(smooth easy music)
(camera clicks)
- Hi, I'm Ira Block, Sony Artisan of Imagery.
In this video, you will learn about
the key components of a photo including
light and dynamic range.
For me and for you I think it's very important
to work a really high shutter speed,
even when it's not that dark,
even if you're in a market like I was here.
I like to shoot at ISO 800 or 1000
so I then can work a decent shutter speed.
When I'm shooting someone and their head's moving like this-
if you're at 1/125 you're going to see movement in the chin.
So, I like to be at least at
a 1/250 when I'm shooting people.
The five axis stabilization is terrific and it's great
at stabilizing you when you're holding the camera.
But again, it only stabilizes you.
It doesn't stabilize the motion in your subject.
So if you're shooting people moving
you need to be at a high shutter speed.
Then I think it's mistake that most people make,
they're afraid to move their ISO's up
and they'll say "hey look, look at this
great picture ISO 200 or 400"
And I look at the picture and it's blurred.
Well, if the picture's blurred it's no good.
So you might as well take
advantage of what these camera can do.
Move your shutter speed up.
Going to 1000, 2000, 3200 is nothing.
Keep your ISO high so you can keep your shutter speed up.
Keep your lens open more, don't worry
so much about depth of field in most pictures,
worry about blur and movement.
It's amazing that even at high ISO the Sony cameras
have incredible dynamic range.
I did a series of these ballet dancers
in an old house in Cuba and I just
found some interesting light
and in this image, I've got sunlight
coming through the door way, her dress is not blown out,
the background has incredible detail
and her face has incredible detail.
The dynamic range just keeps pictures alive.
I could have never done this shot in the
days of film nor could I have done this shot
five years ago with another digital camera.
Another shot in this old house was in this bedroom.
I took both these pictures with my go-to lens, the 24-70.
And I turned the fluorescent light on
that was behind the bed and yet the light source,
the available light, the colors, the dress,
the white of the bed, everything has great detail.
Nothing's blown out, nothing's over exposed.
I saw this great scene on a mountain top in Bhutan.
I liked the tree and I liked the stupa at this monastery.
Good mountain range in the back.
Suddenly, I get lucky.
A nun starts walking on the pathway
and again, the dynamic range of the sensors
makes in possible I got some detail
and you can see the shape of the mountains in the back.
You see detail in the stupa,
you see a little bit of detail in the nun
and nothing's out of range here, it's great.
It's important for me to have this dynamic range.
Now there are some situations I shoot in
where I'm controlling the light.
But a lot of situations if I'm shooting something
really natural light, I need that dynamic range.
I need to be able to get information in highlights,
I need to get information in shadows
and it's important for me to be able to do that.
I believe the Sony cameras have 14 stop dynamic range
which is just phenomenal.
I love working with people
but of course I need to shoot landscapes
to complete my story.
So in my landscapes I try to include people
but I like to shoot landscapes that
also have some sort of mood.
I like to shoot more into the light
and I like to use atmospherics.
Now this image has a real mood to it.
Sun rising, fog coming off the water
and a boat going through the river.
Behind the boat you get this nice wake
going through the water,
you get to see the fog more, it's a great mood picture.
Again the dynamic range of the Sony sensors
makes pictures like this possible.
Even though it's a sort of silhouette
I'm getting detail in things that are unbelievable.
You can look at the boat and there's a little reflection
of the boat in the water.
The sun reflecting in the water has detail in it.
The trees in the background have detail.
The shape of the house is defined really nicely
even though it's dark against the dark mountains,
it still defines itself.
My ability to shoot these moody scenics and landscapes
is possible now with this great dynamic range.
Working at night or dusk or sunrise, dawn
is another good time to shoot these landscapes.
Here's the Fort El Morro in Havana
and it was catching some natural light
along the side of the wall that was warm
and contrasted with the blue light of the sky,
made for a great picture
plus I've got a nice angle of the fort coming to me.
I've got a point in the background showing the light house.
All these different elements add up and create a nice image.
With these night shots like that fort picture,
I'm always looking for source of light
that gives me some contrast, some difference.
About 2 'o clock in the morning
I got back to my hotel, getting ready to go to sleep
and I look out my window and I see this aurora.
Now across the street from my hotel was a house
that was getting a red glow from the hotels neon sign
and I was able to get a shot of the aurora
and the red house.
So in this case my light contrast is making this photo work.
The reds and the greens give incredible
contrast to this situation.
I'm aware of light, I'm aware of the color of light.
I like to do night shots with stars.
Here I'm in the Himalayas
and I was shooting at a slower shutter speed.
Now you can see it's a slow shutter speed because
the stars are moving, well actually the Earth's moving
and the stars seem to be moving
and the clouds going over the mountain peak
are also getting a little blurred
from this slow shutter speed.
But if you don't want the stars to have
the appearance of moving you've got to shoot
a little differently.
Like in this photo in Mongolia.
It was a beautiful clear night in Mongolia
and the Milky Way was rising.
I set up my camera
but again I didn't wanna do just a shot of the sky,
I needed an anchor in the foreground.
So I put this yurt in the foreground.
Now the yurt was pitch black,
how was I gonna get color on it?
I took a flashlight and I during that
30 second exposure I just painted light onto the yurt.
So now I've got the yurt and a beautiful Milky Way.
But am I finished? Not really.
I had planned the shoot to finish before the moon came up.
The moon is too bright and the Milky Way
disappears from your eyes.
I was packing the cameras up and I looked off to the side
and I saw this brilliant glow coming up over the horizon,
almost like a sunrise but it was a moon rising.
And I noticed on the yurt the moon
was putting a golden glow.
I took a few frames and then the moon actually popped up
and the Milky Way disappeared.
And this picture has this beautiful golden glow,
you can even see on the horizon a bit of a glow.
The moral to the story, nature does a better job
of lighting than I do.
Here's a sot of Manhattan at night
with the Empire State Building.
Now I don't shoot at the dark of night.
I shoot after the sun sets, there's about an hour of time
when the sky gets this nice blue color
and you can start seeing differentiations in the clouds
and also there's still enough light in the sky
that it helps outline the buildings.
So it's a perfect time to shoot,
early in the morning right before the sun comes up
or later in the afternoon right after the sun sets.
This is an unusual event.
I was shopping on 6th avenue in Manhattan
and I walked out of the store
and I saw this fantastic sunset.
I had my Sony RX100 version 4 in my pocket.
When I'm not carrying my professional cameras with me
I at least have the Sony RX100 version 4 with me.
It's a terrific piece of equipment .
It's amazing I was able to get this shot with it.
And what's the best camera? It's the one you have with you.
In this video, you learned about
the key components of a photo including
light and dynamic range.
Keep all this in mind, keep practicing
and you'll take better pictures.