Small objects too bright? Photo from you digital camera overexposed, bright or washed out? Use the white card trick!

When using a point and shoot camera you are usually a slave to it’s built in intelligence and capabilities. It makes technical decisions like ISO, shutter speed, fstop and whether the flash should fire. Sometimes you can’t even override these decisions.

This is part of what makes consumer digi-cams or digital point and shoot cameras so appealing, it takes the work out the technical behind photography and believe this: sometimes I’d rather use a little pocket camera rather than my DSLR.

So what can you do if you are not a photographer and you want to photograph something on a dark color, maybe even in a light tent. All of the photos in his post were taken with my < $200 Canon pocket digital point and shoot camera using the Impact medium light tent kit from B&H Photo.

You get close and you end up with this:

Try this trick: hold a white side of an index card or the back of a recent pizza delivery slip at the same distance and near the subject or object. Have the camera auto focus (where you push the shutter half way and depending on the camera you’ll see a box try to find the face or focal point of the picture and will focus in on that point.

Pull the paper away (while still partially pushing the button) and then finish pressing the button and voila!

Tech Notes

Why does this work? Because the camera detects faces and the focal point based on the contrast between colors. By having both black and white (the two ends of a spectrum) the camera has to allow for all colors from black to white to be covered instead of just the darker colors where it tried to lighten the picture to make lightest part it could find white.
Kind-of like when you increase the brightness on your computer screen.

Upgrade to Semi-Pro Equipment

If you want to use a technique like this infront of clients you may want to consider upgrading your white card to something like a White Balance Card Set for under $25. Then you will also have a pure black card to use when trying to shoot light colored objects on light background. Remember the key to the trick here is the range of contrast from black to white no matter what color the subject or background is, it’s about range!

Sometimes browsing in the iTunes music store for good apps is hit or miss. Actually let me rephrase that – I find it’s always hit or miss. there’s a lot of apps listed in the category ‘photography’ that may not belong there.

There’s apps with pictures of sexy girls (not photography IMHO) and apps for editing and post processing photos on or taken by the iPhone and then there’s some great photographer tool style apps.
That latter group is my favorite and also where the Strobox app fits in. An app for photographers.

Strobox is a free app by Janis Lanka (@janislanka) and it helps you create quick lighting diagrams. Whether you are jotting down notes about a lighting setup for a photo to share with others or to use again later this is a great app to have on your device.

There are currently 25+ pieces of lighting equipment that you can move, rotate and place on your diagram including backgrounds, strobes, soft boxes, umbrellas and more.

The app saves your setups for future reference or generated a PNG that you can easily email to someone (or yourself.) I’ve used it multiple times to take note of lighting setups I’ve used in specific photos and ideas for lighting setups that might produce a cool effect. Here’s an example of a PNG I just created through Strobox.

Visit the Strobox Website or download Strobox through the iTunes Music Store.
Strobox graphics are from http://app.strobox.com/ and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License

Photography gear can be expensive – sometimes you just need a special lens, camera body or lighting equipment temporarily. Be it for an assignment, project or just to try before you buy.
Many online photographic rental companies are popping up now – especially with the economy in some turmoil (in the US specifically) cause investing in new equipment isn’t always a priority as landing the right gigs to support more investments. And for those of us who prefer photography as a hobby – rental is often a great solution.

Most rental retailers deal primarily with Nikon and Canon equipment but some places rent Olympus, Sony, AlienBees and much more!
Here’s a list and details on reputable lens and equipment rental companies that do online/shipping for rental equipment across the US.


Borrowed Lenses is a great place to rent camera bodies, lenses, accessories, portable studio equipment and even camera bags!

Borrowed lenses

They carry:

• Canon Camera Bodies
• Canon Lenses
• Nikon Camera Bodies
• Nikon Lenses
• Tripods & Heads
• Lightmeters
• Tripods & Heads
• Lighting
• Camera Bags
• And More!

