Brian Friedman is an event and publicity photographer based in NYC. When I first became acquainted with Brian and his work, my reaction was, "damn! I wish I could shoot this type of work." Looking at his website, you'll see the kind of gigs that Brian shoots - interesting and diverse. Quite exciting. Brian was gracious enough to describe the behind-the-scenes activity of a recent photo session: “Kitten Bowl 2014”
Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens
Boudoir photography with the 50mm lens
With shooting space often times so tight for boudoir photo sessions, there is the temptation to use a 50mm lens for tighter headshots on a full-frame D-SLR. Instead of stepping back a bit and using an 85mm lens or longer, a bit of visual laziness comes into play, and we rely on the 50mm lens too much. It really is too short a focal length for a tight portrait. I think many photographers are even too in love with their 50mm lenses, and use it without thought of how this would distort someone's face when used too close to their subjects. I Read more inside...Environmental portraits – Speedway racer
Environmental portraits - Speedway racer, Courtney Lefcourt
When Courtney's mom first contacted me, she told me that Courtney is a race-car driver and that the camera loves her. Intrigued, I met up with her family at the Bethel Motor Speedway for on-location portraits of Courtney. To find out more about Courtney, check out her Facebook page, Courtney Taylor Racing. So the challenge here was two-part. The sun was very bright since it was 3:30pm in the afternoon. The other challenge is that while speedway racing might be an exhilarating sport to watch, the speedway race-track isn't Read more inside...85mm f/1.4 portraits in the studio
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...- « Previous Page
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