I’ve been doing a lot of alternative photography lately.  Since I started a black & white photo class I’ve been experimenting more with developing film and using medium format cameras.

One of the coolest developing processes I’ve come across is developing film with coffee.  At first I thought, “Yeah, whatever.”  But since I’ve done it, and actually got some results, I’m more than convinced.

So here’s how I do it:

The first thing you’re going to need are some materials.  Here’s what I’ve used:

• Exposed film (if you didn’t know already!)
• 12 tsp Instant Coffee (NOT decaf)
• 6 tsp Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer laundry soap work good…powder kind)
• 1/2 tsp Vitamin C (not necessary)
• Water at 68 degrees F
• Fixer (the only darkroom chemical you’ll need)
• Processing Tank
• Film Spool
• 3 Glasses
• Spoon
• Measuring Spoons
• Funnel
• Thermometer
• Stop Watch
• Bottle Opener (for 35mm film)
• Scissors (to cut lead and spool off 35mm film)

** The amounts above are for developing 120 film.  If you’re developing 35mm film, just cut the amounts in half.

Step 1:  Prepare Developer

For 120 film you’ll need to add the coffee and washing soda to 250ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 200ml of water.  If you’re developing 35mm film you’ll add the coffee and washing soda to 125ml of water each, and the vitamin c to 100ml of water.

Mix each ingredient separately in 3 glasses to ensure they dissolve completely.  Then pour the 3 mixtures into one larger container, like a 2 liter soda bottle.  Let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to get rid of all the bubbles.  Now’s a good time to prepare your film.

Step 2:  Load Film

While your developer is settling you can prepare your film.  In a dark room, remove film from canister and load onto the film spool.  It must be completely dark or you’ll expose the film.  I use a closet – and my wife then tells me not to come out!  Haha, she’s funny!  Once the film is on the spool, put it into the processing tank.  It’s now safe to come out of the closet!

Step 3:  Develop

Pour the developer into the processing tank and start the stop watch.  Agitate the film continually, by inverting the tank upside down and back upright, for the first minute.  Then agitate 3-5 times every 3 minutes after that.  I developed my film for 25 minutes using the above recipe, and the film turned out great.

Step 4:  Rinse

Pour the developer down the drain.  (It’s non-toxic!)  Fill the tank with water (68 degrees F) and pour it out.  Repeat this process 5 times.

Step 5:  Fix

Add the fixer to the tank.  Agitate again for the first minute.  Then, every 25 seconds, agitate 3-5 times.  Repeat this process for 3-5 minutes.  When finished, pour the fixer back into the fixer bottle, because you can reuse it.

Step 6:  Wash

Rinse the film for 5-10 minutes.  You can also fill the tank and dump it out about 10 times.

Optional:

As a final rinse add 2 drops of liquid soap to about 16oz of water and agitate 5-6 times.  This will help reduce the amount of water drops on the film.

That’s it!  Once you’re done, you can pull out the film and see the results.  Let the negatives dry, preferably overnight, before scanning or handling them too much.

The results are quite amazing!  I scanned the negatives, cropped them, and got rid of some of the scratches.  But that’s all the post-processing I did on these images.  The brown tint they have is from the coffee.

Just like any alternative process, don’t be afraid to fail and have fun experimenting!

Editing photos can be a time consuming project, especially if you have hundreds of photos to go through.  So anytime there is a shortcut to the process, it’s a blessing.

I found one of these shortcuts the other day while working on some photos.  It deals with advancing photos while in the Library Module.

So I made a quick little video to demonstrate how this is done.  Enjoy!

Welcome to Part 2 of “How to Take Smoke Photographs”!

If you haven’t read Part 1, I suggest starting there.  I show you how to set up your equipment to take smoke photos.

Then follow along with this video tutorial, where I show you how to edit your photos.  The process is pretty simple and is limited only by your imagination.

Thank you for watching!  Please leave your comments!

I recently became fascinated with smoke photography.  The images that result from the random patterns of smoke are quite amazing and mezmorizing.

