My apologies for the suspect voice quality. After recording the 'To camera' sections (during which I felt a bit off), and in the middle of the voice-overs, I came down with a chest infection which laid me up for almost two weeks 😷🙄
I got excited when I saw another video you made. Thanks so much for another great video! What do you think about critiquing photos of people who submit to you in the future?
@@creyetivemedia Thank you; I'm glad you liked the new addition. As to critiquing photos, I've actually had some emails asking the same thing, so I'm giving that some thought. Maybe you could send me an email?
Hi Peter, a million % recommendable channel. - I’m behind the viewfinder of cameras since I was 8 yrs young (man, I’m old, that was 1972) and because I’m not keen on making tutorial videos myself, I recommend your channel to everyone who doesn’t want to book me for one2one classes and prefers autodidact learning on TH-cam. Fun fact: where I live, we speak an Alemannic dialect (1) and my French has become quite rusty the last 40 yrs. Despite of that I got it instinctively what this video is about. I always speak from “gegads Sunnaliacht schüssa” what literally means “shooting against (more or less harsh) daylight/sunlight”, the meaning is absolutely identical to the French term and photography technique you present here. (1) Alsatian and the dialect in the Principality of Liechtenstein are extremely similar, even if someone from Alsace does not speak German but fully speaks Alsatian and someone from Liechtenstein 🇱🇮 doesn’t speak French but fully speaks our dialect, they can have a conversation without problems. The Astérix and Tintin comics once were available in Alsatian, we can read that here.
Very good. I use Canon DSLr and Canon Speedlight, and I almost always keep the lens hood on too. My speedlight has the built-in diffuser, and which I do use sometimes, but I need to get one of those flash diffuser softbox attachments.
J ai appris beaucoup de chose dans votre video . Merci. Quand vous montrez vos photos avant vos explications, la qualité de celles ci nous invite à vous suivre plus facilement.Vivement d autres videos
There’s nothing more useful than imparting knowledge, experience and insight in a non-pretentious manner. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this type of shooting with film stock, rather than digital. I have to add that your choice of models is very tasteful. You seem to have mastered presenting their legs perfectly. I find many photographers forget that they can support and direct the eye to the point of interest. Great videos!
Thank you Mark. I'm afraid that I gave up any interest in film as soon as I switched to digital in 2001. The attraction of never spending another minute locked away in a darkroom (after spending a large percentage of my professional life in one) was just too great ;-)
Thank you for teaching this photography lesson on Contre-Jour. It’s an interesting way to get creative mid day against the light. I will practice this to add to my photography skillset. Hopefully your voice is back to normal and you’re feeling better.
You're welcome, Daniyel. I'm glad it's inspired you to try something you're not familiar with. Good luck with it. As to my voice, I'm getting better, thank you. Sounding much less like Barry White now :-)
Wonderful video! I always learn something from you. The slideshow piqued my curiosity even more. That was quite an array of Nikon D model cameras. I saw D200, D300, D500, D810. I still own my D200 I bought new in 2005. More to the curiosity...what drives your choice of *camera* in these situations? Anything in particular?
Thanks, JB; I'm pleased to have been able to add to your pool of photography knowledge. As to the cameras, I still have the D200 and sometimes loan it out to students who run into problems with their cameras when they're here. The D300 is a fabulous old workhorse which I use as a stand-by back-up to my D500, should I need it. I went full frame with the D810 for a while but, after losing the top of my r/h ring finger in a boating accident on Lake Geneva, I found it awkward to use and could no longer operate the front Fn button on the right side of the lens housing, so I went back to APS-C with the D500 (I can operate the Fn button on that with my little finger). The D500 is my 'proper' camera now although I do use the Sony RX100 M6 a lot as I always have that with me in my car.
Thank you for your kind comment. The Santa photo was a scene I came across by chance when shooting a Christmas fair in my local town. I was just walking back to my car and came cross those guys as I turned a corner. It was a long time ago now but it's still one of my favourite contre-jour shots.
