Brett Harkness Photography Training

In most of our shoots we tend to work very quickly with our set ups & shooting so it was nice to slow things down and look a little more at how the light was hitting the subject. Being very specific with our light placements and modifiers.

Kit used was:

Elinchrom Raner RX Speed AS pack x 2

Elinchrom 70cm Silver Beauty dish with grid

Strip box with baffle

Pocket Wizard x4

We also used some CTO gels on the back flash to give the feeling of low sunshine coming through the window.

For sure this kind of specific lighting cannot be used in our social work due to the time constraints at weddings & lifestyle shoots. We are here at Brett Harkness Photography looking to do more commercial, editorial & fashion work over the next 12 months where this lighting & techniques can be used and moulded into our own unique style. My colors although nice & punchy for my weddings have got a little more muted in my fashion & portrait work. I guess style changes as you shoot different things. I am certainly starting to look at light differently , stemming from the France course we did last year. Looking to build up the light in layers for my commercial jobs & fashion work.

These shots are shot wide open at apertures of 2.8-4.5. Making the images very soft whilst balancing the flash usage with the ambiance more gives a very balanced image. I look forward to shooting a lot more test shoots over the coming weeks whilst building my commercial, editorial & portrait portfolio.

A quick shot from behind the scenes in the studio

Please Click HERE to see what we have been up to… 

It was great to shoot Emma again for the first of many test shoots this year & to have styling by Zan Atkinson ( great to have her back after 2nd baby! ) Using the medium format kit certainly makes you think about what you are shooting, things are a lot slower for sure, which is great. To me the whole point of using a MF kit is to slow down the speed of which I shoot, I have become so used to having to shoot very fast with clients not giving us too much time. By the very nature of the body it makes me slow down, think about the shoot, shoot less for sure! It also has a wonderful 12 true stops of dynamic range, to me that is what puts it in a different league than most 35mm kits.We used sunlight in the studio and lights outside messing around with my car!It seems that my brain works differently also when shooting with MF, I look at keeping the shots clean and work with the model for longer to get the most out of the situation. Testing also allows you to stay with a shot, a moment and ad a light here and there to get it how you want. Using prime lenses is also important here meaning that I have to think a lot more about what fills the frame . We used the 80mm Schneider lead lens which gives us up to 1600th sec with flash meaning we can shoot with a lot of power but keep the DOF nice and shallow.

Today was about shooting wide open or as much as we could to see how the kit handled the aperture and shallow DOF. Although quite tricky to focus we got more hits than misses. Shooting on 1600th sec @ f2.8-3.5 was great meaning we could get beautiful lighting on the subjects and keep the DOF really nice and shallow. The body now has an upgraded option to it, the 645D+ which is supposed to have improved focusing which does let the older body down a bit.It also had a vertical grip you can ad to it and for someone with large hands like me this is a godsend! Griping the small handle puts a lot of stress on the fingers and makes the balance of the camera a little off. The back isn’t as good as the IQ that we used in France and is a little slower for sure, the screen resolution is ok but can look a little muddy and hard to see in bright sunlight but is also a lot less $£ than the IQ backs and for a first MF kit might be a good starter option for us.

Here are a couple of shots taken today.

A quick shot from behind the scenes on the car shot. Using Elinchrom Ranger RX & Quadra packs.

This piece is not particularly a technical piece, (there are plenty of articles online that covert that!) This is more of a opinion piece, an outline as to which lenses I use, why I use them and how they make a difference in the crazy social photography world within which I reside!