The images look difficult to create, with multiple colors and patterns, but it’s actually quite simple.

In this post today I’m going to show you exactly how to do it, from start to finish.  Enjoy!

First, let’s go over the equipment you’re going to need in order to take smoke photos.

Equipment

1. Smoke – The best smoke is from incense.  It lasts a long time, has a nice steady stream, and smells good!
2. Backdrop – I’ve found that using a black backdrop is the best when taking the photos.  You can use black posterboard, matboard, or a black sheet.
3. Light – As with any type of photography, light is key.  I tried a couple different setups and found that using one modeling lamp off to the side did the best for me.
4. Tripod – Placing your camera on a tripod is crucial to getting tack-sharp images.
5. Camera – This is self-explanatory!  However, I haven’t tried using a point-and-shoot camera for this.  You’ll want a camera that allows you to have full manual control.
6. Remote Shutter Release – This isn’t necessary, but it helps.

Now that we have our equipment, let me show you how I set it up.

Pretty simple setup.  I have a black sheet as the backdrop that’s pinned to the wall and draped over the bed.  The one modeling strobe is set up on the left fairly close to the smoke.  And the tripod is set up in front.

Here is a closeup of the incense sitting on top of a box.  Since I’m aiming for just the smoke, I don’t have to worry about covering the box.

Settings Used

Now that we have everything setup, you may be wondering what settings to use on your camera.  This is what I used:

• ISO – 100
• Shutter Speed – 1/250
• Aperture – f/5.6  (I also used f/11 to get more in focus)
• Focus – Manual (Focus on the incense stick in automatic mode, then switch to manual and leave it alone.)

You may need to play around with the settings to get the effect you’re looking for.  I started with f/5.6 and then moved to f/11 when I noticed that some of the smoke was out of focus.  I left all the other settings the same and it seemed to work well.

I first tried using a snoot on the strobe to pinpoint the light where I wanted it, but it wasn’t giving me enough light.  The strobe was set to 1/4 power, so I might have been able to increase the power with the snoot attached.  (That’s for another day!)

I took the snoot off and shot with the strobe at 1/4 power still.  I had to move the strobe a little farther from the backdrop and angle it a little more because it was hitting part of the backdrop.  You don’t want any light falling on the backdrop to keep it as dark as possible.  This will help later in post-processing.

Now that everything is setup and your camera is ready, it’s time to take some photos!

I just sat there watching the smoke, waiting to capture the cool designs rising up from the incense stick.  Sometimes I missed, sometimes I got it.

What I did notice, however, was that the strobe was actually disturbing the smoke some.  Since it was so close to the smoke, every time it fired I could see the smoke move.  This was never really a problem, and probably gave me more designs to shoot at.

You may have noticed that I never said that I shot in total darkness.  Some people will say this is important, to be able to concentrate the light on the smoke.  However, I found that leaving the overhead light on did absolutely nothing to the photos.  Since the strobe was so powerful and I was shooting into the black background at a decent shutter speed, there was no problem leaving the light on.  It actually helped me be able to see the smoke!

The most important thing to remember is that you’re not going to take 50 shots and have 50 usable shots.  To give you an idea of how “hit and miss” this can be, I took 260 shots and kept only 37.  That’s only 14% that were somewhat usable!  And I probably won’t use all of those either.

So be patient and have fun!

SIDENOTE: I thought about doing this all in one post, but I’m going to split it up and go over the post-processing in the next post.

Thanks for reading, and leave comments if you’d like!

Continue on to Part 2 where I show you how to edit your smoke photos!

We’ve covered a lot of information so far on the Exposure Triangle.

Part 1 talked about Lens Aperture, what it is and how to adjust it.

Part 2 covered Shutter Speed and how it affects the exposure of an image.

In this third and final part, we will be covering ISO and why it’s important to the Exposure Triangle.

ISO actually stands for “International Organization for Standardization”.  Does that tell you anything?

Not really.  As a matter of fact, shouldn’t it then be “IOS”?

