Field Lighting #14: Todd Chambers
Simplicity is nice. One light is nice. One subject is nice. The entirety of this photograph says look at the subject, study his eyes, facial expression, where his hands are, what he’s wearing, and other things about him. Nothing more needs to be in this shot. Another shot might include quite a bit, but this [...]
Field Lighting #13: The LIGHT, the LIGHT, the LIGHT!
OK, so at the risk of wearing you thin on the subject in the photographs, I’m going to chronologically detail an evening shoot that serves as the epitome of unique natural light conditions where I live (yes, I wrote the EPITOME, I think it’s the Johnny Winter I’m listening to right now that’s riled me [...]
Field Lighting #12: You Don’t Need Tons of Power!
I’ve come to appreciate how little light it actually takes to make some field/environmental portraits work. Take for example the setup above. I shot this for a magazine cover a little over a month ago, and it did not take much light from one Elinchrom Quadra head to punch in just enough light. I love [...]
Field Lighting #10: Horsin’ Around with Engagements
It’s been a while since I’ve put up a Field Lighting post, and Junction kept me from posting anything too extensive, so I have a little catching up to do. In regards to the last Field Lighting post, nick b pretty much nailed it beyond naming the exact light source behind the model to camera [...]
Field Lighting #9 – Field? Not really…Take a guess!
I’m delinquent again on Field Lighting posts, and I’m unabashedly going to be lazy about this one and let you tell me how I shot it. These two shots were taken from a recent cover shoot for Lubbock Magazine highlighting the colors and tastes of summer. After a few wardrobe changes and a few slices [...]
Field Lighting #8: High-speed lighting…flowers!
Yes, flowers. I’ve been holding this one nearly a year, and it’s the right time to talk about photographing flowers in Texas! The rain has been coming steady throughout West Texas and the Hill Country, and from what I’ve heard on the phone and via the Web, the Spring flowers are coming on in full [...]
Field Lighting #7: Whatever happened to naturally occurring, directionally diffused light?
When I posted last about James Watkins’s hands, it struck me that most of the posts regarding lighting and photoshoots (in my world at least) revolve around using some sort of artificial lighting technology. I love using lights, and if you’ve read this blog enough, you’ll know that I’m a diligent user of several gonzo-sized [...]
Field Lighting #4 – Reflectors Only
Let’s face it: often times as a photographer, you’re pressed for time. Hopefully you’re never late for a shoot, but when we start working with light and other people, we’re involved with highly dynamic variables. On a clear day, light is pretty predictable, but sometimes that sneaky set of clouds will set in right before [...]
Field Lighting #3: Alison Church on location.
Some time ago, I wrote about photographing with big light sources, such as large soft boxes. One nice thing about soft boxes is that they provide a large, soft light source that’s not stark and brutally intense like a bare-bulb speedlight or strobe. Before recently (ah, within the past several years, since the popularity of [...]
Field Lighting #2 – Paul Heinrich, Sysco Senior Director
This is the type of shoot I like to be a part of! I photographed a book last year that allowed me to meet several prominent individuals in the food industry, and Paul Heinrich was one of them. This shoot came together fairly quickly, having only a week to book a flight to Houston (not [...]
New Weekly Series: Field Lighting
Mondays are now officially dedicated (on this site at least) to a new weekly series I’ve named Field Lighting: Working with the light and the story. Any regular readers of this blog know that I like to shoot environmental portraits, as well as light them in a way that stresses their story. I’m not an [...]
