An Interview with Daron Shade, Tucson Photographer
Daron Shade is a Tucson, Arizona photographer. We have a great interview here and a few of Daron's photographs to enjoy. But first an update on some changes here at Lighting Essentials. For quite a while I have been working to find my voice and deliver the kind of...
24 Photographs That Rock: From the LE Flickr Pool
Cover Shot by Megan. Wow. It has been a while since I posted. My apologies and an explanation. 1. I had decided to move from my little studio to one that has more space to shoot and in a location that I like better. More on that later. 2. I had the flu. Yeah... the...
Natural Light Portraits from Seattle
The Seattle workshop was amazing. We had a great time and made some amazing images. Using the facilities of SPA, we were able to do several setups. And the models, stylists and hair artists were off the chart. Incredible styling, hair that was spectacular and a dozen...
The Lighting Essentials Forum Rocks Another 40 Hot Images
John Groseclose shot our cover this post. Fitting, since John and I are teaching a CLS (Creative Lighting System) workshop tomorrow at my studio. It will be an event to remember. For me anyway... for a lot of reasons. If you want to know all about how incredible the...
Tom Miles, London. An Interview with an Editorial Photographer
Tom Miles joins us for an LE Interview that I know you will find fun and inspiring. August is traditionally a slow month for me, but not this one. Big event taking place all month (secret - you'll have to wait) and it is keeping every spare moment filled. Seriously....
Trust the Model – Part Two
Briana is back with part two of her article, "Trust the Model" and I am sure it will be of high interest to many of you who are starting down the road of fashion, beauty and editorial photography. Briana's take on the other side of the lens is kinda fun and brings...
Chris Bohnhoff: Interview with a Minneapolis Photographer
Welcome to Lighting Essentials interview with Minneapolis Photographer Chris Bohnhoff. I was cruising from a site I can't remember, and found Chris's photos. I really like the style and the interesting way he photographs food and people. I hope you enjoy his work and...
Model Behavior: Trust the Model
She's back - due to popular request. Briana has a new article on Model Behavior. She calls it "Trust the Model". Thanks Bri, for the article. On the Lighting Essentials front, it has been pretty hectic lately. I have several things to review and will get them reviewed...
Create an Antique Camera Look for Your Images: Photoshop Tutorial
We have been looking at business practices for a while now, and I have had some questions about the Photoshop Processing on a few of my recent images. I thought it may be a good idea to show a Photoshop Tutorial on how I create the Antique/Old Camera look. For those...
10 Web Site Strategies for Emerging Photographers
10 Website Strategies for Emerging Photographers As a photographer and web designer, I really believe that the website should be a vehicle for making business happen, and connecting with clients and possible clients, not just an online brochure or replica of a print...
44 Very Cool Images from the LE Flickr Pool
We have been focusing on some business things for the last couple of posts. I wanted to take this opportunity to pull some more images from the Lighting Essentials Pool at Flickr and recognize some wonderful work. We aren't the biggest Flickr Forum, and we aren't the...
Twenty+ Non-Photographic Essentials For Location Photography
We all know about checklists for our photography gear. Making sure we don't get 50 miles out in the desert and find we forgot our tripod mount, or sync cord, or stands or worse. Much worse. I have a checklist that I go through, and I also have started to keep packed...
10 Pricing Challenges and Strategies for Photographers
Let's start out with a universal truth. A digital photograph costs nothing. Nothing to make, nothing to store, nothing to transfer and nothing to see. Before you hit the computer and spit out your soda, I am obviously not talking about the gear and lenses and lights...
An Interview with Photographer’s Portfolio Consultant Selina Maitreya
Today is something special: an interview with Selina Maitreya, Portfolio Consultant and Photographer's mentor for nearly 30 years. Selina has been a photographer, a photographer's rep and a champion for style and substance in photographer's portfolios through her...
10 Things You Can Do Right Now for Your Photography Business
Today's post is on your business and your attitudes. Ten Things to Do Right Now for Your Photography Business These are slow times for a lot of photographers. I believe they are temporary, and will depart, leaving those who are still standing in a great place. But the...
Protected: Shooting for Your Portfolio: Presenting the Work
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Style: It’s Not What You Shoot. It’s How You Shoot It.
Creating a Portfolio: What you shoot vs How you shoot what you shoot. Three exercises to sharpen your attention to style. One of the most difficult and challenging things we deal with as photographers is style. It is a defining point of our work. It is one of the...
Preparing Yourself for “Getting Out There” as a Professional Photographer
(This is part one of a continuing series on starting out in the world of commercial photography. I am a commercial photographer, not a wedding shooter, but most things would be similar in that genre as well. ) Even in these uncertain times, there are those intrepid...
Still Life Shot for an Magazine Ad
Well, my Volleyball client needed a new ad. That's great. We needed it to be concepted, shot, and produced in one day. A day that had me doing other things as well. Stressful? A little, but I have been at this game long enough to know that it will get done. It always...
Grant Lovett: Fashion and Music Photographer in Nashville – an Interview
Working in Nashville means music, fashion, celebrities and more. And Grant Lovett is in the middle of it. A soft-spoken shooter with a deep portfolio, Grant keeps the bills paid with shoots of musicians and fashion models. We have an interview with him that you will...
40 Portraits from the Forum
We are back with another post from the Forum. 40 portraits and a few extras. 40 wonderful portraits with some interesting lighting, concepts and presentation. I am in Omaha today for the second day of the workshop. Looks like we may have a weather challenge. But,...
Adding Texture to a Portrait for Added Drama
We haven't done a lot of Photoshop tutorials on LE, but I plan on doing more. The amount of requests I have been getting tell me that there is a lot of interest. And we will be responding. This tutorial shows you a simple way to add a texture to an image. As with...
Interview with Kirk Tuck, Austin Photographer and Writer
This post we get a glimpse into the working world of a commercial photographer. Sometimes referred to as a generalist, a commercial photographer must be able to handle a lot of different idioms when working in a smaller market. Portraits, fashion, still life, food,...
Strobe and Ambient: Finding the Mix for Portraiture
I get asked a lot about how my methodology works. What am I thinking about when setting the light? How do I know what the settings should be. For this post I have pulled some shots from last years workshop tour. I will explain the exposure planning as we go along....
