Portable Flash Photography Training Online

Recently I was in contact with a professional photographer called Phil Steele based in the US who runs a series of effective online video training courses in various aspects of photography and Photoshop that I am sure many of your would find very useful. These are available in high-def or standard-def so you can choose either one depending on your connection speed.

Phil is very well known for his photography training and his obvious enthusiasm was clear as he showed me his site including some free tutorials. He was also kind enough to let me take a look at the courses, which I immediately knew would be of interest to my blog readers.

The first one I wanted to tell you about covers portable flash photography and is called “How to Shoot Professional Looking Headshots and Portraits on a Budget with Small Flashes“. Although not specifically related to nudes or glamour the same basic theories and practices would apply and this is good information that will be useful in practically any sphere of photography involving portable flash photography with models.

I know from the many emails I receive that several of you are interested in how to create professional looking images with small portable flashes rather than large studio lighting for all sorts of good reasons ranging from questions of cost through to practicality and simple fun.

In fact I’ve done posts before on this blog involving portable flash photography showing how I used a Canon 580EX inside an apartment to light a glamour image, so it’s something I both understand and practice myself at times.

Small portable flashes have been around for years but the technology allowing you to shoot reliably off camera to create more dynamic effects is relatively new and Phil does a fantastic job of explaining everything in very practical terms including how to equip yourself for on a budget along with the techniques used to produce great looking images. On a side note it amazes me how many attachments have emerged recently for portable flash photography that allow you to create effects that were previously only possible with high end studio equipment.

I particularly liked the way the courses are presented in a very direct manner with clear fact filled information and I even learned a couple things myself about some interesting pieces of budget priced equipment that I had never heard of before and the ways they can be used. The cost of the course is easily justified by these cost saving tips alone…

It’s not just a series of videos though because the pages include links to further detailed information on specific equipment and where you can find it. Better still the site includes regularly updated information, so you know you are always getting the most up to date facts and opinion.

The course starts with a basic introduction and moves on to cover many aspects including: * Equipment

* Assembly and testing

* A four step formula for manual flash and camera settings

* Various photo shoots both indoors and outdoors including models

* Several items of bonus material

The site is well worth checking out for anybody who is interested in exploring the potential of small portable flash units and how they can be used in all kinds of photography from basic head shots through to advanced portraits and glamour images. For all but the most experienced and advanced flash users who obviously don’t need any training this is a very good investment.

Phil Steele’s Portable Flash Photography Training Online

Warm Skin Tones In Nude Photography

The warm skin tones you see in the above image were greatly helped by the use of a folding gold Lastolite reflector, which was used to bounce the bright sunlight back onto the model. Having used reflectors like these for over 20 years I find they are very useful to help achieve the kind of warm skin tones I generally like in glamour and nude photography.

The key advantage of these reflectors is that the are light and very portable plus they seem to be reasonably resistent to regular use, so they should last you for years with careful use. You can also use them with flash lighting of course to give a soft warm fill if you find the ambient levels need a boost.

The biggest disadvantage I find is that they can be tricky to keep steady if there is any kind of wind present, so you either need an assistant or some kind of suitable support. To remain steady the support will often need to be weighted down which loses the initial advantage, so on balance I generally find them best adapted for indoor use, where you just need a lift in brightness and warmth, while making use of the available light. For outdoor use there are more heavy duty alternatives with rigid frames that are probably a better choice.

Although a gold reflector will help to create warm skin tones it can still look a bit strange if you have a particularly pale model, so there is a lot to be said for choosing a subject with at least a base tan. Remember also that the reason we often want to see warm skin tones is because it makes the model look healthy and relaxed.

Something else I have found is that the actual reflectors can vary dramatically in the way that they reflect light and some of them produce a very brash gold reflection that is too obvious so I prefer to use ones that have a softer almost matt finish, which produces a gentler more natural reflection. N.B Be careful about choosing a reflector online because it’s really difficult to judge what they are like, so this is one of those cases where I would advise a trip to the camera shop.

