the progression of an idea ..
[ click on photo to see a larger image ]
the progression of an idea during a photo shoot; incl the use of off camera flash
Because of the positive comments I've had to the recent addition of video clips that show a glimpse of how I work, I thought I'd show the progression of an idea. Not just how the actual image was made, but how the idea progressed. The photo above of Sarah and Mark at Coney Island, is from the day-long photo session where we went to different locations in New York. Where this image above started, was in a previous sequence .. Read more inside...3 NYC photo sessions
NYC photo sessions with models
I met up with 3 models in New York recently for a photo session with each. The intention was to try out different lighting techniques, different equipment .. and just to have fun and see what we can come up with. First we roamed the Meat-packing District and Greenwich with Aleona and Laura Lee, and then later on met up with Sasha in Brooklyn. This video clip will be a glimpse of working with three gorgeous models in an ever-fascinating city. Enjoy! I think what might be interesting with this video, is to see the wider view in relation to the Read more inside...Flash photography: Overpowering the sun with flash
Flash photography: Overpowering the sun with flash
When we think about overpowering the sun with flash, we are most often really considering to match the sunlight with enough flash. We usually want to lift the shadow areas to the same level as the sunlit areas. There's a tiny bit of math involved here which makes the algorithm or thought-process predictable. Since the Sunny 16 rule has it that broad daylight is in the order of 1/200th or 1/250th @ f11 @ 100 ISO ... you'd either have to shoot with a bare speedlight, (which, as a small light source, will cause hard shadows) .. or use a Read more inside...NYC photo-shootout redux
Another photograph from the recent NYC photo shootout. We were a group of photographers working with Lea during this part of the afternoon. There are several parts in what makes an image successful - the subject, the setting, lighting and then the post-processing. There are limitations in working as a group with a model. So where I would've preferred shooting with a longer lens to compress the perspective more, you sometimes have to accept the situation. In this case, the setting wasn't ideal, and there was a fair amount of background clutter. Therefore this might be a good time to to Read more inside...
On-camera flash light modifiers? Remove the plastic diffuser cup!
Choosing on-camera flash light modifiers
One of the things I always emphasize if you want to achieve the best results from your on-camera speedlight, is to be aware of the direction of light from your flashgun. When you know which direction you want your light from your flash to come from, then the simplest way to figure out what direction to bounce your flash towards, is to consider the simple geometry of it all. Yup, triangular geometry from your days in primary school. And from Science class in high school, you can also consider the Angle of Incidence = Angle of Read more inside...NYC photo shoot-out
An exotic model in a bridal dress; manual off-camera flash with a softbox; some Photoshop fairy dust ... and there's an image I really like. Earlier today, a group of about 50 photographers, (along with 5 models), converged on the Meat-Packing District in New York - another of the photo shoot-out / get-togethers / super-fun events that Rob Nicholson arranged. I helped rotating groups of photographers, showing the essentials of using a single off-camera softbox with manual flash. The techniques included balancing the flash with ambient light, and also looking at the direction of Read more inside...
Shutter speed controls background exposure?
Shutter speed controls background exposure? Usually ...
Something I kick against when I try to teach others about flash photography, is the use of short-cut phrases. Those axioms that are supposed to help the understanding of how to mix flash with ambient light, can often mislead you since they don't give you all the information. Two of those phrases were recently discussed here: aperture controls flash exposure, shutter speed controls available light. These are merely reductions of the way that shutter speed, aperture and ISO inter-relate with available light and Read more inside...exposure metering for manual flash and softbox
exposure metering for manual flash and softbox
Valerie is the striking model I used for a flash photography workshop held in Nashville. The lighting is simple - the softbox is held to the my left-hand side in this instance. As you can see in the ambient-only image below, I let the available light under-expose by a stop. I metered for the available light with a hand-held meter.If you're unfamiliar with using a light meter, check out this first-steps guide to using a light meter with manual flash. You could just as well have used the histogram method .. and then take the Read more inside...high ISO is no substitute for good light
The light on Valerie here is from the evening sky, some city lights, and some of the parking lot's lights. All of this added up to give me enough light to use for a lovely impromptu available-light portrait of her, right there in the middle of the parking lot. My settings were: 1/160th @ f1.4 @ 1250 ISO My equipment: Nikon D3 and Nikon 85mm f1.4 The light was soft, but wasn't necessarily the best for a portrait where she is simply looking at the camera. Because of the surrounding buildings, the light was fairly top-heavy. So I asked Valerie to lift her gaze slightly - and in this way Read more inside...