Tag Archive for: tips

Using natural light and a bit of reflection

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The following shots were taking with natural light, well actually the last one (with the sun reflection) was a shot with added strobe.
Now one of the tips I want to share with this blogpost is looking for location.

 

Often we walk past location that look 100% uninteresting for our photoshoots, however if you look a little bit better/longer or, as I often call it, with your photography eyes some locations can be really nice. I always love reflections and windows are great for this, however I also love structure so older buildings are a true treat for me and I love using them to shoot against. This building actually is on the other side of the road from our studio and we often use it during our workshops or sessions (It always helps to have good relations with your neighbors :D)

 

Marie November 21 2013-86-Edit

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Using the sun in the shot

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Yesterday we looked at using the sun as the main lightsource, but today we take it one step further.
When using strobes (and even without) you can really play with including the sun into the shot, in the next series I used the Elinchrom Ranger RX to fill in the model while using the sun (in the frame) as a strong backlight and creating some interesting lens flares.

 

In these shots I also lowered the brightness of the sky to make it more dramatic, you can do this with a lot of power like the Elinchrom Ranger RX, but also with speed lights and the use of HSS (HighSpeedSync). As long as you lower the brightness of the sky in comparison to the strobe output.

 

Now we could of course just shoot Marie posing and rely on a great model, cool clothing and great light… but that’s not what the viewer will remember in the end. One of the most important things in a shot for me is the inclusion of a story, this can be done with adding props, sets etc. but also very simple by just giving some extra attention to the pose like you can see here.

Marie November 21 2013-74-EditIt can be just as simple as this, but as you can see when you see the rest of the shots, this image really tells a story while the other ones are just…. well nice. So the next time you’re on location try to not be afraid of the sun and give some extra attention to the posing of the model and lift your shot from ok to WOW.

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X-rite webinar online

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Last week I taught a free webinar for our friends at X-rite.
Today you can find the link to the webinar here :

 

 

http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_learning.aspx?action=webinarsarchive&eventid=1501&eventdateid=5526Safari 2

add some speeeeeed

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As you know I’m always carrying a camera, this way it’s always possible to take a picture.
The best way I heard this described was actually by Jay Maisel who said “If you don’t have your camera with you it becomes incredibly difficult to get the shot”. Most of the times you will see yourself shoot in situations that are not the run of the mill locations or situations and sometimes this gives you some amazing shots. I do have to be honest that the following shot I did not take myself, I was driving and asked Annewiek to take the shot the way I wanted it, a bit of the hood of the car and a slightly longer shutterspeed, this way we captured the speed effect I think pretty nicely.

 

Always remember that when you shoot something with motion in a forward moving vehicle that you will see a sort of “stretch” effect, this effect is something that I LOVE to use in tunnels etc. as you can see here.

April 11 2013 Fuji Door Annewiek (47 of 72)-Edit