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Bounce flash portrait – a consistent technique

February 22, 2012 Neil vN 54 Comments

Bounce flash portrait - a consistent technique

WPPI 2012 took place during the past week - as always, a crazy-hectic and exciting event. I once again presented a Master Class at WPPI. But I also took time to present a private mini-workshop to the first 3 people that signed up. We went over a condensed version of my full-day workshop, covering most of the material in the 4-hr long mini-workshop. Like last year, I called on my favorite model in Las Vegas, Shawna. Actually, she has since moved to L.A. but she was quite happy to make the trip back to Las Vegas to be our model. The  Read more inside...

Materials for the Black Foamie Thing

February 8, 2012 Neil vN 16 Comments

Materials for the Black Foamie Thing / Black Foamy Thing

More links to articles relating to the black foamie thing.  Read more inside...

Bounce flash photography & The Inverse Square Law

February 1, 2012 Neil vN 48 Comments

Bounce flash photography & The Inverse Square Law

After you're done noticing the decorated candles that the bride is holding while dancing with the groom (a tradition in Palestinian weddings), you may well notice how evenly lit this photograph is - from foreground to background. The people visible in the background seen there between the bride and the groom, are nearly as well lit as the bride and groom. Because this was on-camera bounce flash, the background will be brighter than may have been anticipated. If I had used direct flash, or flash with a diffuser cup or bounce  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Using bounce flash outside

January 10, 2012 Neil vN 31 Comments

Wedding photography - Using bounce flash outside

When working with a couple during the romantic portrait session, there's the need to bring variety to the images - not just in posing and composition, but also in terms of light & lighting. For this reason I use a variety - available light; video light; off-camera flash and on-camera bounce flash. I really like using on-camera bounce flash since it is such an easy light source to use, always at hand. There was a recent article on using bounce flash outdoors, but I'd like to add another example where I used bounce flash outside a  Read more inside...

Bounce flash photography & white balance settings

September 19, 2011 Neil vN 26 Comments

Bounce flash photography & white balance settings

A question that often comes up, is whether the white balance will change when bouncing flash. The answer is an obvious one - yes, the light will pick up any color cast from a non-white surface. But that is why we need to shoot in RAW. Then the decision about exact White Balance becomes less crucial. The photograph above, is of Roz, and was taken during the recent flash photography workshops in Dublin, Ireland. Roz was Ireland's contestant in the 2010 Miss Universe contest, so it was quite a privilege to have her as one of our  Read more inside...

Bouncing flash forward without that direct flash look

September 7, 2011 Neil vN 26 Comments

Bouncing flash forward without getting that direct flash look

When bouncing my on-camera flash, I rarely point the flash straight-up. Most often the flash is pointed behind me or to the side to a certain extent. This way I get directional light. I want that off-camera soft-box effect. However there are those times when it just isn't that practical. With this recent wedding, the indoor ceremony was held in this large room. As you can see here in this test shot, the ceiling isn't white, but is a light brown, with wooden beams. The thick cross-beams have the effect of blocking flash  Read more inside...

Using on-camera bounce flash outdoors at night

June 29, 2011 Neil vN 48 Comments

Using on-camera bounce flash outdoors

With wedding photography, when doing the night-time romantic portraits of the couple, the pressure is usually on. The only opportunity to whisk the couple away for a few minutes, is during dinner time, when the party is at a lull. The pressure is on because you have even less time than you had during the earlier part of the day, and you also don't want to lose the attention of your couple who wants to get back to their guests at the reception. I usually scout a few places before-hand, getting a clear idea of what I want. When setting out with  Read more inside...

wedding portraits: finding something to bounce your flash off

April 15, 2011 Neil vN 22 Comments

wedding portraits: finding something to bounce your flash off

One of the frequent questions that come up, is what to do when there is nothing to bounce your flash off.  When working indoors and there are bounce-able surfaces around me, my first instinct is to use on-camera bounce flash. It is easy to use, and the results can look surprisingly good, especially if you consider the minimal effort that went into it. No extra gear to carry around and set up. But when there is nothing to bounce flash off, you have to adapt your technique ...  Read more inside...

Video tutorial – Using the ‘black foamie thing’

March 8, 2011 Neil vN 98 Comments

 

Video tutorial - Using the 'black foamie thing'

   Read more inside...

video light vs bounce flash

February 23, 2011 Neil vN 12 Comments

video light vs bounce flash

It's easy enough getting nice clean open light with a single on-camera speedlight when shooting indoors. By bouncing your flash with the idea of getting directional light from your flash, you can effortlessly get portraits like this. As usual, I used the black foamie thing to flag my flash and get more light on the one side of my subject's face. In this case, more subtly so than some other examples on this site. We were working in the same location here as shown in the previous article where I photographed Shawna using only the available light that was  Read more inside...

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