“I bought the light meter and a Nikon F camera in 1965, while I was stationed with the Air Force on the Island of Okinawa. I’m glad to let you know both the camera and your light meter still work. The L-98 meter I had not used for at least 20 years, but I decided to give it a try. I put in a new battery, and to my surprise, it still works. It sounds like a commercial, but it’s a fact. I wish to congratulate Sekonic for making such a high quality and reliable product.”

Ramon Guzman's 1965 Nikon F and Sekonic L-98. ©Ramon Guzman

He also wrote, “I’m considering purchasing a new Nikon D90 or D7000, and you can [be] rest assured if I do, I’ll be extremely happy to purchase another Sekonic light meter again.”

Thank you for sharing your story, Ramon. We bet you’ll like the advancements we’ve made in the last 46 years!

Don’t miss Joe Brady as he details all calibration issues with this advanced meter. Watch it to ensure you get proper readings to make your photos perfect.

See the full video on our YouTube channel.

Ryan E. Walters on the job with his L-758Cine.

In this introductory video, “Lighting 101: Using the Meter,” he discusses the needs and use of a light meter, and showcases his Sekonic L-758Cine. If you’ve ever wondered why you shouldn’t just rely on in-camera exposure metering, this is a great place to start.

Alexandre Maller asked the following question:

I own a great L-308S, and I have a question. What is the exact purpose of the optional Lumidisc? Is it for a more directional measure in incident mode?

Hi Alexandre,

You’ve answered your question. To the meter, the white surface of the incident light receptor is the subject. The hemispheric-shaped Lumisphere approximates the 3-D nature of a face and reads light striking it from 180-degrees averaging what it “sees.” The flat disk allows the metering cell to only “see” light directly in front of the meter. It is used to determine the brightness of lights in a multi-light setup. This difference in brightness is the building blocks for lighting ratios. If the main light is two times brighter (f/8) than the fill light (f/5.6) the ratio is 1:2. The Lumidisc is also used to measure light falling on a flat surface light a painting or a green screen for video shooting.

Please get back to me if you have any other questions about Sekonic meters.

Best regards,
Phil Bradon

Always owning a camera, Connors had a darkroom in high school. After a career centered in academia and moving everywhere from Arizona to Chicago to Pacific Grove, California, he turned 40 and became a professional photographer, setting up a studio, Coast Highway Photography, in Solana Beach, just north of San Diego.

©Kevin M. Connors

In February of 2003 Connors bought a Canon EOS D60 and an Epson 7600, and was convinced he’d make a living as a professional photographer. After a year of driving his Winnebego to art shows in the Southwest, “I realized that’s not a sustainable business model,” he says, laughing.

At Photo L.A. in January of 2004, Connors asked a photographer who had worked with Ansel Adams a question. “I said to him, ‘You don’t happen to know how many images Ansel made in his lifetime, do you?’” recounts Connors. He was told just around 40,000 images, which had been tallied for the University of Arizona archives.

Connors next question was, “How many of those ever made any money?” The answer was, “Around fifty, but real money on about twelve.”

©Kevin M. Connors

Rocked by this revelation of the stats racked up by arguably the greatest darkroom photographer ever, Connors gave pause. That is, until a large format photographer friend named Matt he attended the show with turned to him and said, “Well, you know, Kevin… your stuff is shit. Have you thought about portraits and weddings?”

This tough love approach is still described by Connors as “the seed.” A month later he called Matt up, and the pair went to Samy’s Camera in Hollywood. He bought Profoto gear and began to transition from Mamiya medium format film to a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II. “That kind of changed everything,” Connors says. “That’s the path of how I got into portraiture.”

When Connors got into portraiture, he certainly got into it. His next steps are engrained in his mind. “I left corporate America on May 23, 2004 at 5:01 p.m. and put my finances together so I could focus on photography,” he says. “I joined the local, state, and national groups, PPA, WPPI, and then the state and local groups here and just started to devour as much education as I could.”

©Kevin M. Connors

He took several week-long photography courses from various individuals, and rated their technical abilities versus their artistic abilities versus their business teachings. “I was bound and determined to be able to make a living in this business,” he says.

Making a living he is. Connors is fascinated by the depth of photography he encounters as he services his clients. “I used to be a golfer,” he says. “I’m not much of a golfer anymore but it didn’t matter how good you got; there was always something else to learn. That’s what I love about photography, too. There’s always something more to learn: another technique, another way to look at things, another way to light things, another way to work with people. That’s what I love about it. There’s never a dull moment when it comes to that.”

