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FASHION PORTRAIT ISSUE
Lara Jade: Exploring The Essentials Why Available Light Is Always In Vogue A Portraitist Finds Her Voice New Techniques For Lighting Portraits OCTOBER 2020 / $6.99US $7.99CAN
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EDITORIAL WES PITTS Editorial Director TERRY SULLIVAN Editor KRISTAN ASHWORTH Managing Editor DANIEL BROCKETT, MARK EDWARD HARRIS, WILLIAM SAWALICH Contributing Editors ART & PRODUCTION SCOTT BRANDSGAARD Senior Designer NICOLE POPMA Graphic Designer
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 Vol. 18 No. 5 digitalphotopro.com
Contents Departments 8 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 PHOTO CONTEST 13 NEW PRODUCTS 78 LOOKING FORWARD
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18 LYDIA PANAS SPEAKS HER MIND
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Learn how this photographer produces her psychologically charged portraits By Jill Waterman | Photography By Lydia Panas
26 LARA JADE: EXPLORING THE ESSENTIALS This New York City-based photographer examines what it takes to be successful in fashion and portrait photography By Theano Nikitas | Photography by Lara Jade
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 Vol. 18 No. 5 digitalphotopro.com
Contents 38 NINO RAKICHEVICH’S QUEST FOR AVAILABLE LIGHT Why this fashion photographer generally avoids lighting gear when attending important events like Paris Fashion Week By William Sawalich | Photography By Nino Rakichevich
48 MODERN LIGHTING SOLUTIONS New technology has opened up portrait lighting possibilities
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Text & Photography By Tom Bol
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56 LIGHTING FOR BEAUTY AND
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FASHION VIDEO Create a glamorous style of lighting for the subjects of your video or film By Daniel Brockett
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 Vol. 18 No. 5 digitalphotopro.com
Contents
62
Equipment 62 A FIRST LOOK AT NEW CAMERAS, LENSES & ACCESSORIES It’s been a tough year, but camera and digital imaging companies are delivering some impressive products Text & Photography By Terry Sullivan
72 AUDIO ASSIST—REVIEW: AUDIO DESIGN DESK
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ON THE COVER: This is one of several photos in this issue shot by Fashion Photographer Nino Rakichevich, which was originally published for an editorial fashion assignment in Al Sharkiah magazine titled “Revolutionary Chic.” The model, Fanta Conde, is wearing a duchess satin-printed blouse with a wrap skirt, red salome shoes and black lambskin gloves, which are from Fashion Designer Julien Fournié’s First Crime haute couture collection, from Autumn 2018. Additionally, the Fashion Editor and Stylist for this editorial shot was Suna Moya.
digitalphotopro.com
Making It Work…During A Pandemic “No matter how talented a photographer may be, when the economy shuts down, the assignments disappear,” writes Contributing Editor William Sawalich. To find out how one photographer has been figuring out how to make a living during this pandemic, he interviewed Mike Colón, a wedding photographer. Find out more at digitalphotopro.com/ blog/a-wedding-photographers-search-foropportunity-during-the-coronavirus-crisis
A New Lighting Paradigm Documenting The George Floyd Protests In mid-June, Terry Sullivan, editor of Digital Photo Pro, interviewed several photographers, including Steven John Irby (who captured this striking image during the demonstrations in New York City), Tara Pixley and KK Ottesen, on the photojournalists and content creators covering the George Floyd protests around the country and who had caught their eyes. For more on this story, go to digitalphotopro.com/blog/ whats-going-on-how-photojournalists-are-documenting-the-george-floyd-protests
Discover why Contributing Editor Daniel Brockett says that lighting in 2020 has come a long way from where it was just a few short years ago and why he’s pleased so far using the new Godox VL300, a COB high-powered LED. Find out more about it here: hdvideopro.com/blog/updating-my-lightingparadigm-with-the-godox-vl300
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A behind-the-scenes photo captured by Tom Bol for his article on modern lighting solutions in this issue.
Editor’s Note I’ve always enjoyed studying behindthe-scenes photos, which can be quite enlightening in the world of photography. I particularly like this one, shot by travel and portrait photographer Tom Bol for his story on modern lighting solutions in this, our Fashion & Portrait issue. For me, this shot functions not only as a guide for how Tom set up the image but also serves as a symbol of how much successful photographers plan every aspect of their lives, from particular shoots to the trajectory of their careers! Here’s why: Since I’ve worked with Tom for a few years now, I know he considers everything about a particular shoot: What’s the budget? How many people should be on the set? What lighting will produce the best 8 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
result? Even, what’s the best time of day and location that will work for the people he needs to bring in order to produce the best shot? And for this shoot, I’m sure he thought about how much time (and supplies and money) might be needed to clean up after all that multicolored dust settled. But Tom’s not alone—the other photographers in this issue all discuss the art of making plans, which sometimes entails making tough decisions about your career. For instance, Lara Jade discusses how years ago her fine-art agent wanted to talk her out of changing her focus in her career when she wanted to make a move and go into fashion and portrait photography. The agent suggested the fashion photography world was just too difficult.
And yes, Lara Jade admits, it was hard and could have blown up in her face…kind of like that big puff of smoke you see in Tom Bol’s picture on this page. But she persevered, and the payoff was big, going even beyond artistic gratification or monetary rewards. As she recalls in our story on her in this issue, “I was thrown in the deep end, but I learned a lot. I had to learn how to market myself.” That’s just one of the many epiphanies from the top-notch fashion and portrait photographers and content creators you’ll read about in these pages. So, enjoy!
— Terry Sullivan Editor editors@digitalphotopro.com
THE FACE PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS Congratulations to the winners and finalists in Digital Photo Pro’s The Face 2020 annual photo contest. Featured here are the first-, second- and third-prize winners. See all of the finalists at digitalphotopro.com/ blog/a-gallery-of-finalists-for-digital-photo-pros-the-face-contest.
Nikon D7200, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. Exposure: 1/125 sec., ƒ/16, ISO 100.
FIRST PRIZE Laughter Is Good For The Soul By Luke Burke “I captured this image for a personal project for Black History Month. As an African American, I have always been proud of my heritage and am always finding ways to educate myself and others on the history of African Americans. And this year, the project was extremely personal for me. During the process of creating this project, I was in search of a cover model for the entire project and found Precious Enyida. She was a friend of a friend whose parents came from Rivers State, Nigeria (near Lagos). “For the shoot, she wore handmade clothes from Lagos. With her background, I thought she was the perfect choice for this project. For the actual shoot, I tried to make the environment comfortable and light, which paid off since I was able to capture the model laughing. And that’s what I wanted to portray about African Americans…that we’re loving people and enjoy fun. “Technically speaking, I used an Elinchrom 500 BXRi and an Impact Luxbanx Small 36-inch Octagonal Softbox and a grid. The octobox was mounted on a C-stand held directly above the subject to create the lighting effect. “In loving memory of Dariel Danate Reid Jr.”
Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art. Exposure: 1/100 sec., ƒ/5.6, ISO 640.
SECOND PRIZE Sophia With Roses By Pat Rose “I made this portrait of quiet solemnity in collaboration with my lovely model, Sophia, whose interesting presence and striking beauty lent so much to the series of emotional portraits we made during our photo session. “We shot in natural light at a large window in my own little pop-up studio with a simple backdrop, using my Canon EOS 6D and Sigma 50mm lens. I loved shooting in natural light for our photo session on a gorgeous spring morning with a bright but cloudy Portland sky, which always makes for beautifully diffused light. For the shoot, I also used Superior Seamless background paper, a California Sunbounce Micro Mini reflector and a Lastolite collapsible reflector. “For post-processing, I used Lightroom and Photoshop to adjust skin details, overall color and contrast to achieve the look of understated elegance I wanted. I also added some subtle texture to the background to lend a somewhat painterly quality to the portrait.” digitalphotopro.com September/October 2020 | 11
THE FACE PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS
Nikon D850, Nikon NIKKOR 14-24mm F2.8. Exposure: 1/40 sec., ƒ/2.8, ISO 400.
THIRD PRIZE De Otro Mundo, Oaxaca, Mexico By Greg Davis “I’ve been working on a project on Oaxacan culture for over two years, which I hope will coincide with an exhibition I’ve been asked to create for the grand opening of a new museum and art center being built in Waco, Texas. “This image was captured on the streets of Oaxaca City during the annual Day of the Dead festivities. It’s 12 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
been said you die two deaths—one when your physical body perishes and the second when the last person who remembers you passes on. So remember: Honor your ancestors! “What’s interesting about this photo for me is that it’s the first time I shot with a competing camera system: I happened to be on assignment down in Oaxaca, Mexico, when my
Canon DSLR showed up, dead on arrival! But luckily, Mexican photographer Diego Huerta saw my Instagram post about my dilemma, and he brought me his Nikon D850 plus several lenses. So, this image represents the first time I’ve had the opportunity to shoot with a Nikon system. Now I love both Canon and Nikon…and Diego Huerta!”
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New Vlogging Cameras: Sony ZV-1 & Panasonic G100
This past spring, Sony and Panasonic each announced a new type of camera targeted at vloggers and video content creators. Sony announced first with the ZV-1, which resembles an RX100 Series advanced pointand-shoot. However, Sony says the ZV-1 is the first of a totally new product line, with a fixed 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T large-aperture lens, a 20-megapixel 1.0-inch type stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and a side-opening swiveling touchscreen LCD screen. It can shoot still photos, but the focus is on video features, which include the ability to shoot 4K UHD video. It also has in-body image stabilization, fast hybrid AF system and RealTime AF tracking and Real-Time Eye AF in movie mode. The new model also has a directional three-capsule microphone designed for forward-directional audio capture, but you can also connect an external mic via an industrystandard mic jack (3.5mm) or the Multi Interface Shoe (MI shoe). Along with the ZV-1, Sony introduced the ACCVC1 Vlogger Kit, which comes with Sony’s GP-VPT2BT Wireless Shooting Grip. A month later, Panasonic introduced the Lumix G100, a compact mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera that uses a 20-megapixel Four Thirds CMOS image sensor and can shoot high-resolution 4K videos in 3840 x 2160 resolution at 30p and Full-HD at 60p. Panasonic said the new model has a “compact and lightweight design,” but won’t “skimp on functionality and creative options,” including
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audio. For instance, it will record using three on-board microphones and integrate “OZO Audio by Nokia for high-quality spatial audio recording,” which will also be able to track a subject’s audio. Pro videographers will appreciate the G100’s ability to use V-LogL recording capabilities and apply Look Up Tables via a PC. Additional features include a maximum ISO 25,600, fiveaxis hybrid image stabilization for capturing stable, easy-to-view video, a 3-inch touchscreen LCD and a new video selfie mode. Panasonic Lumix G100 (with 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS kit lens) Estimated Street Price: $749 Panasonic Lumix G100 (with 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS kit lens and DMW-SHGR1 Tripod Grip accessory) Estimated Street Price: $799 Panasonic Tripod Grip Estimated Street Price: $99 Website: panasonic.com Sony ZV-1 Estimated Street Price: $799 Sony ACCVC1 vlogger kit Estimated Street Price: $199
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Canon Unveils Full-Frame EOS R5 & R6 Mirrorless Cameras, Lenses, Printers & Accessories
Canon kicked off the summer of 2020 by announcing that it was continuing to expand its full-frame mirrorless system with not only two new full-frame mirrorless R-series cameras but also four new RFseries lenses, two teleconverters and some additional accessories. Canon EOS R5 & R6 Cameras Both the EOS R5 and R6 have a slightly new layout of the controls and features compared to previous R System cameras. Both models share a continuous-shooting mode that fires up to 12 frames per second with the mechanical shutter and 20 fps with the silent electronic shutter. Both models also come with Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, its subject-tracking capabilities of people and animals and its in-body image stabilization systems, which Canon says provide up to as much as “8 stops of shake correction.” Here are a few of the differences between the two models: The 45-megapixel EOS R5 comes with an ISO range of ISO 100 to ISO 51200 (expandable up to ISO 102,400) and can capture 8K UHD RAW video as well as 4K up to 120fps, 10-bit 4:2:2 with Canon Log or HDR PQ, using internal recording and AF for all formats. The 20-megapixel EOS R6 comes with an ISO range of ISO 100 to ISO 102,400 (expandable to ISO 204,800) and can capture 4K UHD video up to 60fps as well as 1080p HD video up to 120fps 10bit 4:2:2 with Canon Log or HDR PQ, using internal recording and AF for all formats.
