Patrick Hall Photography Tutorials

About Patrick Hall

Patrick Hall is a founder of Fstoppers.com and a photographer based out of Charleston, South Carolina.

Popular Articles from Patrick Hall
December Photo Contest:  Win a Photoflex LightReach Kit

Congratulations to Janis Amolins for winning the November Fstoppers Forum Photo Contest. Click the previous link to see his winning photograph or watch for it on our top rotating banner at the top of the site (first image on your mobile device). As we do every month, the winner of the contest gets to pick the next theme and Janis has chosen "Illusion". This month's winner will also win a custom image and website link on the Fstoppers rotating banner above and also a Photoflex LightReach Kit which is perfect for lighting your location photos (no assistant needed either). As always, our contests are judged by the winner of the previous month's contest so you have to impress Janis not anyone on the Fstoppers Staff. Have fun submitting to the December Fstoppers Forum Contest and good luck to everyone!
Is This A Better Way To Shoot RAW?

I know many of our readers do not like being told how to shoot their images and many more even hate watching promotional videos for companies trying to sell them on a new way adjust their workflow. That being true, this video of photographer Seth Resnick explaining the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport made me stop and think, "are photographers who shoot RAW this obsessed with perfect color?" Maybe I just take for granted being happy with my tones and color enough to actually burn them in permanently by shooting JPEG. Most of the advertising photographers I see these days (and even many within the wedding scene) are taking very liberal approaches to color which I think is great. Obviously not everyone agrees with me, and many more still take the traditional approach to getting every detail perfect and clean. What do you guys think of Seth's approach and do any personal use this product? Nothing drives me more crazy personally than color space and color calibration and I've heard this actually works. Maybe I'm missing out?
Profoto Takes On Ray Allen And A Trampoline

Profoto has really done everyone a great service in having photographer Matthew Jordan Smith explain some of his personal favorite images in his portfolio. In this particular image, Matthew decided to photograph NBA superstar Ray Allen in his own backyard while jumping on a trampoline. Equipped with just a single Profoto D1 Air and a magnum reflector for hard light, Matt was able to take a rather limited lighting setup and create a highly stylized image. I think it just goes to show that thinking outside the box and not limiting your shoot to any prior conception can be more important in making a great image than simply focusing on your initial plans.
Wayne Isham Revists An 80s Classic

Okay this is just a little bit of weekend fun. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I always loved classic music videos. I didn't know it at the time, but Wayne Isham was one of my favorite directors. He did all the Bon Jovi videos, Metallica's Enter Sandman, worked with Motley Crue, Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, 'N Sync, and Keith Urban. You pretty much couldn't turn on MTv in the 90s and not see one of his videos. Wayne was recently featured on Carson Daly's Last Call a few months ago and it was the first time I really got to hear from the artist himself. He seems like a laid back dude who is extremely passionate about his work and about music in general. So just for fun, here's a short video of Wayne talking about making the video that broke Bon Jovi's career and set them into super stardom. <
A Trip Down Memory Lane

One of our readers sent us this crazy video that must have been shot 40 years ago because I don't recognize any of this technology. Apparently it was really popular back in the day and I think I've even seen some kids carrying these as they left a local Urban Outfitters. If only they could make one of these that uses both Polaroid film and a memory card maybe I could experiment with one. Apparently the creator of this video didn't watch our previous videos on enjoyable audio :( <
Speedo Outlines A Complete Ad Campaign

I'm always interested in underwater photoshoots because I've failed miserably trying to do my own underwater shoots in the past. I was happy when I came across this video created by Speedo where they show you exactly how they came up for their new 2010 print ad campaign. It's a shame they don't showcase photographer Martin Brent more than they do but they do a great job showing how the idea was first created and the process of going from idea to final rendering. <
Pacific Star II gives us another view of the world

I hope it is not too soon to feature another video of a camera sent to space with a weather balloon but the footage taken from the Pacific Star II is really amazing! This was all done with two cheap Canon point and shoot cameras off ebay, a weather balloon, and a simple Styrofoam enclosure. It still blows my mind that such a simple setup can produce such beautiful shots. <
BJ and Richielle Formento are Fine Art photographers

BJ and Richielle Formento are a photography team that makes up Revolvershoots, and I must say I really love their moody images. Their project Circumstance combines a lot of unique locations with bits of adversity in the rolls they have their models play. It's definitely interesting stuff, and you can see how studying under Annie Leibovitz has influenced BJ's work.

Circumstance 5 from Peggy Peralta on Vimeo.

Nashville floods

Before moving to Charleston, I lived in Nashville. It's one of the most amazing places in the United States. I was just sent this video that really shows the level of devastation of the flooding. The video is pretty well edited and the footage is striking especially if you are familiar with the city. I have also setup a link to an awesome charity called MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief. The link goes to the grammy.com link so you can be assured it's safe. Thanks guys for watching and I personally appreciate any help you guys can give. <
The Last 3 Minutes:  Amazing Video from the 5D Mark II

Check out the amazing video Shane Hurlbut put together using only the Canon 5D Mark II, and be sure to click the full post to see how he did it

"The Last 3 Minutes" Directed by Po Chan from Shane Hurlbut, ASC on Vimeo.

Aaron Nace Puts Some Drama In His Shoot

We've featured Aaron Nace before here on Fstoppers and again he delivers with a really creative composite photo. I'm not exactly sure what the theme is on this one but it's definitely some sort of love story gone wrong. The final image is included at the end.
How To Take Pilot Portraits With F18 Fighter Jets

Over the last year, Douglas Sonders has created some excellent behind the scenes videos showing off many of his photo shoots. In this video he takes us onto the tarmac at the Lemoore Naval Air Station in California where Douglas creates some excellent portraits. I wish there was a little more explanation of how he approached some of these images but fortunately there is some written material over on the Douglas Sonders Blog. My initial question is how in the world did he get clearance for this considering the US military is often pretty strict with photography.

F18 Fighter Jet Pilot Portrait Photoshoot - Douglas Sonders Photography from Douglas Sonders on Vimeo.

Dancers Among Us: Urban NYC Portraits

Jordan Matter is a headshot photographer based out of NYC but does some rather quirky personal projects. One of his going projects is titled Dancers Among Us where he places professional dancers in urban environments and tries to capture a spontaneous yet thought provoking image. I must admit some of his tactics might be a bit unlawful and I don't recommend necessarily following his advice but the concept is pretty interesting. Shooting in public places is always tough especially when you want a high production value but doing it in NYC can be extremely tough without getting proper licenses. View more images from this series here. //--> //--> //-->
Michael Grecco Teaches How To Photograph A Sexy Swimsuit Dramatic Portrait

During our 2014 Fstoppers Workshops in the Bahamas students had the privilege of watching 10 successful photographers share their top photographic techniques. Commercial and celebrity portrait photographer Michael Grecco taught classes on environmental portraiture and sexy swimwear photography, so of course we thought it would be awesome to tag along as Michael explained some of the tips that make his portraits so unique.

Here are the Winners of the 2015 Fstoppers Workshops Contests

The 2015 Fstoppers Workshops is right around the corner, and 2 weeks ago we launched one final contest. Today 5 lucky winners will receive a free spot in a class of their choosing and one of those winners will receive an additional free class, a paid flight to the Bahamas, and a free hotel room for the 6 day event. If you entered this contest through one of our 5 social media platforms you definitely need to keep reading!