Cell Phone Photographers

I never really minded the camera phone until the other night.

I recently was hired to shoot some photographs for an art performance in Forest Park, The Springfield Spectacle performed by the Double Edge Theatre. It was an amazing performance, the crowd, not so much.

I was asked to not use a flash as it would distract the performers, understandably so. I did not use a flash, it was at night, after the sun went down, very dimly lit with action, not the easiest thing to shoot by far but I made it work.

The crowd was asked not to use a flash as it distracts the performers. I don't think one person heard that announcement.

Many people in the crowd were snapping away with the flash blinding everyone around them. Seeing it was so dark, one could not really see the actors on their cell phone so why not move to within a foot of the actor, that's not distracting, right?

Now I am generally courteous of people taking photos with their cell phones but this got ridiculous. I could not walk 2 feet without stepping in front of a cell phone photographer. So I finally lost my courteous demeanor and stepped where ever I needed to be.

In reality, what is that person going to do with that photo? (it's probably really bad anyway with the extreme low light) They will post it to social media sites and in 2 months will delete it off their phone.

I am not crying or whining. I don't need a whaaaaambulance. I am here to ask you to pay attention. When you see a photographer with credentials, or 2 cameras or looks professional, he or she is there to do a job. They are either getting paid to photograph the event or were sent there by the media. Be courteous of them and listen to instructions.

I actually had a women tell me at a recent wedding "The photographers are always in the way" uhhhh what? We are getting paid to capture that day. You bet I am going to get in your way if it means losing "the shot"!

So please, pay attention and be courteous to us photographers...I will.

Thanks for reading,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Look Around

Recently, I have been wandering around Springfield taking pictures. Did you know there is a Titanic Memorial in Springfield Massachusetts? I didn't.

I started by driving around and really paying attention to what is around. There really are some absolutely beautiful areas in Springfield.

Now I am wandering the main streets and side streets and the parks of Springfield after my drive around town to investigate areas.

It is pretty amazing what you see when you look around. Whether you are in a bustling downtown setting or a suburb or out in the country, look around.

There is some amazing architecture in Springfield, some stunning homes and some gorgeous views. A lot of very nice public art, paintings, sculptures, monuments can be seen all around the City.

Don't be scared, open your eyes and really look at things.

Beauty is everywhere!

Look up, look around pay attention to what is surrounding you and you may just see something you have never noticed before right in front of you!


That's all for this week...thoughts to ponder.

Thanks,

E

Kappy's Keepers

A Day In The Life Of A Photographer

My photography day usually starts the night before the shoot. I charge all my batteries, format my memory cards, and check my equipment such as cameras, flashes, and any other gear. Make sure I have everything I need (run out to Hunt's Photography if I don't) and it is where I put it.

I try to get a good nights rest but usually don't as I am already going over the shoot in my head as I lay down.

The day of, I pack all my gear, and head off early. It helps me relax a little more when I am there way ahead of time. I can walk around a bit and find a place to unpack.

Depending on the type of shoot, I either unpack all my necessary gear or just put what I need together and strap on my camera(s). When the client(s) get there I will than get down to the task at hand of capturing whatever it is that they may want. Pose the subjects, shoot, adjust, pose, shoot, adjust...you get the point.

The time goes by really quick, quicker than I expected. (unless it is an event, than my feet know how long it has been)

Once we are done, anywhere from an hour to twelve hours, I pack up and head back home. This is where the eye blurring work starts.

Depending on when I get home, I usually (almost always, as I am excited to see how the images came out) upload the images to an external hard drive.

I will then start the process of editing the images, anywhere from 100 to 1000 images depending on the length of the shoot. I have shot as many as 2000 photos in one day of shooting. That's not to say I used all 2000 images but that's a lot of images to go through. I will import all the images into the Lightroom photo editing software and take a look at all the images. I flag the images I want to edit and go to work. This is a long process. Again, I have spent as much as 8 hours sitting in front of my computer editing images from one shoot. I will say, that was the 2000 image shoot, the International Festival in West Springfield Massachusetts, which by the way will be back for Memorial Day weekend in 2017 and I will be back there again capturing the fun.

