See the Light Series Vol I: Modifier? What Modifier? by Mark Kitaoka

Over the next three months I will be covering the use of various types of modifiers. This month I'm going over the use of NO modifier. What?! I know that soft boxes whether they are strip boxes, octa banks, or rectangles are very popular, but sometimes not using any modifier can give you a very dramatic look. Prior to any shoot, my clients and I have a discussion about the 'mood' of the final image, what they envision and what I propose. Let's go over a few examples...


Creating your own shadows

One of my clients wanted some behind the scene images of the shop where they build sets for the stage. Upon entering the facility I discovered the usual 'shop lighting' - ugly fluorescent lamps in the ceiling and no windows...ugh! I wanted some drama to the scene, so I simply found one of their ladders, placed it 30 feet away from the person I was photographing and mounted a single Canon speedlite on a light stand behind the ladder turned off the overhead lights and took this shot. The resulting harsh shadows made for a more visually interesting and dramatic image. 

Indoor Sunlight

My clients occasionally want the look of sunlight, but shooting outdoors isn't possible due to weather or for a variety of reasons. So I use a bare bulb method to replicate sunlight and give the final image a very clean outdoor look. In both of these examples I simply placed my studio strobe about 12 feet in the air without any modifier. In some cases the client wants a shadow, in others just the harsh light of 'daytime.'

Harsh Conditions, Harsh Modifier

OK, so I DID use a modifier for this one, but it's a VERY harsh modifier. Conditions often dictate what I use and for this one the weather conditions were horrid. The roof of Fort Point at the southern base of the Golden Gate Bridge often produce HIGH winds which swirl like a mixer at about 25-30 knots! The distance from the talent to where I could place the strobe is about 45 feet. So I used a Retro Laser reflector attached to an Einstein strobe. The modifier is used primarily for sporting events like basketball games to illuminate players near the net. It produces a very harsh and adjustable focused beam of light.


Harsh artificial light has its place and don't be afraid to use your Speedlite or strobes without any modifiers. You may be very pleased with your results. Have fun experimenting and creating your visions!

Do you have questions about the methods described above or want to see a tricky lighting situation discussed in our See the Light series? Let us know in the comments or contact us! 

Our Super Summer Giveaway!

Start your summer off with a bang by getting more bang for your buck from Sigma! We have loads of Sigma gear on sale all month long and as a SUPER special kickoff to summer, a SUPER summer giveaway! First prize is a Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM lens! This is a really versatile lens, plus the use of Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) material used only by Sigma make the lens smaller in size and lighter in weight than its non macro version, so you won't be weighed down when capturing all the fun at the backyard BBQ or the sweeping landscapes in your summer travels. Don't want to wait to see if you win? This lens is now on sale until the end of June with a $200 instant rebate!

Entering is super easy, click HERE to enter! 

Good luck and have a SUPER summer! 

Exhibition Announcement: Mark Kitaoka's "29 Hands - 15 Artists"

"29 Hands - 15 Artists"
15 Black and White Large Format Photographs
By Mark Kitaoka
Editor John Orr

When I was a young boy, my father instilled in me a very important lesson. "Son, the true measure of people can be seen through their behavior rather than their words. Behavior that backs up their words is the true measure of what they say. Watch what people do, that will tell you much more than what they say."

I've followed his sage advice my entire life and judged my own words against my own behavior. So much of what we "do" is done through our hands. Building, writing, defending ourselves, creating what begins in our minds, caring for those we love, are all accomplished with our hands.

The genesis of "29 Hands — 15 Artists" began during an Open Studios session at the Peninsula Museum of Art (PMA). As I watched the artists work, I thought "Wow this is a perfect place to photograph the hands of working artists." I opted to photograph each artist as they worked or performed.  

Name: Steve Brugge
Artistic discipline: Poet
Date Taken: August 2013
Steve is the reason the title of the show is 29 rather than 30 hands. He lost his primary hand in an
industrial accident and had to relearn how to use his left hand. After much personal turmoil, he found
solace in the art of poetry. I wanted natural light for his shot, so we created this image in his backyard
just under the stippling of his patio awning. I lit him with fill light using a simple Speedlite housed in a
SaberStrip modifier. He is writing about his experience being photographed for this project.

