This morning I woke up to a sight I’ve never seen before: the sun sparkling from windows on Point Loma, on the far side San Diego Bay, reflecting a fiery shimmer across the water.
Still half-asleep, I grabbed the nearest camera and my 70-200 f/4 L lens, snapped a shot, and went back to sleep.
Later I wondered, why have I never seen this before? (All right, smart aleck, I’ll admit it’s true that I’m rarely up at the crack of dawn.)
But there’s a more fundamental reason. It hasn’t happened before. Continue reading →
Neil van Niekerk is one of my favorite writers on flash photography. When I reviewed his earlier book, On-Camera Flash, I got so excited that I praised him as “…that rarest of things, a great teacher.”
In a richly informative yet admirably concise 125 pages, Off-Camera Flash provides a wide-ranging look at its subject without becoming lost in the technical mire—and believe me, with this subject, it can be easy to get bogged down in the details. Continue reading →
We all get these requests, some of us many times per week:
“We don’t have a budget for photography, but we’d like to use your photos. We will offer you credit.”
Before I go on, check out writer Harlan Ellison’s video rant below (caution: strong language). It applies to writers, photographers, or any creative person being asked to deliver their goods for free:
Early in your photography career it can be tempting to accept these freebie requests in order to get “exposure.” After all, you want to get seen, build a reputation, get links to your site.
But each time you deliver free photos to a for-profit business, you are actually destroying the photography marketplace that you one day hope to succeed in. You are helping to spread this pernicious idea that photography, and other creative work, should be free. Continue reading →
Holy Moly! You’re not going to believe how much information is packed into this gigantic 328-page ebook from photographer Ashley Karyl, a 25-year veteran of the fashion and beauty industry:
This guy knows it all, and he reveals it all in this book that goes WAY beyond nudes to cover almost everything involved in a photography career.
If you have ever dreamed of working in any way with models, fashion, beauty, or glamour photography, you’re going to want to download this book right now. Continue reading →
If you follow my product reviews at my photography training website, you probably know that the Phottix Strato has long been my favorite radio trigger for off-camera flash photography.
For the full gallery click here. (Requires Flash, sorry iPad users.)
This was supposed to be a sunset shoot on a gorgeous rooftop of a high-rise downtown. We had the perfect angle to place the setting sun behind the models for dazzling backlight effect.
Everybody ready? Lights, camera, action…
Clouds.
Oh well. I’m on a roof with several beautiful models, so we’re going to make the most of it. Switch to plan B.
Since we had a gray day I tried to create dramatic lighting and dramatic effects in post-processing to make the best of the situation. Underexpose the sky (oops, missed that in some shots when my camera got bumped into Av mode instead of Manual. How did that happen?). Add some vignette in processing and punch up the blacks, etc.
I’m not sure I really succeeded, in getting exactly what I wanted, but do I like some of the shots. And more importantly, I learned some things from my mistakes. Sometimes that is more useful than getting exactly what you planned for.
This was all lit with Speedlites. The techniques I’m experimenting with here are all part of the preparation for an upcoming course on “Advanced Off-Camera Flash.”
I have a serious impulse-buying problem at my local camera store.
The other day I went in for a $5 lens cap and came out with $75 worth of stuff, including the book ON CAMERA FLASH: Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography by Neil van Niekerk. I should know better than to even peek at the book rack.
But in this case I’m really glad I did. Because this book kicks ass.
Now, I consider myself a fairly advanced flash photographer. After all, I sell a course on off-camera flash photography on my own website. I know a thing or two. But of course, the more you learn about photography, the more you discover there is to learn.
That’s why I’m always thrilled to find a book like this one. Continue reading →
Last week I participated in a “Models and Photographers” Meetup event where I took the photo at left. If you’re an aspiring photographer, or even a pro looking to meet new models or experiment with new techniques, I highly recommend using Meetups (www.meetup.com) as a low-cost, low-stress way to get out in the field and work with like-minded people.
In my city there are at least a dozen photography Meetup groups, many of which hold events at least once per week. Some Meetups charge a small fee to help cover administrative costs, but usually everyone involved is working for trade to build their portfolios (called TFP). At last week’s meetup I found half-a-dozen would-be models and a similar number of photographers all working hard to create great images together with no financial pressure, and no expectations except that any good photos would be provided to the model afterward.
My photo above got some attention from the group, because other photographers who shot the same model in the same location did not get equally good results. They asked me to explain how I made the shot, and I happily obliged (sharing our techniques is one purpose of this group). I thought you might enjoy the explanation as well. Continue reading →
