I prefer photographing editorial stories over creating a bunch of completely unrelated and different images. Magazines shoot stories and art directors like stories because it demonstrates that the photographer can shoot continuity….everybody likes a good story. If you photograph weddings, you are telling a story about a event. If you photograph architecture, you are telling a story about the home or building. For that matter, any genre of photography can be turned into a story.

When photographing a model, I always ask them to play out a role. In the case with Sarah, we shot this story as if she were an actress being photographed for a Playboy editorial. We wanted to capture a bit of Sarah’s great personality. Assisting and schlepping around other photographers gear taught me how to work with actors. When photographing celebrities and actors, always give them something to do in front of the camera.

Tim and I gave ourselves a challenge for this project with Sarah. We would travel as light as possible using only minimal lighting gear. The final gear consisted of my camera bag and a second backpack filled with a 5′ x 8′ Nylon Fabric, a few light stands, an umbrella, and finally an old Metz CT-45 Speedlight w/Quantum Battery Pack. We never used the Metz CT-45 Speedlight but we did use the Nylon Fabric and stands for one shot.

Our first location was the Seattle Arboretum. Tim and I had scouted the area a couple of days earlier. This time of the Summer, everything is green. We have three seasons in Seattle, green and dry, and green and wet, and wet with bare trees. After a few minutes we found two locations that provided good natural lighting.

Natural daylight, nothing fancy, RAW image processing was done in Capture One 5 Pro, skin softening in Imagenomic Portraiture 2, and finally a film curve from Alienskin Exposure 2.

For the rest of our images we headed over to Shileshole Beach, my favorite “city beach”. Tim and I downloaded the tide table to his iPhone a day earlier. We needed to be on the water at the lowest tide level, or about 1:30pm and finish up by 4pm….or swim out. With the Sun still pretty high in the sky, we ditched the Metz Speedlight and packed the 5′ x 8′ Nylon Fabric, a couple of clamps, and two light stands. A short 500 yard walk from the car and we found a location that provided open shade, sandy beach, nice rocks, and privacy.

RAW image processing was done in Capture One 5 Pro, skin softening in Imagenomic Portraiture 2, and finally a film curve from Alienskin Exposure 2.

Tim and I had to work very quickly, both the Sun and the tide were constantly moving. The above images we shot first because of the overhead Sun and the open shade it provided under the tree…about 30 minutes of good light before the shade was gone.

The next series of images would be a “cover” headshot as well as a few full length images. Tim and I become our own art directors when we shoot….we have a plan and a concept, so what if it is make believe. Test shoots are for practice and hopefully portfolio material.

RAW image processing was done in Capture One 5 Pro, skin softening in Imagenomic Portraiture 2.

I want to point out again the importance of of controlling contrast in-camera. Yes, we could have brought in the 5′ x 8′ Nylon/Satin Panel as a big reflector, but we didn’t. I knew it would be possible to cheat in post-processing with Capture One 5 Pro….expose for the highlights and develop for the shadows. That is how we did it in the film days…and digital is no different. My camera setup article if you missed it (will open in a new window)

Sarah brought a suitcase full of wardrobe, she did her homework well. For our last image of the day, we asked her to do anything she wanted to. Shoot images for yourself and also shoot a couple for the model….everybody likes having image options.

RAW image processing was done in Capture One 5 Pro, skin softening in Imagenomic Portraiture 2, and finally a film curve from Alienskin Exposure 2.

Model shoots do not require a ton of gear or elaborate lighting setups. Model test shoots require a good eye for light quality, proper planning, and good communication skills. Some of my best model agency work was done with a reflector and the Sun. Less time fiddling around with knobs and gear….and more time posing and shooting.

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Lets have some fun with these clowns, feel free to send them an email and say you can do it for $40, hehe. Email address is “job-xcgpj-1927599153@craigslist.org” without the quotes.

Freelance Photographer (Seattle)

We are looking for an amazing freelance photographer to conduct informal editorial shoots featuring local businesses in the Seattle Area for our online publication. This is a great opportunity for college students and photographers looking to publish photos on a nationally recognized forum.

We are looking for a gullible & naive photographer whose parents are spending a small fortune on college education and gear and living expenses. Our office overhead is so expensive that we need a photographer to shoot for minimum wage or less. After all, we have to pay ourselves a livable wage, pay the office lease, utilities, so there is very little left for you, sorry sport.

