moved

i have moved the blog to www.photographers.adeoshodi.com

anatomy of headshot | dermascope magazine publication

Gina, Dr. G Makeup Artist  recently wrote an article for Dermascope Magazine. if you have followed our work www.adeandgina.com you are aware that she is both a  physicaian and makeup artist who has used both her passions, in treating skin as well as makeup. she needed a headshot to go alongside her article so i built a studio in our living room, using pillows, stools and all sort of mcguyver equiptment to produce a professional headshot.

the purpose of this blog post is to:
1) show the skill, large amount of time and expertise in producing one photograph. while clients believe that you simply snap a photo. this shows how it took 5 hour to get one..
2) if a photographer has the know how, a good photograph can be produce almost anywhere


This took a total of five hours and 6 minutes:

• 2 hours for building and testing studio lights in our living room
• 1 hr of actual photographing 
• 2 hours to load file onto computer, select the best ones, then select the best one out of the best and process it. 

OUR LIVING ROOM

this took about two hours to put together

EXPLANATION OF TOOLS INVOLVED

everything had to be tested and retested to make sure the lights

and the reflectors were in perfect ratio and not over powering 

each other.

HOW LIGHT BOUNCES TO LIGHT THE SUBJECT'S FACE

there are two flashes involved. one to light the face and the second to light the hair.

the hair light also lights the side of the face. the purpose of the

hair light is to create a visual sepration between subject and background

PROCESSING PART #1

this program handles the file and is similar to a dark room where film is developed. the average person cannot process this and it must be done professionally. if a client asks for their DIGITAL negatives from their photographer, this is what they would be getting. which most photographers don't give out or show because its useless since the client does not have the capability to manipulate/view or process the file.

here you can see a few adjustments made, in terms of color correction.  with professional digital cameras, we must set and control the color. the light in the room is "somewhat" different color from the flash. when the flash bounces off the ground it creates a different color light. so one must know how to set your camera to control the color so it makes the skin look like it should.  the reason most photographers don't show the behind the scenes is because people believe if you have to do so many corrections that you are not a good photographer. that far from the truth. during the film days, in the darkroom with the use of chemicals everything was corrected.

PROCESSING PART #2

after color correction, the file is then opened in photoshop to remove blemishes. any stray hairs, brighten eye, lips and hair saturation.

 a map of what need to be corrected

notice on the right hand corner shows how everything is processed using different layers.

THE FINAL IMAGE

PUBLICATION | DERMASCOPE MAGAZINE

on being asked to work for free

dear photographers,

stop complaining about people asking you to work for free, if that's happening for the most part it is your fault.  why?

• the presentation of your brand is weak or inconsistent.

• you can afford to hire yourself

• you have not done your due diligence to educate  clients

this does not mean once in a while people don't ask me to work for free, this does not mean that i don't work for free.  what it means is that i work for free when it is beneficial to my company or worth my time. even the $10,000 plus wedding photographers work for free but when it benefits them. 

one of the best ways you can avoid people asking you to work for free is to strengthen your brand.

brand

there are entire books written about this but i will go ahead and list a few premises:

• you are your brand: 

• appearance matters, you should be well dressed and groomed in a manner that's consistent with the message of your brand.

• website, logo, email should speak high volumes and be consistent

• have great work and it should be well presented

• impeccable customer service: how well do you answer the phone from the beginning of the interaction?  are you returning emails on time? are you delivering on time? etc.

• your brand should be consistent: presentation, marketing materials, social media, pamphlets, website, invoices, your attitude, the way you dress and speak et al.

...and the list can go on

you can afford to hire yourself

n.b consumers associate price with value.  i cannot afford to hire myself, i am too expensive. i’ve spend, sometimes 15 hrs a day honing my craft, i have read hundreds of books, and study thousands of videos, inturned, carried other photographer's bags, paid for and attend seminars, workshops fell and rise and worked extremely hard. my craft is worth what i am charging. the time i spend documenting other families is valuable time spent away from my own family. my time, expertise, and the art i produce is valuable. if you are not charging your worth, how can you expect people to respect your time?

education

the key is to never say no to a person asking but rather to do your due diligence and educate them as to why you won't work for free. i have had this happen before and based on the education i provided, it turned into event work, a wedding, and more event work from the entire family.  don't be afraid to let people know the cost of doing business, also that you pay insurance, and taxes. educate.

keep kewl!

using direct sunlight through a window

as wedding photographers, we love to use window light for brides and grooms. it is one of the most tasteful light sources and easiest light sources to master. it easiest to use on overcast days and evenings, but it can be difficult when there is direct sunlight through a window. wedding photographers tend struggle because they expose properly for the face but blow out the bride's dress or over expose the groom's shirt.  here i will teach my method of using direct sunlight through a window, it is easy to set up and does not take more than 3 minutes.

tools:

1.     knowing the basics of exposure (i.e. the brighter the scene the more your meter should be reading on the + side and vice versa)
2.     light meter
3.     nylon (i bought mine from B&H)4.     posing: turn the head to the light and turn the body away from the light (this helps to light the face properly and there will be dramatic fall off on the white dress so it will not be blown out
5.     posing and shooting: shoot on the shadow/short side, this will slim the face down.  the broad side, will make the face look bigger.
  

how

1.    thumb tack the nylon over the window, this will make the window into a giant soft box by evening out the light. 

