Tag Archives: lighting

Looking around, but not seeing


I have my days when I see “stuff” to photograph everywhere or all the time.

Of course that always happens when I don’t have a camera with me.

“Stuff” in this case, is my very loose term for subjects. Don’t make the assumption it’s art.

It’s only art till some art critic calls it that. 😉

Then wouldn’t you know it, I’ll carry my camera with me for days and never see anything worthwhile to photograph.

It’s all about looking but not seeing and sometimes not recognizing the possibilities.
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Playing in the basement

lesly1

A pose with attitude–Lesly was lit by a softbox on the right and a reflector to fill on the left. The hair light directly behind her head had a 20° grid to narrow the beam of the light. The hardest part of was staying in Lesly’s shadow. Any extraneous light from the hair light hitting the lens completely obliterates the image. On her part, Lesly, a very good sport, was kneeling on a bench to help her maintain her balance since this pose was hard to hold.

lesly2I equate photography skills similar to those of a musician’s.

So let’s say I’m classically trained, but I’ve been booked to play Top 40 popular music or Jazz.

Don’t roll those eyes!

Musicians, like artists,  have bills too.

Most classically trained musicians should have no problems doing the gig especially if they have the sheet music.

But it’s the improvisational part that might take a bit of doing because they’re not used to being given such free rein.

Similarly, most newspaper photographers who shot transparency or slide film learned to be technically proficient.

White Background

–We draped a white sheet over the grey to give us a different more airy feel. We also tried the shot with Lesly and her hair down.

Fancy speak for lighting and exposing well because of the unforgiving latitude of slide film.

It’s the so-called edgy look and experimentation, if you will, that I have had very little chance to try.
Continue reading Playing in the basement

Happy Birthday Velia

velia_bill
I spent Sunday “playing” for a change.

Just because I’m a photographer, doesn’t mean I can’t still have fun.

It’s actually great not to think about what the client might want.

When I shoot for myself, I get to experiment and see what works and what doesn’t.

Event

It was a surprise 89th birthday party for Velia, my wife’s grandmother.

Birthday Girl–Velia with her boyfriend Bill in great spirits. They are a reminder to me to laugh at lot and to laugh often. Life’s too short. 2 light setup. Main light a 800 Watt/sec White Lightning into a silvered umbrella. Full size reflector on the right as fill. Backlight is another White Lightning head with blue gel into a grey muslin backdrop.

Since it’s not often that side of the family gets together, I dragged out my lighting gear.

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Ideas and their execution

Eventually every photographer gets the hang of their camera when they are able to control the basics: stop a subject in motion, control the zone of sharpness in their pictures.

Then they might get fancier experimenting with lighting the scene instead of just relying on what’s there.

Some arrive at this mastery sooner than others but eventually everyone gets it.

From that point on, what separates the artist from the casual snapshot taker is how good their muse is and how well they execute.

To simply grab an idea out of thin air is tough to do, especially day-in and day-out.

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