There are advantages to using a video light for photography, compared to using flash with a softbox or umbrella. The spread of light with a video light tend to be more contained, and hence more dramatic. However, if you use a small softbox with a speedlight, especially if it has a grid, you can get a similar tight spread of light.
With this session we had our model, Madison, laying down on this glass floor of the old Union Station. It is lit from underneath, creating these repetitive pools of light. Just beautiful. Read more inside...
Reflector for portrait & headshot photography: Eyelighter
I've mentioned before how much I like using the Westcott Eyelighter for headshot photography. The first time I encountered the Eye-lighter (B&H / Amazon), was at the After Dark Edu photography conventions, and I was fascinated by this lighting device and the results it produced.
There is a distinctive curved high-light that it gives to the bottom part of your subject's eyes. How much of a reflection, will depend on how you rotate and position the Eyelighter.
Read more inside...
This photograph was taken at one of the stations at the After Dark workshops. Two strip lights on either side, freezing this acrobatic performer doing jumps on his board. Pretty wild, I think.
"Pretty wild" would also sum up the general experience of attending the After Dark workshops. This is where After Dark differs from other workshops and conventions, in my opinion. Just a simple description of the workshop as being 3 days of a series of seminars and demonstrations, doesn't quite encompass it ... Read more inside...
Overpowering the sun with Off-Camera Flash - What are my settings?
Teaching a class on using off-camera flash at a photography convention, I took a group of attendees outside on the street with two models. Then I stepped them through the thought-process in how to get to your basic, fail-safe, works-everytime settings for off-camera flash. We specifically looked here at camera and flash settings to match / over-power the sun.
Regular visitors to the Tangents blog and those who have read my books on flash photography, should know the algorithm off by heart. There's a specific Read more inside...
Bounce flash comparison: With & without the black foamie thing
One of the presentations that I gave at the After Dark event in St Louis, was (perhaps inevitably by now), about bounce flash photography. Part of this was a sequence explaining how the direction that you bounce your flash into, will define the light pattern on your subject. The black foamie thing helps in directing the light from your flash, especially if you want short lighting on your subject.
And here is the comparison - with the black foamie thing, and without. Without flagging the flash, there is direct Read more inside...
initial impression: Fuji X100 - not quite the review yet
The Fuji X100 (affiliate) must be one of the most eagerly awaited cameras in recent times. The camera just looks beautiful. Retro-cool. With initial reports being mostly very favorable, I was quite keen to get my hands on one of these. The photograph above of Alyssa, (one of our models), was lit by LED video light. Now, when using video lights for photography, you're dealing with wide apertures and high ISOs. An immediate challenge for a camera. And the Fuji X100 excelled. The image above was from the in-camera JPG, Read more inside...
This portrait of musician, Josh Adams, was a fairly quick set-up. I deliberately chose an area in a large hotel conference room to shoot this. A bit of a challenge to see how quickly I could get a simple but dramatic portrait out of a 'nothing' scenario. Here's the pull-back shot that will show you the area, as well as the placement of the lights:
The light came from three speedlights, all controlled with the PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceivers. They in turn were controlled via an on-camera FlexTT5 (for Nikon), with an AC3 Zone Read more inside...
