video: Creative studio portrait session - two perspectives
Continuing with the loose theme of 'Two Perspectives', I invited my friend Dave Block into the studio during one of his visits to New York from Seattle. The concept behind the initial Two Perspectives video was that I get to meet upwith a fellow photographer, and that something might be revealed in the contrasting styles and ideas during some kind of photo shoot - hopefully informative and of wider interest. The 1st video was the intimate male portraiture shoot-out with my friend Cate Scaglione. The 2nd video was with Tracy Read more inside...
I like the concept behind the initial Two Perspectives video so much that I wanted to continue with that idea - myself and another photographer discussing and mostly, photographing something. Hopefully in that there will be a video that is informative and of wider interest. The 1st video was the Intimate male portraiture shoot-out with my friend Cate Scaglione.
For the next Two Perspectives project, I contacted my friend Tracy Bosworth Page - an outstanding Georgia-based photographer who specializes in headshot photography. She is Read more inside...
Before we get into this review of the Canon 470EX-AI speedlite (B&H / Amazon), I need to mention that I wanted this review video to be more than just a listing of the features of this flash. We therefore also delve into bounce flash technique. So there is something here even for those photographers who don't shoot Canon, or have no real interest in getting this flash. So please do check the video out.
I was really curious to get to play with the Canon 470EX-AI speedlite (B&H / Amazon) for a review, Read more inside...
How to set up wireless flash with the pop-up flash
In starting to use off-camera flash, there are some minimum pieces of gear we need. Such as this gear list – starting out with off-camera flash. We don't necessarily need to buy radio triggers immediately. Many new cameras with a pop-up flash, has the ability to have the pop-up flash be a master to optically trigger a slave flash. This is especially helpful if you are on a budget. Later on, when the limitations of optical slaves start to hamper us, can we look at buying radio triggers.
Radio controlled wireless triggering of a Read more inside...
One advantage that the larger speedlights have over the smaller speedlights - aside from more power - is that they show the distance the flash can reach for the specific settings. This video is a continuation of the off-camera flash tutorial series. What is described in this video is also written out in more detail in this article: Practical tutorial: Controls for manual flash exposure. If manual flash seems confusing, then I would recommend checking that article out as well, and then look at this video tutorial on manual flash settings again. It Read more inside...
Off-camera flash tutorial - Off-camera flash on location
Continuing on from the previous off-camera flash tutorial, we explore balancing ambient light with off-camera flash. With this video tutorial, we use a speedlight in a softbox, and we look at using TTL flash. There is a certain simplicity when we work with TTL flash in a non-static situation - we allow the technology to help us get to proper flash exposure quickly. More about this in the article on Manual flash vs TTL flash.
We start off just using the available light for a few headshots of our model, Anelisa. The next step Read more inside...
Off-camera flash tutorial - Balancing flash with ambient light
In the previous off-camera flash tutorial, we started at the elemental level where we did not have to consider ambient light. This helped us in understanding a few of the basics. Ultimately though, where off-camera flash will be used most, is on location where you have to consider the ambient light as well. With this tutorial video, we look at how we would go about balancing flash with ambient light.
With this segment, we cover the essentials such as:
· Using maximum flash sync speed.
· Flash exposure Read more inside...
Off-camera flash tutorial - Flash with no ambient light
This tutorial about off-camera flash, is one of the segments in a series on how to use off-camera flash in a simple scenario - where there is no ambient light. This is a good introduction to the topic. In the next tutorial video, we will consider how we go about adding off-camera flash when we work with ambient light.
With this introduction, we cover the essentials such as:
· Basic gear you would need for off-camera flash.
· How we decide on our settings - in this case, it is really easy. We decide what aperture and ISO Read more inside...
The most adaptable and versatile continuous lighting setup currently might well be the Spekular LED lights (B&H / Amazon). They come as a set of four LED sections (11.8" x 1.57") that can be connected in different ways - as panels or strips or geometric shapes. You decide. The Spekular website shows some of the options. The specifications of the Spekular LED kit only gives a dry idea of what these are capable of. Therefore, with this video review of the Spekular, I wanted to show some of that adaptability, and how these lights might be Read more inside...
Profoto has a very strong reputation in the industry for making gear that are reliable, easy to use, powerful, and, well ... looks really good. When Profoto entered the market a few years ago with the portable Profoto B1 flash (affiliate), and then the Profoto B2 flash (affiliate), it was inevitable then that at some point they would make a grand entrance with a speedlight style flash. With this review of the Profoto A1 flash (affiliate), I wanted to show more how I would use it, than just cover the specs of the flash.
I met up with Read more inside...
