Calibrating the Light meter, some quick notes
Somehow this topic always raises a lot of questions so I’ve decided to dedicate another blog post on it.
In this blog post I will give you some pointers and tips how to calibrate the light meter.
About technique and more.
Tethertools, video
Some companies have products that before you did not know about them you probably did some “freaky” DIY solutions. For me this was the case with Tethertools. I love to shoot tethered in the studio and on location, but one of the most frustrating problems is that if someone (or yourself) stands on your cable it will be disconnected from your camera, in the best case scenario you loose your images, reconnect and continue shooting. But in most other cases you destroy your USB/HDMI/Firewire port which means “end of the shoot” and a very costly repair. I made some DIY solutions for this which worked ok, but never 100%. Enter the Jerkstoppers from Tethertools, to make a long story short “THEY ROCK” and are so cheap that you actually can’t afford not to have them, trust me it’s a very expensive repair when your port is defective.
I was so enthusiastic about Tethertools that my wife’s company decided to take up the distribution of the Tethertools products for the Netherlands (and far beyond :D), and I was not alone, it’s been a huge success, and not only the jerkstoppers. All the Tethertools products are well thought out, and….. well I don’t want to spend much words…. they just work, if you know what I mean.
Because a lot of people ask me about it and a moving image is always nicer than a still image in this kind of cases we shot a very quick video about the Tethertools products I use myself, we shot this in between photoshoots yesterday, the audio is not the way I want it, normally I use a voice over *my own voice* but I decided to go “live” this time because it simply is nicer I think while explaining things, we already ordered some better mics so the next videos will be much better, however I still think it’s a fun piece to watch, so here we go.
The simplest things…..
Often we are so obsessed with locations and expensive gear that we forget the fundamentals of Photography.
Painting with light and story telling.
Although we all love to shoot in the most beautiful locations with expensive gear it’s often also beautiful to use what’s available in your own studio and what was not meant as a “stage”/”set”. In my case I often do some shots in the area of our makeup area. I just love the way the lights work with the model and when combined with just a touch of fill and a wide aperture the images breath atmosphere. In this blog post a few images I shot at the end of the small flash workshop with Marie. This was not meant as a series by the way, just a collection of shots in the same light.
So remember to look for shots in locations were you normally don’t think about, you will be surprised what’s possible in your own location.
Having an assistant can be great…..
Todays tip is about working with assistants.
A few years ago I never thought about working with an assistant, I love to work alone or when needed I just asked my wife Annewiek and she helped me out. However when one of my models needed a quick change for her internship (which didn’t work out) I decided to help her out and gave her a spot without our studio. Well to make a long story short, at the moment we have one intern in the studio which stays for 20-25 weeks and one of those interns is now part of the studio as a shooter and retoucher (Wendy Appelman). I do have to add that I only hire assistants abroad when I really need to, Annewiek is always traveling with me and she knows exactly what to do (and when), if she wouldn’t travel with me I would however without a doubt hook up with a local photographer to help me out, because the results will simply put be much better when someone takes some of the “stress” off.
Now I hear you think “Yeah well, you have work enough and need them but I only shoot weekends” etc.
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