Carefully Light the Background
Here's a simple tip Light the background as carefully as you light your subject. For this portrait of Miss Cuba 2009, Jamillette Gaxiola, I used a Ray Flash ring light on my Canon Speedlite 580EXII for the main light it was mounted in the camera's hot-shoe. To light the background, I used two Canon Speedlite 580EX (set at 1 8 power) with red Honl gels and gobos to direct the color light to the background and to block light from the model. A e result of paying careful attention to both the main...
Photoshop Enhancements
Vered works hard to create the very best in-camera images. You've seen them throughout this book. In this chapter, she gave me the okay (aAer almost killing me with stink eye) to apply some of my favorite Photoshop techniques to her exquisite photographs. Tha nks Vered As a studio photographer, change is the name of the game. A ere are three reasons for this One, your clients will have their own opinions on best shot. A ese opinions will basically depend on the composition and lighting of the...
Traveling at Lightspeed
We mulled over the cover for my book, Speedlights & Speedlites Creative Flash Photography at the Speed of Light for quite a while and rejected a lot of ideas. A en, by accident I struck upon the idea to feature the Speedlight in the photograph. I wanted to imply movement. We handled this in a couple of ways A e photograph was shot on a slant so the woman's hair hung at an angle. And we used a fan to add to the illusion. A tungsten light was placed behind the model to create some blur. Four...
Doit Yourself Tilt Shift
A is shot was created with all light tones on a white background. A e model is close to the background and the scene is lit flatly with a soft, even light. I used one simple light reflected off a white umbrella. I experimented with partially removing the camera lens during the shoot to blur parts of the image. A is is a kind of do it your self tilt shift lens.
Soften an Off Camera Flash
I photographed this model using just one light a diffused Canon Speedlite that was held off camera and positioned in front of the model above her eye level. A e flash was diffused with a LumiQuest Softbox III, which attaches to any flash unit via Velcro strips. While I was shooting, Rick was taking a behind-the-scenes shot of Vered holding the flash diffuser setup in position. A e tip here If you only have one flash, take it off the camera, diffuse it (to soften and spread the light), and play...
Blessed Soft Lighting
A is image of a A eyyam deity was taken at Bhagavathi Temple in Kasargode, India, in March 2009. It was an overcast day, so the cloud cover diffused the sunlight and produced soft and flattering lighting the kind of lighting that softboxes and umbrellas can produce in the studio. If you're going to shoot people pictures outdoors, an overcast sky is a blessing pray for it as Rick Sammon says in his workshops. A e dark vignette was created using the Burn tool in Adobe Photoshop CS4. I've included...
Bank on Professional Backgrounds
A ese photographs were taken in a New York City studio with bare cement walls. A e beautiful backgrounds are painted fabrics that roll up for easy storage. Search online for photographic backgrounds. Check out L amp B Backgrounds and Frames www.lbalbumframe.com . Look closely and you'll see that some props, which create a sense of depth and enhance the settings, have been added to the scenes. Notice the white sheers and a flower pot in the left photograph the hanging flowers in the middle...
Good Production Trumps Lighting
It's not the lighting that makes this shot successful it's the production. Riding a bicycle like this one is not a skill that top agency models are trained to do. Finding the bicycle was diAcult enough In reality, two big guys held the bicycle up while the model used steps to get on it. She didn't peddle anywhere. Later, using Photoshop, I removed the two men. Lighting the model was accomplished with the main light high at a 45-degree angle coming from the right. It was an undiffused Profoto...
Low Key versus High Key Lighting
These two photographs illustrate two basic types of studio lighting low key left and high key right . High key shots are usually created against a white background. To keep the background white, overexpose it by one or two stops by adjusting your background light or lights . Low key shots usually have a dark background .and less light illuminating the subject. The y're more moody than high key shots. For instance, notice that the low key photograph here has more dramatic shadows than the high...
