Portraits can be created outdoors in just about any environment. The key is to learn how to make just about any lighting situation work for you. Sometimes, when you choose your background you might find yourself photographing your subject in direct...
Teaching photography to Carnival Cruise Line photographers has given me an opportunity that few people have in their lifetime. I spend weeks at a time cruising on the world's greatest fleet of ships to some of the world's most incredibly...
So, what does a professional photographer do with his afternoon off? Take pictures. I'd never have believed it, myself, but going to our local art show in downtown Sarasota with a 35mm camera in hand allowed me to see more, possibly, than many of the...
I used a fixed-lens camera for many, many years--even after I'd become a professional photographer. Then, someone told me that I could never be a professional until I had a camera on which you could change lenses. I remember being glad that my...
I tried it. I liked it. I loved it and so did Kodak. They used this test photograph of mine recently in a 30/30 size to display the quality of their new Portra 800 film. It's also available in 35mm, 120 and 220 rolls.
Editor's Note: Last month we accompanied Monte to Sarasota, Florida, where he was making a new series of videotapes. Monte took us to the Ringling Museum and a local Greek Orthodox church to show us his methods of lighting outdoors. This...
Some weddings take place in obviously gorgeous surroundings. But it's not always obvious how to take advantage of the settings. Also, it's not easy to get to those backgrounds at the time of day when the light is just right. You simply have to...
I began by posing Danielle (Photo 1) slightly off-center, so that the lights above would not seem to be coming down into her head. I knew that to achieve detail in her gown I needed to turn her body away from the direction of light and then turn her...
At a glance, one might not think that there is a common denominator with these photographs. A closer look will reveal that lighting is the key. Each one has a very similar lighting pattern on their faces. This may be achieved by different means, but...
For the past few years there's been a lot of apprehension as to what's happening to the state of classic portraiture. Now, there's an answer. It's growing, maturing, and blossoming out. And, it's also going...
Black and white pictures are no big deal--at least for me. I started in black and white many years ago, but was thrilled to get out of the darkroom when color became the "in" thing.
A recent class in South Carolina brought to mind quite a few things that photographers have heard before, but for one reason or another just never seem to remember at the appropriate time. So, skimming through some of the images that I created that week...