Thank you very much for this talk. Bright sunshine has always been a problem working with a model but can't wait now to use that flash that is sadly neglected.
You're welcome, Alan. Dust off that speedlight, get yourself a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries and one of those large diffusers I talked about, and you'll be good to go. Your models will love you for it too! ;-)
Decades ago when I shot weddings on film, at the right time of day with fill flash this was one of my favourites with the bride and couple being backlit by the setting sun. Preventing lens flare from the sun was a challenge. My fill flash was a metz 45 ct 5 off camera. Contre-Jour I had been searching for this word, as I had forgotten it although it is perhaps is one of my old photography books, such as the Joy of Photography.
Yep, me too, Phillip. Weddings and portraits were my sole source of income when I first set up my own studio, but I gave up shooting weddings as soon as I found other photography avenues that could replace the income. I loved working with the bride, groom, and bridesmaids far from the madding crowd, but hated being surrounded by guests. I'm guessing that you probably have a book by John Hedgecoe too ;-)
@@peterevans6086 I gave up when life went in an unexpected direction and only just recently bought a digital camera, it almost feels like cheating when compare to my old Contax. It has always been my passion and I have taken photography up again.
So pleased to hear that you've rediscovered your love for the art. I understand you when you use the phrase 'almost like cheating', but I look at the advances in photographic technology in the same way as artists viewed the discovery and use of new pigments and materials - if it helps you to produce a more satisfying result, it has to a good thing, right?
@@peterevans6086 At the moment I really wish I had the images where I used Contre-Jour as I took great pride in acheiving the effect in my wedding photos. The advances do help to achieve more satisfying results and I am still learning, one step at a time. It is easy to get lost. One thing I am practising at present is light painting and image stacking, as I really like the effects achieved by light painting. Lately I have been contemplating about building a portfolio using contra-jour, it was something I discovered by accident when I was shooting a wedding and used frequently when I could. It was only later did I learn what I was doing had a name. In a few weeks I have a project coming up which will be more like street photography/photojournalism, from which I hope to perhaps hold an exhibition.
Thank you, very interesting video. I noticed several photos, for example the fountain with the intense highlights on the water spray and several of the floral photos, where the image came out as a brightly subject against a dark background. Are those strictly speaking, Contra Jour images? It looks like the light is coming more from the sides that the back 150 degrees. I can see that they embody many of the same principles of exposure management that you cited, just curious about the formal classification. I am pretty new to photography, have been taking bird pictures for a couple of years, still lots to learn. I have learned that a bird in flight against the sky backlight needs a 2-3 stop boost with exposure comp to make sure that the shadow details are there when I develop it, which is consistent with your advice about histograms. I'll keep watching.
Thank you for your thanks, Richard. All of the images I've shown are contre-jour because the light source was in front of the camera in every case. In other words they were all shot against the light. Not INTO the light, but AGAINST the light. A contre-jour shot doesn't have to have the light source visible; the subject simply needs to be backlit, even if that backlighting is at a narrow angle. The easiest way to tell a contre-jour photo is to look at the shadows. In the fountain shot with the horses, for example, you can see the shadow of the woman walking into the shot plus the shadows cast by the wrought iron fence. Those shadows are 'pointing' towards the camera. The dark background is in fact a row of trees. By the way, it's impossible to get images of water droplets like that without the light source shining through the water from behind. In the water-lily and lotus images, you can see the shadows of the petals on the far side of the plants visible through the petals on the near side because the latter have become translucent due to them being backlit, despite the sun being fairly high. In the case of the lotus blooms, the dark background is a high yew hedge about 5 metres behind the lotus pool. For the water-lilies, I've chosen to shoot them from an angle that gives me a dark background in order to make a vivid contrast. I've visited the Latour-Marliac water lily nursery hundreds of times and the day of year and time of day is always uppermost in my mind when I shoot there because I love to shoot the blooms backlit. Incidentally, that nursery is the source on the lilies in Monet's garden at Giverny and there is a coffee table book on the subject for which I provided most of the photos - ISBN: 9781870673839. blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781870673839?source=eurobuch
Thank you very much for this interesting subject. I am an amateur Nikon weekend shooter and have learned a lot from your Chanel. Could you make some videos such as Nikon metering mode in different situations, using speed light for back lift portraits?
