Category Archives: Tutorials

Photography, Tutorials

How to photograph a fruit-themed still life against banana leaves

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fruit themed still life photographed against banana leaves
A papaya, banana, pineapple, coconut, watermelon photographed against banana leaves in my messy garage. A $10 budget production.

Photographing a fruit-themed still life against banana leaves

In college I never understood the obsession  my photo-Illustration classmates had with surfaces.

They practically lived in the studio.

They spent hours learning how to light, pick props, arrange those props on a backdrop of some sort.

They often reshot again and again each time consulting with their instructor.

Sometimes it would be around a theme, other times they would be working on an ad for a fictitious product.

I remember one particular fellow who combed flea markets, thrift stores and junkyards for flat pieces of wood, strange plexiglass and other odd flat objects.

Over time, the communal studio became a pigsty because no one wanted to throw those treasures out. Continue reading How to photograph a fruit-themed still life against banana leaves →

Photography, Tutorials

One Speedlite setups for great-looking portraits1

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This portrait of Colleen Ember was made with one Speedlight fired into my home made beauty dish and a single reflector. Because the light was very diffused and coming mostly from the front, there was very little else I needed to do in the way of touching up in post production.

I don’t recall when exactly I realized I didn’t have to buy every possible piece of lighting gear to create a certain image.

Whenever I came to that conclusion, it signaled I understood how to break apart and deconstruct how an image was made, especially if the image involved lighting by the photographer.

Coming up with workarounds was a necessity for me when I was in college.

Years later even after I became a staff photographer at the newspaper, I would always find workarounds.

Hey, what can I say? The bossman was always a tightwad when it came to expenses.

For this blogpost tip, when you see what I used to create a very flattering image,you will realize how well finding workarounds has served me. Continue reading One Speedlite setups for great-looking portraits1 →

Tutorials

Using daylight one flash for a different mood

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Wendy Mayberry's picture taken at about mid-morning looks like it was taken at dusk because she was able to use one Speedlight using a shutter speed of 1/800 sec f5.6 ISO 100 Canon 60D 35mm setting on 18-200 zoom. I added more warmth in the color in post production to create the illusion that the picture was taken at dusk.

Rainy or cold weather should never discourage photographers from leaving the house.

Some of the more unusual and interesting pictures happen when the sun is not dominant in the heavens.

Landscapes have a different feel when clouds appear in the sky.

Compare the picture that Wendy took with what the scene was like in the picture on the left. Her models brought a change of outfits which made her pictures even better.

As with my previous field trips, weather threatened the field trip for my Digital Wedding Photography class. Continue reading Using daylight one flash for a different mood →

Photography, Tutorials

Simple beauty dish Part 1

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Do-it-yourself projects for photographers abound on the internet.

Many are not worth the time, expense and effort.

Occasionally I come across one that is intriguing, easy and cheap that I can’t resist trying it myself.

A search for the keywords ‘beauty dish‘ will turn up a slew of tutorials and even videos on how to make one.

They range in complexity, design and build.

The toughest ones made of metal resemble ones sold commercially.

The low budget one, the one I am attempting, is made of:

  • a salad dish made of recyclable plastic (Smart & Final $5)
  • rain gutter hardware pieces ($4 from Home Depot)
  • CD/DVD cake cover (salvaged from my office)

Other items needed:

  • Superglue
  • 7 pieces of small nut and bolts
  • White Spray paint
  • Black Spray paint (optional to make it look nice)
  • Xacto knife
  • Dremel tool or a sharp ice pick to punch holes in the plastic surfaces

Expect to do a lot of testing before you come up with a winning design that works to your liking.
Continue reading Simple beauty dish Part 1 →