Harry Lim Photography's Blog

If any of you have seen the profile picture on my “Harry Lim Photography” fan page on Facebook, then you know I shot a wedding recently. Oh, and thanks to my assistant for the day, Todd Salter for taking that picture and all his help on that day. 

It was Megan and Eric’s wedding in Sorrento, FL. It was a small but elegant affair in the backyard of their beautiful home. Below are a few composites I made from the images of that day. 

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I met Brenda and Kendal at a party last month. I was photographing the event and when she found out that I am a professional photographer she mentioned wanting to have some maternity images done. 

She contacted me shortly afterwards about photographing her baby shower and then came up with the idea of having a printed book of maternity pictures to pass around at the shower. So we met in Baldwin Park for the shoot with her and Kendal. 

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I love to shoot wide! Yeah I know, most photographers love those long telephoto lenses; but I love environmental portraits, showing the subject in the background and how they relate to each other.  The shot above was taken with a full frame camera at 17mm using a single Alien Bee with a medium softbox camera left. 

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For the next shot I decided to mix in a second light. Up until now, I’ve been a one-light shooter. Getting the flash off-camera was a priority early in my photography career, so now I’m trying to venture out into using 2 or 3 lights but still make the light “logical” so it doesn’t call attention to itself. The photo above uses the same lighting set-up as before but I added a bare 580 EXII with the wide panel to spread the light. You can see the affect it adds as a hair and rim light on Brenda’s right side (camera left). 

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Brenda and Kendal were great to work with and I’m looking forward to the baby shower in a couple of weeks. Check out the their gallery for more images from the shoot.

This is just a quick teaser on a photo shoot I did yesterday for one of the covers for the June issue of Baldwin Park Living Magazine. Yes, I said one of two covers…I’m shooting the other on Sunday. 

(UPDATE 5/23/10: The shoot was cancelled so there will be only one cover.)

There are two meteorologists who live in Baldwin Park; Jason Brewer, with NBC affiliate WESH lives on my street. Brian Shields works for the ABC affiliate, WFTV (turns out Brian lives near me too). 

I had two concepts in mind: the first was each of them toasting the other with tropical drinks, complete with little umbrellas. The other concept was the “sad-face-happy-face” of the drama masks. So I had Jason put on a rain coat and umbrella while Brian smiled with his shades on and his drink in hand. 

The original picture I submitted to the editor would have cropped out the lightning in the upper left hand corner. So I made it rain on Jason instead. I’ll post the actual cover when I get the issue, but it’s basically cropped in on the sides to their elbows. 

-Harry

Recently, the organizer of the Orlando Digital Photography Group, Charlie, posted an image on Facebook of a man on a bicycle in Winter Park. It sparked some conversation about the panning technique where the man was in focus and the background is blurred to show motion.    

I chimed in with some tips and a note about a setting on the Canon 70-200mm IS lens. It has two modes of stabilization, one to reduce shake in “normal” situations and one while panning. So when the Baldwin Park Doggie Derby rolled around last weekend, I thought it might be a good time to put it to use.    

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The 3rd annual Doggie Derby raises money for Canine Companions for Independence which provides assistant dogs to people with disabilities. It was a hot day but there was a good turnout. Adding to the vibe was bluegrass versions of popular songs like “Walk This Way”, “Sweet Emotion”, “Final Countdown” and “She Will Be Loved”.   

The image above is really the only good panning shot I got. I got a few others, but they’re not tack sharp to my eyes.  It takes some practice and experimenting with different shutter speeds.   

I saw a couple of other photographers with pro-level gear there and judging by the pictures I’d seen of past events, they were getting the same shots; dogs coming right at them or dogs frozen in motion…and all while standing. I crouched or squatted down for most shots to get a different perspective. And I tried the panning technique to get a different look.   

So the next time you’re out shooting a moving target, try it. First, make sure your camera’s focus mode is set to capture moving subjects (it’s called AI-Servo for Canon, AF-C for Nikon). Then focus on your subject and press the shutter half way. Pan with your subject and fire while panning. The slower the shutter speed, the more blurred the background; but you’ll have to play around with it to find the sweet spot. I can’t tell you how many shots I threw away!   

Scott Kelby posted blogs here  and here about the technique while shooting indy race cars. To paraphrase, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you get the shot.   

You can check out more pics from the derby on my Flickr Pro photostream.

So  I tried something new last weekend. I’ve never shot a sporting event nor have I ever shot a concert. Now I know what both feel like! 

My girlfriend’s cousin, Jordan, was competing in the Cheerleaders of America (COA) “Ultimate National Championship” at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, FL. If you’ve ever caught a glimpse of a cheer competition on TV, let me tell you, you have no idea what it’s like to actually be there. 

