If you are someone who has worked only with natural light, one of the most foreign parts of artificial lighting might be the vast array of modifiers available. How much of a difference do they really make? This great video demonstrates why your choice of modifier matters and the difference they can make in your work.
By far, one of the most common types of portraits you will be asked to shoot are those with a clean, white background. It is a simple, elegant, and versatile look that will never go out of style. If you struggle with artificial lighting, this excellent video tutorial will show you how you can easily shoot high-quality portraits with clean, white backgrounds.
Artificial lighting can be a bit tough for a lot of photographers to master, but once you understand the fundamental behavior of light and some of its basic properties, you will be well on your way to creating better images. If you are new to artificial lighting, this fantastic video details six fundamental lighting facts every photographer should know.
Macro photography is a very rich and rewarding genre, but it also comes with some of the most specific and specialized knowledge and equipment requirements of any photographic pursuit. If you are new to macro photography, check out this fantastic video that discusses a multitude of camera and light settings you need to know for macro photography.
Even with the most elegant composition and innovative creative ideas, a photo will fail if it does not employ good lighting. If that is something you struggle with, this fantastic video will show you six different lighting techniques that will improve your images.
Golden hour portraits are the favorite of many photographers who love the combination of soft, flattering, and warm light with a dramatic sky as a backdrop, and they tend to be a favorite of many clients as well. This awesome video tutorial will show you both how to shoot and edit a golden hour portrait.
Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve used quite a few different types of ring lights for my portrait and product work. Each had its own particular benefits and drawbacks. Nothing was ever quite “perfect,” but most worked well enough in their given role. This is my review of the very affordable GIM 19” 48W Ring Light.
No doubt, any photographer who plans to work in a studio will need to learn proper artificial lighting techniques to realize their creative visions, but flash comes with its own pitfalls and challenges. If you are struggling or new to such techniques, this fantastic video will show you nine mistakes to avoid and how to fix them.
As photographers, we have a huge selection of modifiers at our disposal. Some of the more traditional ones such as a softbox or a scrim may seem somewhat dull, but they both offer very different and useful qualities of light when used correctly.
One of the most important things a photographer needs to learn to understand is lighting. Without it, it's essentially not possible to do any kind of conventional photography. Learning how to use different kinds of light sources is also important. Although natural light can be great, being able to use flash effectively is extremely useful.
Light has been fundamental to art for centuries predating the camera. However, utilizing realistic and impactful light — an objective of many photographers and artists today — wasn't always the case.
Shooting good portraits at home can be done with the simplest of setups.
You can never have too many lighting styles, so sit back for just 7 minutes, and learn a few more for future inspiration.
When you work on building a lighting setup for a portrait, you likely think about it from the perspective of adding different lights and modifiers. But as important as adding light is, knowing where and how to take it away is just as crucial to shaping your subject. This great video will show you how to use v-flats to create negative fill and improve the look of your portraits.
If you want to shoot outdoor portraits with a shallow depth of field using artificial lighting, you are going to run into issues of overexposure due to the limitation imposed by the sync speed of your camera. There are two solutions to this: high-speed sync or using an ND filter, and this great video shows you the workflow using each as well as their respective pros and cons.
If you have ever wondered how to pose your subject for headshots but are stumped at the first hurdle or perhaps you're photographing someone who is not used to being in front of the camera, then these handy techniques will improve your outdoor portraits.
This useful effect can not only help you transition between scenes, but can completely overhaul the mood or feel of it too.
Have you ever thought about starting a YouTube channel and needed to build a set to film your videos on? In this video, take some advice from the experts and learn how to craft the perfect YouTube video setup.
One of the easiest ways to enhance the story and transform a dull scene is by using lighting. In this video, learn to incorporate motivated light into your scenes to bring your story to life.
One of the worst myths in the photography industry is about how high quality gear is required in order to produce high quality results. This mostly nonsense and as you develop your skills within the industry, you'll quickly realize how gear, in general, has little to do with the quality of results you can produce.
Do you have a couple of light modifiers sitting around, but not sure how to use them? In this video, learn how you can mold and shape the face just by moving the angle and direction of your light.
In the past month, I've been reporting on the various camera brands that have been dropping the "master" and "slave" terms since the huge Black Lives Matter movement that surged after George Floyd's death. I can now confirm Leica is also dropping the terms.
It's rare that any piece of photographic equipment is versatile and affordable enough that I recommend it to everyone, but the GVM-600S Ring Light is one of those rare products. If you shoot photos or videos, you should buy this light.
Fujifilm finally adds to its flash roster, giving photographers true wireless control.
Flowers can be a wonderful opportunity for photographers to practice their camera skills. Whether receiving a bunch as a gift, or wanting to record the flowers in your own garden, there are a few things you can do to improve your flowery shots.
Too often portrait photographers obsess with key and fill lighting, and forget about the light that illuminates the background or rear of a subject. In this piece I discover the power of using the back light as my main light source.
Choosing the right lighting modifier can seem like an endlessly daunting task. In this video, I break down my thought process and show examples of how I use different modifiers for varying types of images as well as explaining the key differences in my equipment.
Playing with gels is always a fun time, join me as I break down how I got this photo of Toronto model and photographer Sam Yang.
When it comes to getting started in photography, one of the most complicated things for people to wrap their heads around is "stops of light." This phrase only leads to more confusion when paired with the aperture numbers, shutter speed, ISO, and how they form the mysterious exposure triangle. But this is the easiest way I have seen to understand it all.
It can be intimidating when you see some behind-the-scenes photos of studio setups, and there are multiple lights everywhere, and you only have one light. While sometimes, it does come in handy to have multiples, there is a lot you can do with only one light. Could you do a high-key portrait with only one light?