When it comes to his gear, Connors is almost as passionate as he is about the art of photography. A Canon shooter, his main camera now is an EOS 1D Mark IV, with an EOS-Ds Mark II, an EOS-1D Mark III, and an older EOS 1D Mark II for backups. “I’m using the AcuteB 600, the battery pack Profoto system,” he says. He typically uses a light stand or a monopod for his lights.

One glance at his images shows accurate control of his rich tonal range is essential to a Connors portrait. He relies on Sekonic meters to get his exposures correct in-camera. These days he primarily uses the L-758DR. “I own an L-358 I love, too,” he says. “That was my meter for a long time. Hell, I just sold an old L-508. I’ve used Sekonic meters for years. I’m an old-school metering guy.”

©Kevin M. Connors

Connors confesses he doesn’t understand pros who don’t use a meter. “I can’t do what I do without a light meter,” he says. “I learned back in 2006 how to really use these things when we’ve got a mix of ambient and flash, and that’s what most of my work is all about. I’ve learned to understand what those percentage readouts mean—what they’ll mean in terms of look, so that, for me, is everything. I work on percentages all the time from my meters. The 758 is… there’s just nothing like that. That’s the spaceship.” He credits Don MacGregor in Vancouver with teaching him about how to incorporate percentages in his light metering practice.

Almost developing a philosophy about how he uses metering, Connors had the following to say. “I use it everywhere. I use it on weddings. I’m sure it drives my assistants a little nuts because it does slow me down a little bit, but in portraiture slowing down a little bit isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing. You don’t need to carpet bomb. There are going to be times during the session where I’m not going to be popping and we’ll just go with ambient, whether it’s reflected, transmitted, or just as is, whatever it might be, and then we can shoot a little faster, of course, because there is stuff you will miss if you are waiting for a flash to refresh all the time. It has its place.”

Becoming facile with a light meter came to Connors by reading the manual. He felt the art really open to him after he learned about percentages. “A light meter isn’t a very complex device, necessarily, but I wasn’t using it anywhere near it’s fullest extent—primarily the ability to measure or meter both ambient and flash at the same time and be able to make some decisions about what you’re looking for, and how you want it to look, and what those percentages will give you,” Connors explains.

©Kevin M. Connors

There are psychological issues to using a meter which have a direct effect on client relations, Connors feels. “I see people who will chimp the back of the camera to see what they’re getting,” he explains. “That’s just bad technique as far as I’m concerned. Besides in front of your client the last thing I want to say is ‘Oh, what are we doing here?’ I want to be able to measure, make a couple of decisions, and then maybe we change the output a little, but then we just go. The most important part of the photography is not the technical—that should be so far in the back it shouldn’t even be a part of it. The most important part is the connection with the clients. The psychology of the session is what it’s all about, and you just can’t afford to break that rhythm.”

His rhythm is, in part, helped by his use of a meter. “It gives me a chance to interact with the client in a more personal way, because I have to walk over to them and pop it out. Sometimes that’s a great chance to have a little fun with them, get a couple of yuks,” says Connors. “I got a couple of things I like to do, and they work. It also breaks up this carpet bomb-shooting that I certainly started out with. You just don’t need to do that.”

In a business where time is money, there are additional benefits to using a meter. “We can minimize postproduction,” Connors says. “That’s the other huge advantage when it comes to light meters. My postproduction is very fast and very easy. Getting it right in-camera is what it’s all about.”

©Kevin M. Connors

Connors typically invites his clients to his studio for what he calls their design meeting, which happens several days before their shoot. He feels this is the most important part of the entire process. “It’s a chance to establish a little rapport with the client so we’re not just showing up out on the beach and first time we’ve ever met,” he says. “They come to the studio and we invite them in, pour them a drink if they’d like, whatever they wish. I’ve got a martini bar in here, too, that’s a very important part of the equipment.”

The design meeting is very hands-on. He shows them 40- to 60-inch prints mounted on the walls. “We do all our printing here in-house with the Epson 9900, so we print everything on fine art papers,” he explains. “That’s part of our brand. The brand is that anything we make for you is going to last for hundreds and hundreds of years; it won’t even be fading for two hundred years, or so. It’s a chance for them to get their fingers on these papers, to actually see what these images are like, to really truly build that differentiation from the rest of the pack.” In addition, all other aspects of the portrait session are planned during the design meeting, from wardrobe to location.