Another point to be wary of is when you light your model with a gold reflector but then find the background looks very cold in comparison, so a degree of care is needed here and if necessary you will have to make some changes. It’s much easier of course with digital cameras and post production retouching to correct small imbalances.

In the past reflectors tended be either white or gold for example but nowadays you can find all sorts of combinations and they all have their uses. I have one for example, which is basically a diffuser but it comes complete with a zip on cover that is black or white on one side, however if you turn it inside out you then have the option of gold or silver, so it’s remarkably versatile and really easy to pack for a shoot.

When using reflectors with daylight the effect you see on the subject is what you get so it’s extremely reliable to manage but you also need to look carefully at your subject to make sure the balance is attractive and subtlety is the key. Also remember that these reflectors can make it uncomfortable for a model to see, so you need to be careful and make sure you don’t end up with strained looks.

In the image above I used a hand held incident light meter and started off by taking a reading of the white curtains and then taking it from there to get the balance right. It wouldn’t have looked right if the curtains looked dull and grey but the model was brightly lit…

There are of course other techniques and tricks for achieving warm skin tones including some in post production using Photoshop. Nothing beats a natural glowing tan but even then a little lift of some golden light can work wonders.

Try the reflectors from Lastolite or California SunBounce for warm skin tones.

Lastolite

California SunBounce

If you look around there are clear signs that the days of backing up our images on discs may be rather fewer than many of us had previously imagined. I’ve come to this conclusion after piecing together a few sparate bits of information and wondering what impact this could have on us as photographers in the long term. Regardless of whether you are shooting nudes or landscapes, digital asset management is of vital importance to professional photographers, so this is something we need to be aware of.

The motor company Ford has just announced that no new cars will be fitted with a CD player. Instead they will include a connection point for portable MP3 players and wi-fi connections to access music via the internet. You may be asking what that has to do with photography but I think it shows manufacturers are heading towards a world where information can be accessed from anywhere, so there is no need to maintain physical media like CDs. That can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

In another example Apple has just released the latest Mac Mini with no optical drive, telling us we don’t need one nowadays because we can always download installers from the internet. Software like Aperture is now only available via download through the App Store with no physical disc like before.

To make all of this feasible on a practical level a massive leap will need to be made in supporting technologies that would allow everything to be stored online and above all reliably retrieved when required. At present most of us are not there in terms of broadband connections if we need to upload several gigs of files on a daily basis. A photographer based in the centre of London may not find it too difficult to obtain a fast cable connection and store all their files on Amazon, but what about those who are living somewhere remote and struggling with a slow 2mbps connection?

Personally I am not wild about the idea of storing everything online and I like the idea of keeping something on a separate medium rather than just relying on hard drives. Does anybody have any thoughts about where we are headed over the next few years and how best to adapt? I’d be interested to hear your opinions…

Update: If you are interested in digital asset management (and you should be) it’s worth checking out the excellent book by Peter Krogh called The DAM Book.

Nudes In Simple Daylight

Nudes In Simple Daylight

The photograph above is an example of how nudes in daylight can be done with the simplest of props, lighting and equipment. It was shot with nothing more than natural daylight coming in from a frosted window behind the model with the budget priced Canon 50mm F1.8 lens.

Any lighting you can see on the front of the model is simply reflected back from the white wall tiles and the image was shot at 400 ISO. The camera was hand held and rather unusually for me I relied on the camera’s built in meter, though in this case I knew it would do a fairly good job.

