Using a gridded stripbox as the main light
Using a gridded stripbox as the main light
As I show in the video clip how to use gridded strip boxes as the main light, I love how I can flexibly shape the light falling on and around my subject. Specifically in the studio, I mostly use the large gridded Profoto 1’x6 strip-box (B&H / Amazon). It is simultaneously capable of dramatic light and soft light. Or an interesting combination of that. More than that, I can vary the interplay between light and shade, by how I swing the softbox around, or rotate it. I often do this while shooting so that I continuously Read more inside...Tangents – a 10-year anniversary
Tangents - a 10-year anniversary
The Tangents blog has an anniversary of sorts around now - it's been 10 years since I posted the first series of articles on flash photography. Ten years! Ten incredible years of consistently adding more material, and refining the existing material. In terms of longevity, this website surely has to be up there amongst only a few other photography websites. This is a little bit of a self-high-5 ... but it is also a really big thank you to everyone who has helped over the years, whether with advice or by posting questions, keeping this website Read more inside...Bounce flash off a dark ceiling
Bounce flash off a dark ceiling
A recurring topic on Tangents is how to bounce flash in pretty extreme situations. With a related article - bounce flash outdoors with a reflector - I showed some images from an event at a New York restaurant. I intensely dislike direct, hard on-camera flash. Yet, this venue had all kinds of corners, and no place to effectively place off-camera flashes on light-stands. The venue had an interesting ceiling. And with "interesting", I mean tough. The ceiling was dark, with black panels at different angles. Here are photos of the ceiling and walls, to Read more inside...Bounce flash outdoors with a reflector
Bounce flash outdoors with a reflector
There are occasions where you really need to work fast with flash - time might be tight, or it might just be too cold outside to linger. After photographing John's surprise 50th birthday party, John and Stacie and I went outside to Columbus Circle for portraits of the two of them. After the high of the party, I wanted to keep the momentum as well by working fast. And since it was mid-November in New York, it was nearly certain that the late night air would be nippy. I didn't want to use direct on-camera flash - I wanted that diffused Read more inside...Personal photography projects & goals for 2016
Personal photography projects & goals for 2016
While I was compiling my list of Best photography purchases of 2015, I went back to another post from a year ago - Personal photography projects for 2015 - and I realized I had done none of these. None. Zip. Mostly, it is that in the quieter winter months it is easier to plan these things ... and then as the new year progresses, work and commitments escalate. I simply ran out of time and opportunity to do these things - or became involved with other projects and events. Some of these ideas mentioned in the 2015 post, transpired Read more inside...Flash photography – Changing the background color with gels
Flash photography - Changing the background color with gels
One of the biggest challenges when working in a studio, is that you're essentially shooting in a plain rectangular box. When photographing portraits, the two obvious ways out of that is to create an interesting (or complementary) background, and then to create interesting (or flattering) lighting. The lighting itself need not be complex. For this series of portraits of Olive, I used the gridded 1' x 6' softbox. By swinging it horizontally or vertically (or diagonally), I can change the way the light falls on my subject Read more inside...guest post: Attitude – a life legacy
One of the side-benefits of maintaining a site such as Tangents, is that I get to meet a wide spectrum of people from across the world, whether in person or via phone or email. One of the most interesting emails I received recently was from a photographer in South Africa - Johannes van Graan. From 1994 to date he has been practising internationally in the fields of nuclear and mining project management in which photography in all its forms plays a pivotal role. For the past five years he specialized in very specific areas of engineering forensics and is currently the CEO of an organisation Read more inside...
Best photography purchases of 2015
Best photography purchases of 2015
Last year's post on the best (and worst) photography purchases turned out to be quite popular. So many responses! Some needed to vent a bit, and also declare their love for favorite pieces of photo gear. In the same way, looking back over this past year, I'm sure you too are happy with some of your purchases, but inevitably, there will also be those purchases you regret. For myself, this was the year I decided I was going to calm down a bit with buying new gear - but then, plans change. Looking towards expanding what I do, I had to acquire some Read more inside...Tilt-shift lens vs perspective correction in Photoshop / Lightroom
Tilt-shift lens vs perspective correction in Photoshop / Lightroom
Using the Lens Correction / Transform tools in Lightroom and Photoshop, you can make quite radical changes to the perspective of a photo. You can change and skew the vertical and horizontal lines easily, and convincingly. Since it is now much easier to to correct for leaning vertical lines when photographing buildings with a wide-angle lens, I thought it would be a good comparison to use a Tilt-Shift lens and optically correct for the verticals, versus doing so in Photoshop or Lightroom. For comparison images, I Read more inside...- « Previous Page
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