You're very welcome; I'm pleased you're finding the content helpful. As to metering, shooting contre-jour or not, I only ever use two of Nikon's metering modes: Matrix, and Spot. And the latter I use only rarely. So, just follow the guidance I gave in the video at 17:55
Thanks for your informative video. Instead of using the histogram, I am using the zebra function on my SONY cameras, which tells me exactly where I blow out the highlights.
I think maybe you're looking for the French for 'Thank you', which is 'Merci'. In which case my reply to you is 'de rien' which means, 'You're welcome' :-)
My apologies for the suspect voice quality. After recording the 'To camera' sections (during which I felt a bit off), and in the middle of the voice-overs, I came down with a chest infection which laid me up for almost two weeks 😷🙄
I got excited when I saw another video you made. Thanks so much for another great video! What do you think about critiquing photos of people who submit to you in the future?
@@creyetivemedia Thank you; I'm glad you liked the new addition. As to critiquing photos, I've actually had some emails asking the same thing, so I'm giving that some thought. Maybe you could send me an email?
@@peterevans6086 You're welcome, Peter! Sounds like a plan :-)
🙏 Another video that I will watch a second time. Loved the three Santas.
Assertive and interesting comments to hear and appreciate the perspective of professional photographers.
I love your videos. Well thought out and informative. Thank you
You're very welcome. Thank you for your kind comment.
Hi Peter, a million % recommendable channel. - I’m behind the viewfinder of cameras since I was 8 yrs young (man, I’m old, that was 1972) and because I’m not keen on making tutorial videos myself, I recommend your channel to everyone who doesn’t want to book me for one2one classes and prefers autodidact learning on TH-cam.
Fun fact: where I live, we speak an Alemannic dialect (1) and my French has become quite rusty the last 40 yrs. Despite of that I got it instinctively what this video is about. I always speak from “gegads Sunnaliacht schüssa” what literally means “shooting against (more or less harsh) daylight/sunlight”, the meaning is absolutely identical to the French term and photography technique you present here.
(1) Alsatian and the dialect in the Principality of Liechtenstein are extremely similar, even if someone from Alsace does not speak German but fully speaks Alsatian and someone from Liechtenstein 🇱🇮 doesn’t speak French but fully speaks our dialect, they can have a conversation without problems. The Astérix and Tintin comics once were available in Alsatian, we can read that here.
Thanks, Roland, that's very kind of you.
Accents and language always fascinates me so your information about Alsatian was very interesting.
Thanks so much for a very straight forward tutorial.
You're welcome, Dereck.
Very good. I use Canon DSLr and Canon Speedlight, and I almost always keep the lens hood on too. My speedlight has the built-in diffuser, and which I do use sometimes, but I need to get one of those flash diffuser softbox attachments.
Thank you, Paul. If you do get one of those larger speedlight diffusers, you'll notice a big difference.
J ai appris beaucoup de chose dans votre video . Merci. Quand vous montrez vos photos avant vos explications, la qualité de celles ci nous invite à vous suivre plus facilement.Vivement d autres videos
Merci Jean Pierre,
J'ai quelques nouvelles vidéos en préparation
There’s nothing more useful than imparting knowledge, experience and insight in a non-pretentious manner.
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this type of shooting with film stock, rather than digital.
I have to add that your choice of models is very tasteful. You seem to have mastered presenting their legs perfectly. I find many photographers forget that they can support and direct the eye to the point of interest.
Great videos!
Thank you Mark.
