Portraits with a snoot

I love focussed light and one of the modifiers I really advise you to experiment with is the snoot.
These shots were done with the Elinchrom snoot with a grid attached to make the beam of light really narrow.

Do make sure you adjust the styling of the model a bit too the very narrow beam of light, in this case I loved the red and the dark shirt, for me it really made a stark contrast in the shot.

 

Model : Lois

Happy Birthday Annewiek

Today is a special day…..
Today Annewiek is celebrating her birthday.
So let’s do a blog post about some things you probably don’t know about Annewiek (and me).

 

Annewiek always tells people she doesn’t know anything about photography….
But she knows exactly when an image is not “that good” and also why…. I would say “she knows”

Annewiek always tells people she does the financial part and bookkeeping and I do the creative part….
But she is also the only one I really trust behind the cameras during live broadcasts and while filming BTS material.

Annewiek makes a killer breakfast in bed….

Annewiek is also sometimes called Ms. Tethertools
During a tradeshow she actually asked me why so many people were looking weird at her……
“Well honey maybe you should remove the huge sticker jerkstopper from your chest”
For your information…. the jerkstopper is a tethertools product

Annewiek absolutely loves Reindeer…
We got into contact with Reindeer in Finland and I’m now literally very worried for Santa….
So one piece of warning…. KEEP the Reindeer away from her.

Annewiek has a little but more guts than me….
During an Urbex shoot we arrived at the location a bit too late and everything was closed off….
I wanted to just let it be but Annewiek took control and takes to her persistence we were able to get inside (can’t tell you how) and do a complete photoshoot and record some instructional material… after about 4 hours we found out that the rest was actually picked up by the police and just left the scene after we arrived….. yeah not the best day but luckily her smile saved me jailtime and we were send off with a warning (something she sometimes still regret (I think))

Annewiek always offers to carry all the gear during workshops….
It sometimes makes me feel really guilty, on the other hand……. next topic

Annewiek hates being photographed.
Annewiek always asks me when I photograph her…..
Women……

Annewiek is often misspelled as Annemiek, Annewral and what not more.
It drives her insane…… even after spelling they do it wrong and sometimes even ask “are you sure”

Annewiek often pops up during the vlogs.
Where other wives seemingly hate to be on video she somehow always try to videobomb me and even one time managed to do a whole play behind me which I only saw while editing…. aaaargh.
According to some Annewieks smile should be on every behind the closed DOORs….. yeah well we’ll see about that guys.

Annewiek loves chocolate so much that she sometimes also sees chocolate when it’s not there.
Yesterday she tried to eat one of my magnets……. Yeah it was brown…….

Annewiek still clings to her Apple gear but gets more and more frustrated that stuff doesn’t work the way that it used to.
She doesn’t know that secretly I’ve been whispering “Apple lost it’s way, switch switch switch” in her ear every night.

Annewiek got a Google Home speaker for her birthday…..
She didn’t really found any appeal to a smart speaker and just wanted something to stream her music…. she now has whole conversations with Google…. it’s awesome to listen when she doesn’t know I’m there.

Annewiek tells everyone that she doesn’t really share my passion for comics.
But still every time we visit fleamarkets she has the same app that I have and is scanning for comics I don’t have, laying on the floor and looking through boxes and was incredibly excited when we found a boatload of comics in our attic.

Annewiek loves to cook….
But it’s ALWAYS “well…. it’s not exactly like the recipe…..”
We don’t care honey…. it’s always…… well most of the times…… ok it’s that late…. next topic

Annewiek always travels with me to tradeshows and workshops.
If you get me… you definitely get Annewiek.

Annewiek came up with the moto for our studio
“Photography from and for people” which is on our studio front

Annewiek not only filmed but also edited a lot of our commercial instructional videos
Remember she always said she doesn’t know anything about photography and video…… yeah sure.
And my name is Santa (without my reindeer :D)

Annewiek is the real driving force behind the Help Portrait movement in the Netherlands
Don’t get me wrong… it’s a team effort but she does all the hard work and helps out the other locations, with Annewiek we wouldn’t be able to do it.

Annewiek always visits the supermarket EVERY morning before the workshops.
Because she wants fresh food for the attendees, and she loves to create the lunch for them.

Annewiek is many things for us.
Wife, mother, assistant, filmer, editor, bookkeeper, gear carrier, hostess, booker, agent, shopper, caterer, cook, videolady, bosslady, Ms Tethertools, comicbook hunter, travel companion……….

 

but most of all…….
My soul mate.

 

Thanks Annewiek for everything and HAPPY BIRTHDAY..
Ok now you guys….

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Let’s hear a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the driving force behind StudioFD and learning with Frank.

 

 

Annewiek is a lot more than you read here.
But I didn’t want to write a whole book 😀
Thanks for reading.

Location, location, location

We all know the expression “location, location, location”
Now a lot of people think this means that the location is the most important part of a shot…. and although it CAN be, in most cases it’s all about your subject. Now I strongly believe that a shot in the studio can be great but a shot in a location can be more powerful, IF you let that location work with you in the shot.

Now a lot of people also think that a location should always be a cool location, something fancy, or something you normally never visit… and to be honest that is of course the coolest thing ever, and one of the reasons we often organize workshops in locations like an Aircraft museum, castles etc. but I also believe that you can make a shot almost anywhere. Actually one of the coolest remarks I ever got on a workshop from an attendee was “We were shooting in this amazing castle and Frank took us to the back to the most ugly building he could find… we looked at each other with the idea of “this is never gonna work, lets get back to the castle” but within minutes we saw that it was actually a good choice, the images were great”

Now these were not the exact words, but the essence is 100% correct.
I often try to shoot at least one of the images during these workshops in the most rundown, unattractive area of the location just to proof that you can shoot awesome images in ANY location.
A few days ago I taught a small group workshop and one of the questions of the group was actually “can we also shoot one or two sets outside”, now it was very windy and rained a bit, but we managed to get outside in a dry period and took some shots straight in front of our studio. Not the best of places but overall I think the images turned out pretty ok 🙂

So the next time you find yourself in a location where you go…..”mmmmm I don’t like this” just put on your photographers eyes and make something out of it. It will not be the most brilliant work you ever did… but trust me…. the client will love it.

Digital Classroom, Q&A session Feb 2 2018

A digital classroom Q&A session with information, tips, news and photo critique.

In this episode we talk about.
1. what to look for when buying a monitor
2. Calibration of the monitor
3. The new USB-c cables from Tethertools
4. The new Sony A7RIII
5. A new series of Joby pods

And much more…. you really have to watch the whole show… 🙂

If you liked this video give it a big thumbs up and subscribe so we can keep on making them.
Want to support this channel?Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/frankdoorhof we really appreciate the help and support

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