Both models also include enhanced operating controls as well as WiFi and Bluetooth technologies (EOS 5 has both 2.4/5 GHz; EOS 6 has just 2.4 GHz). And both EOS cameras have two card slots: The R5 has a CFexpress card slot and a UHS-II SD slot; the R6 has two UHS-II SD card slots but no slot for CFexpress cards. Lenses Canon also announced four RF-series lenses for its fullframe mirrorless system. Here are a few details on these lenses, all of which include optical image stabilizers: • The RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 IS USM lens is a dust-and-water resistant superzoom lens with optical IS and a minimum focusing distance of 2.96 feet. • The RF85mm F2 Macro IS STM lens is a lightweight, compact prime with a minimum focusing distance of 1.15 feet. • Both the new RF 600mm and 800mm F11 IS STM lenses are designed to be affordable supertelephoto prime lenses, each with a fixed ƒ/11 aperture. Printer, Teleconverters And Accessories In addition, Canon introduced several additional digital-imaging products, including a new professional 13-inch inkjet printer, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 (for $899), which comes with 10 channels (nine colors plus an optimizer) and can print up to 13x19-inch color prints. Two teleconverters (RF 1.4x Extender for $499 and RF 2x Extender for $599), a battery grip (BG-R10 for
$349), a new high-capacity battery (LP-E6NH for $79) and a high-performance wireless file transmitter (WFTR10A for $999) were also announced. The following camera bodies are priced according to several configurations: Canon EOS R5 Camera (Body Only) Estimated Street Price: $3,899 Canon EOS R5 Camera (with RF24-105mm F4L Lens Kit) Estimated Street Price: $4,999 Canon EOS R6 Camera (Body Only) Estimated Street Price: $2,499 Canon EOS R6 Camera (with RF24-105mm F4L Lens Kit) Estimated Street Price: $3,599 Canon EOS R6 Camera (with RF24-105mm SRM Lens Kit) Estimated Street Price: $2,899 Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM Lens Estimated Street Price: $2,699 Canon RF 600mm F11 IS STM Lens Estimated Street Price: $699 Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM Lens Estimated Street Price: $899 Canon RF 85mm F2 MACRO IS STM Lens Estimated Street Price: $599 Website: usa.canon.com
Canon EOS R6 Camera (with RF24-105mm F4L Lens Kit)
14 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
Canon EOS R5 Camera (with RF24-105mm F4L Lens Kit)
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Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens
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Sony Announces Ultrawide 12-24mm Zoom Lens With Constant F2.8 This past summer, Sony unveiled a very intriguing, potentially groundbreaking new zoom lens: the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM, which is a large-aperture ultra-wide zoom lens for Sony’s full-frame line of mirrorless cameras. Part of what made the news of the lens so interesting is that Sony claims it’s the “world’s widest full-frame constant F2.8 zoom” and has an angle of view that’s “wider than the human eye.” To construct the lens, the company employed 17 elements in 14 groups, including three XA elements, one aspheric element as well as three ED and two Super ED elements. It also uses four XD linear motors for outstanding autofocus speed, precision and tracking, including Sony’s real-time
Tamron Launches All-In-One 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Zoom Lens For Sony E-Mount
eye AF. Plus, you'll find a floating focus mechanism in the lens. Other notable features include a lens diameter under 4 inches, a minimum focal distance of 11 inches, a relatively lightweight, compact design (just 1 pound, 14 ounces), a new Nano AR Coating II, a dust and moisture-resistant design; a focus hold button and manual-focus ring; and a rear filter holder (which is located by the lens-mount end of the zoom) for sheet-type ND filters. Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM lens Estimated Street Price: $3,000 Website: sony.com
Tamron has a new superzoom lens, the 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (Model A071), which is an all-in-one zoom for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. The lens, which Tamron says is the first F2.8 all-in-one zoom lens for Sony E-Mount full-frame mirrorless cameras, is 4.6 inches long, has a maximum diameter of 74mm and weighs just 20.3 ounces, making it a very portable lens. Other impressive features include: • A fast F2.8 aperture at the 28mm wide-angle end of the zoom and an F5.6 at the telephoto end of the range (starting at 150mm through 200mm). • Lightweight form factor and a compact size. • 67mm filter diameter. • A lens optical design of 18 elements in 14 groups, which includes GM (Glass Molded Aspherical), hybrid aspherical, XLD (eXtra Low Dispersion) and LD (Low Dispersion) lens elements. • A Broad-Band Anti-Reflection Coating to reduce ghosting and flare. Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (Model A071) lens Estimated Street Price: $729 Website: tamron-usa.com
Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM
16 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (Model A071) Lens
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Sigma F5-6.3 100-400mm Telephoto Zoom, Teleconverters And A USB Dock
The Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary telephoto zoom lens is marketed as a companion lens to two previously released full-frame mirrorless zooms—the 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art and 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art. Sigma says the new 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary lens is Sigma’s first full-frame mirrorless telephoto zoom lens. It will be available in two lens mounts—Sony E-mount and L-mount—and it has a lens construction of 16 groups and 22 elements, which includes one FLD and four SLD elements. It also has a compact form factor and weighs about 40 ounces. Sigma also debuted a pair of teleconverters—TC-1411 and TC-2011—which the company said were developed for use with the new zoom when used with a mirrorless camera. The teleconverters increase the range
of the focal length up to 800mm. Along with the new telephoto lens and teleconverters, Sigma introduced a USB Dock, UD-11, for Sigma L-Mount and Canon EF-M Mount Sigma lenses, an accessory that allows you to update lens firmware and customize lens settings easily.
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Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary lens Estimated Street Price: $949 Sigma TC-1411 1.4x teleconverter Estimated Street Price: $399 Sigma TC-2011 2.0x teleconverter Estimated Street Price: $429 USB Dock UD-11 Estimated Street Price: $59 Website: sigmaphoto.com
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Kitty With Black Tulle, 2011. From the series The Mark of Abel.
18 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
LYDIA PANAS
Speaks Her Mind In Portraits By Jill Waterman | Photography By Lydia Panas
Learn how this photographer produces her psychologically charged portraits
M
y work is so much about home,” says Lydia Panas, when describing her unique brand of conceptual portraiture. “At some level, it’s about where we come from and how that influences who we become.” Working primarily in the tranquil conditions of her 70-acre farm in rural Pennsylvania, Panas poses her subjects amid bucolic landscape settings and draped studio backdrops, alternating between environments and camera models for each successive series. She employs both large- and mediumformat cameras—a Horseman Woodman 4x5 and a Hasselblad 500C/M SLR—to record fleeting details of the faces, positioning and gestures of an assortment of family members, friends, students and acquaintances. Observing her subjects through the inverted view of the ground glass heightens the intensity of her concentration. “I’m all there when I’m photographing,” she notes, “because the faces have to be just right or I can’t use the picture.” As she describes it, her austere, probing photographs seek to capture “the most basic part of being a human being. How people relate to each other, and the resulting connections, relationships and trust, these are the things that fascinate me,” she notes. “I’ve always been really interested in watching people interact. I don’t have to do anything like direct or stage them because there’s so much information to mine when people are together.”
digitalphotopro.com September/October 2020 | 19
Ava, 2018. From the series Sleeping Beauty.
Straddling Cultures And Language A deeply rooted sense of home and the solid foundation of a single language were transient concepts for Panas during her early childhood. As the oldest daughter of Greek immigrants, who had come to America to finish their medical degrees, Panas and her parents moved often. “When they were done with their studies, we moved back to Greece, and they built a house there,” she explains. “I was around 2 years old and just learning to speak.” Within four years, her father decided to move his growing family back to the 20 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
States. “When we came back here, I was like 5 or 6,” she recalls. “It was October, and I was in kindergarten, but I didn’t speak English. I remember it being traumatic. Then, we moved another three times until I was 8. I was straddling two cultures and two languages, and I wasn’t really encouraged to speak my mind.” Panas describes her father as even-tempered and kind, in contrast to her mother, who possessed a complex mix of modern tendencies and old-fashioned ideals. “My mother had one foot in the modern world and one foot in the old world,” she explains. “She was very attractive,
glamorous and quick witted. And, like all daughters, I was devoted to her. But she kept my siblings and me at a distance. Simply put, it was her way or the highway. It wasn’t about being ourselves; we had to follow a lot of rules.”
Finding Her Voice Within Art Included among these rules were strict expectations for a future career. Panas was drawn to the visual arts from an early age, in part due to her frustrations with language. Yet this wasn’t considered an acceptable pursuit within a family of physicians and scientists. “We had three
Chili Peppers, 2009. From the series The Mark of Abel.
options,” she explains, “doctor, lawyer, engineer. As an artist, I just didn’t fit into the mold.” Since art school was out of the question, Panas chose to major in psychology instead. With no job on the horizon after graduating from college, she petitioned her father about her abiding interest in art. “I said, ‘Listen, I still want to go to art school. Maybe I can go for graphic design because I could get a job in that field,’” she recounts. “So he paid for me to go back to school. This was in the ’80s when graphic design still involved drawing, and I just didn’t like it. And then I
took a photo class.” One of the first assignments given by her photo instructor, David Ulrich, was
for each student to bring in five pictures they liked. As he went around the room discussing the photographs, he told Panas her black-and-white snapshots showed that she was really interested in light. While this seems like a fairly basic observation, his words of encouragement had life-changing import. She notes, “What I heard for the first time in my life was, ‘You’ve got something to say,’ and that was it. He gave me a certain kind of confidence.”
A Portrait Of Relationships Panas went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in photography at New York’s School of Visual Arts before attending the Whitney Museum independent study program and receiving a master’s degree from New York University/ International Center of Photography. Her early work alternated between black-and-white portraits of her children and conceptual still lifes. After 20 years of shooting strictly in black-andwhite, she began her breakout portrait series, The Mark of Abel, as an experiment in working with color film.
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“I thought, ‘I’m always in the darkroom and feeling like I can’t catch up,’” she says. “And in my mind, I thought color would be simple. Quick, just send it all out. No big deal. I had no idea.” She asked her three children and their cousins to stand outside in the fields while she made a couple of color tests. “I let them do what they wanted, and they took their own positions,” she notes. “They kind of took on their own personalities in a way. When I got the film back, I was like, ‘Wow, there’s something here.’” She started inviting others to come pose on her property, simply asking them
back seat in directing her models, it’s extremely important for her to take care of each person’s needs. “I’m noticing who everybody is...and I’m very careful with everybody’s feelings. These are people who are charged to me for this hour. I need to give them my all, and I can’t let any of them feel bad.”
hanging on stands rather than people, so there’s this presence/absence thing. But what I didn’t realize when I was shooting them is that the same presence/absence thing exists in my other portraits, too. There’s something strangely very present and somehow strangely absent.”
