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Posing tip – Check the wrists and hands

May 28, 2013 Neil vN 6 Comments

Posing tip - Check the wrists and hands

In posing, a good tip is to have the wrists and hands form a kind of S-curve instead of being straight. While this photograph works for me,  and I really like the composition and her direct gaze into the camera ... I should've guided Anelisa to bend her left wrist (the hand closer to her cheek), a bit more. That would've made her gesture a touch more elegant in this photograph at the top. Of course, in analyzing your photographs closely, there is (nearly) always something to pick up on how you could've improved the final image. Here is  Read more inside...

available light photo session in the studio – Elle

May 16, 2013 Neil vN 20 Comments

available light photo session in the studio - Elle

During the same photo session with Elle where the aim was for Hollywood Glamor lighting style with video lights, I also wanted to change it up completely with an entirely different look and lighting - an available light photo series in the studio. With so much light flooding into the studio, it was just a matter of positioning Elle into the light. To get away from a blank wall, the background was a backdrop. And yes, the studio needs more furniture. We'll revisit this territory with future shoots. But even with such a minimalist  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...

review: Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Light

May 14, 2013 Neil vN 10 Comments

review: Litepanels Sola 4 LED Fresnel Light

The dramatic look that video lights lend to photographs, is a regularly explored topic on Tangents. I also cover the use of video light in my book Direction and Quality of Light. The video lights that I have been favoring, are the Lowel ID-Light (affiliate), but like other halogen video lights, it tends to run hot. LED video lights (affiliate) that are meant to be hand-held or mounted on a camera, also tend to be under-powered for some uses. And since video lights tend to be small light sources, their light is quite  Read more inside...

Off-camera flash vs. available light

April 25, 2013 Neil vN 16 Comments

Off-camera flash vs. available light

With this background, I liked the way the dots were repeated in Olena's dress in reverse - white dots on black, instead of black dots / holds on silver. I liked the repetition, and decided to work with the composition of this photograph a bit.  For the final sequence of images - of which the image at the top is one - I asked Olena to really exaggerate the curve of her body to create an S-shaped, which in turn contrasted boldly with the rigid pattern of the background. This article's original title was going to be:  Off-camera flash vs the  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...

Models with advice for photographers

April 8, 2013 Neil vN 18 Comments

Advice for photographers from models - how to work with models

An article by UK model, Jen Brook, caught my eye. She wrote a long piece where she gives advice on how models would like to be treated during a photo shoot - Dear Photographer - kindest regards, Model. xxx You'd think that this advice is just common sense, but from my own experience, I have realized that some photographers just lack people skills ... or disregard models and don't realize that a photo shoot really is a collaborative process. This also reminds me of something that Ulorin Vex said about how a  Read more inside...

review: Fuji X100s

April 1, 2013 Neil vN 33 Comments

review: Fuji X100s

One of the most compelling cameras in recent years, was the Fuji X100. It had a slick retro look, solid build, and some interesting features such as the hybrid optical viewfinder. The camera looked quite sexy slung over your shoulder, and felt great in your hands. But it had a few flaws. Sluggish handling at times, and more crucially, erratic auto-focus. It tended to grab the background when focusing in low-contrast light. I loved my Fuji X100, but eventually sold it because of these frustrations. Well, the Fuji X100 was updated with the Fuji  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...

Video clip: Studio Photo session

March 27, 2013 Neil vN 14 Comments

Video clip: Studio photo session w/ Anelisa

To promote my studio as a rental photography studio here in New Jersey, I created this video clip. It's not quite a behind-the-scenes clip since my intention was to show some of the diversity that is possible in the studio. Using different lighting, and different backgrounds and setups, the final photographs look quite different. Gallery of images of photo session with Anelisa, and other models subsequently. Photography studio rental NJ For more videos, follow me on Vimeo / YouTube The specific sequences will appear as  Read more inside...

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