As MicroFilmmaker’s emphasis continues to evolve with the technology and the creative options available to low-budget content creators, it became clear that we needed to explore one of the more overlooked emphases for many multimedia creators: still photography. That’s not to say we don’t “snap” still pictures on our iphones and even production cameras for behind the scenes and Facebook updates, but actually mastering the art of photography to give your production the best looking representation is something that has been sadly ignored by too many of us. Whether you need a killer poster to advertise your film, a cover that makes people want to buy your next app, source imagery for use within your next multimedia comic book, or an amazingly detailed storyboard for your DP, the art of still photography is unbelievably necessary.
The angle, framing, and lighting in a shot can convey so much in a single frame. (Credit: Niekirk)
Even if you know this is so important, for many of us–who’ve already spent a huge amount of brain power figuring out cameras with motion options, compression algorithms, video lighting, and how to record clean audio to go with it–the thought of having to master an entirely different area of creative pursuit to properly market your film or get the best possible source content makes your head explode.
That’s why we at MFM have been spending the better part of a year looking at different options, tricks, and solutions to help make your journey into still photography much, much easier. (Though we provide an overview of our roadmap, there are plenty of places you can craft your own journey once you grasp the basics.)
So that this will be as easy to implement as possible, we’ll break this series into four separate articles:
Learning the Basics.
Choosing a Camera.
Selecting a Lighting Solution.
Deciding on a Post Workflow.
With no further ado, let’s move into Learning the Basics.
Learning the Basics
Where do I start?
Most people want to jump into cameras or lights, because that involves getting cool technology. After all, who doesn’t like getting some cool new hardware?! However, if you jump there first, you’ll probably end up falling into technobabble myths and buying a bunch of stuff that sounds cool—and might even BE cool—without any understanding of what you do need, what you don’t need, and how the art of still photography differs from cinematography.
The cheapest—and most helpful way to figure out the basics—is with a book that really helps you understand the point of what you’re trying to do, what things modify your results, and how to easily accomplish these things.
I researched dozens of different books and read through a number of them to come up with the top of the heap ones that I’m listing below.
When it comes to photography books, Amherst Media is probably one of the most prolific companies out there, with books on all sorts of specific cases and types of photography. (No joke, Amherst is to still photography what Michael Weise Productions is to filmmaking.)
Direction & Quality of Light: Your Key to Better Portrait Photography Anywhere by Neil van Niekerk is one of the best books I came across for getting started, as it gives you a feel for what you can accomplish with still photography by using things like tripods, speedlights, and reflectors. What I especially love is that they show you exactly how different forms of lighting differ and how changing the angle of your model can change your equipment needs drastically. And when it comes to specifics, van Niekerk explores shutter speeds, lens aperture settings, reflective lighting, wireless lighting setups—with many of these things being able to be accomplished with less than $100 worth of lighting gear (if you get third-party equipment). I’ve got a background in still photography and have done it on an amateur level for over a decade, yet this book improved my photography skills and awareness at least 200%. MSRP on the book is $30, but, while it is well worth that, for a limited time, you can get it for 40% off here.
Step-by-Step Lighting for Studio Portrait Photography by Jeff Smith is also a good book from Amherst Media for setting up a basic studio and he explores many different types of shooting.
Although the emphasis is more on traditional studio portraiture, rather than the sort of dynamic sets and lighting often used in advertising, there’s a lot of great stuff here.
If you’re wanting to do more studio stuff, though, it’s also a good value, retailing at $30 MSRP (and you can get it for 30% off here).
New Riders, a division of Peachpit Press, is another company that’s got some great books for almost every facet of production.
Top of the heap in this division is Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it. Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image by Scott Kelby, which will walk you through the entire process of setting up your lights (either in a studio, in a sound stage, or on location), shooting your actor/actress, taking your photo into post, and then doing all the really cool post effects you see in national magazine ads. To make sure you have good source images to learn the post-side of things, Kelby includes downloadable source images for all the walkthroughs. (While the post-process is designed for use with the Adobe products Kelby uses, like Bridge and Photoshop, it would be pretty simple to adapt much of it to programs like GIMP or Corel PhotoPaint.) This book will really help you decide on what you want for studio-style lighting and what things are most important to focus on (both in the shoot and afterwards). It’s definitely improved both my outlook on setting up lighting and my post workflow 500% and is well worth the $40 MSRP price tag. (For a limited time, you can get this one for 45% off here.)
After reading one or all of these books, you should be in a great position to know what things your camera needs to be able to accomplish.
In our next article, we’ll look at the questions you need to consider for which camera to get.
Photo Credits: Niekerk: Grand Central Station Photo by Neil van Niekirk featuring Elmira. (Find a bunch of great photography tips from Mr. van Niekirk at his Tangents Blog.) Louis: "Enlightenment" photo by Ronnie Louis (A Piece of Time Photography) featuring Laila Black. DGP: "Survival" photo by DarkestGoth Photography featuring Nara Gordon. Richter: "Gothic Dancer" photo by Atelier-Simone-Richter featuring Branwen.
Jeremy T. Hanke
The director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films, Jeremy Hanke founded MicroFilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make better films. The second edition of his well-received book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) is being released by MWP in fall 2016. He's curently working on the sci-fi collaborative community, World of Depleted, and directed the debut action short in this series, Depleted: Day 419 .
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