Canon EOS 1ds Mark III

Brett’s Score – 8.5/10

I believe that the camera body is only as good as the person using it and the lenses that you put onto it! Having said that Canon have a wide array of digital bodies to suit every budget , hand size! & style. Having grown up using Leica full frame bodies I wanted to wait until a full frame digital body came upon the market. My first digital body was Canon’s EOS 1DS , purchased in 2004, this 11.4MP body was overnight in my hands a joy to behold!
Switching to digital was although a very different proposition to film, funnily enough was pretty easy due to the cameras relationship with its predecessors.
I had used Canons 1V bodies beforehand and apart from the film /CF card slots the feel of the camera was to me very similar. Preferring not to look at the back of the camera for a good few months I treated it the same way and this is the way I shoot today. Using the screen for WB checking only.
I moved onto the 6.7MP Mark II body and then finally , ( for now) onto the the mark III body for which I have been using for my main work horse for  couple of years now. For me a camera is a box for which I see the world through. Whereas years ago it was all about the FILM that we used, remember that? It is now about the body that we use. How it handles high ISO, color rendition, file sizes etc… There is a lot more to choose from now and a lot more at our disposal. For me if a camera feels right in the hand, if it helps you to produce the imagery by which you see with your eyes then go for it. For me the Canon Mark III body is an extension of my eyes. I have become so used to it, to the way it exposes, or should I say the way that I expose through it! The way it handles in the rain, the way it works feels like second nature now and I have always felt this when using Canon bodies. Not only do they produce the images that I expect but also ergonomically they work for me.
True, that technology is such that things are changing all the time. The 1DX body out now has far greater ISO at it s disposal, cleaner ISO which is one of the Mark III’s drawbacks. I find myself limiting my ISO to usually 800, sometimes to 1600 if need be. I know that the 1D family of cameras might be too large in physical size for a lot of photographers, the 5D mark II & soon III fill this gap perfectly. I know a lot of female photographers that choose the 5D over the 1D every time purely down to size & weight.
For me the Mark III is the perfect body for what I shoot.
It is weather sealed, I have had it down graves

( http://brettharknessphotography.com/training/discover/down-dirty/ ) on rooftops – (http://brettharknessphotography.com/g/commercial/ ) ,

on the beach, at fashion shoots all over the UK – ( http://brettharknessphotography.com/training/2012/02/23/funky-flash-manchester/ )
Weddings all over the world – (http://brettharknessphotography.com/wedding/ ) and countless other situations where it has never let me down.
All in all it is a tool but a very important one for sure. Without being able to rely on the equipment that you are using then it can make things very difficult indeed. I have faith in my tools, so that allows me to get on with the job.

Canon EOS 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM

Brett’s score – 8.5/10

Up until a couple of years ago this was the main work horse lens for me. I still use it a lot but a mix it up now with different focal lengths depending upon what I am shooting.

This is and always has been a beautiful lens to use. Only being bettered with the Mark II version of it which rekindled my love for zoom lenses! I shoot weddings all over the UK & beyond . This lens with others is my main shooting lens for weddings. It allows me to hold back, to keep my distance and to pick off moments. A great lens for documentary when you want to be discreet. Its focusing is very fast and having a minimum focal distance of 3ft or so makes it  a very versatile lens. The stabilizer gives you an extra couple of stops and is something I use a lot. It is a Large lens and again you have to weigh up the weight and size if you have small hands but I do know a lot of female photographers that have embraced this lens and have never looked back! With an aperture of 2.8 all the way through makes it the perfect lens for the social photographer. Especially with the summers that we get here in the UK!! If you want to read more technical info about this lens PLEASE CLICK HERE.

I have to say that I have gone through a few stabilizers on the old Mark I version of this lens. The mark II seems to handle the stabilizer being used a lot better. Because I shoot with one body only (I have always done this) I do change lenses a lot. It is perfect lens for “ peering” through a crowd when you physically cannot get in there! Which can happen sometimes at very large weddings. Allowing you to pick off moments. Apart from the weight I cannot really fault the new 70-200 lens. Optically it is amazing, it handles superbly and adds another dimension to my overall documentary when shooting at a wedding.
I also use this lens for my pre-wedding shoots, leaving everything else at home and keep it very simple.
I also take it with me to family/ lifestyle shoots. Often being the only lens in my bag with the 50mm as it covers most of the focal lengths that I find attractive for shooting families. The focusing is very fast and pretty much silent. The stabilizer on the old one could get quite noisy but they seem to have fixed this issue on the new version.