I'm afraid that I gave up any interest in film as soon as I switched to digital in 2001. The attraction of never spending another minute locked away in a darkroom (after spending a large percentage of my professional life in one) was just too great ;-)
Thoughtful, logical and very useful. I learned a lot in a short time.
I'm pleased to hear that, Wayne; thank you.
Thank you for teaching this photography lesson on Contre-Jour. It’s an interesting way to get creative mid day against the light. I will practice this to add to my photography skillset. Hopefully your voice is back to normal and you’re feeling better.
You're welcome, Daniyel. I'm glad it's inspired you to try something you're not familiar with. Good luck with it.
As to my voice, I'm getting better, thank you. Sounding much less like Barry White now :-)
Wonderful video! I always learn something from you. The slideshow piqued my curiosity even more. That was quite an array of Nikon D model cameras. I saw D200, D300, D500, D810. I still own my D200 I bought new in 2005.
More to the curiosity...what drives your choice of *camera* in these situations? Anything in particular?
Thanks, JB; I'm pleased to have been able to add to your pool of photography knowledge.
As to the cameras, I still have the D200 and sometimes loan it out to students who run into problems with their cameras when they're here. The D300 is a fabulous old workhorse which I use as a stand-by back-up to my D500, should I need it. I went full frame with the D810 for a while but, after losing the top of my r/h ring finger in a boating accident on Lake Geneva, I found it awkward to use and could no longer operate the front Fn button on the right side of the lens housing, so I went back to APS-C with the D500 (I can operate the Fn button on that with my little finger). The D500 is my 'proper' camera now although I do use the Sony RX100 M6 a lot as I always have that with me in my car.
Absolutely spot on. Enjoyable and informative.
It was way more tricky back in the day when we shot on transparency film !
Thank you. And, yes, it certainly was!
Excellent flash fill. Love the Oscar Wilde quote.
Thanks, Steve.
Really like your photography, especially the Santas picture))
Thank you for your kind comment. The Santa photo was a scene I came across by chance when shooting a Christmas fair in my local town. I was just walking back to my car and came cross those guys as I turned a corner. It was a long time ago now but it's still one of my favourite contre-jour shots.
Thank you very much for this talk. Bright sunshine has always been a problem working with a model but can't wait now to use that flash that is sadly neglected.
You're welcome, Alan. Dust off that speedlight, get yourself a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries and one of those large diffusers I talked about, and you'll be good to go. Your models will love you for it too! ;-)
Thank you, so good! Beautiful images.
Thank you for your kind comment, Sigurd, much appreciated !
Decades ago when I shot weddings on film, at the right time of day with fill flash this was one of my favourites with the bride and couple being backlit by the setting sun. Preventing lens flare from the sun was a challenge. My fill flash was a metz 45 ct 5 off camera. Contre-Jour I had been searching for this word, as I had forgotten it although it is perhaps is one of my old photography books, such as the Joy of Photography.
Yep, me too, Phillip. Weddings and portraits were my sole source of income when I first set up my own studio, but I gave up shooting weddings as soon as I found other photography avenues that could replace the income. I loved working with the bride, groom, and bridesmaids far from the madding crowd, but hated being surrounded by guests. I'm guessing that you probably have a book by John Hedgecoe too ;-)
@@peterevans6086 I gave up when life went in an unexpected direction and only just recently bought a digital camera, it almost feels like cheating when compare to my old Contax. It has always been my passion and I have taken photography up again.
So pleased to hear that you've rediscovered your love for the art. I understand you when you use the phrase 'almost like cheating', but I look at the advances in photographic technology in the same way as artists viewed the discovery and use of new pigments and materials - if it helps you to produce a more satisfying result, it has to a good thing, right?
@@peterevans6086 At the moment I really wish I had the images where I used Contre-Jour as I took great pride in acheiving the effect in my wedding photos. The advances do help to achieve more satisfying results and I am still learning, one step at a time. It is easy to get lost.
One thing I am practising at present is light painting and image stacking, as I really like the effects achieved by light painting.
