Sandy Puc' Presents the 2012 Hands-on Tour Catalog by Ukandu

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

LONG LIVE NEW BEGINNINGS

LONG LIVE IMAGINATION

What will you imagine with the EOS 60D and EF lenses? Long Live Imagination.

You inspired a Ron Howard production w ith your photographs. How w i l l you inspire Ron’s next project? Learn more at youtube.com/imagination

Hello and welcome!

Thank you for joining me and over 20 of the industry's finest educators for this exciting, interactive seminar experience. This hands-on approach is brand-new, and I am delighted to offer a more personal twist on our typical seminar format. With the help of our talented guest speakers, this tour is sure to be unlike any other to date. Whether you are just starting out in your career or you are many years into the journey, it's important to realize that as photographers (and people), we are never done learning. There is always a new gadget, technique or trend. Luckily, with all these improvements, it's easier than ever to collaborate with other working photographers in settings like this one, to put these new innovations to work for you and your clients. No matter where you are or what your business looks like today, you contribute to the industry by improving yourself, your work and your operation. Thus, you are setting a higher standard and offering a better product. Most of all, you are living your best and fullest life. We are here to help you do that, and I know I can speak on the behalf of all our guest speakers when I say that it is our honor and pleasure to be a part of that process. We are thrilled to share our knowledge with you. Thank you for being here!

Sincerely, Sandy Puc'

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

SPEAKER ARTICLES On-camera Bounce Flash Portraits

The ‘Can-do’ Candid

Fashion Posing & Breaking the Rules

Three Quotes to Creativity

Excetional Lighting for Professional Results

Using Your Reflector With Natural Light

Before & After

Group Posing Made Simple

Cinema Style Lighting in Beauty Photography

How to Find Inspiration in Your Everyday Work

Hard Light Magic

On Location With New Eyes

Keeping Things Simple

Neil van Niekerk Jason Groupp Bry Cox Brian DeMint Blair Phillips Lora Swinson Damon Tucci Bert Behnke Courtney Dailey Kia Bondurant Kevin Focht Craig Stidham Lori Nordstrom 5

INSTRUCTORS

Melanie ANDERSON

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Chuck ARLUND

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Bert BEHNKE

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Award-winning Photographer, Melanie Anderson is a Certified Professional Photographer, a board member of MDPPA (Maryland Chapter) and Washington County Chamber of Commerce. She is also a 2011 Maryland Achievement Award winner and received the #1 Photography Studio award from Hagerstown Magazine for their annual HotList for 2011 and 2012. He’s a wedding photographer that loves a fashion photography approach. Chuck is good at evoking a true sense of connection in his couples, whether it’s flirty, sentimental or steamy, the results are always phenomenal and strikingly timeless.

Bert Behnke owns Behnke Fine Portraiture, a studio established in 1956 by Bert’s parents, along with his wife Cindy. He has won numerous awards in salon print competitions as well as serving his professional associations. Bert has taught or lectured on photography all across the USA and North America as well as in Europe, South America and Asia.

Kia BONDURANT

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Jordan CHAN

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Don CHICK

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You may know her from the cover of Professional Photographer magazine, or for her award-winning senior, family, children and commercial work. Kia co founded Senior Portrait Artists (SPA). She knows how to build a strong senior portrait presence, as she built her family-owned studio into one of the nation’s top senior portrait studios. His fashion and editorialstyle portraits are rich with emotion and depth. His use of lighting and composition helps evoke the true essence of any moment, be it a wedding, concert, senior portrait or a rockin’ band. Jordan is an explorer, observer, innovator, coffee fanatic and bacon advocate.

Don is a nationally recognized photographer. His wedding, family, children and senior portraits have a trademark style that has won several state and national awards. Don likes to think that relationships are the most meaningful works of art, and uses his photography to evoke that beauty for his clients.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Brandon COX

Bry COX

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Courtney DAILEY

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Brandon’s excellent video capture and production techniques are fine-tuned to the needs of a portrait studio. Video fusion is an essential for any portrait business, and Brandon knows how to blend the two worlds seamlessly. He teaches at the Ohio School of Broadcasting, and manages all the video production at Sandy Puc’ Photography and Sandy Puc’ Tours.

Bry Cox is a PPA Master/ Craftsman with PPA Certification, an Adobe software Partner, and NIK software partner. For over a decade, he has taught workshops to professional photographers all over the US and Canada, and many places in China as well. He has created many tools for photographers including Photoshop tools, tutorial DVDs, and three self-help books which have had rave reviews. As a Beauty photographer, Courtney Dailey knows the business of beauty. Based in Los Angeles, she leads teams of beauty experts creating images from prep to post. Known for her use of color, she delivers imagery that colorful, dramatic and confident.

Jack Davis

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Brian DEMINT

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Kevin FOCHT

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You might know him as the coauthor of the awardwinning and best-selling guide to Photoshop: The Photoshop Wow! With over a million copies sold to date (in 12 languages) Jack is a well-respected authority in the world of digital photography and retouch work. When he’s not in his San Diego-based studio, he’s usually on the beach somewhere in Polynesia with his digital camera and analog paints, capturing the local color. His fashion and editorialstyle portraits are rich with emotion and depth. His use of lighting and composition helps evoke the true essence of any moment, be it a wedding, concert, senior portrait or a rockin’ band. Jordan is an explorer, observer, innovator, coffee fanatic and bacon advocate.

Kevin’s photography is clean and elegant. His focus on light and composition creates dramatic, evocative work that his name has become synonymous with. Kevin shoots fashion, lifestyle, beauty, body and portrait photography, all of which feature his trademark style and exceptional quality. He enjoys traveling, and has worked in many fascinating locations across the globe.

Travis GASTBY Click for website

Jason GROUPP

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Lori NORDSTROM Click for website

Travis currently owns and operates Silverlake Photo Accessories and focuses a majority of his efforts on the creation and testing of new photo products. Before Silverlake, Travis owned a high volume, custom portrait studio in Southern Idaho. His studio photographed all types of portraits from babies to weddings, but marketed heavily to and specialized in High School Senior Portraits. A diehard New Yorker, Jason enjoys the fastpaced hustle and bustle in life, and his work. He seeks out the colors, movement and rhythms in any session, and the results speak for themselves. Jason’s wedding photography is as stunning as it is heartwarming. His mischievous techniques are fun and effective, something that he always eager to share with other photographers. Lori specializes in maternity, baby, children and senior photography. Her work has been widely celebrated for its depth, emotional connection and beauty. Lori is a proud mother of three, and loves sharing the milestones of life with her clients.