Anyway, knowing what it stands for isn’t all that important.  What is important is knowing how it affects your images and the Exposure Triangle.

Back in the film days, (I say that like film is extinct!), ISO was your film “speed”.  You could buy 100 film, 200 film, 400 film, etc. depending on where you were going to be taking pictures.  And if you wanted a different ISO film, you had to take out the old roll and replace it with a new one.

What a pain!

Now that we’re in the “digital age”, you can select your ISO setting right in the camera without having to change film.

Each camera make and model is different in how you do this.  Refer to your camera’s manual for instructions if you are unsure.

The Differences in ISO

So what do those numbers mean?

Basically, the lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to light.

For example, if you were going to take pictures primarily outdoors with plenty of light, you could choose ISO 100.

But if you wanted to get pictures in a dimly lit church, you would choose a higher ISO, like ISO 800 or 1600.

You’ll also notice that ISO numbers are doubled.  For instance, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, etc.

Each jump in ISO results in doubling the sensitivity to light.  So ISO 400 is 8 times as sensitive to light as ISO 50!

However, a higher ISO results in more noise being visible in the image.

Without getting too technical, noise simply refers to how grainy an image is.

The two sample images below show the difference between ISO 100 and ISO 1600:

ISO 100

ISO 1600

They don’t look too different, do they?  But let’s take a closer look to see the real difference.

ISO 100

ISO 1600

Now that’s quite different!  You can really see the noise in the second image.

How does ISO fit into the Exposure Triangle?

Since ISO is the sensitivity of your sensor to light, then choosing the correct ISO for the situation is crucial.

If you’re in a dimly lit location, you would want to choose a higher ISO so that your shutter speed wouldn’t be too slow.  This is especially important if you don’t have, or can’t use, a tripod.

By sacrificing a little image quality, you can now take an image you normally wouldn’t be able to without camera blur due to movement.

We have now covered all three components of the Exposure Triangle; Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

And hopefully you now understand how each one plays a roll in obtaining the correct exposure.

If you have any questions or comments about the Exposure Triangle, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Part 2 – Shutter Speed

Last post, “Lens Aperture Explained – Exposure Triangle Pt.1″ was the first part in this 3-part series on the Exposure Triangle.  If you haven’t read it yet, you can go there now.

Today we’ll be going over Shutter Speed, what it is and how to use it to your advantage.

If you’ve ever taken a picture, you know that you must press the shutter button in order to capture the image.  But what exactly is the shutter?

According to Wikipedia:

• “In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period of time, for the purpose of exposing photographic film or a light-sensitive electronic sensor to light to capture a permanent image of a scene.”

The camera’s shutter is always closed until you press the shutter release.  This prevents light from entering the camera and hitting the sensor until you’re ready to capture an image.

In TTL (through-the-lens) cameras, there is also a mirror that moves out of the way when the shutter button is pressed.  With the high-end digital cameras there is an option to have the mirror move out of the way on the first press of the shutter.  Then a second press of the shutter button opens the shutter to take the picture.  When the shutter button is released both the shutter and the mirror move back into place.  This is know as “mirror lock-up”, and you can find more information about that in your camera’s manual.

So now that we have an understanding of what the shutter is, let’s look at how it affects your exposure.

As mentioned above, an open shutter allows light to hit the sensor, creating an image.  Therefore, the longer the shutter is left open, the more light enters the camera.  The less time the shutter is open, the less light enters.  Pretty straight forward so far.

If you’re taking pictures outdoors on a nice sunny day, you want a faster shutter speed.  This will allow less light in giving you the correct exposure.

On the other hand, if you’re taking pictures indoors, or outdoors with less light, you need a slower shutter speed to allow more light to enter the camera.

How is shutter speed measured?

Shutter speeds are represented by fractions of a second; 1/30, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, etc.  This is usually shown by just the second number.  For example, “500″ means 1/500th of a second.  Shutter speeds of 1 second or longer are represented with a ” after the number.  For example, 30″ represents a 30-second exposure.

