Tangents

photography tutorials, reviews & workshops

tangents photography blog
learn : discuss : share
  • Tangents
  • Tutorials
    • Flash Photography
    • Wedding Photography
    • Studio Photography
    • Posing People
    • Understanding Your Camera
    • Exposure metering
    • BFT
    • Best Photo Books
  • Reviews
    • Sony
    • Nikon
    • Canon
    • Fuji
    • Profoto
    • lighting gear
  • Workshops
    • Info: Workshops
    • In-person
      tutoring sessions
    • Online
      tutoring sessions
    • Workshops in
      New Jersey (NJ)
    • Workshops in
      New York (NYC)
    • Photo walks in 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.)
  • Projects
    • Two Perspectives
    • B&W Infrared
    • Vintage lenses
    • Time-lapse photography
  • Info
    • About
    • Contact
    • My Photo Gear
    • Books by NvN
    • Join us on Facebook
    • Acclaim
    • Success Stories

review: Litepanels MicroPro LED Video Light

September 13, 2010 Neil vN 31 Comments

review: Litepanels MicroPro LED On-Camera Light

I've been using the Lowel ID-Light whenever I wanted the specific effect that a video light gives when used for stills photography.  The not-so-gradual fall-off in the light's spread gives a dramatic quality to images. However, the Lowel ID-light can feel clumsy with the handle and battery pack that needs to be attached via the thick power cable. So I've been looking at various options to replace it ... or at least use at times that I need something compact and simple. Enter the Litepanels MicroPro LED video light (B&H) ...  Read more inside...

Photoshop contest – another great version

September 9, 2010 Neil vN 5 Comments

Two fantastic entries to the recent Photoshop contest came from Marcia Gold, who runs a post-processing and retouching service. She said she entered just for fun, and didn't want to be eligible for the prize. I am taking the liberty of showing her two images here anyway, since they are outstanding takes of the original image ...  Read more inside...

Photoshop contest winner

September 9, 2010 Neil vN 12 Comments

I'm happy to announce the winner of the Photoshop contest from last week.  The winning entry was submitted by Hanssel Galeano, and he will receive the $50 B&H voucher for this effort. Before I let Hanssel explain his process in editing the image, here is the original again for comparison ...  Read more inside...

Photoshop contest

September 2, 2010 Neil vN

updated Sept 09, 2010: The contest is now closed. Here is the winning entry, as well as another notable entry. Thank you to everyone who entered! One of the images I took during the recent photo session with the Modern Gypsies, was this photo above. With all his antics, I had asked him to jump against the wall as if he was going to scale it. It looks pretty cool ... but the mundane urban background pulls this potentially surreal image back to normality. A little bit anyway. Then I imagined it as him scaling an impossibly high wall, rising up from an unseen area below. Pretty cool  Read more inside...

Photoshop tips – retouching for portraits

August 24, 2010 Neil vN 62 Comments

Photoshop Tips - retouching for portraits

When retouching portrait photographs, I have a certain look that I (currently) like - a slightly 'polished' look, but still natural. Definitely not 'plastic'.  With a few steps in Photoshop, and a few steps that I may or may not add, I can easily get to the styling in post-processing that I want.  Some of the steps are specific, but others are added depending on taste or 'feel'.  Some of the steps involve Photoshop plug-ins which are essential for me ...  Read more inside...

photography: direction of light & choice of background

August 20, 2010 Neil vN 7 Comments

posing your subject - direction of light & choice of background

Reinforcing the ideas from a few previous posts, we're going to look at that intersect where everything comes together: - direction of light, - choice of background, - posing your subject, - positioning yourself. When we work with our subject - whether a family member or a model or anyone we're photographing - then we have the opportunity to control at least a few aspects to make the final photograph more successful.  Read more inside...

best lenses for wedding photography

August 18, 2010 Neil vN 69 Comments

wedding photography - best lenses

With this recent review of the Nikon 24mm f1.4 the question came up about which lenses I use when photographing a wedding, and how I use them. How do you juggle the various lenses you have for weddings and decide which ones to bring to a wedding and when to use them? Do you carry them all and just use them when you feel, or do only take specific lenses knowing what the wedding/venue will be like and know in advance that you will certain lenses at various times during the day? Choosing which lens to use while photographing a wedding, is obviously an  Read more inside...

On-camera TTL fill-flash

August 10, 2010 Neil vN 76 Comments

On-camera TTL fill-flash

With this recent photo session I didn't have an assistant with me to hold a softbox.  I therefore relied on on-camera fill-flash where necessary, and careful positioning of the couple, Renee and David, to control the light. With the two photos above I used different amounts of flash exposure compensation (FEC), for more pronounced, or for more subtle fill-flash.   In the photo on the left, I used FEC of -3 EV on the Nikon D3 and SB-900 combination.  This is about the same as -1EV with the Canon flash system. For the image on the right, I was  Read more inside...

Digital noise reduction software: Neat Image

August 7, 2010 Neil vN 27 Comments

Digital noise reduction software: Neat Image

The best way to deal with digital noise in photographs is to start with having a correctly exposed photograph taken by a high-ISO capable camera. Then digital noise mostly isn't an issue unless you start pushing the upper limits of what the camera is capable of. But sometimes (hopefully only sometimes), you have to deal with an under-exposed photograph from an older camera ... and then the digital noise becomes apparent. Then we have to use software to clean the image up. For those times when I do have to deal with an image with  Read more inside...

favorite recent images – portraits of a bride

July 25, 2010 Neil vN 36 Comments

I frequently post a favorite image from the past weekend.  This time, I'd like to post a few images.  All are portraits of the bride, Denise, on her wedding day.  This might show some of my approach and style in wedding portraits ...  Read more inside...

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • …
  • 20
  • Next Page »

categories

Articles & Tutorials

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

All rights reserved. Copyright © Neil van Niekerk 2026 · Customization by The Traveling Designer

Copyright © 2026 · NvN on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in