I really enjoy the whole process. I like to capture the beautiful images of any occasion and I do also enjoy the editing process. The little tweaks to make the image shine are something I look forward to.

There was one day I had when I was shooting a wedding as a second shooter in Agawam Massachuetts and a lightning storm kicked up after dark. Of course I wanted to grab some shots of the lightning but my job was to photograph the wedding. Once the wedding ended, around 11:00PM,(I started at the brides house at 2:00PM) I packed up and went out to my truck to find the lightning was still going on. I then changed, set up my tripod and stood at the country club taking photos of the lightning. I finally got home around 2:30AM. Needless to say I did not do any computer work that morning.

The days can be long but they are fun and fulfilling.

Thanks for reading,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Crop

Cropping...there are a few different thoughts on cropping a photo. "Don't do it", "Sure, crop away", "Meh"

I always try to get the shot right in the camera and not crop a photo in post production but sometimes you have to. When I do crop in post it is usually minimal. Also, when you crop an image you loose those pixels you cropped out therefore loosing detail. Today, with the sensors in most new DSLRs the loss is minimal but if you crop heavily and than print a large photo you might see the loss.

You must remember that most DSLR cameras capture the image in a 2:3 ratio where as an 8 x 10 photo is a 4:5 ratio. That doesn't work. When you print a picture from your camera, most likely it doesn't look exactly like what you see on either your camera screen or computer screen, some of the image gets cropped off. 

One way to fight the crop is to shoot "loose". Don't fill the entire frame with your subject. Leave some room around your subject to anticipate the crop. Another way to fight the crop is to simply print the photo in a different size. (4×6″, 6×9″, 8×12″, 12×18″) 

Now there are times when you have a project that you have to shoot for the crop. For example; I have a potential project where I need square image blocks for the photos. When I shoot the images I have to remember that the image will be cropped to a square and I have to compose the photo properly. So in this particular instance I will shoot "loose".

This here is how I want the shot to be printed;

This is how I took the shot

I composed the shot in a way to get exactly what I wanted when the image was cropped. This is a way to "cheat" the size constraints of the print.

As I said, I always try to get it right i the camera but there are always exceptions.

Thanks again for your support,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Adapting

Adapting.

In photography you are forever adapting to many, many things and if you can't, well you need to learn.

Lighting is the biggest thing you need to be able to adapt to. Bright light, low light, no light, sunny skies, cloudy skies, shadows, reflections, surrounding colors and I could go on and on with light. You need to be able to figure out what to do in any given lighting situation to get the proper exposure. Do I need to limit the light? Do I need to manipulate the light? Do I need to create light? Do I need to add light? Again, adapting correctly to the lighting will get you the right exposure. There are many different ways to deal with light. Shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings, f stop, light modifiers, reflectors etc. Adapting the right technique for the right situation will result in a quality product.

Every photographer has a "style". When you look at some of my images you might say, "That's a Kappy's Keepers shot". Yes, I do have a certain style to my photography but one must learn how to adapt to the client's style.

Perfect example, I recently started shooting an extremely talented magician, Nick Blais. (who absolutely blows me away I might add) He has a certain "style" to his magic and his look. The key is to adapt to his style and not intrude with my own. Nick has a darker, down and dirty, up close style of magic and I wanted to bring that through with my photos. Here are a few examples from Nick's rehearsals;

For the shots of Nick, I chose to shoot from the side as it creates shadows on him and adapts to Nick.s style.

Adapting to your surroundings is another one. Are you in an area or situation that does not allow flash photography? Are you in a tight location that does not allow you to move much? Is the ceiling so high you cannot properly bounce your flash? Again, I could go on an on. 

