Lighting

There are times when I find myself shooting the same stuff or using the same lighting setup over and over again. Repetition helps to improve and fine-tune my skills, but sometimes it just feels boring and degrading, let alone useless for my portfolio.

But as much as I dislike feeling stuck and repeating myself, I now realize how such times in fact help me to become a better artist and shooter. It's usually the desire to entertain myself and experiment that leads me to new personal artistic discoveries. It's when I'm bored and want to "spice it up", I start searching for new lighting ideas, tricks and techniques.

Since we released Peter Hurley's: The Art Behind The Headshot, the internet has been trying to replicate his signature look without shelling out thousands for his Kino Flo lights. The guys over at SLR Lounge put together a great video that comes up with a similar look by using only 1 light, 1 bank, and 3 reflectors. I think the results are fantastic.

What is "perfect lighting?" It will differ for every style of photography and every photographer's style. For my food photography, I think the perfect lighting is the soft, beautiful, natural light found from a large window with indirect sun coming through. Unfortunately, most of the locations where I have to go and shoot food don't have this light that I am looking for. In order to get the shoot done, I have to to create the light. What if I could create this "perfect light" and have it for every assignment?

I have started to see a trend with using projectors to add some flair to photos. However most portable projectors do not pump out the brightest light and cannot run off batteries alone. Meet the Light Blaster. A new tool that uses your speed light and lens to project slides in your photos, from backgrounds, special effects, and anything else you can dream up.

Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that has seen a spike in exposure in the United States the past few years making it a perfect subject for a photoshoot. Follow Jay P. from The Slanted Lens as he takes you behind the scenes of his latest shoot featuring a model dressed up as a Calavera (sugar skull) posing in an eerie cemetery backdrop.

One essential part of almost every wedding day is the rings. Not only are the rings a symbol of a couple's love and commitment to one another, they also usually cost a good deal of money. Capturing an amazing picture of the rings can not only wow your clients, it also adds great value to your portfolio. The best part is, getting a fantastic ring shot can be simple and quick.

Summer is upon us, which means fireworks. Previously, we have discussed using alternative methods to get smoke-like effects in your photographs. But using flour can make for a messy clean-up and smoke machines require electricity. Smoke balls, however, are cheap, come in a variety of colors and require nothing more than a lighter.

Along with our recent release of How to Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer, we've featured several behind the scenes videos on how other photographs prepare for and shoot weddings. It's always worth a look to investigate what other wedding photographers outside of your area are doing differently. Rest assured, Doug Gordon will keep you entertained in his upcoming workshop on creativeLIVE.

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.

Before we jump in, it is important to note that I was brought in on this food project to match an already in place look and feel for the client.

The menu at the restaurant was expanding and the client was in need of capturing updated photographs of the new plates that were starting to be served.

This tutorial is a quick rundown of a two strobe lighting set up that was shot inside a restaurant.

Benjamin Von Wong has finally wrapped up his long and productive European tour, Von Wong Does Europe. The very first shoot that he was able to do was also ironically the last to be published and for good reason. It will blow you away. Taking over 60 hours to retouch Ben collaborated with talented retouching guru, Chester van Bommel.

As photographers, we usually use two different techniques to capture our images: The first is freezing the moment and capturing the split second we are witnessing. The other option is using a long exposure, to show movement, changes, or show things we don't normally see with our eyes. But what if you combined these two concepts - freezing a moment while adding movement? Check out these creative and unique portraits using this technique.

Do you remember 14 years ago when the Matrix came out and blew some of our minds with filming techniques? One of the most ingenious scenes at the time was the wrap around bullet shot where the camera spun around the actors on a large dolly while they were suspended in mid air. Popular Youtuber Mark Rober has come up a really simple and cheap way to replicate the rotational filming effect of that scene.

To see more of his creative videos, check out his channel.

via Awesomer

Wyn has been featured on Fstoppers quite a few times. Why? His work is outstanding. He comes up with some really cool concepts for shots. From using LED's on a basketball shoot to powder with Gymnasts. He does it all perfectly.

The follow-up to 2009's re-imagined (alternate universe) Star Trek film is probably one of the biggest blockbuster sequels of the 2013 film year. Follow J. J. Abrams as he directs the crew of the USS Enterprise as they fight off a new threat, John Harrison played by Star Trek newcomer, Benedict Cumberbatch. From the looks of the two B-roll videos and behind the scenes footage Star Trek: Into Darkness looks like an instant hit.

Last week I did a photo shoot for Leo's Wisdom, which is a company that makes handmade, high end jewelry. The purpose of the shoot was to provide the client with product shots and lifestyle images for their promotional needs. Their mood board for the shoot was filled with images depicting lush locations and high society. But we were shooting on a rainy day in Columbus, Ohio. So we made lemonade.

Sometimes you want a portrait that just screams drama and emotion. Sometimes that emotion might be joy, other times you may want to portray a sort of dark, brooding atmosphere. In this tutorial by PHLEARN, Aaron Nace walks you through a method he chose to turn a daytime portrait into something much darker.

NYC-based commercial photographer Kenneth Volpe sat down with the good folks over at Profoto to give some insight on the way he lights his images and a bit of his philosophy when it comes to his photography business, Transposure. With Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Engineering, Kenneth is a guy that definitely understands fine light and exhibits it in the way he makes his photos. Check out the full write up over at

Posing multiple people can be a difficult task as it is, but throw in parkour performers into the mix and the shoot can quickly become tedious, but if done correctly the results can turn out nothing short of amazing. In this video Benjamin Von Wong walks you through the lighting set up he used to bring a three dimensional feel to the photographs. He also explains the different composing techniques he uses to get the posing and composition spot on for the shoot.

A photographer and digital artist by the name of Terrence Blanton has released a new website and photo series called "Eagle Faction" that is explosive and very influenced by Call of Duty and Battlefield. Terrence got ahold of a local Airsoft team to help create a fictional series about a team of former military and outdoorsmen that band together to help salvage their local territory of America after a collapse and invasion in the year 2023.

Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Profoto's new-ish pack, the Pro-B4, which has a flash duration of 1/25,000th of a second. Well, last week I was finally able to take it for a test drive. And what better way to test an insane flash duration than with water?

Since last November I have been shooting a photo series titled 'Comedic Value' which consists of NYC comedians shot in NYC locations for NYC charity, Art-Start. Of the 25 comics featured in the project, 1 of my favorite shoots was with Jim Gaffigan and his fantastic family. When discussing concepts with Jim, he mentioned that he needed a shot of him and his kids for his new book, 'Dad Is Fat' which will be out next month.