As mentioned in the previous tutorials, the impact and success of a studio portrait is often the combined result of lighting, composition, body language, lens choice, camera angle, clothing, color, texture, and even luck. Armed with a few portrait techniques, however, your work will improve dramatically. There are many portrait-making methods that can help you develop your own...
Our Picture This! assignment this month was "On the Beach," images made where the land meets the sea. Readers responded with images from around the world showing a sense of color and design that the areas inspired. Quality of light, form, and line and shadow all play their parts in these locales, and images showed the grand and macro, the simple and complex, and most of...
Gather 'round, guys. Right here, around the campfire. Closer...that's it. There's something we have to talk about, something I want you to do. I want you to shoot more like women.
And I want you to do it when you're photographing other men.
Because I think you have a problem photographing men.
I've had many opportunities to work with battery-operated studio strobe systems. My problem with them was that they were heavy and bulky, not powerful enough, or simply too costly. Then I came upon the Opus Pro OPL-L300 location kit. I immediately noted that the 300 ws monolights were compact. Then I hefted the battery pack. Hmm, not bad, I thought. I could actually carry...
I've worked with all kinds of Internet photo studios over the years. Most consist of a light tent of sorts, with or without lights, and the materials used are translucent fabric or plastic. But I have never come across anything like the MyStudio 20 until now. It is definitely different. So, does different make it better, or even as functional as other tabletop setups?
Camera Armor, a leader in protective accessories for cameras and digital SLRs, announces the Seattle Sling waterproof camera bag. The first in their new line of Seattle Series Bags, the Seattle Sling features complete protection from the elements, featuring interior dry-bag technology that provides weather-proof protection in addition to impact safety.
A monolight (or monobloc, in some circles) is a self-contained strobe--and possibly the best way to get started in studio lighting. Self-contained means it does not require an external power pack to control its various functions with all the controls housed in the body. Most monolights plug into an AC outlet, although a few are driven by a separate, external battery pack. You...
The Mecaflex was one of the smallest 35mm single lens reflexes ever made. It was designed by Heinz Kilfitt, who, in 1947, opened an optical company in Leichtenstein that subsequently relocated to Munich. It was here that he made a name for himself producing high-precision lenses that included the 40mm f/2.8 Kilar--the world's first 35mm macro lens--and the Zoomar...
At a recent pro photo show I came across what I consider to be a unique innovation in small studio lighting--the Lowel Rifa eXchange System (#1), which is comprised of four self-contained softboxes that come in varying sizes. At 16x16" the Rifa eX 44 is the smallest and the Rifa eX 88 is the largest at 32x32". What makes this system special is the minimal time it...
One reason that many photographers prefer working in a studio is because they can totally control all aspects of light, from its source to its power, temperature, and direction. To control light in a studio, photographers utilize a variety of light modifiers, including umbrellas, softboxes, light tables, and barn doors.