The other day a fellow contacted me about a picture I made nearly ten years ago. He was an assistant to the master woodcarver and I spent a few minutes making pictures with them. The event was Baby Animal Days at the Western Heritage Center in Logan, UT, and the entire Cache Valley Photographers club came to make pictures for the day. This was my favorite. Patch made hand-carved wooden spoons to sell to tourists, and he did it with tools from the mid-nineteenth century. As if this wasn't enough camera fodder, he also had a genuine eye patch. … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: A chance with Patch
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Portrait Tips: Waterfalls and speedlights
What's not to love about making portraits in front of waterfalls? Beautiful place, beautiful people, water spraying your camera, nothing going the way you had in mind — it's a blast! When you photograph a bride and groom in front of a waterfall, you need that smooth water look. If you use a fast shutter speed, the staccato splashing is too sharp and distracting. Instead, use a long shutter speed to let the water wash over itself during the exposure and create that soft smoothness that will compliment your portrait. Use a polarizer or ND … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Waterfalls and speedlights
Lighting a portrait with a speedlight
Speedlights are a great lighting solution for portability. Much less power than studio strobes and no modeling lamp to see where the light is falling on your subject can make them difficult to use especially for a new photographer. In this video, "Lighting a Portrait with a Speedlight" from the course "Improving Your Photography and Portraits with Lighting Modifiers" by Vanelli (me), I show how to overcome these two problems and capture a portrait with speedlights. Lighting a portrait with a speedlight from Improving Your Photography and … [Read more...] about Lighting a portrait with a speedlight
Olympus announces E-M1X, flash, super telephoto lens and more
Click here to read my in-depth review on the new OM-D E-M1X. Olympus has announced the E-M1X, the latest in its line of OM-D cameras. Sporting a built-in vertical grip and features like Handheld High Res Shot and Live ND mode, Olympus is clearly gearing this camera toward working professionals. The E-M1X is seen as a parallel offering to the E-M1 Mark II, Olympus’ flagship camera for the last few years. It features the same 20.4MP micro four-thirds sensor and has a very familiar look and feel, with the added benefit of a vertical … [Read more...] about Olympus announces E-M1X, flash, super telephoto lens and more
Portrait Tips: How to use V-flats to light a group
When you light a portrait, a good rule of thumb is that your light should be about the same size as your subject. That's easy for a single individual where any softbox will work, but what about lighting a group of people? A light that big is hard to find. V-flats offer an easy way to make a large light that gives soft, even coverage for your group. You can use them to make soft light on the whole group, but you can also move your subjects around for different effects. V-flat as a modifier The V-flat is two large sheets (typically 7 or 8 … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How to use V-flats to light a group
Huge holiday savings on lighting gear from B&H
Starting today, B&H is offering some amazing deals on lighting equipment, through Dec. 18. Check out all the lighting deals on bhphotovideo.com and use the promo code LIGHT for additional savings, or take a look below at each individual offering. Impact VC-500WLN 3-500Ws Digital Monolight with Transmitter Kit Originally $1099.95. Use the promo code LIGHT and the price will knock down to $799.99! Click here to learn more. Package includes three VC-500WLN Digital Monolights, three kit stands and 7" reflectors, one 24" x 36" softbox, … [Read more...] about Huge holiday savings on lighting gear from B&H
The recipe for balancing natural light with flash
Balancing natural light with flash isn’t complicated — once you know the recipe. The key ingredients are softening the natural light with a diffuser, exposing for the background, then adding the right amount of flash to expose the subject. Now that you know the ingredients, here’s the recipe to balance natural light with flash. Use a diffuser to soften direct sunlight Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a remote to control the sun? Sure, we could schedule our shoot early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid direct sunlight but that’s not … [Read more...] about The recipe for balancing natural light with flash
How to balance flash with natural light to make pleasing portraits