They’re located in San Mateo, CA and do local 3day (pick-up only) rentals. Otherwise they do rentals for 1-4 weeks (listed on the website) at really good prices. Renting a camera or lens is a great idea for an important shoot where you would benefit from more quality than you usual camera or to test drive some new equipment before you buy it. See their great (***** five star) Yelp reviews!

They also do sensor cleaning for only $45!!

Glass and Gear

Glass and Gear is located in Amherst, NH and do 3 day rentals locally through Hunt’s Photo in Manchester NH. Their website says they are planning to expand to rent through other Hunt’s locations (there are a number in the New England area!)

They rent:

• Canon Cameras & Lenses
• Nikon Cameras & Lenses
• Lighting
• And More!

Rent Glass

Rent Glass does rentals for 1-3 weeks at a time although their selection seems much smaller than borrowed lenses and Glass and gear.

They rent and ship:

• Nikon Camera, Lens and Flashes
• Canon Cameras, Lenses and Flashes

You can follow them on Twitter @rentglass.  They now operate out of Kansas City, KS (previously Orlando FL) and do allow for pickup but don’t list a special 3 day pickup rental period like most of the other lens and equipment rental places listed.

Lens Rentals

Lens Rentals is one of the few rental places that lists more than just Nikon and Canon.  They list some other great camera manufacturers.

They Rent:

• Canon
• Four Thirds (Olympus)
• Leica
• Nikon
• Sony
• Video Equipment
• Lighting
• Support
• Macro/Specialty

They are also the only rental place that I’ve seen that has a dedicated iPhone app (a lovely and well organized looking app too!). They’re bassed out of Memphis, TN and while they offer local pickup the shortest rental period they offer at this time is 1 week.

Pro Photo Rentals

Pro Photo Rentals is based out of Boulder, CO and they offer a 4+ day rental options.  They don’t force you into weeks – you can rent a lens for however long you like (4 day minimum.) They do offer a local pickup for you Boulder Colorado local folks!

They Rent:

• Canon Cameras, Lenses & Accessories
• Nikon Cameras, Lenses & Accessories
• Olympus Cameras, Lenses & Accessories

You can find Pro Photo Rental on both Twitter @prophotorental and Flickr.

Aperture Rent

Aperturent is our last camera and lens rental service. They are run out of the Atlanta GA area and do offer 3 day local pick-up only rental terms.  Otherwise their rental time frames are between 7 – 30 days (weekly.)

They Rent:

• Nikon & Canon Lenses
• Nikon & Canon Cameras
• Nikon, Canon & Alienbee Lighting
• Accessories

You can find Aperturent on Twitter @aperturent on flickr or facebook.

I’ve have the opportunity to learn from Teya Rutherford on a few occasions. A lighting workshop, thought the Worcester Photography Center, a more intimate weekend long ‘Pick Teya’s Brain of Everything She Knows’ workshop, as well as one lovely morning shoot assisting her.

Teya has only been taking portraits for a few years but has a wealth of knowledge to bestow to anyone who will listen. That’s why I was so thrilled when she started publishing articles like Flattering Your Subject where she talks about more than just posing but also how lighting, lenses, posing, cropping and retouching make or break and also combine to create beautiful flattering portraits. The article walks through the process she mentally goes through to make all her portraits look their very best.

At my most recent workshop with Teya, she provided us with a set of actions that she uses to achieve the style of portraiture that she is known for. These actions are invaluable to anyone whose style is more portrait than fashion.

Here are some of my favorite shots that I’ve used Teya’s Premium Photoshop Actions on.

There are 3 sets of premium Photoshop Actions and actions/conversions for Photoshop Elements as well. The actions are very reasonably prices (each package is well under $10) and well worth the purchase. Even if you don’t use the actions all the time the way they’ll help you look at your work flow differently will amaze you.

You can follow Teya on twitter @teya1 or visit her website Teya Photo or Orange County CA portraits.

