review: Westcott 7′ Parabolic Umbrella
review: Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella
Continuing the photo session with Ulorin Vex in the studio, I decided to swap out the big Profoto 4x3 softbox, for an even larger (but very affordable) light modifier - the Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella - white (B&H / Amazon). Two things that immediately struck me about the Westcot Parabolic Umbrella ... it's sheer size when folder open. It is 7 feet if measured across the span of the umbrella's arc. And when it is folded up, it is surprisingly compact and light-weight. It collapses to a 43.6" size, and fits snugly Read more inside...High-key studio lighting (part 2)
High-key studio lighting for portraits (part 2)
Continuing the photo session with Ulorin Vex, doing high-key studio portraits in the studio, she changed into a different costume. I wanted a more interesting edge definition than just the light spilling back from the background, so I added two gridded softboxes to each side ... Read more inside...Maximum flash sync speed, and the Nikon SB-900 / SB-910 speedlight
Maximum flash sync speed, and the Nikon SB-900 / SB-910 speedlight
Because of the way the focal plane shutter works in DSLRs, shutter speed doesn't affect our flash exposure ... while we don't go over maximum flash sync speed. When we go into high-speed flash sync, our flash output drops. (The linked article there explains it thoroughly.) However, when we work with ambient light (and intend to add flash to our subject), then a change in shutter speed has an indirect effect on our flash exposure. A change in shutter speed will mean a change in aperture, and this is what affects our Read more inside...High-key studio lighting for portraits
High-key studio lighting for portraits
One of the models that replied to my casting call for a model at my workshops in San Francisco in 2011, happened to be Ulorin Vex. I immediately recognized her, since I've seen photos of her in various portfolios. I was both surprised and very happy, since I regarded her as a bit of a superstar. I scheduled a photo session with her for the day after the two workshops in SF, and the images from those sessions appeared a few times on Tangents, and I'd consider them among the best work I had ever done. It helps to have an inspiring model! Ulorin Read more inside...First impressions: Nikon D800
First impressions of the Nikon D800
I've been using the Nikon D4 for a while now, and love it. For me, the Nikon D4 offers more than enough resolution for wedding photography. Of course, wedding photography is a niche. There are other genres and types of photography where large files are a benefit. Landscape photographers and commercial photographers have a need for large digital files for maximum detail. And with that Nikon must have seen a gap, and made the surprising jump from the 12 megapixel D700, to the incredibly high (for now at least) 36 megapixels of the Nikon Read more inside...Photography with video light and daylight
Photography with video light and daylight
With the recent lighting workshop in New York, we again played with the use of video light ... and then took it out to the street. The blue-ish tones of the shady side of the building here, contrasted beautifully with the warm glow of the video light. As with the article, gelling your flash to get a blue background, this is something that can work very well when we use light sources with different color balance, thereby attaining those complementary colors. The rapid fall-off in light also helped give the photograph a dramatic Read more inside...Off-camera flash: Short lighting vs. Broad lighting
Off-camera flash photography: Short lighting vs. Broad lighting
"Short Lighting" is when the side of the face turned away from the camera, is better lit than the side of the face closest to the camera. (top image) "Broad Lighting" is when the side of the face closest to the camera, is better lit. (second image) This has as much to do with the position of the light, as with how your subject is posed into the light. This is true for studio photography and off-camera flash on location, and for when you photograph a subject with just the available light. As shown in a previous Read more inside...review: Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G lens
review: Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G lens
At the same time that I photographed Anelisa for the review of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8 AF-S lens, I had the brand-new Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G lens (B&H / Amazon) on my other camera body. For every place that I photographed Anelisa with the 28mm f/1.8 lens, I also shot similar images with the 85mm f/1.8 lens. In a way, these two lenses complement each other, if you like working with a dual prime lens setup. A nice wide-angle view with the one lens, while the 85mm is a sweet portrait lens. Wanting to show off the shallow depth-of-field, I Read more inside...review: Nikon AF-S 28mm f/1.8G lens
review: Nikon AF-S 28mm f/1.8G lens
To test out the Nikon AF-S 28mm f/1.8G (B&H / Amazon), I met up with Anelisa in Brooklyn to try my hand at some environmental portraiture. With such a wide field-of-view, you inevitably have to include the background. I wanted to show the effect of the shallow depth-of-field of this lens, so I shot at f/1.8 or f/2.0 throughout. When you use a fast (i.e., wide aperture) wide-angle lens, and have sufficient distance between your subject and the background, that shallow depth of field can be used to great effect. It can be tricky Read more inside...- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- …
- 28
- Next Page »