Here’s a proper version of that last shot, and a few more from this weekend’s Flash Photography workshop:
And an unsolicited student reference:
There you go! When there’s another workshop, I’ll let you know here, and I’ll give you the link here when I do the next Sheridan Flash Workshop!
(You know my books also, right? See here for information. I see the store is having temporary issues, so email me if you are interested: michael@mvwphoto.com – or check out Amazon).
I taught a special flash workshop over the past two days, at Sheridan College. Seven students, great crowd.
Here, a few images:
Next, a one flash portrait. Yes, you can do some great stuff using just one flash. The flash was fitted with a Honl Photo grid – without that, it could not have worked. Fired by pocketwizards. This student looks like Queen Nefertiti, we decided:
Funny, aunt and niece, who, contrary to what you might think looking at this image, both have a great sense of humour:
And finally, me, by one of the students. A standard four light portrait:
About this portrait:
And finally the easiest shot. Now I warn you, the sample below was shot from the back of my camera with my iPhone, and then further mangled by Facebook, so do not look at the quality. Look at the idea instead.
So simple. One flash, located behind the subject, aimed at the backround. And a part Harvey Weinstein lookalike in the foreground.
This, a couple of samples from a family shoot I just did, is why you probably want to hire a photographer for a family shoot rather than using an iPhone to just snap away:
Those are pretty much straight from the camera. So what does that take? Well, experience, insight, plus:
Simple once you know. And if you don’t know, I have two pieces of advice: One, learn (I teach, and I write books!) and two, start by hiring a pro.
…because some things never change. Like this, a repost from 2014:
A few things work very well in composing images. I shall reiterate a few of them here, using recent photos:
First, framing. It is often a good idea to frame the object you are shooting. Use overhanging trees. A window frame. Or get even more creative, like here:
Not that every frame leads to a good picture – but some do, so learn to spot them.
Another technique that we often like: use reflections. Like here, since water is often a good source.
What did I use in the picture above? Yes, my speedlight. On camera, and zoomed in to 125mm, even though the lens is wide. And as you see, I did not use the rule of thirds in the vertical sense: because I wanted to get the reflection in.
There there’s “close-far”. Use a wide lens and get close to something in order to show depth:
And one more picture just for fun:
That images uses the above, plus it uses the background in order to tell a story.
There’s more – like the use of colour, and simplifying. A bit of thinking goes a long way in composing your shots!
A phone tip today. Because iPhone.
So you want to take a clear picture of something, to post. Super clear, like this:
Then I have a few tips for you!
If you follow those three steps, your phone images will be better than ever!