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fill-flash .. or not

September 24, 2009 Neil vN 10 Comments

whether to use fill-flash, or not

With the recent video clip where I showed some of how I work with a couple, during an outdoor photo session, several people commented on not seeing my flash go off every time I take the shot. And the question was, when do I decide to use fill-flash and when not. With the image at the top, you could see my flash firing during this sequence in the video clip.   The light falling on them wasn't even, although the light falling on Jen's face was even.  So I felt I needed to use a touch of fill-flash.  Here I had flash exposure compensation set to -5EV  Read more inside...

video clip – photo session with Jen & David

September 11, 2009 Neil vN 13 Comments

photo session with Jen & David

Jennifer and David met up with me on their first anniversary of  their wedding for a photo session in the same place where we had their engagement photo session - Skylands Manor in Ringwood, NJ.  What I really like about the estate grounds is that it offers such a variety of beautiful settings for portrait sessions.  Here is a video clip of the photo session as another glimpse in how I work with my clients and look for opportunities and angles to give my client a variety of images. Here are a few of the images from the session that were used in  Read more inside...

when your flash fails to fire ..

August 27, 2009 Neil vN 22 Comments

[ click on the image to see a larger version ] What do you do with an image that is under-exposed but there is a certain moment that you love? Well, perhaps you get lucky that when you convert it to B&W and crank up the exposure and embrace the noise / digital grain ... and all this adds to the mood and in this case even poignancy of the moment. Here is the original unedited image of the bride dancing with her dad ...  Read more inside...

shutter speed choice with flash

August 19, 2009 Neil vN 31 Comments

choosing your shutter speed when using flash

A question that I was asked via email, that I thought would be of interest to everyone: When using ambient light, I understand that you set your exposure using the camera's manual mode, then use flash to fill in. My question, when your shutter speed goes below that usually used hand-held, do you count on the speed of the flash to produce a sharp image or go to tripod or monopod? Or, increase either ISO or f-stop until you reach and acceptable shutter speed? This is entirely correct in that I usually increase my ISO or open my aperture,  Read more inside...

Video light portrait

July 29, 2009 Neil vN 20 Comments

A portrait of Amy, one of our models at the recent workshop in Brighton, UK.  Here we used a single video light on her. I love the dramatic quality the light imparts, and how you can flag the light with the barn-doors to create a specific fall-off to the light in the background.  The strong vignetting helps in giving it that dramatic look. In figuring out the direction of light, and how to place the video lighting, I am largely guided by way the shadow of the subject's nose is falling across her face.  I then direct the model and the person who holds the light, to move slightly if  Read more inside...

working with a sequence of images ..

July 21, 2009 Neil vN 10 Comments

I received a great comment on this image from a recent engagement session I photographed, and I thought I'd expand a little bit on the technique and way of working with a couple. Jeffrey Steele wrote: Heck of a capture!  The bokeh is awesome.  Not sure if it was intended but the brightness of the red and yellow lights behind each couples heads has a dramatic play from left to right forcing the eye to center right in on the couple. I especially enjoy seeing the engagement stuff as its tough to get creative with that sort of thing. These look great, I am sure they are very excited about  Read more inside...

NYC photo sessions – Sarah & Mark

July 7, 2009 Neil vN 41 Comments

New York photo session - Sarah & Mark

I have already posted several images from the extended photo session with Sarah and Mark - but here is the epic video.   The intention with these photo sessions was to expand Sarah's portfolio as much as we could. We started off at Coney Island, doing a session with Sarah and Mark at the edge of the beach with Sarah in swimwear .. and from there it went into more of a lifestyle shoot with the two of them on the boardwalk.  Later on we had Sarah run towards the camera in sportswear.  But we rained out with a massive thunderstorm rolling in  Read more inside...

the progression of an idea ..

July 3, 2009 Neil vN 22 Comments

[ click on photo to see a larger image ]

the progression of an idea during a photo shoot; incl the use of off camera flash

Because of the positive comments I've had to the recent addition of video clips that show a glimpse of how I work, I thought I'd show the progression of an idea.  Not just how the actual image was made, but how the idea progressed. The photo above of Sarah and Mark at Coney Island, is from the day-long photo session where we went to different locations in New York.  Where this image above started, was in a previous sequence ..  Read more inside...

3 NYC photo sessions

June 30, 2009 Neil vN 20 Comments

NYC photo sessions with models

I met up with 3 models in New York recently for a photo session with each.  The intention was to try out different lighting techniques, different equipment .. and just to have fun and see what we can come up with. First we roamed the Meat-packing District and Greenwich with Aleona and Laura Lee, and then later on met up with Sasha in Brooklyn.  This video clip will be a glimpse of working with three gorgeous models in an ever-fascinating city. Enjoy! I think what might be interesting with this video, is to see the wider view in relation to the  Read more inside...

NYC photo-shootout redux

June 14, 2009 Neil vN 18 Comments

Another photograph from the recent NYC photo shootout.  We were a group of photographers working with Lea during this part of the afternoon.  There are several parts in what makes an image successful - the subject, the setting, lighting and then the post-processing. There are limitations in working as a group with a model.  So where I would've preferred shooting with a longer lens to compress the perspective more, you sometimes have to accept the situation.  In this case, the setting wasn't ideal, and there was a fair amount of background clutter.  Therefore this might be a good time to to  Read more inside...

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