Basically, photography is all about adapting. I feel I am fortunate enough to be able to adapt and work through any situations I come across. In order for you to get a good shot you need to get the shot. If you don't shoot A LOT, and practice A LOT, you won't know how adapt to get the shot when a different situation arises.

I found I also need to adapt in various art shows. I had some of my work in a Pop Up Shop in Springfield over the Christmas Holiday and after the fact learned that most of the items that sold were in a certain price range. Next time I am in that situation I will adapt my pieces to fit the shop.

There is just so much that one has to adapt to in photography, I can't mention it all here. If you are shooting just keep adapting to your specific situation and get the shot.

Again, thanks for reading,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 Review

I have been using the Sigma APO 70-200mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM large aperature, telephoto lens for quite a while now so I felt I could give you guys an honest real world review of this awesome lens.

This lens is basically my go to lens. It is a bit of a beast at 3.15 lbs but it is well worth it's weight.

I will start with some tech stuff. It has an Optical Stabilization (OS) system built in which helps with lens shake and also has Sigma's HSM (Hyper-Sonic Motor) auto focus. The minimum focus distance is 55.1 inches and it has a large 77mm filter size. It's about 3 1/4 inches wide and close to 8 inches long, it's big! It is designed for a full frame sensor and will work with a crop sensor but will translate to roughly 112-320mm.

This lens as I said earlier is basically always on one of my camera bodies. I have shot weddings, concerts, events, wildlife, action sports, portraits, well, just about everything with the Sigma 70-200. It has a very crisp focus in every type of lighting but really shines around f4. It does hunt for focus in very low light, but so do other lenses. The focus is fast and the motor is very quiet. This thing is a fantastic addition to my bag and I do not leave the house without it.

One of the things about using this lens is, I love to get the genuine reactions. This lens allows me to be far enough from the subject for me not to be seen and get the genuine emotion, not a posed shot.

So if you are looking for a good zoom, this is it.

I hope you found this review helpful.


As always, thanks for playing along,


E

Kappy's Keepers

Travelling

When I travel, I usually like to travel as lightly as possible. With camera gear that is not so easy.

I carry all my camera gear in a backpack, for now, with the possible exceptions being battery chargers and the GoPro mounts. I would suggest not to pack any camera bodies or lenses in stowed luggage as they might get broken or vanish. It really helps to have quality camera carrying equipment as it is specifically designed to do it's job

My gear usually consists of; Nikon D5300 body, Nikon D90 body, GoPro Hero 3+ Black, GoPro Hero 4 Silver, Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 lens, Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens, Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens and possibly a few other lenses, a QuikPod Selfie Extreme stick, 6 battery chargers, 2 Yongnuo Speedlights with diffusers, about a dozen AA batteries, 5 Nikon and 6 GoPro batteries, 6 Micro SD cards, 6 SD cards, both a Single and a double BackRapid camera sling, a Manfrotto tripod and cleaning supplies.

Believe it or not, most of this gear fits into a LowePro 400AW backpack. This pack is specifically designed to carry camera gear and has adjustable dividers to accommodate many different items..

Now for a family vacation, I will cull my gear down a bit to 2 bodies, both Sigma Lenses, both GoPros and the mounts, a single BlackRapid camera sling and the appropriate batteries. The theory behind the 2 camera bodies and 2 GoPros is if you need 1 take 2. If you have one body or 1 GoPro and it breaks down, you have none so as the Boy Scouts say "Be Prepared".

I know it sounds like a lot to tote around, but when I want/need quality images, that is what I have to do.

Well, that is all for now.

Thanks for stopping by,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Setting Up

The past couple of weeks I have had some pretty cool stuff happen at Kappy's Keepers.

I was contacted to change out the images in the lobby of the MassLive Building in Downtown Springfield a couple of weeks ago. I went to talk to the building manager on a Tuesday afternoon and she asked if it could be up by Friday morning as they had an important guest from Europe coming in. On Wednesday, I put together and delivered 19 matted 8 X 10 prints and 1 24 X 36 canvas for the lobby. This was tough because just about everything I had on hand was earmarked for another project but it worked and the lobby looks awesome!

