Unique Camera Show December 11-13

Tags

NJ OCF Workshop, OCF, off camera flash, Unique Photo, Unique Photo Camera Show, Workshop

Hi and welcome back.

I’m super excited to be among an amazing cast at the Unique Photo Camera show December 11-13.

I’m only in on Saturday, December 12 for a workshop and then a floor demo/presentation, but look at the crowd I’m among:

Joe McNally

Bobbi Lane and Lee Varis

Neil Van Niekirk

Erik Valind

Joel Grimes

Roman Kurywczk

And more!  Hope to see you there!!

Make sure you stop by on Saturday to say hello or take a great class from one of these amazing photogs.

Till then, happy shooting!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving!

Be safe, gorge on turkey and pie, and enjoy the day with family.

All the best,

Bob, Kate, Ryan, and Julia.

And good luck to those of you running the Manchester, CT Road Race!

 

Go Kate and Julia!!

Photo Connections Workshop and the Westcott Spiderlites

Tags

CT Headshot Photographer, CT Workshops, headshots, portraits, Westcott, Westcott Spiderlite, Westcott Spiderlite TD6

Hi and welcome back.

Last Sunday I ran a lighting workshop at Photo Connections in CT.

This was a dual light event: one station was speed lights and the other station was Westcott Spiderlite TD5’s.  They didn’t have the TD6’s, so we had 5’s.

Well, I have to say the Westcott Spiderlites stole the show for me.  I’ve shot home made constant lights but not anything ever like the TD series lights.

Westcott TD6’s

The light out them in incredible, soft, and so pleasing to the eye and skin that they are worth the investment.

Here are some sample, straight-out-of-the-camera proof images and BTS shots.

My first look was key and edge:

The second look was a wall of light to emulate open shade:

With the third look, I wanted to explore gels and coloring the light.  On the edge light I placed a Rosco Blue Gel over the fluorescent bulbs and then used Tungsten White Balance to push color to a desaturated blue tone:

These are all proof images.  Maddy’s skin looks fabulous under such soft light.

Here is a quick review:

Pros:

Amazing quality of light

Adjustable from 2 to 6 lights for key and fill output

Soft!

Large softboxes

What you see is what you get

Perfect for single or small family portraits

Cons: 

Need to shoot at high ISO for a decent aperture.  These images are at ISO 800, 1/60 @ 5.6

Hard to travel with as the base and bulb setup seems that it won’t take a lot of abuse

A bit awkward till you get the hang of them

Final:

I love these lights.  If I were to get them, I’d get a few TD6’s and be off and running with beautiful light.

That’s it for now.  Till next time, Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Photo Connections Workshop this Weekend!

Tags

Constant Lights, CT Off Camera Flash, CT Off Camera Flash Workshops, CT Workshops, Photo Connections of Colchester, Small Flash Workshops, Small Flashes, Westcott, Westcott Rapid Box, Westcott Spiderlite TD6, Workshops

Hi and welcome back.

This workshop is coming up quickly, so register to join in the fun soon.

On November 22, I’m heading to Photo Connections of Colchester, CT to run a speed light/constant light workshop.

Mike and Jeannette from Photo Connections have had me in before, and I’m looking forward to going back for a fun and creative lighting workshop.

Here’s the registration link: Photo Connections Creative Lighting

This is a 3 1/2 hour workshop with a small break in the middle.

Details:

Photo Connections, Colchester, CT

November 22, from 9:30-1 (it starts early!)

$59.95

Looks: 40’s Hollywood Glamour, Creative and Simple Fashion

Gear: Speedlights, Rogue Flashbenders, Westcott Spiderlight TD6’s

Here are a few look samples:

How To Paint a Schmidli or Oliphant Background

Tags

Canvas, Canvas Backgrounds, Elephant Backgrounds, OCF, Painting Backgrounds, Schmidli Backgrounds

Hi and welcome back.

I became enamored with the Schmidli backgrounds when I met Marco Schmidli at Photokina last year.

Marco’s booth was a few down from Expoimaging’s and we had met and chatted for a few minutes at the Expo booth.  I walked to his booth and thought he was a photographer, but instead I was greeted by a selection of the most beautiful backgrounds I had ever seen!

If you’ve never heard of Schmidli or Oliphant, then check them out.  These are not your average everyday backgrounds from Denny, Backdrop Outlet, or anyone else: these are custom painted canvas backgrounds that grace the likes of upscale, high end clients.

