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85mm f/1.4 portraits in the studio

January 13, 2014 Neil vN 30 Comments

Studio portraits with an 85mm f/1.4 lens

Shooting portraits with fast lenses for that distinctive shallow depth-of-field look, works in the studio too. In fact, it works exceptionally well. But it is perhaps an unexpected way of working in the studio - the usual way is to work with apertures in the range of f/8 or f/11 for great depth-of-field and superb image sharpness. That super-fast aperture portrait lens - such as the 85mm f/1.4 - really focuses the attention exactly where you want it …  Read more inside...

Portraits with continuous lighting – Westcott Spiderlites

December 18, 2013 Neil vN 3 Comments

Portraits with continuous lighting - Westcott Spiderlites

This striking portrait of Lauraine is a combination of that sparkling mischievousness … and on the techie side, the selective focus of a wider aperture lens, and the flexibility of continuous lighting. The f/1.4 deliciousness of an 85mm – the best lens to change your portrait photography - really brings her eyes to attention. During this part of the photo session in the studio, I decided to use continuous lighting. Lauraine is new to modeling for the camera and working in the studio, and the lack of flashes popping, helped  Read more inside...

Headshot photography in the studio

November 18, 2013 Neil vN 11 Comments

Headshot photography in the studio

Mike is an actor / musician friend of mine, who also works with the Modern Gypsies at times. We recently updated his headshots with a session in and around the studio. As a working actor in New York, he has appeared on stage, as well as some spots on television. Amusingly enough, while shooting outside the studio against the warehouse building's facade facing the main street, a young boy, walking past us with his mom, turned around and asked Mike, "Are you famous?" Of course we couldn't disappoint the kid. Being a character actor, and shooting  Read more inside...

Studio photography: Low-key lighting for a dramatic portrait

October 3, 2013 Neil vN 9 Comments

Studio photography: Low-key lighting for a dramatic portrait

Randy has a look reminiscent of Ava Gardner, so I asked her to be a subject for my book, Lighting & Design. I wanted to create a portrait of Randy in the Hollywood Glamor style of lighting, similar to the vintage styled boudoir photo session (with Olena). And it looked great! But while I had someone so photogenic and with such dramatic styling, I wanted to take further photos of Randy, and she happily indulged me. For one of the setups, I wanted to explore again using the Profoto beauty dish (affiliate) as a  Read more inside...

Thoughts on using a beauty dish (light modifier)

September 18, 2013 Neil vN 23 Comments

Thoughts on using a beauty dish as a single light source

A beauty dish is one of those light modifiers that sound attractive just by name already. And when photographers start exploring other options than direct off-camera flash and umbrellas or a softbox, a beauty dish is usually one of the first alternate light modifiers that catches attention. Mine too. Right after I bought my first Profoto kit, I purchased a beauty dish for it and started exploring using a beauty dish. A beauty dish is ideally used at a closer distance for portraits, with the light "focused" on the face,  Read more inside...

Simple lighting setup with speedlights & white seamless backdrop

June 11, 2013 Neil vN 19 Comments

A simple lighting setup with speedlights & white seamless backdrop

A question on the Tangents forum asked about setting up and using two SB-910 speedlights against white seamless. It's a topic we've covered in a previous article - a simple lighting setup for studio photography - but it might be good to revisit this again. The article on that simple lighting setup with two speedlights, explained our choice of camera and flash settings in detail, so we'll only briefly cover it this time. Still, a different explanation from a different angle might trigger new ideas and questions.  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...

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...

Continuous lighting – Westcott Spiderlite TD6

March 21, 2013 Neil vN 16 Comments

Continuous lighting - Westcott Spiderlite TD6

The beauty of continuous lighting, such as the  Westcott Spiderlite TD6 (B&H / Amazon) , is that you can see exactly how the light falls on your subject. It is easier now to nudge your lighting to the best position, as well as your subject in how they should move or pose. The Westcott Spiderlites can take a softbox, which gives you beautiful soft light. The downside of these lights, are that they usually aren't very powerful. Unless you are working with a tripod, you'll have to rely on higher ISO settings and wide  Read more inside...

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