Category Archives: photography

Photography Techniques | Off-Camera Flash

Posted by Dean Kalyan on October 18, 2011 Comments Off

The beauty of modern portable studio lighting (aside from actually being portable) is the speed with which you can create stunning lighting scenarios on location and on the fly. There’s a tremendous range of possibilities from really basic uses of flash to create just the right amount of fill lighting, to incredibly complex multi-flash scenarios. The consistent brilliance throughout the range of scenarios – in my thinking anyway – is the ability to adjust flash output remotely from either a master flash unit or flash enabled cameras. Nikon’s Creative Lighting System enables this ease of use to a higher degree (because of their wireless infrared integration into their flashes and enabled cameras), but you can accomplish the same results with a Canon system and using some kind of Pocket Wizard wireless trigger.

But lets stick to some of the cool technical aspects of actually shooting with off-camera flash.

Joe McNally is perhaps THE master of utilizing off camera flash and creatively crafting and shaping light for amazing results. If you want some inspiration, a quick search on the web and you will see phenomenal examples of his work.

There are all kinds of lighting set-up recipes you can track down on the web and as I mentioned this can be a simple single light scenario or involve multiple flash units. For a lot of portraits I find myself shooting with three flashes. One main “key” light, most often with a shoot through umbrella diffuser, one light on the background to give separation from the subject, and then a third “hair” light – typically high above and behind the subject shooting on an angle to give that hair shine and shoulder glow/separation. This is a fairly standard set up but the possibilities are endless.

When shooting wedding photography I have developed a super slick system that get tremendous results. I am fortunate enough to have a lighting assistant with me on most of my major shoots and so I can get a reflector or fill flash positioned where I want it very swiftly and can make instant adjustments. You can do the same thing when solo with the use of light stands and a reflector stand, it is just a bit more involved and clunky when making on the fly adjustments. What I have my lighting assistant do is angle off to the side of the bride or groom (or whomever) and he holds a flash mounted to shoot through umbrella all held on a lightweight aluminum grip. I then control the flash output wirelessly from the master flash on my camera. I have done many wedding photos in the bright sun that benefits so much from this kind of diffused fill flash.

You will find all kinds of scenarios for using off camera flash and creating images that have intense dramatic lighting, soft mellow even lighting, and everything in between.

Finally shooting with a flash is fun and creates gorgeous images.

Victoria Wedding Photographer | Dean Kalyan

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Wedding Photography | Shooting in Low Light

Posted by Dean Kalyan on October 16, 2011 Comments Off

In the last few years digital photography has made tremendous leaps forward when it comes to shooting in low light situations. Previously, whenever you pushed the ISO in order to capture more light in a photo, the image would have an unattractive amount of digital noise relative to how far you were pushing the camera. A little bit of noise can be romantically cast as “grain” and celebrated as a throwback to the film days where gritty 400 or even 800 film would generate those grainy textures. In the digital realm, you can only take that romanticism so far before it starts to look really bad.

As a result, many shooting situations have demanded the use of flash, and while there are many amazing ways to utilize off-camera flash (the subject of a later article), often the use of on camera flash compromises the vibe and look of an image. With the advent of the Nikon D3s, Nikon has pushed the outer limits of what you can get away with when pushing the ISO. Canon has quickly followed suit and photographers are starting to enjoy low light shooting performance at a level that film was never able to accomplish with such outstanding results. Still, if you really push the limits you will continue to get the ugly digital noise, but the range for shooting clear images in low light has drastically increased.

Two recurring situations where this new technology has given me an edge  is when I am shooting wedding photography and live music/event coverage. Some locations where indoor wedding ceremonies are held benefit from shooting with higher ISOs, but it is the wedding reception photos where I see the biggest difference in performance and results. Being able to compose images with available light provides phenomenal opportunities for creatively capturing the action and atmosphere of a wedding reception or  event with an abundance of dynamic activity. Being able to shoot without a flash also enables you to be less intrusive while capturing images while also maintaining the “look” and “feel” of the event without imposing an artificial light source that completely changes the appearance of the scene.

If the camera technology continues to advance at the rate it has been, photographers are going to be able to capture images in unthinkable situations in no time.

Victoria Wedding Photographer | Dean Kalyan

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Victoria Wedding Photographer | Traditional Indian Sikh Wedding

Posted by Dean Kalyan on October 11, 2011 Comments Off

A couple summers ago I experienced my first traditional Indian Sikh wedding as a wedding photographer. It was amazing and a very full day for me and my handy assistant. There were three ceremonies and a reception with 500 people and a few formal photo sessions squished in between everything. After the first ceremony it was a simple capturing of the procession as the families mingled and everyone prepared to travel to the next location. The bride and groom were whisked away in their limo and we met up to have a relatively short time together taking some formal photos in the beautiful gardens at Government House here in Victoria, BC.

The colours were absolutely amazing and I had a wonderful time capturing the bride and groom as they walked together, pausing to pose or take in the beauty of the environment. If we were not so rushed to make it to the next ceremony I could have continued shooting all day. Then we took some time to capture several traditional poses with the bride and groom. It was a little staged  - and we all felt it – but we wanted to make sure we covered all the traditional poses that the family was going to want to see. After a few fun group photos with some of the family that had joined us on location we rushed off to the next ceremony. There were no major surprises at the second ceremony – just some of the typical challenges of having sun directly overhead for many of the images. After the obligatory bride and groom posed shots with every family member and friend under the sun (literally, AND literally) there was a nice little break before the reception.