Blair PHILLIPS Click for website

Sandy PUC’

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Craig STIDHAM

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He is widely known for his wedding and senior portraits, which feature powerful depth and movement. Blair's creative approach to lighting and posing evokes a sort of eclectic elegance that clients can't get enough of.

As a Master Photographer, studio owner and mother of four, Sandy Puc’ knows how to create balance between work and personal life. Learn her time-tested pricing and sales techniques that will help you create the business and the life of your dreams.

Born in January 1974, Craig Stidham is a professional fashion and portrait photographer based in Texas. Craig was photographically born into the fashion world in October 1994, after receiving a formal education in photography. He has been published in several fashion magazines, photography magazines and billboards all over the country.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Lora SWINSON

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Sean TEEGARDEN Click for website

Damon TUCCI

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Lora Swinson of Swinson Studios is currently an on-location photographer located in Denver, CO. Focusing on newborn, baby, maternity, child, family and senior photography she prides herself in creating clean, fresh and timeless photographs. Although she proclaims her days off as lazy, Lora loves crossfit and running. Sean Teegarden is a Los Angeles based freelance photographer, specializing in portraiture, still life, and commercial advertising. His services also include photo retouching and compositing. Sean’s images have been chosen for the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, PDN’s Pix Digital Imaging Award and Apple’s Insomnia Photo Festival.

Neil VAN NIEKERK

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Jane CONNERZISER

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Neil van Niekerk is a worldrenowned photographer based in New Jersey, specializing in weddings. Neil has also presented workshops on lighting, in the USA and the UK and Ireland. In addition to that, he has written 2 books on flash photography, with another in the works. He also maintains a website for photographers, Tangents, which is loaded with tutorials. Her award-winning retouching work and portrait painting are celebrated internationally. Considered to be one of the most versatile artists in the industry, Jane’s engaging style, impressive knowledge of her field and warm personality make her clients and students feel right at home. When she’s not working, Jane enjoys drawing, painting, writing and enjoying nature.

His photography is a blend of documentary and stylized fashion photography that has become widely sought after in the wedding market. Damon has photographed over 2500 weddings, and his exceptional work can be found in the pages of various regional and national bridal and photography magazines. Damon isn’t afraid to break the rules, which means he is constantly discovering exciting new innovations. 9

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

On-camera Bounce Flash Portraits by Neil vanNierkerk On-camera bounce flash photography might be our easiest option to get beautiful light on our subjects. When working in a place where we can bounce flash, then it is quite possible to get nearly studio quality lighting from the on-camera speedlight. A consistent approach can guarantee a successful basic portrait, with nice light and a pleasant background.

bounce flash portrait – short lighting The image above [ image 4-01 of my flash as being my light] of Noreen, a model, shows source anymore. Rather, the us how it is possible to get wall or stuff that I bounce my light from an on-camera flash flash off, now becomes a kind of that emulates studio portrait softbox, a huge area giving me lighting. By being very specific diffuse light. Since it comes from where and how we bounce our an off-camera direction, it is soft camera settings: 1/100 @ flash, we can get short lighting and directional light. f/3.2 @ 1250 ISO with our on-camera flash. “Short TTL flash FEC set to 0 EV Lighting” is when your subject In “placing my light-source” lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 is posed in such a way, that the to the side of my subject like side of their face turned away that, I aim my flash slightly from the camera, is better lit towards my subject. To remove than the side of the face turned towards the the chance of direct flash on her, I flag it camera. with the black foamie thing. The term "flag" here means to blog the direct flash from The bounce flash technique hinges on the idea the camera's point of view, from hitting my of bouncing my flash towards the area that subject. I want my light to come from. I don’t think 11

[ image 4-02 ] For more info about the Black Foamie Thing http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamiething/ Flagging my flash like this, is key here in getting directional light. It then becomes a matter of directing my model so that the light comes in over her shoulder.

This photo [ image 4-04 ] is of Shawna, a model I frequently work with when I visit Las Vegas. This portrait was taken in a hotel room, using just the on-camera flash as lighting.

[ image 4-04] camera settings: 1/250 @ f/4 @ 800 ISO TTL flash FEC set to 0 EV lens: 70-200mm f/2.8

For an on-camera flash modifier that is more elegant than the BFT, there is the Spinlight 360 which does very much the same thing, but adds more flexibility in being bounce card options as well. [ image 4-03 ]

[ image 4-05 ] is the pull-back shot to show where we were shooting - a cluttered hotel room. [ image 4-05 ]

For more info about the Spinlight 360 neilvn.com/tangents/about/spinlight-360/

By eliminating everything unwanted in the frame, and choosing a specific background, a simple, flattering portrait is easily achieved.

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

1. Find your background One thing I’m particular about is that my background should be complimentary, or non-intrusive. A fast telephoto zoom is an indispensable lens for me in compressing the perspective when shooting a portrait.

[ image 4-06 ]

2. Base your ambient exposure on your background If your subject is under-exposed, you could then elevate the exposure of your subject via additional light, such as flash. I generally don’t want the background to not blow out completely, (though there can be situations where we want to do that), nor do I want the background to be too dark. Hence, I metered for the background, zeroing my exposure meter in my camera, while looking at just the background. The turquoise tint here is due to the green-ish tint of the windows of the MGM hotel.

