “see the light” in many forms and places.  You’ll feel the passion when you find those shadows and you’ll feel the exhilaration when you capture that great image. The animals will find the light for you, as often they are looking to bask in warmth early on and eventually expelling their energy into the sun’s path. 

As you stroll through the zoo, take your mind off the animals for a minute and look for light bouncing off bodies of water, walls or even people’s clothing as they walk past—it may be as simple as the water fountain you take a drink to quench your thirst. It may become more difficult as you wait for the light to change in a predictable fashion as we know light moves from East to West.

Practice this technique at least once per month or twice in per month in the beginning, eventually making a habit for a few times each year.  Realize it keeps your mind photographically sharp while supporting your local zoo—if you’re lucky, they’ll buy your stock images for marketing brochures, or swap you free admission for prints—zoo’s already have low budgets.  Worse case you’ll know you’ve done a good dead by supplying them with images they can use even if it’s just for a by-line in the caption.  You might also get lucky and sell some of the images through a photo stock agency while improving your shooting techniques and increasing your publishing credentials.

The whole idea is to learn see light that will eventually teach you to feel its quality.  Call it instinct, experience, knowledge or all the above, but when a photographer can actually feel the light it’s because they found each other.  Like the floor beneath our feet, light is often taken for granted, even the little bit of light that filters in our bedroom while we sleep in our homeostasis state of mind. Thanks and God Bless, Rolando.

Prime or Zoom Photography Lenses?

Often I’m asked, “What lens do you prefer to use, a prime or zoom?” My response is usually the lens that best suits my needs, however, I prefer prime lenses. A prime lens is a fixed-focal length lens, usually with less elements inside as it only serves one magnification unlike a zoom lens that reminds me of a 3-in-1 copy, fax, scan and makes coffee for you office machine.

Like a zoom lens, the latter machine has to sacrifice somewhere to provide a variety or diversity of its use, prime lens come with no real sacrifice physically and only require that from the photographer and no photographer should ever complain about moving around their subject for the best image. [Read more]

Found in Sports Illustrated Swimwear

Often I’m asked, “How did you do that?” Well sometimes the answer is simple and sometimes the answer is a bit more complex, but everyone that has ever met me at photography workshops, seminars and events knows I love to spread the gospel of photography and never hold back. Most recently, I’ve been frequently asked how the photographs of Playboy Playmate Monica Leigh were taken for the Evan Williams Liquor advertisement found in the current Sports Illustrated Swimwear edition and also in Maxim and Playboy.

Normally I like to keep my photographic lighting to a minimum, but in the case of that advertising photo, it was a bit more complicated as the art director, creative director, brand manager, account manager and others all wanted to provide their feedback—and when they are standing there watching you shoot, you have to treat them politely and work with them while reminding them that time is money and it’s a true team effort. Depressing the camera shutter is only 5-percent of the equation to deliver the results they demand in a short and allotted time period.

Basically I had less than a full-day to complete the shoot. Call (make-up and final set preparation) was at 7:00 a.m. and I was there bright-eyed and busy-tailed by 6:45 a.m., as no one got the message to me that call was moved to 7:45 a.m. because the model’s flights were delayed due to bad weather. However, the end time was still the same, end at 5 p.m., as the model had to be on an airplane back to Los Angeles that same day. Luckily for me, I’d arrived the day before to set the lights up and do some test runs so I’d only need to fine-tune for the model. I basically used the art director’s secretary as the stand-in for my light checks.

The set took nine lights, one main light for the model that was modified with a Chimera Oct57 Octabox (soft box) assembled in a 7-foot width. I added a medium Chimera Soft Strip with a Lighttools 40-degree grid as the fill from camera left. I also placed a small Chimera Soft Strip above the red window curtains fitted with ROSCO Cinefoil on the front so I could control any spill light to the front of the image.  This strip would highlight the darker curtains a tad. Behind the make-shift window, I placed a large Chimera Soft Strip with the modeling lamp at full-power and flash tube turned off, since my white-balance was at 6000K and the modeling lamp is 3200K, I knew the color of the box would mimic the warmth of an evening sun filtering through a window.

The other five lights were fitted with 7-inch reflectors and various grids of 10- through 30-degrees were placed on their fronts to control the light path. Two were used to accent the model on each side plus another light for her hair. Another was aimed at the small table next to the model to bring out the wood color and grain. The final light was used to help illuminate the model’s purse. Several were fitted with Cinefoil to reduce spill light and to control and shape the light so I could have it exactly where I wanted it.

