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Featured in Professional Photographer magazine (PPA)

January 31, 2016 Neil vN 4 Comments

Featured in Professional Photographer magazine (PPA)

Perhaps, as you page through your February 2016 copy of Professional Photographer magazine, and you get to page 92, you may think to yourself, "Hmmm, these photos aren't half-bad!" ... then glance over to the intro on page 93, and .. oh yes, I'm featured in the latest edition of PPA's magazine! It is a huge honor that the editors at Professional Photographer approached me and wrote a feature about my wedding photography. The article concentrates on my approach to lighting, with a reference to the books I've written on flash  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Creating special moments

May 9, 2013 Neil vN 12 Comments

Wedding photography - Creating those special moments

Anticipation and timing on the photographer's part is essential to getting those key moments on the wedding day. Certain moments will happen, so we have to be ready for them. This relies on your keen observation and you ability to recognize important moments. You have to know your cameras and equipment, and you have to know the fundamentals of photography. You have to be ready. And you can only be ready if you know your equipment well, and know the techniques. No excuses. But there is no need to passively wait for moments  Read more inside...

A simple lighting setup for photographing the wedding formals

January 23, 2012 Neil vN 46 Comments

A simple lighting setup for photographing the wedding formals

Photographing a wedding can be pretty hectic at times, especially as it so often becomes the photographer's de facto responsibility to keep everything on track. The formal photo session specifically is a part of the day that many photographers find challenging. The other challenging part of the wedding day is photographing the wedding processional. You have a narrow margin to get things just right. No second chance. When photographing the family portraits, you can really help yourself by nailing your lighting. Get it  Read more inside...

2011 overview – My favorite wedding photographs

January 3, 2012 Neil vN 12 Comments

Best wedding images of 2011 – NJ wedding photographer

2011 was another busy year for me as a wedding photographer. This slideshow features some of my favorite wedding and engagement session images of 2011. If you are interested in using me as your wedding photographer, please have a look at my wedding portfolio and contact me. soundtrack courtesy of TripleScoopMusic wedding photography tutorials New Jersey wedding photographer    Read more inside...

wedding photography: bride & groom portraits with video light

November 25, 2011 Neil vN 11 Comments

wedding photography: bride & groom portraits with video light

For that dramatic Hollywood look, a video light is probably the easiest light to use, especially when there is the need to work fast like on a wedding day. With Alli & Scott's engagement photo session, I knew I'd be working with a couple that would easily go along with any ideas that we'd come up with. We worked indoors at the Temple Israel in Long Island, New York, and there were all kinds of interesting nooks to explore.  Read more inside...

wedding photography – those key moments

November 2, 2011 Neil vN 12 Comments

wedding photography - looking for those key moments

Wedding photography has become more modern in style over the past decade or so. Instead of overly posed images, the general trend is now more of a story-telling (or photo-journalistic) style. It's now as important to capture the day's events as it unfolds, as it is to get beautiful portraits of the couple and families.  As photographers we're now much more focused on the moments and the gestures that tell the story. With this intent, I really try and observe the day as closely as I can, capturing what I hope are the key moments.  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Developing a personal style

August 18, 2011 Neil vN 38 Comments

Wedding photography - Developing a personal style

I've been mulling a while now over a question someone asked me about how long I think it took to develop a personal style in photography. "What does it take, and how many years do you think it generally takes a photographer to develop their own personal style, meaning, you can look at a photograph and know who took it. Not everyone would know, but some people could tell it's your style. I think very few photographers actually have their own style and I'm curious what you think it took to get there." How long do I think it takes?  Read more inside...

2010 overview – my favorite wedding photographs

December 30, 2010 Neil vN 19 Comments

best wedding images of 2010 – New Jersey wedding photographer

There seems to be a pattern here - 2010 was another crazy-busy year for me. Photographing weddings, portrait sessions, maintaining this website and writing another book ... all this added up to a full calendar and not much sleep. It is always a rewarding experience as a wedding photographer to work with wonderful brides and groom and their families. So, as a wrap-up of the year – and also to show off a bit – here is a slide show of some of my favorite wedding and engagement session images of 2010. (Oh, and you had  Read more inside...

off-camera flash photography: feathering the light

December 4, 2010 Neil vN 17 Comments

off-camera flash: feathering the light

Comparing those two images, you should notice two things immediately: - the sky is brighter in the top image. - the grass in front of the group is more lit in the bottom photo.  In other words, the accent is more on the guys in the top photo, since grass in front of them are less well lit. Both images were lit by a single off-camera softbox, using a speedlight. My on-camera speedlight was set to Master, but with its output disabled. Therefore only the Slave flash (in the softbox) was lighting the group.  I liked the exposure on them  Read more inside...

finding (and using) interesting available light

November 1, 2010 Neil vN 7 Comments

finding (and using) interesting available light

I hope that no one thinks that the flash photography and lighting techniques that I describe on the Tangents blog are only applicable to wedding photography. In a recent post I described where I photographed a model in an alley way when I noticed a splash of sunlight (reflected from a window) falling onto the wall. In recognizing that interesting splash of light, and using it, I got an image which was different than I would've had if I had just used the even shaded light in the alley. I used this very same idea at a recent wedding in  Read more inside...

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