ARCHIVED ARTICLES
Chris Bohnhoff: Interview with a Minneapolis Photographer
Welcome to Lighting Essentials interview with Minneapolis Photographer Chris Bohnhoff. I was cruising from a site I can't remember, and found Chris's photos. I really like the style and the interesting way he photographs food and people. I hope you enjoy his work and...
Model Behavior: Trust the Model
She's back - due to popular request. Briana has a new article on Model Behavior. She calls it "Trust the Model". Thanks Bri, for the article. On the Lighting Essentials front, it has been pretty hectic lately. I have several things to review and will get them reviewed...
Create an Antique Camera Look for Your Images: Photoshop Tutorial
We have been looking at business practices for a while now, and I have had some questions about the Photoshop Processing on a few of my recent images. I thought it may be a good idea to show a Photoshop Tutorial on how I create the Antique/Old Camera look. For those...
10 Web Site Strategies for Emerging Photographers
10 Website Strategies for Emerging Photographers As a photographer and web designer, I really believe that the website should be a vehicle for making business happen, and connecting with clients and possible clients, not just an online brochure or replica of a print...
44 Very Cool Images from the LE Flickr Pool
We have been focusing on some business things for the last couple of posts. I wanted to take this opportunity to pull some more images from the Lighting Essentials Pool at Flickr and recognize some wonderful work. We aren't the biggest Flickr Forum, and we aren't the...
Twenty+ Non-Photographic Essentials For Location Photography
We all know about checklists for our photography gear. Making sure we don't get 50 miles out in the desert and find we forgot our tripod mount, or sync cord, or stands or worse. Much worse. I have a checklist that I go through, and I also have started to keep packed...
10 Pricing Challenges and Strategies for Photographers
Let's start out with a universal truth. A digital photograph costs nothing. Nothing to make, nothing to store, nothing to transfer and nothing to see. Before you hit the computer and spit out your soda, I am obviously not talking about the gear and lenses and lights...
An Interview with Photographer’s Portfolio Consultant Selina Maitreya
Today is something special: an interview with Selina Maitreya, Portfolio Consultant and Photographer's mentor for nearly 30 years. Selina has been a photographer, a photographer's rep and a champion for style and substance in photographer's portfolios through her...
10 Things You Can Do Right Now for Your Photography Business
Today's post is on your business and your attitudes. Ten Things to Do Right Now for Your Photography Business These are slow times for a lot of photographers. I believe they are temporary, and will depart, leaving those who are still standing in a great place. But the...
Protected: Shooting for Your Portfolio: Presenting the Work
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Style: It’s Not What You Shoot. It’s How You Shoot It.
Creating a Portfolio: What you shoot vs How you shoot what you shoot. Three exercises to sharpen your attention to style. One of the most difficult and challenging things we deal with as photographers is style. It is a defining point of our work. It is one of the...
Preparing Yourself for “Getting Out There” as a Professional Photographer
(This is part one of a continuing series on starting out in the world of commercial photography. I am a commercial photographer, not a wedding shooter, but most things would be similar in that genre as well. ) Even in these uncertain times, there are those intrepid...
Still Life Shot for an Magazine Ad
Well, my Volleyball client needed a new ad. That's great. We needed it to be concepted, shot, and produced in one day. A day that had me doing other things as well. Stressful? A little, but I have been at this game long enough to know that it will get done. It always...
Grant Lovett: Fashion and Music Photographer in Nashville – an Interview
Working in Nashville means music, fashion, celebrities and more. And Grant Lovett is in the middle of it. A soft-spoken shooter with a deep portfolio, Grant keeps the bills paid with shoots of musicians and fashion models. We have an interview with him that you will...
40 Portraits from the Forum
We are back with another post from the Forum. 40 portraits and a few extras. 40 wonderful portraits with some interesting lighting, concepts and presentation. I am in Omaha today for the second day of the workshop. Looks like we may have a weather challenge. But,...