2.    set camera to matrix metering

3.    use your light meter and meter for the face.  if you don’t have a light meter assess the light scene and dial your meter to the plus side, if and only if the scene contains a lot of white. ( a good educational video that i recommend is photocafe’s perfectexposure for digital photography by tim cooper , it teaches the zone system of exposure that was invented by anslem adam 

4.    pose the bride or groom  by turning their face to the light and body away from the light

5.    set your camera to readings of your light meter and shoot.

this shows the window without the nylon  ISO: 200, f/3.6, 1/200 sec. the red highlights indicates areas that are blown out.

 nylon hung over window with harsh/direct sunlight

below, nylon over the window

ISO: 200, f/6.3, 1/200 sec. 

note the light is even and softer, as well as the face is properly exposed and the dress is not blown out. 

some hotel rooms where the bride and groom gets prepare, the windows have a sheer material behind the curtins. so there is no need to hang nylon, ther is already a giant softbox created for you. 

creating bokeh backgrounds

here, i'll teach you the basics on how to create bokeh backgrounds, the technique becomes simple, after you practice, practice, pracitce and learn the basics.

you must practice this over and over before you decide to do it at a wedding or engamenent session. i don't believe in talent, or genius, those things are overrated, i believe in practice, i believe in practicing for long hours, daily.

how

1. meter for background lights (photo 1 that would be the fairy/christmas lights "A"
in photo 3 that would be the window lights of the buildings of New York City) a simiar concept is used in photo 5, using the sparklers "E")
2. under expose the background lights
3. add a video light or flash  (B, D or F.) to light the face. in photo 3, 4, 5, & 6  either my wife or assistant is crouching behind the couple with a videolight or flash

practice and enjoy...

five tips for great wedding vendor relationships

...for brides, grooms, and vendors from the perspective of a wedding photographer.

my bride and i are both wedding vendors: ade and gina, i am a wedding photographer and she is a bridal makeup artist. as wedding vendors who recently got married, here we will provide a perspective from both side of the fence. when we got married a few days ago, we knew what to expect from vendors and how we should act because of we are in the industry. vendors in the industry tend to forget or don’t know that our business thrives in not just making immediate money from the bride and groom we are currently serving; it is also from the referrals they send us after their wedding.  if we provide excellent and friendly customer service, the bride and groom become customers for life, as well as they refer us to their friends.  the vendors who fail, to retain this simple concept, also fail as vendors for that particular wedding. here are five tips for brides on how to deal with vendors as well as how vendors shoudl deal with brides:

1. vendors don't get upset when bride and groom changes an aspect of your service:  even if it cuts into your earnings, simply smile and move on or offer an alternative service. if you get frustrated at any point and appear to be angry this will give a negative vibe on your part and more than likely they will not recommend you. simply have your contracts in order and charge your worth. so if anything is cancelled your worth for the remaining service is properly compensated.  by sharp contrast our florist bill of deihl flowers was extremely patient with gina. she changed the original bridal party bouquets, and finally added more flowers in the end. he was available to meet with her more than once, spoke to her by phone and catered to what she needed.

2. vendors go above and beyond:  as a wedding vendor i was taught, "the bride and groom is only your friend if you do what they want." there is truth to that but in my own practices i have taken a different approach. the bride and groom will respect your expertise and align themself with you vision; if you create an environment which shows that you know what you are doing, you are friendly and you provide a valuable service. as a vendor, in order to accomplish this: you must first educate the bride and groom as well as provide impeccable customer service.  our cake artist, cakes by margie when above and beyond. she created a chat group via text message because she knew gina (who did her own makeup by the way) and i were in different locations when she need to make suggestions or ask questions.  we told her our vision for our cake decorations (toppings), she gathered the materials, even though this was beyond her expertise and made them.  she reached out to a friend of hers, formed an alliance. said friend ended up providing the specialty bases for our cake, and base for our table vases. she did not wait for us to email her and ask questions, she reached out to us, send us educational videos and made different suggestions. iher actions made us feel like we were part of our own cake development, yet she still maintained her expertise and completed her artistic vision. which leads me to the next point.

