Learn To Recognise Why Something Strikes You

If you go to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha you will see this mask. It is very strikingly presented. One of the great things about the way the Museum have displayed it is that they have lit it in a way that makes very interesting patterns from the light and shadows. I wanted to capture this.

The first thing to recognise was that I was only going to capture the museum's lighting by NOT using a flash. The museum allows no stabilising aids (no tripod or monopod) so there are some things I would need to consider to get the shot I wanted.

I would have to use a higher ISO. I only had ISO 200 film loaded so I couldn't do much about that. The only way to improve the shutter speed any further was to use the largest possible aperture. Here is where having the 50mm f1.4 prime lens fitted was a great help. This still left a rather slow shutter speed so it was a matter of bracing as well as possible and using the most gradual "sniper" release for the shutter. This means easing up on the shutter and not making any sudden moves when it fires. After the shot your finger should still be in the same place.

Once I had decided to take a "natural light" shot I had to decide the framing. The mask, being the focus, should be as large as possible in the frame. However, the picture needed to include all the light and shadow around it that made it so interesting. I moved to frame tightly on the edges of the spotlight lights. This gave me a minimum of wasted space in the frame. Always try to use every milimeter.

Finally, I had to consider the shape of the pattern. It is a symmetrical lighting pattern so I knew that I should avoid shooting the mask at any kind of angle. The only way to have the lighting appear symmetrical was by being directly in front of it. Always strive to get the picture right when taking. This means being as square on as possible for a shot like this. It also means that unless a deliberate tilt is intended for effect the camera should always be dead level.

The final step is afterwards. Once you have your picture scanned don't forget that the image you want has a different shape to the frame on the film. If there are areas above and below that are not part of your intended composition trim them off. Every part of a finished image should work towards that image.

Create Some Drama

This was a page in a display case at the Doha Museum of Islamic Art. It really caught my eye so I wanted a picture of it. The writing was nice but I didn't want it to be just a page of writing. For this shot I held the flash high and to the side. By holding it to the side I would bring out any texture in the paper and ink. By holding it high and very close I was able to have a cone of light that made some parts brighter than the others. Almost like a light from a torch or a searchlight.

Now it's not just a page. It's a page with very possibly a story.

Three Dimensions In Two

One of the hardest things to convey in a photograph is three-dimensionality. One of the classic "photos that didn't work" is when you see a great pattern in a bare tree or bush. You take a picture and it looks like nothing. Why? Because all the spatial clues we get from seeing it in stereo are gone and now all those branches are just on top of each other on a flat picture. To see if there is still something interesting you can try previewing with one eye or just looking critically through the viewfinder.

What about something like the picture above, though. This is a detail of an ornate door with a very impressive raised latice on it. It is in a relatively dark display case so we have the opportunity to modify the light. Actually, you can often modify the light. With a high shutter speed and the flash held close you can often modify the light in broad daylight. But I digress.

For this shot I really wanted to see the relief and texture. I simply attached the flash to the camera with a cord (a so-called TTL cord) and held the flash so the light would rake across from the side. This makes small shadows at every hole and bump and helps our eyes to see the three dimensional shape and the texture.

Seeing It

This new museum has a very pleasing shape. It's not hard to get a good picture of it. What is a little harder, though, is getting a decent original view of it.

Composition is a hard skill to learn unless you are one of those people with a natural gift for it. It is easier once you start to learn the field of view you can expect from a certain lens. Once you get that familiarity down you will magically start to see pictures. It is then just a matter of having your camera with you and grabbing the shot. This is just such a shot.

There was probably less than ten seconds between seeing it and capturing it because I know what the 50mm lens on my F4 covers by now.

Getting What You Want

I touched upon this in the previous post. This is perhaps one of the least impressive pictures I have posted so far but it perfectly illustrates the point I'm making. To take a good picture you must start with an idea of what you want to achieve.

I knew I wanted this framing. I wanted the car on the main straight rushing past and the guy holding out the pit board at the top. It meant a vertical framing which gave me very little margin for error. However, knowing what I wanted I persevered and started thinking creatively about how to achieve it.

I could see that catching the car through the viewfinder would be impossible. I relied on my sense of timing. I prefocussed and then backed my head away from the camera whilst keeping it still. In this way I could see the car coming. I knew which bit of the track I had the camera aimed at so it was just a matter of hitting the shutter at the precise instant the car arrived there. Since I could see the car coming this task changed from impossible to possible.

This aspect of previsualisation was essential to the picture and it happened before I touched the shutter. Without it, there would not be this picture.

Contrast and Saturation

Contrast is one of those things that seem like they should always be a good thing but isn't necessarily. Too much contrast is one of those things that can really suck the realism out of a scene. It also has the paradoxical effect of reducing the appearance of fine texture. Not what you might expect.

Of course when you reduce contrast all of your colours will become weak and pale. You can counter this by increasing the contrast. Don't be afraid of this control. At first you will probably be very reluctant to alter it much but don't be afraid to do whatever adjustment is necessary to match the vision in your head.

If you don't have a picture of what you want to achieve you probably won't accomplish much. But that sounds like another post...