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Using the Canon EOS 6D in movie mode

March 4, 2013 Neil vN 15 Comments

 

Using the Canon EOS 6D in movie mode

To test the Canon EOS 6D camera (B&H / Amazon), and the Canon 24-70mm f4.0L IS lens (affiliate), I met up with Anastasia Z in New York. She had such presence and confidence, that while shooting stills of her earlier in the day, I had an idea of a video sequence we could do. And with that, here is an overview of how well the Canon 6D fares as a video camera. So when the light levels starting falling this afternoon, we went to Times Square, which is always insanely lit up by the numerous billboards. An ever-changing  Read more inside...

Make your personal photography more than just snapshots

February 27, 2013 Neil vN 33 Comments

Make your personal photography more than just snapshots

This just might be my most favorite photo of my daughter, Janine. It's from 2003 when she was 9 years old. I was trying out my new Nikon D100, reveling in being able to instantly see any photos I took. We were outside in the garden area of the apartment complex we lived in at the time. With a long focal length, I concentrated on capturing her expression, and some element of who she was at the time - that interesting blend of confidence and shyness ... and a fortunate dose of just indulging her dad with the new  Read more inside...

Lingerie photo session in the studio

February 18, 2013 Neil vN 13 Comments

Lingerie photo session in the studio

During this same photo session with Olena - the first in my new photography studio space - we also worked with just the studio flashes. Actually, this part of the photo session was first. An easy setup just to get things rolling. We used two lights here - the main light was a Profoto D1 head in the massive Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella  (B&H / Amazon). It's an easy light modifier to use, since it gives a wrap-around light that is very forgiving. Forgiving to how the photographer places the light, and also forgiving to the  Read more inside...

Lingerie photo session: Video light & Studio flash

February 14, 2013 Neil vN 8 Comments

Lingerie photo session: Video light & Studio flash

Olena is a wonderful model that I love working with because of her natural instinct for posing. So for a test shoot in my new studio space, she was an easy choice. (Here is Olena's model mayhem portfolio.) We shot several outfits, using different lighting setups. This one is interesting because of the simplicity of the setup - using a gridded Profoto RFi 1’×4? softbox (affiliate) to control the light, and a Lowel ID-Light (affiliate) as a back-light to give that warm glow to her hair. It really helped enhance  Read more inside...

How to mount multiple flashes / speedlites

February 9, 2013 Neil vN 21 Comments

How to mount multiple flashes / speedlites

Quite often, a single speedlight just isn't enough. You need more! You might need a smaller aperture than the single speedlight would provide (even at full power), or you might be battling very bright ambient light. High-Speed Flash Sync doesn't help you in that case. Then you need to add another speedlight. The mount / bracket that I settled on is the  RPS Light Bar with Four Accessory Shoes RS-3102 (affiliate). It is a bit unwieldy, especially when you have 4 speedlights mounted. But when you need it, you need it. It is this  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Lighting large groups with a large light

February 8, 2013 Neil vN 12 Comments

Wedding photography - Lighting large groups with a large light

Relating to the article positioning your flash for the wedding formals, where the family portraits and groups where photographed with a single umbrella and two speedlights, the question then inevitably comes up - what do you do when you need to photograph a large group of people. The obvious answer is - you need a lot more juice! You either need to add more flashguns, or use a more powerful unit. As a wedding photographer of Indian weddings, I know that I will be dealing with huge groups of people. And that means a  Read more inside...

Wedding photography: Positioning your flash for the formals

February 7, 2013 Neil vN 22 Comments

Wedding photography: Positioning the lighting for the groups & formals

In setting up the lighting for wedding formals in the church, the question often crops up - where do you place the lights. How far from your subjects do you place the lights. The photograph above shows how and where I place the flash with the umbrella - about 3 pews in, just behind me or to my left (or right). This is approximate though. Two pews in would be fine. Of course, if you're shooting the wedding formals elsewhere in a different location, just use the same idea. The closer you bring the light,  Read more inside...

Video tutorial : Direction & Quality of Light

January 31, 2013 Neil vN 61 Comments

Video tutorial : Direction & Quality of Light

Thank you to everyone that came out to the presentation at B&H’s Event Space. It was jam-packed! That’s always a big compliment. The photo was on B&H’s Instagram feed, and was taken in the minutes before the presentation started. And no, it’s not my doh! facepalm realization that I’ve forgotten something. The topic of the presentation was – Direction and Quality of Light – and it is based on the material in my new book. I do think this presentation was solid, and going by the stream of questions, very well received.  So  Read more inside...

Finally, my own studio space!

January 30, 2013 Neil vN 45 Comments

Finally - my own studio area.

Today has been an exciting day - I signed the lease on a large studio space. I've been sharing studio space the last year, but it's become obvious over time (even before then), that I really, really need my own space. My own studio, and my own office area away from home. And here it is - the studio as it is now. Two iPhone photos just to show what it is. It is huge, and as you can see, lots of window light. And it's just 10 minutes' drive from my home here in New Jersey. I'm obviously very pleased with this. The studio space will hopefully be the  Read more inside...

Flash photography tips and ideas

January 29, 2013 Neil vN 26 Comments

I met German photographer, Tilo Gockel / fotopraxis, during one of his visits to New York. Seeing this photo on his blog recently, immediately reminded me of my recent first attempt at playing with colored gels and flash .. except that he did it better! So I asked Tilo if he'd translate his article for us into English. It's always good to get another angle on doing something. There are a couple of good tips and ideas in there. Thanks Tilo!  

Flash photography tips and ideas

a guest post by Tilo Gockel Hi everyone, I feel very honored that Neil  Read more inside...

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