Name: Kris Yenney
Artistic discipline: Cellist
Date Taken: August 2013
I met Kris back in 2008 during a theatrical performance. I often like to wander over to the orchestra pit
in an attempt to shoot some of the musicians. As I peered down into the pit, I was motivated to take
some shots of her beautiful hands as she played the cello, one of my all-time favorite instruments. We
began a strong friendship after that moment. For this shot I wanted an ethereal look for Kris, to match
the sounds that emanate from her instrument. Using a studio strobe with a cone reflector and 10-
degree grid from above seemed like the perfect lighting. I also added haze to the air to further enhance
the ethereal feeling I was seeking. If you're attending my opening, she is the one playing in the lobby.

Name: Charles Branklyn
Artistic discipline: Stage Actor
Date Taken: May 2012
Charles and I met during the production of TheatreWork's "Radio Golf." His character portrayal was one
that exhibited complete and utter mastery of acting. During one of the scenes he grasps a fedora to his
chest and at that moment I noticed his utterly exquisite hands. It's not often I envy someone's hands,
but his are truly the exception.

Name: Rob Browne
Artistic discipline: Sculptor
Date Taken: August 2013
PMA Alum Rob and I have known each other for some time. He and I collaborated on a sculpture he did
from one of my photographs of Bianca Sappeto, a Cirque Silk Aerialist. Since Rob was not working on any
projects on the day I shot him, I simply had him cover his mouth for the shot. Like most artists he has
remarkable hands, which is evident in his shot. Because I wanted this to be a dramatic portrait, I shot
him with my little Fuji X100 to kill all ambient light in his studio while using a simple Speedlite.

Peninsula Museum of Art, North Gallery, 1777 California Drive, Burlingame
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, May 18 to July 20 
Admission: Free
Information: www.peninsulamuseum.org; Phone: 650-692-2101
Artist website: www.markkitaoka.com

From Concept to Print

The Anatomy of a Season Brochure - by Mark Kitaoka

I can easily recall my first days pursuing photography in a 'serious way.' Back then I was worried about what brand/type of camera I should buy, which lens is best for this and that. Like most I scoured gear sites and followed photographers who I admired. As I progressed I found that I focused less and less on gear and more on lighting and expressions since people were my primary focus. I still had my day job so photography was my primary hobby, hence the stakes weren't very high. If my images didn't garner me any income it was no big deal, I could still put gas in my car and food on the table. But as I moved closer to becoming a full time commercial shooter I often wondered how a professional photographer began his or her concept for any campaign. How do they determine the mood of an image? How do they locate venues? How do they figure out how to light a scene? If I really make the leap to do this what happens if the client doesn't like the work?

Before actually shooting professionally whenever I viewed commercial imagery I use to arrogantly think to myself "Oh sure, if I had models like that in venues like that I could shoot pictures like that!" Hah what an arrogant little pipsqueak I was when I had those thoughts! A very large part of being a commercial photographer is getting oneself into those situations, which is a whole different skill and may be an upcoming article, but for now I'll explain how my session for Village Theatre's Season Brochure transpired.

In December 2013 the Marketing Director contacted me and inquired if I'd assist her in developing their new 2014-15 Season Brochure. So in early January 2014 my partner and I along with our favorite freelance graphic artist met with the Marketing Director, Artistic Director and Executive Producer. They were completely open to concepts for their campaign with the only direction being "Mark, the campaign must be magical and we really want to attract new audience members while not alienating our existing subscriber base." So I asked a very simple question, "What makes Village unique in the Seattle theatre community?" After a very short pause the Artistic Director simply said "Unlike many theatres who rent most of their production pieces, we create everything for our performances. The sets, the costumes and scenery." So I replied "Well, how about if we build the campaign around Creating Art which is what you do? We can carry that theme throughout the year on social media and in print. Behind the scenes imagery of builds, costume design, etc." They agreed and we were off to the races.

