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Gear list – Starting out with off-camera flash

May 20, 2016 Neil vN 17 Comments

Gear list - Starting out with off-camera flash

You can get great lighting with just on-camera bounce flash when shooting indoors, as shown in this related article - Lighting with bounce flash. But at some point you might want more flexibility and consistency. Or you might run into problem scenarios with bounce flash, such as colored walls and ceilings. Or you might run into a situation where you can't use any bounce flash at all, and the available light isn't ideal. Then it is time to step it up with off-camera flash. Starting out with off-camera flash photography might seem  Read more inside...

Photo shoot: On-location lighting problem solving

May 13, 2016 Neil vN 11 Comments

Photo shoot: On-location lighting problem solving (with Profoto)

When I photograph on location, many of my decisions on the technical stuff like camera settings and lighting, are based on common sense algorithms. Max flash sync speed, choice of aperture, and direction of light. That forms the basis of decisions, but just as often we, as photographers, have to adapt and go into problem-solving mode. Here's an example during a photo shoot where I had to come up with a different way of using my off-camera lights. It was a big deal for me when I was asked by the management of Home  Read more inside...

Lighting an on-location Fashion shoot

April 19, 2016 Neil vN 4 Comments

Lighting an on-location Fashion shoot

Bringing just the necessary photo gear and lighting gear to an on-location shoot, is balanced by the need to bring enough to cover any eventuality and possibility. A tough balance between risking not having the right gear, and being laden down with too much gear. I had the interesting opportunity to work with my friend Daniel Featherstone, and collaborate him with him on the lighting during his photo shoot for New York Fashion designer, SR1990. (The day-long photo shoot was at Opus 40, where I shot also some B&W infrared images during  Read more inside...

Fitness photo session in the studio

March 17, 2016 Neil vN 10 Comments

Fitness photo session in the studio

There are always many other ways to light your subject, whether on location or in the studio. With Fitness photography though, you do want to show off the physique of your subject - and this does mean strongly directional light. The main light can be a harder / smaller light source, or even a larger light source such as a softbox, but generally you do need to go for directional light that skims across the physique of your subject. Flat lighting is going to be a difficult approach here. This previous article - Chiaroscuro lighting - shows another  Read more inside...

Headshot photography – Clam-shell lighting setup

March 15, 2016 Neil vN 10 Comments

Headshot photography - Clam-shell lighting setup

There isn't only one correct way of lighting portraits or headshots. There are numerous ways to attractively light your subject. My favorite go-to lighting setup involved the large Profoto 5' Octa Softbox, which allowed me fine control over the contrast, by having my subject move slightly forward or back, or rotating slightly. (The linked article explains more.) Using the 5' Octabox though, meant that I had to shoot around the massive light modifier. A simpler way of shooting, which allows me slightly more freedom in how I moved,  Read more inside...

Softboxes with speedlights

February 21, 2016 Neil vN 43 Comments

Softboxes with speedlights for on-location lighting

Off-camera flash is the easiest way to create dynamic lighting - and using a speedlight with a softbox, is on-location lighting at its most elegantly simple. For most of my on-location portraits, I like to travel (fairly) light, and my lighting of choice is a speedlight, wireless transmitters and a softbox. The softbox is either held up by a light-stand (which I weight down with my camera bag), or held up by an assistant (with the softbox on a monopod.) I like TTL flash - it often gets us there faster than manual flash. But for  Read more inside...

Dramatic portraits of kids – Lighting and intent

February 11, 2016 Neil vN 9 Comments

Dramatic portraits of kids - Lighting and intent

When photographing portraits of someone, we can only leave so much up to serendipity. Deliberate action produces deliberate results. While things don't always work out to plan, having a plan helps propel things in a certain direction. With that, we need to be able to pre-visualize the photographs we want. We need to shoot (and use light) with purpose. Even if you are just experimenting and playing with your camera and lighting, you will fare better if you have some intended result in mind. Always that question in mind - what is it  Read more inside...

Flash photography – Changing the background color with gels

December 28, 2015 Neil vN 16 Comments

Flash photography - Changing the background color with gels

One of the biggest challenges when working in a studio, is that you're essentially shooting in a plain rectangular box. When photographing portraits, the two obvious ways out of that is to create an interesting (or complementary) background, and then to create interesting (or flattering) lighting. The lighting itself need not be complex. For this series of portraits of Olive, I used the gridded 1' x 6' softbox. By swinging it horizontally or vertically (or diagonally), I can change the way the light falls on my subject  Read more inside...

Video lights for wedding details

December 4, 2015 Neil vN 9 Comments

Video lights for wedding details

A versatile lighting tool that is always in my camera bag - a video light. With a video light you can localize how you light up something like details at an event. Unlike bounce flash, it doesn't light up the entire scene - just where you point the video light at. Eg: bounce flash vs video light. I love LED video lights (affiliate), since they are compact, don’t run hot, and the color balance can be continuously changed from 3200K tungsten (Incandescent) to 5600K Daylight. Light is produced flicker free at any frame rate or shutter  Read more inside...

Boudoir photography with a Hollywood glamor feel

October 22, 2015 Neil vN 3 Comments

Boudoir photography with a Hollywood glamor feel

I managed to acquire a lovely (and massively big) lighted table for my studio. I picked it up for quite a low price at a photography studio auction in New York, and now it has a new home. It was a missing piece in my studio - especially since I also offer the place as a photography studio rental (NJ) . But I digress. In other studios that I've used, I've used the glow of the circularly arranged lightbulbs, as a light source. For example in this photo session with Jessica Joy - composition: working towards the final image. A number  Read more inside...

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Recent Comments

  • Alicia Poling: Same one contacted us. Hello, i’m Sandra, I got your details from the internet and am wondering...
  • Adrian Jones: Great post Neil. I use the Profoto B2 with the OCF Beauty Dish on location & totally agree that the...
  • Neil vN: Nothing unusual. I do use the “Camera Standard” profile in Lightroom / Bridge, because that...
  • Greg: Hi Neil, Can you share any tips on editing files from original X100? These are by far the best pictures from...
  • Neil vN: Dan, Canon doesn’t offer a similar quick work-around like that. It is also how I have my Nikon cameras...

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