Canon 50mm f1.2 L USM

Brett’s score – 9/10

This lens used to sit on my camera bag and I could hear it saying, “let me out !” I would keep it only for my personal work. CLICK HERE to read an article I wrote for Canon magazine on its use on a trip to India! This is not an easy lens to use , all fixed lenses ( not zooms ) are a lot harder to use than a zoom. Especially if you are not used to them.
The reason for this is that YOU the photographer has to become the ZOOM. Your legs have to be used. You have to get closer to the subject in order to fill the frame. I have to say that i LOVE this lens, it is the closest lens for me to perfection. It is hard to use as I have said and you cant underestimate that. Not only because of the tricky focal length but also because wide open on 1.2 it is very hard to get anything in focus! The Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens’ closest focusing distance is 1.48′ (.45m) – nearly identical to the 50 f/1.4 . This makes it ideal for portraiture & a favorite amongst photojournalists who like to get in close. The build quality is very good and can stand up to the countless knocks that I have given to it! Having said that I once pulled it in half at a wedding and had to gaff a tape it together and use it in the synagogue and use myself as the bellows! I don’t advise trying that at home.
It is the perfect lens for travel, documentary and times when you don’t want to lug too much equipment around. Take a look HERE for images taken whilst teaching in London this year using only this lens. All in all this lens demands respect. It is not the easiest to use for sure but once you have mastered it then it will repay you tenfold. I have to say that over the last few years I have traveled the world with this lens. Being the only lens on my bag whilst out shooting in India, Prague , Canada & Miami. Taking me back to my roots as far as using fixed lenses. I first shot in India over 15 years ago now and only used a 24mm lens. Since the introduction of zooms into my life I almost forgot about primes until I bought this and fell in love all over again. For me the 50mm focal length is perfect for the way that I shoot. The 35mm is too wide, the 85mm is too long finding myself having to back up out of the action as it were. It is without a doubt a focal length that is very rewarding if used correctly and it does take time to master. There is a lot of “negative” space with this lens as I hardly ever use it vertically. This means that you have to look a lot harder as to what is in your background before you press the shutter. Turning the – space into + space is the art but is what can make or break an image or moment captured. For me I feel most at ease and calm when shooting at weddings with this lens. It fits the way I shoot documentary and when used in conjunction with other varying focal lengths gives out clients the whole range of what we shoot. There are cheaper 50mm lenses on the market, indeed my first 50mm was the 50mm 2.5 macro lens which I took to Cuba with me on a trip.  An amazing lens for the money. Yes this is an expensive piece of kit but when you “nail” an image on 1.2 or 1.4 there is nothing like it.
Canon EOS 16-35mm f2.8 L IS II USM

Brett’s score – 7/10

This is a lens that I use on most of the jobs that I shoot. For me it is known as my “scene setter” lens. It is a great lens for shooting large groups shots at apertures of around f8-f11. For me and I don’t know if it is an issue with this lens but it can be a little soft on the edges especially at larger aperture – around f2.8 – f4. Although  a vast improvement over the version 1. To be honest I mostly use this lens now for my “ big flash” shots where I want to get a lot of the scene in as well as the couple, when I am shooting like this then I tend to use it on f11-f16 so the alternative 17-40mm f4/L lens would be worth considering and at half the price a good buy! I know some guys use it taped down on 35mm , just to get more use out of it.

Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8 L USM

Brett’s score – 6.5/10

I know this lens has now been upgraded but I am writing about the lenses that I use at the moment every day within my business and this is one of them, although my 50mm has somewhat replaced its usage. Although optically a good lens if used incorrectly then it can make a bad composition worse! People who know my work or have heard me talk about my work will know what I say about this lens, not so much about this lens but about this certain focal length. What I mean by this is in the wedding world a lot of people use this lens and sometimes they use it too close to the subject. I see a lot of full length group shots taken with a 24-70 on 24mm and they can look stretched. If used correctly then there is nothing wrong with this lens. Ultimately any lens is only as good as the user! It can get me out of a tight squeeze especially in winter documentary if my 50mm 1.2 is too long. A good overall work horse of a lens but has to be used as it was intended. It is an easy lens to zoom as it is quite a short lens to hold. Before I owned the 50mm I would often tape down the 24-70 on 24,35,50 to see which focal length suited my style of shooting. Zooms are fantastic to use but can sometimes get in the way of the shot because a lot of photographers are not sure which focal length to use and can end up missing the shot altogether! All round a good versatile lens if you cannot afford primes and if you are looking for a lens that if used correctly will work very well in the social & documentary market.