Once the lighting was tweaked and placed exactly where the art director and I wanted them, we then focused on the common thread of the two images that would make the ad function, the curtain rods. If you look at the advertisement you’ll notice the curtain rods, though different in shape, connect the two photographs. The importance here was to ensure the top of the model’s head was the same distance from the curtain rods in both images and that the rods were perfectly straight horizontally. It was this requirement that made me breakout a tripod, something I rarely use as I’m more accustomed to a photojournalistic style of shooting and mostly use a monopod if I need some type of stabilization.

The camera I used was the Canon 5D with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, image stabilized lens. The tripod allowed me to keep the curtain rods straight at all times, while also locking in my distance from the model so the background would be very similar in the compression created by the lens set around 90mm effective focal length. This was very important to keep uniformity through the shoot as the model would do three complete wardrobe changes plus both final images would have to match with the curtain rods.

While the original story-board sketch provided by art director was approved by the liquor company, I asked if we could add a purse and some keys as the concept of the after picture was the model going out for the evening. Obviously the before photo, taken to simulate a bathroom, was simple and only took about thirty-minutes to shoot. The after photo, plus a lunch break, various breaks for the designer to download the Lexar digital cards and check the images in the pre-made advertising templates took a bit of time too, though often I’d be shooting on another Lexar digital card while they downloaded the previous cards.

In the end, we were done by 5 p.m., though eventually we’d learn the model’s flight had been cancelled, due to weather, but we still completed the shoot on the allotted time. While I normally do my best to work with simple set-ups for lighting, this assignment called for the more Playboy feel and I was happy to have brought enough photographic lighting gear in my Lightware cases to get the job done. Thanks and I hope to see you at one of my photography workshops someday soon and to see more higher-resolution images from this shoot, please visit my pro site by LiveBooks.com at www.RolandoGomez.com.  Thanks, Rolando.

The State of Professional Photographers

I just returned from the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) trade show and conference for professional photographers and though it was unusually cold and wet in Las Vegas where it’s held annually, over 10,000 people attended. Attendance, composed primarily of photographers, was up 25-percent from the pervious year making it seem that professional photographers are doing great during these tough economic times, but unfortunately they are not and the photo industry is learning to adjust to this pinch by targeting some of the very customers that are impacting photographers’ incomes.

Many photographers have seen less assignments over the years and their income is spiraling down thanks to digital cameras and the home/office ink-jet printer along with the corporate climate today. The general feeling amongst photographers queried at WPPI is that they were hoping the seminars and lectures at WPPI would teach them new ways to survive as many are experiencing diet days. [Read more]

RolandoGomez.com Re-Launches!

It’s been awhile since I posted on my blog, but I haven’t forgot all my loyal friends out there, it’s just been a killer two months with holidays, family, server moves, FotoFusion and now preparing for WPPI this coming week. In the midst of all that, I did have one great success, the launching of my new RolandoGomez.com professional, photography website, thanks to the excellent design team at LiveBooks.com.

I really had a great time working with the staff at LiveBooks.com and learned a lot on why a photographer, at any level, should maintain not only a web presence, but a clean, easy to navigate and professional website showcasing your talents. As many of you know, I have some webmaster skills, but my time is stretched thin, so by having LiveBooks.com rescue me in my long-awaited quest for a new look for RolandoGomez.com, I can tell you, it was the best decision of my photographic career.

During this pleasurable and creative experience and as I became close to the staff at LiveBooks.com, we came up with concept to reward all of you and those on my other websites. This concept comes at a great time when the economy is affecting everyone in some manner, so LiveBooks agreed with me how we can help photographers advance their professionalism while taking the economy into account.

The solution is simple, LiveBooks.com is offering a $600 savings on their Professional “Unlimited” Site plan or a $300 savings on their Professional Select Site plan. Don’t be confused by the word “professional.” This doesn’t mean you have to be a professional-advanced-level or published photographer to participate, this means if you want a professionally built, professionally looking presentation showcasing your talent, LiveBooks.com will provide you with top-professional service. The staff will treat you like if you’ve just won the Pultizer Prize, even if you’re just a shutterbug starting out because LiveBooks.com is based on the passion of photography while helping photographers too.

It’s all about spreading the gospel of photography and you will be satisfied from the beginning. They will work with you from the design concept till you are totally 150% satisfied as they understand it’s your talent on line and your talent needs to shine. Whether you have an existing website or have just thought about one, having a website designed and served by LiveBooks.com will automatically bring you up a level as a photographer.

So when you get a chance, check out LiveBooks.com. Help me celebrate the re-launch of RolandoGomez.com by simply contacting them and tell them you heard it from me so you can get your discount without sacrificing any quality. I personally guaranteed you’ll be satisfied with the results and will feel as it’s one of the best investments you’ll make for your photography. Wishing you the best, Rolando.

Photographing a Best Selling Author…

Well I’m not into romance novels but I was lucky enough to photograph New York Times best-selling romance author Lisa Kleypas. I shot these in 2007 originally for St. Martin’s Press for her first book with them, Sugar Daddy.