Lately I have been contemplating about building a portfolio using contra-jour, it was something I discovered by accident when I was shooting a wedding and used frequently when I could. It was only later did I learn what I was doing had a name.
In a few weeks I have a project coming up which will be more like street photography/photojournalism, from which I hope to perhaps hold an exhibition.
I'd like to see the results of your upcoming project. Please email me a link to the images when you have them
Aloha from Hawaii, thank you for the great video, I learned quite a lot.
Thanks, Leo. I'm pleased you found it useful. I love Hawaii by the way. What a beautiful State. I got married on Maui in 1996 ;-)
Thank you, very interesting video. I noticed several photos, for example the fountain with the intense highlights on the water spray and several of the floral photos, where the image came out as a brightly subject against a dark background. Are those strictly speaking, Contra Jour images? It looks like the light is coming more from the sides that the back 150 degrees. I can see that they embody many of the same principles of exposure management that you cited, just curious about the formal classification. I am pretty new to photography, have been taking bird pictures for a couple of years, still lots to learn. I have learned that a bird in flight against the sky backlight needs a 2-3 stop boost with exposure comp to make sure that the shadow details are there when I develop it, which is consistent with your advice about histograms. I'll keep watching.
Thank you for your thanks, Richard.
All of the images I've shown are contre-jour because the light source was in front of the camera in every case. In other words they were all shot against the light. Not INTO the light, but AGAINST the light. A contre-jour shot doesn't have to have the light source visible; the subject simply needs to be backlit, even if that backlighting is at a narrow angle.
The easiest way to tell a contre-jour photo is to look at the shadows. In the fountain shot with the horses, for example, you can see the shadow of the woman walking into the shot plus the shadows cast by the wrought iron fence. Those shadows are 'pointing' towards the camera. The dark background is in fact a row of trees. By the way, it's impossible to get images of water droplets like that without the light source shining through the water from behind.
In the water-lily and lotus images, you can see the shadows of the petals on the far side of the plants visible through the petals on the near side because the latter have become translucent due to them being backlit, despite the sun being fairly high. In the case of the lotus blooms, the dark background is a high yew hedge about 5 metres behind the lotus pool. For the water-lilies, I've chosen to shoot them from an angle that gives me a dark background in order to make a vivid contrast. I've visited the Latour-Marliac water lily nursery hundreds of times and the day of year and time of day is always uppermost in my mind when I shoot there because I love to shoot the blooms backlit. Incidentally, that nursery is the source on the lilies in Monet's garden at Giverny and there is a coffee table book on the subject for which I provided most of the photos - ISBN: 9781870673839.
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781870673839?source=eurobuch
@@peterevans6086 Got it, thank you. Embarrassed that I didn't really look closely at the shadows:)
Very informative. Thank you very much! I have something to explore more.
You're welcome, Gerhard; I'm glad you found it useful. I'm sure you'll enjoy the exploration :-)
Thank you very much for this interesting subject. I am an amateur Nikon weekend shooter and have learned a lot from your Chanel. Could you make some videos such as Nikon metering mode in different situations, using speed light for back lift portraits?
You're very welcome; I'm pleased you're finding the content helpful. As to metering, shooting contre-jour or not, I only ever use two of Nikon's metering modes: Matrix, and Spot. And the latter I use only rarely. So, just follow the guidance I gave in the video at 17:55
Thanks!
You're welcome, Cienki!
Thanks for your informative video. Instead of using the histogram, I am using the zebra function on my SONY cameras, which tells me exactly where I blow out the highlights.
You're welcome. As to determining over exposure, provided you end up with the correct result, it doesn't matter which method you choose :-)
Mercy!
I think maybe you're looking for the French for 'Thank you', which is 'Merci'. In which case my reply to you is 'de rien' which means, 'You're welcome' :-)
Good job
Thanks, Tony.
Thanks!
Thank you, Ernest! That's very kind and much appreciated, my friend.