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simple on-location lighting techniques – reflector & flash

February 23, 2010 Neil vN 46 Comments

Chuck Arlund is a Fashion photographer based in Nashville whose work constantly impresses me.  As a friend, I occasionally have the privilege of getting to interrogate him on his technique.  What surprises me every time then, is the simplicity of his lighting.  His setups are rarely complex, but always effective.  I feel quite fortunate that he agreed to a guest spot this week to explain more about his approach to on-location lighting. (Chuck also offers workshops and mentoring sessions.)

simple and effective on-location lighting techniques

a guest post  Read more inside...

my take on Nikon’s flash settings – TTL vs TTL BL

February 22, 2010 Neil vN 23 Comments

Nikon flash system - TTL vs TTL BL

Nikon’s TTL flash system is generally accepted as being quite exceptional.  The camera and speedlight working together according to various algorithms to control the flash exposure.  The TTL flash exposure will depend on various factors - the tonality of the subject and scene; the brightness of the scene;  and how the camera interprets the sections of the metering pattern.  The other factors quite possibly also includes data from the lens. How these factors inter-relate, we can only guess at.  We can make educated guesses; and many photographers  Read more inside...

photo session: Jeannie Dee

February 20, 2010 Neil vN 6 Comments

photo session: Jeannie Dee

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of photographing Jeannie D, a well-known South African TV personality.  Actually, "well-known" is an understatement - she's a bit of a star. The shoot was for the cover of Top Billing magazine.  The cover image had specific requirements for the setup of the scene - a Manhattan apartment, with a view of the city in the background. I'll post more of the actual cover shoot later on, but in the meantime wanted to show some of the portraits of Jeannie D that I got in between the TV crew setting up, and the setting being  Read more inside...

wedding photography ideas – going above and beyond …

February 15, 2010 Neil vN 8 Comments

This week's guest blog post is by a Calgary wedding photographer, Mark Pawlyszyn.  Mark's style in his wedding photography has steadily become more impressive over the course of just a few years.   As such I am very honored that he agreed to a guest spot on the Tangents blog.

wedding photography - going above and beyond

a guest post by Mark Pawlyszyn Before I start into the main area of my blog article, I wanted to say that I really admire what Neil has done here. Tangents has always been one of the best resources around for learning flash and  Read more inside...

review: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II

February 7, 2010 Neil vN 44 Comments

review: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II

I've been very happy with the older 70-200mm f2.8 VR telephoto zoom.  Even even though the edges are softer than the center, it never bothered me.  With weddings, I am mostly only interested in the center portions of the image being super-crisp.  Similarly, the vignetting didn't bother me.  I usually add more vignetting in post-processing anyway. Still, I ordered the new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II (affiliate). My first impression - it is a beautiful lens! Doing a few test shots around the house, and was immediately  Read more inside...

alive for 365 – week 4 – cute phone box

January 28, 2010 Neil vN 10 Comments

I am sure the designer of this phone box intended for it to have this distinctly cartoon-like face.   When I saw this, it instantly drew my attention.  It really looked to me like a constantly-surprised wide-eyed face.  Something out of Disney's animated movie, Beauty & The Beast.  This then is my choice then for this week's entry in the Alive for 365 project. The photograph had some Photoshop work done to it to give it much more snap than the straight-out-of-the-camera version.  Oh, and the lighting was bounce flash with available light ...  Read more inside...

Flash photography tips – Start with the ambient exposure

January 24, 2010 Neil vN 13 Comments

Flash photography tips - Start with the ambient exposure

An icy cold day in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan ... and a brave model that insisted on going bare feet during this Photo Shootout in New York.  There were many familiar faces in today's group amongst the new. Thank you to everyone who came up to me to introduce themselves, or re-introduce themselves. I gave some instruction on some of the basics of manual off-camera flash to the group. We worked with a Q-flash and a softbox (and sometimes without the softbox), and a bunch of Pocketwizards that I handed to anyone in  Read more inside...

lighting for boudoir photo sessions

January 19, 2010 Neil vN 26 Comments

lighting for boudoir photo sessions

The one type of photo session where I work the most at getting my lighting just right, is with a boudoir session. These intimate photo sessions can be quite a challenge since you have to get a variety of looks in a short time.  For this you have to not only concentrate on posing and angles, but also concentrate on the lighting.  On top of that, you have to make sure your model or client is comfortable and relaxed at all times. The session has to be fun and really show her off at her best. I bring a variety of lighting equipment to these shoots -  Read more inside...

Advantages of a higher max flash-sync speed

January 17, 2010 Neil vN 15 Comments

Advantages of a higher max flash-sync speed

A typical scenario we face, photographing people in bright sunlight - we have to add flash to balance them against the much brighter background. The thought-process or algorithm in deciding on camera settings, is carefully explained in this article: Controlling bright daylight w/ direct off-camera flash. What max flash sync speed is, and why understanding the impact of max flash sync speed is on balancing flash with ambient, is explained in that tutorial: Max flash sync speed. Now that we have all that under our knee, the question might  Read more inside...

flash & low ambient light – adapting during an outdoor wedding ceremony

January 11, 2010 Neil vN 41 Comments

wedding photography: flash and low ambient light - adapting during the shoot

I'm often asked what I would do when I encounter a situation where you need to use flash, but there is no easy way to bounce flash.  My flippant answer is ... you're screwed! Well, not really. My advice is that you have to improvise and in some way of finesse your use of light.  In tough situations, you still want to try and shy away from using direct on-camera flash whenever possible.  Direct on-camera flash as the main source of light is rarely aesthetically the best choice.  Read more inside...

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