3. Add light to your subject – in this case, on-camera bounce flash If I hadn’t based my exposure specifically off the background, but had instead chosen random settings, the TTL flash exposure would still give me correct exposure for my subject. This is important to understand - TTL flash exposure will follow your camera settings. [ image 4-07 ] Your camera [ image 4-07 ] will control the speedlight to give enough light for correct exposure. (Or what the camera deems to be correct.) This implies that for a variety of camera settings, you’d still get the same TTL flash exposure. This is another important thing to grasp about TTL flash - you can change your settings and still get the same light. However, in this case, the background is too over-exposed for my liking. Having metered properly or the background, I set my camera to: 1/250 @ f4 @ 800 ISO. The camera adjusted the TTL flash exposure for the change in settings, to still give me correct flash exposure. 13

I then added bounce flash to light my subject. She would have been severely under-exposed without the additional light. With that in mind, the flash here isn’t mere fill-flash. The flash is a dominant / main light source. In choosing my settings, I could balance the exposure for her, with good exposure for the background. Shooting in manual exposure mode anchors my ambient exposure. I can then change my position and find the composition I want. I can also now position my on-camera flash’s bounce direction as I needed. By anchoring my ambient exposure like this, it also enables me to then add a little bit of flash (for fill-light), or more flash to help balance the available light. Or, if the available light is poor, to underexpose for it, and just let the flash give me proper exposure.

color. I also posed her so that her shoulder was pointing to the light, and her head tilted into the direction of the light, so that I could get, (or at least approximate), short lighting. The TTL exposure mode, as controlled by the camera and speedlight, helps considerably in making flash photography easy. I can then concentrate on the final image. If there had been under- or over-exposure, I would simply have adjusted my Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) up or down. This consistent approach is a good starting point that gives me a basic portrait that always works, with as simply a lighting setup as on-camera bounce flash.

Another note about the background; I framed tightly and crouched slightly, to avoid the bland rooftop areas which were industrial looking and not attractive I specifically framed Shawna against the out-of-focus fake New York skyline there in Las Vegas. The colors and shapes aren’t intrusive, and they help give the final photograph even more

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

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Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Jason Groupp The ‘Can-do’ Candid

Let's face it, posing people for portraits is hard! How many times has a client approached you and said, "I want those really candid, unposed, photojournalistic (my favorite catch-all term) type shots for my portraits." You're thinking to yourself, huh?! What?! LOL Well, that's why we get paid the big bucks right?! It's our jobs to make our clients look like rock stars under even the most stressful situations. For example, let's take wedding day portraits, you've got a bridal party of 30, monstrous families, and oh yeah, you also need to do some B&G shots……and you've 30 minutes to do it all.

In this example I have exactly the situation I described above, add to it, she is SO nervous I can't get any great smiles, or relaxed expressions no matter how hard I try. Here's a tip for your back pocket: Ask the groom to come over, and quietly instruct him to walk over, grab her around the waist, and plant a GIANT kiss on her cheek. Be ready though, you'll only get one shot at this, because 5 frames in she'll start screaming at him that he's ruining her makeup. Yep - you're gonna get him in trouble, but I guarantee, this one goes in their wedding album.

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Fashion Posing

&Breaking the Rules By Bry Cox

As artists, we want to break out — do something different —

break traditional rules and create works that are fresh and new. So how do we break the rules of posing to create images that are fun, creative and still make the client look fabulous? How do we avoid using the same poses on every shoot? First we need to understand the purposes behind traditional rules of posing in order to break the rules. Fashion magazines inspire us all with their ability to be untraditional, but in actuality fashion has its rules too. In general, these hard and fast rules always apply are that every image has to accomplish something. Everything in the image has to work towards the goal or it will distract and pull the viewer’s eye away (particularly the eyes of skilled artists), and finally no matter what we are always trying to make people look better. It is absolutely possible to get fun and creative images using new and untraditional poses, while still making people look amazing! Being a professional means that you have to do this without excuse, despite someone’s body shape, clothing, location or the lack of time to create. So whether you’re using traditional poses or my fashion approach for new and creative poses on every shoot, the same rules apply — you need to know what makes a person look bigger or smaller in a two-dimensional world, and you have to see all the details at once. Quickly. Traditionally, there are very specific rules for the feet, legs, hips, waist, shoulders, elbows, hands and head. On top of that, there are rules for each of those areas whether the person is standing, sitting in a chair, sitting on the ground, laying down, higher than the camera, alone in an image or with others in a grouping. To cover them all in in one article would be daunting, and to give you specific poses to use is futile as it takes away from your personal creativity. However I will be demonstrating how to do this very thing on the tour and I’ll give you my one big secret right now.

The key to all of this is one big and overwhelming rule to all posing— a rule that cannot be

broken, no matter how many other rules you break. This is my one personal and simple rule of posing: Women need to conserve space and men need to take up space. If you really understand that, you’ll never need a posing guide again. So how do you get good at that and really begin to understand it? As an artist, you need to analyze every single area of every single person in a photo before you take it, and you need to do this fast. You need to learn to see every elbow, waist, knee, and other parts quickly. And you’re always asking yourself, “Does this one area help make this person look bigger or smaller in a 2-D world?” Remember that we see with two eyes and get a 3-D image in our minds. The camera sees with one eye and gets a 2-D flat image. We have to train our minds to see in 2-D and understand how each area of the body can look bigger or smaller depending on how it’s positioned. Again, every part of an image has to work towards the final goal of making someone look great, or by default it takes away from it. As an example, if a man sits like a woman, it doesn’t work. Why? And how do women sit and how do men sit? Think about a man sitting with his legs crossed close together, knees right on top of each other, and he’s leaning on his arms with his elbows touching in the middle near his stomach. Perhaps his one arm is up and his wrist is broken way back and tucked under his chin. This is obviously a feminine pose because in every area of his body he’s visually conserving space. However what if his shoulders were square with his jaw, he’s sitting leaning forward, his legs are turned outward, his elbows are out, one on each leg, and he’s leaning more on one leg, his wrists square, and he has a slight fist showing. Regardless of his expression, what has changed? The simple fact that every area of his body is taking up more visual space down to the last detail. Understanding my one rule of posing is a simple concept and it applies to any pose, standing or sitting, men or women. From now on, you have to analyze everyone you see, in town, in photos, in magazines, in movies. Constantly ask yourself what’s working and what’s not, and why? If you can begin to see why certain people look more feminine or masculine, you’ll be a pro at breaking the traditional rules of posing and freeing up your shoots. And as you work, begin to look at everything and constantly ask yourself, does this work, does that work, and what can you change to make the pose better. If you can make women look smaller and men look bigger, no matter what your style of photography, you’ll be able to command more money for your images. To read more of my articles and to see video tutorials as well, go to my website at BryCoxWORKSHOPS.com.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

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Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Three Quotes to Creativity By Brian Demint “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” With this elegant yet somewhat insulting statement, the legendary Vogue photographer Cecil Beaton challenged his peers and all future photographers to be more creative, imaginative in our work and to get there by any means possible: “be daring” take chances, be bold, step out on the limb. “be different” stop shooting like everybody else, quit mimicking, assert your individualism. “be impractical” forget logic, rules and self-imposed parameters. “be anything” do ANYTHING, become anything, do whatever it takes. “that will assert integrity of purpose” being steadfast in your primary goal for the image. “and imaginative vision” inventive not mundane or dull, different, a new take. “against the play-it-safers” those who are bound by the parameters of others. “the creatures of the commonplace” the imitators, the boring, those without imagination. “the slaves of the ordinary.” Those who are always conventional, predictable and unoriginal.