Just like with many other nudes I have photographed, for me this picture is all about the atmosphere and feel. It tells a story that is both sensual and natural but above all I like the way that attention is drawn towards the hands and the tiny drops of water splashing off the model’s body. Forget about the cheesy grins or forced sexy looks. With nudes in simple daylight you can do so much better than that…

There was no need here for a dozen lights, exotic lenses or even a makeup artist. In fact I think it works in large part, precisely because all those elements have been stripped away, so we are left with nothing more than an image which captures a moment in time like a piece of reportage. It shows us a glimpse of pure feminine beauty, rendering fancy Photoshop work and complicated lighting effects as nothing more than pointless distractions. The use of colour in this case wouldn’t have added anything extra either. Shooting nudes in black & white is generally more effective.

The only point of this particular blog post is to say that in photography and particularly when Shooting nudes, sometimes less is more and simple is better.

I recently found a very interesting site run by Bowens who make professional lighting equipment for studio photographers and they produce an online magazine that is free to view with a clear accent on lighting. Too many photographers get very excited about camera equipment but don’t think specifically enough about the lighting itself and how it will affect the mood and feel of the image when shooting glamour and nude photography.

Obviously there is a degree of bias if you can call it that towards Bowens equipment but regardless of what system you use it contains some very useful tips and information, covering everything from nudes and glamour through to still life and portraits.

It’s all a good read and worth checking out. You can go to the site and sign up for free updates so they let you know every time there is a new issue.

http://www.bowensdirect.com/litebook

Camera Equipment

Very often I find photographers hankering after the latest and greatest camera equipment; frequently trading in their gear every 12 months or so as each new model is announced, even when there are only very small real differences.

At one time during the early days of digital, the image quality was only borderline acceptable in most cases and there was genuine progress between each new model, but for the last five years the real world differences have become far more subtle. The megapixel war is fairly pointless now, especially for shooting nudes or glamour that don’t require the kind of definition that might be desirable in a landscape for example.

A quick look at many web forums will quickly reveal that most of their members are far more interested in camera equipment than in taking pictures. In fact, discussions about light quality and composition etc. rarely get a mention. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call them “camera owners” rather than photographers. Next year they will probably own a new camera but their photography is unlikely to have improved much.

I have a simple rule of thumb with camera equipment. When I stop thinking about it, I know it’s right. When I use the Hasselblad for example it just feels right. That is partly down to years of use but also the knowledge that it is a well thought out piece of equipment, which has been tested in the field and proven to be right for the job. When a new Hasselblad is introduced I don’t automatically want to abandon the camera I already have.

Going back several years ago I remember struggling along with a Canon Eos 100 SLR and there were times when I was exasperated by the functional limitations of the camera. For example there was a dial on the back, which was far too easy to move in manual mode and had to be taped down to avoid accidentally moving to the wrong setting. The need for a PC adaptor to work with studio flash was also awkward and unreliable.

At the time I wasn’t earning much money as a photographer, so I persisted with that camera for longer than I would have liked, but one day I finished a shoot in utter frustration and walked down the road to a camera dealer where I immediately bought a used Eos 1. This wasn’t the latest model that Canon were making at the time but it was a solid well made camera and it was a complete revelation compared to what I had been using before.

Many photographers are convinced that more options is always better when it comes to cameras and yet as I started to look closely at that Eos 1 I was struck by the shear lack of features and modes compared to some of the less professional cameras. It was clearly a much better designed camera for picture taking because they had eliminated distractions so that I could concentrate on the actual photography rather than the flashing lights. Probably the best example of this approach is found with the Leica rangefinder cameras. With camera equipment less is more sometimes when taking pictures.

At the time of writing I am working with a 1DsII, which I have had since 2005 and it’s a very good camera. There are a few points in the design ergonomics which could be improved, however it’s a thoroughly professional camera that inspires confidence and does exactly what I need. The real point about a professional camera like this is that they are built for hard daily use in all kinds of conditions and you are less likely to make errors in a moment of distraction because of the way they operate.

Looking at the various 35mm digital cameras, I feel we are reaching a point where differences in print will be largely impossible to see and left only to the pixel peepers. In practice this means that if you buy a professional DSLR it will still be a perfectly valid tool for your photography in several years time from a quality perspective but you will have also gained in the meanwhile from the general handling compared to lower end alternatives. You will also suffer less financial loss in the long run as you stop trading in your cameras every 12 months, so choosing professional equipment makes sense on a financial level as well.

