Tag Archive for: location

Have fun with the wide-angle option on your iPhone or other smartphone

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The Wide Angle lens on your iPhone

The wide angle is probably one of the most fun lenses. Period. yes i mean the Wide Angle Lens on your iPhone

That might be a very strong expression, but the wide angle is undoubtedly one of those lenses you can have a lot of fun with.
So for today’s blog post I decided to take some wide-angle shots while walking in the forest with Chewie.

The way it was intended… right?

Most of the time we use it just to get a wider view, and let’s be honest, it does really make a difference.

the wide angle camera on my iphone

However, for me one of the cool things about the wide angle is not that it just gives you more of the scene. But the way the wide angle distorts.
Now normally distortion is of course a bad word (unless you play guitar :D) but you can also use it creatively.

For example, what about just holding your phone really close to a tree and just aiming it up? The trees will look huge and if you bump the contrast you get some really cool results.

using the wide angle on my iphone at a tree

Now it’s also sometimes cool to use the wide angle to include your own feet.
Think about the start of a big hike, or maybe you like a sign that you find on your route and you want to spice the shot up a bit. Why not switch to the wide angle and include your feet?

Now talking about signs and angles

Those are actually awesome for the wide angle.
But don’t just shoot them straight on. Try different “funky” angles! Shoot them top down, or just sit on the floor and shoot up.
Signs are great for this, especially with street photography I love to shoot street signs this way. (although they mostly from the bottom up of course).

using a wide angle on my iphone for a sign

Shooting my pet with a wide-angle

Of course, when walking with Chewie we also had to take some shots of him with the wide angle.
Now you can take a little bit of a distance and it will just appear Chewie has a really big head.

using the wide angle on a pet makes his head really big

But it becomes so much fun when you get REALLY close up and personal.
Just beware that your phone doesn’t end up as a snack.

Cool selfies

Now I’m not going to lie, because I want to use the wide angle I can’t see the screen. So the following shots are 99% luck. But when you try enough times you will get some really unique selfies.
Let’s start with the phone on the floor with some leaves in front of it. You can also do this from a higher standpoint of course.

wide angle from the ground

We loved this shot, but it was too easy to get right…. so we decided to throw in Chewie and be a bit more creative with the composition….. It’s not hard to guess, but most images were totally wrong (you can’t see the screen) but when it works… well it’s loads of fun as you can see here.

The wide-angle on your phone is fun

So the next time you use your phone. Use the Wide Angle lens on your iPhone, get close, and take some pictures for more creative shots.
As soon as you start using it you will find that even the most boring things can become really interesting,  just due to the distortion and the different angles.

These shots were done with the iPhone 15 pro-Max on the wide-angle setting.
Editing is done in Adobe Lightroom Classic

A few years ago, the Digital Classroom was about Small Spaces and Wide Angles 

Rock that Low and Wide Angle Blog about street and travel photography in the UK

Fashion shoot with Nadine, a blog about angles and more 

More about Angles in this short video

I show you how I started and where we are now (Digital Classroom Love for Photography)

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Digital Classroom Love for Photography

It’s been interesting….

It’s been interesting to go through my old work for this episode of Digital Classroom. It was broadcasted on February 14, Valentine’s Day. And we didn’t want to do another model in red.
I thought it would be fun to dedicate a whole episode to Love for Photography.  About the way my photography changed, but also my vision of my work and the way I work with models, sets, lighting, and styling.

I hope you enjoy this very special and personal episode in our digital classroom series.

Don’t miss our live broadcasts and new videos by subscribing to our channel and hitting the bell icon.

Above the recording of the Digital Classroom Love for Photography

 

Check out our Next Digital Classroom on YouTube 

 

or the whole playlist on our website 

A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

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A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

Most of the posts we do online are from model photography. But product photography is also one of the services we offer our clients. Most of the time, the model shots are however a lot more interesting to post. But sometimes we also show you some of the products we shoot, when it’s special.

Hobby vs business

I always say I’m a lucky guy, every day I can do what I love most, create images. But sometimes I’m double so lucky when I can combine two of my passions.

I’ve known RJ-amps for a few years now and he can do wonders with tube amps but also builds great guitar pedals. When I brought my amp in I got two brand new pedals to play with which will be released later this year. And of course…. and he knows that…. I couldn’t resist to take some images.

Now we also took some of the more boring white backgrounds but when we do product shoots I also always like to add some “special set” shots. With handbags for example. We build a small set fitting the brand and took some shots in there, with fancy lighting. In most cases, we do this for free (and fun) but clients often end up using those images also.

