Unsure of which direction to light paint your subject? Sometimes, your environment can offer a suggestion for creating more natural and pleasing night photography photos! What is light painting? The term is often used loosely to describe any addition of light to a night photograph. Really, though, light painting is
“The camera cannot lie.” When photography was in its infancy, this was often said in magazines and elsewhere. But is it true? And what role does processing take in this? What is purity? There is this almost purist sort of bent among some photographers, where the general belief is that
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
It’s an old saying that means doing things in the wrong order. I could also say, don’t run before you can walk…but I had this picture handy. I want to apply the idea to the tools you need to make portraits. A friend asked on Facebook the other day about
Tony Corbel, a true master of lighting, taught me to practice seeing great light everywhere I go, and the more I look the more I find it. One place I always find a good patch of portrait light is right at the edge of bright sunlight. In this first picture,
When using backlighting in an image, the first thing to decide on the light source. For beauty portraits, I prefer to use natural light, as it has a soft and lovely look to it, but this can easily be accomplished with studio lighting. In this tutorial, images are taken using
When I first started out with photography, natural light was my best friend. I didn’t have money for lights, so I learned to shoot using what was available to me. Shoot after shoot, I’d tuck a little money away into a gear fund to save up for lights. Natural light
Vanelli sits down with Vincent Versace as he shares a story from the set using Wescott’s Ice Lights.
A diffuser is designed to spread harsh light evenly across your subject producing a beautiful soft light. “Controlling Natural Light with a Diffuser” gives tips on how to control light in direct sunlight and open or closed shade using a diffuser.
A portrait is about capturing the subject’s personality. Senior portraits take it a step further, capturing a specific moment in a teen’s life. If you are not familiar with the teen, ask them questions. I know Courtney and I know she’s a free spirit. She loves playing guitar. As she
I spend a lot of time working with strobes. As a commercial advertising photographer I find myself in many situations requiring some pretty complex lighting solutions. Don’t get me wrong, strobes are super groovy and lighting challenges are always relished but there is something really magical about shedding the hardware.
Portrait photographers like David Ziser and Clay Blackmore taught me very early in my career that great portraits are almost always short lit, and that made me happy. Knowing that a simple technique could give me a leg up in making great portraits was music to my ears. Unfortunately, I
