Tangents

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using multiple speedlights with high-speed flash sync

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using multiple speedlights with high-speed flash sync

This photo of Angelique, our model, was taken at 1/8000 @ f2 @ 100 ISO. Yes, an eight-thousand-th of a second.  The accompanying wide aperture (with an ultra-wide angle lens), gives a unique look to the image. The shallow depth-of-field and high shutter speed are mutually dependent effects in shooting in bright light. Working with a fast shutter speed, brought us into high-speed flash sync (HSS) territory. Do keep in mind that this shoot was more of a technical exercise to work through the settings and see how the flash behaves  Read more inside...

best lenses for wedding photography

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wedding photography - best lenses

With this recent review of the Nikon 24mm f1.4 the question came up about which lenses I use when photographing a wedding, and how I use them. How do you juggle the various lenses you have for weddings and decide which ones to bring to a wedding and when to use them? Do you carry them all and just use them when you feel, or do only take specific lenses knowing what the wedding/venue will be like and know in advance that you will certain lenses at various times during the day? Choosing which lens to use while photographing a wedding, is obviously an  Read more inside...

Sandisk CF cards might be fire-resistant, but the Canon 7D not

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Petra Hall, a pretty awesome wedding photographer in Sweden, first posted this incredible story on the Digital Wedding Forum, and she kindly gave me permission to re-post it here. the Canon 7D might be rugged, but it isn't entirely fire-proof ... Petra's fiance, Erkki, recently bought a new (used) car, just before a planned vacation. They had intended on cruising in the MG convertible and just enjoy the sports car in the summer. They were going to just drive around and take some photographs of the scenery. The weekend before their vacation started, Erkki was on his way home from work when  Read more inside...

sequence: setting up the lighting at a photo shoot

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analysis of the lighting setup during a photo shoot

The photo above of Jessica, my assistant, shows the final lighting setup during a recent commercial shoot.  I had to photograph various people at a medical technology imaging company for use on their website and promotional material.  I had to show some of the workplace, but put the accent on the person I am photographing. Of course, it is much easier to work with my assistant, and do test shots and changes in the setup beforehand.  Then we can change the lights and anything else we need to, until we're happy with the results.  Read more inside...

available light portrait (model – Anelisa)

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photographing people - available light portrait

While unloading lighting gear from the van to shoot a last few images for a certain section for my next book, I turned around and noticed the way the light fell on Anelisa.  Beautiful portrait light.  The (cropped) pull-back shot will show why ..  Read more inside...

Should you use a filter on your lens?

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Should you use a filter on your lenses?

It's a constant debate whether it is a good idea to use a UV / skylight filter on your lens for protection.  There are viable arguments for either choice. During this recent shoot with Jeannie Dee, I immediately noticed that with these heavily backlit portraits, I was getting an unusual amount of flare … and removing the filter on front of the lens immediately helped. Noticeably so! Shooting towards a bright light source or a bright background, is one time where NOT using a filter makes absolute sense. You risk getting lens flare, no matter  Read more inside...

review: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II

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review: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II

I've been very happy with the older 70-200mm f2.8 VR telephoto zoom.  Even even though the edges are softer than the center, it never bothered me.  With weddings, I am mostly only interested in the center portions of the image being super-crisp.  Similarly, the vignetting didn't bother me.  I usually add more vignetting in post-processing anyway. Still, I ordered the new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II (affiliate). My first impression - it is a beautiful lens! Doing a few test shots around the house, and was immediately  Read more inside...

Advantages of a higher max flash-sync speed

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Advantages of a higher max flash-sync speed

A typical scenario we face, photographing people in bright sunlight - we have to add flash to balance them against the much brighter background. The thought-process or algorithm in deciding on camera settings, is carefully explained in this article: Controlling bright daylight w/ direct off-camera flash. What max flash sync speed is, and why understanding the impact of max flash sync speed is on balancing flash with ambient, is explained in that tutorial: Max flash sync speed. Now that we have all that under our knee, the question might  Read more inside...

review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens

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review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens

The specialty of a macro lens is in allowing you much much closer to your subject than a normal optic would .. with the ease of continuous focusing from infinity to the closest distance.  No need to screw in additional rings or lenses or reverse your lens.  A macro lens works as a close-up lens, and as a more usual optic.  And that's the versatility of it. The main feature of the Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS macro lens (B&H / Amazon) is that it offers stabilization.  Now this might not seem such a big deal to photographers who work  Read more inside...

NYC photo sessions – Sarah & Mark

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New York photo session - Sarah & Mark

I have already posted several images from the extended photo session with Sarah and Mark - but here is the epic video.   The intention with these photo sessions was to expand Sarah's portfolio as much as we could. We started off at Coney Island, doing a session with Sarah and Mark at the edge of the beach with Sarah in swimwear .. and from there it went into more of a lifestyle shoot with the two of them on the boardwalk.  Later on we had Sarah run towards the camera in sportswear.  But we rained out with a massive thunderstorm rolling in  Read more inside...