One of the hardest subjects to photograph, is someone that’s famous.
Why?
Because our emotions can get in the way when we are trying to photograph famous people.
For example, when I used to work at the Register as a photojournalist, we would always send the interns out to photograph the president with a tripod. From the moment the Air Force One touched down, till the president left in the limo, it was our job to have the camera on him.
Just in case.
Sounds morbid, but what if something happened and we didn’t have a photo of it?
Well, regardless of your political leanings, photographing the president of the United States of America is a pretty scary thing, the first time you do it.
The tripod ensured no shaking & no emotion.
In fact, one of the seasoned veterans told me to think of him as just another bag of skin.
I know, not very respectable or honoring, but it did help to take the emotion out of the moment.
I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve seen people try to take a photo with some celebrity and their emotions get the best of them.
Lens caps left on, cameras not turned on any number of mistakes that befall the poor star-struck photogs.
I share all of that to tell you of a moment I had this past summer.
Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Costa Mesa started the Harvest Crusades over 20 years ago.
He turned them over to Pastor Greg Laurie, who has seen great success with more than 100,000 people coming to the crusades just in Anaheim every year.
Pastor Chuck is like everyone’s grandpa.
This past Sunday he told his congregation that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer.
It made me think back to the last few times that I’ve been able to take his photo.
My wife and I attended his church in the early 80’s and were even baptized at Pirates cove back in 1980!
Every time I saw him at the Harvest event, I’d get a little excited and started acting like a newbie if I had the chance to speak with him.
I’ve been shooting celebrities, presidents and famous folks for over 25 years!
Yet, I’d have to get a hold of myself whenever I saw him.
This past August, he spoke briefly and the crowd gave such thunderous applause that he wept.
He blamed it on some medication he was taking, but he smiled such a huge smile, I could see he was overcome with joy.
Send up a pray for this man that has impacted southern California and our world in such a positive way.
I especially love a couple things in this image.
1. Pastor Greg is looking on from the wings.
2. The light was overexposed behind Pastor Chuck, like a bit of heaven shining down on a special man.
Be inspired!
Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
click here for “TakeBetterPhotosNow!

We’ve all seen the Eiffel Tower, right?
This was my vision of the famed landmark.
Travel photography is a genre that takes a lot of thought, or you’ll end up with a bunch of tired photos that people have already seen.
The angle I chose for the first image is one that most people never try.
That’s the trick.
Try something new and not tired and boring.
Something that will entice your viewers and tickle their visual cortex.

Here’s another different angle that I tried.
I walked away from the tower in 4 different directions to try and include the tower in a neighborhood setting.
This shot included buildings and what I envisioned, what someone who lived in the area might see everyday.
I like how the tower rises from the trees and is just another edifice in the neighborhood.
Finally, another direction yielded this image:

This was a view from about 1/2 a mile away.
It was an instillation where the word, “Peace,” was written in a number of different languages.
I shot through the piece itself as another photographer was documenting the tower, too.
So look for angles that are different and settings that will be unique to the viewers.
Plan out your images with a theme in mind and use that as a map to start with, then be flexible for wonderful surprises like the Peace project setting.
Be inspired!

Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
click here for “TakeBetterPhotosNow!

Some of you may have already viewed today’s image.
I wanted to re-visit it, to talk more about my thought process during a portrait session.
During any portrait session, the photographer needs to know when to push, when to seek just a little bit more to create the shot of the session.
Sometimes it happens early in the session and sometimes it happens at the end.
Push that envelope and you’ll be rewarded more times than you think.

This image was near the beginning of the session.
The subject looks okay, but she is tight and isn’t revealing too much of her real self, just posing for the camera.
This is when the photographer really needs to help the subject.
Coaxing a great performance takes experience and intuition.
You don’t want to shut your subject down, and you don’t want to leave anything out.

The song, “I Whip My Hair Back and Forth,” was still out when I was doing this session and I noticed how great the light looked shinning through this subject’s blonde locks.
I suggested we try whipping her hair around and trying to capture the light just right.
She got very excited and started whipping her hair around and I ended up with this image.
It’s very cool and made the rounds on Facebook, but it really wasn’t the image that I was after for a great portrait.
But, my subject was super relaxed and stopped posing and started revealing more of who she in front of the camera.
Now she may have just been dizzy, but I also attribute it to getting her to this point by helping forget about posing and start being real.

Here’s the final image that all the preceding ones, lead up to.
Not a lot of posing, just a very revealing shot that shows a look of confidence that you only have at 17.
Work your subjects.
Lead them on the journey that you want and make some great images.
Be inspired!

Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
click here for “TakeBetterPhotosNow!

