Rig Photography technique

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 | Blog Post

I was like “wow” when i first saw the cover of the recent Exposure Magazine on their November edition by Otty Prasetyo & RIMS. And on second thought i was like “hmmm how did they do that – applying that motion blur effect, ‘photoshop-ed’ ??”  … but as i read further, i was damn wrong! This is no photoshop-ed images – they are as real as you may look at it … it was not easy to get a perfect curved motion blur effect throughout an images – well unless you did spend a lot of time in front of your computer …

… while flipping to the next page, i tried to think of a technique that might get me the same effect – i know that i need to set my shutter speed to a slower speed. Looking at the above image, i then remember reading a similar post by Joe McNally … now, the next big question is “how do i position my camera to get that lower angle?”  without having to spend too much on props … (fyi im a poor amateur photographer ) …

here’s another great shot by Joe McNally …

Coming back to the previous images, here’s how they do it to get the image – without using any photoshop’s motion blur effect …

And i was right though, about the photoshop   … They still need to “photoshop” the image to remove the iron rod and other props that handle the camera

Happy rigging-ur-camera people!

How do you get 10?

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 | Blog Post

The Malaysian mathematics syllabus taught in our schools are very different from other countries around the world. Well, of course it is. But hey, it is not just different; it is also way behind… well, that was what i was told by one my Navy friend during my tertiary education – Malaysian maths syllabus are way behind from those in Japan, China and probably our nearest neighbour, Singapore. Do you know why Japanese are way ahead of us with robotic invention while we are well-known for our Proton which is also originally from Mitsubishi (Japan) – it’s all in the numbers.

If you’d been watching the Astro series “NUMB3RS”, then you should be able to relate to this just fine. Numbers are basically in our whole life! … For those who studied computer engineering, digital engineering or digital communication will sure know that in this world there’s only 1 and 0; and the heart of all electronic gadgets you are holding right now is built with the (logic) number 1 and 0. Whatever‘lah’ … but my point of writing is to show you how numbers are also in your photograph and in the way you shoot them.

For any of you out there who had been a judge before, be it a singing competition or a beauty competition – scale 10 is always the standard rating used where 1 being the lowest and 10 is picture-perfect. So, how do you get 10 in photography???

But before that, lets learn basic mathematics. I still remember when i was taught the first 2 basic “mathematical language” which is the PLUS & MINUS (sign). I was 4 back then. Basically there were countless ways on just using the PLUS / MINUS sign to get the result 10. 2+8=10 … 2+3+5=10 … 1+2+3+4=10 … 9+2-1=10 and the list goes on …

When it comes to photography, there are also “basic mathematics incorporated” for you to get 10 (being a perfect photo). But then again; before anything else, we need to understand the elements of basic photography – Aperture & Shutter. With these 2 being correctly understood and co-related, chances of you getting a 10 is high.

In a layman term, an Aperture is like the pupil of your eye; it controls the amount of lights that goes thru your eyes while the Shutter is the length of time you let your eyes (Aperture) open – like blinking our eyes; the more you hold it open, more lights and movement can be capture thru it … (in an intermediate photography; Aperture also defines the depth of your subject – but lets not go there yet, this is BASIC photography. In “DIGITAL” photography you may also need to understand White Balance)

Before i start going to the next step, let me just quickly tell you the term of the Aperture and Shutter in a camera (in layman term) … In a camera, an Aperture is refered to as the f-stop ie. f/2, f/2.8, f/5.6 and so on … while the Shutter referred to as 1/(second). The f/(size) in Aperture is most probably referred to “focal size” where f/2 being the biggest opening and f/22 being the smallest opening. So the smaller the f/(size) is, the biggest the opening will be …

You may find further explanation with better graphics here

To understand the shutter speed is actually simple – 1/125 (equals to 0.008 second) is surely faster than 1/60 (equals to 0.017 second) – basic maths! Blinking an eye at the speed of 0.008 second is obviously much faster than at 0.017. If this simple shit you cannot understand, slap your face real hard and quit now. Haaahaaa, if i may quote Zack Arias – ” if you shoot in auto/program, stop now and slap your face real hard because you are being mediocre …”

Some says that when a person starts driving using automatic gear, it wont be easy for them to switch to driving manual car; but if a person starts driving using manual gears, they dont have problem switching cars … i believe it applies to photography as well

Ok now lets go back to basic maths of photogaphy;

When i say “10 in photography”, im not actually referring to the number 10 as the result of the two elements (Aperture & Shutter) combined together ie. f/2.8 PLUS 1/125 EQUALS 10 – NO!!! … as a matter of fact, you cannot do that, that’s just silly. When i say “10″ in photography, i simply means “Correct Exposure” … For some who prefers “SAFE, BY THE BOOK” approach – there’s something called “metering” to help you with that in photography. Basically, metering tells you the “balance weight” of both Aperture and Shutter; its the correct relation where you can shoot your photograph with enough light and temperature, thus making your picture looks great. But personally, i don’t rely too much on the metering cuz it might not be the best solution for situations like shooting in low lights, outdoor flash photography, walls that has mirror with all white or black color; there’s a lot more that you need to take into consideration … and also to understand.

That’s why it is important to understand these basic photography knowledge and once you get them all in your head; it’s like breathing to you – you’ll know what to do during the unexpected moment and be able to control the situation.

Im writing this not to give you the impression that im a “super know-all” photogs .. No! … infact im still very much amateur compares to many local photogs out there. I came to know that some so called “professional” photogs still shoots with “Auto” or “Program” dial on – lame! Well there’s nothing so wrong with the “Auto” or “Program” setting, but its like watching some Shah Rukh Khan’s concert; you know that he is not actually singing and yet you still love him – you suck ups!!! “Professional” photogs who shoots with “auto / program” dial and charge you higher fee is a cheater! And you who pays “professional” like these – are plain stupid!

Alright, here’s are some samples you should try shooting with and tell me how it goes …

I bet you will never get the similar effect on your photo if you shoot with “Auto” or “Program” mode …

Example:
Let’s say that you are shooting with ISO200 at 1/125 with f/5.6 – according to your camera “metering” it’s alright to shoot. If you wish to change the Aperture to f/3.5 so to get the bokeh you prefer; in this case to “balance” your camera “metering”, you need to push your shutter (probably) to 1/160 … (just an example) …

Happy shooting all!