If you're like most photographers, using a flash to make portraits is intimidating. Using available light is so simple that most photographers never dive into the world of using flash to light their portraits. Unfortunately, that severely limits the hours of the day when you can make pictures and leads to worrying too much about how well your camera performs at high ISO's. Making great balanced light pictures doesn't require the fanciest tools or a full-frame camera. I shot all the pictures here with a cropped micro four-thirds camera. You can … [Read more...] about How to balance flash with natural light to make pleasing portraits
Enthusiast’s Guide: Using a flash to create double exposures
(Editor's note: Photofocus is proud to add Rocky Nook as a vibrant contributor for our readers. Rocky Nook is a small — seven-person independent publishing company. Their commitment is producing high-quality books written by pros for photographers who want to learn more about their craft. Over the next eight weeks, Photofocus features a series on multi-shot photography from "The Enthusiast's Guide to Multi-Shot Techniques" by Alan Hess.) Using a flash to create double exposures A great method for creating a double exposure look involves using … [Read more...] about Enthusiast’s Guide: Using a flash to create double exposures
The InFocus Interview Show with Roberto Valenzuela | Photofocus Podcast August 3, 2018
https://soundcloud.com/photofocus/infocus-interview-show-with-roberto-valenzuela-photofocus-podcast-august-3-2018/s-4Uqkl In this episode: Photographer, Educator, Author and a Canon Explorer of Light, Roberto Valenzuela shares his tips on Lighting to Communicate. Topics: Lighting to Communicate Why you need to Practice YouTube Channel Window Light vs. Reflector vs. Flash Picture Perfect Lighting Workshop Learning to be Proficient If you like these Infocus Interviews, please consider supporting our partners and … [Read more...] about The InFocus Interview Show with Roberto Valenzuela | Photofocus Podcast August 3, 2018
Utilizing a Fill Flash During Bright, Sunny Conditions
Oftentimes we can't schedule our photoshoots around perfect sky conditions. Especially during the summer, the long days and high sun becomes challenging, leaving you guessing at having clouds in the sky, or praying that Golden Hour will work out. But there's a common solution to all of this, using just your speedlight and a diffuser. Balance the Light with a Fill Flash The past few weeks, we've been blessed with sunny skies in Michigan, along with super hot and humid days. Because the days are longer right now, it means your window for … [Read more...] about Utilizing a Fill Flash During Bright, Sunny Conditions
Creating Effect and Mood with Light
When shooting a photograph, I often feel that I am creating a single frame from a movie. The star of the movie is the subject. With the use of backdrops, light, a ladder and a Venetian Blind I have created an effect and a mood. In this article, I am sharing examples of the use of colors and lighting to create different visual effects. This set is from my Creative Lighting Workshop in Boston on April 22, 2018. I had 2 completely different lighting setups right next to each other. How the Lighting Was Created Model Valentina Beli … [Read more...] about Creating Effect and Mood with Light
The Traveling Photographer: Photographing People: Using Flash
This is the third and last post in a series on Photographing People while you are traveling. The first article provided general guidelines on setting up the shot and the second provided guidelines on working with the light. This post discusses tips on using a flash. Know the Difference Between Fill Flash and Main Light As photographer’s we all have “ah-ha” moments when the lightbulb goes off in our head. I still remember mine when I realized how I used my flash depended on whether I was using it as a fill light, filing in shadows on a … [Read more...] about The Traveling Photographer: Photographing People: Using Flash
How and Why to Use a Grid on a Softbox
In this video, I'll show you the power of using a grid to further modify the light on a softbox. It creates mood and makes it simple to control the light completely. From the course: Improving Your Photography and Portraits with Lighting Modifiers Modifying a softbox with a grid from Improving Your Photography and Portraits with Lighting Modifiers by Robert Vanelli Course transcript So now what we want to do here is modify the light a little bit further to where we're just using a beam of light. And this next shot's going to be a … [Read more...] about How and Why to Use a Grid on a Softbox
Shooting with a Beauty Dish