This is the first time we've had so much input into a company's season brochure. Having this much skin in the game is both a blessing and a curse. Since we had complete control over the creative process with our only goal direction as "magical" imagery, the lighting and mood of each production image was completely in our hands. If the imagery didn't meet that goal then we failed and there was no one else to blame.

So I'll give you a little insight to each shoot....

Cabaret

One of the most important aspects of this session was to have the young lady appear sexy, but not too 'clean.' I needed her to appear as if she had been 'in the business' for some time, not a fresh new dancer. Because Seattle's weather can vary greatly in winter I needed to shoot all of the sessions indoors. After walking around their backstage area I found this fantastic scene, a metal spiral staircase located in a very dark corner of their backstage....PERFECT!

On the day of the shoot the crew was into a backstage build for another production so it was both crowded and busy. The area just in front of the staircase was the primary foot traffic thoroughfare for the construction workers and crew. I could NOT place any lighting or grip gear in front of the staircase and I was asked to make as little distraction as possible for the workers. Gulp.... since I had asked that Katy be dressed in thigh high fishnet stockings with garters and barely anything else my light placements were the least of my worries about distracting the crew!

I first began by lighting the staircase from above using a simple 7" cone reflector on an Einstein strobe. The overhead light was placed 8 feet up from the model's position. I wanted the overhead light to do several things:

1. To give me depth and highlights to the industrial look of the environment.
2. To illuminate the top of the hand rail which would lead the viewer's eye down to the model.
3. To give some dramatic shadows on the wall behind the model.
4. Give the model a more specular look to add a harshness to her character while simultaneously separating her black wig from the black environment.

I had to shove the key light behind the staircase to keep from impeding the crew's foot traffic. By placing the 39" Deep Octa just out of frame but very close to the spiral staircase center column, it prevented any shadow cast from the column itself. I only used the interior diffuser to allow for soft yet specular light on Katy.

I always make it a habit of showing the talent what I am trying to achieve after taking a few test shots so they are comfortable with the scene and know how they appear on film. I am shooting here with a Canon 1DX with a WFT-E6A wireless transmitter attached. I have my camera set to RAW plus JPG and send the small JPGs directly to my iPad2 using ShutterSnitch as my app.

The final shot on the staircase

Oftentimes images are not used and hit the cutting room floor. It's just part of the deal, but I wanted to show you an alternative shot I had done on seamless to explain my use of negative reflectors.

Just like silver/white/gold reflectors, negatives are just as important to my work. Here you see my key and only light camera left with the negative reflector on the same side as the key light. You may ask why in the world would I choose to do that? Well because the negative gives me just a touch more added contrast to that side of the talent. Unfortunately I don't have a comparison photo, but trust me, the added subtle contrast is something I feel adds to the image. Try it!

Mary Poppins

This production is so iconic that I didn't want to mess with things too much. I did however want Mary to have some movement over the normal "Mary standing straight up while floating through the air over homes." I wanted a sense of movement to the shot and also wanted the final image with graphics to appear night nocturnal. So I opted to light her from camera right and about seven feet behind the talent. This would illuminate her face in profile and give some dimension to the umbrella and carpet bag. I also added a silver reflector to camera left to slightly fill in her dark dress on the opposite side of the key light. I could have used another strobe instead of the reflector, but the bounce from the silver was perfect and I didn't want to lose the shadow in case the graphics person wanted to use it in the final poster. (He didn't, but options are always good) After a test shot I also opted to bounce just a little more light off the white seamless so I used another Einstein with a common silver umbrella to give the talent just a bit more fill.

To add dynamic movement to the final image I asked the talent to gently swing her carpet bag back and forth. I had Tracy hold her scarf and the bottom of the dress out of frame and when I yelled out "Now" to let both go. I timed her carpet bag swing on the downward arc and had Tracy release the scarf and dress hem to get what appears to be movement in the shot. Adding just a little angle and houses for Mary to fly over in post production and we were all done with Mary!

