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December 28, 2011
Alli & Scott – their wedding day – fusion clip
The latest Fusion clip where we blend video and stills to give a short form overview of the wedding day, is of Alli and Scott’s wedding. They were also the couple in the recent article on photographing the bride & groom’s portraits with video light.
The Fusion clip was edited in iMovie, with the soundtrack from Triple Scoop Music.
More interesting is the thought-process that went into choosing the camera settings for the Canon 5D mk II that the video clips were shot with …
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December 27, 2011
observing & using the available light, and maybe adding a little bit of flash (model – Alex)
When working with available light or flash or video light or any kind of additional light, the most important aspect of the light is the direction of the light. We need to take a moment and observe the light. Where do the light sources come from? What is the quality of the light?
This motif of looking at the available light has been a recurring theme here with various articles on the topic. Using this simple portrait of Alex, our model with a recent individual workshop, let’s look at a sequence of photos showing some of the thought process ..
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December 25, 2011
After Dark Photography Education - Dallas, TX – Feb 27-29, 2012
I’ve raved here about the After Dark photography conventions before, as being the best photography convention / learning experience that I’ve attended. So it is with great pleasure that I can announce that I will again be presenting at the next After Dark event. It will take place in Dallas, TX during Feb 27 -29, 2012
This discount code: NVNP will save you $72 when you register
signing up and more details on the After Dark Education site
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December 22, 2011
off-camera flash photography tip – find your background, then your settings
With flash photography on location, we nearly always start off by figuring out what we want to do in relation to our available light. We might just need fill-flash, or or flash might need to do the “heavy lifting” and expose correctly for our subject in relation to the available light.
When we have our subject in (relative) shade, and need to figure out our flash exposure, we also need to decide exactly what our background is. It usually works best to be specific about our background … and how we position ourselves and our subject in relation to that.
So let’s run through that thought-process, using the image at the top. Alex was our delightful model today during an individual workshop in Manhattan.
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December 21, 2011
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December 20, 2011
photo seminar: Photography Tri-Age – January 11, 2012
Alongside my friends, Natalie Licini and Jennifer Rozenbaum, I’ll be co-presenting a photo shoot-out / seminar on January 11, 2012. The program is a varied one, with three groups alternating between us, the three presenters, over the course of the day. The subjects include boudoir photography and wedding photography, incl posing and lighting.
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December 19, 2011
Someone recently asked me which are the photographers I have learnt the most from. I immediately took that to be the photographers whose work I studied in books and magazines over the years. Books have always had a special place in my heart – even more so the beautifully printed Art Photography books.
This beautiful volume, featuring photographs of Monica Bellucci (Amazon), arrived on my doorstep the other day. This book has images by a diverse number of photographers who had the opportunity to photograph this stunning Italian actress / model. Interesting to note how varied their approach was. Just paging through it after taking it out of the Amazon box, was an experience. The printing in this large book is gorgeous, and it is already one of my most favorite photography books.
Coupled with my latest purchase, the book of Vivian Maiers’ photography (Amazon), this triggered me to share the list of some of the best photography books on my shelf.
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December 18, 2011
Vivian Maier exhibition in New York
One of the most interesting stories unfolding in photography in recent years, was the accidental discovery of an incredible body of work by an unknown photographer, Vivian Maier. Incredible in terms of quality and the sheer volume of photographs. If you’re not familiar with the backstory - in 2007, John Maloof, a real estate agent in Chicago, who was working on a project documenting the one neighborhood in Chicago, discovered and bought a vast collection of negatives and prints of a completely unknown photographer, Vivian Maier.
What makes this story so interesting, is that Vivian Maier had an eye for street photography on par with the great names in photography. Then there is the fortunate twist to the story, in that the images and negatives landed up in the hands of someone like John Maloof who realized what a treasure he had stumbled upon and took care of this legacy with the attention it needed.
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December 15, 2011
wedding photography – tips on posing – asymmetry
When working with a bride and groom for their portraits, there are a few ideas that I know will work. You have to have somewhere to start. Some fail-safe ideas for poses that allow you to at least get the essential images. From there on, I try to improvise a little, depending on the personalities of the couple, and also the place where we find ourselves, and the light. So opportunity does sway the portrait session a fair amount.
I prefer working this way, rather than applying a more mechanical “flow posing” technique. I feel that allowing opportunity and the couple themselves to guide the photo session to an extent – is a more natural way of working towards definitive portraits of the couple.
This does mean that you need to *look* at the couple, and how they appear within the camera’s frame … and then gently adjust their pose if necessary. At this point then, it becomes more about photographic composition. Now we need to look at balance and symmetry … and asymmetry.
One key tip that I rely on, is that while a symmetrical pose can be striking … the easiest way to break it up and get more variety, is to change the position of hands and feet. One hand lower than the other. A different level. The same for how you position feet – one foot on a different level than the other. Up / Down. Front / Back.
Here’s a sequence to show the thought-process …
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December 12, 2011
back-lighting with flash for dramatic silhouetted wedding portraits
One of the easiest ways to create dramatic light for a silhouette when photographing the wedding portraits, is to add a flash behind the couple. The beauty of this is that there is a fair amount of leeway as to what would work. We need not be all that exact, but there are some a few things we should check …
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