Tag Archive for: photographer

First images with the Sony A7RV and it’s a huge upgrade

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During the Photodays 2023 I got the chance to shoot with the new Sony A7RV.
I’m still using the Sony A7RIV which is a great camera, but to be honest I was shocked with the upgrade.
Because I was shooting demos 3 days almost back to back and I used the A7RV only during the last day it really caught my eye how much more “depth” there seems to be in the images.

I’m not saying the A7RIV images are flat, but the A7RV does seem to be a little but more 3D, probably due to a different way of sensor processing, it’s subtle but clear when you know your camera. Now that wouldn’t be worth an upgrade, but the much faster and MUCH better (accuracy) autofocus is without any doubt. Much better with eye detection and now also with a load of AI options for trains, planes, animals and even chosing the correct eye. YES SONY, now I can use the eye focus (probably, still testing this). Also the display is a huge upgrade, tethering speed is faster and the display is now finally fully adjustable (I really missed that).

I’ll be using the A7RV a lot more so if you have any questions let me know.
I can confirm that tethering to the iPad Pro with Cascable works.

Today in the blog some of the results from the last day at PhotoDays 2023 Brussels.
Models : Nadine and Felisa.
Do remember that these kind of images are shot during a trade show on our booth during demos, so short time periods where I have to pay more attention to explaining what I do and the crowd than taking the photo, so there are often far from perfect, but I just love the styling Nadine did, so I had to share them.

Strobes : Geekoto GT400/GT250/GT200
Modifiers : Geekoto small softbox, Rogue magnetic system and Flashbender
Backgrounds : ClickBackdrops
Tethering : IQ Wire 10mtr to iPad Pro running Cascable

 

That magic angle

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Often when shooting models, landscapes etc. we are shooting from the so called “eyes perspective”, meaning you hold the camera in front of your face and you shoot. This will indeed render the world/your subject the way that YOU see it… but is this the most interesting way… often not.

During workshops, seminars, demos etc. I always stress the attendees/viewers/visitors to really try out different ways of shooting a scene, not only do you trigger your own creativity but you also give your client, being your model or customer, more choices. And in all honesty, we are photographers not just “snappers” right? (hope that is a right expression by the way).

But experimenting with angles you are actually learning about the behavior of lenses, light but also about the poses of the model. This is incredibly important when you start out with photography and when you start with experimenting with poses etc. you will build a much stronger base for your future, at least that’s my opinion.

The shots in this blogpost were shot during a workshop with Anouk with the exact same light setup, as you can see by changing the angle I did not only change the look of the pose but also radically changed the behavior of the light. It may or might not be your taste, but at least try it 🙂

For much more tips visit www.frankdoorhof.com/videos and download our instructional videos
Or subscribe to www.youtube.com/frankdoorhof for free instructional material
And of course get my book “Mastering the modelshoot” via your favorite bookstore or amazon 

 

The perfect lens……

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Let’s talk a bit about lenses and looks.
The image we open with was shot during a workshop with a 70mm setting on a 24-70 lens. Is this the perfect/best way to shoot this scene?….. well let’s see.

 

“Frank what is the perfect lens for…..”
I don’t know how often I get this question, but let me put it this way…. it’s a lot

Now let’s start by saying that the perfect lens/camera is the one that you have with you… but… well that’s a bit of a cliche, so let’s give you a real tip in todays blog.

EVERY lens has it’s own character.
What I mean with this is that even between let’s say 2 50mm lenses you can see a difference. For example I sometimes love to shoot with older M42 lenses which via an adapter are connected to my Sony camera. Thanks to the peaking (focus assist) focusing is easy and fast with manual lenses. The cool thing about these lenses is that they give your images a distinct look which I personally really like. I also have some Leica lenses from the R series and those lenses are almost pure magic.. but that’s for another post (if you guys are interested in that just let me know in the comments below).

Back to todays tip.
Often it’s regarded that wide angles are “less” good for portraits or model photography than longer lenses. However I would like to point out that this is not entirely true. The main difference between a longer and wider lens is “distortion” now don’t take this too literally, but there is a totally different look to a wide angle which would indeed make it less “flattering” to shoot a portrait with from close by. On the other hand….. if you use that distortion to your advantage you can do some cool stuff like for example this.

If I shoot this with a longer lens the effect is much less prominent.

