Reinier van Houten – Photography

My wife recently purchased a Nikon P8100 compact camera. She uses it for the ordinary everyday pictures we all take every now and then. We’re just back from a short break to Sicily where she used it taking picures at the swimming pool, at the beach, at the late night dinner, of the cathedral, and so on. The 12MP camera serves this purpose very well and it also fits nicely into a lady’s purse.

I, on the other hand, carried my backpack stuffed my own (semi) professional gear. Not a very wise decision. First of all, because it was too hot to drag all the equipment – including several zoom lenses and flash units – across the island. Secondly, because I set myself a goal this time to only use the recently bought 50mm prime lens. This was because I feel zoom lenses make photographers lazy. In the good old pre-zoom lens days, you simply had to come closer or do a step back to get the composition you were looking for. I kind of like this walking around. Of course, in the end, using fixed focal length lenses means carrying even more stuff around, but I like the idea of constraining yourself to work within certain self-defined boundaries.  So all the pictures I took during our break were taken with the prime lens. Next time it will be the only lens I’ll be taking with me. Anyway, just to give you an impression, here are some of the prime lens shots.

Normally, I try to avoid taking sunset pictures. I think they lack originality and everybody can do it (and is doing it). But I admit, I was weak and did it too.

Mount Etna. It resembled a moon landscape because of all the lava remains. Although the orginal photo’s were almost black and white by itself, I converted them anyway.

I’m sorry, couldn’t help myself. Simply had to include some portraits: The Merchant of Palermo and an olive tree giving some lovely soft natural light.

And do remember: all of the above photographs taken with the same lens.

It was around the beginning of May this year that news about a new Nikon Capture NX release started to spread. Not surprisingly, this got a lot of attention in the Nikon community. It’s a piece of software that is generally regarded as unique from a feature and function point of view, but at the same time being seen as out of date in many other aspects. So when the rumour started to spread that a new Capture NX3 release was about to be released this year, naturally, it got everybody’s interest. To make things even worse, the rumour even said the new release would be build from scratch and would also contain almost all of the (excellent) Nik Software products as plugins.  Simply too good to be true!

What happened since? Zero, zilch, nada, niente (except for a note about a NX3 Guide to be published in September)! But after that: nothing. Apparently – that is according to the Nikon Rumors website – Nikon is going to make some announcements next week on August 24th. I have no doubt they will. The website recently conducted a poll to find out what we wished  the announcements to be about. To my great surprise, Capture NX3 wasn’t even on the list of candidates! Strange, to say the least. Especially when you consider the discussion the rumour caused and the attention it was given by the press in general. Somehow, we seem to be more interested in mirrorless technology, new Coolpix models or new DX or FX announcements. Whatever may be announced next week. But certainly nothing is expected to be said about Capture NX3. Does this then mean that the critics – who say the current version is also the last and final version – are going to be right?

Only a few days ago I informed you about me recent purchase of my prime lens. The Nikon 50mm f/1.8D. Guess what, yesterday Thom Hogan published a review of Nikon’s 50mm lenses (click here to read). For those of you who don’t have the time or don’t want to read the whole article, here’s a quote:

“If you’re just looking for a dirt-cheap fast 50mm prime to use on occasion and have a body with a screw-drive focus ability, the 50mm f/1.8D is a reasonable choice if corners aren’t overly important (as they often aren’t when you use this for portraits on DX).”

I think those were exactly my considerations to buy this lens. It’s a bargain. I have a Nikon DX body and do portraits mainly. So, thank you Thom for sharing my opinion and confirming I have made the right choice.

It was less than a week ago that I wrote on this blog that we’re selling our fancy Italian coffee machine. I took some pictures of it with my new lens so the advert could be published on the Dutch equivalent of Craigslist, called Marktplaats. Believe it or not, but it was sold yesterday for the price we had in mind for it.

I’m 100% convinced it’s because of the pictures…

Because of my new lens – Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D – and also because it continued to rain, I decided to do some experimenting in the studio with portraits and depth of field. For a long time I have wanted to shoot portraits with a limited depth of field. Because of its aperture range, the new lens offers some opportunities in this area. So the plan was to do a series of portraits with apertures of f/2, f/4 and f/5.6. Up until now, all portraits I have done are with f/11 or smaller.

