David Honl, photojournalist and the mastermind behind the Honl line of lighting gear, put together this hilarious behind the scenes video involving a cavewoman, spaceman, mind-altering drugs, and speedlights (which, besides getting a few chuckles, manages to pack some educational punch as well). This video is for those of us who just couldn’t pay attention in those classes full of dry material and boring lecturers. Enjoy! [more]
Follow Michael Zelbel from SmokingStrobes.com as he shows you how to light isolated body parts of your model in an stunning and artistic way using only a one light set-up. He uses just a shoot-through umbrella and a speedlight at a quarter of the power. So, the next time you’re searching for an easy set-up to capture some simple low light bodyscapes look no further. [more]
There are a few ways to photograph motocross in action, but one of the best is to use a high powered strobe. For his latest shoot in NamJi, South Korea, Manchul Kim takes a couple of strobes to the track and sees how close he can get to the action. Since motorcycles can be dangerous and all flying by you, it’s a good idea to strap on a remote trigger to your camera and step out of the way.
Phlearn.com just released this behind-the-scenes video which shows how to light, shoot, and process a shot in the style of Dan Winters. By reverse-engineering the light and color that Winters uses (and using a little Photoshop magic), you’ll be able to replicate one of his most well-known shots of actor Tom Hanks. I don’t know about everyone else, but whenever I look through a magazine, I guess at the lighting setups [more]
In a world filled with portable speedlights and 3200 watt power packs, photographers might overlook another critical feature of their studio lights: flash duration. Basically flash duration is the time your strobe light contributes to the exposure of your photograph (flash actually can act as “constant light”). Earlier this year, we posted about Broncolor’s flash duration compared to Profoto, but how does a much cheaper strobe like the Einstein compare? The results are pretty remarkable! [more]
Even though this was shot in 2011 for Vanity Fair’s 17th annual Hollywood Issue, this image is still the most attractive photo on the internet. It’s so eye catching that I had to take a second look just to notice there was a lion in the frame. As beautiful as this image is, especially those in it, I have to say that there is one celebrity missing who would have made this entire image better: Ryan Gosling. This one’s for you, ladies. [more]
Like the majority of photographers today, I most often capture digitally for my clients. However, for special projects, I still like to shoot film – especially large format film. Normally, my Deardorff 11×14 camera lives in the studio. But every now and then, I get the crazy idea of taking it on location. [more]
We’ve featured Markus Reugels on Fstoppers before for his images captured in water droplets series. I liked that series, but I love this one. Markus’ skill has improved dramatically, and the recent batch of water sculptures caught by freezing action is pretty spectacular. I would joyfully put any (or all) of these on my wall. [more]
Kevin Winzeler, a commercial photographer based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, had an amazing opportunity this summer to travel to New Zealand for one of his advertising shoots for Altra Footwear. He shot both in the studio for the initial product shots, but he also took the shoot outdoors in some amazing New Zealand locations for some actions images, as well. [more]
Sam Kaplan, a New York-based product and still life photographer, was inspired to create a series of photographs of an object that is often enjoyed in the bedroom rather than on a gallery wall. Sam decided to change all of that, and his series ‘Insert Here’ takes the taboo and transforms it into an exploration of line, form, and color: Dildart, if you will. It goes without saying that you might want to be careful where you open this post. [more]
Northern Virginia Magazine wanted a fun and different approach to an ad for their bargain locator website, Specialicious.com. Jonathan Thorpe, an amazing commercial photographer and a regular on our Fstoppers Facebook group, was assigned the task of shooting the project. The concept, a beauty queen who shopped on the website and is trying a paintball experience for the first time. [more]
I am always amazed at photographers who can take a simple idea that costs very little and turn it into a really cool photo shoot. In his most recent shoot, Ryan Buller does just that by applying drops of multicolored paint to the top of a garbage bag wrapped over a speaker. Check out his simple set up and the beautiful results!
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In this lighting lesson, Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens offers a very cool DIY effect; how to make smoke lay on water. Achieving smoke and wind in photography are two very difficult tasks that Jay P. made very easy by showing this step by step process. Have you guys ever experienced with smoke and wind? If so, share your images and how you did it in the comments below. [more]
If you’ve ever had to photograph a large group of people, you probably understand how difficult it can be to capture every single person looking great. Imagine if that group photo was made up of 12 of the worlds richest Billionaires! That’s what photographer Michael Prince did when he had to photograph the cover of Forbes Magazine during the 400 Summit on Philanthropy back in June. [more]
Joey L, who is widely known for his both compelling photos of quickly-vanishing lifestyles and visually engaging advertising work, recently put together a very informative BTS post on his blog which goes into detail about his lighting setups and approach to working with female models. Joey admits that while he does not regularly work with female models, [more]