Canon EF 15mm  f2.8 Fisheye

Brett’s Score – 9/10

When I first purchased this lens some 7 years ago I remember using it at my first wedding and hardly taking it off the camera! Now I would say it comes out only once or twice a wedding if that because my style has changed so much! I use it mainly for very large groups of say over 70. The largest group shot being 500! Optically it is probably the best fisheye out there and I would say it is somewhat wasted in my bag but a great little lens to have if the situation arises!

Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro

I have had this lens for quite some years now and as I said earlier it was my first ever dive into the world of the 50mm! I am not sure if this lens can still be bought, maybe on E-bay. I think it has been replaced by the 60mm version. This is a great little lens for doing all my details at weddings. It is quite a noisy lens if you are wanting to use it in quiet places , i.e.: church! So you may look at manually focusing it for use in these situations. As a cheap alternative to the 1.2 version it handles itself quite well and would be  a great starting point if you are looking to increase your collection of lenses.

At the end of the day this is just my opinion on how I use these lenses & body every day of my life. If it feels good in my hands then I use it! That was why I started to use Canon products nearly 20 years ago now! If the piece of equipment is allowing you to fulfill what you know you can do then use it. It is only when a piece of equipment is hindering you that you have to change it. This equipment is an extension of my eye, how I see my every day & the social world within which I work.

Please join me on FB, Twitter ( @brettharkness ) follow me on Instagram & Flikr.Also take a look at our wonderful training site, a host of information to watch , read & download.
www.brettharknessphotography.com/training

Please note that the opinions represented in this article are that of Brett Harkness only.

THE RULES are there to be broken.
Forget the relative confinements of 4 studio walls. Take your portraits outdoors into the big wide world!

Choose your backgrounds Wisely
There are many different backgrounds to choose from when you are shooting outside and this can make or break your shot. Anything can make a great background, try an old door, a colored skip, the sky, a car or even a bottle bank! If the light is good where the background is then go for it. Try and use a background that will suit the subject .If the subject has red hair then look for a green or blue door. If shooting a man or boy look for a more masculine background where girls suit more feminine colors and textures. Try using a zoom lens to make the background appear soft in the background, this will put the focus onto the subject.If you are photographing kids then try playing a game in front of the background you want to use. If you just stand them their to pose they will get fed up quickly!

Use a reflector
I often take with me my lights on location but sometime we just want to keep it as simple as we can. I never leave home without my trusty Lastolite Tri-grip reflector. There are many reflectors available , ours are sunlight-soft silver. A mixture of gold, silver & white lines to make the reflected light more subtle. An invaluable tool to throw light back into the face and body of the subject. This lightweight device can be folded up very small and put in your bag. Be careful not to reflect too much light back in very bright sunshine as this can dazzle the subject. The aim is to to throw as much light back into the face of the subject bringing the eyes alive giving a nice catchlight. If you are shooting kids on grass then you might get a green color cast, try sitting the kids on the reflector, it will get rid of the cast and reflect light into the faces! Try using a white piece of card or even some aluminum foil as a reflector is you haven’t got a pro one!

Its all in the lens!
The right lens can make a big difference to your outdoor portraits. The three lenses that I mainly use are , 70-200mm, 16-35mm & 50mm 1.2. All three of them give very different looks to your subject.
First of all choose which lens is right for your and your style. Then take a look at who you are photographing and think of the look you want as lens choice can go a long way to help you with this. I regularly shoot individuals on my longer zoom lens but pop on the shorter 50mm when I am shooting groups etc.. this helps me with my depth of field. If you want to compress the background; make it softer, then a zoom will help you to do this. A 70-200 is a great lens for shooting outside as you can stay in one position whilst the subject moves around the scene making it easier to pick off shots.

