Tangents

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Basic photo retouching

January 22, 2017 Neil vN 3 Comments

Basic photo retouching

I do like the concept of 'getting it right in camera', but I am nowhere near being a purist about it. Before posting images online and in my wedding and portrait blog, I do some skin retouching and basic cleaning up. Before posting images for clients in a Facebook album, I also do some basic retouching. Mild skin retouching, and then cleaning up extraneous things that distract. Just a general sweetening of the photo. Nothing too labor intensive. Most photographs can benefit from some thought about how to clean it up a bit to give it even more impact by removing  Read more inside...

video: Stingray City, Grand Cayman

January 21, 2017 Neil vN 1 Comment

Stingray City, Grand Cayman

We took one of the organized trips out to the sandbar in Grand Cayman, where large groups of stingrays converge at what is known as Stingray City. Walking on the sandbar, you are surrounded by stingrays. (They come for the bits of squid that the tour groups bring.)  I've been told this should be on everyone's bucket list, and I agree.  It was an incredible experience for me since I've had a deep lifelong fascination for nature and animals. This is how I got into photography in the first place as a youngster - wanting to record the wild birds that I  Read more inside...

Which direction to bounce on-camera flash?

January 20, 2017 Neil vN 12 Comments

Which direction to bounce on-camera flash?

When photographing any kind of portrait with on-camera bounce flash, my main consideration is that I want flattering light. For example, this photo of the bride dancing with her dad, I want flattering light to illuminate her face. It should be obvious that I decided to bounce the flash towards camera-right, so that the light comes in from that direction. I don't want to light up the side of her head. I want to light up her face. This means that as the couple rotate, I will continually adjust the direction that I bounce my flash into. This  Read more inside...

Controversial photography

January 15, 2017 Neil vN 14 Comments

Controversial photography

Ever wonder how controversial it is to just write and maintain a photography blog?! You'd think that mainly writing about photography techie stuff should be a fairly non-controversial thing. And yet, in the by now 11 years this blog has been going, there've been some articles that unexpectedly created hefty reaction and discussion. Often over the most innocuous things. Sometimes because the topic is seen as a challenging one. That's me being controversial ... without even being political. Just photography! Here are the articles on the Tangents blog that  Read more inside...

The size and placement of studio lights

January 11, 2017 Neil vN 7 Comments

How the size and placement of studio lights affect the photos

Mateos, a model & fitness trainer, in the studio. More than just a fitness photograph (via dramatic light to show off his physique), I wanted these to be portraits as well of this athlete. With fitness photography, the approach is usually to have photos where you  show detail and contouring. This is usually done with more contrasty light - small light sources at an angle to your subject. To get the rim-lighting shown here, there was the typical setup of two gridded stripboxes to the side and behind Mateos. Pretty  Read more inside...

Reflector for portrait & headshot photography: Eyelighter

January 3, 2017 Neil vN 8 Comments

Reflector for portrait & headshot photography: Eyelighter

I've mentioned before how much I like using the Westcott Eyelighter for headshot photography. The first time I encountered the Eye-lighter (B&H / Amazon), was at the After Dark Edu photography conventions, and I was fascinated by this lighting device and the results it produced. There is a distinctive curved high-light that it gives to the bottom part of your subject's eyes. How much of a reflection, will depend on how you rotate and position the Eyelighter.    Read more inside...

Studio photo session: Yoga

January 2, 2017 Neil vN 5 Comments

Studio photo session: Yoga

With this portfolio shoot, we wanted to end up with sequences of photos that looked different enough - as if they were taken at different times, and even different locations. In between, Heather would change her outfits as well. We ended up with four distinctly different setups - two of which used studio lighting, and two which used available light only. With the two setups using studio lighting, the easiest way to make the lighting look different, was to use a big softbox or one setup (for softer light), and a gridded stripbox for another setup (for more  Read more inside...

Dynamic off-camera flash – New York elopement wedding

January 1, 2017 Neil vN 12 Comments

Dynamic off-camera flash - New York elopement wedding

This photo is my favorite taken during Ruth & Philip's New York elopement wedding in Central Park. The genuine affection between them as the couple hugged their children closer during the ceremony in the park. The essential element in photographing weddings is to capture the revealing moments and all the important points of the event. As a photographer, you can't skip a beat. That's a given. What you add to that in terms of composition and choice of lenses, and how you use light, (as well as post-processing), will define  Read more inside...

review: Fuji X-T2 camera

December 29, 2016 Neil vN 21 Comments

review: Fuji X-T2 camera

The  Fuji X-T2  (B&H / Amazon) is one of the most likable cameras I have ever handled, and up there with the best cameras. Ever. Fuji made immediate impact with their Fuji X-100 camera, which had sexy retro appeal, especially with the optical viewfinder. Since then, Fuji has released cameras which retain that kind of appeal, which culminated two years ago in the Fuji X-T1 - a camera which also really impressed me, as mentioned in my review: Fuji X-T1 camera. Now we have the Fuji X-T2 which in some ways, is a considerable jump up from the Fuji  Read more inside...

Best photography purchases of 2016

December 15, 2016 Neil vN 59 Comments

Best photography purchases of 2016

The lists of best photography purchases from previous years received a lot of interest and comments. The somewhat amusing thing looking back at those lists, is that I have since sold some of the equipment - I either upgraded, side-graded ... or changed direction. Such is the fluid nature of photography technology, and also running a photography business. Things change. Similarly, this year, there were several pieces of photo gear that I bought that I hope will make a difference. Well, better than just "hope", I plan on them making a  Read more inside...

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