Business headshots in the studio with a contemporary, modern look
Business headshots in the studio with a contemporary, modern look
When Matt Sweetwood, the owner of the largest Camera Store in New Jersey, discussed doing new new business headshots for him, we agreed that a more contemporary look suited him. There's a large dynamic personality at work here ... and using an 85mm f/1.4 lens wide open would place attention on his eyes and his expression. Nothing else is really in focus aside from his eyes, and this really makes for a compelling portrait that grabs your attention. We shot various sequences, with the background brighter and darker. Read more inside...Headshot photography: Studio lighting – Westcott Eyelighter
Headshot photography: Studio lighting - Westcott Eyelighter
With portrait lighting for head shots, there are so many configurations - all the way from dramatic lighting, to very even light - but always keeping in mind that the lighting needs to look flattering. It is all in how we balance the various lights, and how we add fill-light. Westcott has released a curved reflector, the Eyelighter (B&H / Amazon), and it is quite versatile: Read more inside...Studio photography – Image projection effects for creative backgrounds
Studio photography - Image projection effects for creative backgrounds
Working with an idea in mind in the studio - a moody B&W portrait with a stylized cityscape as background. Using the Light-Blaster again in the studio, this final image was a progression of that idea. I knew I wanted to use the cityscape background of one of the metal gobos that came with the Light-Blaster kit. Because I wanted the final photograph to be black and white, I set my camera to Monochrome so that I'd have a good idea during the shoot what the final image would look like. Since I shoot in RAW, Read more inside...Studio photography – Working with a large Octa Softbox
Studio photography - Working with a large Octa Softbox
It was exciting when I equipped my studio last year with a variety of lighting gear - so much to choose from. A little kid in the toy store! I want everything. The decision obviously has to be made between various lighting items that are only slight changes from other, with little real world difference. And then there ia also lighting gear that is quite esoteric. I chose various gridded stripboxes and reflectors, in addition to the soft boxes and beauty dish that I had. Then I had my eye on an octabank - specifically Read more inside...Photography: Image projection effects in the studio
Image projection effects in the studio with the Light Blaster
Shooting in a studio can feel like a challenge at times - you're in a big box of a room, and somehow you have to work past that restriction with light and ideas, create something. I've been curious about using projection effects in the studio, but always seem to come up short against equipment that is either too expensive, or too limited .. until Udi Tirosh of DIY Photography, turned me onto the idea of the Light Blaster. The Light Blaster attaches to your speedlight on one end, and a lens on the other end. In the Read more inside...Headshot photography: What makes for good head shots?
Headshot photography: What makes for a good headshot?
A few out-takes mixed with a few keepers from this headshot photo session, and it helps illustrate some of the process of getting to a good headshot. The lighting is key. Posing is important. But there's another aspect that makes a great headshot - your subject's personality needs to come shining through. So, yes, it is in the lighting. It is in the posing. It's in the expression ... but a very important key is the personality of the photographer - how to make your subject feel relaxed. How to make the photography not feel like Read more inside...Post-processing workflow: How to deal with color banding
Post-processing workflow: How to deal with color banding / posterization
If you've ever noticed banding or posterization in your photos, where you'd expect solid colors, then there's a relatively easy fix for it. This posterization effect appears as bands of colors, where the transitions between similar tones aren't smooth, but have jagged edges instead. It is caused by the 8-bit JPG not having enough data to give you a smooth gradient when large blocks of color slowly change. You'll often see it in the blue sky in landscapes, or as in this case, with large areas of color in the Read more inside...Studio photography – Using a big gridded strip-box / soft-box
Using a large gridded strip-box / soft-box for portraits
There seems to be a natural progression with photographers exploring off-camera flash and studio photography. After the initial umbrella and softbox, the next purchase is usually a beauty dish, and then other esoterica such as ring-flash. Personally, I'd suggest that one of the first light modifiers anyone should get, is a small or medium sized gridded strip-box. A strip-box is narrower than the usual soft boxes, and the grid really helps contain the light spread. So you now have the ability to get relatively soft light, but Read more inside...Harder light sources in the studio – Flash & Continuous light
Harder light sources in the studio - Flash & Continuous light
With the recent photo session with Ulorin Vex in the studio, I played with variations of using harder light and using shadow as part of the image's composition. The first setup was similar to a previous photo session in the studio with Anelisa: smaller light = dramatic light. Ulorin Vex easily fell into poses well suited to this idea of using the shadow as part of the image's design. For this final image, I used a textured overlay to enhance the sun-drenched look. I also wanted to hide the texture of the wall a bit Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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