From the course: Improving Your Photography and Portraits with Lighting Modifiers Shooting with a beauty dish from Improving Your Photography and Portraits with Lighting Modifiers by Robert Vanelli Course transcript Once we start to really understand light modifiers, we can have a lot of fun with it. For this set here, we have the beautiful Erin, and she's going to play the assassin. To get this shot, if you think about what an assassin is, they're rugged, they're rough. Even though she's beautiful, we want her to have a … [Read more...] about Shooting with a Beauty Dish
Portrait Tips: Why You Shouldn’t Use Auto White Balance
I should have followed this rule the other day. I photographed 50 people in a row and I need to finish all of those pictures for delivery. It’d be a lot easier to get a great starting point if I had shot a white balance target to begin with. Why Not Use Auto White Balance? Auto white balance reads the colors in the scene and makes a judgment about how to compensate for those colors. It’s supposed to make the color of light look great, but there are a couple of problems when shooting a lot of portraits with a flash. First, if you’re not … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: Why You Shouldn’t Use Auto White Balance
Quick Tip: How to Get Rid of the Black Gradient at the Bottom of My Photo
When using studio strobes or a hot shoe flash, you might come across a black gradient at the bottom of your images. This happens when you have too fast of a shutter speed, blocking part of the frame lit by your speedlight or strobe. There's an easy way to avoid this. Check your camera's manual for the "sync" shutter speed for flash. Then, keep your shutter speed set at that speed or slower when using speedlight or electronic flash. A shutter set at "sync" or slower ensures the light can fully illuminate the scene your camera captures. … [Read more...] about Quick Tip: How to Get Rid of the Black Gradient at the Bottom of My Photo
Photographic Test Kitchen: 3 Light Setup
Work made with 3 speed lights Here's the equipment used to create this photograph: Nikon D810 Nikon 105mm Macro lens 3 Nissin Di700A speedlights Nissan Carbon Fiber Light Stand Nissan Air 1 transmitter Rogue XL2 Flashbender Rogue large Flashbender Rogue Grid set Rogue Gel set Click Props "Factory Floor" backdrop https://youtu.be/cIrX4qx8iUE … [Read more...] about Photographic Test Kitchen: 3 Light Setup
A Better Way to Fly
Why it can be less expensive to fly First Class I recently returned back home to Boston from a three-week trip to the Bahamas and Florida. It was great to get out of the Boston winter! I was teaching workshops and shooting videos with Vanelli, photographing models and scenics and taking a few days off. Most of my time off was spent shooting. As always, I packed too much equipment with me. But, I need to make sure I have all of the gear I need for the shoots and the workshop! A big problem for traveling photographers is the fifty-pound … [Read more...] about A Better Way to Fly
Being Mobile for Event Photography
As a corporate event photographer, I have a pretty standard setup that I take to each event I photograph. I typically use two lenses — my Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 (equal to a 24-70) and Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 (equal to an 80-300). Then I have my flash, my MagMod MagBounce diffuser, and spare batteries. I take other lenses too, but 90% of the time, they sit in my bag and are maybe pulled out for just a few moments. With all this gear, it's important to not let it weigh you down and to stay mobile. Using a combination of gear items helps me to … [Read more...] about Being Mobile for Event Photography
Flash Memory Card Hygiene
It’s September 28th, 2007, around 1:00 am. My wife was gently sighing in her sleep in our luxurious Masai Mara safari camp tent. I was in charge of downloading and backing up the compact flash cards from our Nikon D200s. Even at 10.2 Megapixels per image, those old CF cards were full and painfully slow. The tent’s multilayered closure flap was being breached by the hairy leg of a resident vervet monkey. I rebuffed the assault, secured the tent and returned to the laptop for a second shock. One of the CF cards was corrupt... and it was … [Read more...] about Flash Memory Card Hygiene
Portrait Tips: How Do I Choose White Balance For Portraits?
There are so many things to think about when making portraits that leaving your white balance set to auto is a tempting proposition. Especially when everyone raves about how good each new camera's auto white balance settings are. Don't fall into this trap, though. Auto white balance reads the colors in the scene before you take the picture and makes adjustments. But there are two things that foul it up, and there are two simple ways to ensure you get consistent color. Why Do My Pictures Look Different? The camera has white balance settings so … [Read more...] about Portrait Tips: How Do I Choose White Balance For Portraits?