Marco Schmidli

Oliphant

Just open any magazine and you’ll probably see a custom background as their clients list includes:

Macy’s. Ralph Lauren, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Mario Testino, Anni Liebowitz and many, many others.

I found a great website that tells you how to make a DIY background in this style:

Ilovehatephotography

Be forewarned, it will cost you a few hundred bucks and at least a full day or even two to do this and also be prepared for mistakes!

I tried to paint my own last year.  It came out ok, but I made some mistakes that made the background a bit too bright not quite the look I wanted.

Here is a sample:

The mistakes I made:

I didn’t gesso the canvas: this is a huge mistake as the paint will attach to the gesso and leave the canvas smooth and supple

I didn’t use artist acrylic, instead I used leftover house paint.  Again, acrylics will provide a soft, smooth, and supple canvas

The third thing is the canvas.  While Cotton Duck is ok, Linen Canvas is preferred.

Lastly, go dark.  I mean go dark on final color.  It is easier to lighten a dark background than darken a bright one.

I’m going to try this again when the weather gets better of if I can find a large studio/garage space in which to work as it is time consuming and takes a lot of room.

For supplies to do this yourself:

Locally in CT: Hull’s Art Supply in New Haven has just about everything except Linen Canvas.  They have 8′ wide Cotton Duck canvas, which will work fine after you gesso it.

For Linen Canvas, try Rose Brand out of NJ.  They can offer 10′ wide canvas, and they’ll mount and ship a canvas on a tube already set up for you.

I’m very excited to have found this tutorial as the backgrounds have such a unique texture that they are just beautiful!!

Annie Liebowitz using one: Annie Liebowitz

That’s it for today.  Till next time, happy painting!

The Upcoming November 22 Workshop at Photo Connections in Colchester, CT

Tags

40's Hollywood Glamour Workshop, CT Workshop, Expoimaging Rogue Flashbenders, Flashbenders, fun, Grid, Hollywood Glamour, OCF, OCF Workshop, Photo Connections of Colchester, Rogue, Westcott, Westcott TD6

Hi and welcome back.

This workshop is coming up quickly, so register to join in the fun soon.

On November 22, I’m heading to Photo Connections of Colchester, CT to run a speed light/constant light workshop.

Mike and Jeannette from Photo Connections have had me in before, and I’m looking forward to going back for a fun and creative lighting workshop.

Here’s the registration link: Photo Connections Creative Lighting

This is a 3 1/2 hour workshop with a small break in the middle.

Details:

Photo Connections, Colchester, CT

November 22, from 9:30-1 (it starts early!)

$59.95

Looks: 40’s Hollywood Glamour, Creative and Simple Fashion

Gear: Speedlights, Rogue Flashbenders, Westcott Spiderlight TD6’s

Here are a few look samples:

BH Photo Event Space Location Cosplay Shoot

Tags

BH Photo, BH Photo Event Space, Black Widow, Cosplay, CT Cosplay Photographer, Expoimaging, Nikon, NYC Cosplay Photographer, NYC OCF workshops, NYC workshops, OCF, off camera flash, Photoflex, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Rogue Flashbenders

Hi and welcome back.

On November 24 I’ll be headed back to BH Photo Event Space to run a Cosplay location shoot.

BH Event Space Link

This shoot was scheduled for October, before Halloween, but schedules dictated we push it to November.  Hopefully it won’t be too cold for outside!

We’ll be shooting Cosplay with a combination of:

Photoflex Umbrellas

Rogue Flashbenders XL Pros

We’ll shoot a Cosplay model on location near BH.  I’m currently thinking the corner of 10th and 30th, under the elevated High Line, where we can add the structure of the el to our images.

Cosplay is fun look!  With our model/s dressed in costume, we’ll add the city to the photos for some great looks.

Come join in the fun and shoot on location.  Till then, happy Cosplay!

Here are samples from last year with the Black Widow:

November 22 Workshop at Photo Connections, Colchester, CT

Tags

Constant Light, CT Commercial Photographer, CT OCF, CT Workshops, Expoimaging Rogue Flashbenders, fashion, headshots, Hollywood Glamour, OCF, Photo Connections of Colchester, Westcott Spiderlite TD6

Hi and welcome back.

I don’t normally post twice in one day, but the link for this event just came through.

