I live on the East Coast, and I mean right on it. My studio is located about 8 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. People who live here love the beach, and of course the tourists who descend like swarming flies on a slain wildebeest every...
In order to demonstrate the basics of outdoor portraiture, we brought a local model and our photography crew to a beautiful nearby beach. Careful planning and the right equipment allowed us to achieve stunning results. Being equipped with a...
In the world of fashion and high-end portrait photography, lighting is the key to professional-looking images. Having the ability to control the light that falls on your subject allows you many different ways of expressing an idea...
I get a whole new way of seeing things when I put black and white film in the camera. It seems like I have a little Photoshop Desaturate command that goes off in the back of my head and suddenly I see everything in shades of gray. Anyone who's...
It should come as no surprise to you to discover that there are few--maybe no--real secrets in photography. Instead, what you find are informed opinions based on experience blended with some stylistic preferences. The recipe for producing...
Have you ever looked at someone's outdoor vacation photographs and wondered who the subject was? The face was so dark you couldn't tell if it was your best friend. And don't you just hate those "raccoon eyes" portraits? You know what I mean; the ones...
What began as a story elicited so many responses that we've decided to continue it as a regular column. Here, technical representatives from manufacturers and suppliers share tips, techniques, thoughts, and photos with you. If you're a supplier...
Soon after becoming really serious about your photography, something annoying begins to happen: you become increasingly critical of your results. You start comparing your photographs to those in magazines, and note that, esthetics aside, your...
When portrait photographers get together, they talk about light, lighting, and lighting equipment. Right after money and cameras, it's a major topic. Especially the "big four," because most photographers use a four light setup in their studio. Let...
There was an era long before my time when a pro photographer shot with big, heavy, hot tungsten lighting. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, hot lights were the state of the art. Giant 1k, 2k, and 5k tungsten fixtures from Hollywood suppliers flooded the...
Until recently,
most small business owners would never have entertained the idea of producing
their own images of their product for advertising purposes. Easy to use
digital cameras, image- editing software, and basic lightingequ...
If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, photography is all about light: where the light is coming from, how it hits your subject, how you expose your film to capture it, etc. Since my profession involves getting the right kind of light...
In the February 1999 story "Pro Tips For Platinum Printing," I mentioned there were two possible Ultraviolet (UV) light sources that could be used for platinum and other alternative contact printing processes. In that issue, landscape photographer...