The Presence Of Ghosts
Explorations Of Silence
The farmland where Panas lives and works is deeply rooted in her father’s immigrant past. He was raised on a farm in the Peloponnese region of Greece and had survived the hardships of World War II and the Greek Civil
The realm of psychology has a very significant influence in Panas’ portraiture, although this is more a reflection of her personal exploration and readings on psychoanalysis than her academic study of the subject. “I’m not sure which came first,” she explains, “the psychology or the influence it would take into my work. It’s kind of like they feed each other. I feel like everything I’ve ever done is all feeding into everything I’m doing now.” In her most recent work, Panas gravitates to female subjects, as well as shifting her focus to individual portraits rather than groups. Aside from a general sense that men tend to be more guarded in their expressions and emotions, she notes, “Maybe it’s my personality to see more in women. But I also think it’s partially this thing with my mom. I was so fascinated by her, so devoted, so wanting her attention, and I think this moved into my interest in photographing women.” She describes working one-on-one as very intense, adding, “The camera gives me license to look at the things that you normally can’t do with someone. And looking through my lens is so different than talking to someone in real life, where I’m inside the conversation. As a photographer, I have a certain kind of control, and that gives me a different view into somebody else.” The subjects of Panas’ latest series often engage in challenging actions or poses: smearing lipstick across their faces in the studio portraits of Promised Land, sprawling in the grass in the outdoor series Sleeping Beauty and meeting the viewer’s gaze with head
What I heard for the first time in my life was, "You've got something to say," and that was it. to bring people with whom they had history, either friends or family members. Since none of them were trained models, they would ask Panas for direction, to which she would reply, “‘You don’t have to do anything, just stand there.’ Truthfully, for the first year or two, I really didn’t know what I was doing,” she admits. “I was just enjoying it. And I find, for me, that works. If it feels good, I just go with it. But the way their personalities merged with mine turned into this thing. And it wasn’t until after working for a while, and reading what people wrote about the pictures, that I realized, this is about relationships.” When posing for her camera, Panas’ subjects exude a somber tension that harkens back to classical painting, particularly the Dutch Renaissance. “I really do like the Dutch,” she says of the comparison. “That black background with a simple face and almost nothing going on. There’s no bells and whistles, no distractions. It’s simply that person’s emotion and what’s coming out of it.” While Panas generally takes a 22 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
War before coming to America to prosper in medicine. As an alternative to investing his earnings in the stock market, he began purchasing farmland in rural Pennsylvania. When Panas and her husband were seeking to leave New York to raise their own family, they purchased the farm from him. For the next 10 years, Panas, her husband and her father worked together planting thousands of seedlings to reforest parts of the land. “I remember thinking that by the time my kids were in high school, this place would contain a forest,” she says. “My father didn’t live to see the growth, but the farm is his legacy for me and what he taught me about the land and how to appreciate it. As a tribute to her father, Panas began making a series of photographs that she calls Ghost Portraits. “It was a side project I did whenever there were no models around, and I loved how the weather might look,” she explains. “The portraits are fabrics
January Gold 1, 2014. From the series Ghost Portraits.
Emily S (1), 2019. From the series Silence is Also a Form of Speaking.
on a pedestal in her most recent studio series, Silence is Also a Form of Speaking. She attributes many of these actions to her own interest in “what it felt like to have to censor my speech. If you’re in a situation where you have strong feelings, but you’re not allowed to voice them, you’re both vulnerable and also kind of furious,” she remarks. “And if you can’t put it out there, it festers and turns into a certain kind of shame. I’m interested in that place of conflict where you’re very aware that what’s going on is wrong, but you have no recourse.” 24 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
In 2018, Panas began making short videos as part of her Sleeping Beauty portraits. What started as an offhand experiment with her iPhone soon took on a more significant role in her process. The videos greatly resemble her related still photos of the same model, save for the delicate fluttering of blinking eyelids. Panas became so struck by her initial experiments that she soon swapped the iPhone for her Nikon D810 and a 50mm f/1.4 lens. “Last year, I had a couple of exhibits where I combined videos with the stills,” she
says, “and it was very interesting. You could look back and forth between the stills in one room and observe the slight movement of the video next door.” As Panas explains it, many of her subjects compare posing for her camera to “being in a shrink’s office. It’s like they’ve been seen, and, the thing is, I feel like I’ve been seen, too,” she reflects. “I’ve been able to emote and express and put out on some level. To pull it around full circle, I’m saying all those things that I couldn’t say as a child.” DPP
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LARA JADE:
EXPLORING THE ESSENTIALS By Theano Nikitas | Photography by Lara Jade
This New York City-based photographer examines what it takes to be successful in fashion and portrait photography
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ashion and portrait photographer Lara Jade got her start in photography as a young teenager growing up in Staffordshire, England, with interests in self-portraiture and conceptual art. These interests came to life thanks to a confluence of events: her final exams, for which she wanted to do a paper on illustration; the discovery of the DeviantArt online community, where artists showed and shared their work; and the ability to stealthily “borrow” her father’s camera.
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This page: Self portrait, inspired by Stevie Nicks. Opposite page and previous page: Photos from a personal shoot, shot in Jade's home studio, with model Adeng Nyaman.
Jade began making self-portraits and enhancing them with an early version of Adobe Photoshop. “I would add fairy wings and other embellishments and use brushes and layers to create images.” Through these self-portraits and meeting and sharing ideas (as well as brushes and textures) on DeviantArt, Jade’s confidence in herself and her craft grew. “Meeting these people online and making friends around the world gave me confidence. We challenged each other and learned from each other.” It was the start of social media, and Jade “jumped on it early on, and that benefitted me, even to this day.” By 17, she started her own business and was getting a lot of work from social media. In addition to publishers who saw her work on the DeviantArt website, members of the then-large Myspace community also commissioned Jade. “Because I did fine art and my work was different from the norm, it was much easier to get business then,” she says. Also at this time, her father counseled her to “set this up as a real business,” a suggestion she took to heart and to this day considers a critical component of professional photography.
Promoting Yourself: Making A Splash In A Big Pond During the next couple of years, Jade’s interest in “the collaborative aspect of photography” grew, and she wanted to transition into fashion photography. With fashion’s four seasons, Jade was attracted to working with different themes within the changing face of fashion. While London was, as Jade described it, a “big pond,” she was
determined to move forward—even though her agent in Milan, who represented her fine art, questioned her decision, saying, “Why go into fashion photography? It’s hard.” “Yes,” Jade recalls, “it was hard. I was thrown in the deep end, but I learned a lot.” She goes on to say, “I had to learn how to market myself. Before this, I had relied on social media. But in London, it was more about putting the right words in front of the right eyes.” In the end, she was—and is—grateful for
having those “very difficult handson experiences early on.” Facing impossible-to-afford rents in London, Jade returned home after about a year. But that didn’t last long. “I needed to go somewhere new,” she decided, and took off for New York City. “I fell in love with the city. I met a lot of photographers, and I needed the change,” she explains. Brooklyn has been her home base, with her husband and dog, Stella, for the past decade. But Jade wanted to keep her London connections and
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business, so she still goes back and forth between the two cities for clients, which include Harper’s Bazaar UK, InStyle, Vogue Japan, Vogue Wedding Japan and Grazia Italia, as well as designers such as Monique Lhuillier, Mary Kay, Intermix and Danielle Frankel. 30 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
Being Versatile: An Important Asset In The Fashion World From her first forays into photography, Jade quickly began developing the personal, creative and technical skills demanded of a fashion photographer. “My early experiences with
self-portraiture and conceptual photography taught me a lot,” she explains. Being in front of the camera has helped her better understand how to communicate with models on set, and clients often reach out to Jade because “they want someone who’s
An editorial for Grazia Italia, featuring model Hannah Holman.
to do. You have to ask, ‘What’s your why? What’s the personal connection you have with the work that you put out there?’” At the same time, Jade is expert at “photographing women to make them feminine but also [show] that they’re strong and can hold their own.” Other strengths important to her work, again gained from early experiences, include learning to think on her feet, working within a budget and, equally important, being versatile. Jade points out that “today’s budgets are tighter, and I’m very hands on. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I used to do all the hair and styling, so if we can’t get a hairstylist, I can help with that.”
Collaborating And Communicating: Working With Teams
comfortable shooting women and can make them feel at ease.” In fact, clients have told her, “I can tell the model is comfortable with you”—an important goal since this translates into a model’s believability. And believability is key because, as Jade points out, with fashion, “You’re
always shooting to sell something.” To make a photograph interesting, however, “you can take trends and themes and put a story to it… For me, it’s usually on an emotional level.” Lately, Jade has been more minimalist in her approach, but, she adds, “simplest shots are the hardest
“If you want to get into fashion photography, you have to put all those little puzzle pieces together,” Jade cautions, adding, “You want to choose the right person, the right fit for the brief”…whether it’s the stylist, makeup artist or any of the other professionals who are part and parcel of a shoot. For editorial shoots, Jade tries to “do more of the casting because then I have a level of control,” helping to ensure that the model fits with her style. “That’s the way you get your vision across.” For client shoots, “I might come on later in the decision-making process.” Although for some emerging clients, she says, she gives her opinion. When casting, it’s important to make sure the model(s) “are a good fit for the brief. If you need movement, do they have that type of experience? Are they comfortable in front
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Simplest shots are the hardest to do. You have to ask, ‘What is your why?’
of the camera?” If, however, you’re model testing or building up your portfolio, a new model “is going to be quite green. Be kind to them on the set, put on music to help them feel at ease, especially music they’re familiar with. And feed them!” With model test sessions, it helps to ask the models what they need for their portfolios. Regardless of the model’s level of experience, Jade says, “Always talk to the models. Get to know them, break down any barriers.” During the shoot, “If I like an image, I’ll show it to the model so they can see 32 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
how it’s all coming together.” The team for a shoot extends beyond those on set. Jade shoots into Capture One and will apply her special recipe of curves and tones whenever possible. Otherwise, she’ll go through selects at her studio and apply this “recipe.” This way, the client sees an “almost finished” image. Once the selects have been adjusted, she sends the images to a retoucher to clean up—for hair, skin, the fit of a neckline, etc. “It took me time to get comfortable outsourcing my images,” says
Jade, “but it’s really important to collaborate and grow with a retoucher. It saves lots of time, and I can use that time to market and get more work.” She makes two important points about outsourcing images to a retoucher: “You always have to know how to do something to tell people what you want. I learned enough [about] retouching so that I know how to communicate what needs to be done.” And, she adds, “I like to use retouchers who are familiar with my workflow and my ‘asks,’” which she sends in her notes.
This page: A campaign shoot for designer Monique Lhuillier, featuring model Marilou Mol. Shot on location in Paris. Opposite: Beauty work, featuring model Yoonmi Sun.
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This page: A jewelry editorial shoot for Harper’s Bazaar KZ, featuring top model Blanca Padilla. Opposite: An editorial for MOJEH magazine, featuring model Marine Deleeuw.
