Tangents

photography tutorials, reviews & workshops

tangents photography blog
learn : discuss : share
  • Tangents
  • Tutorials
    • Flash Photography
    • Wedding Photography
    • Studio Photography
    • Posing People
    • Understanding Your Camera
    • Exposure metering
    • BFT
    • Best Photo Books
  • Reviews
    • Sony
    • Nikon
    • Canon
    • Fuji
    • Profoto
    • lighting gear
  • Workshops
    • Info: Workshops
    • In-person
      tutoring sessions
    • Online
      tutoring sessions
    • Workshops in
      New Jersey (NJ)
    • Workshops in
      New York (NYC)
    • Photo walks in NYC
    • Studio Workshop
    • Video tutorials
    • Workshop results
  • Books
    • On-Camera Flash (revised ed.)
    • Direction & Quality of Light
    • Off-Camera Flash Photography
    • Lighting & Design
    • On-Camera Flash (1st ed.)
  • Projects
    • Two Perspectives
    • B&W Infrared
    • Vintage lenses
    • Time-lapse photography
  • Info
    • About
    • Contact
    • My Photo Gear
    • Books by NvN
    • Join us on Facebook
    • Acclaim
    • Success Stories

photography – inspiration, learning, and then adjusting & adapting

February 23, 2014 Neil vN 10 Comments

photographic style - inspiration, adjusting & adapting  (model: Ulorin Vex)

Photography has a never-ending learning curve. I think this is even more true as the technology expands and accelerates. Sometimes I feel that we're running at full speed just to remain at a stand-still. That's just the technology that we have to acquire what we need to know about to do our work and art the best. But even with the techniques and methods we have as photographers - we should always be investigating and analyzing the work of others, learn, and then rework and adapt it in our own style. Even  Read more inside...

Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens

January 26, 2014 Neil vN 44 Comments

boudoir photography and the 50mm lens

Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens

With shooting space often times so tight for boudoir photo sessions, there is the temptation to use a 50mm lens for tighter headshots on a full-frame D-SLR. Instead of stepping back a bit and using an 85mm lens or longer, a bit of visual laziness comes into play, and we rely on the 50mm lens too much. It really is too short a focal length for a tight portrait. I think many photographers are even too in love with their 50mm lenses, and use it without thought of how this would distort someone's face when used too close to their subjects. I  Read more inside...

85mm f/1.4 portraits in the studio

January 13, 2014 Neil vN 30 Comments

Studio portraits with an 85mm f/1.4 lens

Shooting portraits with fast lenses for that distinctive shallow depth-of-field look, works in the studio too. In fact, it works exceptionally well. But it is perhaps an unexpected way of working in the studio - the usual way is to work with apertures in the range of f/8 or f/11 for great depth-of-field and superb image sharpness. That super-fast aperture portrait lens - such as the 85mm f/1.4 - really focuses the attention exactly where you want it …  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Big bounce flash

December 23, 2013 Neil vN 34 Comments

Wedding photography - Big bounce flash

In photographing groups with weddings, I have a preference to keep the light soft and even. This makes posing a large group easier, since you don't have to worry about odd shadows. A big light source, just off to my side, is the simplest way of lighting this. Previous articles described how to do this with speedlights and an umbrella. (Check links at the bottom of the article.) Often enough though, you'll find yourself in a scenario where one or two speedlights just don't have enough juice, and then you need to bring out something bigger and  Read more inside...

Use light & lighting to add impact to your photos

December 16, 2013 Neil vN 22 Comments

Use light & lighting to add dramatic impact to your portraits

Simplifying your composition is generally a really good way to add impact to your photos - remove visual clutter, and draw the viewer's eye to what's essential. But there's a converse challenge to this - when you have a location that isn't necessarily that interesting , how do you add more impact? Light and Lighting is an obvious way to do this. Create impact and drama in how you add light to the scene, and light your subjects. A recent article discussed this in relation to off-camera flash: using off-camera flash  Read more inside...

Headshot photography in the studio

November 18, 2013 Neil vN 11 Comments

Headshot photography in the studio

Mike is an actor / musician friend of mine, who also works with the Modern Gypsies at times. We recently updated his headshots with a session in and around the studio. As a working actor in New York, he has appeared on stage, as well as some spots on television. Amusingly enough, while shooting outside the studio against the warehouse building's facade facing the main street, a young boy, walking past us with his mom, turned around and asked Mike, "Are you famous?" Of course we couldn't disappoint the kid. Being a character actor, and shooting  Read more inside...

Flash photography tip – Adding flash to ambient light

July 9, 2013 Neil vN 14 Comments

Flash photography tip - Adding flash to ambient light

When I saw the beautiful architecture of the Court House in Denver, CO, I knew that I wanted to use this as a backdrop for part of the mini photography workshop in Denver. In terms of composition, the imposing pillars and leading lines of the steps would simultaneously make a simple and classic background. Our model, Elizabeth, fortunately had this simple, yet elegant black dress as part of her wardrobe. For me, this photo comes together with the way the model (with her own style and styling), and the chosen location, complements  Read more inside...

Hollywood Glamor lighting with video lights

May 15, 2013 Neil vN 8 Comments

Hollywood Glamor lighting with video lights

The old Hollywood masters such as George Hurrell, CS Bull and Laszlo Willinger had a dramatic way of lighting their portraits, with specific use of light and shade. For my review of the Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Lights, I had Ulorin Vex as model. Her style and clothing are quite unique, and dramatic enough that these lights enhanced her look. I loved what we came up with. In using these Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Lights (B&H / Amazon) to specifically emulate Hollywood Glamor lighting, I called in another model,  Read more inside...

Studio photography – Creating sun-flare images

April 10, 2013 Neil vN 7 Comments

Studio photography - Creating sun-flare images

One of the sequences I photographed of Anelisa for the video clip of a photo session in the studio, was to create this kind of sun-drenched flared image. I wanted it to look bright and airy and summery. There was a studio flash behind her to (partially) create the flare. I had to keep adjusting my movement just so that the flash-head wouldn't be entirely hidden, or entirely revealed. There was a total of four flashes used, and the pull-back shot shows their positioning.  Read more inside...

Studio lighting: harder light = dramatic light

March 29, 2013 Neil vN 3 Comments

Studio lighting: harder light = dramatic light

When I first started exploring bounce flash, and then off-camera flash and then progressing towards studio photography, my tendency was also instinctively towards softer light. A large light source gives you softer light, which is also more forgiving in terms of how you position your subject and yourself in relation to the light. A large light source is easy to work with because it creates softer light that easily wraps around your subject. Soft light is flattering. But it soon became obvious that I was missing out on that dramatic  Read more inside...

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • …
  • 22
  • Next Page »

categories

Articles & Tutorials

  • • About myself & this site
    • Books by Neil vN
    • Best photography books
    • Black foamie thing
    • Photographers’ success stories
  • • Flash Photography Techniques
    • Natural looking flash
    • Flash + Ambient light
    • Dragging the shutter
    • Bouncing your flash
    • On-camera flash outdoors
    • Exposure metering
    • Flash exposure compensation
    • Bounce flash examples
    • Which is the best flashgun?
    • Flash brackets
    • Off-camera flash photography
    • Flash photography basics
    • Using video lights
    • Flash photography tips
  • • Photography workshops NJ / NYC
    • Models @ photography workshops
tutorials:
flash photography
Photography
Workshops

All rights reserved. Copyright © Neil van Niekerk 2025 · Customization by The Traveling Designer

Copyright © 2025 · NvN on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in