Category Archives: Technique

Not too shallow

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Michael Willems

I hear people say sometimes that “you cannot shoot portraits at wide open apertures”. So then how this available light portrait, shot on a full frame camera with a 50mm lens at f/1.2 (yes, f/1.2!)? Well yes, it is shallow, … Continue reading →

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Fear not – use high ISO when needed

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Michael Willems

Here’s a snap of my friend and student Ray, taken Saturday night: As you can see, he is backlit – and I used whatever light was available. This means that to avoid the usual “silhouette”, I needed to expose very … Continue reading →

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High key fun

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Michael Willems

When I shoot glamour portraits, I like to use black and white, and I like to make them high-key, as in this example below from a few days ago. Why high key b/w? First, because I very much like the … Continue reading →

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Cool colour

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Michael Willems

I shot some demo product shots with my student Merav today, and I thought I would share them here to underline the importance of colour. Here’s one, a simple one. Lit by a softbox on the leeft, an umbrella on the right, … Continue reading →

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Posted on February 3, 2012 by Michael Willems

Look at this image I shot just the other day – yes, it is another post in my recent model portrait series, this time to show you a simple creative technique you can use in camera: Namely.. the blur at … Continue reading →

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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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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 →

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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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Angle

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Michael Willems

A word about a very important aspect of people photography: angle. When I make a portrait, one of my main tasks is to find the right angle. People have flattering angles, and less flattering angles. Angles that make them larger … Continue reading →

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