We need you to be quick and effective with the shoot lasting roughly 30 minutes. We are looking for someone who takes incredible digital photos, has reliable transportation, familiar with the Seattle area and is able to process photos with Photoshop.

Quick & effective shoot with incredible images in 30 minutes???? It takes me 30 minutes just to unload, scout the location, speak with the business owner and staff, and set up a light. Reliable transportation and insurance is about $0.50 per mile at best, not considering the initial vehicle investment. Last time I checked, Photoshop and my computer cost about $3500 or about $9.60 per day. Student camera gear at maybe $6000. The skill level required to light and pose a business staff and shoot incredible images…in 30 minutes….not sure even Annie Leibovitz could pull that one off.

You will be initially compensated $50 dollars for each shoot at 3-5 photo shoots per week. The types of shots we need include one exterior shot, 2-3 interior shots and an action shot. These photos will be taken in a popular restaurants, spas, health and fitness centers, and clothing stores during business hours.

Holy shit Batman, during business hours! What is an action shot? Would this be the snapshot of the store manager yelling at me for asking a customer to keep her snotty kids from screwing around with my camera gear??? The exterior shot, let me just get the Windex out of my grip bag, I want to clean your windows first. Regarding the 2-3 interior shots, never have Tim and I not needed to move a chair or two, are the magazines orderly on the coffee table, do the lights have a dimmer…etc. Interiors need styling regardless of how great they may look to the store manager.

$50 wow! Lets break this down further. 45-60 minutes round trip travel and packing time, 30 minutes shooting (right!!), 2 hours editing and processing images (post processing will be a nightmare). Now we are at 3.5 hours before operating costs, travel expenses, and or creative usage fees. You probably have to sign away your image rights….unlimited usage for the client. OH, you will also get 1099′ed at the end of the year.

After all your expenses, no wait, your parents expenses, you just made $5 and produced zero portfolio work. Probably had a shitty time shooting the “job”. Later you show your photo instructor the images….and he/she decides to flunk you in the middle of the semester….or worse…begins sobbing and reconsiders their future in teaching.

If you fancy yourself a great freelance photographer in the Seattle area and are available immediately please send us an e-mail with examples of your previous work. We look forward to hearing from you!

If you are a complete moron, we will welcome you with open arms. We will even buy you a cup of ice water! Once you leave our office, the entire staff will slap each other on the back for finding another clueless “professional photographer” that just netted us $2000 or much much more….for $50 and zero benefits.

Friends, please also read these two great posts below about how the industry is taking advantage of photographers and artists. Know when you are being fooled and learn to say no.

Job Postings Reveal That for Pro Photographers, the Squeeze Is On

Photographers, Don’t Fall for These Client Pick-Up Lines

The designer left it up to me as far as how I wanted to shoot this. The studio cyc wall was beginning to look a bit faded and needed a fresh coat of paint, perhaps a dark gray might look nice. I took a piece of “Thunder Gray” seamless paper to the local HomeDepot and asked the paint department to match it with their groovy paint color analyzer. $30 later, I had a few gallons of inexpensive matte finish “Thunder Gray”.

I learned a long time ago, the photographer needs to make the subject comfortable in the first 5 minutes of entering the studio. I have music playing and the studio is clean, bottled water and fresh fruit in the refrigerator, it is like having company over.

Modeling agencies like to see images with personality, movement, confidence, and expressions in the eyes. Hayley didn’t require much posing instruction, she just looked at herself in the mirror and knew she looked great.

For lighting I used a single 5′ x 8′ white satin panel. I could have used 2 nylon fabrics doubled up as well, either way works just fine. Over the lower 1/2 of the panel I attached a black cloth, and this gave me the darker gradation below the knees. Power is a 500 w/s mono-head, set at about 250-300 ws…..F/5.6 has plenty of depth-of-field for the average person….not just skinny models, lol.

Matte paint is supposed to be flat and non-reflective…..but we may still have a bit of shine or glare…just like seamless paper. At any rate, the black cloth does a nice job of feathering the light and reducing glare from the floor area.

To control or adjust the lighting contrast, simply move the mono-head closer or further from the white satin panel. If the mono-head is 1 foot from the panel we have a small circle of light or a specular light source. But if we move the mono-head 3-4 feet away from the fabric, we now have a large circle of light or a large diffused light source.

