Light - The Photographers Most Powerful Tool

A sculptor has his chisel, an accountant her calculator and a chef his knife. These are the essentials tools that are needed for a person to do what they do. For a photographer, that essential tool is light.

That's right...light. Not a camera or a backdrop. Not props or software. The number one thing that a photographer needs is light. Without light, an image won't appear on a camera. It doesn't matter if you're shooting or film or digitally, the camera is set up to capture light and translate it to a viewable image. Without that light, there is no image.

It's not just light, but the proper application of light. Anyone can hit a chisel against a rock, but it's the exacting application of the chisel that decides whether you have a work of art or a rock that looks a little different. The most basic change that you can make to improve your photography, is to move your light.

The majority of today's cameras come with some kind of built in flash. They come in different sizes and different shapes, but they all have one thing in common: They all are attached to the camera. This means that they all shine light directly at the subject. That means that your subject will be equally lit on all sides. At first glance, this may seem like a good thing, but to turn a "snapshot" into a work of art you have to manipulate light to create drama. Drama is created with shadows (which creates the illusion of a 3rd dimension in your pictures). With an on-camera flash, you will never get shadows on your subject.

So what's the solution? Well, if you have a flash that isn't built in, you can always add one of those cool boxes on the front. That will make a difference, right? Wrong. Diffusers do just that...they diffuse. They soften the light that is hitting your subject (which is often a good thing) but the light is still aimed directly at the subject. So you get softer light, but you still have no shadows.

How about turning your flash around backwards and aiming it at the ceiling. That will make a difference, right? Wrong. Granted, aiming the flash at the ceiling or the wall behind you will help to diffuse the light. Just as with the on-camera diffuser, this can be a good thing, but the light is still aimed directly at the subject. As mentioned before, the softness of light has nothing to do with the direction of light.

So how do you take your photography to the next level? Simple: Indirect light coming form the side. So how do you accomplish that? There are a variety of ways to accomplish indirect side light. The easiest (and cheapest) way to do this is to turn you flash to the side (not behind you) and bounce it off of a wall. While this method doesn't require any additional equipment, it does require a wall to bounce the light off of. If you don't have a wall, then you're out of luck.

The other main option (and the most versatile) is to utilize a flash that isn't on your camera. Cons: This method requires additional equipment or personnel. You will need a stand to put your flash on (or someone to hold it) and some kind of a remote triggering system. The best known of these are Radio Popper and Pocket Wizard. However, there are radio triggers that are far less expensive (just be prepared for some frustration as they are less reliable and a lot more finicky). Pros: What you can do with the light is limitless. You can put the light to the side of your subject, behind your subject, above your subject, etc, etc, etc. This will create the dramatic shadows that will bring your pictures to life.

Have fun wielding the power of indirect light!!

Test Blog

This is a test. This is only test. If this had been an actual blog you would be rolling on the floor laughing.

There Is A Reason For The Season

December is here which means that we have just a few more weeks before Christmas morning. A time of presents and toys and new electronic gizmos and...wait a second...what is that day all about again?

Agape Studios has dedicated this season to Operation Christmas which is designed to raise funds to aid those afflicted by famine and drought in Africa. This famine is one of the worst they have seen. Animals that usually weather famines just fine (elephants and camels) are dying off. Snake bites are becoming a larger problem because all of the snakes have moved into populated area (the only place where there is any hope of finding water). People are dying while we enjoy our Nintendo Wiis and eggnog. Please take a moment to watch the following video that we created to learn a little bit more:



$450 Billion spent on Christmas...only $6 Billion to end world hunger. It's a sobering thought.

Please donate a portion of what you spend on Christmas to help these people. Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus' birth. How do you think he would spend his money on Christmas?

Donations can be made to Journey Church (www.journeysalem.com); PO box 12203; Salem, OR 97301 or at Agape Studios; 189 Liberty Street NE; Studio 205; Salem, OR 97301.

Thanks everyone and have a blessed Christmas!!

John and Marianne

XBOX…WHAT XBOX???

A few years ago I learned a tough lesson: eBay should only be used for Christmas presents if you are buying them at least a year ahead of time. That way, when you get burned (notice I didn’t say “if”), you have time to correct the problem. My boys desperately wanted an Xbox and I decided that there was no reason to buy them a brand new one. The Xbox 360 and PS3 had come out and a lot of people were trading up…meaning that lots of people were unloading their old Xbox consoles. Excellent! That just means a great deal for me. Boy was I wrong.

To make a long story short, I never got the Xbox that I bought through eBay. Through a lot of headaches and hair-pulling I was able to file a grievance and get SOME of my money back, but the threat of a ruined Christmas was the truly devastating part of the experience. I did, however, learn an important lesson: Know who you are working with.

Not that long ago the majority of business was done face-to-face. Thanks to technology, that is no longer the case. More and more we are dealing with virtually unknown people; but that can be a real opportunity for those that can REVERSE the trend. Instead of technology pushing you further away from your customer, what if it actually allowed more of your customers to meet you face-to-face? How is that possible? Through website videos.

A video on your website can allow your customers to meet you, hear you talk about your product or service, and get a higher level of comfort. Video is the fastest growing segment of the internet and can allow you to stand out from your competition. Let’s say that you sell widgets and you have 3 principal competitors. The odds are that your customer WILL visit your website, and the websites of your competitors, before they make a buying decision (studies show that 87% of people go online to research a product before they purchase or even visit a brick-and-mortar store). If customers can feel a connection with you, something that most websites (including your competitors) probably won’t do, then you have a much better chance of grabbing the customer. In fact, they may not even look at your competitors’ websites if they feel a strong enough connection with you.

To this day I RARELY buy anything off of eBay. I prefer to work with someone that I can meet “face-to-face”.

It's Alive!!

That's right! The Agape Studios Blog/Vlog has come to life! We are really excited as this will give us the opportunity to show off more of our work and let people know when their projects are done.

We will also be throwing in some insights on photography and videography that may just help out anyone that is interested in either.

Also, we would love to send out an invitation for everyone to become a fan of Agape Studios on Facebook.

Thanks everyone!!