Look for the shade
In the uk we are quite fortunate that the sun isn’t out a lot!! Although today is beautiful blue skies!! Even on dull days if you look up into the sky you will see where the “best” light is coming from. Make sure that your subject is always facing that light. On very sunny days the sun can create harsh unwanted shadows that are not particularly flattering. So look for areas where you can put the subject completely in the shade without any “contrasty” light. If you are having trouble finding any shade then turn the subjects back to the sun, this way their face will be in shade. Be careful to take your meter reading from the shadow of the face and you should be ok for a great looking portrait. If you are really stuck for shade then  try sitting your subject inside a doorway, this light is amazing and very flattering for your subject.

Push the boundaries
Don’t be scared to push your outdoor portraits further by using props, different outfit changes or even a little flash! Al of these things can add drama to your imagery. People often think that flash can only be used when it is dark but this is not the case. I often use flash to create drama with my portraits when shooting outside. Try using the sky as your background. Setting an exposure for the sky, say 250th @f11 of f16 and fill in the subject with flash. This can be a flash gun on top of your camera or tethered. By pushing yourself on a shoot like this will give you images that you never thought you could achieve.
Make sure you have a few changes of outfit with you, this will bring a new look to your shoot. Use props, maybe even take a chair or sofa outside! Putting indoor items outside like this with your subject can make for really quirky shots.

Move around!
Most portraits that you see whether indoors or out are shot at eye level. This is great but can get a little boring. Next time you are out try lying down in grass and shooting up to the sky. This can give an unusual angle to your portrait. Holding the camera over the top of the subject can also work as it makes the subject look into the camera direct. This works great with young kids! Make sure you have the camera strap around your hand as you don’t want to drop it! Getting down to the subjects level will also put them more at ease. Especially with kids, don’t be afraid to play around first before the shoot. Playing games and kicking a ball around the beach before you introduce the camera can be a great way of breaking the ice. Remember to change your angle as much as you can and have fun doing it!

Let the camera help you..
This is an argument that rears its head quite a lot within the photographic industry and there is no real answer as everyone uses their camera in different ways. There is no right or wrong way to use your camera as long as you get the required result. I use Canon EOS 1d s Mark III and use the camera as efficiently as possible to get the shot. My rule is that if there is enough light to give me a shutter speed that I am happy with I shoot on P ( program ) . When the light starts to fade then I have to “ cheat “ the camera a little so go onto M ( manual ).If I am using my 50mm 1.2 lens then I tend to use this on AP ( aperture priority ) as I mainly use it wide open on 1.2 or 1.8 so set the camera accordingly. Let the camera help you! Focus on working with the subject, making them laugh and thinking about composition first! The technical part of the camera will come in time so let the camera help you get it exposed right.

Use the people around you or take some help!
You might think this is not much of a top tip or a rule but I quickly saw a big difference in my images when I took someone to the shoot with me. Again if you are photographing kids then usually the parents will be with you on the shoot. Use them not only to make the kids laugh but to hold reflectors etc.. Try taking the kids to the corner of the field you are shooting in so they know there parents are still there and you will find the kids give you a different response, sometimes giving you an amazing portrait that is different to what you would get if their parents are right with you.  With fashion or teen shoots its always great to have a female with you to help choose clothes and work with the girls. We often have make-up & stylists on our fashion shoots but you don’t have to go this expense as long as you have some help!
Back them up!
There is nothing worse in the photography world than losing your images. Even if you are not a professional photographer , images are images and captured memories. There are any ways to back up your images but one thing is for sure, do it!
We often back up on the shoot itself using an Epson P5000, portable unit. It allows us to download the cards to in a matter of minutes so we have a copy out in the field.
If you download your images to your computer at home then make sure you have an external drive also with a copy of them on. With the price of external storage getting cheaper all the time with a 1TB costing around £80 then you can’t afford not to back up your images somewhere else. We also make copies onto DVD and put them away in an archive, you never know when that rainy day may come around!

