Hold down the alt/option key then press 3

For anyone who is an avid Twitter user the # hash key is becoming an important character.

If you don’t get a hash appear, open the Keyboard Viewer if you don’t see any other character changing when you press the alt/option key. Try this:

Open system preferences > Keyboard > Select the ‘Modifier Keys’ button at bottom right > you will see a list with the Option key and a drop down list next to it. It should say ‘Option’. If it says ‘No action’ change this to ‘Option’

The ability to calculate this used to be available with most manuel lenses. Now with autofocus lenses the depth of field calculator has gone and you only have the distance scale available, at least on Nikon lenses this is the case. I don’t tend to need this kind of tool
for most of my work. However occasionally its useful for critical work or when working close to the subject.

http://japko.net/phocus/

With this type of assignment it is preferable to be able set up without causing to much disruption and to be able to do this quickly, especially if planning multiple shots. As such I travelled light for this assignment I had with me x3 SB800 flash guns, x 2 stands, 1 softbox brolly, 1 translucent brolly

For the first shot, the headshot I new I needed a background which I could either blur using a long focus lens wide open to isolate the subject or I could create a backdrop which was tied in a little more to the story of where the subject worked and could also serve as a background to the second shot involving some action. After a quick scout of the open plan office I settled on the option to create a colourful and striking backdrop using the many maps found in the office. The map we selected was pinned up over other maps already covering the wall to create a large area of map and colour which would provide a large enough background to fill the frame.

I made sure that the space I was going to use would provide enough depth to allow me to light for both the background and the subject as well as allowing me to throw the background out of focus slightly. I set up 2 lights on stands one with the Softbox and the other with a shoot through brolly. The softbox was placed high and close to the subject on camera left so that light would fall on background, as well as creating quite hard shadows on the subjects face. I took the first test shot to see how this looked.

Award Portrait for internal publication - lighting test

This has created quite a punchy image, but I felt that the shadow created on the subject’s left side was little dark and needed fill. I also noticed the background seemed a little dull. To overcome these issues, I placed a light with shoot through brolly on camera right, close to my position and high. For the background I placed a 3rd light on a box low down behind the subject on camera right. I left this third flash bare without a gel or any light modifier. The other 2 had green and orange gels, the purpose of which was to match the flash light with the white balance setting on camera and the ambient overhead flourcesnt of the office and also contrast with the bare background light. Shooting with my chosen white balance setting with the bare SB800 meant the background took on a subtle bluish colour. After some tweaking by aiming the light away from the background slightly the light fall off was enough not to be distracting and gave the maps more life.

Award Portrait for internal publication - Final shot

The guess work has been taken away by the introduction of stand alone DoF calculators from the likes of Expodisc, but it is now possible to get smart phones Apps at a fraction of the price which will make the calculation for you based on many different focal length and Film/Sensor sizes and even allow you to input your prefrence for the size of Circles of Confusion.

One app which stood out for me is Phocus for the iphone. The app has a clear interface and also provides quick adjustment of preferences and parameters.

Elevation of Obstacle Calculator

Essentially before importing a catalog, any offline or missing images must either be removed or brought back online in the catalog you wish to import. Offline or missing images can be found easily by using – Libray > Find Missing Images. Once the missing images are removed or brought back online. The old catalog can be imported into a new or alternative catalog.

The site is straightforward to use and provides facilities to share galleries and images via facebook, twitter and email. The lightbox feature is particularly useful to create a selection of favourite images which can be shared between registered users. It can also serve as a means to order or download full resolution image files. Please contact Alex Orrow directly to discuss the great benefits of an online gallery to archive and share your images.

The blog is a great resource for most nikon lenses and other related topics.