Gain Options by Switching Your Camera’s Focal Length

Wedding photography comes with a lot of challenges, although none more panic inducing (for the photographer) than the nice, cushy, 90 minute portrait time you and your client scheduled into the timeline has been eaten up by every other crisis during the day and now you’re left with 10 minutes to make MAGIC happen. Awesome […]

Christmas Bokeh and Compression

The other day, I was watching a family take photos in front of a Christmas tree. They were standing directly in front of it. I realized that with a bit of practice, and knowledge, we can really use the lights in the tree to our advantage, and set the stage for a fantastic background for […]

C-47: The most useful tool you have in your laundry room.

Most people refer to it as a clothes pin; in Hollywood it’s referred to as a C-47. They were named that way because back in the day there were 47 pins in a pack. The C stands for clamp, hence C-47. We’ll take them and reverse the way they clamp so that they have more […]

Photo of the Day: Christmas Family Photo

Category: Family Photograph: Christmas Family Photo–  Jeremy W Cox Setup: Composite shot with individual shots of figurines, head shots and background. Key light above subject slightly to the right (variable distance based on subject size) with Lumiquest Softbox Ltp or Softbox III depending on subject size. Fill light with Westcott umbrella bounced off white ceiling. Accent light from back left. […]

Lighting with China Balls

Here is a great economical way to soften your light. They’re China Balls: These were used on the set of Grey’s Anatomy. You can buy these light diffusers from World Market or     Pier 1 Imports. Here’s a link to Filmtools. Filmtools is a great resource; however, on some items they are a bit pricey. They […]

How To Take A Classic Three Light Studio Portrait With Hardware Store LED Light Bulbs

When I was getting started with photography, I knew that I had to learn how to light a subject indoors, but I couldn’t afford studio strobes – or even a hot shoe flash. I ended up learning how to use artificial light by re-purposing a set of three 500 watt halogen work lights.  They turned […]

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“What’s that say?”

There’s a rule about having numbers or letters in a shot, “Your eyes will always go to the letters and numbers first to see what they say.” I was planning on a personal project to have Wonder Woman breaking some binding chains on a set with some graffiti behind her. So I talked to a […]

Hate Noisy Pictures? This May Help…

Photographs are wonderful things, and one of their amazing characteristics is the detail we can see in a picture. I’m pretty observant of details in face to face contact, so I enjoy the fact that my camera can record those details with great clarity and I can share them with others. However, digital noise sometimes […]