©Kevin M. Connors

Within a week of the actual portrait session, Connors has clients back to his studio for a “premiere.” He displays a selection of images which could be “the wall portrait” on a 61-inch HD monitor. He also uses ProSelect from Time Exposure to present possible album designs during this meeting. Connors does not present his clients with images online. The premiere is their sole opportunity to purchase prints. The average sales cycle for this studio from phone call and consultation to delivery of prints is four weeks, at longest.

Calling himself a “Lightroom freak,” Connors uses the Adobe product to optimize contrast and color. The result is 100 optimized images to be shown to each client. Connors reports a 25% and 30% increase in revenue the past two years.

“Building the brand around quality images printed here in the studio on fine art papers that will last forever, that’s the brand,” Connors explains. “Our brand is family heirlooms; that’s the business we’re in. That’s how we’ve positioned the business now for a number of years and it works.”

Charging a premium for a premium service and product, Connors has his business model planned, honed, and practiced. “It’s something I believe in, too,” he says. “My clients, as long as they put this behind glass, literally they’re gonna have this print for hundreds of years in their family. So you amortize that over the life of that print and it’s not so bad.”

Connors counts Fuzzy Duenkel and Bruce Hudson among several mentors whom he’s learned various aspects about both the art and business of photography.

©Kevin M. Connors

Geology still creeps into some of Connors’ portraiture, such as when he photographs clients on beaches with gorgeous cliffs behind them to provide stunning natural backdrops. His vibrant portraits and rich landscapes have earned him awards such as Photographer of the Year from the Professional Photographers of America, San Diego Portrait Photographer of the Year, and California Landscape Photographer of the Year. His art and business model have proven the old cliche that following your dream can be exceedingly rewarding at any stage in life.

Kevin Connors at Coast Highway Photography
Coast Highway Photography Blog
Kevin Connors on Facebook

Written by Ron Egatz

Marije Weterings will make you rethink both of those assumptions. Fluent in Dutch, French, German, and English, Weterings is a photographic autodidact. “I was in college for a bachelor in business intelligence—getting information out of computer systems,” she says. “I worked in I.T. for a couple of years, and then I got a — not a burnout but a bore out — I was bored in my work.” Borrowing a camera and shooting photos superior to the other people she was shooting with was the wake-up call she needed. She soon got a camera of her own, and began a new career.

©Marije Weterings

Drawn to portraiture from the start, Weterings feels it was only natural she wanted to take photos of people. “I just asked a girl if I could take pictures of her and she loved the pictures and that’s what got everything started,” she says. “She was not even a model. She was just a girl next door.”

Whether it’s the girl next door or a professional model, Weterings sees the big picture, in its entirety. By selecting not only her models and locations, she also styles both wardrobe and gives her makeup artists direction. “Most of the time I have a mood board and a vision,” she says. “I try to combine everything so the styling and the makeup all matches with each other.” In this way, Weterings’ portraits are largely centered and unified by a strong color palette. Standout colors are rarely garish, and only call attention to themselves when they need to make a dramatic statement. Her portraits are essentially modern, beautifully coalesced paintings. Weterings just happens to use a digital camera instead of a brush and canvas.

©Marije Weterings

Some of Weterings’ models are beauty pageant contestants. Earlier this year she was in Berlin for Fashion Week where she shot Miss Universe Germany, Valerie Bystritskala. She’s also recently worked with Miss Universe Netherlands, Kelly Weekers. “I consider myself a glamour photographer for the pageants. They need glamour photography,” Weterings explains. She cites Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton as photographers influencing her. Denise Boomkens, a Dutch model turned photographer, and Ebo Fraterman have also inspired her work.

One of the most remarkable things about Weterings is her path to professional success which started that first day she took some portraits with a borrowed camera. She has never assisted a more-established photographer. She didn’t go back to college for another degree. When asked if she got her photographic knowledge via books, her answer is quick and unfailing. “No, Google,” she says.

©Marije Weterings

Weterings purchased a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Elinchrom lighting gear. With the help of Google searches and publicly-available resources on the Internet, she taught herself a completely new art and profession.

A Sekonic L-758DR is what Weterings uses to achieve some of her more interesting shots. “I want to show emotions and feelings. The problem with one of my techniques is I overexpose, so I shoot the Elinchrom at full power—400 watt-seconds.” This particular technique involves her shooting at f/16. An example is the woman in the red dress below. Taken at about 3:15 in the afternoon, she achieves a completely unexpected noir effect. “It’s all about lighting, and you can’t do that without the light meter,” she adds.

©Marije Weterings

Typically shooting in the studio at 300 watt-seconds at f/8, Weterings also uses her meter to achieve perfect exposures in shots for fashion clients. She typically balances a combination of natural light and flash. “I use daylight for the complete lighting – backlit for the hair and a light on the face with two soft screens for the beauty of the face to get a good skin tone.”