Yesterday, Monday, I delivered and hung 48 different pieces at the same building for a display on the 3rd floor in a community space. The pieces consisted of 8 X 10 framed and matted prints, a few 8 X 10 prints on canvas, 5 X 7 framed prints, 11 X 14 framed and prints on canvas, a few metal prints, a print on glass, a few prints on Gator Board and a 30 X 40 print on canvas. It was not an easy job laying out, arranging and hanging these pieces but I think I nailed it.

I am hoping to have a reception for the display in the near future for you all to have an up close and in person look at my finished products. I would like to thank all that have supported my efforts to get to where I am at this point.

It feels really good to know that my images may brighten someone's day as they head to or from work. I feel very fulfilled when I see my work somewhere else other than my wall. I hope you all enjoy my images and thanks for the positive vibes. 

Thanks for playing along,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Keep on learning

You are never too old to learn something new and you will never know everything! Especially when it comes to photography.

I still consider myself a novice photographer at best but I have been told I am to hard on myself. I don't claim to know everything or even a quarter of everything. I enjoy learning new techniques and new tricks for creating images. It inspires me to move further.

Lat week I went to a lighting workshop at Hunt's Photography shop in Holyoke Massachusetts. The presenter was Rick Friedman from Boston. What an awesome time. Rick is a well known Photojournalist who has been published in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, USA Today, The Guardian, Discovery and many other publications and has produced over 75 book and magazine cover. He was graceful enough to lets us blind him with light all day as our test subject.

He went through basic on camera flash all the way to studio lighting with multiple light sources. Rick is a very good speaker and has enough energy to go all day. He brought enough gear for us to use that would have filled the store I came away from the workshop feeling confident and ready to try some of the techniques out.

Continually learning is essential in photography as well as many other things in life. Whatever you enjoy, try to learn something new and than put it into use.

I went home after the workshop and immediately took out my camera and flash and began to try different techniques and tricks at home. It makes me smile when I get a different type of shot that I really like.

This shot was taken in a completely dark room. I wanted the glow from the iPad on my Father's face but also some detail from him as well.

Photography is all about light. Creating light, using light, manipulating light and understanding light. Once you understand light you can start to create some pretty cool images.

This shot was in a hotel lobby which was had plenty of ambient light which I did not want. I had to eliminate the ambient light then produce just enough soft light to light up only Rylee.  

This is what they call a hair light. There is a flash behind the subject shooting directly at me to produce the "glow" and another light source which is the black box you can see on the left.

I am thankful I am in a position where I can continue to learn about photography and better my skills as a photographer.

If you ever get a chance to listen to Rick Friedman, do it...he is worth your time and is very inspiring!


Thanks for reading,

See ya next week,

E


Kappy's Keepers

Fireworks

With the Independence Day holiday behind us I am sure many of you saw some fireworks over the long weekend. I have seen some pretty cool shots and some poor shots. This post I will share my settings and technique for getting some good firework shots.

 My first attempt was at the International Festival over the Memorial day weekend at the Eastern States Fairgrounds in West Springfield Massachusetts where they had 5 night of awesome fireworks. I took those shots with both my Nikon D90 with a 24-70mm f2.8 Sigma lens and the Nikon D5300 with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens. I pretty much used the spray and pray technique. I shot a ton of rapid fire pictures with a fairly slow shutter speed of anywhere between 1/25th of a second all the way up to around 1/100th of a second. This speed is almost fast enough to stop the action but not quite. They came out cool but look is a little different than I was hoping for. My aperture was set around f11 with an ISO of 200.

I shot at the East Longmeadow fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend and used a different technique than the first time.

