Tangents

photography tutorials, reviews & workshops

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

People skills for portrait & wedding photographers

July 25, 2016 Neil vN 12 Comments

People skills for portrait & wedding photographers

The articles on the Tangents blog have focused heavily on the technical aspects of photography - lighting, posing, camera settings and such. But there is another essential ingredient for you as a photographer when you work with people - good social skills. This is invaluable - you can be a phenomenal photographer, but if you don't quite know how to make people immediately comfortable and trust you, then the photo shoot will not be as successful. With New York’s vibrant culture and the imposing architecture, it’s often a  Read more inside...

Camera settings: Photo session with a couple in bright sunlight

May 30, 2014 Neil vN 27 Comments

Camera & flash settings: Photo session in bright sunlight

Analyzing other photographer's work to figure out how they got the result, and figure out how to re-create it if you want, is a solid exercise. I do it often. It's part of expanding your understanding of photography and lighting, and a way of expanding your technique and your repertoire. The challenge to figure out the camera settings and additional lighting for a sequence of photos from an engagement photo session - reverse engineering an image - had some interesting guess-work, and some good sleuthing. Let's have a  Read more inside...

Reverse engineer a photo: Photo session in bright sunlight

May 22, 2014 Neil vN 110 Comments

Reverse engineer a photo: Photo session with a couple in bright sunlight

When I posted this sequence of photos on Facebook of Jessica and Tony's engagement photo session in New York, there were a flurry of questions. Which lens? 50mm? 85mm? What type of lighting? What were my camera settings? Well, this stuff has been covered before with numerous articles here. So by now, anyone who regularly follows the Tangents blog, and have done some reading, will be able to figure this out. So here's your challenge - look at the photos, look at the location, and reverse engineer the camera  Read more inside...

adapting your photographic style during a photo session

June 17, 2013 Neil vN 19 Comments

adapting your photographic style during a shoot

I had the pleasure of photographing Rebecca and Max's elopement wedding in New York. They're both from Denmark. (Actually, Max is from Spain originally.) They both planned to get married in New York while over on a trip here. I met up with them at City Hall on the day, where I was the witness to their wedding ceremony. That's quite an honor too. Then, after the ceremony, we ventured out into Manhattan for an extended photo session. And this is where there is a certain balance that I need to maintain. If I have a specific style in  Read more inside...

Photo session with a model in New York

December 18, 2012 Neil vN 20 Comments

Photo session with a model in New York

I have already showed part of the photo session with Sarah Raley, in the article, vintage photo session w/ off-camera flash. It was part of a longer on-location photo session in New York. With four changes of clothing, we aimed for a diverse look during the photo session. I'd like to share some of them here, along with some of the lighting techniques, and post-processing. Most of the photos were taken with the Canon 5D mark II, and two zooms: the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II (affiliate), and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (affiliate). The  Read more inside...

Night-time photo session using off-camera flash

December 3, 2012 Neil vN 18 Comments

Night-time photo session using off-camera flash

Sarah and Mark were in New York, dressed to the nines, to attend the Rockettes show. And while they were dressed up, and with some time before the show they were attending, we did a photo session. You might remember them as the couple in my book, off-camera flash. I've also photographed Sarah on other occasions. I thought that the New York skyline at dusk would work as a perfect backdrop to how stylish they were dressed. (I did ask Mark if he felt like James Bond, all suited up like that in his tux.) The lighting setup was  Read more inside...

A wedding in Central Park, New York

August 8, 2012 Neil vN 31 Comments

A wedding in Central Park, New York

A groom holding up the softbox for me ... as you may well guess, there's a story here. Alvin and Lucia are from the UK, but decided to get married in Central Park. Of course, there's a story here too.  Read more inside...

Kate – a New York photo session

January 7, 2011 Neil vN 13 Comments

Kate - a photo shoot in New York

Kate is from Ukraine and has a deep fascination for New York. As a present, Kate's sister flew both of them out for a vacation here ... and had me photograph Kate around New York yesterday. The idea was to get a mixture of portraits of Kate and some photos of Kate in obvious New York locales. We started off in the Meat-Packing district because I wanted a photogenic spot that wasn't too crowded during a weekday (in winter), so we could have an easy start to the photo session. Since Kate might not have been experienced with photo shoots, I thought  Read more inside...

categories

Articles & Tutorials

  • • About myself & this site
    • Books by Neil vN
    • Best photography books
    • Black foamie thing
    • Spinlight 360
    • Photographers’ success stories
    • email newsletter
  • • 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 books
  • • Photography workshops NJ / NYC
    • Models @ photography workshops
tutorials:
flash photography
Photography
Workshops

Recent Comments

  • Danny Eeltink: Good to hear Neil!!
  • Neil vN: Hi there Danny, Now, more than 5 years later, I am still on top of the world. All is well.
  • Danny: Heya Neil, I saves this blogpost from you as a firm reminder on what can happen and how you can change stuff....
  • Kenneth Fukuda: I just got one from Mr Shaw too! Virtually identical text.
  • Richard Jackson: Currently, the vast majority of electronic speedlights have AF assist beams that use patterns of...

All rights reserved. Copyright © Neil van Niekerk 2023 · Customization by The Traveling Designer

Copyright © 2023 · NvN on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in