Tangents

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Studio lighting: Ringflash as a single light-source

March 20, 2013 Neil vN 21 Comments

Studio lighting: Ringflash as a single light-source

I have a confession to make about ring-flash, especially when it is used as a single light-source. I've never been a fan. I've never liked the stark over-lit look that it produces. Even in images that are supposed to be edgy and trendy. I've seen some incredible examples where the ringflash is part of a multi-light setup, with the ring-flash doing a just little bit of the work. But I haven't yet seen an image where the ring-flash was the only light source (or dominant light source), where the photo has set my world  Read more inside...

Lingerie photo session in the studio

February 18, 2013 Neil vN 13 Comments

Lingerie photo session in the studio

During this same photo session with Olena - the first in my new photography studio space - we also worked with just the studio flashes. Actually, this part of the photo session was first. An easy setup just to get things rolling. We used two lights here - the main light was a Profoto D1 head in the massive Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella  (B&H / Amazon). It's an easy light modifier to use, since it gives a wrap-around light that is very forgiving. Forgiving to how the photographer places the light, and also forgiving to the  Read more inside...

Lingerie photo session: Video light & Studio flash

February 14, 2013 Neil vN 8 Comments

Lingerie photo session: Video light & Studio flash

Olena is a wonderful model that I love working with because of her natural instinct for posing. So for a test shoot in my new studio space, she was an easy choice. (Here is Olena's model mayhem portfolio.) We shot several outfits, using different lighting setups. This one is interesting because of the simplicity of the setup - using a gridded Profoto RFi 1’×4? softbox (affiliate) to control the light, and a Lowel ID-Light (affiliate) as a back-light to give that warm glow to her hair. It really helped enhance  Read more inside...

Colored gels with flash photography

January 6, 2013 Neil vN 24 Comments

Colored gels with flash photography

I met Jessica Joy during a photo shoot-out in Las Vegas last year when a group of photographers and models met up. She was there as both a photographer and a model. We had discussed doing a proper photo session some time in the future ... and then Jessica got news that her husband will be stationed abroad in a few months from now. So we decided that *now* was the time to do this. With winter-time in New Jersey and New York just too cold to comfortably do a photo shoot outdoors, we settled on doing it as a studio shoot. I bought two sets of  Read more inside...

Studio photography – Lingerie photo shoot

November 28, 2012 Neil vN 5 Comments

Studio photography - Lingerie photo shoot

Aiming for a sensual mood somewhere between Lingerie, Fashion and Art, I tried various lighting setups in the studio to get to the feel and look that I envisioned. I've worked with Carly Erin on other personal photo shoots before, and knew her playful and bold personality would help a lot with this photo session. I ended up with a large light modifier for my main light - the  Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella  (B&H / Amazon). The advantage of using a large light source, is that your subject has more freedom to move - you  Read more inside...

Behind the scenes video – Photo session with Ulorin Vex

September 19, 2012 Neil vN 18 Comments

Photo session with Ulorin Vex - BTS video

The video clip is a behind-the-scenes view (with some techie info) of the photo session with Ulorin Vex. This photo session was also the first time I tried out the Nikon D800, and I also got to play with my Profoto D1 studio light (500 Ws) (affiliate), for the first time. An exciting day.  Read more inside...

Studio photography: Low-key lighting variations

September 18, 2012 Neil vN 8 Comments

Studio photography: Low-key lighting variations

The mood and simplicity of low-key lighting make it especially effective. So when Ulorin Vex appeared out of the dressing room with this black dress, I knew it would work very well with a low-key set-up in the studio. We had set up the darker background for previous outfits, but for this black dress, the simplified lighting - just a Profoto beauty dish (affiliate) - worked especially well. There were two lights behind her to show off the curves against the dark background.  The gridded softboxes are exactly the same as shown  Read more inside...

review: Westcott 7′ Parabolic Umbrella

August 16, 2012 Neil vN 15 Comments

review: Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella

Continuing the photo session with Ulorin Vex in the studio, I decided to swap out the big Profoto 4x3 softbox, for an even larger (but very affordable) light modifier - the Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella - white  (B&H / Amazon). Two things that immediately struck me about the Westcot Parabolic Umbrella ... it's sheer size when folder open. It is 7 feet if measured across the span of the umbrella's arc. And when it is folded up, it is surprisingly compact and light-weight. It collapses to a 43.6" size, and fits snugly  Read more inside...

High-key studio lighting (part 2)

August 6, 2012 Neil vN 12 Comments

High-key studio lighting for portraits (part 2)

Continuing the photo session with Ulorin Vex, doing high-key studio portraits in the studio, she changed into a different costume. I wanted a more interesting edge definition than just the light spilling back from the background, so I added two gridded softboxes to each side ...  Read more inside...

High-key studio lighting for portraits

July 31, 2012 Neil vN 21 Comments

High-key studio lighting for portraits

One of the models that replied to my casting call for a model at my workshops in San Francisco in 2011, happened to be Ulorin Vex. I immediately recognized her, since I've seen photos of her in various portfolios. I was both surprised and very happy, since I regarded her as a bit of a superstar. I scheduled a photo session with her for the day after the two workshops in SF, and the images from those sessions appeared a few times on Tangents, and I'd consider them among the best work I had ever done. It helps to have an inspiring model! Ulorin  Read more inside...

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