I used my Nikon D5300 with the Sigma 24-70 f2.8 lens along with a tripod and a shutter control cord. My camera was set at f10 with an ISO of 200 and my shutter was set on Bulb. For those of you that don't know what the Bulb setting is, it basically holds the shutter open until you close it. You depress the shutter button and hold it down for the desired amount of time than release the button which closes the shutter. This allows the you to capture the entire firework shot or multiple shots in one frame. I held the shutter open anywhere from 3 seconds to 15 seconds depending on how many explosions I wanted to get. My focus was also set on manual. I moved the focus on the lens to infinity and then bumped it back a bit.

I would hear the cannon fire off the firework and depress the shutter control button then wait until the firework bloomed fully to release the button. I held it open for multiple blossoms as well. A tripod and shutter release cord or remote is essential for this type of shot as any movement from the camera will be seen with such a long exposure.

This is the type of look I was looking for.

This shot I held open for 2 firework  blossoms

Firework shots are also fairly easy to create composite images in post processing as well. The following is an example of a composite from the East Longmeadow fireworks;

This was 3 different images combined to make one final image with Photoshop.

Fireworks are fun to shoot and as long as you have the right equipment your shots should be solid. The settings I shared are a good starting point and you can make some small adjustments if needed as you go.

I hope you liked the info and thanks for reading,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Prints

As you may or may not know, I have a showing of my work in the MassLive Building in Downtown Springfield coming up and I have recently have had a lot of images printed on different types of media.

When trying to decide what to print on or what type of print to purchase, take into consideration where the finished product is going to go. Canvas doesn't reflect much light but framed prints, acrylic, glass and some metal prints will. The reflection might hinder your ability to see the image clearly and enjoy the piece.

When I first started out, I had my images printed on photo paper and canvas and than branched out to acrylic, glass and metal. Different types of media lend themselves to different types of images.

First the photo paper. I use this for smaller prints and matted prints such as 5 X 7, 8 X 10 or even 11 X 14 although I do have some prints as large as 16 X 20 but they are also mounted on something called Gatorboard. (Gatorboard is a type of backing similar to foam core but more dense and rigid) The photo paper in my opinion is good for framed artwork and mounted prints.

Canvas, adds a slight texture to the image and not all photos look great on canvas. I have some as small as 8 X 10 but the canvas lends itself to larger pieces. I did an image from the Florida Keys on a 30 X 40 canvas and it looks fantastic. If you have an area where there is direct light that seems to reflect off of a framed image, a canvas print might be the ticket as there is not much light that bounces off the canvas.

The acrylic adds depth to the image and you need to really choose the right image for acrylic. This media can be expensive as well. It holds up well as the image is actually printed on the backside of the acrylic so it is  also protected with the acrylic. Bright light might reflect off of the acrylic and make the image hard to see but it is a great media for the right photo.

Glass looks very similar to the acrylic. The image is printed on a backing which is than adhered to the back side of the glass. This look also adds depth and a lot of gloss with an almost 3D look to it. Glass can get fairly expensive as well but also can look wonderful.

Metal prints are now my favorite. I now use White House Custom Color for all my metal prints. I have a few printed from other companies but the WHCC metal prints are by far my favorite. They start off with printing a white background on the metal and than print the image over the background. The result is nothing short of gorgeous. The light bounces off the white background and lights up the colors in the image and if the image is in sunlight, it will change with the moving sun. It has a lot of depth to it and I absolutely love their work. When I opened up my first one I told my wife I didn't want to print on anything else.

I use quality photo labs such as White House Custom Color, Nations Photo Lab and AdoramaPix. Even your paper prints will look and last better from a good quality photo lab.

So when you are looking to put some art on your wall, really think about where it will hang and what look you are going for so you can thoroughly enjoy your piece for years to come.

Thanks for reading and see you next week,

E

Kappy's Keepers

Photographers

It occurred to me the other night, photographers are just like any other occupation or organization.

