Syncing at higher than max flash sync speed
Syncing at higher than max flash sync speed
The model, Aleona, was lit with an off-camera Q-flash T5D-R, using Quantum’s wireless system, and a 24×32 softbox, mounted on a lightstand. The settings were: 1/1000th @ f4 @ 200 ISO It is noteworthy that this was shot at 1/1000th of a second with a Q-flash .. and they don't support high-speed sync. I never paid much attention to the physics and shape of the pulse of flash, or how the pulse of light is shaped, but after reading up on how the new PocketWizards work, I was curious .. and played around with the Q-flash. And to my Read more inside...NYC photo-shootout redux
Another photograph from the recent NYC photo shootout. We were a group of photographers working with Lea during this part of the afternoon. There are several parts in what makes an image successful - the subject, the setting, lighting and then the post-processing. There are limitations in working as a group with a model. So where I would've preferred shooting with a longer lens to compress the perspective more, you sometimes have to accept the situation. In this case, the setting wasn't ideal, and there was a fair amount of background clutter. Therefore this might be a good time to to Read more inside...
NYC photo shoot-out
An exotic model in a bridal dress; manual off-camera flash with a softbox; some Photoshop fairy dust ... and there's an image I really like. Earlier today, a group of about 50 photographers, (along with 5 models), converged on the Meat-Packing District in New York - another of the photo shoot-out / get-togethers / super-fun events that Rob Nicholson arranged. I helped rotating groups of photographers, showing the essentials of using a single off-camera softbox with manual flash. The techniques included balancing the flash with ambient light, and also looking at the direction of Read more inside...
high ISO is no substitute for good light
The light on Valerie here is from the evening sky, some city lights, and some of the parking lot's lights. All of this added up to give me enough light to use for a lovely impromptu available-light portrait of her, right there in the middle of the parking lot. My settings were: 1/160th @ f1.4 @ 1250 ISO My equipment: Nikon D3 and Nikon 85mm f1.4 The light was soft, but wasn't necessarily the best for a portrait where she is simply looking at the camera. Because of the surrounding buildings, the light was fairly top-heavy. So I asked Valerie to lift her gaze slightly - and in this way Read more inside...
machine-gunning a photo .. (model – Priscilla)
A technique I often use to get crisp images in low ambient light when I shoot without flash, is to simply put my camera on continuous drive, and let it rip for a second or so. So while camera shake may ruin some (or even most) images, I am usually sure of getting at least one image that is really sharp. I know this runs counter to so much of the philosophizing in photography - waiting for that oh-so-perfect-moment when it all comes together, and then with great precision and superb intuition of the moment you're in, to take the photograph. Much of my personal photography is driven by the Read more inside...
fluorescent lighting .. I give in! (model – Priscilla)
[ Nikon D3; Nikon 200mm f2 AF-S VR .. 1/100th @ f2 @ 1250 ISO ] click on the image to see a larger version My friend Steve Z from Colorado was around for a few days, visiting friends and family here in NJ. So we got together to do a photo shoot, and I arranged to meet up with Priscilla, a model with whom I've worked before. I also was fortunate in getting permission to photograph inside the Paterson museum - an interesting historic building. Steve Z is also into photographic lighting, so we packed up a bunch of gear - a beauty dish, softboxes, speedlights and video lights. We were Read more inside...
how much depth-of-field? just enough!
choosing the necessary aperture for depth of field (DoF)
Depth of Field (DoF) is one of those elementary factors in photography which seem to mystify most (new) photographers. A question that I'm often asked is, "How do you know how much depth of field you need?" Now anyone who has delved into the topic and has done some research knows that you soon stagger back .. your head spinning trying to tie together all the concepts: circle of confusion, focal length, subject distance, size of enlargement, format size, hyper focal distance, and so on. But a working approach might just Read more inside...video light & boudoir photography
using a video light for boudoir photography
An image from a boudoir photo session today. I ended up mostly using a video light (or two) for the directional and dramatic quality of the light. I tried on-camera bounce flash a few times, but even when I carefully flagged and bounced the flash, there were a number of times where I found that the bounce flash just evened out the light too much. Sometimes it is soft light, and sometimes it just becomes flat light. With the video light (held up by my assistant), I was able to ask my assistant to flag the light and drop the light off Read more inside...Aisha, the belly-dancer ..
Aisha was the star at a recent party where she performed as a belly-dancer. Through several dance routines, I had the luxury of having enough time to move from just the safe shots, to playing around and getting more diverse images ... Read more inside...