There’s one more symbol you might see relating to shutter speed, “B”.  This is the “Bulb” setting, which allows you to keep the shutter open as long as the shutter button is pressed.

How do you adjust the shutter speed?

On digital cameras you can adjust the shutter speed by using the cameras menu system and dials.  Each camera make and model will have its own system of selecting these modes.  If you’re not sure how to do it with your camera, refer to the camera manual.

So now we know that the shutter speed has a direct impact on exposure.

Next, let’s take a look at some examples of how shutter speed affects the image exposure.

Under Exposed

Over Exposed

Correct Exposure

*Note: The white balance of these images is wrong. But that’s not what we’re worried about now!

You can see that the shutter speed is very important in achieving the correct exposure!

Next, we will be covering ISO and how it affects the Exposure Triangle.  Stay tuned!

Okay, I’m not calling anyone a dummy here!  But you may feel like one when trying to understand your lens aperture and what it is.

And it’s the lens aperture, not camera aperture!  Each lens has its own aperture range, not the camera.

If I had a dime for every time I’ve explained what aperture is, I wouldn’t need to worry about putting my kids through college.  And that got me to thinking.  What if there were more people out there who just didn’t understand what a lens aperture was and how to use it properly?

I’m sure if you do a Google search on lens aperture, you’d get thousands of results, some of which would be absolutely no help to you.  (Okay, so a search of “lens aperture” resulted in 25.5 million pages!)

To begin with, the aperture of your lens is just one of three elements to the “Exposure Triangle”, which I will be covering in a future post.  But we need to break that down into it’s separate parts.

To put it very simply, your lens aperture is the “eye of the camera.”  But there’s more to it than that.

Why is it there?  What does it do?  How does it work?

If you’re anything like me, you want to know how everything about your camera works.  This will allow you to utilize all the benefits of your camera.

So, like I said, the aperture is like your eye, or more precisely your pupil.  When you go outside your pupils contract blocking out more light.  On the other hand, when you go indoors, your pupils must dilate to allow more light to enter your eye.

Now, the lens aperture isn’t automatic like your eyes.  You need to tell the lens, through your camera settings, to allow more light in or to block more light.

• “Stopping down” the aperture, or closing the opening, will block more light from entering the camera.  (Larger f/stop number.)
• “Stopping up” the aperture, or opening the aperture, will allow more light into the camera.  (Smaller f/stop number.)

There’s really no other way to put it.  If you need more light, choose a smaller number; if you need less light, choose a larger number.

(Can you tell that shutter speed is another element of the “Exposure Triangle”?)

But that’s not all folks.  Oh no!

Adjusting your aperture also determines your depth of field.  Oh great, you’re thinking?  How am I going to keep all this straight?

I’ve been given analogies from swimming pools to forests.  And all that did was confuse me more.

So I came up with a way to remember how the aperture affects depth of field on my own.

We all know that there the aperture is denoted by numbers, right?  For instance, you can have f/1.4, f/8, f/22, f/32, etc.  (By the way, aperture is also known as “F-Stop”)

Okay, so here’s the easiest way to remember this: The smaller the number, the less of your photo will be in focus.  The bigger the number, the more of your photo will be in focus.

That wasn’t hard, was it?

Now, if that’s all you want to know, quit reading now.  But if you want to know what your lens aperture is doing when you change the setting, read on.

This is where most people get confused.  When you choose a small number, your aperture actually opens up giving you a bigger opening.  And when you choose a larger number, your aperture closes down resulting in a smaller opening.

Wow!  Have I lost you yet?

One more time: Choosing a smaller number will open up your aperture.  Choosing a larger number will close down your aperture.

You may have noticed that when you want to get a nice landscape image and set your aperture to f/22, (because that’s what the manual told you to do!), your shutter speed slowed down.  This is because you closed the aperture, blocking more light from hitting the sensor.