For anybody shooting nudes or glamour photography there is a happy medium in terms of resolution because excessive detail is not terribly flattering to the model and will generally just result in many more hours spent in retouching. In real terms it may also lead to deterioration in overall image quality, since most modern lenses are already at their limit with the higher end 35mm DSLRs available today. Significantly higher resolution may also come at the price of compromises in other areas, so try to remember that the total megapixel count is not the only way to measure the usefulness of a camera.

In practical terms any recently made professional camera will do it all for commercial work from internet right through to billboards. It’s better to buy one good professional camera (even used) with just a couple of excellent lenses than to spend all your time and money constantly upgrading consumer level cameras and lenses.

One last piece of advice. Something I recommend in my book is that you “stress test” all your equipment to see where problems can occur during a shoot and take steps to avoid it in advance. This doesn’t just mean your cameras but also your lenses, lighting, cables, camera bags and the rest. Everything. That way you really learn how your equipment works and avoid costly errors. Look for dials that can accidentally be moved or batteries that run down too quickly.

In summary, search in detail for any areas of weakness in your camera equipment or workflow and then take action to make sure it doesn’t become a problem during the shoot.

The video above is a satirical but rather clever insight into the attitudes of many photographers towards camera gear. It was clearly done as a bit of fun and I have no doubt it will appeal to many photographers who will view this with the lighthearted amusement it merits.

Stepping back a moment however, it does raise a question about the fascination many photographers have with camera equipment and I have to say it seems to have amplified ten fold since digital became the standard for most people. Take a look on practically any photography related forum and 90% of the the threads will be about equipment rather than taking pictures.

Without a doubt I like handling a great camera or lens as much as the next photographer but I have been around long enough to know that changing camera with every new model in the hope of finding some magic breakthrough solution is not the ultimate answer towards becoming a better photographer.

Just look at the work of Irving Penn as far back as the 1940′s who shot stunning fashion and nudes to realise the camera is probably the least important element in a shoot. This was all done decades before a camera was invented with any kind of automated “must have” features. At the same time Karsh was producing stunning portraits with antique equipment and nothing more than a heavy dose of talent with a little Potassium Ferricyanide…

Clearly it suits the requirements of camera stores and manufacturers to garner this kind of equipment frenzy for every new camera or lens that appears on the market but quite honestly I don’t feel there has been that much change in the quality of 35mm DSLR cameras during the last 5 years. The only real difference is more related to improved ergonomics and the price of entry, which has come down, rendering easier access to a greater number of people who want a high quality camera.

Equally in medium format I have recently been looking at files from the Leaf Aptus 65 and it doesn’t seem to be substantially different in terms of file quality than the Leaf Aptus 8.

The real newsflash here is that the megapixel war is over and just about any relatively recent DSLR is capable of producing professional quality images that could look fantastic whether printed inside a magazine or as a large print on a wall. Instead you should be concentrating on your choice of model, nailing the technique and successfully getting the right image. In other words being a photographer as opposed to just a camera owner.

The above nude silhouette image was taken from a shoot I did a few years ago for an Italian cosmetics company to be used as their advertising campaign that year for some body care products. The lighting is essentially very simple because it all comes from behind the model but there are a few tricks and good uses of technique that help to create the perfect nude silhouette effect.

First of all it did help having a particularly large studio space to work in so I was able to set up everything as I liked without problems. The biggest headaches of working in small spaces are as follows:

1) Significantly greater difficulty in controlling the light and seeing it bounce in the wrong places

2) Much greater risk of flare from stray light entering the lens

3) Sometimes being forced to use an undesirable focal length as you try to squeeze everything in

4) In worst cast scenarios it can even be difficult to compose the image as you want

We have all been in situations when shooting a nude model where studio space is a serious issue and sometimes there is just no choice other than to make the best of a bad situation but ideally you should really be making sure in advance that the shooting space is big enough to do the job properly.