In The Heights

This show is all about urban street dancing so I did one of my favorite lighting techniques to replicate outdoor sun...bare bulb strobes! Yup, no modifiers whatsoever. I first placed two Einsteins on a single light stand and took two shots. Epic fail! Even though I had the strobes very close to one another on a single stand I got a double shadow, something I did NOT want to happen. The graphics person and I had originally wanted to place the shadow of the dancers on a post production brick wall so the shadow was important. (He ended up not using the shadow, but that's part of the game too).

So I upped my ISO to 400 to compensate for eliminating one strobe and started shooting. The strobe was place about 12 feet in the air, camera right and behind me to achieve the harsh shadows and outdoor sunlight effect.

Around the World in 80 Days

For this shot in addition to what wardrobe had planned I asked for two specific props, an old fashion pocket watch and a scarf. For me the pocket watch represented time (80 Days) and the scarf would give the image movement. (Around the World, remember?)

Lit with my Deep Octa on an Einstein as the key light camera left, a silver reflector very close to the talent on camera right and a single strobe bounced into a white reflector camera right for a slight fill behind the talent.

The final shot, again adding motion by having Tracy drop the end of the scarf to create movement in the image.

No Way to Treat a Lady

I was not too familiar with this production, so I had to read the script. It's about murder and I had to photograph a gorgeous woman who appears dead. Sounds easy right? Hahahahaha! I don't have any BTS images for this session so I'll simply say that getting the key light that low without distorting the shape of the Elinchrom was not easy. I simply ended up having Tracy hold the bare Einstein with the Deep Octa by hand while I was straddling the talent on a six foot ladder to take the shot hoping with all hope NOT to drop my 1DX on her face! I used a negative reflector to camera left to kill as much ambient as possible. And yes I used a very shallow depth of field to ensure that her face was the star of the image. f1.4 on my Canon 85mm f1.2 II

Hero Shot

For the brochure cover we wanted something magical and ethereal. So wardrobe supplied me with two dresses and I ended up selecting the one you see in the final shot below. Shot with the Elinchrom/Einstein combo camera left just out of frame. Camera right is another Einstein shot at minimum power through a 3x4 scrim with a one stop ND gel to maintain shadow. A reflector was just not quite enough and even at minimum power the Einstein was too bright, hence adding the ND gel. I had the talent leap off a small apple box to gain the movement and float I wanted and to flow the garment.

Throughout this session, you may have noticed I used the Deep Octa 39" modifier quite a bit. I found that it offered me the best quality of light for these sessions. Removing the outer diffuser or leaving it on allowed me to adjust the characteristics of the light. There's something special about the Rota that I find compelling. It's not my only modifier, but for these sessions it was the perfect choice.

Final posters with graphic treatment

So here they are all finished with the genius graphics treatment. Once the Marketing Director presented the final artwork to the Board of Directors I got an email that simply said "The Board LOVES the brochure. Thanks so much Mark." Whew, remember in the commercial world, you're only as good as your last session.

See more at http://www.markkitaoka.com/latest-news/village-theatre-2014-15-season-brochure-imagery

7 Tips for Travel Photography

Travel Photography - by Jonathan Stewart

Nomad, Terelj National Park, Mongolia

There’s no surefire path to great travel photography, which is why I enjoy it so much.  You’re surrounded by novel and exotic scenes, but you’re at the mercy of the weather, the light, and the vagaries of chance.  Before each and every trip, there comes a moment of terror where I fear I won’t capture any images worthy for sale, worthy of my previous work.   Will I make a mistake at a critical moment?  Will I have favorable conditions?  Will I actually see anything worth photographing? There are so many factors beyond the travel photographer’s control that you can only seek to minimize the variables. 

Tip 1: Know your gear inside and out.  I won’t get into a general photography tutorial here, but you’ve got to know how to handle your camera’s every function, and to do it in a hurry.   Beyond shutter speed, aperture and ISO, this means metering, focusing and drive modes, plus white balance.  Learn them, live them, love them.  There shouldn’t be a button or a menu setting that you don’t understand.