Beaton is not saying go completely bonkers… the imagery must maintain “integrity of purpose”… but what he is saying is; get to an original and unique final product by a process that sidesteps the commonplace and expected… “We think we understand the rules when we become adults but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination.” -David Lynch Give a child a giant box and with their limitless imagination they have everything from a space rocket to a submarine to wherever their mind can take them. This is a simple creative method is known as ‘reapplication”; finding a new purpose or idea for a given object. Give the same box to an adult and the most common thought would be “hey I can store some of my crap in here.” As we grow older we find ourselves bound by what is expected of us as adults, to use objects for their original intended purpose, etc… and thus we stifle our imagination. I use the technique of reapplication in my fashion photography, when my wife and I are walking through Home Depot, she’s thinking “home project” and I’m looking around for something that would look cool on a kids head. Use this technique at garage sales and fruit bowls can become crowns, flower arrangements become elaborate and exotic headpieces, trash bags become dresses, and so on… opening your mind to the endless possibilities of objects, ideas and thoughts and step outside of the stifling laws of traditional adult thinking.

Obviously this is not as eloquent as Cecil Beaton or David Lynch’s quotes but it stems from finding a solution to a problem I was having with an image. Earlier that day I had shot with a model “Heather” and I had this idea of her wearing large prints from magazines over her face and clothing… magazine images of a face I lined up and taped to her head and then ripped away the mouth so that hers was exposed, etc… I’d like to think in my subconscious mind was contemplating the duality of personalities, the masks we wear, or something deep, but in the forefront of my mind was creating something unique and bizarre.

(image notes: the crown is a fruit bowl, the necklace is $2 worth of tapestry beading, the collar is a cheap Halloween tutu. However, this image did grace the cover of Fiori Fashion magazine)

So as I am processing one of the images late at night I run into a technical problem, the image was screaming for some text in the lower right hand corner for balance. I tried many phrases but they all seemed too pompously arty. So I got an idea how to make it more personable and called Heather… “It’s two in the morning, what do you want?”, “I’m stuck on an image and I need some help, so we’re going to play a word association game”, “a what?, dude it’s two in the morning” “I know, shut up, now I will say a word and you say the first word that comes into your head” ‘Are you crazy?” “Yes, probably, but just do this… “Love” “Drama” “Ugly” “Poodles” “What? Why in the hell did you say poodles?” “Because I hate them, they’re ugly” ”Okay then, we’re done, go back to sleep” “Brian, you’re so weird”… so be it creative or stupid I found the solution I needed at that time to complete the image… I have no idea what people who view the image thought because I’ve never explained it until now… The thought process here is that you keep your mind open to all solutions to problems then you “Love, Drama, Ugly, Poodles” Brian DeMint and Heather Compton will find creative answers.

-Brian Demint

Eyeworks Photography

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

expand your knowledge Lora Swinson knows what it takes to capture the individual spirit of every client. Her breakout session Creating Connections in Family Portraiture is one of many eLearning courses available from Clickin Moms.

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12Aug-SandyPucCatalogAd_v1.indd 1

8/21/12 3:09 PM

Blair Phillips Exceptional Lighting for Professional Results “Hello and thank you for the opportunity to share my absolute passion and life with you. I am really excited to meet each and every one of you.”

One of the first things we need to do is break down any barriers or walls you may have about coming to a photography learning event. My goal is to make everyone feel super comfortable and build a positive environment for every skill level. We will have a lot of time to spend together, so get ready to fill your notebooks and ask tons of questions. I am in the trenches every day shooting all types of sessions with sometimes drastic conditions, so I am looking forward to sharing exactly what I do to get me through these situations and create images that I am proud of. Lighting can be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding aspects of photography. Have you ever found yourself working with an awesome client, the perfect setting, and the perfect state of mind and imagine how much better you could make it with lighting. Early in my career I got really bored really quick. I knew that I wanted my images to have a look that were recognizable and most importantly I would be proud of. The lighting I worked on and learned had to be very easy and effective so I would not have to spend tons of time putting it together for each session. It all started with my outdoor lighting, this was the turning point in my life up to this point. Outdoors was such a challenge trying to balance all the elements in trying to create jpeg images that would be nearly perfect straight from camera, or so I thought. I set out one day and really thought about the philosophy and the make up in creating easy, repeatable , and impact full lighting for my outdoor clients. This is where my design and fabrication of the “LR-02” was born.

“Upon my arrival, I nailed it!”

This is what I am so excited to share and give you a bullet proof way to use outdoor lighting in a way you never thought possible. Finally, you can focus on posing and not be stressed about lighting.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Studio lighting has its own challenges as well. The best advice I can give is to always try and create a ratio. Flat lighting is like drinking a soft drink that has been sitting out in a cup for four days, it just lacks excitement. During your sessions force yourself to use several different lighting sources, patterns, and ratios. This way all of your work will not become stale and maintain the same look all the way throughout. In a time of constant change, we need to have the ability to be versatile and appeal to several different markets.

Lens changes are another

important piece of the puzzle for me. I push myself to always use three different lenses for each and every session. This way I have several different perspectives for my clients. Try your best not to get hung up on framing every image the same way. Go wide, portrait style, telephoto, and anything else that may come to mind. Remember this; if you do what you always have done, you will get what you have always got. Thank you again and I look forward to meeting and helping each and everyone of you.