Choosing Your Tools: Gear And Lighting The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV had been Jade’s go-to camera until recently when she got her hands on the Canon EOS R. The latter, with its touchscreen tap focus and Camera Connect app, is ideal for her current self-portraiture work (and for taking portraits of her cute dog, Stella). While she’ll keep her 5D Mark IV, the EOS R is now her main camera. She’ll be changing over to RF lenses soon, but for now, she uses her current lenses with an adapter for the EOS R. Jade prefers prime lenses and consistently uses the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM, the 85mm f/1.8 and 100mm f/2.8L macro. She’ll often use the 50mm for covers since it provides more room for text. The 85mm is her go-to lens for portraits and some covers, while she’ll sometimes use the 100mm macro for close-up portraits. When shooting outdoors, she’ll switch to the 24-70mm f/2.8L since it allows her to zoom out for full-length shots without having to change lenses. Looking at her images, one is immediately taken by Jade’s lighting style, another reason clients are attracted to her work. When she started out, Jade used a lot of natural light because that was what was available to her. She’d shoot in the shade and near windows and used reflectors to create soft light for her subjects. And, she notes, “there’s a lot of diffused lighting in London” because of the weather. She rarely uses lights outdoors, depending, instead, on natural light for those shoots. To diffuse the
natural light, a 4x6-foot Westcott Scrim Jim travels with Jade wherever she goes. Initially intimidated by studio lighting, Jade is now comfortable in the studio, creating her signature soft lighting using 5-foot octaboxes with two layers of diffusion material. Depending on the shoot (and studio), she also may use window light with a low power pop of light in the corner, primarily for the catchlights—an important component of her style. Eyes are a prime focus for Jade, and “catchlights help to engage and connect with the subject.” Lately, she’s been using a 7-foot Westcott umbrella
since it provides a large source of light that, when diffused, delivers the beautifully soft lighting that Jade is well known for. Her lighting kit consists of the Broncolor Move Kit, which she uses for travel or outdoors. Otherwise, she’ll illuminate her subjects with the Broncolor Siros kit or the more portable Senso kit. The aforementioned Westcott Scrim Jim is useful in the studio as well. “Sometimes, I’ll aim the lights through the scrim” to produce a large but diffused source of light. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to get that layer of softness.”
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This page: An editorial for MOJEH Magazine, featuring model Marine Deleeuw. Opposite: Jewelry editorial shoot for Harper’s Bazaar UK, featuring model Nicole Pollard.
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They want someone who is comfortable shooting women and can make them feel at ease.
Mentoring And Learning: Under The Umbrella Of Fashion Photography About 10 years ago, Jade began to get requests, asking her to share her thoughts about everything from her working process to the business of fashion photography. But when she started in the industry, “there was no information about fashion photography,” so she began sharing her knowledge by holding workshops. From there, the education portion of her business “began to evolve,” as she participated in The Portrait Masters program and Creative Live.
She has created a fashion series of videos that covers techniques and the business side of fashion photography, and she offers online and in-person workshops in NYC and London. She also has recently expanded her offerings to include one-on-one mentoring and portfolio reviews. Her online store offers three series of Jade’s Photoshop Actions. For Jade, fashion photography is “really an umbrella” that covers everything from jewelry to portraiture to wedding photography. Using a fashion approach to the genres that fall under this umbrella
helps “modernize and freshen” a photographer’s perspective. Jade feels there’s a lot to learn from how fashion photographers light, style and pose their subjects. In fact, Jade suggests, this approach could benefit many photographers. After all, Jade says, “Every portrait and wedding photographer’s client wants to be on the cover of a magazine.” DPP To see more of Lara Jade’s photography, visit larajade.com or find her on Instagram @larajadephotography. Be sure to visit larajadeeducation.com for more information about learning opportunities.
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Like the photograph on our cover, this image was included in the “Enchanted Garden” editorial spread for the “Revolutionary Chic” editorial story in Al Sharkiah magazine. The model is Xenia Ryzhkavets, the fashion Designer, Julien Fournie, and the Fashion Editor and Stylist, Suna Moya.
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Nino Rakichevich’s
Quest For Available Light By William Sawalich | Photography By Nino Rakichevich
Why this fashion photographer generally avoids lighting gear when attending important events like Paris Fashion Week
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rowing up in Yugoslavia, Nino Rakichevich dreamed of becoming a fashion photographer. He picked up a camera at an early age and started shooting, winning many awards before immigrating to the U.S. in the late 1980s to study at the world-renowned Brooks Institute of Photography. There he built up a body of work he could use to land his first fashion assignments. “When I graduated from Brooks, my entire portfolio was basically fashion,” Rakichevich says. “They didn’t even have a fashion class then, but I followed fashion and fashion photographers and all the good magazines, so I was up on all that was going on. And I was lucky enough that very soon after I graduated, I got some big fashion clients. That’s how I started.” Rakichevich assisted other photographers only a few times, finding that garnering his own assignments was largely a function of getting to know the people in the fashion industry who had the power to hire him. He says it’s much the same today.
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“You really have to be out there and mingling with the right groups of people,” he says, “and things are going to happen. That’s more important than how good your work is because there’s a million good photographers out there. Why would somebody pick you? It usually boils down to how easy you are to work with. If people like you as a person and if they like your work, then you have a really good chance to get the job. But if people don’t like you— even if they like your work—they’re not going to work with you. That’s a really important thing. When I graduated, I was very social, and I met a lot of people in the industry, and next thing you know, I started working. I thought I had a good enough portfolio to get a good start, but the hard part is to get a client. To get a client, you really have to be social, and I was.” He adds, “I was very, very serious. And I was so passionate about photography,
and I’m still as passionate right now as I was way back then.” Rakichevich exudes a love of photography even in casual conversation. He’s excited to talk about the work that moves him, which includes not just fashion but also street photography, personal projects and commercial assignments. He’s always shooting, which is yet another reason why the coronavirus shutdown has been particularly difficult.
Shooting Paris Fashion Week In Available Light Normally, Rakichevich travels to France every summer to photograph the pinnacle event of the fashion world, Paris Fashion Week, when all the top designers showcase their haute couture for the summer season. This year, however, the event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so Rakichevich lost out on
several weeks of work that include shooting behind the scenes at fashion shows as well as photographing editorial spreads for international magazines such as QCEG and Al Sharkiah. But he’s used his time off to publish a video about his work in Paris, currently on YouTube at youtube.com/ watch?v=mVsqUBX4e6o. He also plans to eventually publish a book of his photographs from Fashion Week, showcasing his love of fashion and black-and-white photography, as well as the beautiful images he creates almost exclusively with natural light. “Some photographers,” he says, This page: Rakichevich captured model Susanne Knipper exiting the backstage area, after the Georges Hobeika fashion show. Opposite: This image was shot backstage at the Yanina Couture fashion show in Paris.
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This page: Rakichevich captured this image of models wearing Marija Sabic’s “Lilac Beauty” 2019 collection during Paris Fashion Week in 2019. The image, captured in direct sunlight, was part of a 10-page editorial entitled “Enchanted Garden” for Al Sharkiah magazine. Opposite: This image was also used in the “Enchanted Garden” spread for Al Sharkiah. Model: Hristina Vujinovic, Fashion Designer: Marija Sabic, Fashion Editor and Stylist: Suna Moya and Production: Vesna De Vinca.
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“bring lights, which complicates everything. I think those guys don’t know what they’re doing! There are all these old-fashioned guys (and some young photographers) who are insecure and seem to have just learned photography on YouTube and think, ‘Oh, I need to get these lights, I need to get this, I need to get that.’ A lot of photographers today are learning from YouTube. And [while] there’s a lot of good information there, a lot of it is also just about people promoting
products. It makes you feel, ‘Oh, I need to get these lights so I can be a better photographer! I really need these lights so I can overpower the sun!’ Why do you want to do that? If you understand the light, you know that available light is just as beautiful. But you have to understand it.” Rakichevich says it also helps to understand what one’s camera is capable of. His preferred natural light approach simply wasn’t possible early in his career.
“Cameras today are so good,” he says, particularly when it comes to one aspect of digital cameras today— namely dynamic range. “Dynamic range is the most important thing. That’s why I use Sony cameras because the dynamic range is so good that even if the lighting isn’t perfect, I can fix it in post. Cameras are so good that you don’t need to bring all these lights as long as you can position the model in a good spot. You can just work with
available light, and that’s exactly what I do.” But just what does working with available light at an important event like Paris Fashion Week entail? “I’m using the light,” he says. “I’m using sun, I’m using windows, I’m using reflections from walls. Anything that’s ‘available.’ That way, I can work faster, especially if you want to work backstage. That’s where it makes perfect sense! And some of these photos, people will
say, ‘Really? That’s available light?’ It is!” For example, in creating an image of nine models striding across a Parisian garden, Rakichevich was able to work with unmodified natural light. In fact, he used one of the most challenging types of natural light: harsh, direct sunlight. But he got it to work, and the shoot is featured in his Paris Fashion Week video, which reveals the photographer with a pair of cameras slung around his neck and nothing else.
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Above: Rakichevich captured this black-and-white behind-the-scenes photo backstage at the On Aura Tout Vu fashion show in Paris in 2014. Opposite: This image is an exception to Rakichevich’s rule of generally shooting in available light. For this image, the photographer used a Lume Cube to create “an edge light, and it gives a little bit of shadow, too.”
“I did have a reflector with me,” he admits, “but I didn’t use it. That’s typical. It wasn’t shot at an ideal time of the day, but I didn’t have a choice, so I had to make it work. I really wanted to shoot a little bit later in the afternoon; it was around five o’clock, which wasn’t ideal at that time of year. But when you look at the location, the ground is almost white.” So, in this scenario, Rakichevich said the ground became the reflector. “Basically, it filled in, and I didn’t need anything else. I had a real raw sun, and the reflector was the ground, and that’s how I made it work.” 44 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
Rakichevich says he does work with an assistant for editorial shoots but rarely to set up extensive lighting. In fact, his preferred light modifier is an $89 pocket LED. “I think a lot of photographers today use lights even when available light would be better,” he says. When Rakichevich was teaching photography, he’d often ask his students about their ideas for their shoots. “I’d ask them, ‘So what’s your idea?’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, well, I have an idea to use the Profoto…’ And I’d say, ‘No, what’s your idea. I don’t care what you want to
use.’ And if they said that they really didn’t know what their idea was other than wanting to use particular lights, I’d tell them to come up with the idea first and then think about how they’d light it…if they even needed to light it.”
Rakichevich’s Camera Bag: Lights, Cameras, Lenses Rakichevich’s Fashion Week YouTube video is a case in point for his passion for available light. “In that video,” the photographer says, “there’s only one photo in the entire video that I use artificial light—it was a Lume Cube.”
This page and opposite: Rakichevich captured both of these images backstage before the main event, which has become a source of some of the photographer’s most creative images. “Backstage can be more interesting because not many people can get a backstage pass.” What intrigues him is that there are so many disparate things taking place during this time. “A model will show up three hours before. And they’ll do her makeup. Then, I’ll see a first run before everybody else gets to see it. So, there’s a lot of stuff happening before the show starts. It’s very hectic, but there’s a lot of energy.” Of course, Rakichevich also says he’s careful working backstage. “It’s important to be respectful of everybody and not to be in anybody’s way.”
