Jay Abend

Flashkon 2000 Linear Monolight
Wider Is Better
Jay Abend  |  May 01, 2001

Over the years I've seen a lot of weird and bizarre photo products. While the photo market is a relatively modest niche all by itself, there are always those willing to cater to the sub-niches and micro-niches within. When a Flashkon 2000...

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Ilfords New Delta 400 Professional Black And White Film
Jay Abend  |  Apr 01, 2001

Sometimes my day to day life as a photographer is so wrapped up in new technology that I forget all about the basics of photography. In an era when digital cameras and electronic imaging are threatening to blow conventional silver-based...

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Digital Darkroom
Digital Print Display
How To Mount And Frame Your Ink Jet Masterpieces
Jay Abend  |  Apr 01, 2001

Oh, what a world we live in. Cell phones the size of a pack of chewing gum, 200 channels of cable TV, the Internet and digital cameras that anyone can afford. As technology marches forward everyone seems to get all wrapped up in the hardware...

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Pro TechniquesPortraiture
Break The Rules
7 Tips For The Modern Portrait Photographer
Jay Abend  |  Jan 01, 2001

The word "portrait" has had a fairly strict definition for ages. From the days of Rembrandt and Carravagio through modern photographic masters like Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, the portrait has remained a constant. While techniques...

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Pro Techniques
Murphys Law Revisited
Even A Pro Can Have A Bad Day
Jay Abend  |  Dec 01, 2000

You're all familiar with Murphy's Law--Anything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong. Certainly being a working photographer is a great way to see Murphy's Law in action on nearly a daily basis. While I pride myself on being prepared for every...

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Lighting
Hot Lights Are Cool
How To Mix Tungsten And Flash Lighting For Great Results
Jay Abend  |  Nov 01, 2000

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...

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Lighting
Getting The Right Light
Affordable Solutions To Expensive Problems
Jay Abend  |  Oct 01, 2000

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...

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Why You Need A Portfolio
The Essential Tool For Every Photographer
Jay Abend  |  Sep 01, 2000

You need a portfolio. If you call yourself a photographer and you don't have an up-to-date portfolio of your best work, I think you're missing an essential tool.

While having a great portfolio is...

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Pro Techniques
The Long View
Taking Telephoto Lenses To The Extreme
Jay Abend  |  Aug 01, 2000

I've always wanted really exotic lenses: super wide fisheyes, perspective control tilt and shift lenses, super fast rare earth element thoroughbreds, and super long telephotos. I've managed to buy, rent, or borrow just about everything out there in...

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Lighting
Lights On
Pack And Head Goes Monolight
Jay Abend  |  Jul 01, 2000

I have always considered myself a pack and head guy. You know what I mean--big powerful studio flash generators, long cables, and fan-cooled light heads. Growing up I always thought of a pro photographer as the guy with the view camera...

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