Top 5 reasons to backup your work:

• Just Because!
• Your computer is less likely to die if you have a backup (Murphy’s Law)
• Redundancy is your friend
• Hard drives die – all the time
• It takes over night to do a solid backup – it takes between 3-5 days to find out that you can’t recover anything from a dead hard drive.

I recently lost 3+ shoots because I foolishly didn’t backup.  Fortunately for myself I made optical backups of the final products from two of the shoots and have 1/2 of a third shoot on the CF card still.

Lessons Learned:

1. Backup your files as soon as you unload them from your CF card
2. Backup your files as soon as you are done tagging and sorting them
3. Back up your files nightly when you are going through your edits
4. After you finish editing a session, shoot or trip backup your finished copies onto a CD/DVD to preserve optical redundancy and backup to an external hard drive
5. Find an online backup service for safetys sake with the idea of ‘off site’ backup.  In case of fire, flood or alien attack you’ll have a backup halfway across the…well at least it will be somewhere else

It’s just foolish to not backup.

Internet Based Off Site Backup Services

Here are some off site online backup services:

• Carbonite – review – site – $50/year
• iDrive – review – site – $50/year
• SOS Online Backup – review – site – $50/year
• eSureIt – review – site – $2.99/GB/Month

The trick is to keep hard drive backups of your files at home and at work or at a family members house and to keep only your most critical and time sensitive files on the online backup – like between big hard drive backups.

I have yet to use any of these backup services but I will pick one before the month is out.

When I first started shooting people I went out and bought myself a snazzy background stand and a background, another flash, a stand, more umbrellas then had a great mini-movable studio. I also had ‘creepy’ written all over it.

The problem with equipment and a home studio is that if you want a model to come to your home you need to step back and think about how awkward that may be for them, yea awkward huh? If you don’t have access to a professional studio don’t despair, there’s plenty of fantastic outdoor locations right down the street from you, literally – it’s all about looking at everything as a potential photo shoot location.

How to Find great outdoor photo shoot locations

You need to be willing to put the time in to explore to find some great locations.

My three favorite methods are:

• Google Maps
• Driving and Always Taking the Scenic Route
• Asking Other Local Photographers

Using Google Maps to Find Locations to Scout for Photo Shoots

One of the first locations I found was 15 minutes from my house. I hopped on Google Maps, centered it in my neighborhood, switched to satellite view and zoomed in on interesting looking areas.

I didn’t know there was a reservoir 10 minutes away! I went to scout the location and found it had everything: an access road, stone wall, overgrown field, log wood fence, and a hill. Realistically that could feed a 3-4 hour shoot with a model no problem and with it being an outdoor location it’s comfortable for both the model and photographer.

Driving around to Scout Photo Shoot Locations

Take the scenic road home – from everywhere.

No matter where you are: the mall, work, your aunt’s house, your latest shoot, don’t take the highway! Take the routes or the alternate roads; that’s where you’ll find the most beautiful views for landscape photography and best spots for a quick shoot. You’ll also learn about places in the area, like parks, schools, wildlife sanctuaries and state recreation areas.

But won’t I be wasting gas? Um, yea. But is a tank of gas worth it for a great location and dozens of fabulous shots, for me it absolutely is.
What if I get lost? Grab a GPS, most phones can install one. Also, invest in a map and learn how to read it.

About getting lost though…I’ve always had a theory that if I get lost I just need to find my way to a road with yellow lines, which will inevitably take me to another road with yellow lines and a number and eventually I will find a number I recognize. You can always find your way back home, the trick is taking good enough notes and paying enough attention to where you are to find your way back to a great potential shoot location.

Minimal Equipment Necessary

Always have your point and shoot, if not your SLR, camera with you whenever you drive anywhere. That way you can stop, snap some shots and add that new location to your potential location list. Always jot down nearby roads, notes about how you got there so you can find the place again and provide a reasonable set of directions to a model or makeup artist to meet you there.