How I shot this product, the guitar pedals

For this series I decided to shoot it at home with a combination of a Lumecube with a snoot and two Nanlite led tubes on the side.
The challenge was to get the Lumecube in exactly the right place, but luckily we could use the K&F concept tripod I’m using for my iPhone video setup. This is an awesome tripod because it can act as a boom arm, making it ideal for shoots like this or using phones in video setups.

Here is the behind-the-scenes setup for both pedals.

A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

A little bit of set styling

The reason I shot this at home was mainly because it was the best location 😀
This is the area where I create my music and also host live streams when I do seminars for clubs or Digital Classroom episodes without live shoots.

I love the carpet here (somehow most guitarists seem to love them) so I wanted to use that as my “base”
Because it’s a pedal I chose this vintage-looking amp because it’s pretty neutral-looking and stands close to the floor. So there is no problem fitting it in the frame.

Of course, you also need a guitar. Here I chose a custom-built guitar for the nice wood look which I think works great with the color of the amp and the carpet. Also, the finish has a very high gloss which makes it harder to light. But the effect when done right makes it possible to use just a little bit of light to see some details.

For some “fill,” I used my favorite-looking microphone, a nice Marantz Ribbon mic.

Lighting

As mentioned I’m using the Lumecube with a snoot and two Nanlites tubes on the left and right.
I love using accents with red and blue because both are on the same axis in the colorspace they blend together really nicely and both are also the so-called “emotion” colors so for me personally it’s a combination I use a lot.

Placing the lights is vital if you want details in the guitar without getting too much glare. However, around the edges, I did want just a little bit of reflection making the guitar stand out. After finding the right spot you can fine-tune the spread by just turning the tube very slowly and keep looking through your camera.

Ok… let’s show the results.
I did use just a little bit of BorisFX for special effects.
Get a 15% discount on BorisFX by using our link.

A kind of different product photography, guitar pedals A kind of different product photography, shots from guitar pedals

 

PS: if you like this blog about product photography (from guitar pedals), let me know! Find me on social media.

Results from the Landschaftspark workshop with Nadine

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This weekend it was time for an awesome workshop.
The location: Landschaftspark Germany (Duisburg Nord). For Photo + Aventure festival 
An awesome location where I taught a workshop a few years ago. The plan was to come back the year after but Corona had other ideas. So after a few years… this weekend it was finally time to visit this amazing location again.

For a location like this we of course want some fabulous styling and a great model, so we brought Nadine with us 😀
With Nadine, we always know we get some kick-a$$ styling and great poses.

Gear is also essential when working on location. In Landschafstpark we can expect some locations that will be very bright but also some very dark areas. Luckily the Hensel Porty system has no problems with any location you throw at it.

The first set in this workshop is shot with our fiberglass Rogue umbrella.

The nice thing about this umbrella is that it’s very sturdy due to the fiberglass. And on location, an umbrella is easy to bring and has loads of options for lighting your model. And on the Porty we can even shoot in the bright sunlight without any problem.

The first set we did outside with one of the buildings in the back.

For the next set, we move “inside”.

I’m using the 14″ reflector and a slightly smaller reflector to really focus the light on Nadine.
By adding a blue gel I added a touch of color and mood to the set.

We still had a few minutes left before lunch so I quickly set up another option by using the nice structured wall and one strobe under an extreme angle. By moving around the model you can get some cool results very quickly.

 

After lunch, we decided to take some shots in a beautiful part of the park where you can really work with some nice angles.
I started with the light straight at Nadine as a sort of fill-in flash.

There is nothing wrong with this setup but I really wanted some more drama and “oompf” in my shot, so we moved the strobe to the side and got these results.

When we saw these shots we knew we still had more than enough time to add at least one more set. But how do you improve this I thought?

We decided to go for a location where we could let Nadine interact with the building and use the sky a bit more prominent with some strong shadows and leading lines.

The next shots were done with one strobe with the 14″ reflector and grid.

Sometimes we have these amazing shots and we are happy and stop.

But …..
Over the years I’ve learned that you should always also try different angles. And believe it or not, in most cases those images are at least as good. But often a lot better. The reason is that we as photographers often chose an angle that feels “natural” and it can create breathtaking shots. But when we start to experiment with stranger angles or simply move to the other side….. it often is a lot more interesting.

 

I absolutely love teaching workshops so I never stop exactly at the time the organization sets 😀

 

That meant that we decided to not go back to the meeting room but add another strobe with a red gel, move the whole set a few meters to the right, and ended up with maybe my favorite shots of the day.

 

Many thanks to Nadine for the awesome styling and posing.
Annewiek for filming the whole day (video will be uploaded tomorrow)
And of course the Photo+Adventure organization for inviting me over.
But not to forget the awesome group of students, we had a blast 😀

If you also want to visit a workshop visit www.fotografie-workshops.nl for the agenda.