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85mm f/1.4 portraits in the studio

January 13, 2014 Neil vN 30 Comments

Studio portraits with an 85mm f/1.4 lens

Shooting portraits with fast lenses for that distinctive shallow depth-of-field look, works in the studio too. In fact, it works exceptionally well. But it is perhaps an unexpected way of working in the studio - the usual way is to work with apertures in the range of f/8 or f/11 for great depth-of-field and superb image sharpness. That super-fast aperture portrait lens - such as the 85mm f/1.4 - really focuses the attention exactly where you want it …  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Using video light for macro detail photos

January 8, 2014 Neil vN 10 Comments

Wedding photography - Video light for macro detail photos

With the details photos of the wedding rings, I generally resort to on-camera bounce flash for enough light ... and for interesting light. Sometimes though, I mix it up by using video light instead. Here I used an LED video light (affiliate). What I love about this LED video light, is that the White Balance can be changed from Incandescent to Daylight. This helps you blend the additional light to that of the existing ambient light where you are photographing the subject. The need for smaller apertures with macro  Read more inside...

Photographers who are too lazy to be original

January 7, 2014 Neil vN 17 Comments

Photographers who are too lazy to be original

This is one of the most ironic things about wannabe professional photographers - while they invariably claim to be original and artistic, they flounder when it comes to writing text for their websites. Then they fall back on the old cntl-C / cntl-V trick, or in this example, be just as lazy and stay with what appears to be the generic text on a website template. Just click on the image above, and be astonished. Count the pages and then be even more astonished. The long and the short of this is that there is no short-cut. Do your own  Read more inside...

Multiple speedlight / flashgun mounting bracket

January 2, 2014 Neil vN 11 Comments

Multiple speedlight / flashgun mounting bracket

I use a multiple flash mounting bar during workshops where I need to have a diverse number of setups running simultaneously, but something more compact is also useful. In that article, I listed other flash mounting devices that allow multiple speedlights to be hooked up on one light-stand. Since then, I've discovered this triple flash mounting connector - Triple Flash/Umbrella Mount (affiliate) -  and it is superior to  others that I've tried. What sets the Triple Flash/Umbrella Mount (affiliate) from other similar  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Big bounce flash

December 23, 2013 Neil vN 34 Comments

Wedding photography - Big bounce flash

In photographing groups with weddings, I have a preference to keep the light soft and even. This makes posing a large group easier, since you don't have to worry about odd shadows. A big light source, just off to my side, is the simplest way of lighting this. Previous articles described how to do this with speedlights and an umbrella. (Check links at the bottom of the article.) Often enough though, you'll find yourself in a scenario where one or two speedlights just don't have enough juice, and then you need to bring out something bigger and  Read more inside...

Portraits with continuous lighting – Westcott Spiderlites

December 18, 2013 Neil vN 3 Comments

Portraits with continuous lighting - Westcott Spiderlites

This striking portrait of Lauraine is a combination of that sparkling mischievousness … and on the techie side, the selective focus of a wider aperture lens, and the flexibility of continuous lighting. The f/1.4 deliciousness of an 85mm – the best lens to change your portrait photography - really brings her eyes to attention. During this part of the photo session in the studio, I decided to use continuous lighting. Lauraine is new to modeling for the camera and working in the studio, and the lack of flashes popping, helped  Read more inside...

Use light & lighting to add impact to your photos

December 16, 2013 Neil vN 22 Comments

Use light & lighting to add dramatic impact to your portraits

Simplifying your composition is generally a really good way to add impact to your photos - remove visual clutter, and draw the viewer's eye to what's essential. But there's a converse challenge to this - when you have a location that isn't necessarily that interesting , how do you add more impact? Light and Lighting is an obvious way to do this. Create impact and drama in how you add light to the scene, and light your subjects. A recent article discussed this in relation to off-camera flash: using off-camera flash  Read more inside...

Wedding photography: Bounce flash indoors … in the limo

December 11, 2013 Neil vN 9 Comments

Wedding photography: Bounce flash "indoors" … in the limo

This is a reminder that when you have a high-contrast situation such as when photographing the bride and groom inside the limo - then using on-camera bounce flash is your easiest way to control the lighting. Simply bounce your flash behind you into the limo. Even with the dark interior and fittings inside a limo, enough light should spill back to lift the shadow detail. The trick here of course is to expose correctly for the ambient light, if possible. With the camera settings then dictated by the ambient light coming  Read more inside...

85mm – The best lens to change your portrait photography

December 9, 2013 Neil vN 79 Comments

85mm - The best lens that could change your portrait photography

If that hat seems familiar, yes,  Elle was the model in the series of photographs for the Nikon Df review article. For some of the sequences of photos that we shot, I used the 85mm lens, wide open. This had the effect of just melting the background. You can pretty much shoot anywhere, and make the background look good and non-intrusive. While a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens can be even more effective in controlling the background, the shorter focal length, an 85mm lens can make this somewhat easier in some respects.  Read more inside...

Camera review: Nikon Df – the steampunk D4

December 5, 2013 Neil vN 34 Comments

Camera review: Nikon Df - the steampunk Nikon D4

The anachronistically retro styling of the Nikon Df  (B&H / Amazon), along with the digital trappings, really makes this the steampunk D4. Especially so since it has the same top-notch sensor as the Nikon D4 (affiliate) If you have used a film camera, and specifically one of the F-series cameras, this camera will catch your eye. It's obvious that Nikon is aiming at the same sector of photographers who found the Fuji X100s (affiliate) so appealing. That vintage look and styling definitely brings a  Read more inside...

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