Tag Archive for: review

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. 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 the 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

get it right in camera

This was shot at the end of one of the sets.
In the images, Claudia was lying on the couch, and the light was pretty close to her.
On my camera, I’m using the K&F concept black diffusion filter. And that gives great lens flares when they are hit with some light.
To get the effect, I asked Claudia to look up. And by shooting it from a slightly lower angle, I could just get the perfect lens flare.
This shot was not planned but it grew quickly into one of my favorites from the set. So, get it right in camera.

So when shooting a set, walk around your model for different angles. But also try some different poses and “freak out” with your lighting. You already got the shot! So, take it a step further. If it doesn’t work, you at least know it doesn’t. But if it does, you can use it in your next shoot to up your confidence and coolness 😀

Want to learn a lot more about lighting?
Check out our tutorials, books, and of course,e you can find videos on Skillshare, KelbyOne, among others.
Or visit one of the Dutch workshops at fotografie-workshops.nl
And if that’s not your thing, maybe book a 1:1 online 😀

See more results of this shoot on Facebook 

 

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.

For the main light it works best when you use a striplight, it can be done with a small softbox and grid, but if you want that nice “beam” of light effect a striplight works best.
In this setup I’m using the Geekoto 48″ striplight. I started with the smaller 36″ version but to get the light the way I wanted from feet to head I ended up using one step longer. The nice thing about these two Geekoto strips is that they are both the same width, so you can really mix and match them in setups without losing focus on the model.

The same effect can also be done with the Rogue “Frank Doorhof” Flashbender in stripligh configuration. Meaning you can always use this setup on location or in the studio with just one strobe and a very portable light source.

The trick is to place the light behind the model aimed slightly forward, now change the height for the area the light will hit, higher means the area lit will be wider, placing the light closer means the beam of light will get narrower. The angle and the depth of the grid determines the light hitting the background. If you have the perfect setup but need more or less light on the background and you can’t solve it with angles or grids… keep everything the same but just move the model and the light backward (more light on the background) or forward (less).

The effect is great and really nice for body scapes and moody shots.

Shot during a recent workshop with Claudia.

And of course always include some extra images where you walk around your model.
Sometimes it works, sometimes not and sometimes it will surprise you… but that’s a story for the next blog post.

 

 

 

The Geekoto Lantern in action

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Some light sources are special

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.

In this behind the scenes video I use it for a full body quick to setup fashion shoot.

 

Working with the optical spot from Westcott to create stunning images

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Creative light shapers are awesome

When you want to create something different than the standard photo there are a lot of options.
You can add some props, add a nice backdrop, maybe add some smoke and accent lights etc.

But something that will really spice up your shoot is without a doubt an Gobo projector, or optical spot.
In this video tutorial I’m using the Westcott Lindsay Adler optical spot for three completely different sets with our model Lois.

You get to see the lighting setups, all the photos I shoot and of course the technique is explained in depth.

As an extra bonus I also demonstrate the Rogue (Frank Doorhof) Flashbender.

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