ARCHIVED ARTICLES
Classic Setup for Photographing Jewelry
Classic, for me anyway, method that I shoot jewelry. Most of the time my clients want clean, easy to see pieces that show off the finish or the stones. I find that large soft light with lots of fill works to deliver the smooth highlights and well lit jewels. You can...
Single Umbrella Headshot and White Background.
Asked to shoot 40 non-models at an upscale salon was quite a challenge. I needed a light that would serve many different faces and body types. I would literally have only a few minutes with each and they would be nervous so working the light in many different ways was...
Two Light Workshop One, Part Three
This shot was something Briana wanted to do. We have tried to shoot the fedora many times and never gotten around to it. This time we wanted to make a go of it. She wore faded, ripped jeans, a black top, black hat and black gloves. With the red lips it was really...
Getting A White Background with Speedlights
Using your small camera flash for professional results is entirely possible and a fantastic option for those who travel a lot or want quick setup/teardown times. Today's modern flash units give out a lot of power and they are easily adapted to working with a...
Two Light Workshop One, Part Two
The Two Light Workshop rolls on with this cowboy hat look on "Miss Briana." We shot some with a western shirt and some with bare shoulders... both are represented here. One of the things I wanted to do was to create a bright light on her face and a quick dropoff. I...
Two Light Workshop One, Part One
This is a series of two light shots we did using hats as the theme, and a clean, simple studio background as the setting. For this set of shots we only used one umbrella and one beauty dish. There will be instructions on how to do this with your equipment as well. I...
Creating a Shiny Look
The thing about the corset was the glossy, shiny look. I wanted that shine to be smooth and liquid, a wide and smooth highlight that would set off the face of the model and the textures of the rest of the image. I wanted a dramatic light on the face however, so using...
Single Small Strobe Portrait Directly Into the Sun
This shot of Megan was done for my portrait book. Megan is a Doctor and an accomplished photographer. I wanted a portrait that would be different than some sort of modeling or professional headshot. This location is near the studio and off the beaten path. It is along...
Creating a Mood with Flash and Photoshop
Sometimes you find a location or a situation that you just know that you can do more with by creating the world the way you want it. In this case, the alley was ok, but it didn't get me excited. I saw the shot in my mind with the post process in place. In other words,...
Announcing the Portland, Maine Workshop
I am very excited to announce that we are doing a workshop in Portland, Maine on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. It will be a full day workshop with models, lunch and lots and lots of lighting and shooting. There will be a pre-workshop meetup on Tuesday, June 17th. I am...
A Quick Look at Balancing Flash at Sunset, Quickly
This shot presented itself after a harrowing drive through the Santa Barbra area to get to the beach before the sun went down. (I am not advocating driving like a madman, but... I'm just sayin... we had no time.) When we arrived, the sun had already dipped and we had...
Audio Interview with Ken Epstein
Here is a discussion with Ken Epstein on web sites, Web 2.0 sites, and how he keeps really busy at his Phoenix Studio. You can visit Ken's website here. We haven't launched his new site yet, but you can see what he does here. Ken is a busy commercial shooter in a...
Versatile Softlight for Portraits
Sometimes you need a simple, easy and quick way to create soft, pretty light for portraits - especially if there is a large group of portraits that are going to be presented in a similar fashion. Whether staff or employee photos, pageant and events, or simply a family...
Beating the Sun with a Small Flash in a Miami, Arizona Alley
When I saw the alley I knew I had to make a shot there. The sun was coming straight down the little alley way and creating this nice little reflection in the water. The clouds were amazing and very dramatic. I began by finding the shot with Hayley. I moved her from...
Serendipitous Light
I have spent a lot of time talking about small strobes lately. It seems that small strobe mania has swept the land. And that is fine. It is nice to see photographers of all levels start to adopt sound lighting priniciples. But sometimes we forget that it is simply an...
Fill Flash on the Beach with Action
A few weeks ago we looked at doing some fill flash at dusk. We covered some good techniques for blending the light so that it is subtle and looks more controlled than a big bright flash feeling. In this tutorial we are looking at working with a very bright sun. It is...
Fill Flash: Two Examples
Fill flash is a wonderful tool for opening up shadows and creating some light where the situations call for it. In using fill flash we many times refer to 'Ratios.' The ratio refers to the amount of light that we add to the ambient. If you think of them as f-stops it...
Simple Setups For Dramatic Lighting
Making dramatic headshots isn't hard if you know some simple tricks & have a light... or 2. This video tutorial starts with a simple one umbrella and fill card headshot. I consider it a classic glamour look with flat light and dramatic fall off on the sides. We...
January 11, Raymond Prax Shoot
A tunnel, a model, 4 lights and a creative photographer... That's a great combination. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnkD1Co3CtI] Ray and Megan often shoot together. Megan is a wonderful photographer as well. They conspired to creates something fun in a...
Shooting At Sunset on the Beach with Two Strobes
The sun was very low on the horizon when Briana put on the black swimsuit. I had been eyeing this tower for a while as we shot on the beach. At this point I knew it would be dark enough to be interesting. The shot is a normal exposure for the sky and background....
Umbrella Basics
Basic Umbrellas Part One Umbrellas are a staple of the lighting arsenal. You can certainly see them in use more and more as they regain some respect after the decades of SoftBox as king. I love umbrellas and have quite an assortment of them. Umbrellas come in...
A Beauty Dish and Cheyenne
A beauty dish is one of the most fun, and unique light modifiers for people shooters. It's very 'poppy' light, combined with a focused throw of light makes it ideal when you want to create a definite direction to the lighting. Most beauty dishes are metal parabolic...
Playin’ in the Studio When it is 115 Degrees Outside.
I wanted to do some playing around with hot lights and chose my Lowell Omni and a Home Depot work light. I kept them without modification (no umbrellas or softboxes.) Hard light is tricky, but it can really keep you on your toes when you are looking at the light and...
One Light, and a dash of Photoshop
This is a fun little project. I shot Briana in the studio and recorded most of it on Video. I took the video, did very little editing and added a soundtrack of me explaining what I was doing. You see all of her posing as well as hearing me giving directions along with...
Glamour in the Studio with Briana
This set of shots was done to show how to use some of the tools simply and easily when in a studio setting. I used very simple tools, a softbox and some reflectors and a hot light with cookies and fill cards. The shoot was a lot of fun and you can see how many ways...
Minimalist Shooting
Sometimes we get too caught up in having the latest and greatest and forget that the at the core a lens and a camera are what we use to create images. I refer to it as minimalist shooting, and I do it occasionally to bring me closer to the base... find my center, so...
Simple, Yet Dramatic Light for Headshots and Portraits
This is what I refer to as my "Classic Glamour" light. Single light, with large umbrella, shiny fill card and two large fill cards close in on both sides. I can control the fill by moving the shiny card up and down. In this shot it is right out of frame. I keep the...
Single Light Fashion
This is a single light approach with a large softbox. I chose the large box because of the incredible texture of the dress. I wanted a nearly liquid look to the fabric and the large surface of the box would reflect nicely on it. The box spilled too much light on the...
A Selection of Headshots with Different Styles
I thought it would be good to discuss a few images from the past. You can tell by the hair and makeup that these are not recent images, but I thought I would share a few interesting lighting schemes that are easy and fun to deploy. The goal for the lighting for me is...
One Strobe, a Diffuser and a Touch of Natural Light
These shots were taken on location in a dance studio. There was a lot of light bouncing around in there, but not enough for pretty headshots. I set up the shower curtain hanging from a boom. Since the client was my wife, it was fine to use these materials without a...