Ask your Fellow Photographers about their Favorite Photo Shoot Locations

No really, just ask.

Ask people who are in your area on Flickr or Model Mayhem where a particular shot of theirs is from. Tell them you really like the area and would love to shoot there. Photographers closely guard their locations but a little common courtesy and offering up a great place you know about can go a long way.

If you tell a photographer about a great location it doesn’t mean they will be there every weekend blocking your shots – don’t worry!

Working with people or models is often a challenge when a ‘for fun’ photographer tries to switch gears from landscape photography or still life photography to portrait, fashion or lifestyle photography.

I’ve got 6 golden rules I follow whenever I work with a model. If the model is my best friend or a complete stranger I am always careful to follow these six rules because they have become habit and I think following them has helped lead to my success with shooting people!

Rule #1 Never Touch Your Model

If your models strap becomes tangled or tag is showing or hair is out of place, it might be your first instinct to fix it. Don’t!

Instead, ask them to fix it, say “Your right strap is twisted, can you untwist it” or “you have an eyelash on your left cheek”. If they are having trouble taking care of the problem then you can ask permission to help them, with something like “do you want me to help you with that.”

Why shouldn’t you touch your model? It’s a personal space issue, most models will bring an escort to their first shoot with a photographer to make sure they feel comfortable, you approaching and touching your model in any way might make them uncomfortable, just hedge your bets and assume they will be uncomfortable if you touch them and always ask – even if they’ve said yes before, ask again before touching or adjusting them in any way.

Rule #2 If Your Model is Uncomfortable it Will Show in the Photo

By this I mean emotionally uncomfortable as well as physically uncomfortable. If your model is lying down on some rocks it’s not going to be comfortable, if you ask them to move their arms and legs in ways their body usually doesn’t naturally go it will be uncomfortable.

I always start by having my models find a comfortable position and ask the to move and make minor adjustments through suggestions like can you move your hand up to the wood, or can you put your left leg out further and lean forward with it. When statements are phrased as questions the model will feel more comfortable saying no or suggesting alternatives if it’s an uncomfortable pose.

Sometimes you need your model in an awkward position to extract the right uncomfortable facial expressions for a specific mood – so don’t forget to use the opposite of these rules to your advantage as well.

Rule #3 Talk to Your Model

Get to know them as a person. As you learn more about this person their personality will begin to show more in the photographs. You will be more aware of what defines them as a person and they will feel more comfortable and open with you to sharing parts of their soul, which strangely enough some people say them camera steals from them.

I have a few questions I ask all my models as we start to get to know each other and develop a relationship during the shoot:

• What do you do for work?
• How did they get involved in the community you connected with them through?
• What do they hope to accomplish with modeling?
• What made them get into modeling?

Most conversations branch off naturally from those topics.

Rule #4 Encourage Collaborative Ideas

If your model has an idea for a shot that you know won’t work out – try it anyways, if it is doable. You’re better off giving your all to every possible idea than to disregard a persons idea risking missing out on their next brilliant one. If you don’t think a shot is working suggest variations on it – collaboration is the best way to come up with great ideas.

Rule #5 Show or Explain What You are Doing and Why

This mostly applies to beginner models or people who are still new at being in front of the camera.

If you ask a model to change their hand position, tell them why – this way you won’t have to continue to correct something about their positioning as often since it’s something they will become more aware of.

How many times did you mom yell at your to take your muddy shoes off at the door?

Letting your model know to move their leg out so it doesn’t look like they’re one legged, or to leave space between their arms and bodies so they have a more defined shape is a great way for both of you to make each others experiences a bit easier throughout the shoot.

Rule #6 Praise Often

No it’s not about booting egos – it’s about encouragement. Phrases like – wow that’s a great expression can you hold that for a few more shots, or that was pretty when you moved your hair or perfect pose can go a long way. It goes without saying over praise can get lame but if you think it looks good – tell your model – they want to know too.