If all you’re interested in is when to use what aperture, here’s a breakdown:

• More depth of field (Landscape images) = Large aperture number f/8, f/11, f/22, f/32, etc.
• Less depth of field (Bring more focus to your subject and blurring the background) = Small aperture number f/1.4, f/2.8, f/5.6, etc.

I hope I didn’t lose you too bad!  Aperture is one the hardest things to understand about not only digital photography, but photography in general.  So don’t feel bad if you’re a little fuzzy on the concept.

Hopefully, after reading this post, you understand a little more what aperture is and how it works.  Now it’s time for you to get out there and experiment!

Try different aperture settings and see what you come up with.

Next time: Shutter Speed, the second part to the Exposure Triangle.

We’re all told of how to take care of our camera when we buy them.  Or at least we should be told!

Usually that just involves how to properly handle our new piece of equipment and how to do minor cleaning of the lens and body.  But what about all the other “predators” that are out there ready to wreak havoc on our prized possession?

I’ve personally come face to face with the following 7 predators, and have come out victorious because I know how to defeat them.  If you’re aware of these predators and have the proper “weapons”, you can also be victorious!

Sunscreen/Insect Repellent

With the weather starting to warm up in many parts of the country, sunscreen and insect repellent are going to be used more and more.  And if you’re not careful, these two predators can really damage your camera.

They are both greasy and great care should be taken in not getting them in contact with your camera.

After using either one, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.  This may sound obvious, but don’t spray repellent around your camera.

Not only will sunscreen and insect repellent damage your camera by themselves, it will also be easier for dust to stick to it.

Dust

Dust may be harder to avoid than sunscreen and insect repellent, but it definitely shouldn’t be ignored.

If you’re in a dusty environment shield your camera as much as possible.  If you’re not using your camera, keep it safe inside your camera bag.

Also, if you need to change lenses do it carefully.  You either do it inside, like your car or a building, or under the protection of a jacket or in a backpack.

Have your other lens ready to be put on so you’re not messing around with it while there is no lens on your camera.

You can also avoid getting dust in your camera by holding it upside down while you change lenses.  This won’t prevent it completely, but gravity will do its thing and not let a lot of dust settle down in your camera.

Sand

Sand is pretty much like dust, only with bigger particles.  Never wipe sand off your camera, expecially the lens.

Use a blower to try and blow as much sand off as possible.  Then you can use a lens brush to gently wipe off the rest.

Moisture

With Spring comes rain.  And getting your camera wet could mean the end of your photo-taking days.

There are waterproof bags and devices that will allow you to protect your camera while still being able to take pictures.  They can be quite pricey, but much cheaper than a new camera!

If there’s just a light mist, try using an umbrella to shield your camera.

Make sure you wipe down your camera after using it if it gets any moisture on it.

Salt

This really applies to those living on the coast.  I took a trip to the Washington coast a few years back, and not being from the coast, never even thought about how much salt was in the air.

I deffinitely thought about it when I was photoshopping all the spots out of my images!

A thorough cleaning after each use will prevent you from having to send your camera in for repairs.

Bumps/Drops

Just hang on to your camera and you won’t have any troubles!

When you’re not using your camera, keep the strap around your neck.  I dropped a camera off a bridge when I was younger because I didn’t utilize the strap.  Granted, it was an old 110 camera, but it was my camera!

You can also buy “armor” for your camera.  It’s basically just a rubber mold that fits around your camera giving it a little protection.  I wouldn’t test it from any great heights though!

Thieves

So you don’t think people notice that you’re carrying around a couple thousand dollars worth of camera gear?  Thank again!

Keep everything secure, in a locked vehicle, locked room, a safe, whatever.  Just keep it locked up when you’re not using it.

If you keep it in the car, store it in the trunk or under the seat so that it’s out of view.

If you keep these “predators” in mind while you’re out shooting, you will have many more happy days of it!

It’s no secret that the composition of a photo can make or break the image and its impact on the viewer.

