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Tag : 550

Portraits: 20 under 40

My paper has started a project called 20 under 40. Citizens under 40 years old were nominated for profile pieces that would appear in our paper. Each one needs a storytelling portrait. It has presented a unique opportunity to really think on my feet for a good environmental portrait for so many different professions. We are only half way through the project and I haven’t shot every single one that has been published. Here are a few of my favorites […]

An unnecessary self-portrait

Let’s just say I was bored the other night. I decided to shoot a self portrait. The idea was to capture an image of myself off the ground glass in my Hasselblad 500 C/M. I had done something similar when I was testing the Hasselblad. So, I began to setup. I sat the Hasselblad on the table and aimed it at my recliner. It was important to have both the focus of the Hasselblad and the capturing camera, my Canon […]

Artificial multi-point lighting

If there was one valuable thing about photography that I learned in college, it was the science behind lighting.  Understanding the inverse square law and how multiple lights can affect an image proved to be invaluable to me. While I was at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I had an editor give me the idea of shooting a food set with multi-point lighting. The basic multi-point setup includes three lights. One each to the left and right and one from behind. […]

My DIY beauty dish works like a charm

I got the chance to test my DIY beauty dish this morning. It worked like a charm! I once again had my friend Gavin Culbertson stand in for a few quick portraits. He was standing in the shadow with a sun-lit wall behind him. This picture could be improved with a back light but I only have one Speedlight, a Canon 550EX. I love the circular highlight that shows up in the eyes of the subject. I will need to […]

DIY Beauty dish

Ever since I discovered what a beauty dish was, I’ve wanted one. The problem is that I don’t have any strobes to use one on. My lighting is limited to a single Canon Speedlight (shoe mounted flash). How could I produce the look of a beauty dish with my one Speedlight? Simple. Build a beauty dish to fit. I’m not the most handy of the handymen. Therefore, instead of designing the dish on my own, I Googled other peoples designs […]