With 500 + people, tables and tables of food, traditional dancers – I mean, these guys were intense – and the following dance party for everyone in attendance, I had my fair share of work to do. I think that particular wedding still holds the record for number of images captured. There was so much going on and such a variety of visual elements from colourful outfits to henna hand designs. So if you find yourself shooting a traditional Indian or Sikh wedding, be prepared to shoot A LOT of images. It will pay off bigtime.

Until next time,

Victoria Wedding Photographer | Dean Kalyan

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Creating an At Home Photography Studio

Posted by GuestPoster on September 8, 2011 Comments Off

If you want to start a photography studio from your home, you should be sure that you know how you can do this well.  Making sure that you are professional and that you can run a business from your home will require a lot of planning.

You should make sure that you start by understanding what the purpose of the studio is.  There are some people that have studios in their home because they enjoy photography as a hobby and there are other people that wish to gain some type of profit from their photography.

Make sure that you are taking time to understand which category you are going to fall into and how you can be sure that you are fulfilling your own expectations.  As you learn how to fulfill your own expectations you will be happy and fulfilled with your at home studio.

When you are planning to make money with your photography you should be sure that you understand how you can apply for a business license.  More than likely, you will need a license for your local city to ensure you are being taxed for the money that you make.

When you are going to make money from your studio, make sure that you take the time that you need to understand how you are going to be able to meet all of the requirements to run a studio.  You may have to meet federal and state requirements.

If you want to run any type of studio from your home, you have to make sure that you have enough space for an entire studio.  This can be hard when you do not have a very large home and you want to be sure that you take time to figure out how to rearrange for your studio.

Taking time to rearrange for your studio may be a pain, but the more that you can clear out for your studio the better off you will be.  As you take the time that you need to clear your belongings away you will have a much easier time making space for your studio.

When you only have a small space to work with, make sure that you take the time that you need to understand how you are going to make the best of that space.  A small space will severely limit your creative capabilities and you should realize this and accept it.

After you find the space for a photography studio you will want to make sure that you can paint the walls of your studio.  The majority of studios have their walls painted a white or a neutral color to make sure that there is no extra color reflected in pictures.

You should be sure that you realize that if you paint your walls anything but a neutral, you may have problems with the colors in your photographs.  Make sure that you take the time that you need to understand how you can avoid those colors if at all possible.

After you have painted the walls you will want to make sure that you put a backdrop support up.  This will enable you to use a backdrop and to change out your backdrops whenever you are working with the backdrops.

Taking the time that you need to understand how you are going to be wise about the backdrop support is necessary.  Although you do not need something that is expensive you want to make sure that you have something that is sturdy.

Think about the backdrops you are going to be using and make sure that you find something that is steady enough to hold up those backdrops.  You also want something that will allow you to change out the backdrops easily.

There are a lot of people that do not realize how difficult it can be to change out the backdrop if they are not wise with their backdrop holder.  It can be embarrassing to struggle with this in front of clients and you will want to avoid that embarrassment.

After figuring out your backdrop situation you will then want to make sure that you can set up your lighting equipment.  You should know what kind of lights will be required for the photography that you want to practice.

Take time to understand how you are going to set up your lighting in a semi-permanent fashion so that you do not have to do this multiple times throughout the day. Take time to be wise about the functionality of your set up so you can enjoy working in your own studio.

Victoria Wedding Photographer | What is a Photojournalistic Style?

Posted by Dean Kalyan on June 30, 2011 Comments Off

Like all genres and sub-genres of photography, wedding photography goes through various stages, phases and fads. Identifying the true innovators can become challenging as photography styles are borrowed, adapted and evolve as numerous photographers put their own personal touches on a theme. In the end it comes down to personal taste and making sure that a photographer’s style is consistent with how the bride and groom want to remember their wedding day.

I’m a big fan of utilizing a photojournalistic style when it comes to wedding photography. there’s a number of reasons for this. But first, full disclaimer, I do indeed capture my fair share of posed and “formal” wedding images (any quick review of my wedding portfolio reveals this). I have found that no matter how hip and edgy the bride and groom, they have a parent or other family member that would really like to have some photo prints from the wedding day, so it is inevitable that some formal and kinda posed images will be desired in addition to the obligatory group and family images. And yet, almost invariably, the images that capture people when they are relaxed and natural are most frequently the “best” images from the day.

I tend to shoot the wedding ceremony and reception with two cameras (a future article will get into more of the specific details of how I approach shooting a wedding) so that I can capture multiple views of what is happening both close and further away. The amazing advantage of this is that I can capture all kinds of fascinating moments without interfering with what is happening. I feel that many of my most “magical” images are catching people in those in-between moments at a wedding. Shooting these from a non-interfering distance allows the beauty of the wedding to unfold free of the un-natural posing induced by a camera being right up in one’s face. Using a photojournalistic style can be a great tool for wedding photography.