Tag Archive for: tips

Using a very simple prop can make a difference

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We all know the so called “posing stools”, “how to pose books” well don’t get me wrong… they all have a market, but for me they often don’t work.

 

Every model is different, every lighting situation is different but most of all every scene is different.
I love to “sync” the pose to the models clothing, the model, the scene etc. etc. there are so many variables it’s almost limitless, so to have one pose that fits all…. doesn’t really work for me.

 

To help with posing and to let the model get a bit more relaxed in front of the camera it can help if you give him or her something to “play” with, or a better turn something to pose with. And that doesn’t have to be an expensive posing stool or whatever, you can only spend your money once so make sure you spend it on things you can re-use, re-sell etc. And spending 100.00 or more on one stool just is a waste of money in my opinion, although if you shoot a lot of families or the same portraits over and over again it will probably work just fine (otherwise they wouldn’t be on the market right?)

 

This prop I got from a friend of mine who owns a toy store in Emmeloord and he didn’t use it anymore, we actually got three in different lengths, you might recognize it as something to hang lights on in a store or a stage, and you’re (probably) right, but I love to use it to let my models play with during the shoot as you can see in these images with Nadine.

 

Nadine Juli 27 2015 1732

Nadine Juli 27 2015 1740 1

Nadine Juli 27 2015 2027As you can see it’s a different way to pose than without any props, these kind of things will really boost your (and your models) creativity and make sure you keep shooting with fun and don’t end up doing the same thing over and over again, because let’s be honest…. we are in a creative business so repeating the same things over and over… well that’s just boring.

 

Now how do you get the cheap posing things?
Just go out to second hand stores, dumpsters, stage companies etc. and just ask for the “junk” it doesn’t have to new or good looking, in fact the more damaged it is the better it often works for a shoot.

Good luck and good hunting for those amazing props 😀

If you want to learn more about this and more model photography, you can buy our book on Amazon called Mastering the Model Shoot.  Or visit one of our workshops, see www.photography-workshops.eu 

Or join KelbyONE for classes about model photography, see our youtube page for backstage videos, our short photography tips on “Quite Frankly” and our interview shows on “The DOORhof is always open”.

 

That easy lightbulb again

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Every once in a while I will take it out of the closet… my favorite light source to play with… that simple 100W light bulb in the cheapest enclosure I could find. It’s always fun to see the reaction of the attendees of the workshops when they see the possibilities they can have while shooting with a light source most would label as “unusable for some cool shots”.

 

One of the things you always have to remember when shooting with light is “distance” or in other words “the inverse square law”.
In very simple terms, if you use a light source really close to your model the light will fall off very rapidly, meaning you will get a lot of contrast in your shot, if you move the light further away the light will fall off less rapidly. So if you want to light a group it’s often wiser to move the lights a but further away, and if you want a striking high contrast portrait you can move it closer (although many other factors play a role of course, but let’s keep it simple).

With the lightbulb the power, for me, lies when you use it really close to the model and the background. The outcome is always something that surprises people and often they ask me “How many strobes did you use next to the lightbulb” 😀

 

So if you have a lightbulb in your house, don’t be afraid to use it in your next shoot, it might surprise you.

 

For much more in-depth techniques, tips etc. get my book “Mastering the Model shoot” or download one of my videos from this website.

Manon Juni 13 2015 0594

Manon Juni 13 2015 0865

Digital classroom EP1 (the test)

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Last week saw the release of a new series in our educational program.
I’ve done a lot of workshop and webinars and both are 100% different, a workshop is a real 1:1 experience (we always work with small groups), a webinar is more a “watch and learn” experience.

 

For a long time I wanted to do something in between and never had the chance to do it, setting this up costs a lot of money as you can imagine (different camera angles, assistants, fast internet etc) but thanks to our friends at BenQ, Rogue and of course Elinchrom we finally were able to pull it off.

 

We dubbed it the “try out episode” but as far as we could see everything went very smoothly and what we ended up doing was a 3 hour intense instructional video with interaction from you guys.

 

We did not promote it a lot because we didn’t want a lot of people online if it would go wrong 😀 but… don’t worry we recorded it and you see it via this blogpost (or on our YouTube channel of course).

 

Please feel free to share the link, watch it and comment on it here or on YouTube, the idea is to do these kind of sessions 10x a year and normally they will have a topic just like the workshops, so except some smoke, movement, masks, location work etc.

 

Is it the same as a workshop?
No of course not 😀
A workshop is much more intense and has way more interaction, but I think we bridged the gap between a webinar and a small group workshop.

 

Is it the same as your instructional videos?
No of course not 😀
The instructional videos and the KelbyOne videos I do are much more in depth and will have totally different topics. The idea of the digital classroom is to show you guys how we work, what we do to complete a photoshoot and you can interact and ask questions, it’s not meant to replace the instructional videos or our other videos like on KelbyOne, if this gives you the hunger for more…. there are actually those options… book a workshop or watch/buy the instructional videos.

Enjoy.

Many thanks to our friends at BenQ, Rogue and Elinchrom to make this possible.

Quite Frankly Ep 48 audio in video and review of the Rode NT-USB

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When you start out with video the focus is often 100% on the video quality and of course that is understandable, but…. in fact the audio is maybe even more important and often forgotten when you start out.

 

In this video a comparison between the Rode NT-USB and the internal microphone of a MacBook Pro early 2015.
Especially when doing screen recordings often the internal microphone is used because it gives a pretty good sound recording (no denying that), however as you can see in this video it can be MUCH better, but also what happens when there is a lot of ambient noise?

 

Watch this episode of Quite Frankly and find out.