There are many different types of photographers, many different styles and different disciplines. I can appreciate a good shot no matter who took it, or what equipment it was taken with but just like every other profession, there are those who don't. I have always said, "A good photograph is a good photograph is a good photograph", but I guess everyone doesn't feel that way. I may not like a different style, but I certainly can appreciate a good photo.

Even with photographers, there are the "cliques" and different groups. There are the people who want to be there, the ones who have to be there and the ones who are there for the wrong reasons, oh, and the robots. I have met many photographers and the vast majority are helpful, friendly and very nice people but as with everything, there are the few exceptions.

You can tell the ones who want to be there very easily, they are simply having fun while getting it done. The ones who have to be there are the grumpy faced, first ones to leave type. The ones that are there for the wrong reasons, don't seem to care about anyone else but themselves, rude or arrogant, and generally unfriendly. The robots just go through the motions.

Now, I am not bashing anyone but just pointing out something I recently noticed. I guess what I am getting at is that no matter what you do or where you go there will be different "groups".

Example; I was shooting an event this weekend and someone commented on my camera basically stating it is not professional gear. Again, a good photo is a good photo is a good photo. Just because someone somewhere classifies a camera as a professional body does that mean you can only use that camera if you are a photographer? These are the people I stay away from as they are real downers. Photography is meant to be fun, uplifting and fulfilling. I thoroughly enjoy whatever I am shooting.

Ron Lemelin, a photographer friend, has kind of taken me under his wing and I have had the pleasure of working with him now on some shoots. I am very pleased to be working with Ron as he makes everything so easy. Ron is the guy that you can tell wants to be there, loves what he does and is very professional but fun as well. This is the type of experience every new photographer needs, not getting cracked on by someone who thinks he/she is better and more important than they really are.

Lemelin Photography

So, just have fun and enjoy whatever you do, no matter what it is. Try not to let the "other" groups bring you down and impact your experience and be the "better"person. And remember, Smile! (a little shout out to Ron there in case ya didn't notice)

Thanks for reading!

E

Kappy's Keepers

The Moment

As most of you know, I worked and shot at the International Food Festival in West Springfield Massachusetts over the Memorial Day weekend. I took a few shots that really exemplify what photography is all about to me, and I want to write on this for a minute.

To me, photography is about preserving and portraying the emotion from that exact time in history. Photographers try to capture the soul of the subject which they are shooting. Whether it be a person, animal, objects or landscape, there is an essance to that image. I think photographers see the world from a different perspective and are able to actually see the soul of the subject matter.

Take a piece of paper and cut a 1 inch by 2 inch rectangle out of it. Now look through it. This is the view of a photographer. You need to portray a feeling within that 1x2 inch window. Some people have it...the "eye" for photography. It doesn't mean you have good eyes, it means you can see beyond the image and into the emotion of that scene. Most really good photographs bring out some sort of feelings or emotions for the viewer of the image.

This brings me to the images which I was speaking about.

The first shot is my daughter watching my favorite guitar player, Jeff Pitchell, wish me a happy birthday on stage. Now the image is personal to me but I believe it captured her pure emotion at the exact right moment in time. The glint of the tear in her eye makes the image. I edited it to be a little darker around the edges to make her stand out.

This next image is of a friend, Bobby Shedd. This was taken during the singing of the National Anthem on Memorial Day. Bobby signing the National Anthem out in the crowd, head held high and his hat over his heart shows his pride for our country.

These next shots were taken during 2 minutes of silence on Memorial day of the event for all the fallen servicemen who fought and payed the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Now the next couple of photos are not from the event but do evoke some emotion and are good examples of what I have been talking about.

So, I know I went pretty deep this time but I felt like I needed to let you guys know what I actually feel photography is about. I do get emotional at times when I seethe image through the viewfinder and know I am going to capture something really poignant. It is a great feeling when I am able to capture and preserve that moment in time for people to enjoy for years to come.

See ya next week!

Thanks,

E

Kappy's Keepers