About technique and more.

Tip : High angles can really rock

/in , /by

In several blog posts I discussed the use of low angles….
Now let’s look today at what a high angle can do.
This shot was taken during a workshop with Poeka (round Emmeloord) where I used a wide-angle from a high angle aimed down at my model, thanks to the flip up screens found on most modern cameras you don’t have to guess anymore, but you can see what you’re doing. DO make sure that you check for your feet in the frame… especially with extreme wide angles.

Now you know this is going to distort like crazy, so don’t even try to correct this but go with the flow, add some expression and styling and you can get some really cool results.

 

Story telling part II

/in , /by

Today some more images from the workshop with Ingrid where we combined different light sources, gels, smoke and props to get a more interesting setup, by adding a small prop, in this case a doll, the story telling part is enhanced a lot more for this series.

Often getting the story telling part correct in a photoshoot can be the most difficult thing, always remember that everyone can shoot a model in crappy light, getting the light correct will be more difficult, now styling and posing makes it a bit more harder but getting an image to make the viewer think “what’s going on” or at least making the viewers interested in a shot, is often regarded as one of the most difficult things.

The “trick” I often learn the attendees of the workshops is to really think about a story, not just combine “stuff” but when you shop around for props already try to have the story in your head, but do remember (as mentioned in the previous blogpost) it’s not about a typed out story (that’s always cool of course), but the “suggestion” is often more than enough.

Ok let’s stop talking and give you some images 😀

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 2094

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 2372

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 2637

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 2659

 

Working with masks and story telling

/in , /by

Photography is often described as “Painting with light” and don’t get me wrong, I 100% agree, however there is another thing that I strongly believe is connected to photography (and something I often miss) and that’s story telling.

Ever since we as the human race have found ways to express ourselves it’s “always” about telling stories, starting in the caves with the cave drawings all the way up to the golden age with the great painters. However now a days… a gazillion images are uploaded and in all honesty often they don’t have nice lighting lets alone tell a story.

So what is story telling?
For me it’s a matter of what your mind thinks about when looking at a shot, so it doesn’t have to be an OBVIOUS story, but something that makes you go “what’s going on here”.

In my workshops I always try to give a lot of attention to this, and today I want to show you some images of a workshop where we worked with Ingrid and some masks. In this workshop the main theme was to mix continuous light sources with strobes. The main thing however is that these images will probably trigger your imagination a bit (well I hope).

So the next time you do a photoshoot don’t just think about lightning, but also about posing and story telling, and adding small props like masks and of course expression of the model (can also be without seeing her face by her pose) and that way you will see your shots will quickly grow from ok to WOW.

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 2966

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3776

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3798

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3805

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3818

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3821

Ingrid Augustus 19 2016 3832

 

New instructional video “A guide to Capture One 9 Pro”

/in , , , /by

We just released a brand new instructional video, and this is a LONG one.
With over 190 minutes of information it’s actually one of the longest we ever released, and the best thing… for a limited time only it’s priced at only 10.00 euros.

 

Often people forget the importance of the RAW developer and how much of a difference it can make on your final images, let alone what you can do in the RAW convertor as retouching. As soon as you open up Photoshop you are not working in the RAW convertor anymore so it’s vital to do as much as possible before that.

For years Capture One has been on the top of the list of best RAW convertors and not without a reason (of course), Capture One has many retouching and developing options that for some people will even make it possible to do the complete workflow within Capture One. 
 But that’s not all, in studio or location setups many photographers love to shoot tethered, and this is were Capture One in my opinion really shines as being rock solid and incredibly versatile.

When you first open up Capture One everything can look a bit…. frightening, especially when you are used to the industry standard Lightroom, but in all honestly the layout and options are actually very easy to learn if you get a little bit of help, and that’s where this video comes in.

In over 3 hours (190 minutes) I walk you through the way that I use Capture One.
You will find chapters on the tools, tethered shooting, retouching samples and workflow.
All videos are kept as short as possible and are very easy to understand.

Topics include :

BW modes, integration with Lightroom/Photoshop and plugins, exporting recipes, styles/looks, synchronizing, using local adjustments and layers, advanced color adjustments, advanced and simple skin retouching, masking possibilities, folder structures, overlays, watermarks, customizing the look and layout, HDR from one image, making images pop, using processing in batch, all the tools you need to know explained, auto masking tips, skin tone smoothing, tricks with the skin tone smoothing for skies, removing spots and dust, using healing for removing hair and blemishes, using capture pilot in a tethered workflow, RAW developing explained, lens correction, adding grain for a great look and evening out retouches, noise reduction, stacking effects in layers and styles, sorting and rating in the browser, creating your personal layout and much much more….

If you want to get the best out of Capture One in your workflow and setup a great integration with Lightroom this is without a doubt the best way to start. All videos are high resolution captures and the standard video is 4K so you can see all the settings and details the best way possible. The video is available now via www.frankdoorhof.com/videos

I’m 100% sure you are gonna love this one.