Tip 2:  Manual mode is the way to go, but there are exceptions.  I rely on manual mode about 99% of the time, but I’m not afraid to use aperture-priority to save precious milliseconds, such as during street photography in changing light.  I’ll even throw it into full auto if I don’t have time to adjust settings to catch a fast-changing scene, such as a bird or jet flying overhead.  Getting the shot is priority #1, screw the purists.

Tip 3:  Select the right gear.  This means understanding how focal length affects your shot, and anticipating the conditions you’ll be shooting in.  I prefer the fast aperture and superior image quality of prime lenses over the convenience of zooms.  Typically I’ll bring 3-5 lenses, depending on what I’m shooting, although it’s hard to resist the temptation to bring more.  It helps to cheat and Google what other people have shot in similar environments to get an idea of what to bring.   Each lens has a personality, and the better you understand it and when it’s most called for, the easier it is to pack.  Even if you shoot zooms, it’s always a good idea to bring at least one fast prime for low light situations. 

Gurung woman, Nepali hill country

Tip 4:  Engage the people you meet.  You’ll be amazed how easy it is to talk to people when you’re holding a camera, if only you try.  Most people appreciate a respectful request for a photo, followed by a little conversation, during which they will lower their guard so you can get natural-looking shots.  Learning how to ask for a photograph in whatever language is spoken is the most important thing you can learn, and a great icebreaker.  I also hand out business cards (without my phone number – I learned that one the hard way), with my website and Facebook page, so people can see my work, and potentially themselves. 

Tip 5:  Be a good person.  Even if I’m legally able to take a picture of somebody or something, I refrain if it’s inappropriate or they request that I don’t.  Never lose your sense of humanity – it serves you well in composing an emotional image, and it should guide you when it’s best to put the camera away.

Peru’s Qoylluri’ti Festival

Tip 6:  Always be on the lookout for a great composition.  It may be the end of a long day, you’re tired, you’ve taken 1000 pictures already, you’re driving 70MPH, but if you see something interesting, don’t let it pass you by.  Stop and take the shot, you’ll never get another chance. You’re a photographer – think like one!

Tip 7:  Take your time editing, but have an efficient workflow.  To me, editing is a chore, but it’s one I try to take very seriously.  When you get back from a trip with thousands of photos, it’s essential to have an efficient editing workflow.  I typically edit every day after shooting on the road, then transfer my images as a catalog to my office computer once I get home, saving all my changes.  Then I go over all the images once more, often salvaging great shots that I missed in the first go-round.  I’ll also change and improve the edits I’ve already done.  After a two-week trip, I’ll put in at least 3-4 days of editing once I get home, even if that means reducing 5000 photos to 50.  It’s a matter of personality, but I prefer to do this as soon as possible so I don’t lose the inspiration.  

About the author  

Jonathan just returned from a photographic trip to Mongolia and Russia’s Siberia in the winter.  His work can be seen at jonathanstewartphotos.com  

Please give his Facebook page a like at www.fb.com/jonathanstewartphotos

Forced Patience - by Mark Kitaoka

I'm always surprised how the majority of posts on photography forums focus primarily on 'gear' and 'which is better.' It's as if most people are vapor locked on what type of gear they purchase rather than improving their own skills. Yes, we all wish to improve our craft in creating images and gear is a part of that equation, but the amount of effort and discussion seems to focus on the exact opposite of what would improve one's own creation of photos. If the amount of effort on gear was placed into other areas, ah but I digress....

Like most photographers be they pro or amateur, all of us know the excitement of getting what we think is a great shot and the desire to share it as soon as possible. In this digital age that means displaying your work through some sort of social media or other form of immediate gratification.

But in the commercial photography world, immediate gratification takes a back seat to business needs and NDAs. So much of what we shoot commercially is shot with extended lead times to be of any value. Marketing materials are carefully planned months or in some cases years in advance. As such, once the shots are in the bag it's up to the client to decide on the imagery's strategic timing for public release. And because of that we're not allowed to display those images on our own sites or through social media. And by the time the images are released publicly we've been on to other projects for months. Whenever I receive a client's marketing materials, I've often forgot that I shot that session!

