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On-Location
Shooting Tips
(Some tips learnt from the very good book "Location Photography Secrets") By
Nelson Tan
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1. You determine the framing, the perspective, the camera settings and the exposure and the exposure/colour balance based on the lighting conditions you experience and the film you use. You can make a photo speak volumes by controlling only these aspects of a shot. 2. When shooting projected images on a wall by a projector, choose your film to suit the light source (i.e. tungsten). If using any flash in the same scene, use filter on the flash accordingly. And let the projected image burn-in into the scene. 3. If there is fluorescent light source in the scene, use 30cc-40cc magenta correction filters to filter out the greenish cast of the fluorescent. This applies only to daylight films, not tungsten. If possible, you may wish to switch off the fluorescent lighting and use alternative lighting. Another alternative would be to use print films, as they can be colour corrected during printing. A good choice is Fuji Reala, as it has a third layer of coating to simulate human vision of colours. No matter you are using print or slide films, a general rule is that faster speed films are less affected by the colour cast. 4. You can use tungsten film creatively. A scene in daylight can be made to look like a dawn or dusk scene by underexposing the tungsten film by 2 stops. The daylight would be changed to a deep blue cast. Alternatively, you may not carry blue gels for your flash. So you just use tungsten source for the objects you want lighted correctly, and use unfiltered flash for the rest of the scene. The subject will turn out properly exposed, while the rest of the scene will be covered in blue lighting. Great for that high-tech look. 5. A magenta filter may correct for fluorescent lighting, but those parts not lighted by fluorescent will take on a magical magenta cast. This works especially well for skylines. The fluorescent lighting in the office blocks will be corrected for while the sky will be spectacularly magenta in colour. 6. To get the right shot, you want to get a picture that tells a story - one that communicates a clear, straightforward message. This message can be one that has a clear emotional impact on the viewer, or it can simply be narrative. It can be a simple narrative, like "Here's a great sunset picture for you to enjoy", or a complex one like "Here's the man who's hand-building your Porsche. Look at the dedication to the job, so it must be a fine car you're buying". It may be a simple addition, such as including something that gives a hint about the person or a place, which adds creatively to the experience of viewing and understanding. It's up to you to translate that scene into an effective image. You want the viewers to share the way that you felt when you first came across the scene, eg. the grandness of a hotel lobby, the majestic powers of a mountain, or the peaceful landscape. 7. When shooting a portrait, it is almost instinctive for a person to fold his arms across his chest undirected. So, to avoid this tense pose, give the person something to do with his arms. For example, he could be holding a tea-cup, files, tools or his spectacles. If he really wants to fold his arms, make sure that the fingers can be seen over the opposite upper arm, rather than tucked below. 8. Human or other well-recognized objects can be used in the scene to denote the scale of the surroundings. Using humans also add in a sense of activity. 9. The Annie Leibovitz method of day-light fill-in soft-box flash is very popular for portraiture in company annuals. You can use battery powered strobes unit to balance the fill-in with the daylight. An example of a popular setup is the Norman 200B/400 with Chimera light-boxes or umbrellas and warming gel. The key to making such fill-in work properly is to fill-in naturally. Balance the background with the flash. One tip to do it is to wait for a slightly darker sky, such as dawn or evening.
Copyright (C) 2002 Nelson Tan All rights reserved. |