For the experiment I only used a single light source: a studio strobe with a softbox attached. I decided to start with aperture f/2. The strobe was set to its lowest output: 2.0. I took a lightmeter reading and moved the strobe further away from the model. I had to repeat this process several times until the meter indicated f/2. I was surprised to find out what the actual distance between the model and strobe had to be! But anyway, I took the picture and moved the strobe closer. Until the meter gave f/4. And the same procedure for f/5.6. The results – from left to right: f/2, f/4, f/5.6 – are below.

Note: all images were shot in RAW format and not edited afterwards.

So what can we see? Of course, as expected, the image taken with aperture f/2 gives the depth of field I was looking for. But there are some side effects, as well. Because the distance between model and strobe is the longest of all three images here, the light fall off is smallest of all three. In other words: the background is the brightest. And it also hardly has any shadows, making the face look kind of flat. The second image – with aperture f/4 – has less depth of field (compared to image 1), a bit more light fall off, and a bit more shadows. The third image – with aperture f/5.6 – has lesser depth of field than the two previous images. And a bit more light fall off. And much harder shadows.

What is the verdict then? Well, in order to create portraits with a limited depth of field, it’s not just a matter of larger apertures. Because the larger the lens opening, the longer the distance between light source and model. In this experiment, anyway. And this distance has some other effects – as illustrated – you have to take into consideration when shooting portraits. I need a lot more practice with this to feel comfortable with it.

Visited not one, but two exhibitions today: World Press Photo (in Naarden) and Anton Corbijn: Inwards and Onwards (at FOAM in Amsterdam).

Next to some sporting shots and portraits, World Press Photo is mainly a registration of what’s going on in the world and human behaviour. Meaning a lot of death, violence and anger. From a photographic perspective a number of interesting pictures, but as a whole it gave me an unpleasant feeling. I’ve been visiting the exhibition for the last 10 or 15 years or so. The feeling doesn’t come as a surprise, therefore. But still, every year it makes you wonder. This is what photojournalists all over the world see and register. As a whole, it presents a picture of what our world looks like. Not a pretty picture, I’m afraid.

The Anton Corbijn exhibition, on the other hand, was all about portraits. All square black and white images. All with the same white border and black frame. So all equal in their presentation. The people on all portraits were Anton Corbijn’s favourite artists. An exhibition brochure states that “the portraits illustrate how the artists struggle with the creative process. The pain and drama of creation…[they] combine soberness and aesthetics and stand out because of the deliberate and exact manner in which the person’s character is captured”. In my opinion, he succeeded in this in some portraits better than in others. But overall it’s a pretty impressive collection, of course.

After a long and intensive selection process, I finally made up my mind and bought a 50mm prime lens today. Since Nikons currently offers no less than 4 prime lenses it was a bit of a tough call. I went for the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D in the end. Early in the process I eliminated the two f/1.4 lenses Nikon has to offer. Mainly because of the price. You pay quite a bit more for just half a stop. So, it was a f/1.8 showdown between the D and AF-S G. The D doesn’t have a autofocus motor built-in, but my camera body has. So, for me, there’s no real need to have it in the lens itself. That saved me another € 50. I think that for the € 129 I paid for it, this lens is a real bargain. What’s more, on my Nikon DX body (with its 1.5 crop factor) it becomes a 75mm lens. Which makes it perfect for portraits. It’s actually quite a small lens. Especially when mounted on the body. Size is hard to imagine on this picture, but here it is anyway…

Of course, I had to try it out right away. We’re going to sell our fancy Italian coffee machine at Marktplaats (the Dutch equivalent of Craigslist). So I had to take some product shots of the machine. Have a look at the photos below and judge for yourself. I’m more than satisfied with the results. The pictures were taken with f/2.8 for a nice depth of field. Can hardly wait to do this with portaits as well.

