bounce flash examples – wedding receptions
bounce flash examples - wedding receptions
Over the course of the past year or so, I've made a steady attempt to move this blog away from being wedding-heavy, and take the material more towards general photography, and photographing people. However, since the most of my work is as done as a wedding photographer in New Jersey, I still get a large number of questions which relate to wedding photography - and specifically, photographing the reception. So I thought I would expand a little on the techniques I use in photographing wedding receptions. A few years back, I would Read more inside...When (not) to use rear-curtain flash sync
Rear curtain flash sync - potential problems
With flash photography, suggestions are often given that you should use rear-curtain sync. Most often for incorrect reasons. So here is when NOT to use rear-curtain sync flash ... whenever you don't need it. Sounds confusing? Well, let me explain ...Rear-curtain vs first-curtain sync
Your camera's shutter consists of two curtains that open, and allows the light to hit the sensor or film. This is true for all focal plane shutter film cameras, (as opposed to those with leaf shutters), and true for all digital cameras Read more inside...Bounce flash technique – mimicking soft window light
Bounce flash photography technique - mimicking window light
The classic shot - a beautiful bride lit by soft window light. That's a yes on the beautiful bride - but it's a solid no on the window light. What you see there is on-camera flash. (Which most likely won't be a surprise to regular readers of the Tangents blog.) This image is from a wedding this past weekend, and it makes a great example of how light, choice of lens, composition, angle and technique come together to make an image work. With a bit of post-processing added finally for that vintage Read more inside...lighting the wedding formals (part 3)
lighting the wedding formals
In the first of two postings on how I light the wedding formals, I showed how I use a single flashgun when photographing smaller formal groups indoors. The equipment is relatively simple then - a single flashgun (Q-flash) and a large 60" umbrella to give me good lighting. The flashgun that I use for these, is a Q-flash. Specifically the older T2 model since I only use them in manual mode here. When I have a larger group I use two of these flashguns - each with an umbrella. But more about that in a follow-up article coming up soon. What I wanted to Read more inside...the black foamie thing – on-camera flash modifier
on-camera flash modifier - the black foamie thing
Also make sure you check out this video clip where I demonstrate how I use the black foamie thing to flag the light from my on-camera flash. In essence, the (in)famous Black Foamie Thing is just a simple little device that I use to shield my speedlight's output from directly hitting my subject when I bounce my flash forward. It has another benefit in that since I usually fasten to the 'underside' of the flash-head, it blocks light from hitting people in the face that are standing behind me or next to me. It really does help with Read more inside...Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
Shooting candid portrait at events, with bounce flash
My favorite image from a Bar Mitzvah party that I photographed. It is one from a series of candid (or semi-candid) portraits of various guests and their kids at the party. Aside from the obvious photographs that need to be taken during these kinds of events, I also try and grab more candid images, and for these a telephoto zoom (70-200mm f2.8) works really well. By going wide open on this lens, you can really isolate your subject .. and also draw in more of the available light. In this case the background is a mixture of Read more inside...When aperture does NOT control flash exposure
When aperture doesn't control the flash exposure
The axioms regarding flash photography that get thrown around most often, are: ambient exposure is controlled by shutter speed, flash exposure is controlled by aperture. While these are true, there's also an over-simplification happening here. Just rallying those two statements in a perfunctory manner, we actually lose understanding of how flash and ambient exposures actually inter-relate. The problem with the first statement is that it disregards that aperture and ISO both control ambient exposure as Read more inside...photography tip: using a zoom lens
photography tip: using a zoom lens
It was a busy weekend again, with a wedding and a portrait session on Sunday. From the photo session on Sunday, here's my favorite image of the day. I just love the way the background appears in this photograph. The bokeh of this lens is just wonderful. camera settings: 1/250th @ f4 @ 400 ISO The camera used was the Nikon D3, (B&H), and the lens was the 70-200mm f2.8 VR , (B&H). A telephoto zoom like this, or the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS, (B&H), is essential for this kind of portrait work. That image is typical of the Read more inside...here’s why I love off-camera lighting ..
why I love off-camera flash
There are a few reasons why I love off-camera lighting, and I want to show some images from a recent photo session with one of my couples, Jill & Mike, as an example. The main reason for me, is that you can have perfect lighting on your subject's face with much more freedom than if you just relied on the available light. I am usually quite particular about the backgrounds to my photos, where it is in my control. The backgrounds need to be complementary, or add something to the image. I have a preference for an out-of-focus background. The defocused Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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