Rakichevich says it’s the light he always has with him, “just in case… It’s like 1 inch by 1 inch, a little cube, and that’s all I used with available light. There’s only one photo from all the photos that you see there.” The photo in which he used the Lume Cube is his image of a model in a very long white dress ascending a staircase. “It’s like an edge light, and it gives a little bit of shadow, too. People are like, ‘Lume Cube? Really?’ They think they need something big, but it’s literally something you can put in your pocket. I can pull it out when I need, bounce it from a white wall if I want to diffuse it. It’s very powerful, small and durable. And it can go underwater, too. It’s amazing, and it’s inexpensive.” But Rakichevich adds, “People are going to think I don’t use lights at all or that I’m against it. I’m actually not. But people have to realize when to use it. That’s the thing. I’m not against it at all; I just feel like people are using lights [in scenarios that] don’t need it.” Rakichevich primarily uses full-frame mirrorless Sony cameras for his work— the Sony a7R IV and two A7R III fullframe cameras, as well as a pair of a6600 bodies with an APS-C sensor, the latter of which he uses mostly for video. “But they’re really good for stills, too,” he says. “I always shoot with two cameras. My go-to lenses for backstage are the 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master zoom and the 46 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
35mm f/1.4 Zeiss because it’s a fast lens so it will blur the background if you shoot wide open, and it’s wide enough but not too wide to distort.” For editorial work, Rakichevich adds a few more Sony lenses to his kit, including the 85mm f/1.4 G Master, the 135mm f/1.8 G Master and the 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master. “I don’t end up using that much,” he says of the zoom, “because the 135mm f/1.8 is amazing. It’s a magical lens; I absolutely love it. I prefer primes for blurring the background. If I ever shoot
a runway, like if I’m in a pit with all these other photographers, then I’ll shoot with the 70-200mm. I rarely do that, but I do it sometimes. And if I do, that’s the one I need to have.”
Why Convert To Black And White Rakichevich often converts images to black and white for his own purposes, sometimes suggesting them to his clients as well—although editors and designers tend to prefer seeing fashion in color. For example, Rakichevich shot a pair of striking portraits, made spontaneously
during his time backstage during Fashion Week. They appear especially timeless and iconic in black and white. One features a model in a tall hat and the other peering out from under an impressive nest of hair. “That’s actually a wig,” he says. “That photo was shot backstage, available light, and it looks like [a studio photo]. It was shot with the 85mm f/1.4, and I usually don’t use that backstage, but that was the year it came out, so I was really excited about it. I personally prefer black and white, so I’ll go back and forth.
“Because there are very few of us photographers,” Rakichevich says of being backstage, “we can work with these models. I’ll find a good spot and say, ‘OK, stand right there.’ Usually, they just do it. If you’re there, you’re there with a press pass, so you’re legit.” The key, of course, is being there. Rakichevich looks forward to getting back to Paris as soon as possible, much as he once dreamed of coming to the U.S.A. to become a fashion photographer.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he says. “I came to America with one suitcase and a camera bag. That was it. And I remember most people thought I was crazy doing it. But you know, 32 years later, I look back, and I’m like, ‘You know what? I did it.’” DPP
Learn more about Nino Rakichevich and his fashion photography at ninophotography. com. His Fashion Week video can be viewed on YouTube at youtube.com/ watch?v=mVsqUBX4e6o.
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Modern Lighting Solutions Text & Photography By Tom Bol
New technology has opened up portrait lighting possibilities
For this portrait, I used an Elinchorom ELB 500 in TTL mode with highspeed sync, plus a 53-inch Rotalux Octabox. Nikon Z 7, 35mm F1.8 lens. Exposure 1/800 sec., Ć’/1.8, ISO 100.
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This page: I shot this double portrait outdoors using an ELB 500 shot through a 53-inch Rotalux Octabox. And because I was shooting at ƒ/2.8, I had to have a fast shutter speed. But the ELB 500 could handle it: I set it to high-speed sync for the fast shutter speed. Nikon D850, Nikon NIKKOR 105mm 1.4 lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec., ƒ/2.8, ISO 100.
Opposite: For this shot, I put the ELB 500 in manual mode using a 53-inch Rotalux Octabox. Again, it shows that strobes aren’t just portable but also very flexible. Nikon D850, Nikon NIKKOR 105mm F1.4 lens. Exposure: 1/250 sec., ƒ/7.1, ISO 100.
Simply put, I was creating images I would have missed without these technology advancements. Since I teach a lot of photo workshops and lighting classes, I’ll be the first to tell students that their creative vision is more important than the camera gear they use. But executing your vision into reality requires the right tools. And when new technology makes my job easier, I can focus more on my creative vision and less on flash exposures and sync speeds. Below, I’ve listed some new flash technologies and techniques that we use regularly in our assignment work. You might find they’re the perfect solution for your portrait sessions on the road or in the studio.
Portable Strobe Systems
T
he photography industry has been rapidly transforming in recent years, and the major focus has been on camera systems. Every year, there are eye-catching headlines and groundbreaking technologies. But it isn’t just hype. Autofocus systems, frame rates, ISO performance and wireless transfer abilities are rapidly improving. So, if you haven’t updated your camera in a few years, there’s a good chance you ’re 50 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
missing out on some major performance improvements. While the camera revolution has been in the forefront, lighting technology has also been evolving, and these changes are more than just little performance bumps. New flash technology has changed the way I shoot. In fact, when I started using new continuous lights and portable TTL battery systems, my entire workflow changed when I shot on-location.
If there’s one trend with flash systems that everyone will appreciate, it’s “smaller, lighter and more powerful.” I remember not long ago hauling 20-pound battery pack flash systems up a trail in the mountains. We were on an assignment to photograph rock climbers and needed powerful 1000watt lights to shoot through large octaboxes. With two packs and extra batteries, we had 50 pounds of gear, not to mention all our camera equipment. Slogging up a steep trail with heavy packs wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.
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I became a “TTL flash with large strobes” believer when shooting photos of Buddhist monks in the Himalayas, where the weather changes frequently. I found myself shooting through rain and wind storms, and my light position was constantly changing. By using TTL flash, I was able to achieve just the right flash exposures.
Thankfully, those days are over. Today, my go-to pack for lightweight power is the Elinchrom ELB 1200. This pack is 9.5 pounds, half the weight of my old pack. And I can get 400 full-power flashes with one battery, three times the number of flashes as my old system. This pack uses LED modeling lights, allowing hours of video lighting, too. And when I return from locations, I attach my ELB 1200 to a dock, which allows me to use AC power in the studio. The power, flexibility and light weight of this system are hard to beat. But what if you only need 500 watts of power on location? The good news is you have a lot of fantastic lighting options, and they’re very small and lightweight. Since I’m an Elinchrom user, I use the ELB 500. Similar in design and style as the ELB 1200, the ELB 500 flash pack weighs 5.5 pounds 52 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
and has two flash ports offering asymmetrical power distribution. If you prefer monolights, consider the Profoto B1x or Godox AD600Pro. These units are also lightweight and compact and offer hundreds of full power flashes per battery. All these systems work seamlessly with dedicated wireless radio transmitters and offer hassle-free performance. No line of sight is needed with radio transmitters. So, you can hide that flash behind the door or in the next room for creative lighting solutions. Plus, bright sun on-location won’t interfere with the radio signal, unlike older optical triggers.
TTL Flash Size and power aren’t the only things that have changed with studio flash. Now, many strobe systems offer TTL flash.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: TTL flash is for beginners, produces inconsistent flash exposures and is best used with speedlights. Why would you want TTL flash using a strobe unit? Part of the answer is found in the improved portability of modern strobe units. Many 500-watt battery flash systems weigh around 5 pounds, which makes bringing them on-location very reasonable. My ELB 500 is about as big as three speedlights, but three speedlights just can’t match its power or recycle time. And using two flash heads with one pack lets me create beautiful cross-lit portraits. I still wasn’t a believer in TTL flash with large strobes until I went to Bhutan, which is one of the most remote, isolated countries in the world. Buddhism is prevalent, and the people are known for their peaceful,
For this portrait, I used a continuous lighting technique, created with Light and Motion CLx8 continuous lights. I also used an Elinchrom Q-Portalite Octa 56cm softbox. Nikon Z 7, Nikon NIKKOR 85mm F1.8 S lens. Exposure: 1/1000 sec., ƒ/1.8, ISO 800.
New technology has opened the door to exciting creative choices and stunning strobe performance. harmonious nature. I was obsessed with creating portraits of the Buddhist monks, who live very high in the Himalayas. I brought my ELB 500 along with a 53-inch octabox as my modifier. Finding willing subjects wasn’t a problem. I encountered numerous monks on the trail, and they all were very curious and happy to pose for a portrait.
But what I couldn’t control was the weather. The Himalayas are the tallest mountains in the world, and mountain weather changes frequently. I found myself shooting through rain and wind storms, and my light position was constantly changing. Using standard light metering with fixed distances between flash and subject would have resulted in incorrect
flash exposures. Every rain squall that came through caused us to move around while we were shooting. But using TTL flash ensured perfect flash exposures every time, no matter how much we moved the light. I became a believer in TTL strobe flash right then and there. Without it, I’d have missed a lot of photographs. Wedding photographers will really reap the benefits of TTL strobe photography. No more pauses in the action setting up a shot. After photographing formal poses with a large softbox, you can use the same strobe pack in TTL mode with a small softbox to photograph the fluid party atmosphere of the reception. The benefits don’t stop with TTL flash exposure. Studio packs also offer high-speed sync (HSS), which is a game changer for portrait photographers. My favorite
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For this pin-up style portrait, I used Elinchrom ELB 1200 in Hi Sync mode for a fill light, which allowed me to shoot fast shutter speeds beyond normal sync speeds. D810, Nikon NIKKOR 85mm F1.4 lens. Exposure: 1/400 sec., Ć’/1.4, ISO 31.
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portrait lens is my trusty Nikon 105mm F1.4. The bokeh this lens creates is beautiful, and my subjects just pop off the background shooting wide open. But the problem shooting flash at ƒ/1.4 on very sunny days is I need to set fast shutter speeds for correct exposures. I regularly shoot at 1/2000 and faster, which is much faster than my 1/250 flash sync speed. With HSS, I can shoot at any shutter speed without clipping my flash exposure. Combining strobe and an ƒ/1.4 aperture with outdoor portraits is one of my favorite portrait techniques, and the images are striking. Before HSS in studio strobes, I used ND filters on my lenses to slow my shutter speed down, but then I needed a large, heavy strobe pack to get enough flash power. Then, I started using multiple speedlights, but they didn’t have enough power for large octaboxes. Now, I just use HSS mode on my lightweight ELB 500, and my problem is solved.
