location diaries
location diaries, restuarant
01/13/09
I am going to show off a few tutorials in the new
year to describe a little bit better what a
location photographer actually does on a shoot and
the mental preparation that occurs outside of
controlled lighting situations (aka not the
studio). My first tutorial describes a companion
piece to a written restaurant review. This is a
common shoot for society magazines everywhere and
photographers everywhere, as such, it will help to
serve those of you either getting into the business
(hahaha, fat chance) or those well on their way as
a blueprint for how to work location with Nikon DX
system and CLS lighting.
A location shoot at a restaurant means two to three distinctly different types of photography, depending on the editors request. The first is people. Since I consider that the easy part I won’t really touch on the technical details too much, more the intellectual side. Odds are you can either shoot people indoor with a CLS flash setup or you can’t, in my experience there is really very little middle ground here. So, for the purposes of illustration, I will concentrate a little more on the harder part, the product, in this case, food. That means a macro setup and a backdrop, transported to location with minimal assembly.
For this shoot, the shot list will go something like this:
1) Principles of the restuarant... owner, maitre d’, and possibly wait staff.
2) Atmosphere. That means the interior of the restuarant with embellishments, like the candle setup, the wine rack, etc etc
3) Food. A panoply of different looks with macro, a white background because simple is always better, and it’s hard to go wrong with white.
Three groups of shots, three distinctly different types of photography... people, location, macro. Oh, I should mention I am going to do the entire shoot in less than an hour (@ 50 minutes shooting and 10 minutes post), if I spend more than an hour I consider my efforts a failure, as I need to shoot a few times like this a day in order to survive.
Equipment used is one S5pro, one D300, one D90. I have the zeiss 25mm ZF distagon mounted on the D300, a lensbaby on the S5, and the 18-55 VR on the D90. I use three cameras because I prefer not to change lenses in the field, and there is almost nothing I cannot shoot with said three lenses/bodies. I prefer DX to FX because of transportability, and the compactness of DX lenses. Everything is shot in RAW, processed in RAW Developer (mac only), and handed off to PSCS3 for film treatment via Alien Skin’s “Exposure 2” plugin. A SB-800 was used off camera for the one people shot I will present here.
Ok, on to the shoot...
When I arrive at location, I introduce myself to the principals (owner etc) and try and get a feel for the lighting. This restaurant was a windowless lounge atmosphere, dark and sophisticated, but a nightmare to shoot. To give you some idea of how bad the lighting was, my D90 at ISO 2500 was reading @1/20s at 18mm f/3.5 with the ambient light. DOH! This place was dark, a worst case scenario basically. Now, as a photographer these days, you must have no excuses and no one can see you sweat, otherwise people will sense weakness and not respond to direction. In this case, a meter reading would make many weak kneed photographers just pack up and go home with tail tucked between legs, but to be honest, with the new bodies, even if you were on the far side of Pluto, it’s possible to get a shot with CLS. For me, I make a mental picture when things get tough... I picture myself at the front of 1000 japanese eggheads with pocket protectors, the entire Nikon R&D staff! The thought of the engineering effort that went into my cameras gives me the strength to proceed, I don’t want to let down the Nikon and Fuji engineers. I say all this because, when you have to shoot people, it’s important that you command a presence and look like you know what you are doing, even if you don’t have a clue as to how you are going to get the shot. This is very important, indecision is a location photographers greatest enemy, you have to go in, get the shot, and get out as fast as possible. Be prepared to physically move people, chins, and stances. I like to think that when people are in front of your camera they belong to you, like dolls, even if it’s giselle bundchen or the president of the United States. The proprietor of this particular restaurant was old school Italian with a capitol “M”, not a person you actively pose, so again, there was difficulty ascertaining what moves I can make without being too bossy. It’s your shot though, so don’t be afraid.
Maitre d’, Nikon CLS sb-800 left of camera through a gary fong diffuser, triggered by D90 onboard flash, nikon 18-55 VR
Exact shot details:
Lens (mm): 18
ISO: 1250
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/60
Exp. Comp.: +0.3
Flash Comp.: -3.0
Program: Aperture Priority
Focus Mode: AF-S
White Bal.: AUTO
Look at those settings Batman! Let’s just say it will take you a few years before you find your ideal settings for a pitch black restaurant. I will save you some time and confusion by leaving it to you like this... be prepared to rack through as many settings for flash in as little time as possible, especially if you use a diffuser, as that knocks CLS to hell.
Ok, that was the easy part. Now, on to the food.
Location shooters studio
What the?
Yep, thats a studio. It may not be as nice as the one you see in the movies, but location shooters aren’t paid enough to afford real equipment :) What you see is a pair of 24*36 inch white mounting boards, available at any office supply store for @$10. If you can find an area of diffuse light, in this case the outdoor porch of the restaurant, you are all set, no flash is necessary.
Mussels Marinara
This shot is all Zeiss. I know it’s a lot of cash, but the Zeiss 25mm ZF distagon is the best DX lens I own for one simple reason, versatility. One the one hand, the Zeiss is a wonderful landscaper, on the other, it’s a 36mm DX macro lens! Much gets mentioned about bokeh these days, this is the Zeiss at f/5.6 very close to my subject, almost worth the $950 when you see shots like this :) The Zeiss can focus down to 1 inch from the lens, so extreme detail is its hallmark. When shooting food, get as close as possible!
Rigatoni and Cauliflower
No tripod needed. The white foamcore will do all the work for you, just make sure to check your rear LCD to make sure there are no unwanted reflections.
The client was billed for one hour, but don’t worry, I am not trying to run anyone out of the business, what I make in an hour most photographers are unlikely to make in a day.