Adding Texture to a Portrait for Added Drama
We haven't done a lot of Photoshop tutorials on LE, but I plan on doing more. The amount of requests I have been getting tell me that there is a lot of interest. And we will be responding. This tutorial shows you a simple way to add a texture to an image. As with...
Interview with Kirk Tuck, Austin Photographer and Writer
This post we get a glimpse into the working world of a commercial photographer. Sometimes referred to as a generalist, a commercial photographer must be able to handle a lot of different idioms when working in a smaller market. Portraits, fashion, still life, food,...
Strobe and Ambient: Finding the Mix for Portraiture
I get asked a lot about how my methodology works. What am I thinking about when setting the light? How do I know what the settings should be. For this post I have pulled some shots from last years workshop tour. I will explain the exposure planning as we go along....
Creating a Dramatic Dance Shot with a Speedlight and the Sun
I thought I would break down another shot I did that involved pre-visualization, overcoming a challenge and using small lights for a big light look. The shot was for a dance Calendar for Briana. In the calendar images she presents 12 different types and styles of...
Creating an Ad From Layout: Shooting for Print
This post looks at creating an ad from a very simple layout. The client, Dimensional Software in Palo Alto, CA, needed to have an ad produced in nearly no time. An opening in a magazine came up last minute and a fax was sent to me with a sketch of the ad that we had...
Interview with Steve Korn, Seattle Photographer
This weekend's interview is with Steve Korn, a photographer and musician living in Seattle. I think you will find his work and his words interesting. Being a creative person in music and photography can bring a different perspective to things. Steve presents his work...
Thinking about Portraits: 6 Studies in Beauty
This post is about portrait lighting and some of the things I think about when shooting a portrait... whether in the studio or on location. The shot above was done in Mexico at the Workshop in April. Christine had been walking with me and when she turned to talk to me...
WordPress Themes for Photographers from Lighting Essentials
They are finally here. We have been so busy lately, but it is time to announce that the WordPress Themes for photographers are ready for purchase and installation. We are really pretty proud of these WP Themes. They are built with the incredible power of WordPress,...
Claire Curran Corbett: Dallas Beauty and Fashion Photographer
Hey everyone. It has been a terrifically busy couple of weeks. We are finalizing the book, getting the new DVD into editing form and shooting new work for clients all over the southwest. I will be sharing those images as they come out of embargo. Today we get a chance...
Eduardo Frances: San Salvador Beauty Photographer
Well a few changes are in order, more about them later. This post is a wonderful interview with my buddy Eduardo Frances. Eduardo specializes in people and glamour work in San Salvador, El Salvador. Take a look at his interview, then drop over to one of his sites and...
Mexico Workshop, April 2009
Mexico was an absolute blast this year. We had about 14 models who were there for the "Girls of Rocky Point" calendar shoot. Weather was amazing, and the resort made us feel right at home. I had a chance to shoot a couple of shots with the guys and decided to share a...
Small Strobes with Dramatic Results: Nashville Workshop Images
I have had some great workshops over the past few weeks. This weekend it is Mexico, then some recharge time. Shooting a lot of workshop images and images for the book in Mexico as we are working on the workshop itself. I have Megan, Jerry and Evan going down for some...
April 14: 24 Photos from the Lighting-Essentials Flickr Forum
I am so proud of the Lighting Essentials Flickr Forum. There are some truly amazing photographs here. Thanks to all that participate. Now if we could get the discussions going a bit... oh well. Remember to visit the photographer's Flickr page by clicking on each...
Using Ambient Light and Strobe for a Natural Looking Still Life
This is a cover shot that we did for the fragrance company. We wanted a larger space and a more natural looking scene for the cover so we sought out a warm environment. Our AD found a beautiful home that fit the bill. I knew the item that I would be shooting was...
Keeping It Organized When There are a Lot of Shots
Recently I had the pleasure of working with Coni of Glacier Design and her client, Alicia on a big catalog project. It was to be a couple of dozen shots. Most are what I would call a "drop and pop," or simple product shot. Well, of course nothing is as simple as one...