LED Continuous Lighting I first learned studio lighting using quartz lights. Continuous lights were great because “what you see is what you get.” But quartz lights had a few limitations: While they worked fine in a dark studio on AC power, taking them outside wasn’t practical. Most portable continuous lights just didn’t have the power to be useful for a portrait photographer. And quartz lights got hot…really hot! I have burn scars on my hands to prove it. But then a new crop of LED lights started hitting the market, and these lighting systems have only gotten more powerful. Many video shooters have been using LED panel systems for years, but I’ve only recently started using them. Why? Because now continuous LED lights are powerful enough to use in brighter conditions and offer rechargeable battery power that runs for hours. Also, LED lights operate at cool
temperatures. You don’t have to worry about sync speeds or wireless triggers with continuous lights, which appeals to many photographers. Small LED lights still can’t match the light output of a strobe, but they offer enough power to be very useful for many situations. We now use both traditional strobes and LED lights on many of our shoots. Since I do a lot of adventure sports photography, I was looking for a battery-powered LED system that was portable, weatherproof and nearly indestructible. I found everything I needed in the Light and Motion CLx8 continuous light. This LED light looks like a traditional monolight and seamlessly attaches to my Elinchrom light modifiers. But the real advantage is the 8000 lumens of light this unit puts out. This light is great for portraits, filling in shadows or adding an accent light. And since it’s a continuous light, you can use it for stills or video. A wireless remote adjusts the power output, so you can dim the light right from your camera position. There are some other really nice 1x1-foot LED continuous light panel systems on the market that will interest still photographers, such as LitePanels Astra and Westcott Flex, for variable temperature bulbs. Just turn a switch and change the white balance of your light source. The Westcott Flex is a flexible panel, too, which can be wrapped around objects for inventive lighting solutions. What’s more, is both of these systems offer AC- and DC-power options. If you’re an on-the-road assignment shooter or weekend portraitist, you’ll be happy to know there are more lighting options available than ever before. New technology has opened the door to exciting creative choices and stunning strobe performance. Consider your options, and see if your work can benefit from these modern flash solutions. DPP
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I lit actress Lauren Graham using clamshell lighting for this Netflix promo spot. While it wasn’t exactly a beauty spot, I utilized beauty lighting to make Lauren look her best since this was for a big announcement about her new series.
By Daniel Brockett
Create a glamorous style of lighting for the subjects of your video or ďŹ lm
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I lit actor Colin Farrell using a normal soft key source on the right, a white reflector camera left and a small hair light behind him on a 40-inch C-Stand arm to pop him out from the muted tones of the wall behind him. This is a good example of “normal” interview lighting.
K
nterviews are one of the most common threads that unite video shooters and cinematographers, for all types of projects. That’s because the interview format has a tendency to find its way into almost all forms of production at one time or another. It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting corporate, commercials or documentaries. I’ve seen the interview shot even work its way into narrative films and music videos, which might open with a character or musician giving a few sound bites in an “interview.” Your job—which is to shoot the interview—is to light the talent in the most flattering way possible, but in a contextually appropriate way. Let’s expand on that for a moment: What I mean by “contextually appropriate” is that the subject should be lit in a way that supports and complements what they are speaking about in their
interview. It typically wouldn’t make sense to light a forensics expert talking about autopsy reports with the same warm and friendly lighting that would be appropriate for a mother talking lovingly about her child. Context in lighting is everything.
What About Beauty, Fashion Or Glamour Lighting? Additionally, at some point, you may occasionally have been asked to shoot something tied to beauty, fashion or glamour. If you’ve been in this position before, how did you change your “normal” interview lighting setup to accommodate this request for a softer, warmer, more idealized look that’s typical in beauty and fashion? If you’re not sure or you weren’t happy with your results, stay tuned: That’s what we are going to cover in this article.
We’ll explore how to create lighting for beauty and fashion, and how to obtain flattering results that are simple, easy and quick. This will give you and your clients results that jump off the screen and flatter your subject. Plus, chances are you can deploy the same lighting and grip gear that you already own and have been using for your current interview-lighting setup. But for this primer, we’ll discuss different techniques and rules that apply to get that beauty/fashion/glamour look.
Three-Point Light For Normal Lighting And For Most Interviews Or Presentations We’re going to assume that at this point in your career as a videographer, cinematographer or still photographer, you have a grasp of the basic threepoint lighting technique: In most “normal” lighting setups, you
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Here’s a profile diagram of clamshell lighting: It utilizes a top source, center axis to talent and a bottom source, also center to talent. The camera shoots the footage centered between the two soft sources. This style of lighting minimizes skin imperfections and is extremely soft and flattering to skin, hair and eyes.
Here's a profile diagram of butterfly lighting. It also utilizes a top source, center axis to talent and a bottom source, except in this case, it’s a reflector instead of another light and softbox, resulting in a slightly different look under the nose with some soft shadow and contour.
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I utilized hard hair lights (ARRI 650 fresnels on dimmers) to separate these two dark-haired talent from the black background.
would have a key source—something large, diffused, set at about 45 degrees from your talent. On the opposite 45 degrees to talent side, you would have a fill source, which can vary in size but is usually in the same realm as the key source in size or a larger diffusion disc or reflector. Or it could be another light source but dialed down so as not to be as bright as the key source on your talent’s face, giving some “modeling” and dimensionality to your talent’s face. The third source is usually located behind the talent and is often placed high up, out of frame. This light is referred to as a hair light or sometimes as a rim light, depending on how this third light is being used. The most commonly used technique for beauty and fashion lighting is referred to as “clamshell” lighting. The name will become apparent as you read on. In a “normal” interview lighting setup, the goal is usually to achieve some
semblance of subtle shadowing on one side of the face. In other words, the “key” side is brighter, and the opposite side, the “fill” side, is usually a bit darker. Since video is viewed on a flat twodimensional screen, one of the goals in lighting is often to make the image appear more three-dimensional. By changing the contrast ratio between the brighter and darker sides of the face, the shadows look super cool and give an image more depth, but shadows also tend to emphasize minor textures and flaws in the talent’s skin. For normal situations, you want to add some dimension in the image, but you still want to maintain the appearance of flawless skin with your talent.
For Beauty, Fashion Or Glamour, Try Clamshell Lighting If achieving smooth, flawless skin in the image is more important than achieving lighting with a bit of shadow, the simplest, most effective
way to light the talent is with clamshell lighting. While your key source in a normal lighting setup is set around 45 degrees to the camera right or left, in a clamshell lighting setup, your key is placed above the camera. By bringing the key light on axis with the camera’s lens, you eliminate almost all shadows from the talent’s face as the light comes from the same angle the camera is seeing. This has a tendency to fill in and softly wash out any skin imperfections, as there are no shadows cast by the large soft source being positioned straight on the talent. The next ingredient is to add an under fill source. This is another soft light source that is located low, in front of the camera, usually on a short stand. Or, you might even be able to rest the lighting source on the ground. This source is on the same exact axis as the key light up above it.
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I lit Bruce Miller, the creator of The Handmaid’s Tale, with a rim light so that the sides of his face and darker shirt would pop from the dark background.
But the key to getting a soft and even lighting texture on your talent depends on achieving the correct ratio between the upper key and the lower fill. If there’s too much under fill light coming from below the talent, the lighting can look strange. Subtlety is important here. Here’s what I suggest: If your key source is set for around 60 percent power, try dialing in about 10-15 percent power on the under fill source.
Another Variation: Butterfly Lighting There’s some controversy regarding clamshell lighting and butterfly lighting. Some suggest they’re the same thing. Generally, if two lights act as two independently powered sources, this is described as clamshell lighting. Butterfly lighting is similar, except 60 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
that instead of another light source and most often another softbox being used underneath the talent’s frame line, a white, gold or silver reflector is deployed horizontally, right under the talent’s frame line, so that it reflects the light coming from the key source back up into the talent’s face. In clamshell lighting, typically no shadow is seen underneath the talent’s nose; the lighting fills in that shadow area. But with butterfly lighting, typically there’s a subtle, figure 8-shaped shadow-and-light area underneath the talent’s nose. These are both really just variations on the same thing. You should experiment to see which method suits your talent and your desired look. I’ve used both, and either can look right in certain situations.
To Hair Light Or Not To Hair Light Classically, most beauty lighting traditionally featured fairly hard-edged hair lights, which served to place a halo of light around the talent, allowing them to look more three dimensional and pop out from the background. But I’ve seen the popularity and style of using a hair light come in and out of fashion. Currently, over the past few years, hard-edged hair lights have gone out of style. While they can look appealing, they tend to emphasize a more obvious lighting style. With the current trend of everything looking more naturalistic and realistic, these types of hair lights can look a bit dated. But it can be useful. In addition to giving the image a certain look, it serves a function: it separates the talent from the background. If you have a person on camera with black hair being shot against a dark or
Even though I often light with daylight-balanced LED lights, as key and fill sources, I often use an ARRI 300-watt Fresnel as a hair or rim light. The Tungsten 3200k color temperature provides a nice, warm glow to add some color contrast against the 5600k LEDs.
black background, you’ll probably need to use a hair light just so their dark hair doesn’t blend in with the background, resulting in a face floating in a dark limbo.
What About A Rim Light? A rim light is really just a hair light at a lower angle. You’ll find with talent who are bald or have very thinning hair that a hair light won’t work very well. The skin on their head literally acts as a round reflector with specular highlights from the light ending up on their temples or upper forehead. In these cases, you may elect just to skip the hair light. Assuming you are using a small Fresnel for this purpose, if you attach barn doors to the hair light, you can then aim that hair light at their shoulders, using the barn doors to flag the light off of
their head, instead hitting them with the light around their shoulders and the sides of their arms. This will still allow them to pop out from the background as the hair light would normally do, while avoiding the specular highlights showing up on the talent’s head.
Color Temperature For The Hair Or Rim Light You can consider playing with color temperatures for your hair or rim light so that you build some color contrast into your scene. For instance, if you have keyed and filled your talent with daylight LEDs (5600k), try using a tungsten hair or rim light. Its 3200k color temperature will give your talent a slightly warm halo of light around their hair or edge, which can look very flattering.
The Primary Concept Remember, good lighting is all about experimentation. Clamshell or butterfly lighting are two of the easiest, most practical lighting styles for most beauty, fashion or glamour looks, but they aren’t the only ones. There are other higher-end beauty and glamour lighting styles that work very well but require large, expensive and very powerful lights and huge diffusion sources, like 8x8-foot or 12x12-foot diffusion panels or larger. So, they’re a bit beyond the scope of this article. Clamshell and butterfly lighting are both available to anyone who’s using a regular or even a small lighting kit. But with careful setup, you’ll get world-class results. So, next time you need to light someone to look their absolute best, try clamshell or butterfly. You’ll be amazed at the results. DPP
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This image was captured with Fujifilm’s X-Pro3 mirrorless camera, a camera that emphasizes the process of shooting photographs.
