DIRECTIONAL LIGHTING

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

One way to create strong dramatic portraits is to use one single overhead light. This will create deep shadows under the eyebrows, and will accentuate strongly defined bone structures. In normal portraiture this style is usually not welcomed, but for fashion and fine art shoots, it will work nicely.

These are mannequins that I photographed a few years ago in New York city.


Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

DSLR's FOR THE CAR

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

I looked up in the sky the other day and found another sun dog!

Many great photographs happen when you are out living your normal life. Most often however we don't have our camera with us at that opportune time. Freeman Patterson mentioned in one of his books that he keeps a spare camera in his trunk for such occasions, and it is a good idea. If you are a Canon shooter you could invest in a used Rebel DSLR, or if you are a Nikon shooter any used DSLR models will work for a backup camera. While it is a bit risky to keep camera equipment in your car, you can reduce the impact of an incident by purchase a used consumer model and kit lens.

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

SMALL INTERIORS

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

Have you ever needed to photograph a bathroom? It is very tricky due to the size of the space, and lighting issues. Often you will need to rely on the ceiling light, which creates unpleasant shadows. A way to make small spaces more attractive is to take a bedsheet and pin it up (if possible) at the four corners of the ceiling. The bedsheet will sag a bit in the middle, which is fine. The single ceiling light now acts as a giant softbox, filling in harsh shadow spaces.

Here are the problems with this approach: You may not be at liberty to pin a sheet up on the ceiling. Hopefully you can find some other solution for the bed sheet; as long as it fills most of the ceiling, and of course covers the ceiling light, it should be fine. Problem number two is the diminished light strength, due to heavy diffusion (the bed sheet). The solution is to have a longer exposure.

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com

PHOTO ASSISTANTS

Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.

This week's blog post is not so much a photo lesson, but an admonition to avoid deleting photos in-camera. During each photo shoot I get my assistant Jon or Jen to stand in for the subject so I can adjust the lighting. In the past I would always delete these test shots, even if I did not need to delete them due to a large memory card. A few weeks ago I decided to collect all the pics of my photo assistants posing for the camera. The results are fantastic, and I plan to put them on my website when I get a few more images.

If you can avoid deleting photos in-camera, who knows what kind of jems you will come up with. I realize that it takes extra time during post-processing, but I have found that many of my favorite shots through the years have actually been the test shots, that I normally would have deleted.

Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at www.markhemmings.com
Mark can be hired as a photographer or filmmaker via www.hemmingshouse.com