Tangents

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Flash photography tutorial: Balancing flash & ambient exposure

May 22, 2015 Neil vN 47 Comments

flash photography tutorial: balancing flash and ambient exposure

Flash photography tutorial: Balancing flash & ambient exposure

This topic - balancing flash and ambient exposure - seems to one that many newer photographers struggle with. The big hurdle seems to be the basic starting point - how do you decide on the exposure for each? I'd like to explore this topic a bit with this post. The trigger for this was a question that someone emailed me regarding an image in one of my books on flash photography. Instead of answering the question directly, I thought that a wider answer might be more illuminating. We're still on that perpetual quest  Read more inside...

Informal / candid portraits on the street – Applying what you know

May 15, 2015 Neil vN 2 Comments

informal / candid portraits on the street

Informal / candid portraits on the street - Applying what you know

New York City abounds with characters - interesting and colorful people. This is one of those constants if you're out on the streets in NYC, especially when taking photos or busy with a photo session ... or as in this case, during one of the individual photography workshops in NYC. This man approached us to sell his artwork ... and we ended up taking a few photos of him. With a few quick, automatic steps, the informal portrait is improved. I'm one of those people, who, if tourists in Times Square give me their  Read more inside...

Portrait photography: Show us a favorite or break-through photograph

March 15, 2015 Neil vN 67 Comments

portrait photography - favorite photograph

Portrait photography: Show us a favorite or break-through photograph

This photograph remains one of my favorites. It was taken circa early 90's during a studio shoot-out arranged by a camera club (CCJ) I belonged to in Jo'burg. In this photo, the models are waiting for their turn to be photographed in a studio setup, using studio lighting, as well as available light in the large studio. It was a candid moment, as I knelt in front of this model, Megan. For me, this was a transitionary photograph - I was at a point where I knew basic photography techniques. I read voraciously, and  Read more inside...

Focusing your camera – Focus modes / AF modes

February 14, 2015 Neil vN 23 Comments

Focusing your camera - Focus modes / AF modes

The focusing modes and options can be confusing for new camera owners. The instruction manual's dry distillation of facts might also be overwhelming. Where to start? Let's break it down to the basics and make this all much easier. The photo at the top illustrates the most essential consideration when deciding on a focusing mode - deliberate choice. I deliberately focused on her eye closest to me. Not her hand in the front or the back. Definitely not the background. I chose what I wanted most sharp in the photo. It wasn't the camera's  Read more inside...

Personal photography projects & goals for 2015

December 30, 2014 Neil vN 49 Comments

personal photography projects & goals for 2015

Personal photography projects & goals for 2015

With photography technology and trends changing more and more rapidly, something like a 5-yr business plan would be tough to draw up. Be successful and be awesome! That's about as far as you can aim ahead of you as a photographer. Still, as we enter a new year, it's as good a time as any to consider a forward-going path for personal photography and projects. Still, looking back at a similar post I made two years ago, amusingly perhaps, most of the intended projects didn't quite happen. Not yet anyway. This isn't so much plans  Read more inside...

Best photography purchases of 2014

December 17, 2014 Neil vN 93 Comments

best & worst photography purchases of 2014

Best photography purchases of 2014

Looking back every year, I'm sure you too are happy with some of your purchases you made in photography, whether gear or software or website related. Purchases that you love and made a difference to you as a photographer. But similarly there are also those purchases you regret. What was I thinking? I should've done my homework? In the past I've bought some spur-of-the-moment bad decisions. It is especially easy to get swept away at photography trade shows. But I've gotten better at it, especially unnecessary software purchases. So I am actually  Read more inside...

On-location headshots and promotional portraits

October 27, 2014 Neil vN 5 Comments

On-location headshots and promotional portraits

One of the things I like the most about photography, aside from the cool toys, is that you get to meet interesting people. Characters. People with spark. The challenge is then to capture that and show it in the photographs. A headshots photo session needs to be more than just a mere glimpse of your subject's personality. Jonathan Arons, also known as “the trombone dancer”, is a multi-talented actor, singer, dancer and musician, based in New York. Jonathan needed some professonial headshots and some portraits for promotional use. We  Read more inside...

What else is in your camera bag?

September 6, 2014 Neil vN 29 Comments

Non-photography goodies in my camera bag

Work as a wedding photographer isn't just about taking photographs of key moments, or about the photo gear. Often enough it is up to you as the wedding photographer to help guide the day's time-line and flow, and also just to help.  For me, wedding photography isn't just a passively observed event where I take photographs. And if you shoot with a photo-journalistic style in mind, it doesn't mean you have to remain uninvolved.  I'm there to record the day's events, but also to help, if necessary, making it a spectacular day. In the photo  Read more inside...

Hot-air balloon ride

August 26, 2014 Neil vN 4 Comments

Hot-air balloon ride

During my visit to South Africa, two of my friends, Jerry & Linde, arranged a surprise for me - an early-morning ride in a hot-air balloon in the Magaliesberg area. This was a first time for me - and I have to wonder now why I had never done this before - it is exhilarating! (This must be old news for those who have done this before.) With this entire 2-week visit to South Africa, I decided to forego all the heavier, bulkier camera gear, and only take my Fuji X100s (affiliate). It's a specific decision where I forego the versatility of getting  Read more inside...

Personal photography projects & goals for 2013

November 27, 2012 Neil vN 44 Comments

Personal photography projects & goals for 2013

This photo shows me setting up to shoot a time-lapse clip of the New York skyline from Brooklyn. The bride is a model being photographed by someone else. She just looked good as part of the composition of this shot. (photo by Peter Salo) The motive behind shooting time-lapse is no more than it's just to do something creative. You know? Something for the soul. Something to keep the interest in photography alive, and to remain motivated to create something new and interesting. For those very reasons, I think it is essential for any  Read more inside...

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