Photography lighting tips from the trenches Some of the best photography lighting is also some of the most basic lighting. Two lights, one on either side, both with the same, or near same output. Wash the subject with light. Kinda flat, kinda boring…. We used to call this idiot lighting. Maybe we still do, as […]
“The Dramatic Portrait” by Chris Knight…a book review
Pick up your copy HERE
Fast and easy light painting a la John Hartman
A while back I hosted a webinar with John Hartman on his light painting style. Admittedly, one can’t cram too much into a 1.5 hour online webinar. John puts on a three day workshop to teach this stuff. You can see more info on John’s light painting workshops HERE That didn’t stop me from giving […]
Finding, seeing and using the light you randomly find on location…
When I show up at the brides home for pre-ceremony photos, I look around for creative lighting and posing options. In this example, you can see the light reflecting in my assistant Danielle’s eyes. I spotted that right away, looked to my right and noticed the source. The same light is, in this shot, bouncing […]
Learning to “see” the light and create portrait style lighting on location.
Light is ridiculously simple and infinitely complex all at once. It’s like music, take a few notes and you can create a masterpiece. But you need to know where you’re going, what you want to create. In other words, mastery. Learning to “see” the light. Just like learning to play the piano, or the guitar, […]
“I told you to back off….”
True story. It was in the middle of the ceremony. Church was packed, bride and groom anxiously waiting to exchange their vows. And the video dude, yea, that dang video dude. The same one I tried to offer some advice the week before: “Try not to get so close to the bride and groom during […]
Photographing the hockey coach on location
Hockey is big on our area. Especially Triple A hockey. You can tell when there’s a game on, since most of our downtown will be jammed with vehicles and all parking spots snatched up. I was hired to shoot the local triple A hockey coach for our local lifestyle mag. They wanted a studio shot. […]
High School football senior lighting
Someone asked about intense lighting for a high impact football themed portrait. Here’s my lighting layout. Very simple, two kicker lights, one main light nice and low. A background light and grid with red gel adds a sprinkling of color. Straight out of the camera: Final poster: Here’s my version of the lighting and a […]