using the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller
using the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller
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...Keegan – photo session w/ PocketWizard MiniTT1 & FlexTT5 & AC3
photo session w/ PocketWizard MiniTT1 & FlexTT5 & AC3 ZoneController
My friend Carol Beuchat, who works as a professional dog photographer, is back in New York for this year's Westminster Dog Show. Some of you may remember the portrait we did last year of Chanel, a champion whippet. Carol asked me to help her again with portraits of Keegan, an Irish Water Spaniel, who will be competing at the Westminster Dog Show. Keegan's owners wanted some photographs with New York as a backdrop. I immediately thought of doing this on the Jersey side, with a grand view of Manhattan Read more inside...off-camera flash photography: distance between softbox and subject
off-camera flash photography: distance between softbox and subject
There are all kinds of formulas for how to figure out the optimal distance between the softbox and the subject. One of the most common suggestions is to use the diagonal of the softbox. While I believe this might something you can play around with in the studio, I do think it is an overly technical way to approach it when shooting on-location. Working on-location am usually concerned with: - getting my composition, - direction of the light from the softbox (in relation to my subject's positioning), - my shooting Read more inside...review: Custom Brackets Digital Pro-M rotating bracket kit
review: Custom Brackets Digital Pro-M rotating bracket kit
The makers of the Custom Brackets flash brackets, recently sent me a copy of their latest and best rotating flash bracket, the Pro-M rotating flash bracket (affiliate), for review. Of the various makes of flash brackets I had tried out when I first started doing wedding photography full-time, the Custom Brackets was the one I settled on out of all of them. As far as I was concerned theirs was the flagship of the flash brackets. So I was curious to see what the updated model could offer ...the reason Read more inside...
Flash photography during the wedding ceremony in church
Using flash during the wedding ceremony in church
Whether or not to use flash during a wedding ceremony in a church, is a tricky decision to make. You have to weigh the solemnity of the occasion, with the contractual and artistic requirements to create awesomely awesome images. When to use flash during the church ceremony? - when there aren't specific church rules against using flash, and - the light levels are too low to give correct exposure for the shutter speed, aperture and ISO combination we need. The decision to use flash, and how to use flash, strongly depends on Read more inside...using a small softbox for lighting an intimate photo session
using a small softbox for lighting an intimate / boudoir photo session
With intimate photo sessions, I use a number ways of lighting my subject. This helps to bring some variety to the images. It helps mixing things up a bit by not using just one specific way to light the session. While I sometimes use a softbox, the medium sized softboxes (or the 24" x 24" softboxes) are just a little too big to swing around in a small room. With a recent on-location photo session in New York, I used the Lastolite 8.6" Ezybox (B&H) a few times. I took it along on that photo session because it Read more inside...review: Lumodi beauty dish for speedlights
review: Lumodi beauty dish for speedlights
Light from a Beauty Dish has a distinctive look - an interesting combination of soft light with a pronounced fall-off to the edges. With a softbox there is a lot of scattering of the light, making it exactly that soft light source that it is named after. A softbox is therefore quite forgiving of how you position the light in relation to your subject. The beauty dish in comparison, used as a single light source, will give light that can be both dramatic and pleasing. (Not nearly as hard as video light or direct unmodified Read more inside...Flash ‘on top of’ ambient light – Adding bounce flash to ambient light
Adding bounce flash to ambient light
Using images from a past workshop, I want to explain a simple concept with flash photography on location. In workshops and seminars I quite often describe the flash as 'riding on top of' the available light exposure. It's just another way of describing the usual technique of under-exposing the ambient light somewhat, and then using flash to give correct exposure. We can thereby control the final look of the image by controlling the direction of light from our flash. By using flash like this, we can use the flash to 'clean up' the light in the Read more inside...a kid’s studio portrait
children's studio portrait - lighting setup and post-processing
The lighting setup was very simple. Mostly because there wasn't much space in the area where I set up my home-studio in my dining room area. But also, because a complicated lighting setup wasn't necessary. Just two lights. One light on my subject - this adorable little girl; the other light on my background. Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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