I have two separate client sessions in this article. One was for Dallas Symphony Orchestra and another was for Village Theatre's publicity for Les Miserables.


Dallas Symphony's Beets Campaign

The photos I display here were taken in July 2013 and released to the public in late Fall of 2013, about four months after I shot the "Beets Campaign" (Beethoven Festival) for Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Performances begin April 28 2014, almost 9 full months from when I originally shot the session. https://www.dallassymphony.com/season-tickets/single-tickets.aspx?ProductionType=9

About two months prior to the shoot, the VP of Marketing along with some of the Marketing staff and I began a conversation about the overall look, feel and messaging they wished to achieve with the imagery. Rather than presenting musician's in tuxedos playing music, the VP wanted a much more 'scandalous' look, one that coincided with the public's reaction to Beethoven's music in that actual time period. When written and performed his music was actually quite scandalous to the audience of that time. Music is all about emotion and the VP wanted a reaction to his campaign that would evoke emotion...and boy it certainly did and in a very good way!

We agreed that on location sessions would be much more effective than shooting the talent in front of seamless and then dropping them into graphics treatments. On location (I refer to them as 'onlo') is my favorite type of publicity shooting. Why? Well it forces me to be creative in developing the imagery by not counting on graphics folks to make the imagery have production value. The right location with the right lighting has a richness that just can't quite be replicated with graphics. Well at least that's my opinion... Plus I have to be both patient and think quickly on my feet about what the client wants and how I will execute it. The client developed Mood Boards and sent them to me so we could begin discussions on exactly the mood we wished to create for the campaign.

Most non pros have the impression that commercial shooters are able to scout locations months or weeks in advance and carefully plan out the angles, lighting and time of day to shoot. For me that happens on rare occasions and when that happens it's a true luxury. But in this case the VP simply said, "I'd like to shoot it over at the AT&T Center, I like the juxtapose of a modern building combined with period piece costumes we're using. We can look around at the locations when you get here." For all of these shots I had about ten minutes to scout each location around the building and then decide how I was going to light them and shoot them. Should I use natural light? Which camera will be the best for this job? If I need more contrast how many negative reflectors should I use? Do I want motion blur in the image, if so should I drag the shutter or use second curtain sync with a Speedlight? What gels if any do I need to match the ambient? Oh I'm shooting in front of windows, how will I place the light/reflectors/etc. so I don't get reflections or bounce off the windows I don't want? (No I'm not of the school that all those things can be 'corrected' in post. Getting it right in camera is my preferred method) ALL of these decisions are made quickly because we don't often if ever have the luxury of time. If you've never been 'the talent' or the art director, try getting IN FRONT of the camera and you'll see what YOU consider to be a short amount of time while you are making your adjustments can seem like an eternity to your subject.

Les Miserables Publicity

This publicity session was what I called my "First Date" with this client for publicity. I had been previously hired by them to shoot production of another performance, but had never been hired to do publicity. The Marketing Director had seen some of my onlo publicity imagery for other clients and thought it would be great to do one for their production of Les Miz. In this case we took a day to drive around the area to look for just the right setting. I knew that the location needed to replicate the script, stone walls, old wooden doors etc. As we drove around the area I found a couple of "OK" locations, but nothing that really floated by boat.

So I made a call to my partner back in the Bay Area. We normally work together, but since we were double booked (when you're self employed I call that a 'pretty girl problem!') she was back home covering another client's session. I asked her to get on the Web to look for an old church or rock quarry. In about ten minutes she called back and said "All of the churches close to you are modern and won't do for what you're looking for. I checked out a rock quarry very close to you on Google Earth. I can't tell because the view is from their satellite shot straight down, but it looks like a a great possible for you. Here's the address. Gotta run, heading to the client shoot, good luck."