Skating The Ramps With Platypod Max And MagMod
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a photo I selected for Photographer of the Day. It was of a skateboarder at a skate park, doing some tricks. Needless to say, I was inspired. I really had never tried to capture skateboarding in action, but I knew that with a few extra tools, I could do so in a unique and different way. Enter the Platypod Max and MagMod system. I had recently purchased a complete MagMod set, and was really excited to try out some of the less-traditional tools for lighting a scene. I talked to a local photographer friend, … [Read more...] about Skating The Ramps With Platypod Max And MagMod
Using A Very Small Flash
Many of you only have the little pop-up flash built into your camera or a very tiny flash that can be attached to the camera hot-shoe (such as the flash that comes with the Fuji X-T2). Some of you prefer not to carry a big flash around because you want to be less conspicuous or because you don't want the extra weight. Don't feel disadvantaged because you only have a little flash for your camera. These little flashes can be used effectively with very creative results. For those inexperienced with using the little flash, here are some tips … [Read more...] about Using A Very Small Flash
Avoiding the Harsh, Direct Flash Look
One of the biggest reasons why I don't like pop-up flashes is that it gives uneven, harsh lighting directed at your subject. Even with an on-camera speedlight, the same effect can happen. And while you can play around with the power output of your speedlight, there are other ways to avoid an unattractive look. With a few tricks, you can create a softer light that spreads across the environment you're shooting in — which in turn, creates a more natural photograph. Bounce Off a Ceiling I use this technique often at indoor events, and it … [Read more...] about Avoiding the Harsh, Direct Flash Look
Gear Review: Impact Quikbox Softbox Kit
Having never owned a softbox myself, I was intrigued to try the Impact Quikbox Softbox with my Panasonic GH5. I had long wanted to incorporate more flash work into my outdoor portraiture, and having a softbox was the perfect way to do this. The Impact Quikbox is sized to 15" x 15" and folds up nicely. It features two diffusers — one small one closer to your light source, and another one right on the edge of the outer part of the softbox. What's Included The softbox kit comes with two diffusers — a small one latched on closer to your flash, … [Read more...] about Gear Review: Impact Quikbox Softbox Kit
Gear Review: Vello Ringbox Ringflash Adapter
I have often thought about investing in a ringflash after seeing that unique, cool look, photographer's get in the eyes of their subjects accompanied by even shadowless lighting across the face. But that dream was not enough for me to justify the considerable cost of those high end units. Along comes the Vello Ringbox Ringflash Adapter which acts as both a softbox, providing diffused light, and a ringflash for that interesting catchlight in the eyes with minimal shadows. This product easily mounts to your shoe mounted flash, folds up nicely … [Read more...] about Gear Review: Vello Ringbox Ringflash Adapter
Mirrorless Camera Guru: How To See The World Like A Photograph
Mirrorless cameras' greatest advantage is the fact that there is no separation between what the sensor records and what you see in the viewfinder. Seeing exactly what your picture will look like before you even press the shutter button is an incredibly powerful way to shoot. Personally, I now shoot far fewer pictures because I know that I've already nailed the exposure. When I look in the viewfinder, I see the world like a photograph. DSLR's require you to focus a lot of brain power on your camera's light meter. The skill to interpret what … [Read more...] about Mirrorless Camera Guru: How To See The World Like A Photograph
Studio Tip: Controlling Light Using Cinefoil
Cinefoil, also known as black foil, black wrap, or shadow foils, is a sturdy, black aluminum foil. It can be molded into different reusable shapes. Controlling Direction of Light Imagine you want to light a certain part of a photograph. Using Cinefoil, you can wrap it around a speedlight to create a cylinder known as a snoot. This will control and direct the light and keep the focus on the area you want. Flagging the Light Flagging is a technique used to block and control the spill of light. Using Cinefoil, tape a piece to the side of … [Read more...] about Studio Tip: Controlling Light Using Cinefoil
Mirrorless Camera Maniac: Amazing Speedlight Solution for All Cameras
Once I realized that mirrorless cameras were more than capable of replacing my DSLR, I dove in head first and sold my Nikons. Ever since then, I've been saying that the only thing I miss from my Nikons is the excellent Creative Lighting System. Nikon's CLS allowed me to make pictures with excellent light in all kinds of situations without using additional radio triggers or sync cords. From broad daylight to pitch black night, from manual mode to TTL, Nikon's speedlights never failed me. when I switched to Lumix, I continued using my Nikon … [Read more...] about Mirrorless Camera Maniac: Amazing Speedlight Solution for All Cameras
