As photographers we might obsess about this modifier or that one, believe me I have, but often times we fall short when it comes to shadow detail. This is something I struggle with from time to time when shooting in a new room and every shoot poses its own set of problems, so the purpose of this post is to share some basic concepts that I hope will help you maximize dynamic range and develop more details in your depictions.
Read detailsOn a snowy winter day, we crammed 18 people into a Chicago barbershop built for a dozen, so we could shoot the foldout magazine cover of Positively Aware’s annual HIV Drug Guide. It is always a challenge when you have to work with 13 subjects and have them all engaged, while maintaining the identity of the space and leaving room for the magazine logo, text, and the fold.
Read detailsLet’s pretend for a moment I am sitting inside a reality show confession booth. Instead of disparaging the other characters on the show, I’m going to disparage myself (not really, actually. In my garage I have a garbage can full of modifiers. It looks like an episode of Hoarders in miniature, only instead of holding on to teddy bears and half-full beer cans, I collect things that make hard light look soft and in turn, make me look good.
Read detailsOne of the most popular questions I am asked is: what are those lights in the background of my portraits? Aside from the one time that I used a Profoto Monolight unsuccessfully, every other occurrence I can recall featured a vintage light designed by Mole-Richardson.
Read detailsAfter being inspired by Sophie Palmer’s portrait depicting boredom with a Catholic priest inside the confession booth, below, I decided to try my hand at projecting divine patterns on model Alex Mitchell’s face by making a custom Cucoloris.
Read detailsAfter picking myself up off the floor following my discovery of the sticker price for Canon’s C200 batteries, I decided to look at other options. I have seen people using V-Mount and Anton Bauer Gold Mount batteries for while, but they remained a mystery to me until push came to shove once my new camera was on its way.
Read detailsThanks to a referral from graphic designer Dan Paterno, to account executive John Healy, the Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center hired me to photograph their clients for their annual report.
Read detailsI recently purchased the new Canon C200 and decided to shoot some test footage to compare it with the Canon C100.
Read detailsWorking on this Chicago video production was a great opportunity for our company to pull out all of the creative stops capturing a dynamic event with steady, movements, carefully crafted compositions, details light and color. The star of the videography show behind the scenes was my DJI Ronin M, supporting my Canon 1DX Mark II.
Read detailsTrade magazine photography for Brickstreet Insights featuring nonprofit CEO Mark Ishaug of Thresholds.
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