N.B a poorly shot nude silhouette due to technical difficulties can look really bad, so make the effort and do your research to avoid looking like an idiot…

I took this nude silhouette picture using the 80mm lens on my Hasselblad, since this is my favourite choice for images of nude models and is roughly equivalent to a standard 50mm lens on a 35mm camera, however I much prefer to the proportions of a medium format image. With the 80mm lens on a medium format camera I find it produces an effect that seems to make the curves of the body a little rounder and the legs a bit longer but all in a flattering manner and the same rules would apply wether shooting fine art nudes or glamour photography. Try shooting the same image with a telephoto and it will look flat but go wider angle and you risk producing a very unflattering and unnatural result with heavy distortion.

One of the biggest considerations with a nude silhouette image is flare because of all the light that is heading straight towards the lens. Many photographers don’t give enough attention to controlling stray light, which can ruin the contrast and sharpness of your images, so I suggest you invest in the best possible lenshood you can afford and preferably one with front masks that really help limit the amount of unwanted light that enters the lens.

There is an excellent PDF article about dealing with flare written by Hasselblad, which you can find here. N.B Why on earth 35mm camera makers don’t seem interested in producing professional quality lenshoods defies all logic if they are genuinely interested in quality but I can only hope the situation will improve at some stage. Contax used to make one for their 35mm cameras if you can still find one.

If you can’t fully control the stray light by means of a lenshood then at least try using suitably positioned black boards in front of the camera, so that the front of the lens remains in the shade. Modern multi-coated lenses are significantly better at dealing with problems created from stray light compared to the lenses from many years ago but even the best lenses have their limits so you should do what you can to make sure the flare doesn’t ruin your images. Remember that it might not be immediately obvious looking at the LCD screen on your digital camera, especially in a case like this with a nude silhouette, where the main subject is dark.

The actual lighting here was supplied by four powerful Elinchrom heads with two placed at different heights on the left and right hand sides firing back towards white boards placed like an open book at 90 degree angles so that the light is bounced evenly onto the white cove background.

The total power output in this case was around 6000 watts but the light fall off is substantial because it first has to reflect off the white boards and then the cove before covering a few meters and reaching a large screen of Rosco diffusion material that will reduce the power output by roughly 2 more stops.

Because of all this light being absorbed along the way your initial burst of power will now be reduced to much more manageable levels but of course if you only have a couple of 400 watt lights you will struggle and have to cut corners, which is not good. Although you can shoot a nude silhouette without the diffusion material behind the model the effect as the light hits her body won’t be as soft.

To get the right exposure shooting a nude silhouette you really do need a proper lightmeter and I always roll my eyes when I hear photographers saying they do it all by relying on the histogram in their camera. Using a good lightmeter is a far more efficient and accurate means of working with flash in the studio. Nowadays I work with a Sekonic L-758D which is a superb professional meter but any good meter that is accurate to 1/10th of a stop should be suitable.

To do this properly you really want to make sure that the light hitting the white cove is already even and you can do this by measuring all areas of that background with your meter to make adjustments as required. All being well the light hitting your sheet of diffusion material just behind your model will now be illuminated perfectly evenly with no fall off or bright spots that would require time consuming corrections in post production. This is very important when shooting a nude silhouette image or the final result will look sub standard.

On the day of the shoot I experimented with various options including reflector boards in front of the model but finally I used a simple trick of turning the head around on the meter, so the white sphere was pointed directly at the sheet of diffusion material and took a reading with the meter placed right next to the screen, so I was effectively metering to obtain a clean white background for the subject but without risking overexposure. The model was now be lit by soft moody light spilling gently around her body and the job was done. That’s how you light a beautiful soft nude silhouette.

