Monthly Archives: January 2012

Poses

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Michael Willems

I often, as you know, write about what I have been photographing recently, and that has been a number of sessions with a regular and excellent model, Kim – so I shall do one more post on this today. When … Continue reading →

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Posted on January 30, 2012 by Michael Willems

I did a family shoot this weekend: what a wonderful family of engineers. Great people: How do you do this? Emptied the room. Lit by three speedlights: one bounced, one umbrella’d, and one gelled and flagged, using Honl Photo modifiers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Composition | 2 Comments

Look in my eyes

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Michael Willems

..or, do not! What I mean is this: for a character portrait, you do not necessarily need eye contact. In fact, often, there is more of a story – more intrigue, more for viewers to work out for themselves, i.e. … Continue reading →

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Quick fixes are sometimes good

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Michael Willems

As I mentioned the other day, converting a portrait to black and white can be good if it is not optional in the first place. It is an “easy fix”. Not that my friend, model Kim, pictured below in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Darkroom, Picture of the day | Tagged | Leave a comment

Colour

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Michael Willems

As you have seen in recent posts, I often do portraits in black and white. It’s just better that way in portraits: distractions (like colourful clothing) are removed. But sometimes you have to recognize that colour is called for. Like … Continue reading →

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Reader Question – exposure

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Michael Willems

“Use manual”, I say. Easier said that done eh? A new student asks me this: Michael – indoor, dimly light (one table lamp), ISO 200, f/3.5, shutter 2.5″. Just when I have my shutter speed set to get meter at … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning | 1 Comment

To improve or not to improve?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Michael Willems

What I mean by that is: in portraits, do I “photoshop” (usually, “Lightroom”) the images to make people look better? So that everyone can look like Kim, my model here in yesterday’s shoot? Well, it depends, but in general, my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Your light meter is not perfect

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Michael Willems

Your camera’s light meter is a reflected light meter. Here’s how it works. And you need to simply accept and remember the following: The in-camera light meter is designed to give a good reading when aimed at a mid-gray (“18% grey”) … Continue reading →

Posted in Light, Technique | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Flare!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Michael Willems

As a private pilot, this used to means something good that I did I did upon landing (don’t flare and you bump into the runway hard). But as a photog, it is a bad thing, that I have mentioned before. … Continue reading →

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QTOTD: Music

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Michael Willems

Or “Quick Tip Of The Day”: I am setting up for a portrait shoot, and his reminds me to mention to you the following quick tip: Always have some music on the in the background when shooting a portrait. Age- … Continue reading →

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