SUPPORT yOUR imaginaTiOn

manfrotto.us info@manfrotto.us

Photos by: Lora Swinson

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Using Your Reflector with Natural Light: Three Easy Steps By Lora Swinson In a world where camera and lighting equipment is readily available and incessantly marketed to us, we as photographers can get caught up in the material desire to have the latest and greatest. When shooting in the studio and outdoors on location, the first tool I go to is almost always my reflector. With prices ranging from $10.00 to more than $100.00 there are plenty of options to choose from. The reflector I use has a white and silver side and stands about 53 inches tall. It is easy to carry as it is collapsible and folds up to the size of a car shade. Many photographers do not know where to even start with theirs and often times never even take it out of the packaging. For something that is so simple and easy to use, it is extremely versatile and can enhance the overall look and lighting in your images drastically. So, if the reflector you purchased six months ago is still sitting in the trunk of your car, get it out! Here are three easy and basic tips for using your reflector outdoors to make the most of a simple setup:

In Your Face: I recently took a client out while the sun was still a little too high, about 45 minutes before golden hour (an hour before the sun sets) and while it was still a back lit environment, my client’s skin was flat, hazy and lacked any depth. By simply positioning the reflector with the silver side facing her, three to five feet away and at a 45 degree angle, it bounced just enough light into my subject’s face to create beautiful shadows and show depth that was otherwise lost. The reflector also helped bring enough light into her eyes to create those much desired catch lights.

A Few Steps Back:

We were shooting in an open grassy field with few trees that had tall dead grass that I knew I could use to create a creamy foreground and background but as we moved farther away from the trees and out of the shade the sun started blowing out parts of my subject’s hair, especially on the side of her head. I had my assistant (the client’s wonderful mother!) hold the reflector about five feet behind the subject to help diffuse and block the harsh sunlight coming in. This gave me a more even lighting environment and helped me get rid of the blown details in her hair and on her face.

From The Ground Up:

As we headed back to the client’s home we started to get that gorgeous golden hour light and stopped at this swing hanging from their tree. When looking through my viewfinder the haze from the sun was again washing out any detail in her face. When I used the reflector the same way I did at the beginning of the shoot I was still not getting as much detail or light in her face as I’d like. So I took my reflector and placed it about two feet below her chin and tilting it slightly up a few inches. This popped the light upwards and into the shadows bringing in the light right where I wanted it. So, there you have it! Next time you’re in an environment where the natural light is not perfect (is it ever?), take out your reflector and see what you can create. There are endless possibilities! 29

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

&After

Before

By Damon Tucci

Nikon D700-ISO 1000-F 6.3-Shutter 1/160

Nikon D700-ISO 1000 F 2.8-Shutter 1/125

This was a real wedding shot at the Ritz Orlando, taken on 8/18/12.It only took about one minute. The bride did not want to wear her veil. I had to coax her. Veils are very sexy. It was overcast outside-shot available light by window with a reflector accentuating the light on the mask of the bride’s face. It has a vintage action and a little brightening of the eyes in post. The goal is to get portfolio shots without even leaving the room. In central Florida, time is your enemy and it is 98 degrees outside so you must employ every technique you have for success. This photo was made for sales collateral for a new Westin hotel that opened in Orlando. It was lit with a Lowell id video light. I was drawn to these (Spermozoa) lights and simply inserted my model bride. By shooting wide open (f2.8) at 1000 iso I can pick up the existing ambient light and then accentuate the light on the mask of the models face with my video light.

This shot is an interesting example of visualization techniques and training your eye like a musician trains their ear. Our assignment was to shoot pinup models in the airplane graveyard in Tucson, AZ. As we were leaving there was an architectural hallway exit, I saw an opportunity and inserted model in her precarious perch. Remember: ask forgiveness rather than permission. It was lit with 2 sb 800’s to overpower the sun and employed hi speed sync. It was my favorite shot of the day . Nikon D700 ISO 200 F 2.8 Shutter 1/3200 Hi Speed sync w/ radio poppers

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Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Group Posing Made Simple By Bert Behnke, M.Photog.Cr., Hon.M.Photog. (PPA)

One of the questions I get most is about group posing. It seems that today, photographers are so used to photographing individual subjects, like children or high school seniors, that they get nervous when their established clients reach out to them for a family portrait. The questions run from posing to lighting to equipment. Let’s look at a few areas that can help create better group portraits. Posing seems to be the greatest obstacle for most photographers. They don’t quite grasp how posing is not only for designing the portrait, but it is critical in the exposure and perspective of the portrait. An improperly posed group can create lighting and sizing issues between subjects. Consider this when photographing groups: the further your subject is from your camera, the less light it receives and the smaller the subject is. It’s the opposite the closer the subject is. So if the front row of your group is ten feet from the camera and light source, and the back row is fifteen feet, you have a 50% difference. Without getting into technicalities, you have about one f/stop of light difference and an obvious size difference. So how do you minimize the issue?

First and foremost, some of my rules in group posing are these:

1) Every subject needs their own space,

both horizontally and vertically. No two heads should be directly above or next to any adjacent subject.

2) Try to keep groups into no more than

three rows deep. Always have the front row leaning towards the back, and the back row leaning towards the front. This reduces your space from front to back row creating more even lighting and greater sharpness using depth of field.

3) Create triangular and diagonal

lines between subjects to create better composition and make one group subject out of many individual subjects.

4) For larger groups, keep your light ratio

lower to eliminate shadows spilling from one subject onto another. And a smaller aperture, I prefer f/8 to /5.6, allows for greater depth of focus.

5) Use the longest lens possible to

compress the subjects for better size relationship from front to back row of the group.

Now let’s talk posing. There are

many ways to pose groups, but the one thing you NEED to do with groups is to create various levels for each subject. I prefer to use very few props in my portraits so I need to use other methods. I have developed the “Eight Levels of Group Posing” to make it easier to work with people of all sizes. Sometimes your subjects are all of different heights and it’s rather easy to “pose” them. But what if they are all of similar heights? The diagram to the right shows the eight levels I use having only an arm chair as a prop, I don’t use all of them in every pose, just whatever is needed to create a well posed grouping.