So the Marketing Director and I drove over to the rock quarry and I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the venue. We spoke with the owner and he was more than willing to allow us to shoot there on the date we wanted for a couple of tickets to the performance. He even went on to say that if our date was when they were closed, he'd be happy to come in and open the place up for us.

So on the day of the shoot the weather was projected to be rain. The Marketing Director called me and said "Mark, what do we do if it rains, I'm nervous!?" I simply said, "If you can have three people there with umbrellas you don't have to worry." My plan was to have those three stand over my strobes with their umbrellas so that strobes and power packs were protected. I was actually hoping it would rain because I felt it would add to the ambient atmosphere of the shot and I've shot with my 1DX in full rain without a problem. On the day of the shoot, it did rain, but only lightly and the cloud cover was PERFECT for the session. For you gear heads I used PCB Einsteins and his Vagabond Mini power packs. Paul's lighting is my preferred studio strobe equipment.

Being patient means KNOWING your equipment front to back, no matter what type of camera/lighting you're using. Your client could care less if you're using a Nikon, Canon, Fuji or other camera or whether you're a Profoto fan or Uncle Bob's strobe user. They could care less if you're a full frame guy or gal, use a cropped sensor or not. The PICTURE tells the story and how well you know how to think on your feet, exhibit creativity on the run, keep the talent engaged and get a photo better than they ever imagined are elements that separate the men from the fan boys!

Whether you shoot for your entire income, are a 'semi pro' or just shoot for the pure enjoyment of the craft, be patient. For me that means taking the time to truly know your gear, all of it. Practice, read, experiment and have fun with what you already have. I get as much fun as the next guy when I want to buy something new. But the real difference is how I USE my gear, not what brand it is or its stats. To a client In the commercial world, you're only as good as your last session. They've trusted me with their whole marketing campaign based on my shooting style and consistency in delivering a great product. Practice, know your existing gear and develop a body of work. One great shot leads to a second great shot. The difference between a good or nice shot and a great one is huge. And that comes only through forced patience.

About the author
Mark Kitaoka is a commercial photographer located in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in all aspects of publicity and live performance photography. Mark focuses on capturing high movement low light imagery so common to dance and theatrical performances. Publicity sessions, both in studio and on location round out his theatrical imagery repertoire. His commercial work includes national branding campaigns for PETCO/Pooch Hotel as well as publicity images for Disney Theatrical along with photographs utilized to attract Broadway producers. Regional credits include promotional material for Target’s theatrical matinee series and images used during the televised Tony Awards in 2011.

Three Types of Monochromatic Aberrations

During our last post we looked at the general ideas behind an aberration. These are distortions caused by light’s behavior while passing through an optical system (from object to image). They are broken into two major categories, chromatic and monochromatic. Before we dive into more detail, it is important to highlight that monochromatic aberrations are not limited to monochromatic light, but rather affect this type of light in addition to chromatic. Now, let us consider three of the most common monochromatic aberrations: coma, astigmatism, and petzval field curvature.

Petzval field curvature is an aberration that happens when a portion of light from a flat object is impossible to focus on to a flat image plane. Here, the object is where the light comes from, and the flat image plane refers to where we will see the image captured after passing through an optical system. Some systems, due to their curvature, have trouble focusing the flat object onto the flat plane. This is typically accounted for in camera lenses by adopting a curved, rather than flat, image plane.

Astigmatism is a term we hear often because it is a common trait of human eyes. As optical systems are in large part modeled after the eye, it is no surprise that optical systems also experience this same aberration. Specifically, an optical system featuring astigmatism means that it has two foci, causing objects and points  off the axis fail to be sharply imaged. 

Coma can be both a chromatic and a monochromatic aberration. As a monochromatic aberration, it refers to a distortion that might make objects appear to have a tail. This is a natural property of telescopes built with parabolic mirrors rather than spherical. The way light moves through the parabolic optical system can cause off-axis light source points to appear distorted. Specially tailored curvatures can mitigate the effects of this aberration.

These are just three of many monochromatic aberrations that camera lens designers must consider when building a functional camera or other optical system.