One of my colleagues at the Orange County Register, captured an amazing image on the last day of 1999.
Remember the fears of Y2K?
How the embedded computer chips were going to shut the world down and leave us all in chaos?
The entire news staff was scheduled.
No one had the night off.
We were ready for anything, except nothing happened.
My fellow photographer was cruising Huntington Beach and saw a woman saying goodbye to the millennium.
I always thought about that image.
I was never able to get down to the beach on the last day of the year.
This year was no different.
In fact, my wife sent me to the store at the last minute, just as the sun was setting.
Fortunately, my son went with me and we put together a quick shoot as the last rays of the final sunset of 2011 shone down.
A couple of technical details:
1. The horizon is extremely low to emphasize the sky.
2. The sun is near the lower right area of convergence
3. My subject is in the left vertical and his head is near the upper left area of convergence.

Not quite the beach, but a significant image for myself and my son as we said goodbye to 2011.
Capture the moments of your families life.
Be inspired!

Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
click here for “TakeBetterPhotosNow!

This post will document a recent shoot that was a test for another idea that I’m planning on shooting in a couple of weeks.
There are three lights in this set-up.
1. The main light which is illuminating the subjects’ face.
2. A side light that is illuminating the right side of the subject and the ground.
3. And finally the sun which has set which is illuminating the incredible clouds on this evenings sunset.
Balance of the light is key.

There’s a snoot on the main light on the right and a full amber gel over the side light on the left.
The main light is set on manual at 1/8th power, while the side light is set on manual at 1/2 power.
The ratio worked out well to capture the sunset at f/9.0 at 1/100th of a second.
Here’s one more shot with a 16-35mm.

My main goal was to light a subject at night, but only to light the subject partially. To sculpt the light so it would only illuminate the face and part of the instrument that he was holding.
The side light served to separate my subject from the background.
The wide angle really shows that I achieved most of that.
I wish that the small bush on the left wasn’t so lit, but in the heat of the moment as the sun set, it was a low priority.

The last image is taken with a 70-200mm 2.8 and shows a more compressed view.
Although the sky had darkened noticeably, I think that the wide angle lens gives a better view and a more saturated view, so that the most dramatic effect is produced with that lens.
Still there are benefits to be considered with the telephoto view.
The subject pops more from the background, he really stands out against the sky.
Also, the foliage blends more into the background and is less of a distraction than in the wide angle view.
The sky is incredibly dramatic and outshines the sky in the telephoto version.
I’m looking forward to my next shoot with this set-up.
Be inspired!

Michael worked as a photojournalist in southern California for 20 plus years and has taught photojournalism at UCLA. He currently is an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA where he teaches photography. He is the author of, “Take Better Photos Now!”
click here for “TakeBetterPhotosNow!

Have you ever been to a function/party and someone says, “Take our picture,” or you just want to make a quick portrait of some friends?
You want to make them look nice and make a good portrait.
The pressure is on.
Usually where you are standing isn’t good light and the background usually is busy.
Here’s a couple of standard tips that I try to remember and it usually helps me to make a good image in the midst of less then stellar situations.
1. Shoot from a bit lower than eye level.
Not too low or you end up looking up their noses and just about no one looks great from this angle. Just a bit lower to clean up the background and make them look important.
You know.
The hero pose.
You don’t know what the hero pose is?
The photographer shoots from a lower level and it makes the subject look more everything, important, wise, powerful.
Like Superman!
2. If the light is bad, backlight them!
Back lighitng a subject can be a dangerous game.
It ends up with silhouettes and faces that no one can recognize.
But, done right, and you have beautiful even lighting on your subjects and cool overexposed backgrounds that clean up busyness that might be lurking back there.
In this image I even made sure to include a lens flare to spice up the portrait even more!

The result is a quick portrait that makes everyone, including the photographer, happy!
Next party you attend with your camera, try these simple tips and you’ll end up with some nice portraits for your friends.
Be inspired!

Michael Kitada is the author of i365project.com. He worked as a staff photographer for the Orange County Register in southern California for almost 20 years and has served as an adjunct professor at UCLA teaching photojournalism and currently teaches photography at Cal Baptist University in Riverside. He also is the author of the photography CD, “Take Better Photos Now! ” which serves as a “must have” guide for all serious photographers. Click this link for more information http://takebetterphotosnow.com/

So I was asked by a friend to critique some photos.
I was reminded that so many photographers get caught up in the moment and forget to really look at the light.
The direction and quality can make or break your images.
I shot an example recently:
The first image is made with window light coming over my back and illuminating the subject from the front.