By the way, if you’re interested in the coffee machine, let me know. It not only looks good, it makes an excellent espresso or cappuccino as well.

To all followers of this blog I sincerely apologize for the lack of recent updates. Fact is that have been pretty busy lately and I simply haven’t had much time to spend on photography. As simple as that. Nevertheless, I’m planning to go and see Anton Corbijn’s exhibition in Amsterdam soon, so expect an entry on this. I’ve also been considering the purchase of a new lens. A standard 50mm. The 1.5 crop factor of my current camera turns it into a 75mm lens and makes it ideal for portraits. The aperture of f/1.8 allows for some experimenting with depth of field. Haven’t made up my mind though whether it should be a Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G or f/1.8 G. Or even an f/1.4 D or f/1.8 D. So expect an entry on this too, when I have finally decided. And, of course, what it’s all about: expect some more pictures!

For the moment, however, this is it. The only post for the month of July. Stay tuned, because I’ll be back…

Fotofestival Naarden is a bi-annual event that is taking place for the 12th time this year. The theme varies every time. This time it is portraiture under the title Let’s face it. For those who are not familiar with Naarden, it’s a small fortified town that for the occassion completely is taken over by the festival. Large canvases on the city walls and photographs in most of the shop windows. A truely exciting and inspiring atmosphere. There are about 10 different locations where photographers – well-known and starters – exhibit their work. All portraits in this case. De Grote Kerk is the main location of the event. Here the work of the famous photographers Stephan Vanfleteren, Joost van den Broek and Koos Breukel is on display.

But there’s also much attention for new talents. During the Professional Imaging event earlier this year I saw Rahi Rezvani in action, shooting live portraits, editing them and finally printing them. His work is also on display at the Fotofestival, amongst other new names.

The website of the festival can be accessed by clicking here. Information about the work of the participating photographers and their bio’s can be found here. I’m afraid the website is only available in Dutch.

I find it amazing to see that a huge photographic event like this is run without sponsorship of any of the big names in the industry. You will not find any Nikon, Canon, Sony or Epson logo’s here. Or any other name, for that matter. One of the national newspapers is in fact the biggest sponsor. The lack of the usual names is on the other hand probably also a good thing. In this way the emphasis remains to be on true photography and no dominance of one or more commercial super powers. The Fotofestival Naarden is open until June 19 and I seriously urge everyone with the slightest interest in photography to pay Naarden a visit.

While you’re there, you can also see some of my work being exhibited. As part of the Off Festival track you can find photographs of Fotoclub Argentum in the Kruidentuin (or Cruydhof). All photographs on display here were part of the assignment Movement of the camera we worked on last year. If you’re not in a position to visit the Fotofestival in person, here’s what our small exhibition looks like.

Recently I had a fotoshoot with 2 of my grandnephews. One 3 years old and the other just over 1 year. Working with kids of this age was a new experience for me. Fortunately their mother was present during the shoot. I think this is important because she’s probably the only one who knows how the children react on certain instructions or questions. Another thing that helps to make the kids feel comfortable is to bring some of their favourite toys. I don’t have a problem with taking pictures of the kids playing with their toys.

So here are some of my lessons learned:

• have the mother or father present during the shoot. Both is probably too much (or agree upfront that one of them will be silent);
• have favourite toys available to make the young models feel at home;
• plan the shoot, i.e. think about background, lighting setup, attributes;
• 1-year old children generally don’t pose (yet), so patience is required;
• taking pictures of both (3 years old and 1 year old) requires even more patience,

To create a friendly atmosphere, I planned a bright setup. That is, using a white background and no hard contrasts. I also planned to use full-length images, so the kids would be visible from head to toe. For the occasion I purchased a white background (I only had black) and a new Elinchrom modifier: 135 cm Octa softbox. It gives a very nice soft light (no hard shadows). Better than the 60×60 cm softboxes I have. I also bought a number of second-hand wooden crates. For the kids to sit on or stand behind. The crates also work very well on the white background. Give a nice bit of contrast. If you’re interested in a more technical explanation of the lighting setup, click here. Below you can see a partial result of the shoot. Some of the images that I think are nice.