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Fun with the Kodak PIXPRO SP360 action video camera

February 3, 2015 Neil vN 4 Comments

Fun with the Kodak PIXPRO SP360 action video camera

The kind people at Kodak sent me a Kodak SP360 action camera to try and see what I could create with it. Essentially this is a compact 1080p HD video camera which you can attach to things to take wide-angle action video clips. Perfect if you want to take breath-taking videos while scuba diving or free-falling from planes or being involved in all kinds of daring action. It would also be perfect as a dash-cam if you want to capture the next time a meteor comes soaring through Earth's atmosphere. I don't scuba dive. (I live in New  Read more inside...

An informal portrait with the 85mm lens

January 28, 2015 Neil vN 25 Comments

An informal portrait with the 85mm lens - Sarah S.

Like pretty much every photo geek that I know of, I carry a camera with me wherever I go, for my personal photography. Now when the photography isn't for an actual planned shoot or professional shoot, but just for fun walk-about - then the choice of gear somehow becomes more involved. What lens should I take - wide, normal or tele. Fixed or zoom. The bulk and weight become considerations - you don't want to schlep around too much gear. Creativity and motivation quickly dissipate when your back and feet start to hurt from a camera  Read more inside...

review: Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash

January 27, 2015 Neil vN 92 Comments

review: Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash

review: Bolt VB-22 barebulb flash

These are good times for photographers who love using off-camera flash. There are more and more options coming out for us to choose from and use. B&H has rebranded their own version of a popular series of flashguns. The Bolt VB-22 bare-bulb flash (B&H) looks like the Cheetah Light CL-360, and the Godox Witstro AD360, and the Neewer AD-360. They all seem to have similar spec. So if you've been browsing for any of those options, B&H has the Bolt VB-22 flash at a competitive price. For the photo at the top, I had my camera set  Read more inside...

book review: Creative Flash Photography, by Tilo Gockel

January 26, 2015 Neil vN 4 Comments

book review: Creative Flash Photography

book review: Creative Flash Photography, by Tilo Gockel

Tilo Gockel (website: FotoPraxis), is a German photographer who some might remember from guest articles that has appeared on Tangents. His article on innovative product photography on a budget – Diver’s Chronograph, was particularly impressive when you compare the results with the home setup. You might also know Tilo from various impressive posts in the Strobist group on Facebook. Prolific and innovative. The subtitle of this book is the best description of what you'd find inside: Great Lighting with Small Flashes: 40 Flash  Read more inside...

High-speed flash sync (HSS) with the Profoto B1 flash

January 25, 2015 Neil vN 35 Comments

High-speed flash sync (HSS) with the Profoto B1 flash

The already impressive Profoto B1 flash (B&H / Amazon) became even more awesome in Dec 2014 when high-speed flash sync (HSS) capability was added through a firmware update. The photo above was taken at 1/2000 @ f/1.4 @ 100 ISO. I wanted that super-shallow depth-of-field, and I wanted the light to be more flattering than you'd get from a bare speedlight. In this case, I used a Profoto RFi 1'×3' softbox (affiliate), with the Profoto B1. (I kept both baffles on the softbox.) The summary: it  Read more inside...

Business headshots in the studio with a contemporary, modern look

January 21, 2015 Neil vN 23 Comments

modern / contemporary business headshots in the studio

Business headshots in the studio with a contemporary, modern look

When Matt Sweetwood, the owner of the largest Camera Store in New Jersey, discussed doing new new business headshots for him, we agreed that a more contemporary look suited him. There's a large dynamic personality at work here ... and using an 85mm f/1.4 lens wide open would place attention on his eyes and his expression. Nothing else is really in focus aside from his eyes, and this really makes for a compelling portrait that grabs your attention. We shot various sequences, with the background brighter and darker.  Read more inside...

Flash photography: How far can you bounce your flash?

January 3, 2015 Neil vN 36 Comments

flash photography: how far can you bounce your flash?

Flash photography: How far can you bounce your flash?

The question regularly comes up: how far can you bounce your flash? The answer is quite straight-forward: It depends on the power of your flash, the bounce distance (and surfaces), ISO and aperture. Power, distance, aperture and ISO - the four things that control flash exposure. Yup, we can't really escape this. So how far can you bounce your flash? It depends on how far (and reflective) the surfaces are that you are bouncing your flash off; as well as how high you're willing to take your ISO and how wide you can take your  Read more inside...

Personal photography projects & goals for 2015

December 30, 2014 Neil vN 49 Comments

personal photography projects & goals for 2015

Personal photography projects & goals for 2015

With photography technology and trends changing more and more rapidly, something like a 5-yr business plan would be tough to draw up. Be successful and be awesome! That's about as far as you can aim ahead of you as a photographer. Still, as we enter a new year, it's as good a time as any to consider a forward-going path for personal photography and projects. Still, looking back at a similar post I made two years ago, amusingly perhaps, most of the intended projects didn't quite happen. Not yet anyway. This isn't so much plans  Read more inside...

Slideshow: Favorite wedding photos of 2014

December 26, 2014 Neil vN 8 Comments

favorite wedding photos 2014 slideshow

Slideshow: Favorite wedding photos of 2014

2014 was an incredible year with so much happening. I traveled around the north-eastern parts of the USA to photograph weddings - Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I even had the wonderful opportunity to travel abroad, where I photographed a wedding in Australia! Of course my photography involved the usual mix of portraits, families and headshots, as well as commercial work and corporate photography. For me though, weddings always stand out because they are such emotional experiences. As a thank you to  Read more inside...

Best photography purchases of 2014

December 17, 2014 Neil vN 93 Comments

best & worst photography purchases of 2014

Best photography purchases of 2014

Looking back every year, I'm sure you too are happy with some of your purchases you made in photography, whether gear or software or website related. Purchases that you love and made a difference to you as a photographer. But similarly there are also those purchases you regret. What was I thinking? I should've done my homework? In the past I've bought some spur-of-the-moment bad decisions. It is especially easy to get swept away at photography trade shows. But I've gotten better at it, especially unnecessary software purchases. So I am actually  Read more inside...

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