Categories: How To/Tech
- Capturing Fast Action
I have had a lot of fun shooting tennis over the years. Not only because I play the sport and really enjoy the tournament atmosphere, but because tennis is a fairly accessible and relatively inexpensive sport despite its hoity-toity public image. With proper planning one can get courtside seats with relative ease, particularly in the [...]
- Accent lighting for product photography
Recently, Les George asked me to shoot a couple of his latest knives. I wanted to run my usual montage style but also wanted to create something ala Tactical Knives Magazine (hopefully they’ll end up in the mag soon). Its been a while since I did a “how-to” post so I decided to share my [...]
- Facebook Image Size and Printing
Times they are a changin’. Screens get bigger, native resolution increases, printers get better. I recently have been torn about whether or not to watermark my photos or at least include the customary frame with my name and URL so none of my work gets orphaned, stolen, used without permission etc. My feeling is really [...]
- Portraits with Two Lights
A couple weeks back I was invited to a model shoot up here in Oceanside and had about an hour to hang out with Turtle Michelle Cabrera, Makeup artist Elaine Garcia, and several local models. Turtle is a young, hard working photographer and took on the challenge of more than 6 models in a single [...]
- Gellin’ like magellan – color gels with small flash.
Chris and I managed to pull off another beach shoot without losing anything – almost. A roll of gaffer’s tape going MIA is not as bad as what the angry seas have swallowed up in our past endeavors. So, to appease the ocean Gods, I decided to post a setup shot, perhaps give you shooters [...]
- When it Pays to be a bit Snooty.
We photographers are always trying to soften up the light. Bounce it off a ceiling or a wall, put an umbrella or a big softbox on our lights. Most of us, at one time or another, have resorted to having all manner of white plastic tupperware type devices hanging off our on-camera flashes making us [...]
- Beach sunset portraits – setup etc.
Living near this free backdrop is pretty cool sometimes. Some folks in San Diego shy away from the typical beach location shoot, but I can honestly say it does not get old for me. Learn how to wrangle your flash and ambient light mixture and the fun really begins. I am still studying this one [...]
- Looking your Best in Pictures
Some of us just have the body of a Venus (or Adonis). I actually have the body of a malnourished Kenyan sprinter (minus the athleticism). If you’re anything like me, you’ve looked at a picture of yourself in the back of a camera and immediately said “man, I’m getting old!” or “EWWWW!, insert self-deprecating comment [...]
- Product Photography and Household Items
Last week I was in Vegas doing some “grip and grin” type photos for a knife show and I noticed a photog from a Japanese knife magazine using just a single speedlight off camera and a disc diffuser to shoot knives. I decided to set one up on the table at home and give it [...]
- Shooting Portraits in Shade- Finding the “Good Shade”
Lately, I have been doing some studio work in “artificial light” (is there such a thing?). This has inspired me to scrounge natural light a bit more carefully for outdoor portraits. You probably already know that harsh midday sun tends to make “less than desirable” photos.
Shooting in the shade can give you better results right [...]