In this business you have to work your way to the top. Hard work! A mind set that we were brought up with. Hard work, passion & great product equals success. No more so than in the world of “lifestyle” portraiture.With nearly every parent now owning a DSLR or compact the photographer has had to change his ways and up his game.

There are many “lifestyle” photographers that are trudging along and producing nothing more than what the average parent can now produce in their own back yard, with a bit of practice. For a long time it has just been enough to not put much effort in and reap the rewards. Just as estate agents have finally wised up and have started to “work” for a living so has the lifestyle photographer.

The lifestyle product has become a luxury item in todays market, not a necessary one.In order to get the job you have to be producing something different, either in the way you shoot or the products and service you offer.Lifestyle photography is a very important part of our thriving business and 70% of our lifestyle shoots come from existing clients either through our weddings or our commercial channels.

It is vitally important that we offer our clients high end,beautiful imagery of their families and kids that 100% reflect the Brett Harkness Photography brand and what we can offer our clients. This starts from how far we push the shoot, to the environment we create, to the experience we give the kids to the products that we sell to the client. Clients come to us because they appreciate and our demand our style. They know that I don’t just put the kids in front of a white background. There is  a market for this and I am not saying that is a bad one, just as their is a photographer and budget for every client. But to make it at the top end of the lifestyle photography market you have to push your product to the max.You have to able to take your product to the client whether they live in a semi in Manchester or a castle in Scotland our ethic is the same.This is what makes our lifestyle work tick. It is for these reasons that we protect and fight to protect our image every day. What I mean by this is that we value our customers and we also value what they receive from us as far as products go. I know many photographers that hand out only disks from their Lifestyle shoots, no products. Again if this works for your business then so be it. This is a no for us. Not because we are too precious but because we want the client to receive an amazing product that not only represents us as a business but brings out the best of the clients chosen images. A client once told us that after purchasing a large canvas frame from us and putting it in their lounge that on three seperate ocassion people, strangers just walking past the house at night stopped by to ask, “ who did that?”  “ it looks amazing” “ do you have a card?” No disk in a drawer would have done that.

We believe in beautiful products, hand made albums, frames, acrylics etc.. Just as a painter wouldn’t sell the preliminary drawings to his or her masterpiece neither will we sell images until they have been dressed in a beautiful frame or product.

As  a photographer YOU need to decide who YOU are and what YOU want to offer as a photographer and find a market for YOU and your product to make it work.Build a brand that you are proud of and run with it. It can be a hard market to survive in for sure and I am not saying that this advice is for everyone but because I am so passionate about the medium of photography and so proud to call myself a photographer that I feel if everyone showed more passion about their image/product that it could only be beneficial for the photography industry as a whole.

You have to survive and make a living for sure but you need not sell your soul and your product to the devil either. My grandad once said to me before I went to work out In Miami on the cruise ships, “ do what you want to do Brett, believe in it enough and someone will find it and keep coming back for more.”

Wise words.

Using a multitude of Elinchrom equipment including:

Elinchrom 70 cm softbox, Beauty dish, Strip box, Elinchrom Quadra, Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed AS, Pocket Wizard Plus III’s. Shooting on a long lens is  great way to get good rain or “fat” rain as we like to call it. You have to use a good open aperture like 5.6 but not too open as you want a little detail in the rain / bokeh. The ambiance has to be dark enough so that the rain stands out from the darkness.

We also shot with a beauty dish & honeycombe grid over it. There are many different lighting techniques to try out. It’s just a matter of practicing as much as you can. Having the right equipment to use and lots of patience. No matter how much you know about using flash it is always good to try new things as long as it remains part of your style.

A little video from the day, shooting in the rain.

Brett Harkness 1-1 training from brett harkness on Vimeo.

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