EP Levine

Tags

black and white, Corporate Headshot, creative, education, EP Levine, off camera flash, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Pocket Wizards, Portfolio, Presentation, professional photographer, SB800, SB900, strobist, teaching

Hi and welcome back.

I’ll be doing a sponsored presentation on Tuesday, November 1 at EP Levine in Waltham, MA.

Check it out and see if you can join me for a great day of Off Camera Flash:

Linley Channnels January Jones

Tags

beauty, black and white, Corporate Headshot, Creative Light Grid, Creative Light Softbox, CT Boudoir Photographer, CT Wedding photographer, education, fashion, fun, Model, modeling, Nikon, Nikon D3, off camera flash, Pocket Wizards, Portfolio, portrait, portrait photography, professional photographer, Rogue Flashbender Grid, SB800, SB900, strobist, studio, teaching

Hi and welcome back.

It has been a crazy time this past few weeks, but in that time I ran a workshop on high contrast black and white advertising imagery.  I took my inspiration from an ad campaign for Versace shot by Mario Testino last year.

We used two speedlights for Linley, my model for the shoot.

One SB900 into a gridded Creative Light 24×36 softbox

One SB800 into a Rogue Flashbender Grid for the lower fill light.

Here’s a finished shot and the BTS shot: Enjoy!

I got incredible shots with the most basic equipment.  It’s amazing what you can do with some forethought and a wonderful model.

Thank you Dave for letting me use the space and Linley for being so great.

Till next time, happy shooting.

The Simple Three Light Executive Portrait

Tags

Corporate, Corporate Headshot, Corporate Photography, creative, CT Wedding photographer, education, Executive Headshot, headshots, Lastolite Ezybox, light, milford, modeling, Nikon, Nikon D3, off camera flash, Pocket Wizards, Portfolio, portrait, portrait photography, professional photographer, SB800, SB900, strobist, studio, teaching, Westcott 28 Apollo

Hi and welcome back.

Today we’ll look at the simple executive style portrait.  I’ll be using three lights to complete the job.  This may seem complicated, but it really isn’t.

Let’s take a look at two shots.  Both of these photographs employ the same person, the only change is the background.  The lighting is the same for both photos.

And here’s the three light setup.  It’s simple, quick, and gives you that perfect light for the classic corporate portrait.

Need a new corporate look?  Then contact me and let’s get together to create the best look for you and your company.

Till next time, happy shooting.

Mixing Strobe and Off Camera Flash with Stacey

Tags

beauty, Beauty Dish, creative, CT Wedding photographer, education, Elinchrom, fashion, fun, headshots, Lastolite Ezybox, light, Model, modeling, Nikon, Nikon D3, off camera flash, one light, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Pocket Wizards, portrait, portrait photography, professional photographer, Profoto, Sassy, SB800, SB900, strobist, studio, teaching

Hi and welcome back.

Yesterday I ran a workshop where we mixed strobe lighting with off camera flash.  We used a combination of lighting modifiers and techniques to get fantastic results.  I tried to show how you can seamlessly integrate the two systems.

Here’s Stacey when she arrived at the studio pre-styling: Nikon SB800 into a Lastolite Ezybox 24 x 24:

Here’s Stacey after makeup and using the mixed source technique.

For this shot: Profoto 300 ws Compact with White Beauty Dish for main light and a SB800 into a Lastolite Ezybox for a bit of separation and skim light on the gold shear:

For this shot we swapped things around a bit: Main light is a SB900 into a Photoflex shoot through umbrella, back light is a Profoto 300 ws Compact and Elinchrom 39 x 39 softbox:

For this last shot in the workshop we really switched things up: Main light is a Profoto 300 ws Compact with a 60″ Photek Softlighter, back light is a bare head SB900 outside the building shooting into the white shear to give a nice bright backdrop:

The workshop was a success!  I was able to mix and match lighting systems and use strobes and speedlights for both main and back lighting.  And, we even put a speedlight outside in that nasty cold and windy day to light from behind: awesome!

Many thanks to my workshop attendees, Stacey, Sallie’s Airbrush Makeup, and Salon Lui for really going all out for us.

Till next time, happy shooting.

Attitude of Gratitude

Tags

creative, CT Wedding photographer, education, fun, Ian Crocker, Josh Davis, Mutual of Omaha Breakout Swim Clinic, natural light, Olympians, Olympics, Portfolio, portrait photography, professional photographer, SB900, Swimming, teaching

Hi and welcome back.

I have another non-photography related post today.