Keen on standing out from other Dutch photographers, Weterings is very conscious of her lighting and is interested in shooting around the world. “I have more and more clients of what we call the famous Dutch people,” she says of the state of her career. “I like doing those nice portraits, but I want to be different. I want to think more of a Paris or Milan or New York-kind of fashion photography. I prefer to do more fashion model photography and I would love to work for the bigger magazines.”

©Marije Weterings

Weterings feels certain qualities of her shooting are what makes her stand out from other shooters. Her lighting is the primary value which sets her apart, she feels. “I think I shoot in a feminine way,” she says. “My lighting is not bounded by rules. When I do a photo shoot, I try to explore and think about the lighting on the spot, at the moment. I make a test photo. If I don’t like it, I just adjust it. If it feels good, I continue; if it doesn’t feel good, I adjust the lighting and then start all over again until I have the result I want.”

Experimentation is critical to opening new artistic avenues and technical possibilities, Weterings feels. “Nowadays people are afraid to test or be spontaneous,” she says. “When I give a workshop, I try to inspire people to go practice on themselves—to take their camera, go out, and practice. I tell them, “Go out one day and shoot everything on aperture 2.8 and at night you can see what you’ve done. The next day you’re going to shoot everything at aperture 18 and look what’s different. You have to set yourself with standards or with exercises to teach yourself. That’s how I learned.”

©Marije Weterings

At 32 years old and only shooting for the past three years, there is much to be learned from a successful autodidact like Weterings. With a strong emphasis on experimentation and research, she has changed her life and taught herself a new art. Her professional career change is a testament to self-motivation. Weterings has also been using the 5D Mark II’s video capability by shooting a lot of behind-the-scenes footage at photo shoots. These can be found on her blog. One can only wonder if this means she will reinvent herself yet again and move into filmmaking. It makes sense. Every girl next door wants to be in films, and Weterings will certainly capture her beautifully.

Marije Weterings Photography

Marije Weterings on Twitter

Marije Weterings on Facebook

Written by Ron Egatz

This two-day event runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day. For full details, dates and registration information, please visit the American Photographic Artists site.

The film has just been posted to the Sekonic site, YouTube, and Vimeo.

Be sure to not miss this short video. It’s complete with some great moments taken from Laforet’s films and some informative behind the scenes footage taken on his Famous Footwear “Neighborhood” spot. Laforet himself speaks about the importance of light in any motion production, and how, if the lighting is bad, no matter the quality of any other production value or the caliber of the acting and screenplay, viewers’ attention will be diverted and the scene will fail.

Laforet points out the common language of light spoken on any film set, and how accurate metering by multiple crew members makes productions run smoothly. This is an informative piece whether you’re shooting your first HDSLR short or a full-length motion picture.

Learn more about Vincent Laforet and his gear on his site and blog.

The chapter Grey has reproduced on the Sekonic site details how to set up a greenscreen, light it and your subject, and remove the greenscreen digitally from your final image. It’s comprehensive, and full of real world production tips to avoid problems you might run into when shooting a model in front of your homemade greenscreen.

Be sure to check out Grey’s own photography at his site.

Sekonic users and readers may remember Lane from her popular video which appeared on our site last year.

From the Lane’s seminar flyer:

This dynamic hands-on workshop is designed to give the emerging photographer a strong foundation in all the elements of lighting, from esthetics to hardware. Understanding and controlling studio lighting and applying it to portraits is one of the greatest challenges facing a photographer. Lighting has many aspects that need to be addressed individually and then combined to create a meaningful portrait. The use of strobe lights, how they work and the step by step set-up is the first layer in the foundation. The participants will have hands-on experience every day working with the strobe lights, umbrellas, boxes and grids. Metering techniques, stands, C-stands, booms, use of flags, diffusers, and reflectors are covered in great detail.

The Big Three elements of lighting are direction, quality and depth. We explore the intricacies of lighting patterns and how they define the face, how to appropriately choose the quality through the use of light modifiers and combine both of these with lighting ratios to set the mood. The most important element in portraiture is the photographer’s interpretation of the subject so developing a strong concept is imperative. All the aspects from lighting, posing, tonalities, mood, expression, camera angles to backgrounds must harmonize to create an effective photograph.

Each day will start with lectures and demonstrations, followed by afternoon shooting sessions with models. The is a tremendous opportunity to both learn essential lighting techniques and practice in a fully equipped and comfortable studio. And we have fun!