There were questions of makeup and composition to resolve but these were all typical for a photo shoot and it was all a smooth easy day. Most importantly the client loved the final nude silhouette effect.

Nude Photography In Movement

The above nude image is was taken as part of a beauty editorial I did in Italy on the coast of Tuscany with a beautiful white sandy beach. The model was a crazy Brazilian girl with a lot of personality and she was great fun. I remember we set out early that morning in a borrowed Alfa Romeo (which later broke down) together with another model from Iceland. 

This is the kind of photography I really love doing, where you just have a basic idea, but the details haven’t been nailed down with over strict limitations, so you just jump in a car with a model, drive to a location and shoot images spontaneously without the need for a team of helpers, a dozen rented lights and every detail pre-planned for what will be done in Photoshop during post production. In fact there is no Photoshop involved with this image. I shot it almost 15 years ago on film using Tri-X and a low end Canon SLR.

Although this was very much a job, we were able to shoot it rather like a model test and I greatly enjoyed it. This is what photography should be like and I do believe that many photographers have become slaves to a regime of technology and pre-planned images where every last detail is decided before they even choose the model.

In a commercial environment, following well rehearsed steps in technique and a strict shooting plan is often unavoidable and helps ensure you get the job done on time, according to the brief within the budget. Unfortunately it can and does lead to a degree of “production line” style boredom that will eventually take the edge off your passion for photography and your willingness to experiment as a creative artist. Very often when you are able to liberate yourself of all those technical hangups and other constraints you will emerge with the best images, especially if you are a master of technique and know how to break the rules.

In a time where digital technology should have theoretically liberated photographers to shoot more freely, many have become obsessed with reviewing every single image as they shoot and plenty of photographers find themselves scuttling back to the laptop instead of shooting spontaneous images and hopefully creating a little magic because they have ironically become insecure and fail to trust their own abilities.

In the days of film we used to shoot blind in the sense that there was no instant feedback from an LCD screen and yet we knew when we had caught the right image because of the instant adrenalin rush when all the elements were in place. Shoot digital but don’t lose sight of the essence that makes photography special.

This particular shot was done at around F16  with a slowish shutter speed. I ran backwards as the model ran towards me holding a long piece of lace curtain that blew in the wind, so it’s actually in sharp focus but blurred by the fast movement and slow shutter speed. The lens I used for this was my Canon 85mm F1.8 with the USM focussing which is wonderful for the fast tracking of movement. Remember that nude photography should be fun 8-)

PS The grain in this nude image doesn’t bother me one little bit!

Medium Format v 35mm

Photographed above are a Mamiya 645 medium format camera withe a 31MP Leaf digital back and a Canon 1DsII with a 24-105L zoom. Both cameras have their pros and cons and I think it’s worth looking at what they both have to offer.

Back in the days of film this decision would have been a no brainer for me. Although 35mm film was capable of producing excellent quality results at smaller sizes, medium format had a clear advantage when big enlargements or heavy cropping was necessary.

On most commercial jobs clients expected medium format and I did nearly all my work with the Hasselblad, though I’ve also used Bronica and Mamiya. My Canon equipment was pulled out the bag just once or twice a year in special circumstances when the speed advantage of working with 35mm became essential. I remember once shooting a nude model running on a beach that would have been just about impossible with a medium format camera either then or now.

For commercial work, film is ancient history as far as I am concerned. That doesn’t mean film is no longer able to produce good quality images, merely that I have moved on to a 100% digital workflow. In practice there is no commercial assignment that I cannot handle using a professional quality digital camera nowadays and I am not a pixel peeping maniac so all I care about is the end result and whether or not it is aesthetically pleasing.

The difference in size and weight between the two formats is not as notable as it was in the past, so on that score I could be happy with either option and I actually like the feel of a fairly big camera, though I always thought the Mamiya RZ and RB were overkill. Build quality with all the professional cameras is also very good in general, so I don’t think that is an issue unless you plan on shooting in extreme conditions.

