Eastside Camera Club Lighting Demo

A couple of weeks ago I presented a demonstration about using one light for portraits and head shots for the Eastside Camera Club in Bellevue, WA (the meeting was actually at the Redmond Library).

I even brought along my own model for the class

I made a lot of notes preparing for the class and thought I'd put those notes together into a PDF file to share with the attendees (and anyone else who runs across this blog post).

Lighting Demo PDF file (approx 1.3 MB)

Hope you enjoy it! If you were at the library and have questions, please post them as comments here. And let me know if you found this class and/or PDF file helpful.

Thanks!

John

How To Photograph Fireworks

Nothing new here, just a link to my older post on photographing fireworks for those who may have missed it before.

And some other examples of my firework photography from Independence Day 2011 and New Years Eve 2011/2012.

Go out, be safe, and have fun!

A Blast From The Fast

In a few past blog posts I've mentioned a TV show I was on in the mid-80s called World of Photography. Unfortunately, I had not been able to find a copy of it to share and I long-ago lent out my VHS copy and never got it back.

WNEW FM Calendar Cover I created and
featured on World of Photography TV

Well, I'm happy to be able to tell you that a number of videos from different photographers, including me, have been uploaded to World of Photography TV's YouTube channel.

You can find my episode, along with some of my favorites from Dean Collins, Al Fisher, Buddy Endress, David M. Kennedy, Jan Cobb, Steve Taylor, Dieter Cohn, Barry Seidman, Walter Wick, Gregory Heisler, Terry Heffernan, Roseanne Rubenstein, Walter Swarthart, and more. Check the channel link above to see all of the videos available.

Check them all out. Most are 7 minutes or less. It is fun to see how much (or maybe how little) has changed in studio photography in the past 25 years.

For me, this feels like the beginning of a long journey that has brought me cross-country from New York to Seattle and into the studios of creativeLIVE where I've presented a couple of workshops and have helped out with many others.

Just hope that no one notices that I'm wearing a tie and no bandana in the video...

SEAF 2012 Performances

Yesterday I posted some photos of attendees of the 2012 Seattle Erotic Arts Festival. Today I want to show some of the performers from this past weekend.

Le Petit Piege

Sinner Saint Burlesque

Shanghai Pearl

The Wet Spots

Miss Indigo Blue

Elizabeth Rose

The Wet Spots

Noelle Wood

Waxie Moon

Tigger

Tamara the Trapeze Lady

Elizabeth Rose

The Wet Spots

Noelle Wood

Armitage Shanks

Le Petit Piege

More photos are being posted at http://photos.cornicello.com/seaf/2012

Flash Modifiers In Use

A couple of weeks ago I posted about testing some flash modifiers. That was part of my preparation for an event I was going to be photographing this past weekend, the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival (SEAF). I decided on using the Large Rogue Flash Bender and Diffuser from ExpoImaging. But I didn't use the flash on camera. Instead I handheld the flash with my left hand while operating the camera with my right. The flash was attached to the camera with the Canon off-shoe flash cord. This let me place the Flash Bender more like I would position a softbox. I think it worked pretty well for the event. Here are a few sample images of portraits of people in the crowd...

Flash Modifiers

Most of you who know me know that I try to avoid on camera flash. I actually try to avoid small camera flashes even off-camera. I don't like dealing with batteries, limited modifiers, limited light output, etc.

But there are times that I find I do need to work with a camera flash. So I purchased a couple of diffuser options to test out. One is the often berated Gary Fong diffuser. The other is the newer Rogue FlashBender from ExpoImaging.

The tests were conducted using a Canon 5DmkII with a 50mm f/1.8 lens and a Canon 430EXII flash mounted in the camera's hot shoe. Camera settings were ISO 100, camera in Manual mode at 1/60 at f/1.8. White balance was set to Flash. Flash was in ettl mode at +1/3 stop. The camera is 28 inches from the mannequin and the background is white seamless paper 13 inches behind the mannequin head.

The room I was in is about 12x18 feet with an 8-foot ceiling. Walls and ceiling are painted white. All images are as they came out of the camera into Adobe Lightroom 4.1 with no additional processing.

The FlashBender I used is the Large Reflector along with the Large Diffusion Panel. The Gary Fong I used is the Lightsphere Collapsible with the dome attached (pointed out/convex).

I want to present the results without commentary so you can make your own conclusions. Feel free to note which ones you like in the comments.

Direct flash

Direct flash with bounce card under chin

Ceiling bounce

Ceiling bounce plus fill card under chin

Large FlashBender with diffusion panel

Large FlashBender with diffusion panel with
fill card under chin

Gary Fong Lightsphere pointed up

Lightsphere pointed up with
fill card under chin

Lightsphere pointed towards subject

Lightsphere pointed towards subject with
fill card under chin

Lightsphere pointed towards subject

Lightsphere pointed towards subject
with fill card on side

Lightsphere pointed up

Lightsphere pointed up
with fill card on side

Large FlashBender with diffusion panel

Large FlashBender with diffusion panel
with fill card on side

Direct Flash

Direct Flash with fill card on side

Gotta Dance!

I am going to be photographing a dance school's groups, portraits, and performances this weekend. In preparation, I went out and photographed some of their rehearsal classes. Looking forward to the actual photo sessions.