Speedlight ProKit 6 – Review
If you follow the Strobist path to off-camera lighting, and especially if you play around with DIY projects, then you’ve likely been in the position of trying to find/build a good softbox for your Speedlight flashes. Unfortunately, as anyone who has DIY-built such a softbox knows, there’s a big gap between the theory of the [...]
Family Xmas Portraits, Take 2 – Reality
A couple of these gig-overview posts back, I switched to using the terms “theory” and “reality” for the pre and post gig discussions. In the past I’d used terms like “pregame,” “review,” and “preview,” but I never felt that any of those were really the right description – they are all open to too many [...]
Family Christmas Photos – Reality
I’m left few Hershey Kisses and a pot of hot chocolate, but the Family Christmas Photos I talked about in this previous post are done – or at least the shooting is done, and now I’m left with about 15 shots to edit and submit to the printers by Friday, to try and ensure that [...]
Family Christmas Portraits, Take 2
‘Tis the season and demand is high, so I’ll be back at it again following my engagement with a local school. This time the stakes are closer to home, which makes the stress level both better and worse. The gig? Shooting family portraits for my girlfriend’s very large extended family. Oh yeah. Oh my. The [...]
Family Christmas Portraits – Theory
Next week I’ve arranged to spend an evening doing family Christmas portraits at a local school. Nothing too fancy, just the opportunity for a nice portrait and a print package at a good rate. The school is happy to offer this to its families and to the community at large as an outreach program, and [...]
Make any setting a portrait setting
Portraiture requires a number of specialized tools – and that number increases depending on who you ask, and how serious a portrait photog you are. At the most basic level, a lens well suited to portraiture work and some form of lighting are needed; at the other end of the spectrum are photos with huge [...]
Senior Studio Portraits – Review
Part two of my senior portrait shoot is now complete, which wraps up that project. It has been an interesting experience, trying some new techniques and returning to old ones, and I’m certain that the client will be thrilled with her images. The main portion of the shoot was studio-based and went pretty much as [...]
Projected Backgrounds?
Now for my latest pipe dream, projected backgrounds! Will this work? Can it be done successfully? I’ve got no idea, but I’m going to find out. Some background: in late November, I’ll be shooting some family Christmas portraits at a local school. It’s a community event, trying to foster some holiday spirit while offering the [...]
New Flash System?
For a couple of years now, I’ve been working with the Strobist system; older Speedlights, used in manual mode with wireless triggers. Strobist took the photographic world by storm with this system, and for good reason. It’s cheap, it’s highly effective, and once you figure out what you’re doing, it’s easy. The setup I have [...]
Senior Studio Portrait – Preview
On Saturday, I’m shooting part two of a senior portrait session. Part one took place outdoors and was where I started talking about the merits of lighting with a single strobe. Part two will take place in the studio (which itself is going to be setup in a computer room at a friend’s house). For [...]