For lighting my groups, I use

anywhere from two to four lights. If I am outdoors, I use open sky later in the day or I sometimes use flash fill for a main light, letting the sunlight be my back light. The two diagrams to the right show how I would set up indoors. One uses a double main with umbrellas, the other a single umbrella main with a bounce fill if a white wall is available. You should note that I point my umbrella lights across the group instead of directly at the center. It creates a more even light by “feathering” the umbrella lights. The last thing I want to address is equipment. I use a full frame DSLR for the larger file size and better lens coverage; the Canon 5D Mark II with a 24-105mm lens is my workhorse. I also use the 70-200mm f/4 lens if space allows. In the studio, I love my 4x6 Larson Softbox for my main with smaller softboxes for my kicker/back lights. My 400 wattsecond Photogenic Powerlights give me more than enough power to achieve my preferred f/8 setting. After that, all I really need is a few armchairs or posing stools and some posing blocks to create my group portraits. One final thing that relates to all of my photography, is using the tools needed to create consistent, high quality images. My meter allows me to get the exposure right every time. I use white balance calibrating to get proper color and avoid color-crossover. I work on a tripod with cable release so I can keep constant eye contact with my subjects. If you want to know why this is so important, just have a conversation with your spouse or children while you keep your camera up to your face, then give them the camera and do the same. I rest my case!

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Cinema Style Lighting in Beauty Photography By Courtney Dailey Beauty photography often has the appearance of being simple. After all

you’re only shooting the models upper torso and face. How tough could it be? In reality, beauty photography can be one of the toughest genres to shoot! It’s because the subject has to concentrate on her expressions, to the point of micro management while the photographer highlights the product they are trying to sell; the makeup. In order to make a dramatic image with strong light work you must have a subject with great skin, symmetry and confidence. Shooting beauty with new talent can be tough, because shooting beauty is about little movements, versus large smooth transitions, like in fashion.

For this set, I wanted Nydia’s warm caramel skin to glow. She has great skin, so I knew I wanted to shoot with some harsh hot light. Hot lights not only give the skin this skin kissed look, but it also gives me the ability to shoot video while I shoot my stills. That’s a massive plus in the commercial world!

Camera First, the details. I captured this image using a handheld,

but I shouldn’t have done that. Why? Even when shooting with flash, there is always some motion blur. It was shot on a Canon 7D, ISO 800, open at f3.2 on a 28-75 Tamron. Distance from camera to subject was about 4 feet. Nydia was seated behind a TriFlector, so it was fairly easy for her to maintain balance. She did have some trouble with the lights in her eyes, which made it difficult for me to get pictures of her without her squinting. 36

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Lights The best directional light is a spot Fresnel. I like the color the Fresnel gives with a 80C blue

correction filter on it. Normally I’d use an 80B, but I knew I wanted the background to be blue from the strobe I’d be using on the background. If I took too much warmth from the subjects main light (the Fresnel) I’d be dealing with a blue mess.. The Fresnel was open to allow a large circle of area, so the model could move without drastic light changes. I flagged the sides of the light with the light’s barn doors while also using actual flags to the sides of Fresnel to block the light from hitting my background.

Behind Nydia are 1 light, a Westcott Strobelite with an umbrella facing the back wall and a few mirrors tilted to give interesting reflections. There is a mirror to the models left and behind. Since I slightly corrected the main light, it allowed my subject to still be warmly lit, while giving my background a nice blue glow.

This image just required a few tweaks in post, to get the color just where I wanted it. Overall, what can be determined is while shooting strobes, Im very comfortable shooting hand held. But even with cat-like reflexes, a tripod or even a monopod is a must when using continuous lightingz

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

How To Find Inspiration In Your Everyday Work By Kia Bondurant I often hear photographers complain of being burned out, tired of photographing the same old thing every day. They wonder where to find inspiration and how to stay creative. Some people suggest setting aside a day each month, meeting with a special group of creative friends, traveling and having new experiences, going to museums or having hobbies outside of photography. All of those are super ideas and you should definitely take advantage of every one, but what if you have to work? How do you find inspiration in the everyday experiences of being a working portrait photographer? I think it’s important to learn to be inspired by every person who comes in your studio to be photographed. Here is a story of one particularly inspiring individual and how she became an ongoing motivation for me and my photography. Several years ago, Jovana came in for her two outfit senior session with three or fouroutfits to choose between. Two of which were amazing dresses that I had never seen anything like before. When I asked her where she got them, she told me that she had made them. I was flabbergasted. Here was a seventeen-year-old artist right before my eyes. Right away, I was inspired. I decided to do some extra images and photograph both of her custom dresses during that session even though I would have to work quickly and push myself to make sure I didn’t get behind schedule. Jovana had also brought her sketchbook so I photographed some of her sketches as well. I was so inspired to tell the story of Jovana’s artistic talent in her images. Without telling Jovana or her mother, I combined images from her sketchbook with her portraits to create unique artistic pieces just for her. She loved those images and has two 30x40 wall portraits of them. As I asked questions and got to know her better, I learned that Jovana had been conducting her own yearly fashion show since she was 14. By her senior year, her show had over 60 models, 800 attendees, and all original designs she had created. Because I was so enthusiastic and supportive (I truly loved the dresses Jovana made), she asked me to photograph her portfolio that she would send with her application to Parson’s School of Design in New York. She also asked me to put up a display of images at her senior year fashion show and to photograph the models on the runway. I was so excited to be a part of something so special and beautiful. Each year until she graduated from Parson’s, Jovana asked me to photograph for her portfolio - typically before, after or during a local fashion show. It was a constant source of inspiration to be provided with edgy, but gorgeous designs, beautiful models and an often challenging lighting situation. Jovana is now in Europe designing in a major fashion house. Jovana has been a wonderful source of inspiration over the years and I would have missed it if I hadn’t been so excited about the dresses she brought in and started asking her questions and getting to know her. So that leads to the first step of being inspired in your everyday work. 39

1. Be Open

Have your eyes wide open and be looking for inspiration in the every day. Truly, every person I photograph, I try to find something special about them that I can highlight and be original with. You won’t get bored or burned out if you are finding your inspiration in your subjects. Jovana was definitely an unusual case, but I’m not sure I would have realized how amazing she was if I hadn’t approached her with a little bit of wonder.

2. Take Action Even if it’s inconvenient or gets you out of your comfort zone, be ready to take the opportunity to do what you are inspired to do. I was inspired by Jovana’s beautiful dresses, her sketchbook and her obvious talent. At her first fashion show, the makeup, gorgeous colors in the dresses and the downtown streets gave me great ideas of how to show off the avante-garde look of her line. A man drove by on his mint green Vespa scooter and I stopped him to ask if we could use it for a quick shot. Talk about taking quick action to create a show stopping image.