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A FIRST LOOK AT
New Cameras, Lenses & Accessories Text & Photography By Terry Sullivan
It’s been a tough year, but camera and digital imaging companies are delivering some impressive products
I
t’s been a challenging year for the camera industry and the photography world, to say the least, particularly as the effects from the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt in so many parts of the world economy. It’s in part what has led Olympus to announce this past June that it was selling off its camera system business. Yet, camera companies that remain in the camera business are introducing some very impressive products for pro shooters, with imaginative and robust features sets. Here’s a glimpse of some of those impressive cameras, lenses and accessories of 2020 that we’ve had a chance to try out. (Also, be sure to check out longer versions of these stories online at digitalphotopro.com. )
CAMERAS
Nikon D780
Nikon D780 If you Google the phrase “DSLRs are dead,” you’ll come up with scores of articles claiming why they are, in fact, defunct. You’ll also find a few writers who claim the opposite: DSLRs aren’t quite dead yet. However, most will agree the era of DSLRs is definitely on the wane. In fact, Canon and Nikon both introduced full-frame mirrorless systems in 2018, which seemed very symbolic in terms of their strategies towards interchangeable-lens cameras. That being said, it’s also true both Canon and Nikon are still introducing new DSLRs, at least for now. For instance, this year, Canon updated its flagship, the Canon EOS1D X Mark III DSLR. Not to be left out, Nikon has also announced updates to its flagship, the F6, with a development announcement. But Nikon also came out with a successor to one of its most popular DSLRs of all time, the Nikon D750. The new DSLR is the Nikon D780. What’s nice to see is that this DSLR has changed with the times and includes technologies that are included on Nikon’s Z Series full-frame mirrorless cameras, like the Z 6, including 64 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
The Nikon D780, with the 24-120mm lens, is ideal for all sorts of action shots, from dramatic seascapes to leaping college graduates!
the 24-megapixel sensor with its 273 phase-detect pixels. And for videographers, the D780 is a big jump from the D750, with the new model’s ability to capture 4K ultra-high-def video, which it also borrows from the Z 6. As far as the design goes, they kept many of the same elements found on the D750 since that predecessor was such a hit with photographers. There are minor changes, though, like the removal of the popup flash, which no pro will miss, and the addition of the touchscreen LCD. In using the camera with the 24-120mm lens, I found the speed and
accuracy to be spot-on. I also was quite impressed with both the video quality and the audio on my video clips. Estimated Street Price: $2,299 (body only); $2,799 (with 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens) Website: nikonusa.com
Sigma fp There’s quite a lot to like about Sigma’s fp, its first full-frame mirrorless camera, which also happens to be the first interchangeable-lens model from the company without using Sigma’s Foveon sensor technology. It’s a very small and compact
mirrorless camera, particularly for a full-frame camera—and claims to be the most compact available. However, this allows you to build out the camera in various ways—and that’s something I admire in this camera, the modular design concept, which allows you to add just the elements you need. And while it’s something that’s important for still-photography pros, it’s even more essential for photographers who are considering using this camera body for cinema and video projects. I shot still photos and video with it using several different Sigma lenses, including the 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art lens as well as the 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens and Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro Art Lens. In general, I liked the quality and performance of the camera with the lenses I used. I admit I wasn’t always crazy about the feel of the camera—I think longer lenses may feel a tad unbalanced since the body is so compact. For example, using the 60-600mm may be an issue. However, as I mentioned, since this mirrorless camera is one of the most customizable on the market, I really wasn’t that concerned since you could get an additional grip that should easily overcome that problem. One minor downside on the camera body was ease of use—by separating the still photo and video segments, it sometimes felt a little difficult to find options that seemed a bit buried in the menu settings. But overall, once photographers and videographers get accustomed to the settings, they’ll each enjoy the fact that these sections are separate. In terms of quality, of both the still photos and video, I felt the Sigma fp provides content creators with an excellent choice, particularly for pros looking to cross over into film or back into still photography. Pricing: $1,799 (body only); $2,149 (with the 45mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens) Website: sigma-photo.com
Top: The Sigma fp did a nice job of rendering the soft light from the setting sun while also giving a bit of bokeh to soften the background. Left: The Sigma fp fullframe mirrorless camera and the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG ART Macro Lens.
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The Fujifilm X-Pro3 does an excellent job in the field, whether you want to shoot with a shallow depth of field or a much greater depth of field, like in this shot, where all details, both near and far, are in focus.
Fujifilm X-Pro3
Fujifilm X-Pro3 When I attended Fujifilm’s briefing for the X-Pro3 mirrorless digital camera, the product managers emphasized that this camera is one of the reasons why the company has kept the word “film” in its name all these years, explaining that the new X-Pro series APS-C mirrorless digital camera was designed to remind you to think like a film photographer—a marketing strategy that seemed a bit odd in this era of digital wonders. 66 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
How so? On this model, the LCD only folds down, to review shots or video or to see a live-view image. It doesn’t swivel, like many mirrorless models, in order to reposition it into the back of the camera, to be used as a live-view display to compose your shots or footage. Instead, Fujifilm says you’re forced to slow down and simply use the viewfinder, which lets you think like a film photographer instead of continually chimping (the act of spending time reviewing images on your camera’s display after you shot them). The question is…do I think Fujifilm succeeded? I do! I relished taking pictures on this camera for allowing me to focus on the joys of...well, simply taking pictures. In fact, I felt I did avoid reviewing each and every shot or burst of images that I captured. There were other qualities that caught my eye on this camera, too. As I have in the past, with a number of
Fujifilm models, I admired the X-Pro3’s tactile, textured camera body and placement of the controls. Additionally, the high-quality hybrid viewfinder is as good as it has ever been—letting you view the scene either electronically (a live-view display) or via the optical viewfinder. Letting you use the viewfinder as an electronic viewfinder or like a rangefinder-like optical viewfinder is just a very enjoyable experience. But of course, I should note that this feature was on the previous model, the X-Pro2. But there were new features too, including the ability to capture 4K video capture (30 fps). But for many, this camera is really designed for still-photo content creators. One additional feature I liked was its film simulation modes, including a new Classic Negative Film Simulation mode, which, the company says, “is designed to simulate color negative film.” So, I’d say this camera is ideal for street shooters who love to explore cities
LENSES
This Hasselblad lens, XCD 4/45P, is the most lightweight and compact lens for its medium-format XCD system.
This lens, which has a 35mm film camera equivalent of a 36mm lens, did an extraordinary job of resolving all the wonderful details in this New York City scene. However, the Hasselblad system itself still could use a few tweaks when it comes to speed, particularly when it comes to autofocusing this lens.
or suburbs or any sort of country setting and wish to be immersed in the process of shooting still photos. Pricing: $1,799 (body only, black finish); $1,999 (in one of two dura finishes, silver or black) Website: fujifilm.com
Hasselblad XCD 4/45P What impressed me about Hasselblad’s XCD 4/45P lens is that because it was designed to be portable and very lightweight, it
made for very easy traveling and ease of use. But still, it’s not like they scaled back on quality. Since it can be used in Hasselblad’s mediumformat system, it makes for some very impressive high-resolution images. At $1,099, it’s pricey, but not when you consider it’s part of a medium-format system, which you’ll generally pay a premium for. What I liked was the fact that you had a minimum focus distance of 13.8 inches—which even allowed
for some makeshift selfies as well as for some nice still-life shots. What’s intriguing for this lens is that it’s very bare bones in terms of “extras”—it has no optical image stabilization, no focus hold buttons or other controls or switches. It only includes a manual focus ring. Some might find this a downside, but I was comfortable using it for a variety of projects. Overall, it was a comfortable lens to work with. However, the Hasselblad system itself still could use a few tweaks when it comes to speed, particularly when it comes to autofocusing this lens. But as I expected, this lens, which has a 35mm film camera equivalent of a 36mm lens, did an extraordinary job of resolving all the wonderful details in my subjects— whether shooting street scenes or still lifes. Estimated Street Price: $1,099 Website: hasselblad.com
Tamron’s 24mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 & 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 These two lenses were announced in the late fall of 2019 and were marketed as a trio, which included the 20mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F050). They’re very much priced for those
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on a budget, but they certainly don’t skimp on quality. You won’t get some of the extras that you’ll get on, say, Sony’s branded ultra-wide-angle FE 20mm F1.8 G or its FE 35mm F1.4 G—for example, you’ll find focus hold buttons on those models, but not these Tamrons. But overall, they performed quite well in the field, whether in urban settings or out in the wild—well, the North Fork of Long Island! What’s more, is they’re very light and compact—I certainly didn’t feel weighed down while shooting with them around Times Square in New York City or out east on the North Fork. What I admired most about both is that no matter what subject matter I was shooting, they often did an excellent job of autofocusing on the subjects I intended to focus on. I also felt that my images were sharp and crisp. So, there was no issue with 68 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
Although these budget-priced lenses don’t have a lot of extras, they do quite well in most settings, both in quality and performance.
Two budget primes—Tamron’s 24mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F051) (bottom) and 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F053) (top).
Although this super tele zoom from Sony can be quite good for sports, wildlife and action shots, it can also be quite good for getting some very nice portraits, like this one of my son just after sundown.
The Sony’s FE 200-600mm with the Sony a7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera.
it being a third-party lens in terms of compatibility. Estimated Street Price: $299 (for each lens) Website: tamron-usa.com
Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Super-Telephoto Zoom Lens Last year, Sony introduced two long lenses that offered photographers the ability to capture subjects at a focal length of 600mm, but at much different price points. The pricier lens, a prime, was the Sony FE 600mm F4 GM OSS, which costs $13,000. However, Sony also introduced the more economical and versatile telephoto zoom, an FE 200-600mm zoom, although with a slower f/5.6-6.3 aperture range. When I got the chance to shoot with this zoom, I found some impressive features like its internal zoom, which
means the lens doesn’t telescope out when zooming towards its 600mm setting. That feature also helps make it weather resistant. Another important feature—which you can see in my portrait of my son, shot at 600mm—is its built-in optical stabilization system. At such a long zoom setting, in lower light, that can easily result in a blurry photo. But as you can see, the shot is sharp. The 11-blade circular aperture mechanism helps produce a nice bokeh effect in the background, too. But an f/5.6-ƒ/6.3 maximum aperture range means you may be forced to compromise, at times, particularly when there’s less light coming into the lens. However, if you can live with that compromise, it’s a very impressive lens. Estimated Street Price: $1,998 Website: sony.com
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Having a good tripod is essential when you’re trying to shoot decent shots at night, either to capture a crisp shot of a starry sky or star trails.
Peak Design’s Travel Tripod
Peak Design’s Travel Tripod
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Peak Design’s Travel Tripod isn’t a new product, and it’s not a tripod that includes every last bell and whistle. But the reason I found it to be such a powerful accessory is that it was very helpful to me while capturing night shots of starry skies. In fact, I was able to capture some really impressive shots—at least upping my previous efforts at shooting the stars in the sky. And because I was shooting at night, in the dark, it was quite useful to have a tripod that had a very intuitive design. In other words, I could just quickly feel around for certain physical
knobs or buttons and set it up. That meant that I wasn’t spending 15 minutes searching around with my iPhone’s light to find an obscure button or switch. That’s smart, inventive product design. For instance, it was easy to open it up, adjust the legs or change the angle of the camera. Also, since I was shooting stars and didn’t want my camera setup to move very much at all, I loved that it had a sturdy hook to hang my heavy backpack on in order to stabilize the tripod. Pricing: $599 (with carbon fiber), $349 (with aluminum legs) Website: peakdesign.com
ACCESSORIES
One of the keys to successfully editing your photos in post production is you need a reliable computer monitor. BenQ’s SW321C is a successful attempt to be such a monitor: To give you a sense of its accuracy, I displayed one of my still-life photos that I printed, shown next to the monitor itself, displaying the same still life.
First Impressions: BenQ SW321C 32-Inch Monitor One of the coolest product introductions I had a chance to see this year was a demo of BenQ’s latest monitor targeted at photographers, the BenQ SW321C. It’s a brilliant and well-designed 32-inch, 4K UHD, 10-bit color depth, wide-color gamut monitor. But what made it so cool was that when I arrived and walked into the dimly lit room to see the monitor, the product manager had a reproduction of a Van Gogh painting displayed on the screen. Now, as a fineart painter, I really know what Van Gogh’s paintings look like first hand. But I’ll admit that the monitor made me look twice to see if it was a real painting or not! Of course, BenQ is targeting photographers and even videographers with this monitor, not fine-art oil painters. And although it’s a pricey display, at around $2,000, I found it overall to be quite satisfying to use. For me, I found it provided a great way to examine all the fine details
BenQ’s SW321C computer monitor and Hotkey Puck G2 quick switch accessory.
of my images and videos while also ensuring that the colors and tones looked accurate. That means for postproduction, the SW321C is a monitor that offers a stable environment to study and edit your work, knowing that you’ll get an accurate take of your work. In fact, as it states on its website, the SW321C is “Factory Calibrated for Out-of-the-Box Color Accuracy: The SW321C is out-of-the-box color accurate. Each display arrives with its unique factory calibration report.” After spending some time with this monitor, here are a couple of points on why I liked it: Quality And Consistency Of The Display: First of all, I fell in love with the texture of this display! It just does a fantastic job of minimizing the monitor’s reflectivity and glare. Combine this with the fact that it has IPS technology, or “In-Plane Switching” technology, which provides excellent consistency for better viewing angles and ensures color accuracy and consistency, it becomes an even better experience.