Notice how the the quality of the light is muddier, in fact, the subject’s face is mostly illuminated by a lamp inside the house.
Look at the first image and check out the skin tones.
Natural and the eyes sparkle with the highlights from the window.
Basically, there aren’t any highlights in the eyes in the backlit image.
Too many times, photographers can get caught up in the moment. Clients peering at you and the subject wondering if you know what you
are doing. That’s pressure.
So it’s easy to just start shooting.
Make sure you add light to your check list.
Direction and quality and your images will start being more consistent.
Be inspired!

I had a chance to put into action something I was teaching my photo students about the other day.
Connecting with your subjects.
Without that connection, your portraits are one dimensional, flat and lifeless.
With that connection, there’s a spark a twinkle in the eye that gives life to your portraits.
Today I was photographing 13 seniors.
High school seniors.
Fortunately for me, they were all super incredible kids.
No attitudes or drama at all.
Near the end, I made a quick portrait of each of the students.
The light was fading very fast, so I literally had about 30 seconds with each of them
My style is to just talk.
I direct them and wait for that magical moment when it all gels and that’s when I’m able to see a part of the real person that I’m trying to photograph.
The first image is a a young guy that I just recently photographed for his senior portraits.
He quickly and comfortably moved into a pose that showed confidence and I was able to make a great portrait in about two frames.

This next portrait was of a girl that I hadn’t met before today.
She was a bit shy as a lot of young girls can be, but I noticed she had a great ring.
I asked her to straighten her hair with that hand.
It helped her to concentrate on something other than the camera and I told her not to smile and that’s when I got this great 1000 watt smile.
Her eyes lit up and I had my portrait!

The last portrait was the birthday girl.
Some people are born knowing how to pose.
This was is one of those rare individuals!
But, I asked her to include her hands in the image, as did all the other portraits.
She came up with this pose and I was done.
Remember, connection with your subject is key. Relax, concentrate and make some nice portraits.
Be inspired!

Every year at Thanksgiving I make portraits of my niece, nephews and my own kids.
It’s quite the affair.
Lights and backdrops and amidst turkey and football, I make portraits.
The standard has become increasingly higher each year.
This year, like last, I was asked to make portraits for my sister’s Christmas cards.
One light on an umbrella, camera right and slightly over the existing ambient light.
I have learned when photographing children, what ever happens, is what you get.
They smile and are perfect angels? Cool, that’s the images I get.
They cry and refuse to do anything their parents beg? That’s okay too!
This bit of knowledge has saved me years of frustration.
Obviously, I work with my subjects to get the best reaction, but with kids, you have to be ready for anything.
In the first image, I asked my niece to hug her brother.
Cute, but I wanted more.

My sister suggested a prop!
Excellent! Props are perfect tools to help your subjects relax and become more at ease in front of the camera.
My nephew and niece did exactly that and the signs’ message is perfect.
I especially love that my nephew’s feet are crossed!

Finally, no shoot is complete without a great outtake.
I asked them to jump and my niece tried to hold the dog, too.
Except, the photo looks like something out of awkward family photos!
She isn’t choking her beloved pooch, but was sad that she wasn’t holding the dog.
The rule that I try to live by is whatever my kid subject’s do, will be fine.
They cry, great! They fight! Even better moments.
Relax and be inspired!

The final project for my photo class was to come up with a concept photo project and photograph it utilizing electronic flash.
They came up with a great idea.
Clean water.
It’s a topic that is very current and visual, too.
We decided to take clean water, make it dirty, similar to what millions in the world have to drink every day.
The team came up with the something that would be abhorrent to most who would see the image.
We put dirt in bottles of water, they couldn’t bring themselves to act like they were drinking it, but the message came across.
Here’s the evolution of the project:

This is the first image.
The ambient exposure was calculated and the electronic flash was adjusted to output about 1 and 1/2 stops over the ambient.
A snoot was then utilized to strike only the face and the water bottle and fall off quickly as you can see on the subject’s arm and below her neck.
The next image showed a more interesting background:

We were able to find a wall with interesting shadows to add into the background and covered half the models face with the water for more impact.
Again the same ratio from the ambient light was used with the single electronic flash and snoot.
It was close, but not quite as effective as we thought we could get.
Finally, we moved the subject into a profile type pose with the water in an area of convergence.

The last(and first image) we felt truly showed the dirty water and the model in the best possible light.
The snoot sculpts the light from the electronic flash to create interesting modeling on the model and lights up the water beautifully.
Great concept.
Effective lighting.
Be inspired!

i365project.com is written daily by Michael Kitada. Michael has been a photojournalist and teacher of photography for more than 20 years. He has taught photography as an adjunct instructor at UCLA and currently teaches at Cal Baptist University in Southern California. Want to learn more photography tips? Take Better Photos Now! Is available for purchase at http://takebetterphotosnow.com