If you have been following my lighting diagrams and articles, you may have noticed, the lighting modifiers are between 6-12 feet from the subjects or models. There is a simple explanation for this. I wish the light to be even when it strikes the model, regardless of whether it is specular or diffused lighting. I eliminate the hot-spots with distance. And yes, even softboxes have hot-spots.

Take a few moments and try this simple experiment at home in your backyard, works best at night or in a darkened room. Set up a softbox 45 Degrees camera left or right, about 12 feet from your subject and take a shot. Now move that softbox 4 feet from your subject, still 45 Degrees off camera center, and take another picture.

Open the two images, side by side in Photoshop, and you will notice a significant difference in hot-spots and contrast. Which distance has a more even light quality from head to toe?

Why do I use panels, well, here are a few reasons.

1) The panels allow me to adjust the image contrast very quickly by moving the mono-head back and forth. I don’t move the panels…just the mono-head to panel distance.

2) The circle of light that strikes the panel feathers slightly at the outer edges of the circle. This softens the light fall-off in the shadow areas or darker regions. In contrast, the softbox has a very crisp edge… where the diffusion material meets the black frame, and thus no feathering at all. This may be fine for many folks, I simple prefer soft shadows, lol.

3) I like the round catchlight in the eyes. The panels in the slideshow resemble the Sun on a soft hazy day. Skin texture looks natural and smoother than what I get with a softbox. I mimic the light quality of the Sun in the studio.

4) The fabrics are machine washable, light, and travel very well. For airline travel I leave the PVC frames at home, and just pack a few small & light 8′ stands and clamps. Stretch and hold the fabric between light stands with $3 clamps, done in seconds.

5) Expense, 5 panels cost about as much to make as 1 good quality XL softbox. I can also use panels as giant reflectors or to diffuse the Sunlight outdoors. For product and food lighting they are superb as well.

Don’t take my word for it, lol. I copied what the movie industry has been doing for 100+ years. Many well known photographers have adopted similar lighting setups, they just don’t discuss it.

As always, zero Photoshop post production on the lighting in these images. Only basic whitebalance, exposure, and a film curve.

This lighting is so easy, even a caveman could do it.

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Madina also wanted a few editorial fashion images for the “splash page” of her new website. For the editorial images, we decided to use the lobby area of her condo building. The lookbook setting would be a corner of her design studio, a modern looking window with white blinds.

We can only show a few images, as the collection has not been released for public viewing.

The lighting diagrams are listed below:

Tim and I had to work pretty fast on the editorial images. We used a basic architectural lighting technique, bouncing umbrellas off of white surfaces. For the Key Light on the model, we slid the mono-head all the way forward on the shaft, giving us a soft spotlight effect. The 3 editorial images took about 1 hour to light and photograph.

For the lookbook images we used the 5′ x 8′ White Satin Panel/22″ Beauty Dish setup. We added a black cloth to the lower half of the panel to reduce glare from the wood floor tiles.

Simple lighting and zero Photoshop post production for lighting fixes.

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Today we received two new reviews of the “Creative Lighting for People Photography” lighting video. Additional reviews will be posted as soon as they arrive.

Video review page link.

The panels when used as we did in the video below, offer a very soft light quality for elderly subjects. Or, we may use the same panel setup for beauty lighting.

For the creative senior portrait, I might suggest the octabox ring light modification. This ring light modification looks great for fashion, musicians and editorial portraits as well.

Video clip from “Creative Lighting for People Photography”

One of the difficulties of photographing outdoors in Seattle, the weather is unpredictable. For commercial photography, Tim and I modify the light quality…on the fly… as the weather conditions change.

Perhaps you are photographing a senior portrait or engagement photo or even a formal wedding portrait on a cloudy day. Try the “bare octabox” as a backlight, maybe add an orange gel. Now you have completely changed the overall look and you are offering your clients options.

We have clients that may only be available on a certain day and time, and they need that sunny look on a cloudy day? Now we have a solution and get the job.

Creative lighting options make us more valuable as photographers. Give your client a reason for choosing you over the 20+ other photographers down the street. Having the lowest price on the block is a no win situation…and we do not always get a job based on fee.

As an art director once said to me, ” we hire photographers that give us images we couldn’t shoot ourselves”. Well…there you have it….

Be sure to view this video for more information about the modifiers we used in this video.

