It Was a Dark and Not So Stormy Night
“I love Christmas, not just because of the presents but because of all the decorations and lights and the warmth of the season.”— Ashley Tisdale Today’s Post by Barry Staver & Joe Farace, Image by Barry Staver Working under available light, unavailable light, available darkness, or low light—it doesn’t matter what you call it—can also produce some of the most rewarding photographs. First, there is the thrill of...
Learning to “See the Light”
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” ― Bram Stoker Light has four major qualities including color, quality, quantity and direction. As photographers seeking to master the art of exposure, seeing that light is the key to mastering the art of proper exposure. Notice I said art. Chiaro-scuro, as Italian Renai-ssance painters called it, is the use of effects...
Glamour Photography Takes Practice
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.”—Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was arguable one of the finest classical pianists of all time, yet even he had to practice every day. Regular readers of this blog know I believe that the best way to improve your photography is practice. I think you should photograph something, anything really, each day or at least every week so you can get to...
Using Shadows in Glamour Photography
Light illuminates; shadows define. Shadows add a sense of depth to a photograph. Shadows are the soul of a picture—Rick Sammon Light has four major qualities: quality, quantity, color and direction and the least expensive lighting for glamour portraits is the sun. It’s free and even on cloudy days produces a wonderfully soft effect and it’s easy to use too. Under most lighting conditions your camera’s built-in meter will give anywhere...
Shooting Available Light Travel Photography
My favorite lenses for indoor available light photography are fast prime focus lenses but I still use zoom lenses when traveling because you rarely have the kind of choices for camera locations and positions you have under more controlled conditions. If you care about image quality, forget the digital zoom feature found on some cameras. It simply crops and saves a small portion of the sensor’s data, then interpolates this new,...
Proper Exposure & ‘The Sunny 16’ Rule
“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”—T. S. Eliot If you agree that lighting is one of the key elements that differentiate a good photograph from a snapshot, then it’s necessary to understand proper exposure. Believe it or not, there was a time when cameras did not have built in light meters, let alone automatic exposure. In those days, photographers either used a hand-held exposure meter or...
A Finding Glamour Models Trifecta
Where do I find my glamour photography models? That’s a question I get asked lot. Finding glamour models is as easy or difficult as you want to make it. If you work at it methodically and consistently, you’ll discover really good models will find you. Today’s Model Monday post is the next in the series that offers some real-world suggestions on some of the best ways to find glamour models. Secret Number 3: Let everybody know you’re...
