Tangents

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Best photography purchases of 2018

December 21, 2018 Neil vN 39 Comments

Best photography purchases of 2018

The regular end-of-the-year post about the best (and worst) photography purchases always sparks interest, with many others chiming in on what they bought the past year, whether for fun or professional work. I forever seem to hover between sensible purchases that are necessary to advance ... and just sheer indulgence. Here are some of what I think were my wisest investments ... all the way down to some dubious side-tracked choices. Notably about the gear I purchased, 2018 was the year where I "retooled" somewhat to be able to shoot more video, and  Read more inside...

review: Sony A7 iii mirrorless camera

December 16, 2018 Neil vN 9 Comments

review: Sony A7 iii mirrorless camera

This has been an exciting year for photographers with the landscape shifting quite a bit with many new cameras releases following the market's demand towards mirrorless cameras. The one camera that set a new standard for affordable quality, was the Sony A7 iii camera (B&H / Amazon). With this 24-megapixel mirrorless camera, Sony brought flagship quality and features to an affordable price level. In this review of the Sony A7 iii, we will look at the things that put this camera at the forefront. Sony went all-out with this camera  Read more inside...

recap: NYC photo walk – photography workshop, Brooklyn Waterfront

December 2, 2018 Neil vN 2 Comments

recap: NYC photo walk – photography workshop, Brooklyn Waterfront

Teaching a flash photography workshop on a grey day, I was disappointed that it was so overcast and miserable - and that I wouldn’t be able to properly explain how to balance flash with strong sunlight with an actual example - but then the sun popped out! This is part of the adventure of an on-location workshop such as the NYC Photo Walks - you just don't quite know what you'll get on any given day since the environment can change. Techie stuff: Lighting is with the Profoto B1 on a monopod, and the Profoto OCF 24”  Read more inside...

Photographing with available light only

November 28, 2018 Neil vN 6 Comments

Photographing with available light only

While photographing dancer, Anna Russell, in this side-street in New York, I noticed those splashes of light against the wall. These little pools of light were from sunlight reflecting off nearby windows. I wanted to see if we could have Anna hit one of those in mid-air. What also helped was the general direction of light in this area - it mostly came from the main road to the left of the frame, since we were shooting in a narrow street with tall buildings. The main splash of light on her was sunlight reflecting off this window of a building  Read more inside...

Instagram – neilvn / Tangents

November 23, 2018 Neil vN 3 Comments

Instagram - neilvn / Tangents

I have consolidated all my Instagram accounts to just a single account - neilvn. When I first joined Instagram back in 2011, it was a fun way to explore the world around me. Stripped down to a just the very basic camera on my iPhone, it came down to the essential elements such good composition and interesting moments, to create images that would last. Images that had an artistic sensibility to them that would elevate them above mere snapshots, even if taken with just a camera phone. When Instagram developed into something more serious as a way for  Read more inside...

Time-lapse photography project with multiple cameras

November 21, 2018 Neil vN 1 Comment

Time-lapse photography project with multiple cameras

Earlier this year I shared details of one of the more involved time-lapse photography projects that I had been tasked with - multiple cameras over 3 days - Time-Lapse Photography project in New York: Cipriani. I recently shot another fairly involved time-lapse photography project for an agency that was creating a promotional video for MLB. The concept behind this was that they had 5 artists painting 6 murals of the 6 most likely drafts for MLB this season. The agency had a team there shooting video, and I had to do time-lapse  Read more inside...

review: Profoto B10 flash

October 30, 2018 Neil vN 16 Comments

review: Profoto B10 flash

As promised in the First Look review, here is the proper video review of the Profoto B10 flash  (B&H / Amazon) - putting this versatile flash through its paces during a photo shoot with a model in New York. Hopefully the video shows just how elegantly versatile the Profoto B10 is - it's a powerful little flash, and is also a powerful video light. The video light capability should excite any wedding photographer. During this photo shoot, we tried the flash as well as the video light aspect of it. I didn't run through the dry  Read more inside...

Using an external intervalometer for time-lapse photography

October 27, 2018 Neil vN 4 Comments

Using an external intervalometer for time-lapse photography

A night-to-day time-lapse shot from our apartment window when we recently visited Toronto. I wanted to travel lightly on this trip, so I took my  Sony A7 iii camera (B&H / Amazon) and the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 (B&H / Amazon). And just in case, I also packed the lightweight Siriu 1004X traveler tripod with E-10 ball-head (B&H), since I anticipated doing some low-light photography, and perhaps even some time-lapse photography. At the time, Sony, in their infinite wisdom, somehow didn't have  Read more inside...

video: On-location headshots – two perspectives

October 18, 2018 Neil vN 2 Comments

video: On-location headshots - two perspectives

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...

Photo session with the Profoto B10 flash / video light

October 14, 2018 Neil vN 10 Comments

Photo session with the Profoto B10 flash / video light

The real appeal of the Profoto B10 flash  (B&H / Amazon), isn't just that you have a powerful (yet compact) flash - the extra appeal is that you have a powerful video light as well. This makes it easier to change it up during a photo session. As light levels fall, you could go from using the flash to using the video light ... without having to change your light source. Let's have a look at some examples from a recent photo session - which took place after a surprise proposal!  I had arranged with Rachit  Read more inside...

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