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1) DIY Nylon Panel – soft and diffused lighting for $50
2) Bare Octabox – mimic the 10am or 2pm Sun
3) Grided Octabox w/ToughFrost Disc – removes the center hotspot
4) DIY Octabox Ring Light – ring light shadow without the harshness

Early on in our careers, Tim and I assisted many commercial photographers, and were very fortunate to learn a variety of lighting modifiers and lighting techniques. The “Creative Lighting for People Photography” video tutorial demonstrates the 50 most popular lighting techniques we use for our commercial photography.

Several people emailed us and asked “what is different about your video and modifiers”. OK, below is 6 minute clip discussing the nylon panel and 3 different octabox mods.

Video clip from “Creative Lighting for People Photography”

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As I mentioned in the Working with Film Curves article, the retouching step is really the second step in my digital workflow. Everyone has a different workflow and methods, use what works best for you.

My point is, sure I can retouch the hell out of an image. But my clients rarely need extensive retouching. For portraits and fashion work, 95% of the time I can get away with the batch processing you will see in the video clip. For modeling agency models portfolios I do even less, the plastic skin look is “OUT”.

Video clip from “Creative Lighting for People Photography”

It may come as a surprise to many, but modeling agencies want to see the models skin and pores. The model already has great skin and features…that is why they signed them! The agencies are impressed by great lighting, posing and styling….and that gets the models work….which in turn makes the agency money, and you more valuable as a photographer.

I spend 5-10 more minutes lighting correctly. This simple step saves me countless hours in post production. I make money shooting….not retouching the final client images.

For a magazine or your portfolio, retouch as needed. Maybe that is part of your visual style and look as a photographer. I have nothing against retouching or photographers who spend hours creating the perfect image…yes, it is fun to do. Just know your client and ask beforehand what they need done.

Imagenomic Portraiture 2 is not exactly inexpensive. However, for the busy fashion, portrait, or wedding studio, IP2 is a blessing and will get you back to shooting and running your business. Simply create a preset or action, and run the entire session as a batch overnight.

Go to Part 1- Digital Camera & RAW Processing Setup

Go to Part 2- Working with Film Curves

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Essentially, I expose, light and process for a low contrast image that retains as much digital information as possible. My final step in completing the finished image, is to add a film curve from AlienSkin Exposure 2 (now version 3). I particularly like the color negative film stocks and the B&W section is equally impressive.

For the most customizable B&W image settings, I prefer NIK Silver Efex Pro. The options and image quality is amazing. It is a complete fine-art B&W digital darkroom. What took me hours to print in the “tradition wet darkroom”, I now do in minutes.

Video clip from “Creative Lighting for People Photography”

Go to Part 1- Digital Camera & RAW Processing Setup

Go to Part 3- Basic Retouching & Skin Softening

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Later I learned that this happens because our camera histogram isn’t based on the linear RAW data. The preview/histogram is based on the rendered gamma-corrected JPEG produced by the camera…of the image we just shot. By changing the 3 settings mentioned above, I “trick the internal camera processor”, resulting in a much lower contrast image, with additional detail in the shadow and highlight areas. I may even expose differently given that the camera histogram looks different as well.

Video clip from “Creative Lighting for People Photography”

When we edit the RAW file in a converter, the software is now operating on this linear-encoded data, yet we still have to configure the RAW processing software to use proper default settings.

Adobe Camera RAW has a default setting that may not have the best values for every camera. I call the default setting the “tourist” mode, a s-curve is applied and makes the images pop for everyone….whoopie!

Every camera shoots different. DPreview found that making a few changes in ACR significantly changed the RAW headroom by 1-2 stops on the Canon 5D MK2. You may read it here.

Want really great RAW software, I recommend CaptureOne Pro 5. They have created specific camera model profiles that are pretty slick. Try out the free 30 Day trial on your next shoot. I think you will like it.

I am going to keep this explanation low tech, but will give you a link to the tech weenie version if you wish to read 6 pages that discuss this problem in much greater detail, by Andrew Rodney. Those of you who know of him, he needs no introduction, and is highly regarded in our industry.

Try this technique on your camera. It only takes a few minutes and you can always change it back. We did this for our Nikon D2x and for the Canon 5D MK2. Our RAW files look dramatically better.

This post is a simplified version of my earlier article found here.

Go to Part 2- Working with Film Curves

Go to Part 3- Basic Retouching & Skin Softening

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