3. Give Sometimes it’s hard to put yourself out there. You may be afraid that if you go out on a limb and do a little extra, create a little more than was included in the session or expected, you will be ignored or denied. Don’t miss your opportunities by being afraid to give. Don’t let the possibility of not being appreciated discourage you. Give. Be inspired and create for the sake of the creative process. You’ll grow and you WILL find subjects who will appreciate and love your work. The reason I photographed so much for Jovana is that I offered to do it. I asked for the opportunities and I often just did things without asking if I saw an opportunity — like doing a portrait session in the brick alley with the Vespa before the fashion show.

4. Enjoy I wasn’t sure what word to put here. I chose enjoy, but I also had revel and be proud. What I think is important here is rejoicing in the success of being inspired and creating something beautiful that you are proud of. I have had so much fun creating for Jovana, but I’ve also shared what I’ve created with as many people as possible. Put your images on display. People love to hear the inspirational stories. Blog about what you’ve done. Share about it in newsletters. If your clients hear what you’ve done with someone else, they’ll come to you prepared to be an inspiration themselves.

5. Repeat It doesn’t end once you’ve done the first session. If you find someone that is truly an inspiration, don’t let them go. Be a friend, a true part of their lives and make yourself available to work with them as they progress. And if you’ve found a way to be inspired by one person you photograph, take that experience and apply it to other sessions in your daily work.

As I said earlier, Jovana was not your typical high school senior, but I know you are thinking about people that you have photographed who are inspiring to you and doing special things. Is there more that you can do to be part of their upward trajectory? How can you encourage and help them? If no one comes to mind, I encourage you to go into your next sessions with your eyes wide open and be prepared to be inspired and take action.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Hard Light Magic By Kevin Focht

First let me introduce myself to those who don’t know me yet. My name is Kevin Focht and I have been a fashion and beauty photographer for over 25 years. I have lived and worked in Milan, Miami, London and New York shooting for some really wonderful clients over the years. In that time, I have had to adapt and re-invent myself, but one of the things that have stayed constant is my lighting. The majority of the time it was either one of two styles of lighting-- hard lighting or flat lighting. Today I would like to talk about what I think is one of the most dramatic types of lighting; hard lighting! Hard lighting is basically no diffuser and a very focused light. Hard light also gives you hard shadows and drama. The light falls off from highlight to shadow really fast, which can set a great mood in your shots. It can also make for dramatic beauty shots. Along with that drama comes caution. You need to be aware of what the light is doing to the skin. It picks up the texture of everything. This is great for showing texture in fabric, but not so good for skin. When I first started shooting I was looking for some sort of edge, something that would make me stand out. Everyone was shooting the grunge look back in the late eighties and early nineties. I was shooting the same way, but wanted beauty back in my photography. Being a big fan of Hurrell and the 40’s style of photography, it was just a natural thing to gravitate towards. Today’s plethora of lighting choices make it so much easier than the photographers of the past had it. My choice of hard lighting that gives me the most control and drama is a fresnel head like the Bowens Fresnel 200. I can already hear you asking “what is a fresnel head?” The technical definition is “a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.” It’s basically a sort of lens element that focuses the light. If you look at the front of any speedlight, it has a fresnel lens element on the front of it. You can control the size of the beam of light by either moving the element closer or farther away from the light source or in the case of the Fresnel 200 with an adjustable aperture. What this does is give you either a small beam of light, or a large area of hard light. I like to explain it as the light is like on one of those hazy summer days. As you can see from most of the images in this article, this technique works really well in black and white. Don’t let that stop you from shooting in color. It can be breathtaking also. 42

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In shot number 6, you can see that I used a wider spread on the fresnel. The fall off takes place lower in the image. This is the hazy day sunlight I was talking about. This works best when the light is hitting directly flat to the face. This minimizes the texture from the higher contrast lighting on the face. You want to be careful and not use this type of lighting on a person that has bad skin, unless you want to do a lot of retouching in post.

By “zooming in” the fresnel and creating a spotlight effect, you create more of a hard edge to the light. In image 7, this is the same light source as in image 6, but now the beam of light is smaller. You can really tell by the shadow under her hands and chin. Now by moving the light to the side and short light your subject, you get a completely different feel. Once again this is great for the garment, but be very careful with the skin. Work your angle so as not to cross light the face in any way. This lighting style works wonderfully for beauty, as long as you keep the light parallel to the angle of the face. Watch your highlights and shine on the face. This lighting will create highlights on anything that has a shine to it. You can use hard lighting to create imagery that most portrait artists don’t offer anymore. It seems like we are in the era of the octobank, and softbox. You can stand out by using hard light to create imagery that no one else in your area is doing. By going back in history, and using techniques from some of the masters of our craft, you will seem like the “new” artist. Use hard light, especially a fresnel head to create drama, excitement, and something different with your lighting. Use the hard edge of the light to create shadows on the background as in shot 10. Then use that same lighting to create amazing beauty shots too.

In today’s age of soft lighting, master this technique and stand out in the soft edge softbox crowd!

-Kevin Focht

Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Craig Stidham

On Location With New Eyes

Choices. We’re faced with a plethora of them every day. When shooting on location, these choices can make

all the difference in the world. As a photographer, it’s your job to foresee any challenges that may arise and be as creative as possible with any given location. Here are a few ideas, tips and tricks from my new book, Fashion Seniors, that will help you make all the right choices for your location shoots. You’ll learn how to scout locations, see things in three dimensions and view some samples of a well-utilized space.

Scouting locations Location box suggestions See the Location in 3D Location shoot examples 45

Be Prepared

Shooting on location can be really fun. It can also be a real nightmare, if you aren’t fully prepared. It’s important to scout out a location before your session. You should do a walkthrough at roughly the same time of day as the actual session will be. Bring a notebook to jot things down; if it will help you remember things better. Notice: The location of the sun The natural colors (i.e. green trees, blue walls, reflective glass, etc.) The color pallet in Kelvin temperature (warm vs. cool) Accommodations (or lack thereof) - Wall power, drinking water, potty, etc. You laugh. Once, I had a model get all ready to shoot and then I had to go… The nearest restroom was five miles out and we were on a golf course. Now I look for a potty. Power is another often-overlooked but absolutely essential consideration. Batteries, a generator or natural light are common location light sources, all with their own pros and cons. If you are planning to use a gas generator, safety is a consideration. With batteries, you will absolutely need backups. Natural light can be fickle as well. Well, I don’t need to tell you that shooting on location limits your creativeness if you forget something. By walking the location before your shoot, you will be able to determine what gear you will need to bring. Whether you shoot tons of location sessions or only a few, it’s always a good idea to have a location box. This is kind of like a tool box, but bigger. My location box has tons of little things that make the biggest impact. These are the items that you might easily forget otherwise.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Location box suggestions: (3) Water spritzer bottles Lotion Small makeup kit Surge protector Extra trigger cords Batteries - every kind your equipment uses Small bottle of cooking oil Hair pins, bobbie pins and clothes pins Clamps (large, medium and small) Extension cords A 3 to 2 prong adapters Vaseline Mirror Hand-held makeup mirror First aid kit

Making your own location kit is well worth your time. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re out and an art director needs something for themselves, and you hand it to them, that makes you the bomb. Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re prepared for a session, you need to learn to see the location.