In essence you always have to remember that a camera doesn’t see depth.
The only thing it does is render objects that are close larger and objects that are further away smaller. When you shoot with a wide angle you are actually (in this case) closer to the apple and the model is much further away compared to the distance to the apple. Meaning you get this “distortion”.

Now if you make use of it, like in this example you can actually make it work for you.
Remember the image we opened with?
That’s how you would normally shoot it in the studio, but if you shoot it more wide, in my opinion the shots comes way more alive.

Now I do have to add a side note.
I really don’t like images that are shot with wideangles without being “shot” with a wide angle. In other words if you shoot a portrait like you would normally shoot a portrait with a sub 30mm lens (Full Frame) I often find the distorting taking me away from the shot. However when you use that “distortion” to work with the shot like in the sample with Anouk on the stool I really feel that the wider angle shot gives me a much more flowing image (if that makes sense). It has less compression so to say. (a term often used for longer lenses by the way).

 

Feel free to show your images with wide angles.

For much more tips visit www.frankdoorhof.com/videos and download our instructional videos
Or subscribe to www.youtube.com/frankdoorhof for free instructional material
And of course get my book “Mastering the modelshoot” via your favorite bookstore or amazon 

iPhone x

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Ok so the iPhone x has been released what are your thoughts? Let me share mine.

I’ve been critical to Apple ever since the mbp. Since than my Apple Watch has been switched and even my Macpro and iPad are replaced. The reasons….. very simple.

Where Apple always was first and best it’s now the best in build quality and probably experience but it’s running behind on things that are already available with the competition.

So what are my thoughts.

Don’t worry this will be short.

Love love the iPhone x

Let’s be honest it’s gorgeous it’s amazing and incredible, almost magical (like Apple said) the design is really nice and I like the new camera options although in all honesty you can do the same very quickly in Lightroom mobile or other apps.

Love the depth effect on the front camera

Love wireless charging, although I don’t see me doing this at home. But at Starbucks, airports etc it’s very handy

Face recognition is WOW and I mean WOW. Awesome and magical.

And that’s about it.

I don’t care about animojis. Yeah it’s fun and I would love to use it for fun.

Now in all honesty I was almost planning on not switching to the Samsung note 8. I’m still a bit terrified to do it because I only had ios smart phones. But my experiences with the Samsung tab s2 has been nothing less than good and very positive.

So what did me change my mind…..

Something I never expected to say, the design of Apple iPhone x has a MAJOR flaw and I can’t believe that they did this.

We have all seen the mock ups with the top part where all the cameras are housed. My expectations were that when you watch a video or look at a photo that this part would be totally black. To my horror it isn’t. At first annewiek told me that that would be something I could get used to…… heck no. Never. It’s like a dust particle under my protector. My eyes just drift towards that gaping gap where video or photos are supposed to be…… it’s not the way I would expect a end design team to work. I’m actually quite shocked.

So what next

I’ve been waiting for a new phone because I wanted to do more with video on the phone and IS on the tele is very welcome plus external audio. The note 8 caught my attention to the very bright screen (1200 nits vs 750) which is awesome when flying my drone in the sun. Als the Samsung supports external mics

I love the depth effect but also want raw support and of course being able to alter the effect after taking the shot. Samsung offers this including the option to take both wide and tele shots and altering the effects afterwards.

AR looked awesome but in reality I will never use it. I’m just not a gamer. I shoot and edit photos and video, I consume media, do mail and social media and I love the idea of the spen for video editing. (Love iMovie but with your fingers on the iPhone 7plus was not really handy. With the iPad Pro it’s awesome).

So……

After many many years of Apple iPhones which I absolutely loved it’s now time to say farewell to my beloved iPhone series. And even when you take out the idea of the gap the pricing Is just insane. 999.00 will be 1159 euros in the Netherlands which means the 256gb will probably be 1350. The note 8 retails for 999 plus a free dex station valued at 159.00. Saves me a lot of money.

What will I spend that money on…..

On the Apple TV 😉

Finally 4k and hdr and with Apple TV you know for sure that Netflix and youtube will be supported plus I found a good working remote on android 😉

So what are your ideas?

Don’t get me wrong. I still love the whole Apple feel and mood. And will probably always be an Apple fanboy. Only now without Apple products.

Man it feels weird.

One more thing….

4k 60fps is superb but my other video material is all 4k 25fps so I have to integrate it into that timeline. Also 1080p 240fps is great but I hardly use it for “real” material. But hey that’s me. Your opinion might be totally different.