You can have the most beautiful photo ever, but if the composition is wrong, the photo fails.  On the other hand, you can have some mundane image but with the right composition the photo will be powerful.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when composing your photos:

Framing & Foreground

Tree branches, beams, and other foreground elements can be used to frame the subject and draw the viewer’s eye into the photo.  A foreground element can also be used to add context to a picture.

Patterns & Textures

It’s not always necessary to have one dominant element in a photo.  Sometimes just a cool looking texture or pattern can be used to create an abstract image.  Look around you the next time you’re out shooting and you might be surprised at how many different textures and patterns can be found.

Lines & Diagonals

One of the most powerful compositional tools are curved lines and diagonal lines.  They can create tension in the photo or a sense of calmness.  They can also be the main emphasis in the photo or be used as a more subtle element.

Angles

A lot of people shoot all of their photos standing up, looking at their subject at eye-level.  Sometimes this works, but there are many different angles that will bring life to the image.  Get down low and shoot up, or stand on a chair and shoot down.  You can even rotate your camera just a bit to get a completely different angle.  Don’t be afraid to experiment!

The Rule of Thirds

Without going too indepth with this one, don’t put your subject right in the middle of the frame.  Many times this creates too much space at the top of the photo or on the sides.  Just imagine a tic-tac-toe grid, and put your subject on one of the intersecting points.  This will make your images more dynamic and less stagnant.

Symetry

Sometimes you can break the Rule of Thirds and place your horizon line in the center of the frame.  An example of this would be an image of a lake with the reflection of the distant mountains.  This will give equal symetry to the photo, where the top and bottom of the image compliment each other.

Here was just a few compositional tips for you to try out the next time you go on your photowalk.  By incorperating a few of these into your photography, your photos will be more dynamic and less static.

Have fun!

Without getting too much into the “Film is better than Digital”, or “Digital is better than Film” argument, I want to go over some of the benefits of digital photography.

Now before you think I’m biased toward digital photography, let me tell you that I still shoot film as well. As a matter of fact, I’ve started doing a lot more film photography, and will start developing my own images in the near future.

So, with that out of the way, let’s get to it.

One of the biggest benefits of digital photography is the ability to see what you’ve shot, immediately. And it’s safe to say that we, as a society, are moving toward an age where waiting is not an option. We want things now, not later.

Instead of taking a roll of film, running it down to your local photo lab, waiting for them to develop it, and then returning to the lab to pick up your film, you can now take a picture and see it right away.

Not only does this mean no waiting, but it also means less money wasted. How many times have you taken a roll of film only to realize that your settings were wrong and all the pictures were overexposed, underexposed, or just plain ruined?

With digital, you can look at your images, and if you don’t like them you can delete them right there. How convenient!

Another benefit of digital photography is the ability to show others your images right away. The Internet is full of “sharing” sites, such as Flickr, ArtBistro, RedBubble, DeviantArt, etc. that allow you to post your images.

You can even take a photo with your phone and upload it right away to the Web. Crazy cool!

There are also many “Project-365” projects happening now. This is where the photographer takes a photo everyday for a year and uploads them to his or her site or blog. With film, you would have to wait until it was developed, then scan the images, then upload them.

It would be nearly impossible to take and upload new pictures everyday. (Unless you’re constantly taking pictures and having them developed in an hour!)

However, with the advances of digital photography, film will never die. It may become harder to get yourself some types of film, 620 format is already gone, but there will always be a way.

I, personally, enjoy the “mystery” of film, the anticipation of looking at my newly developed roll of film. Not knowing what’s going to show up on those negatives is exciting.

But I also like to immediacy of digital photography, and being able to “fix” any problems on the spot.

It’s also funny, and ironic, that there are many different Photoshop Actions, and Lightroom Presets that will make your digital photos look like film. Some think this is cheating and if they want a “film look” they should just shoot film.

I disagree. It all depends on what you do. Some prefer film, and have the resources (ie. money!) to experiment and try new things. Others don’t.

Whatever the case, there are certainly some advantages of digital over film. You make the decision.

Whatever it is, it’ll be right for you!