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Tangents

wedding photography – tips for detail shots of the wedding rings

July 31, 2011

wedding photography – tips for detail shots of the wedding rings

In photographing the detail images of the wedding rings, there are a few things to aim for:
- context within which to place the rings,
- a few images with different angles,
- great lighting which is easily achievable.

Then we also have to take care of the depth-of-field and the tricky focusing …

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off-camera flash for dramatic light

July 30, 2011

off-camera flash for dramatic light

During this recent photo session with a couple, Ashley and Michael, we roamed around the campus grounds of the university where they had met. In the one part of the grounds, there was this clump of trees, planted in a small rectangle with two seats. Since it was so dark there under the trees, they wondered who’d ever go and sit there. It just didn’t look appetizing. Then I though … hmmm, with some off-camera flash from behind, we can really make this place look like something.

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Hudson Valley Click – photo shoot

July 27, 2011

Hudson Valley Click – report-back on recent Shoot Out

I’ve mentioned the Hudson Valley Click before – a group of photographers in New York state who arranges monthly shoots for members, and any visitor who’d like to attend. They are all good opportunities to network and more importantly, to shoot some and play with the photography toys a bit. I just came back from the latest shootout – The Totally Kick Ass Wedding Shoot Out. It was pretty cool again to get to attend and photograph various models and come up with ideas.

This time I decided to whip out the Canon 5D mk II and lenses, and also the PocketWizard TT5 transceivers for Canon, and give it all a spin. The photo above is of one of the models, Jill, where I tried something with a slightly more Gothic feel to it as dusk fell.

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Ulorin Vex – Monaco foyer (photo session 4)

July 25, 2011

Ulorin Vex – Hotel Monaco foyer (photo session 4)

During the same afternoon that I had the opportunity to photograph Ulorin Vex, I took several other sequences of images of her in other costume. Here we worked in the foyer area of the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco. (If only all other hotels had such a diversity of immediately photogenic areas!)  With this image, I wanted a near-symmetrical image, with just Ulorin Vex’s posture slightly breaking the symmetry up. Just enough to make a stunning subject even more eye-catching.

A little more about the train-of-thought to getting to this image …

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off-camera flash – creating separation with back-lighting (model – Bethany)

July 22, 2011

off-camera flash – creating separation with back-lighting

Another image from the photo session with Bethany, when I was in San Francisco earlier this year. This interesting background is part of the lobby area of a San Francisco night-club. I knew the wooden panelling and subdued incandescent lighting would make an interesting background because of the repetitive pattern and glow. A slow shutter speed brought the background light in … and then I used flash to light her. I didn’t gel my flash – specifically so that the background light would go that warm. The pull-back shot will show the simplicity of the lighting …

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“using the available light” is not random

July 20, 2011

to use available light is not a random thing

Since I often use flash or additional light, there was some surprise in the (favorable) comments in the Facebook album when I mentioned this photo was shot without any flash. Not even fill-flash. Just the available light. But where I posed the bride, was a specific decision. It wasn’t just random.

Now, I often get the feeling that when someone boasts they only use available light, that it is meant to disguise that they don’t know how to use additional lighting. My thought here is that unless you find yourself in great light, or alternately position your subject so that the light works in your favor … you’re very likely to find that the available light just isn’t as flattering as it could be. Ultimately, this comes down to the point that using light – whether found (ambient) light, or light added by the photographer – is best as a conscious decision by the photographer.

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this image has been lifted from ..

July 19, 2011

In an attempt to deal with some persistent plagiarism and reposting of my work on other sites, I’ve [temporarily] disabled hot-linking of images from my site.

If this somehow affects your viewing of the images in the various articles, please let me know here via a comment, so that I may have a clearer idea of the implications of that.

Sorry if this has inadvertently affected anyone.

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technique – using lens flare for effect

July 18, 2011

technique – using lens flare for effect

While lens designers try to minimize lens flare, and we use lens hoods, we can often use lens flare for special effect. Shielding the front element of the lens from direct sun and other strong light sources helps giving a more contrasty image. But letting the lens flare take over in a controlled way, can really give impact. That golden, sun-drenched summery feel to a photograph enhances the mood.

During this recent photo session in Central Park, New York, with a couple, Alli and Scott, the lens flare was quite intentional. But as is usual, there’s a certain progression towards the final images …

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bounce flash for bridal portraits

July 14, 2011

bounce flash for portraits of a bride

Deep into the busy part of the wedding season, the articles posted recently will be more wedding-centric than usual. But, as I’ve mentioned before, many of the techniques translate to other fields of photography.

This photograph of a bride, Christine, received some very favorable comments when I posted it on Facebook. So I thought it might make a good topic here, as well as being a good recap of some essential bounce flash techniques. The portrait is quite straightforward in execution – the lighting was quite simple, but effective. It was also super fast to set up.

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Sydney & Paul – their wedding day – fusion clip

July 12, 2011

Sydney & Paul – their wedding day – photo & video fusion clip

This idea of blending photographs and video snippets from a wedding, into a fusion clip, still fascinates me. In a 5 to 6 minute clip you’re able to give a nicely condensed view of the wedding day. Combining the photos and video in a sensible way that visually makes sense, takes time however.  And Jessica and I are still on the learning curve. (Is it even possible to really get to to the top of things these days with the rapidly accelerated pace of digital photography?) Anyway, I love the results so far!

So here it is – the latest fusion clip of a wedding I photographed,
with Jessica shooting & editing the video.
The music track is a royalty-free track provided via Triple Scoop Music.

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