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The hotel grounds were teeming with teams of tweens…sorry, couldn’t help myself! But seriously, how else would you describe hundreds (maybe thousands) of pre-teen girls wearing WAY too much make-up and cheerleading uniforms? I’m guessing the heavy make-up is meant for the judges to see from where they’re sitting…if they happen to be sitting on the planet Mars. 

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But let me cut to the chase. Jordan’s team, Top Gun, was on; so I enter the competition room. It was dark and loud. Let me emphasize the word LOUD. If you like dark rooms with loud techno/dance music blaring, you would feel right at home…glow sticks optional. When I got in, the team before Top Gun was wrapping up. So I took this time to figure out my exposure. But it wasn’t long before I had to head to the front when Jordan’s team came in. 

I was shooting with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens. I like to shoot in manual mode, so I dialed in f/2.8, at 250th of a second and ISO about 800. I don’t like shooting at high ISO, but even with the stage lights, I needed it. I also didn’t want to shoot at f/2.8 because I knew I could run into a depth of field problem if I wanted more than one part of the image in focus; but I needed the large aperture to let in more light. 

Things moved so fast…and I don’t just mean the cheerleaders. I mentioned concert photography earlier because it’s similar in a couple respects: you have stage lights, but you only have about 3 minutes to get the shot. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to look at my LCD and evaluate the shot. I was shooting on burst mode; 6.5 frames per second and focusing mostly on Jordan. At one point I switched to shutter priority and was around 350th of a second. I was really trying to capture the flipping sequences. 

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Looking at some of the frames, they’re still not tack sharp. If I get to do it again, I’d shoot at a minimum of 350th, boost the ISO to maybe 1600 and a narrower f-stop. 

About 3 minutes later it was all over. The Top Gun teams (there are different classes) took the All Stars Level, 2,3 and 5 Grand Champion titles. See this link for the full results, if you’re interested. We took the rest of the afternoon to walk around the hotel and enjoy the pool. If you’ve never been to Gaylord Palms, I recommend going just to see the inside. It is massive. They have a tropical atrium complete with alligators and turtles. Click the link above to see a picture on their home page. 

All in all, I’m glad I got to try something new; it was definitely a learning experience that tested me while pushing me outside my comfort level.

Friday, January 22nd got off to a bad start. My cat, Paxton, had been at the vet since Tuesday. This was the day I had to decide whether to put him down. I made the call. Hardest thing I’ve had to do in 32 years. 

Paxton Lim. 06/01/02 - 01/22/10

I could go on about him. I want to. I want you to know how much I hurt. But that would be selfish; because this day is about more than my buddy, Paxton. This day, Friday, January 22nd is my father’s birthday. The big 6-OH. And except for a brief visit with him right after Paxton’s death, I couldn’t be with him that day. Because this day, Friday, January 22nd is also about Lisa and Ryan. 

Lisa and Ryan

I shot Lisa and Ryan’s engagement pictures in Baldwin Park, FL a few months earlier. And today was their wedding reception at Casa Feliz in Winter Park, FL. “Casa Feliz” means “happy house” in Spanish.  The Spanish-style estate was built during the Great Depression at a cost of $28,000. The elegant brick house was actually moved and now sits on a golf course in upscale Winter Park. 

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I arrived just as Lisa and her family pulled up. After the traditional family photos, I had just a few minutes of daylight left to take some photographs of Lisa and Ryan by themselves.    

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Then I was in photojournalist mode. I am most comfortable here. Spending the early part of my career in broadcast journalism as a news videographer, I enjoy melting into the background. Being a fly on the wall. Observe and report.  

There was a moment or two during the night when I thought of Paxton. But I pushed it back. Had to. Had to focus on the task at hand. I can’t screw this up. Lisa and Ryan are relying on me to document their night. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’m having. This is their night. 

I did make myself laugh once. As a kid playing football in the backyard with my brother, I remember him telling me to cover my guy like “white on rice”. So I reminded myself to stick with the bride like “white on her dress”.  Afterall, the bride is the focal point of the night. To paraphrase Scott Kelby, no one cares about pictures of the uncle. 

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Most of the night was spent just roaming, looking for those special moments. Not much use for off-camera flash in these fire-and-forget scenarios. I first tried my Lumiquest Bouncer on my 580EXII flash; but I found the results too harsh. So I switched to my Sto-fen Omni Bounce with more pleasing results. There was one area of the house, a porch, that gave me great color and saturation. I was bouncing my flash off the ceiling of the overhang. Maybe it was the weathered paint, but I loved the rich colors on my LCD screen. Whenever I stepped out there, I just dialed in the same settings (ISO 500, f/4.0, 1/45th)  and I knew I’d get the same results. 