3.  brides, trust your vendors expertise: even if you are skilled in the particular area, understand that it is their vision and this is why you hired them. brides as a collective, rarely ever get the chance to tell the dress maker how they want their wedding gown made. so why would they micromanage other vendors? why should they tell a photographer how they want their wedding shot? this does not mean that you should not get involve, simply state what you want and what’s very important to you and then let them work. i gave our Dj, Dj Kevin a list of songs thats special to us that we wanted played during the wedding that is special to us. i also told him to “ figure out when is best to play them based on your expert knowledge."  He did it so well that the bride and I danced almost the entire time.

another example, during reversal a few of the bridal party/groomsmen suggested where they should take photographs. being a wedding photographer, i knew they had no knowledge of lighting and light could easily change in the beautiful area they wanted to take photographs. so i quickly and respectfully interjected, "let adachi, [adachi photography] pick the spot."  it so happen the beautiful area where the brides maid and groomsmen  men wanted to go, was flooded with harsh sunlight by the time we were ready to take bridal party photographs.

4. brides treat your vendors like guest: simply because they are human beings. additionally, this has a ripple effect, if you treat them well they will work harder for you. i told my caterer, "make sure my vendors eat before my guest." now this may seem strange.  however, take for example: when i was interning to become a wedding photographer, some years ago; sometimes myself and the lead photographer would be scurried off in another room and fed after the guest had eaten. imagine this scenario, if dinner starts at 5pm and is finished serving by 5:40 and cake cutting or whatever starts right after. the people who are strongly responsible for making your day special (photographer, Dj, wedding planner, full day makeup artist, videographer)  are served at 5:45 and then has to 10 minutes to rush and eat and then get back to work. also note, if your wedding started at 1pm these vendors mentioned had to be up at around by 5am, travelling, preparing and arriving at LEAST 2 hrs early to the venue. Feed your vendors the same time as your guest or before, make sure they have a place to sit, it does not have to be in the same room as guest but make sure they are catered to. you want them to be ready to start back working immediately after dinner.

5. brides, tip your vendors: if you like your vendors services, tip them or send them gifts, let them know that they are appreciated.

a very special thank you to our dear friends dwayne blackman and clewin mcpherson who served as our master of ceremony and officiant.  lisa o’brien, songstress, and russell schmidt, guitarist as well as keturah for linens and most importantly our wedding planner judy edwards, your work was amazing!

posing, a lost art

"Paul" -  Jean Baptise Pigalle (1760)

wedding photographers, tend to say "i am a photojournalist, i don't pose couples." that tends to remind me of the statement: "i am a natural light photographer" which typically means, "i don't know how to use flash."

all the great wedding photographers know how to pose as well as how to shoot photojournalistic looking images. some may sell themselves as photojournalist; however, take a look at their editorial work and you will see their posing mastery.

photojournalism is a wonderful medium for capturing pictures at weddings; however, photographers have been using the medium as an excuse for their laziness for not learning how to pose. this is not a critique of photojournalism, this is a critique of laziness and the refusal to learn basic rules of posing. i will continuously mention photojournalism through out this blog post because it is tyically used in contrast as to why photographers don't learn posing. 

photography was developed in part by observing classical sculptors and painters. who understood how to pose the body so it can be most flattering to the eye. posing is a lost art that photographers have forgotten or given up on. one of the reasons i believe this is so, is because posing is a skill which takes a great deal of time to master.  those who pose bodies, know that they must pose the hands, spine, feet, eyes, fingers, chin, torso…all in one photograph, pretty much every part of the body. i'll present a situation for you where i believe posing becomes important:

“as a photographer, you are hired to photograph a small wedding, in the heart of wedding season, at a catering hall in new jersery. the  setting has decent looking decor with dreadful mixed lighting we photographers all dislike. the bride’s parents are religiously conservative and do not speak much to the grooms family. the groom does not want to kiss the bride as much out of respect for the conservativeness of the family. [there isn't much going on] you have severe limited time at the catering hall, because as you know these places are wedding factories and there is a wedding immediately in the reception area where you are photographing. the maitre'd interrupts your meal to tell you "let’s go, is time to cut the cake." she also interrupts your family portrait session to tell you to speed it up. she then interrupts your bride and groom portrait session, to tell you to speed it up, again. the bride ask for a few more photographs as guests are hurried out the hall and one of the cleaners purposely bumps you as a way of telling you to get out the hall; all because they want to speed up the wedding you are photographing, so as to clean up in time for the next wedding, right there after. [delicious moments for you to photograph aren't happening] during the reception, few people are dancing or interacting. also the bride is a bit heavy set."

David - " Michealangelo" (1501-04) 
Image courtesy of wikipedia

what would you do?  first thing, is to not complain and remember you are doing exactly what you love!: my personal mantra. so here is what i did. i took the bride and groom away from their families, and took them outside, posed them so that the bride can looks most flattering, and photographed them. [the result] bride: "i liked the ones [photographs] the most, when you took us outside."  i presented that situation because i wanted to show, that there wasn't much opportunity for photojournalistic moments. additionally, knowing the basics of posing helps to make those who don't have the type of bodies we see in the magazines to appear most flattering.

a wedding presents one million monkey wrenches, having every tool at your hand makes you better equipped to handle those wrenches and posing is one of those tools.

so the next question is: after i pose the couple, how do i not make it not look too "posey?" stay tuned for part ii of this blog post.