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Flash photography with a grid

October 17, 2013 Neil vN 2 Comments

Flash photography: using a grid with a speedlight

During this photo session with Austin, I wanted to get a spot-light effect on, similar to that of a video light. Now, I have played around with various speedlight grids before, but never liked the result. Speedlite grids generally they concentrate the light to the extent that the direct light from a speedlight, becomes too concentrated and hard. For dramatic light, I really like the look of a video light, with that dramatic quality to the light, and with more defined shadows. I do want that fall-off in the light as the light spreads  Read more inside...

Off-camera flash for wedding portraits on the beach

October 14, 2013 Neil vN 21 Comments

Off-camera flash for wedding portraits on the beach

I had the great pleasure of photographing Sarah and Antonio's wedding in Santa Monica, California. For the romantic portrait, we went down to the beach in the late afternoon. With the pier in the background, and with the sun (even at 5pm) still beating down, the photos were going to look vibrant, with that sun-drenched look. Beautiful. When I posted the photos in an album on Facebook, a number of people asked me about this (and other photos), and how I photographed them. The technique is quite straight-forward, as described in  Read more inside...

Using video light for romantic portraits of the bride & groom

October 10, 2013 Neil vN 15 Comments

Using video light for romantic portraits of the bride & groom

One of my favorite photos of the day. Why can't wedding portraits of the bride and groom be a little bit sexy? When I went back to the bridal suite during a quieter moment in the wedding reception to fetch some gear I had left there earlier, I had this thought that mmmm, yes! romantic portraits of the bride and groom on the bed in their suite. This might just work! So I called Julia and Louis back to the the bridal suite at the venue, and we did a sequence of images using video light. I'm a big fan of video light  Read more inside...

Studio photography: Low-key lighting for a dramatic portrait

October 3, 2013 Neil vN 9 Comments

Studio photography: Low-key lighting for a dramatic portrait

Randy has a look reminiscent of Ava Gardner, so I asked her to be a subject for my book, Lighting & Design. I wanted to create a portrait of Randy in the Hollywood Glamor style of lighting, similar to the vintage styled boudoir photo session (with Olena). And it looked great! But while I had someone so photogenic and with such dramatic styling, I wanted to take further photos of Randy, and she happily indulged me. For one of the setups, I wanted to explore again using the Profoto beauty dish (affiliate) as a  Read more inside...

A passion for photography

October 2, 2013 Neil vN 33 Comments

Do you have a passion for photography?

Are you truly passionate about photography? Great. But I need to have a quiet word with you about that, because here's the thing - no one cares. Truly, no one cares that you have a passion for photography. Probably not even your mom by now. Ever seen a guitarist shred like crazy? A glass-blower carefully creating delicate art pieces? Or a dancer performing gravity-defying moves? Yes? Well, do you think they have passion? Sure they do. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing what they are doing, at the level they are doing it at. But do they insist  Read more inside...

Off-camera flash – Two speedlight setup for back-lighting

October 1, 2013 Neil vN 34 Comments

Off-camera flash - Two speedlight setup for back-lighting

Once you're comfortable using a single off-camera light-source, such as a softbox (or un-diffused flash), there's an easy next step to add a little bit of zing to the image. Rim-lighting! I most often work with just a single softbox when photographing portraits on location. Having the sun behind your subject, creates a natural rim-lighting. This helps separate your subject from the background. It's not just the shallow depth-of-field that helps create that near-3D effect where your subjects just pops out from the background  Read more inside...

Photographing a vintage motorbike on location with Profoto lighting

September 23, 2013 Neil vN 19 Comments

Photographing a vintage motorbike on location with Profoto lighting gear

I'm getting to meet so many people while photographing interesting subjects for my book, Lighting & Design, that I was bound to meet some truly interesting characters. John collects vintage ... oh, everything. Most impressive in a way, is John's workshop where he maintains his two vintage era motorbikes and a Model A Ford. The tools in his workshop are all authentic to the era ... and they work. The way John describes it, it actually makes sense in the way he maintains  everything with hand-tools and lathes  Read more inside...

Thoughts on using a beauty dish (light modifier)

September 18, 2013 Neil vN 23 Comments

Thoughts on using a beauty dish as a single light source

A beauty dish is one of those light modifiers that sound attractive just by name already. And when photographers start exploring other options than direct off-camera flash and umbrellas or a softbox, a beauty dish is usually one of the first alternate light modifiers that catches attention. Mine too. Right after I bought my first Profoto kit, I purchased a beauty dish for it and started exploring using a beauty dish. A beauty dish is ideally used at a closer distance for portraits, with the light "focused" on the face,  Read more inside...

On-location corporate headshots – Efficiency and speed

September 16, 2013 Neil vN 29 Comments

On-location corporate headshots - Efficiency and speed

That's me, all set up for on-location corporate headshots last week. Five speed light & Softbox set ups, to be placed in a different area each, to efficiently give 5 different looks. My client wanted head-shots of a list of people, with varying backgrounds around their offices. And also with different sets of clothes. We decided that 5 different looks would work best, and give them variety. I considered the options I had. Two of them amounted to too much disruption: - dragging one light around, and setting it up every  Read more inside...

Photo session: Urban ballerina – Viktoria

September 9, 2013 Neil vN 5 Comments

Photo session: Urban ballerina - Viktoria

Late afternoon in New York, with the sun-light glinting off the glass buildings - dramatic light for a ballerina in an urban setting. However, the sunlight that was reflecting off the buildings wasn't consistent, and did not necessarily fall in a place where we could use it. So I created my own with an off-camera speedlight just out of the frame - but positioned so that it intentionally flared, and also gave beautiful rim-light on Viktoria. The pull-back shot shows how the speedlight was set up, and my own position, low down on the ground,  Read more inside...

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