The light shaper that surprised me

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Today a video with two different light sources for a Rembrandt like lighting setup, When I normally setup a Rembrandt lighting setup I'm using a softbox with a grid from slightly behind the model aimed forward, and an accent on the opposite side for a nice accent on the jawline and hair. This works great, but on the background I never got the control I wanted. I tried a larger softbox and that worked like a charm but it was not the effect I wanted. When using the light very close to the model, to get a rapid nightfall off, when walking around your model a normal softbox will give you a part of your background that is dark or is fading into dark.

Product photography with a glamorous edge

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Product photography doesn't have to be boring One of the first thing I often hear when talking about product photography is that it's boring. And although I agree to some point, there is so much more that can be done with some creativity. As an allround studio we shoot almost everything from weddings, products, pets, families etc. And I have to be honest there is one kind of product photography I also don't really find challenging or gives me the right satisfaction.

Backdrops are vital

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Backdrops are vital I quickly started with custom paint on our walls in our first studio. I never understood why someone would waste so much space in a studio by keeping the walls all white. First of all it reflects and it just isn't inspiring (well at least not for me), having walls with details, structure etc. gives you ideas and it just works much better as a backdrop. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love(d) seamless paper, and still sometimes use it, but having a "real" backdrop to work with often complements the shoot a lot more than paper. Besides custom paints we also still use moveable walls in our studio with all kinds of wallpaper, always loads of fun to use and build small sets with.

A special tribute

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One of the things I love about workshops..... is that I can always work on ideas during a class that I also would have loved to shoot myself. Of course the input of the attendees is vital for the creative process, and it most definitely made great shots much better.

One of the best tips ever

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And also one of the most simple ones And the moment I tell you, you probably go like "yes of course..... but I sometimes forget indeed" Today I'm sharing one of the best tips, and it's mostly about keeping your customers, or getting more.

WOW that’s just awesome photography!

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It happens if you look for it As you know I love to play with light, and although I love to use plugins for film looks and sometimes enhance a lens flare here and there, my intent is to always get it right in camera. By they way if you want some of the best tinting and special effects software make sure to check out BorisFX, it's the best I've ever worked with. Anyway today I want to share this image from Claudia

You did not expect that did you….

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Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't But you should always try it. Shoot from different angles, but also during warm ups, and always treat the shots as if they are real shots. In most cases these images are great for behind the scenes fun, memories etc. but sometimes you end up with something really special.

Day of the dance, photographing motion

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In my work I love motion For me adding some motion to a photo always adds so much more than just that motion. Somehow you just keep looking at the image. To freeze motion with strobes you have to make sure you use strobes with a fast flash duration. For most situations a flash-duration of 1/2000 is enough for a proper "freezing the action shot". Of course you can also play with this technique. For example use a fast strobe on the face of the model but use a very slow strobe as accent to get some nice blurs in the highlights.

The awesome low light setup for glamour

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Today part II in my favorite glamour lighting setups In the previous article we talked about a more flat light setup, today we are going the opposite direction. As mentioned my favorite photographers were often working with high contrast and low key setups. So today I want to share one of the most awesome setups for glamour in my opinion. And you don't need a lot.

The lighting setup for awesome glamour

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I love vintage glamour and pinups Starting with George Hurrell, Avedon, Newton to David Lachapelle.  And when you also want some insights into one of the best models in this genre pinup/burlesque make sure to check out Dita Von Teese who wrote a great book about both being the model, style and makeup. In the next two articles I'm going to show you two of my absolute favorite setups, but on both sides of the spectrum. Today I'm showing the always awesome high contrast/flat lighting setup.

The power of the expression

We probably all know that proper lighting and styling is essential for a successful photo, but for me personally it's the start. During the photoshoot I try to think about the proper posing of the body, the hands, the shadows, the background etc. In other words a lot of stuff going on. This also means that we often forget to think about expression.

Black and white or color or let’s do both

Some things I never do We all have said something like this when it comes to our work. One of the things I hardly use myself is selective coloring, and yeah sometimes it looks great but somehow in my work it's always a matter of keeping all colors and even enhancing them, or convert it into black and white. But sometimes...

Light from different angles

One rule most people will agree upon is that light from below is often not something we use in our photography, unless of course you want that freaky horror look, I actually always call this lighting "halloween lighting". But one light setup I also don't see a lot of people use, but which is one of my favorite ones, is the light from above.

WOW that shines like crazy

Reflective material is a great way to spice up your photoshoot. You can use it as a set, backdrop or even wrap it around your model. but today we are using it in a set with some colors and hard light hitting it to get a beautiful glow in the material.

Cheap can be more fun than you think

"my lens is cheap", "I have an old camera", "I only have one strobe" etc. In all honesty, of course gear is important but you can create awesome art/photos etc. with your phone nowadays. My moto over the year has been "if people look at the quality of the pixels the image is not strong enough" that doesn't mean you can just "wing" it and don't care about your gear, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

A new model and this is the first shoot

And believe it or not... it's getting harder and harder. But today I can introduce Ysanne, she will be helping us out with workshops and live streams. So you will see much more in the near future, but today the results from her test shoot.

Always build in a fail-safe even if you think you don’t need it

Shooting tethered might look very safe, but a lot can go wrong, today some of the best tips I can give to prevent you losing photos during the shoot.

Using a data projector for some really cool lighting effects

Projectors are great for presentations and movies But did you ever think about using a projector as your main lightsource? Think about all the options you have when you can literally paint all your lights, sharp or soft edges, all colors you like or maybe even a whole photo. When using a projector as your main lightsource you will never run out of ideas.

The Geekoto Lantern in action

The moment you see the Geekoto Lantern you know exactly what you're going to get. A beautiful soft light from the front of the softbox, but also a lot of light emitted from the sides. This makes the lantern the perfect softbox for new born, product and fashion photography when you need a lot of light but don't want the light too harsh and the edge transfers on the set. The lantern does exactly this.

Using the optical snoot for a great window effect

I love using the Lindsay Adler optical snoot from Westcott as my main lightsource as you have seen many times, but it's also great for the more subtle effects. Today in the blog I take you behind the scenes during a workshop where I use the optical snoot for a very subtle but great effect on our model/set.