Thus, my first iteration of location diaries is complete. I could show you the interior of the restaurant, but I think that anyone can do that, so I tried to stay focused on the stuff that is most difficult for the beginning pro and of the most interest to the advanced amateur. I hope this tutorial brings you useful information in the new year.
A location shoot at a restaurant means two to three distinctly different types of photography, depending on the editors request. The first is people. Since I consider that the easy part I won’t really touch on the technical details too much, more the intellectual side. Odds are you can either shoot people indoor with a CLS flash setup or you can’t, in my experience there is really very little middle ground here. So, for the purposes of illustration, I will concentrate a little more on the harder part, the product, in this case, food. That means a macro setup and a backdrop, transported to location with minimal assembly.
For this shoot, the shot list will go something like this:
1) Principles of the restuarant... owner, maitre d’, and possibly wait staff.
2) Atmosphere. That means the interior of the restuarant with embellishments, like the candle setup, the wine rack, etc etc
3) Food. A panoply of different looks with macro, a white background because simple is always better, and it’s hard to go wrong with white.
Three groups of shots, three distinctly different types of photography... people, location, macro. Oh, I should mention I am going to do the entire shoot in less than an hour (@ 50 minutes shooting and 10 minutes post), if I spend more than an hour I consider my efforts a failure, as I need to shoot a few times like this a day in order to survive.
Equipment used is one S5pro, one D300, one D90. I have the zeiss 25mm ZF distagon mounted on the D300, a lensbaby on the S5, and the 18-55 VR on the D90. I use three cameras because I prefer not to change lenses in the field, and there is almost nothing I cannot shoot with said three lenses/bodies. I prefer DX to FX because of transportability, and the compactness of DX lenses. Everything is shot in RAW, processed in RAW Developer (mac only), and handed off to PSCS3 for film treatment via Alien Skin’s “Exposure 2” plugin. A SB-800 was used off camera for the one people shot I will present here.
Ok, on to the shoot...
When I arrive at location, I introduce myself to the principals (owner etc) and try and get a feel for the lighting. This restaurant was a windowless lounge atmosphere, dark and sophisticated, but a nightmare to shoot. To give you some idea of how bad the lighting was, my D90 at ISO 2500 was reading @1/20s at 18mm f/3.5 with the ambient light. DOH! This place was dark, a worst case scenario basically. Now, as a photographer these days, you must have no excuses and no one can see you sweat, otherwise people will sense weakness and not respond to direction. In this case, a meter reading would make many weak kneed photographers just pack up and go home with tail tucked between legs, but to be honest, with the new bodies, even if you were on the far side of Pluto, it’s possible to get a shot with CLS. For me, I make a mental picture when things get tough... I picture myself at the front of 1000 japanese eggheads with pocket protectors, the entire Nikon R&D staff! The thought of the engineering effort that went into my cameras gives me the strength to proceed, I don’t want to let down the Nikon and Fuji engineers. I say all this because, when you have to shoot people, it’s important that you command a presence and look like you know what you are doing, even if you don’t have a clue as to how you are going to get the shot. This is very important, indecision is a location photographers greatest enemy, you have to go in, get the shot, and get out as fast as possible. Be prepared to physically move people, chins, and stances. I like to think that when people are in front of your camera they belong to you, like dolls, even if it’s giselle bundchen or the president of the United States. The proprietor of this particular restaurant was old school Italian with a capitol “M”, not a person you actively pose, so again, there was difficulty ascertaining what moves I can make without being too bossy. It’s your shot though, so don’t be afraid.
Maitre d’, Nikon CLS sb-800 left of camera through a gary fong diffuser, triggered by D90 onboard flash, nikon 18-55 VR
Exact shot details:
Lens (mm): 18
ISO: 1250
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/60
Exp. Comp.: +0.3
Flash Comp.: -3.0
Program: Aperture Priority
Focus Mode: AF-S
White Bal.: AUTO
Look at those settings Batman! Let’s just say it will take you a few years before you find your ideal settings for a pitch black restaurant. I will save you some time and confusion by leaving it to you like this... be prepared to rack through as many settings for flash in as little time as possible, especially if you use a diffuser, as that knocks CLS to hell.
Ok, that was the easy part. Now, on to the food.
Location shooters studio
What the?
Yep, thats a studio. It may not be as nice as the one you see in the movies, but location shooters aren’t paid enough to afford real equipment :) What you see is a pair of 24*36 inch white mounting boards, available at any office supply store for @$10. If you can find an area of diffuse light, in this case the outdoor porch of the restaurant, you are all set, no flash is necessary.
Mussels Marinara
This shot is all Zeiss. I know it’s a lot of cash, but the Zeiss 25mm ZF distagon is the best DX lens I own for one simple reason, versatility. One the one hand, the Zeiss is a wonderful landscaper, on the other, it’s a 36mm DX macro lens! Much gets mentioned about bokeh these days, this is the Zeiss at f/5.6 very close to my subject, almost worth the $950 when you see shots like this :) The Zeiss can focus down to 1 inch from the lens, so extreme detail is its hallmark. When shooting food, get as close as possible!
Rigatoni and Cauliflower
No tripod needed. The white foamcore will do all the work for you, just make sure to check your rear LCD to make sure there are no unwanted reflections.
The client was billed for one hour, but don’t worry, I am not trying to run anyone out of the business, what I make in an hour most photographers are unlikely to make in a day.
Thus, my first iteration of location diaries is complete. I could show you the interior of the restaurant, but I think that anyone can do that, so I tried to stay focused on the stuff that is most difficult for the beginning pro and of the most interest to the advanced amateur. I hope this tutorial brings you useful information in the new year.