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Advantages of mirrorless cameras – Eye-focus & Composition

June 14, 2020 Neil vN 5 Comments

Advantages of mirrorless cameras - Eye-focus & Composition

The more I work with mirrorless cameras, and get familiar with the difference between using a DLSR and using a mirrorless camera, the more I appreciate the advantages of a mirrorless camera. And I feel like I'm struggling less with the quirks of the system. In a previous article I listed the main advantages of Mirrrorless cameras over DSLRs, but there is another advantage that I have found really valuable - how intuitive eye-focus can be in fluidly changing your image Composition. Before the magic of eye-focus, when  Read more inside...

Photography composition: Tilted horizons in photographs

November 27, 2017 Neil vN 8 Comments

Photography composition: Tilted horizons in photographs

A disconcerting angle perhaps with this photograph's composition - still, there is a dynamic balance of sorts. Because Anelisa is 'upright' / vertical in the photo, it matches our sense that vertical and horizontal lines should be just that. Still, everything else is at a dizzying angle. While the horizon is at a slant, I placed her vertically in the composition, which hopefully creates a balance when we look at the photo. I am not particularly fond of tilted horizons or tilted photos (also known as the "Dutch angle" or  Read more inside...

Portraits with vintage lenses

November 9, 2017 Neil vN 8 Comments

Portraits with vintage lenses

That crazy bokeh there is via the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95  (B&H / Amazon), taken at widest aperture, giving this wafer-thin depth of field. Even though this is a new lens, I would classify it as a classic or vintage lens. It is manual focus, and gives that delicious look to images exactly because of that DoF and bokeh. In terms of the composition, I like how the blue lights in the foreground is echoed by the same lights in the background. How this photo session with Anastasiya came about ... My friend, Parker J  Read more inside...

Photographing wide-angle portraits

September 5, 2016 Neil vN 9 Comments

Photographing wide-angle portraits

In photographing wide-angle portraits, we have to make the decision whether we want to embrace the wide-angle distortion (such as Bill Brandt famously did), or have a more natural approach where the wide-angle is used to show more of the environment and to help with a dynamic composition. With this photo of Anastasiya, I wanted to include these massive billboards 5th Avenue. That meant I had to use a wide focal length. In this example, I had my 24-7mm zoom racked to 24mm. The idea here is that we need to be purposeful. Better to shoot in a  Read more inside...

Lighting and Design: (de)-constructing a photograph

December 8, 2014 Neil vN 9 Comments

lighting and design in photography: (de)-constructing an image

Lighting and Design in photography: (de)-constructing an image

For me, Design in photography relates to the way an image is constructed at the time of shooting. Composition and content. Lighting. Every element which forms part of a successful and eye-catching photograph. Some of the elements in the photograph are pre-visualized, some of it a kind of serendipity that is then expanded on at the time. Some of it might only be understood afterwards in looking at the photograph. My latest book, Lighting and Design for Portrait Photography, looks at exactly that thought-process  Read more inside...

Using tele-converters: Extra lens compression for tighter portraits

August 12, 2014 Neil vN 31 Comments

Using tele-converters: Extra lens compression for tighter portraits

One of the techniques to have your subject really stand out from the background, is to use the longest focal length on your 70-200mm telephoto zoom. One of the first things I do, is to zoom to maximum focal length, and then step backwards to find the composition … and then only zoom wider if necessary.  Doing it this way, forces you to use the longest focal length. This compression focuses attention on your subject by creating separation from the background. To extend the range of my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I always  Read more inside...

Photographic composition – A few guidelines, (but no rules!)

August 1, 2014 Neil vN 9 Comments

Photographic composition - A few guidelines (but no rules!)

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” - Ansel Adams For me, if a photograph is intended for an audience, and not just my own records and memories - then its success hinges around impact. Does the photograph make you stop for a few seconds at least to take it in? Then you're at least in part successful already with the portrait. With portraits so many elements kick in to make a photograph resonate with us: The moment. The expression. Gesture. Movement. Pose and position.  Read more inside...

Available light portraits – Composition, light and style

February 14, 2014 Neil vN 14 Comments

Available light portraits - Composition and light

Over time I noticed that my style in photographing portraits have gravitated to a specific look where everything is quite simplified - the lighting, the background and the framing of the shot. Whether I use the available light, or video light, or off-camera flash, or even on-camera bounce flash, there's a certain uncomplicated look. I'd like to think of it as elegant unfussy simplicity. Analyzing this, it is easy to see there's a specific method here. It's a method which helps especially when under pressure. Here, even allowing  Read more inside...

Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens

January 26, 2014 Neil vN 44 Comments

boudoir photography and the 50mm lens

Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens

With shooting space often times so tight for boudoir photo sessions, there is the temptation to use a 50mm lens for tighter headshots on a full-frame D-SLR. Instead of stepping back a bit and using an 85mm lens or longer, a bit of visual laziness comes into play, and we rely on the 50mm lens too much. It really is too short a focal length for a tight portrait. I think many photographers are even too in love with their 50mm lenses, and use it without thought of how this would distort someone's face when used too close to their subjects. I  Read more inside...

Photography composition – Get down lower for a better perspective

November 12, 2013 Neil vN 23 Comments

Photography composition - Getting down lower for a better perspective

It's a bit of a cliche perhaps, seeing a photographer on the ground, laying on his side, or sprawled on the ground. What might look like a strange form of attention-seeking, is actually a very solid way of improving your composition with full-length portraits. The lazy temptation is to just stand there, camera to the eye, and take the photograph. What happens then (usually), is that the photographer is shooting down on the subject. The best advice generally, is to step back for full-length compositions. When you  Read more inside...

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