Tag Archive for: doorhof

Using props… the chair

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Often people ask me “what is the perfect prop?”
Well let me start by saying that there is no perfect prop.
However if I had to choose one I would say it’s chair…
Now don’t get the expensive posing chairs you sometimes see in studios and online, in my opinion these are nice but also very overpriced and will limit the way you can shoot for the simple reason they are often not the most attractive chairs.

 

You can not only incorporate them into your set, but you can also make the model pose more dynamically. In other words add a lot of play into the shoot.

 

My favorite way to get chairs is to visit the second hand stores and get the more damaged, ugly, vintage looking chairs they have, the first advantage is that they are often cheap (hey I’m Dutch :)) plus they (in my personal opinion) have way more character than a new one. PLUS.. when you’re done with them… well you just cut them open and you have a second life for the chair.

 

Today some images I took during the test session with Marieke with 2 of our chairs.
Some might be considered NSFW so beware.

Marieke Jansen Oktober 2 2014 (49 of 107)-Edit

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The power of the portrait

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Often people struggle with getting that little bit of extra out of a portrait, now I never claim to be an expert on this (I think no-one really is), but over time I found out that it often helps to let the model “act”, in fact I always describe photography as acting on 1/4000 of a second.

 

This is our model Bertrie and she is going through several expressions, by converting the images to BW I added a little bit of extra mood, which for me works very well with these shots.

 

When you’re shooting a portrait try to work through different emotions with your subject, some can be subtle, some can be extreme, but keep playing. Now some people will say “my subject doesn’t have any emotions to go through” and I disagree, of course she/he may not be as expressive as this model (and many others) but there is always something you can squeeze out of your model. It often helps to first play around with them, have some fun before the photoshoot, make some jokes, make them laugh, but most of all make them feel relaxed.

 

A good photoshoot should never feel like a photoshoot, it should feel like “fun” or “acting” in other words a “flow”, as soon as you let your subject pose too static I often find the results lacking and “boring”. So the next time you do a shoot make sure to COACH your model, and I think you will be surprised.

Bertrie September 11 2014 (130 of 161)

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Tip about shooting high-contrast on the street

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Tip:
Often photographers will try to find the light behind the photographer to get some light on the subjects. However one of the most interesting things that I love to do is finding that high contrast situation where you are actually shooting straight into the sun.



You can of course use objects to block the sun, or let it just “creep through”. So the next time you’re shooting on the street, don’t be afraid to shoot straight into the sun, or include it in the frame, I think you will be surprised 😀

 

I always love to include people to get some cool silhouette effects.

Augustus 27 2014 NY (98 of 222)_DxO

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Leaf Credo 50 user review

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One of the things I absolutely love to do is testing new gear, especially when it gives the photographer totally new options which were not possible before.

Mail copy

As you probably know I’m shooting different systems.
I always tell people that I will use DSLRs for when I don’t really can control the lighting, or if I need higher ISOs and Medium Format when I can use strobes or if there is more then enough ambient light. The simple reason for this is that Medium Format (although a superior format) is not really usable above ISO400 (some even ISO200). But this has now all changed.

 

Sony makes some amazing sensors and since a while they also have a 50MP semi Medium Format sensor, I say semi Medium Format because in reality it’s a crop sensor for Medium Format, now is this a bad thing? no not really but personally I love to use a full frame sensor, that being said….. man does this sensor rock.

 

When Leaf asked me to test this back the idea was that I could use it for a few days during a session and had to send it back, however I got so attached to the back that I kept sending them images and they let me keep the back for a much longer time, actually ALL the images you saw appearing online from our trip through Denmark were all shot with this back and that’s something that I would not be able to do with my Credo60 for the simple reason that I would also need a DSLR for the higher ISO material and traveling with 2 cameras is… well just a bit awkward sometimes so I often opt for the DSLR, however seeing that I can now easily shoot up to ISO3200 and even ISO6400 makes a HUGE difference.

 

Now there will be many reviews about the technical stuff and the specs so I thought “let’s make a much simpler user based review”, I will do this from both the viewpoint of a DSLR user and a MF user.

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