recap: NYC photo walk – photography workshop, Brooklyn Waterfront
recap: NYC photo walk – photography workshop, Brooklyn Waterfront
Teaching a flash photography workshop on a grey day, I was disappointed that it was so overcast and miserable - and that I wouldn’t be able to properly explain how to balance flash with strong sunlight with an actual example - but then the sun popped out! This is part of the adventure of an on-location workshop such as the NYC Photo Walks - you just don't quite know what you'll get on any given day since the environment can change. Techie stuff: Lighting is with the Profoto B1 on a monopod, and the Profoto OCF 24” Read more inside...recap: Studio photography workshop NJ / NYC
recap: Studio photography workshop NJ / NYC
A small group of people met up with Anelisa and myself in my studio for what turned out to be the first Studio Lighting Workshop of the year. On the drive home afterwards, I decided to add another 2nd date this year, for a workshop on Nov 18th. The format of the workshop depends on it being a small group of people - everyone gets time to photograph our model. But more importantly, everyone gets time to hands-on, adjust the studio lights. In the morning we go through the building blocks of lighting. Short Lighting & Broad Lighting. Read more inside...review: Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 lens
review: Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 lens
The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 (B&H / Amazon), is an immediately impressive lens - it has that unusually wide aperture. Zero point nine five. Just how good is it then, you may well ask. Lenses with super-wide apertures tend to show some softness and optical aberrations when used wide open. Similarly then with the Mitakon Zhyongi - there are definite optical flaws, but this also adds to the character of the images you get with this lens. It's not just the super-shallow depth-field that defines Read more inside...Photography composition: Tilted horizons in photographs
Photography composition: Tilted horizons in photographs
A disconcerting angle perhaps with this photograph's composition - still, there is a dynamic balance of sorts. Because Anelisa is 'upright' / vertical in the photo, it matches our sense that vertical and horizontal lines should be just that. Still, everything else is at a dizzying angle. While the horizon is at a slant, I placed her vertically in the composition, which hopefully creates a balance when we look at the photo. I am not particularly fond of tilted horizons or tilted photos (also known as the "Dutch angle" or Read more inside...Accidental Off-Camera Flash
Accidental Off-Camera Flash
This photograph of Anelisa, was taken during a Flash Photography workshop at my studio. Lighting is via accidental off-camera flash! I was shooting a few available-light behind-the-scenes photos with my Fuji X-T20 (affiliate), and caught someone's flash. It was 2 stops over-exposed because of the additional light, but the RAW file from the Fuji had nearly enough detail to pull the image back to a usable point! The HDR look to this photo is in part due to the massive correction to the Exposure and Contrast and Highlights, in adjusting the Read more inside...What should I meter off with the in-camera light meter?
What should I meter off with the in-camera light meter?
What (or where) should I meter when using my camera's built-in meter? It's a question that mystifies many photographers when they start out, and first realize you can't just point your camera at the scene and hope for correct exposure. The incredible metering systems in modern cameras notwithstanding, it is essential to our growth as photographers to have a working grasp on metering techniques. Of course, an incident light-meter is always a great idea, but has become less necessary with digital photography when shooting Read more inside...Portrait lighting patterns: Loop lighting & Butterfly lighting
Portrait lighting patterns: Loop lighting & Butterfly lighting
In the article on available light portrait photography, I mentioned how I posed Anastasiya, so that the spot of reflected sunlight created a butterfly lighting-pattern. While most of us associate lighting patterns with studio lighting, the thought-process in how to use available light or bounce flash or continuous lighting, remains the same. It has to do with how we pose and position our subjects in relation to the light. And it also depends on how we position ourselves. I want to show some straight-forward Read more inside...Using the Profoto B1 modeling lamp as a video light
Using the Profoto B1 modeling lamp as a video light
Looking through the past articles on this blog, you'll notice that I love using a video light for low-light photography. A video light adds that sense of drama to portraits, and very often blends better with the existing ambient light, than flash would. Lately though, I haven't bothered to bring a video light to weddings for the romantic portraits - I already have the Profoto B1 there with a substantial enough modeling light! Less gear to carry with me! Since I rely heavily on my Profoto B1 flashes (B&H / Amazon), I Read more inside...review: Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM Lens
review: Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM Lens
As Sony steps more firmly onto the market by adding new lenses for their mirrorless camera bodies, they have rolled out some spectacular optics. The Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM Lens (B&H / Amazon) is one of them. Just holding the lens, you will already be impressed by the weight, and how smoothly all the controls glide. It clearly has been designed to compete with the best optics available on the market, regardless of brand. During one of the photography workshops that I present at my studio, I took a few shots of our two Read more inside...- 1
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