It is exactly 10 years today, March 21, since the first time I photographed Anelisa. She responded to a casting call for someone to model at one of my photography workshops. She had a magical quality and was supremely photogenic ... and since then Anelisa has been my occasional muse. She is usually the first one that I contact when I need a model at a workshop. I posted photographs from that first session in this article - Effective on-location portraits. Over time I have worked with Anelisa numerous times, and she has also appeared on the cover of two of my books: Read more inside...
Direction of light - Using available light in the studio
This striking portrait of Rozalinda was lit by big window light in the studio. In using light - whether studio lighting or available light - you need to consider the direction of the light. You need to figure out how you want to place yourself and your subject in relation to where the light is coming from. Your own position in relation to the light and your subject, will significantly change the way the light appears on your subject. Check this article for an example: Change your position, change the direction of light.
With Read more inside...
An additional challenge when photographing dancers in movement, is the exact timing. That fleeting pose in mid-air needs to be captured at the exact moment when their feet, hands and the entire body is positioned in ideal way. Some advice about this was given in a previous article on photographing dancers - tips on photographing dancers and ballerinas - but much of it relies on constantly conferring with the dancer, who will know exactly what they want.
Ella is a dancer, with a delightfully confident personality - especially so for Read more inside...
Camera & flash settings: What do you want to achieve?
In one of the multitude of photography groups on Facebook, I saw a newcomer to off-camera flash say that she bought an Alien-Bee set, but she has no idea what to set it to. My reply was that she needed a light-meter. My thinking is that then she'd know what the specific output of the flash or strobe would be, and then be able to set her camera to it. But then, thinking about it some more, I realized if there is hesitation there or confusion, it is about what specific camera settings (mostly aperture) should be in the first Read more inside...
Aiming for a sensual mood somewhere between Lingerie, Fashion and Art, I tried various lighting setups in the studio to get to the feel and look that I envisioned. I've worked with Carly Erin on other personal photo shoots before, and knew her playful and bold personality would help a lot with this photo session.
I ended up with a large light modifier for my main light - the Westcott 7' Parabolic Umbrella (B&H / Amazon). The advantage of using a large light source, is that your subject has more freedom to move - you Read more inside...
multiple off-camera flash - adding some pop with back-lighting
Lea is a model I've worked with on previous occasions. With her striking looks and easy demeanor, she is just a pleasure to photograph. We spent some time this afternoon in down-town Manhattan, looking for interesting spots as backdrops. Jessica spotted this dramatic gate and interesting glass front. It seemed like the perfect place to start the photo session, but it needed something extra to give the photos some drama.
The final image is shown here at the top, but let's look at how we got there ... Read more inside...
Mimicking window light with off-camera bounce flash
Continuing the photo session with Ulorin, we worked inside the hotel room for the next part. The photo above is a candid shot of Ulorin fixing her hair between changes in clothing. Ulorin's next outfit shown in this article, was more revealing than the previous outfits during the photo session. (Just a heads-up for the Tangents readers who are surfing from their workplace.)
Photographing inside the room, I initially tried to work with just the window-light, but hit a small snag. The indirect light through the window kept changing Read more inside...
Off-camera flash - Change the light by changing your own position
Ulorin Vex was one of the two models that we used in the recent workshops in San Francisco. Having seen Ulorin Vex's personal site and portfolio on Model Mayhem, I jumped at the chance of working with her again with a photo session the day after the workshops. Working with a model as professional and striking-looking as Ulorin, was an experience.
The photographs shown in this article was from a sequence we did in the passage outside my hotel room. The lighting was surprisingly simple, but I had to improvise with the Read more inside...