This past Sunday we went to my son’s swim team’s event sponsored by Mutual of Omaha called the Breakout Swim Clinic.  It was amazing!!

We saw, met, and the swim team had a chance to take a swim clinic with two Olympic champions, Josh Davis, 3 gold medals in 1996 in Atlanta and 2 silver in 2000 in Sydney, and Ian Crocker, who won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in 2004 in Athens.

These two world class swimmers gave all the kids the tips and techniques they use everyday to compete at the national level.

And Josh Davis’ motto, have an Attitude of Gratitude: in other words, be thankful for those around you, who support you, and for what you have.  It was truly an inspirational event to attend.

Here’s Josh on the left and Ian on the right sharing their collective Olympic and swim experiences:

And here’s a small gallery of shots from the day:

What was truly fun was that they got in the water and worked side-by-side with the kids, teaching, helping, encouraging them to do their best and have fun!!!

Enjoy the shots!!

Simply Kim

Tags

50mm 1.8, 70-200 vr, beauty, brunette, Capture One Pro 5, creative, creative editing, CT Wedding photographer, education, fashion, fun, Kubota Actions, Me, milford, Model, modeling, Nik Color Effex Pro, Nikon, Nikon D3, off camera flash, one light, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Photoshop, Pocket Wizards, portrait, portrait photography, professional photographer, SB900, strobist, studio, teaching, Totally Rad Actions

Hi and welcome back.

This past Saturday I ran a small one speedlight workshop.  Kim came to model for us and she was just fabulous as always.

Here are a few shots.  I processed them heavily in software to get I look I don’t do too often:

I used a combination of these processing techniques:

Capture One Pro 5 for RAW conversion

Totally Rad Actions Boutwell Magic Glasses for an initial contrast adjustment

Kubota Makeup Artist for skin smoothing

Nik Color Effex Pro Kodak Portra 160 VC film effect

Nik Color Effex Pro Cross Process

This is a style of editing I don’t do often but really liked on these shots.  Many thanks to Kim who just rocked the house.

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

Editorial Shoot for Milford Living

Tags

Commuter, creative, CT Boudoir Photographer, CT Wedding photographer, Editorial, education, fun, Me, milford, Milford Living, MTA, natural light, NYC, portrait photography, professional photographer, teaching, Train, Train Station, winter

Hi and welcome back.

Below are a few images from an editorial shoot I did for Milford Living Magazine.

I love this kind of work as it is fun, creative, and I wind up meeting a ton of people:

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

Advanced Digital Class

Tags

beach, creative, CT Wedding photographer, education, fun, Landscape, light, milford, natural light, Portfolio, portrait photography, professional photographer, teaching, winter

Hi and welcome back.

Last Thursday I met my Advanced Digital Class out at Gulf Beach in Milford for some creative shots outside.  It was cold, I mean bone chilling cold, but they suffered through!

We first took a few sunset shots, then went to creative use of long shutter speeds to get some really cools movement shots of the jetty, then we used high ISO’s, custom white balance, and some creative compositions for the building at the beach.

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

Ashley’s Cover Shoot

Tags

beauty, Cover Shoot, creative, CT Wedding photographer, fashion, fun, headshots, high key, Magazine Cover Style, Model Photogaphy, modeling, off camera flash, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Pocket Wizards, portrait photography, professional photographer, SB800, SB900, strobist, studio, teaching, Westcott 28 Apollo

Hi and welcome back.

To fully show the versatility of small flashes, Ashley came in to sit for my last Advanced Digital Lighting Class on Wednesday.

I set up three flashes in order to shoot a cover style shot, much like you would see on an Elle, Cosmopolitan, any other magazine.

I used 3 speedlights, two softboxes, one shoot through umbrella, and a silver reflector.

Nikon D3, 70-200 vr, ISO 400, 1/160 @ f/5.6

Check out our simple cover shots:

These shots are clean, fun, and fairly simple to execute.

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

 

Alan and His Saxophone

Tags

Band Photography, beauty, creative, CT Wedding photographer, education, fun, headshots, light, Model, Musician, Musician Portrait, off camera flash, one light, Photoflex shoot through umbrella, Pocket Wizards, Portfolio, portrait, professional photographer, Saxophone, SB900, teaching

Hi and welcome back.

For my Advanced Digital Class we took one of our students, Alan, who is also a musician outside for and impromptu shoot with off camera flash.

All shots Nikon SB900, Photoflex Shoot Through Umbrella, Pocket Wizards:

Then we took him inside and did some on camera flash:

Many thanks to Alan for sitting for us and bringing his saxophone.

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