I’m getting back into the workshop series and am trying to book as much as possible for the end of the year and start the new year off with a schedule.

On November 22, I’m heading to Photo Connections of Colchester, CT to run a speed light/constant light workshop.

Mike and Jeannette from Photo Connections have had me in before, and I’m looking forward to going back for a fun and creative lighting workshop.

Here’s the registration link: Photo Connections Creative Lighting

This is a 3 1/2 hour workshop with a small break in the middle.

Details:

Photo Connections, Colchester, CT

November 22, from 9:30-1 (it starts early!)

$59.95

Looks: 40’s Hollywood Glamour, Creative and Simple Fashion

Gear: Speedlights, Rogue Flashbenders, Westcott Spiderlight TD6’s

Here are a few look samples:

We’ll do other looks, but basically the Hollywood Glamour and lighting for fashion and portraits.

Join in the fun before the holidays and get your gift list started after using cool gear!

That’s it for today.  Till next time, happy shooting!

Shoot Through Umbrella Outside

Tags

CT Headshot Photographer, CT Model Headshot Photographer, CT Model Photographer, CT Photographer, Elixxier, OCF, One Speedlight 16 looks, Set A Light Software, Speedlights

Hi and welcome back.

While going through some old files, I came across a portfolio shoot I did a few years back and thought way a great way to end the week than to have a post on using speed lights outside.

For the initial test shot, I used the natural light.  Here is my test shot, without any flash or modified light:

I liked but didn’t love the shot, so I added a speed light and shoot through umbrella for to add light on my subject but try and not overpower her in the natural light.

Here’s my lit shot:

Notice how much better the image is with just a small key on the subject.

I used a single speed light with a Photoflex 45″ shoot through umbrella for this shot.

Exposure:

1/200 @ f/5.6, ISO 400, WB Daylight

Both of the above shots are proofs out of the camera, no retouching.

Below is my BTS shot.  This was one of the rare occasions that I remembered to shoot the BTS!  Notice how simple my setup is to get the shot.

Not to be outdone and wanting to use my new Set-A-Light software, if I forgot the BTS shot, I can build one in only a few minutes using Set-A-Light.

The background is pretty cool, and even though it doesn’t match what was in real life, it is a good way to produce a setup or BTS shot simply and easily in software.

Shooting speedlghts, especially with umbrellas, is a fast and easy way to add light to your scene and also learn lighting when in the studio or on location as the setup doesn’t require much work at all.

That’s it for now.  Till next time, get outside and shoot!

Set A Light 3D Software Review

Tags

3D Modeling Software, Behind the scenes, BTS, CT Headshot Photograher, CT Off Camera Flash, Elixxier, Nikon, OCF, Set A Light

Hi and welcome back.

I try to include Behind-the-Scenes or BTS shots in my work, especially when teaching. Unfortunately, though, what happens is that the shot is not clear or there is too much background to give a clear image as to the setup.

I’ve just found a software solution called Set A Light by Elixxier.

Elixxier

This software allows you to build a set in 3D and then export it to a PDF for email, printing, assistants, or any creative who needs it.

I just got a free trial and love it.  I can build a set and then export it so I can teach with it.  I can also add notes and exposure information on the top.

Here’s my example shot:

In order to get this shot, I built a diagram in Set A Light.  In the upper left is my photog/client info and below that is my gear and settings info.  This is a great tool!  Now I can print out or have simple light plans for every need.

The software platform is simple and setup with a series of 2 minute videos to walk you though it.  I found that I was able to navigate it in about 15 minutes.

Here is the interface:

It is simple and the tool bar on the bottom has selections for models, strobes, speed lights, reflectors, and props:

This is an amazing choice, and it even includes reflectors that match my California Sunbounce gear.

Simply choose your tool, drag and drop it into the set, and manipulate it to any setting you want.

Once you have the set done, you click the render button and it renders the set into a PDF:

Once the set is rendered, simply add a title and exposure information to the upper left hand corner fields and click ok.  The PDF goes to any folder or your desktop and prints or emails perfectly.

For me, the set maker software allows me to explain lighting setups easily.  If you are in a studio, simply export to a PDF and give it to any assistants or creatives that need it.  You can have a set built and ready while your clients are in styling or creative meetings.

This is a great new tool, and at $40.00 US, a steal!  No need to worry about BTS shots anymore, just take a few minutes to create a 3D model and away you go!

Well that’s it for today.  Till next time, happy set building!