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photography: direction of light & choice of background

August 20, 2010 Neil vN 7 Comments

posing your subject - direction of light & choice of background

Reinforcing the ideas from a few previous posts, we're going to look at that intersect where everything comes together: - direction of light, - choice of background, - posing your subject, - positioning yourself. When we work with our subject - whether a family member or a model or anyone we're photographing - then we have the opportunity to control at least a few aspects to make the final photograph more successful.  Read more inside...

Sequence of photos in posing a model

August 8, 2010 Neil vN 13 Comments

Sequence of photos in posing a model

The photo above is one of my favorite images. It was also subsequently chosen as the cover image for my book about off-camera flash photography. Oktavia is a professional dancer and we both wanted some photos to extend our portfolios. Of the number of places we used as a backdrop, I really liked this place - an art gallery in Manhattan where we were kindly allowed to use as a setting.  What I'd like to show, is some of the images leading up to this final choice - how a combination of positioning Oktavia and changing the light, culminated in this  Read more inside...

recap: photography workshop – Jersey City & Manhattan (2010)

July 23, 2010 Neil vN 18 Comments

recap: photography workshop - Jersey City & Manhattan (2010)

As a recap of the two-day long flash photography workshop, here are some images to show you some of the areas we photographed, and used as a backdrop. In the photo above, Aleona iscaught in mid-air during the recent flash photography workshop. As part of an explanation of High-Speed Flash Sync, she patiently vaulted into the air numerous times for everyone who attended the 2nd day of the workshop.  As before, the 2nd day is the on-location fun practical segment of the workshop which takes place in Manhattan. The  Read more inside...

available light portrait (model – Anelisa)

July 22, 2010 Neil vN 34 Comments

photographing people - available light portrait

While unloading lighting gear from the van to shoot a last few images for a certain section for my next book, I turned around and noticed the way the light fell on Anelisa.  Beautiful portrait light.  The (cropped) pull-back shot will show why ..  Read more inside...

overpowering hard sunlight with flash

July 14, 2010 Neil vN 35 Comments

overpowering hard sunlight with flash

With this part of a photo session with Johannie, we worked in an alley. The light was very uneven, with some swathes of sunlight falling directly on her.  (See the image below for the photo without flash.)  To get rid of this uneven sunlight falling on her, we have to add at least as much light on her as the brightest areas lit by sunlight. In the example above, our exposure is set to 1/250 @ f13 @ 200 ISO and we can see from the bright patch of light on her shoulder, that we’re at the edge of acceptable exposure. Any wider on our aperture, or  Read more inside...

dynamic composition – changing your viewpoint (model – Carrie)

June 26, 2010 Neil vN 8 Comments

dynamic composition - changing your viewpoint (model - Carrie)

Near the end of the recent photo session with Carrie, I walked across the street to find another angle. Walking back, I noticed the sun just dipping behind the roof of this old train station. I thought it might flare interestingly if I caught the sun just on the edge there. The problem was that I had to step into the street a few times when there was a lull in the traffic. The angle was a tough one since I had to, or rather, wanted to keep my camera at ground level to shoot up. I wanted the flare, and I wanted this  Read more inside...

review: Lastolite Ezybox 24×24 softbox

June 6, 2010 Neil vN 85 Comments

review: Lastolite Ezybox 24x24 softbox

Softboxes used on location shoots, need to be easy and quick to set up. Ideally they should also be compact. Several photographers have recommended I check out the Lastolite Ezybox. So I took the plunge, and got the Lastolite EZYBOX 24×24" softbox (affiliate). Lastolite has a range of other Softboxes as well. All just as easy to use, with the Lastolite-specific way of expanding and collapsing. There's a specific way you twist it to collapse it. It's all in the wrists.     The speedring simply clips into  Read more inside...

composition – framing the shot

June 4, 2010 Neil vN 6 Comments

composition in photography - framing the shot

In composing a photograph, what you exclude from the frame, is as important as what you include.  With this portrait of Anelisa, I noticed that at this angle, the light reflecting off the black-painted wall created a warm glow of light behind her.  With the receding lines of the bricks, I immediately composed the photo to exclude everything but our model and the specific background.  A very specific background. Looking at the edges of the camera's viewfinder, I eliminated everything that could distract or didn't add to  Read more inside...

recap: photography workshop – New Jersey and NYC

May 27, 2010 Neil vN 11 Comments

recap: photography workshop – New Jersey and NYC

Aleona was one of our striking models at the recent 2-day long flash photography workshop held in Jersey City and New York City.  The setting in this photo is the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, with Manhattan in the background.  The challenge was to overcome the hard sunlight with a small speedlight ... and still make it look good. The flash photography workshops have undergone certain changes over time - the material and sequence of material are always honed over time. The biggest recent change is that the workshop has expanded with an  Read more inside...

photographic composition in editing

May 26, 2010 Neil vN 26 Comments

composition in photography

In composing an image, it isn't just a matter of placing your subject somewhere in the frame. This is true for whether you go by the rigid restrictions of the Rule of Thirds, or whether you like a more central composition .. or a composition with a lot of negative space .. or whether composition is more in the way you instinctively react to the scene and subject in front of you. Equally as important as where you place your subject, is what you include and what you exclude in the frame.   With photographic composition you have to look at the edges of your  Read more inside...

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