Tangents

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Photo gear for sale (and some for free)

January 10, 2020 Neil vN Leave a Comment

Photo gear for sale (and some for free)

It is time again to clear out the shelves in the studio, and sell various pieces of photo gear - cameras, lenses, flashes and a bunch of random stuff. Have a look around. I'm only selling in the continental USA, and the shipping will be via UPS ground.    

Lastolite Ezybox 24 x 24

This sells for around $130 on B&H. I would like $80 for it, excl shipping. It is unused. Then there is this Lastolite Strobo Beauty Box - click through on the image for the larger version. It is like the Ezybox but with a  Read more inside...

Themes & context in Boudoir Photography

June 26, 2015 Neil vN 7 Comments

urban boudoir photography, NYC

Themes & context in Boudoir Photography - on the streets of NYC

The model in this striking image is my friend, Jessica, a boudoir photographer. Her pose is intentionally this strong and assertive. The concept here is part of an on-going project she had planned for a long while now. She had asked me to collaborate with her in taking the photos. The main idea behind the project (and these are my words and interpretation of what we had discussed) - women are objectified in society, but there is a disconnect in how people respond (or don't) to provocative posters and images of  Read more inside...

Photography book – Direction & Quality of Light

February 4, 2015 Neil vN 30 Comments

photography book: Direction & Quality of Light

Photography book: Direction & Quality of Light

When Direction and Quality of Light was released in March 2013, it felt like an even bigger achievement than my previous two books. Here I share many of the "aha!" moments which took me years to completely grasp - that at the heart of it, every aspect of photographic lighting is dependent on understanding the direction and quality of light. I do believe this book can make a difference to your photography. I'm that confident about it. All the more amazing to see that 2 years later, this book is still bouncing up and  Read more inside...

Fun with the Kodak PIXPRO SP360 action video camera

February 3, 2015 Neil vN 4 Comments

Fun with the Kodak PIXPRO SP360 action video camera

The kind people at Kodak sent me a Kodak SP360 action camera to try and see what I could create with it. Essentially this is a compact 1080p HD video camera which you can attach to things to take wide-angle action video clips. Perfect if you want to take breath-taking videos while scuba diving or free-falling from planes or being involved in all kinds of daring action. It would also be perfect as a dash-cam if you want to capture the next time a meteor comes soaring through Earth's atmosphere. I don't scuba dive. (I live in New  Read more inside...

review: Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash

January 27, 2015 Neil vN 92 Comments

review: Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash

review: Bolt VB-22 barebulb flash

These are good times for photographers who love using off-camera flash. There are more and more options coming out for us to choose from and use. B&H has rebranded their own version of a popular series of flashguns. The Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash (B&H) looks like the Cheetah Light CL-360, and the Godox Witstro AD360, and the Neewer AD-360. They all seem to have similar spec. So if you've been browsing for any of those options, B&H has the Bolt VB-22 flash at a competitive price. For the photo at the top, I had my camera set  Read more inside...

After Dark photography education

April 19, 2014 Neil vN 10 Comments

After Dark photography education

This photograph was taken at one of the stations at the After Dark workshops. Two strip lights on either side, freezing this acrobatic performer doing jumps on his board. Pretty wild, I think. "Pretty wild" would also sum up the general experience of attending the After Dark workshops.  This is where After Dark differs from other workshops and conventions, in my opinion.  Just a simple description of the workshop as being 3 days of a series of seminars and demonstrations, doesn't quite encompass it ...  Read more inside...

Behind-the-scenes video clip – Photo shoot w/ Ulorin Vex

March 30, 2014 Neil vN 8 Comments

Video clip: behind-the-scenes during photo session w/ Ulorin Vex

I've posted some of the images from the recent photo session in my studio, with Ulorin Vex - and here is the behind-the-scenes video clip. The instructional stuff will be in the related articles - this is more of a glimpse of the rhythm of the shoot in the studio.  Read more inside...

photography – inspiration, learning, and then adjusting & adapting

February 23, 2014 Neil vN 10 Comments

photographic style - inspiration, adjusting & adapting  (model: Ulorin Vex)

Photography has a never-ending learning curve. I think this is even more true as the technology expands and accelerates. Sometimes I feel that we're running at full speed just to remain at a stand-still. That's just the technology that we have to acquire what we need to know about to do our work and art the best. But even with the techniques and methods we have as photographers - we should always be investigating and analyzing the work of others, learn, and then rework and adapt it in our own style. Even  Read more inside...

review: Sony Alpha a7R camera

February 21, 2014 Neil vN 11 Comments

review: Sony Alpha a7R camera

Sony is still on fire with their new camera releases. There is the delicious full-frame compact  Sony RX1 (Amazon).  (Read my review of the Sony RX1).  For a relatively long while, the best compact camera on the market was the Sony RX100 (Amazon) which was improved with the Sony RX100 II (Amazon). The full-frame Sony A99 DSLR also received great reports.  So no doubt about it - Sony makes great cameras. Another trend that has gained momentum in the last year or two - Mirrorless cameras. Without the bulk of the mirror and  Read more inside...

Use light & lighting to add impact to your photos

December 16, 2013 Neil vN 22 Comments

Use light & lighting to add dramatic impact to your portraits

Simplifying your composition is generally a really good way to add impact to your photos - remove visual clutter, and draw the viewer's eye to what's essential. But there's a converse challenge to this - when you have a location that isn't necessarily that interesting , how do you add more impact? Light and Lighting is an obvious way to do this. Create impact and drama in how you add light to the scene, and light your subjects. A recent article discussed this in relation to off-camera flash: using off-camera flash  Read more inside...

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