Lisa has written over 20 books in her career. The funny thing is when she first called me, I didn’t know at the time where she lived and I had insisted we first meet face-to-face before any photos would be taken as I always want to meet my clients/subjects at least a few days before a shoot. This is how you start to build rapport and learn about the inner-beauty of your subject. The outer-beauty is a always there. She agreed and I met with her and her husband.

What I didn’t know, her house, at the time, was only about 45-minutes up the road from mine. One of her biggest concerns was that she wanted to connect to her readers, mostly women and that she didn’t want anything too sexy, but at the same time something that still portrayed her beauty at her age (let’s just say very early 40’s), mother of two children and wife to a husband of many years.
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Grown Men Can Cry, Reflecting Back…

I think it’s healthy to cry, Lord knows I’ve shed a few tears overtime. Though most of the time as men we see it coming, then there are times when something triggers it and we don’t see it coming. If there is one song that will always make my eyes water, it’s TAPS, especially since I’ve attended many military funeral services over my lifetime and as a former active-duty Staff Sgt. in the U.S. Army, it drives home.

While I’ve been out of the military service for some time, yesterday, after launching PhotoTherapy.org, memories of some of those days came back when an old friend, former barracks roommate and military buddy, James Campos, registered as a PhotoTherapy.org community member.

I thought about the days we served together during the drug war (Operation Support Justice) while on active-duty for the U.S. Army in the early 1990’s. James was there before I arrived. In fact he had gone through the whole Noriega conflict. I had arrived afterwards from Germany, via Desert Storm.

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The Deer Hunter

It’s that time of year where the guns are cleaned and oiled , the war paint is applied, the long johns are pulled-up, the battery-powered socks are turned on as deer hunters flock to their leases in search of that prize-point buck. Coming from Texas and spending part of my life on my grandfather’s ranches, I’m very familiar with this time of year though I was always lucky, as back in my youth, hunting permits where cheap as “landowners and their families” enjoyed “exempt” status and were even issued “doe permits,”—no deer lease required for our family, just some salt and peppered, pan-fried “backstrap.”

Today with a technology consumed busy life I find myself with no time to hunt but enjoy reminiscing about the days of hunting deer, rattlesnake, javelinas (wild South Texas hog), cotton tails, jack rabbits and even cubbies of quail. Though I must admit, when I see today’s hunter I think about how my grandfather would quip and snipe at how hunters have evolved from trackers to stalkers as they sit in their deer blinds quietly waiting for that buck they’ve been fattening with feed corn for the past few months. Hunting has become as commercialized as Christmas to the point that today’s hunter is better termed a techno hunter, much like fisherman with their sonar detectors for the school of fish.
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Everyone is a Photographer Today

Technology today seems to make everyone a photographer. The introduction of inkjet printers and digital cameras in cell phones seems to make everyone believe they can contribute to the royalty-free market. While I encourage the gospel of photography and love to see new photographers evolve, the evolution of a slow photography market didn’t start recently with the current economic state and the evolution of digital cameras. Though it should take some credit, the real dilemmas facing photography started before digital cameras in the late 1970’s when the first one-hour mini-labs entered the market, thus creating a slow, chain reaction as photographers and the photo industry today scramble for new ways to survive.

When the first mini-labs entered the market, from the Nortisu QSS systems to the smaller KIS systems, the face of photography changed. Some may argue it all started with the Canon AE-1 a few years before, but in realty, the AE-1 only forced camera manufacturers to spend more money on research and development for cameras that provided more than manual modes of operation.

These one-hour, photofinishing, assembly-line machines opened the door for a new market, initially mom and pop photofinishing labs that would evolve into photo studios (by offering passport photos and baby pictures), photo copying factories and even camera stores. The long-standing camera stores, which rarely made profits on actual camera bodies (low turn-over inventory items) and only on point of sale and peripherals products like filters and frames were either forced into photofinishing and adding their own photo studios, thus ultimately competing against their own customer—the professional photographer. [Read more]

The Many Characters of Chairs

Chairs come in many shapes and forms and are constructed from an almost limitless variety of materials. This makes them a great posing aid for models. Don’t get caught up in believing all chairs have to have four legs. While working in the Virgin Islands, I recently photographed a model sitting on a palm tree that came out almost horizontally before it rose vertically—thus it was a great chair. (Though you must be careful when sitting a scantily clad model on a tree; there can be ants or other bugs!)

Chairs are filled with character. Sometimes the chair back itself has a nice carving that accentuates the model’s pose. If the back of the chair has vertical slats, they can literally point the viewer to the model’s face—especially when the model is straddling the chair and facing backwards (which is a great way to hide the tummy)!
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