See the Location

What do I mean by that? To choose a location, or use one that has been chosen for you, you should see the thought process behind that decision. If you choose a location, ask yourself why. What is there that sparked your interest? If a location is chosen for you, ask the person who picked the location to tell you about it. This will reveal the focal points that you will want to emphasize. Use the inspiration behind that decision to drive and direct your photo shoot. Most locations are chosen for three main reasons: 1) color, 2) texture and 3) shape. For portrait and fashion photographers, we have one advantage—our model is the subject. Most attention will be aimed toward the subject. Locations are our pallets of design, which we control. Thinking of your location in terms of design will help you “see the location”. I categorize locations into two types: 2D—a flat location, and 3D—a location that you can move in and around. A 2D location would be a flat wall. You can move up, down, left and right. However, you’re always shooting into the wall. Take a look at these images. The one thing they all have in common is the twodimensional background. These kinds of locations have their place in or work, and are good to add to a session if you need extra locations or don’t have a lot of time to spend with the client. However, I don’t feel that 2D backgrounds give you the creative power that you’re capable of producing. Today’s clients can certainly see the difference between 2D and 3D backgrounds. This is why there is such a huge demand for shooting on location and not in studios.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

The 3D background gives you the most power to be creative. I challenge you to start looking at locations in this manner, and shoot more 3D locations. Your creative power will explode. A 3D location is one in which you can pose your client, shoot from all directions and get different images. A 3D location means youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the center of a space, and have the ability to take a good photograph from any angle. Consider this graphic. Your typical 3D box is a location, and the circle is your model.

Your typical 3D box. Here your model is the circle.

Here are some samples from a senior photo shoot I did in 2011. For this location we chose a normal Laundromat. For this 3D location, the building is the box. The model is the circle, and I had the freedom to move around and above her. (Due to gravity, I can’t shoot under her.) Here are five samples of the different perspectives that I used in this one location. Please note that I am not saying that all good locations need to be inside. I am simply stating that the best locations allow you to photograph from many directions and angles.

Image 1: Here the model is up on the washer. The camera angle is equal to the model’s head. This angle allows me to show you she is in a large laundry mat.

Image 2: The model is sitting on the floor. The camera is also literaly on the floor and slightly tilted up. The white colors create lines pointing to the model. The dryer doors are circles and they also make patterns. Note: The coin arms are clear of her head.

Sandy Puc’ Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Image 3: The model is sitting on the floor. The camera is above her head. I am standing on a small stool. The lines of the white tiles, again, are pointing to the model, and they turn into leading lines. Here it’s important to include all of the dryer door because it’s a complete circle. The brain is at rest and thus will not over think the shape. Image 4: Using pattern, I shot the wall, a 2D backround. I couldn’t help it. The pattern of circles was worth it.

Image 5: Again, like in image 3, the model is sitting on the floor and I am above her. Except this time my camera angle is lower. I did have to move in closer to cut most of the dryer door so that the door turns into color and texture, and your brain isn’t trying to figure the shape. Shooting wide open helps this a ton.

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Sandy Pucâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Presents: The Hands-On Workshop Tour

Keeping Things Simple

By Lori Nordstrom

Great portrait lighting can come from one or many more lights. In fact, for a lot of years, I felt bad about my simple one-light system. I watched photographers that I admired using a three-light system, or even five lights; adding not just a main and a fill, but a background light, a hair light, and some sort of kicker! When I moved to a studio space after being all on-location, I purchased a lighting “system” based on the only thing I knew, which was natural light and window light. I had moved to Iowa from Texas and realized that I would not be able to photograph outside all year as I had been doing where I grew up. I knew that I would need some sort of indoor studio lighting, so I bought what I knew, which was a 4x6 Softbox (my window) and a large reflector. I began photographing in my new studio with my new lighting, and while I was in a new retail space and I was selling portraits, I still felt like I wasn’t as “real” a photographer as many of my friends and the instructors I saw who wrangled all sorts of lights and moved them around with ease creating beautiful work! Not long after purchasing my new lighting, I took a week-long class with portrait photographer Darton Drake (www. dartondrake.com). This class with Darton made me believe in myself as I came to realize the power of using one main light. Just the fact that Darton himself was primarily a one-light shooter was enough to make me feel better about my lighting choice. One of the projects that Darton had the class do that year was to take one subject, one light, and just one prop (a chair) and pho53

tograph 100 different images! What a great lesson in posing and lighting! I encourage you to try it — you will learn so much! During this series of instruction I discovered a true love for lighting with one main light — a 4x6 Larson Softbox and one large reflector. To me, the 4x6 Larson softbox is the closest and next best thing to natural light, or window light —my first love. The large Softbox gives a wonderful, soft light and beautiful “wrap” around the subject. I normally place my subject towards the back side of the 4x6, and place the Softbox about shoulder height. This height of the Softbox allows for a really natural fall-off and “vignette” of the subject. Some would say that this lighting is somewhat “flat”. However, once you play with the lighting and practice the 100-pose challenge, you will find that the placement of the Softbox to the subject makes a huge difference in the lighting with just this one light. You can create many looks from very dramatic to nice and even/flat (what I actually prefer!) It’s great to get to know lighting. Learn to really see what happens when you add or subtract a light. Look at contrast and separation. Look at details and especially the highlights in the eyes. But don’t beat yourself up, like I did, when choosing what works best for you and your situation. Get to know one light first and then add lights as your situation and more specifically, your style call for.

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