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There was dancing. 

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There was cake. 

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And then I was done. As I packed up my gear I looked back at the house and I saw one more irresistible shot. The interplay of blues and greens and orange under a full moon…well see for yourself. 

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On assignment for Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine this week. First assignment was to photograph Heidi Ordaz, a Stetson University student studying Piano Performance. The Steinway Society of Central Florida recently donated a piano to her. Read more about it in the next issue of Lifestyle Magazine. 

(UPDATE: Article is posted online HERE.)

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Although this is not the picture that the magazine will use, it’s my favorite of the set. (The editor wanted to use one of Heidi sitting at the piano with her head turned over her shoulder looking at the camera.) 

Lighting for this was pretty simple. There was a large window camera right diffused by sheer window curtains. I set up my flash in a softbox camera left and dialed down the power until I was happy with the mix. f/4.5, ISO 100, 1/60th, 38mm. 

The next assignment was a simple corporate type headshot for a financial advisor in Winter Park. Hera (cool name, no?) handled the shoot like a pro. Her office had a solid green wall which looked to me like a professional backdrop. Once again there was a window camera right with blinds. So I used the same set up as I did for Heidi. 

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I was a little worried because the last time I did headshots, I got a big shadow to the lower right of the subject. If I had another flash, I could light the background. Or I could place the softbox higher so the shadow is cast out of frame. In the shot above you can see the shadow in the lower right corner, but I don’t think it’s distracting here and I really like the catchlight in her eyes. f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/60th, 48mm.

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What a great looking family!

-Harry

The editor of Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine contacted me about a story they’re doing on two championship ballroom dancers. Here’s the twist: they’re both men. Apparently that’s a category in the competitions.

I met Richard and Stuart at Annie Russel theatre at Rollins College in Winter Park. This link gives you an idea of what the theatre looks like. Well there were a couple of problems off the bat. First, it was pitch black save for a single light bulb on a stand with wheels (I’m sure theatre folk have a name for this light). I managed to find the control panel for the lights and that brought up two more problems. The curtain was up, which meant if I shot toward the stage from the audience the background would only show electrical boxes. Great for an industrial shoot, not so great for ballroom dancers. And shooting toward the audience wouldn’t work either because the stage lights produced too much lens flare.  So we settled for one of the ornate alcoves on either side of the stage (you can see the one on stage left in the picture in the link above).

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If you’re not a photographer, skip this paragraph and jump to the next. Okay, now that I have the rest of you, here’s the geek speak. The picture above was taken at ISO 500, 17mm, f/5.6 and 1/90th. The light was a Canon 580EXII camera right through an umbrella set at ETTL. This proved to be a problem for this shoot. Here’s why: on ETTL (i-TTL for Nikon shooters) the camera thought the scene was too dark. It was. And the black tuxedoes didn’t help. So the flash thinks it needs to pump out a lot or power. That means the scene is exposed correctly but the subjects’ faces are overexposed. I did set the flash to manual eventually and dialed in the power to get a nice exposure. I still had to tweak it in Lightroom 3.0.  In the picture below, I was still at ISO 500 but I changed the aperture to f/8 because I wanted more of the background in focus. I also wanted more ambient light in the back so I dialed down the shutter speed to 1/45th.

Richard and Stuart were fun to work with. They were very professional and patient as they started and stopped their moves so I could get a shot. For almost every shot, they held a pose for what seemed like an eternity while I snapped away and adjusted my camera settings. I’m sure it wasn’t comfortable but they handled it like the pros they are. At the end of the shoot, they wanted something a little more casual and fun.

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Good luck to them both!

-Harry

I had a chance to shoot Lisa and Ryan’s engagement photos this evening.  I was going to wait ’til I finished all the photos before posting a blog, but I was so excited by what I saw in my camera that I couldn’t wait to come home and start playing with the pictures.

The good news is, I hardly did any retouching. I pretty much nailed the exposure and lighting. I’m not bragging; in most shoots, I’m a nervous wreck inside, filled with self-doubt.  But I think I’m getting to the point where I’m confident and comfortable. That lets me relax and be more creative (like the last shot below).

Anyway, I had fun and the shoot only lasted about 45 minutes or so before we ran out of light. Lisa and Ryan were great to work with. Thanks to Mikkel for the assist! It’s so much easier when you have someone helping with the equipment.

f/5.6, 1/60th, ISO200

f/4.0, 1/45th, ISO400

f/3.5, 1/45th, ISO400