In other words, an IPS monitor like the SW321C won’t shift when being viewed at an angle as drastically as other types of computer monitors. Ease Of Use: Another feature I liked was its Hotkey Puck G2, which is designed to quickly and easily change settings on the monitor so that you can get an accurate read on your photograph and how it looks in various color spaces—not just Adobe RGB, sRGB or black-and-white but also its proprietary Paper Color Sync technology as well as other settings. And, by the way, for photographers, BenQ’s Paper Color Sync simulates how it will eventually reproduce on a printed image. In my initial tests, the results looked quite good. One thing I wasn’t crazy about was BenQ’s proprietary software design, which isn’t always the most intuitive. But, overall, I felt the BenQ SW321C provides superb value for photographers. DPP Estimated Street Price: $2,000 Website: BenQ.com
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AUDIO ASSIST—REVIEW:
Audio Design Desk By Daniel Brockett
A groundbreaking audio tool that changes the paradigm for producing sound design quickly
As
many filmmakers and content creators know, sound design is a very significant aspect of how engaging your content is to your audience. But right now, in 2020, the pandemic and its negative effects on the economy have resulted in a big problem for postproduction work: Namely, as your clients slash their budgets, you’re most likely not going to have enough money left to hire an audio postproduction department. In short, it may just not be economically viable to hire professionals for most projects. So, what do you do? One option is to do it yourself: Just because you may not have the budget to hire pros doesn’t mean that your finished video can’t have quality sound design that amplifies your project’s emotional impact. And that’s precisely what I found when I had a chance to try a new sound design tool called Audio Design Desk. It’s simply a very innovative software program designed to assist video editors with the detailed and laborious process of sound design, which involves many tasks, both big and small, to craft your project’s audio environment—everything from adding a few whooshes or bass drones for your indie film trailer to designing an entire detailed sound environment for your elaborate fight scene.
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Audio Design Desk is a groundbreaking, sophisticated tool that changes the paradigm about how to perform sound design quickly.
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I spent two months using Audio Design Desk for several sound design projects, and I’m convinced there’s nothing else like it on the market. Frankly, it changes the game for video editors who want to do sound design or sound designers who are in a hurry for deadlines.
Sound Design Is An Exercise In Timing And Details If you’ve never ventured into the world of sound design, I can tell you from years of experience in being involved in audio post that it’s fun. But it can be quite challenging, incredibly labor intensive and tedious. Why? It’s simple. Telling a story visually with video editing usually involves building a scene with characters or, in the case of a documentary or corporate video, telling your story using sound bites from real people, b-roll to cover what they’re talking about or reaction shots or flashbacks in a narrative edit. But when it comes to editing audio and developing sound design for a project, that task, in many ways, requires more imagination. For example, using foley (the reproduction of everyday sound effects), sound effects and spotting, and 74 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
putting markers where sound effects are supposed to occur, is a long, detailed and often mentally exhausting exercise. Or take a typical fight scene in a movie or TV show, which will have many swings, misses, hits, grunts, groans and even actors hitting the floor. Each of these needs to have not only its own sound effects but also you need to assign each its own timing, to anticipate when the audio element will occur so that the sound effect happens at the perfect moment—in sync with the video! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The takeaway here is that sound design can be creatively challenging since finding and placing those sounds, one at a time, at just the perfect spot in your timeline can be extremely time consuming. So, you’ll find many video editors will forgo sound design simply
because they can’t spend days and days on the task.
Enter A Solution Audio Design Desk, which won this year’s prestigious NAB Best of Show Award for 2020 from the virtual NAB show, is quite a unique program designed to do one thing and do it quickly: It helps video editors rapidly design an engaging soundtrack for video projects. The way it does this is that the program is a combination of a sound effects library, a digital audio workstation (or DAW) and a sequencer/sampler. I spent a couple of months using Audio Design Desk, and here are three features that I found very impressive: 1. It includes a 20,000-sound library: Ambience, Foley, Footsteps, Music Stems, Sound Design and Sound Effects. And all the clips are high quality and well recorded. 2. The effects and music in the library are divided into Elements and
Audio Design Desk’s Replace function is amazing: It changes all or just some of your sound effects and music cues with the click of a button while keeping all of the key positions you have placed on the timeline.
Design Desk will accurately guess around 75 percent of the information associated with each sound, and you can tag the pieces yourself so that they, too, become easily searchable from within the program.
How Do You Use Audio Design Desk?
Stems. Elements are best for when you’re in a hurry and just want a good sound effect to place in the timeline and move on. Stems are the building blocks of a sound effect or a larger score. These allow you to chop up, slide and dice the sound effect or music into your own smaller, mini compositions. This approach gives you
more creative possibilities but is also more time consuming. 3. All content in the library is already tagged, allowing you to search for specific elements quickly and efficiently. Audio Design Desk refers to this as “Sonic Intelligence.” For instance, if you load your own sound effects or music, Audio
Audio Design Desk lets you import your video into the program, and it’s displayed in a large detachable window above the timeline. As your movie plays, you simply hit the trigger keys for a particular sound category to set markers at sync or event points. Once you stop the timeline, those sounds are randomly selected from the category you chose and then inserted in place on auto-generated tracks at the sync points. The program actually examines all of the audio waveforms from the video soundtrack and maps where the peaks and edit points are in the soundtrack. That means you can easily tweak and adjust the location of sound effects by a few frames to finesse them into the perfect position if your real-time trigger key mapping was slightly off. But say you’re not thrilled with the resulting “map” and want to tweak or change the effects the program has chosen. You can simply swap the effects with a simple key command, and they’ll be replaced with alternative options. That’s very different from sound design done the traditional way, where you hunt for, place and finesse each and every sound, which
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The Key Trigger Menus give you an idea of how easy it is just to tap on your keyboard in real time as your video plays back, instantly spotting all of your audio events.
takes forever. For me, letting ADD “assist” me in locating and placing the effects so easily felt surreal. It just blew me away! What’s more is that the software implements Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to continually make the intelligent importer smarter. So, users can import thousands of sounds, then ADD assigns the program’s Sonic Intelligence to each sound.
The Hidden Power Of Audio Design Desk On top of all of these functions, the most powerful function for me in using ADD is the swapping out, or Replace, feature for music and effects. The ability to select dozens of regions on multiple tracks and 76 | Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com
replace them all with similar sounds instantly saves such a tremendous amount of time and effort that it again seems surreal. The tone and characteristics of the replacement sounds can be adjusted and tweaked by adjusting functions in the Replace matrix using tags and two descriptive features: Complexity and Intensity. By checking various boxes in the interface, you can filter through the tags for the included sound effects, music stems and tracks, much like the search engines in various stock music libraries function. I found that it’s a quick way to eliminate tracks and sounds that you don’t want to use and narrow down your choices quickly to sound effects and music elements you do want. I was also impressed by the key
triggers for commonly used sonic gestures that are found under the Triggers menu. These show a lot of refinement and allow you to express the ideas you’re trying to have your finished piece communicate using common terminology that coincides with the way the included elements are tagged. Additionally, I wanted to mention that I don’t feel that this software negates or replaces a digital audio workstation (DAW) like ProTools. In fact, it’s really for a different audience than most ProTools users, although it does integrate nicely with most DAWs since it exports AAF, XML and multichannel .wav, allowing for an easy and pain-free workflow between other DAWs or video editing software. ADD can also bounce to .aif, .wav, .caf and .m4a files.
Top: Audio Design Desk has various versions available, and you can contact the company if you want to license it for multiple machines, large user groups, etc. Bottom: Audio Design Desk has an excellent 90-second overview that shows how quick and easy the application is to use for spotting sound effects via the program’s innovative AI and Machine Learning tools. I urge you to go to the Audio Design Desk website at add. app and watch the first video displayed on the page, titled “Tutorial #1: Sound Design.” It’s only 90 seconds long, but in those 90 seconds, the video shows you exactly how most of the functions come together in an actual workflow.
Most video editors don’t use ProTools for sound design or audio post, though, and ADD is leagues faster and simpler to learn than most DAW.
Pricing Audio Design Desk is available at several price points: • Create version: free • Produce version: $15 per month • Professional version: $30 per month I was disappointed the software is only available in a free evaluation version or as a monthly subscription (in one of two versions). I’d have liked a “buy the entire program” version (for, say, $400) or, perhaps, a version that charges a fee to update to more sound effects, music stems or new features as they are introduced. But if you’re a full-time video editor, try out the free “Create” version of Audio Design Desk and see how it helps your post workflow. I think you’ll find it a handy tool that saves you many hours of tedious work.
The Bottom Line: An App That Saves You Time In postproduction workflows, time is money. ADD enhances your productions with sophisticated
sound design and helps you achieve this result quickly and easily. So, if you’re a pro and edit for a living, I feel that besides your video editing software, Audio Design Desk is worth $15 or $30 per month to access it. I believe it might easily be one of the most important components in your production toolbox (but, of course, as I’ve written before, I’m quite sound focused). But if you’re
skeptical, look at it this way: Good sound design always enhances the perceived value of a finished piece of work with your clients and audience. Of course, if you’re an employee of a production company, ad agency or corporation and your company pays for your tools, I suggest simply downloading the free version and then see if it enhances your workflow and saves you time. DPP
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LookingForward
The Masters Issue
By Terry Sullivan | Photography by Vincent Laforet
O
ur upcoming Masters Issue is always an exciting one to work on, in part because I get to find out how and why master photographers and filmmakers capture their groundbreaking images or films. It’s intriguing to note that one aspect that continually recurs throughout art history is that certain old and modern master creators have been able to produce certain works of art because their vision coincided, or, more often, worked hand-in-hand, with changes in technology. Take the Impressionist or PostImpressionist painters. Monet, Cezanne or Van Gogh wouldn’t have been able to paint entire works, from
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start to finish, on location (what’s known as “en plein air” painting) without benefiting from changes during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850s, which produced, among many other inventions, portable tubes of oil paint. More recently, Spielberg’s ability to breathe life into dinosaurs in the movie “Jurassic Park” wouldn’t have been possible without dramatic leaps in computer technology and power. Now, in the world of photography, Vincent Laforet has produced some of the most remarkable night-time aerial photographs, which you can see in his remarkable book, Air. As he notes on his website, his
photography always features “cuttingedge technologies that make the photographs and films inventive, iconic and unforgettable.” For our next issue, Laforet presents his latest iteration and achievements in aerial night photography—longexposure images at night! I think you’ll find both the process and the resulting images simply extraordinary. And on this page, you can see an example of one of these images. So be sure to check out our next issue, which will focus on Laforet’s stunning new body of work, as well as the work of other great master photographers and content creators. So stay tuned! DPP
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