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How to photograph lightning

November 10, 2007 Neil vN 3 Comments

How to photograph lightning

The breathtaking sight of lightning splitting the evening sky has to be one of the more dramatic subjects to photograph... and also surprisingly easy. A vivid burst of purple lightning over this store, framed by the arch of the veranda I was sheltering under, contrasts perfectly with the yellow cast of the artificial light. Of a series of 10 photos I took here, there were 2 usable images with lightning.  The strong color cast are from the street-lights, and having used daylight-balanced film. April '91 .. Colesberg; South Africa Pentax Super-A;   Read more inside...

Directional light from your on-camera flash

October 25, 2007 Neil vN 55 Comments

Directional light from your on-camera bounce flash

Most often when photographers start using their flashguns out of the directly-forward position, they move the flash head to point 45’ or 90’ upward. The idea here is to bounce flash off the ceiling. Even though this is an improvement in most cases over using the flashgun pointing directly forward, this is also most often not ideal. We can improve on this. If we consider how studio lights are set up, we’ll rarely see a light source directly overhead of our subject. Top lighting just isn’t as flattering as light coming in from an  Read more inside...

Photography: Finding the light

September 12, 2007 Neil vN 55 Comments

Photography: Finding the light

I've been so inspired by the various photographers at seminars and magazine articles, telling everyone to just look for the light and to find the light. So many photographers just use available light, and make the rest of us who aren't blessed with perfect light like they have in la-la-land, feel so inadequate. It is our failing as photographers if we can't find the light and use it properly. I felt I had to rise up to this and push myself as a photographer, and just look for the light.  It is there to be found! Inspired like that, I approached  Read more inside...

Developing your photographic style – the necessary photo gear

September 7, 2007 Neil vN 7 Comments

Developing your photographic style - the necessary photo gear

A constant debate that I see online is whether a specific piece of equipment is justifiable.  And whether it is justifiable in terms of a business decision.  The discussion typically centers around something like the eternal, "What will the 85mm f1.2 give me that the 85mm f1.8 won't? And is it worth $1000 more?" But I feel that in phrasing the question like that, the real effects that equipment choice have on our style are disregarded. I firmly believe that: Style should always be evolving, borne from our choices and  Read more inside...

My entire website has been ripped off!

September 1, 2007 Neil vN

My entire website has been ripped off!

You know you've arrived when other photographers start ripping off your images and text from your website. I was double lucky here - my entire website was appropriated by another photographer. How I discovered this - a friend let me know that when googling my name, there is a link that comes up with another photographer's website.  So I checked it, and sure enough - there it is with some of my images, and a copy of the original HTML-based design of my website, One Perfect Moment, as it appeared at the time. My entire website ripped  Read more inside...

Using the histogram to determine exposure

July 31, 2007 Neil vN 78 Comments

How to use the camera's histogram for exposure metering

Histograms display the relative levels of the darker to brighter tones. As the histogram stands, it isn't of much direct use to us, since the tonality of the scene that was captured will dictate what the histogram shows us .. without a direct indication of whether exposure is correct. Some will say that a histogram should have an even bell-shaped curve, but this is too simplistic.   A light toned subject against a white wall will show a much different histogram that a dark toned subject against a dark wall .. even though the  Read more inside...

Flash photography & Fireworks

June 14, 2007 Neil vN 3 Comments

Photographing fireworks, using flash

Generally, you wouldn't use flash to photography fireworks. But when you have someone in the foreground, then it becomes useful to have your subject lit up with flash, to balance them with the background (the fireworks display.) Photographing people with fireworks in the background, is just an application of the technique known as dragging the shutter. I had the couple in an area where there wasn't much ambient light, so that I could light them mostly with flash. The strobe was a Quantum T2 with an umbrella, used in manual. My flash exposure  Read more inside...

Tightening the hotshoe on the Canon 1D series camera

June 3, 2007 Neil vN 17 Comments

Tightening the hotshoe on the Canon 1D series camera

If your hotshoe on your Canon 1D series camera has become loose, it is an easy fix! Somehow the 4 little screws that hold the hot shoe to the camera body can wriggle loose over time, causing the flashgun to wobble. This can even lead to poor contact between the flashgun and the camera. Fortunately, to fix this, all you need is a set of jeweler's screwdrivers.  Read more inside...

Repairing the Canon 580EX hotshoe foot

May 31, 2007 Neil vN 94 Comments

Repairing the Canon 580EX hotshoe foot

Since the 580EX has a plastic foot, it is very easy to snap it off in the camera's hotshoe. The photo above shows the typical damage sustained. The repair is simple, and the cost of the part from Canon's Service Center. The part nr is: CY2-1227-000 Replacing the broken foot is relatively easy:  Read more inside...

Using filters to protect your lenses

May 31, 2007 Neil vN 9 Comments

Using filters to protect your lenses

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why using a UV filter on your lens is a good idea. Usually. Some times. The strange thing is, I have NO idea when this happened during a shoot at a reception venue where I was doing room shots and detail shots. Most of the times I was using two cameras, with the other one slung over my shoulder. At some point I lifted the camera to my eye and noticed rainbow colored diffraction patterns across the image. My immediate reaction was .. huh? My lens is THAT dirty? And then I checked and saw the actual  Read more inside...

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Recent Comments

  • Alicia Poling: Same one contacted us. Hello, i’m Sandra, I got your details from the internet and am wondering...
  • Adrian Jones: Great post Neil. I use the Profoto B2 with the OCF Beauty Dish on location & totally agree that the...
  • Neil vN: Nothing unusual. I do use the “Camera Standard” profile in Lightroom / Bridge, because that...
  • Greg: Hi Neil, Can you share any tips on editing files from original X100? These are by far the best pictures from...
  • Neil vN: Dan, Canon doesn’t offer a similar quick work-around like that. It is also how I have my Nikon cameras...

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