One area where I feel medium format wins hands down is with the actual shape of the image. The vast majority of commercial applications such as magazines and catalogues are a far better fit for the 4:3 ratio of cameras like the Mamiya rather than the 2:3 ratio of 35mm cameras. In practice you have to allow more space to crop a 35mm image, so you end up having to step back and crop the image later on. It’s just an awkward and unwanted diversion from your work.

There will of course be cases where the 35mm format offers a better fit for certain jobs but I still prefer medium format when photographing models because I believe it looks so much more flattering to the shape of a body, whether shooting fashion or nudes, because 35mm images just look too long and narrow.

Medium format digital cameras have always scored well on shadow transitions and dynamic range compared to 35mm systems, which are often hard pressed in situations with less than optimal lighting and exposure, so in that sense I still don’t believe a modern 35mm digital camera can yet match a medium format camera whether using digital or film.

For low noise levels at faster ISO speeds 35mm wins easily and is capable of far better results in situations where a photographer is forced to work in less than ideal conditions outdoors. I know some people would consider me old fashioned for always trying to work at the lowest possible ISO, but the basic laws of photography haven’t changed. Properly exposed low ISO equals better quality.

The fact remains though that if you try to shoot outdoors with a medium format digital camera at 800 ISO you are likely to be disappointed with the results and the likes of Canon appear to have made greater progress in this area. Do the same thing with a 5DII and you’ll be surprised at how good it still looks with some careful noise reduction in post production. On days where you have to produce a lot of images in less than ideal weather conditions 35mm may well be the only logical choice.

It would be naive to write a blog post comparing 35mm to medium format without considering the question of cost, because the difference is considerable, though I am glad to see that the eye watering expense of medium format is creeping closer to the realms of 35mm and in a couple of years time I expect many more professionals to start using medium format cameras again after being forced to abandon ship for a few years because of clear cut problems of affordability. For most people reading this blog the prices of medium format are still too high and in that case you just have to work with the best 35mm camera and lenses you can afford.

In terms of absolute quality I find that images from my 1DsII or a 5DII are broadly comparable when printed in a magazine or poster with what I could do with film or for that matter a medium format camera with a digital back. That may seem strange to some but the actual medium of commercial print is a great leveller and strips out nearly all the perceived quality advantages that might have been seen on a screen at high magnification.

As I write this, I am reminded of the very first time I saw some digital images printed in a magazine as part of a fashion editorial shot by a friend. There was a double page spread and the images had a lovely smoothness about them but not quite as much gritty definition as I was used to with my Hasselblad’s drum scanned images. At the time I thought it was shot on a Mamiya 645 film camera, so my jaw nearly hit the floor when he told me the image was cropped and had been done with the original Fuji S1, which was actually a 3.4MP camera.

Another point worth considering is that while medium format cameras generally have more megapixels that will translate to greater image detail, especially given the lack of anti-moire filter, that doesn’t necessarily make the final image more flattering or aesthetically pleasing, so I think it’s a case of choosing the right tool for the job. I have seen some beauty images done with 38MP that were anything but flattering and no model will thank you for making her face look some Roman ruins. Remember that my interest extends to photographing models and not architecture.

To finish this post with some kind of summary conclusion, I can only say that in an ideal world a professional photographer would really want both systems at their disposal, just like in the past. The smaller format is still more versatile in tricky conditions but the traditional virtues of medium format still apply and I personally prefer the process of working with medium format. The top end medium format cameras are now able to produce the kind of quality for large exhibition prints that was once reserved for large format 5×4 or even 10×8 cameras. In other words nothing short of stunning.

For photographing nudes or glamour etc. and assuming you are able to work in ideal conditions, I think the sweet spot is probably a medium format camera with a full frame sensor around no more than 30MP. If you only produce images for the internet or make small prints though it’s complete overkill.

Mamiya – Medium Format