Tangents

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Tips for posing your subject during a photo session

September 7, 2019 Neil vN 5 Comments

Tips for posing your subject during a photo session

Too often, when I am being photographed, I notice one major flaw in how the other photographer interacts with me during the photo session -- they lose connection. They will take a shot, and then spend too long checking the image. Then after that, every other shot is interrupted by looking at the playback screen. Not only is it annoying to the person being photographed - the continuity is lost. Using this photo of Rozalinda as an example - while she looks magnificent, and is supremely easy to pose and interact with, it depends on  Read more inside...

Award-winning time-lapse photography

September 4, 2019 Neil vN 12 Comments

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Photographing headshots in a small space

August 15, 2019 Neil vN 5 Comments

Photographing headshots in a small space

This headshots photo session for a large corporate client, started off as a bit of a challenge -- they wanted half-length seated portraits against a white background. Because the room they put me in was a bit too tight, I set everything up at an angle, so that I could shoot from outside the door to get a proper working distance. I would have had enough room here if I only had to do tight headshots, but the client wanted half-length seated shots, and the space was too small for that if I wanted an even background. I wanted to avoid the need  Read more inside...

Photography as meditation

August 12, 2019 Neil vN 2 Comments

Photography as meditation

Since photographers don’t really have weekends to chill, I try and take a midweek “weekend day” to chill. For me, there is a certain meditative quality to just walking around, finding scenes and things to photograph. Photography in this way becomes an almost Zen-like experience -- you are focused but without the stress of concentrating. It allows for detachment, while still creating. This is also where the value of personal projects comes in. I find it hard to relax when I am truly doing nothing - I have to be involved with something. I appreciate the  Read more inside...

Photographing the Hot Air Balloon Festival

August 8, 2019 Neil vN 2 Comments

Photographing the Hot Air Balloon Festival

It is an adventure to be experienced - going up in a hot-air balloon. The most recent time was at the NJ Festival of Ballooning this year, as part of a photo group, arranged by Unique Photo here in NJ. If you haven’t been, check Unique Photo’s schedule for the next one (next year), as well as all the other photo activities and outings they arrange. The first time I went for a hot-air balloon ride, was as a surprise arranged by my friends when I visited South Africa in 2014. For that trip, I only brought along a Fuji  Read more inside...

Creative studio portraits with continuous lighting – two perspectives

August 4, 2019 Neil vN 2 Comments

Creative studio portraits with continuous lighting - two perspectives

When my friend, Marco Leibetseder, a commercial photographer in Germany, came to visit, it was time to play in the studio again. Continuing within the theme of 'Two Perspectives' we decided on using only continuous lighting in the studio, and see how we could create portraits that had a bit of depth to them, rather than just being straight-forward renditions of the person in front of the camera. We decided the theme should be: Creative studio portraits with Continuous Lighting. The concept behind the Two  Read more inside...

Photography scam / how photographers are scammed 

July 27, 2019 Neil vN 29 Comments

Photography scam / how photographers are scammed

The over-payment scam is such a pervasive scam, that you might think everyone has heard about it, and is immune to it. Yet, I often enough see this come up as a question in a Facebook group - where a photographer is unsure if an enquiry is a scam. Most often they are. This is how these advance-fee scams work, and how photographers are scammed: The scammer will overpay you, and you have to pay the difference to another vendor, whether the florist or model, or whatever. There is no florist / model / whatever - the other vendor is in  Read more inside...

Direction of light – Using available light in the studio

July 24, 2019 Neil vN 2 Comments

Direction of light - Using available light in the studio

This striking portrait of Rozalinda was lit by big window light in the studio. In using light - whether studio lighting or available light - you need to consider the direction of the light. You need to figure out how you want to place yourself and your subject in relation to where the light is coming from. Your own position in relation to the light and your subject, will significantly change the way the light appears on your subject. Check this article for an example: Change your position, change the direction of light. With  Read more inside...

Lens review: sharpness – Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM vs Sony 85mm f/1.8

July 10, 2019 Neil vN 1 Comment

Lens review: sharpness - Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM vs Sony 85mm f/1.8

Which is the better choice -- the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM (affiliate) or the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 (affiliate) -- it's a question that comes up regularly in the Sony discussion groups and FB groups. The short answer - you would be very happy with either option. In this review though, we are going to consider the sharpness of both lenses. Email me if you want to There is also a link where you can download the RAW files for yourself to have a closer look. I took photos of the lens test chart in my studio,  Read more inside...

review: Ronin S gimbal

June 30, 2019 Neil vN 2 Comments

review: Ronin-S gimbal

When shooting video, there quickly follows a desire to make it look as cinematic as possible - smooth video that doesn't shake. I truly despise shaky-cam. Gimbals that allow fluid motion were once outside the realm of what we could easily afford ... but it is now very much an accessible option for all of us. And right now (2019), the Ronin-S gimbal (B&H / Amazon) is the most attractive option out thereto get smooth video. The Ronin-S is exactly what I needed in a gimbal. Easy to set up, and use. Adaptable with many user options, all  Read more inside...

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