Abstract: Chromatically complex light adds much more realism to your lit photos.
Today’s Lighting 103 post features excerpts from a bar conversation with Greg Heisler. It's just as if we cornered him at a conference (which I did) and he agreed to have a drink and talk color (which he did).
This is roadmap stuff. It's above and beyond the specific info he includes with each of the assignments in his book, 50 Portraits, the companion text to L103.Read more »
Strobist
Just a quick heads-up for any of you who may live within striking distance of Columbus, Ohio. (And if that’s not you, no need to keep reading. It’d just piss you off.)
So MidWest Photo, the folks that brought us the LumoPro LP180 and a bunch of other cool things, are moving to new digs in Columbus. And they are having two days of festivities on August 6th and 7th.
There is lots of stuff going on: speakers, classes, vendors, giveaways, etc. And it’s all free.
I’ll be speaking on both days. Saturday the 6th will be on my hybrid “dad/photographer” approach to traveling. And Sunday’s presentation will be on learning to completely rethink and reshape your approach to photography. Each is a completely different talk, and both are geared towards the full range of photographers—from enthusiast to pro.
But better yet, Greg Heisler is also speaking on Saturday. In fact, I am following Greg on Saturday. You can imagine how thrilled I am.
If you have never heard Greg in person, I highly recommend it. I guarantee you you will learn some stuff. Especially in a small venue environment like this. As for following him onstage, I highly do not recommend that.
And since it is all free, it’ll only cost you gas money. (And face paint if you are going to see Greg.) Kidding. Mostly. But that would be awesome.
Heads-up: it requires registration, because seating is limited. And this will certainly fill. So if you are up for it, make sure to register ASAP for one or both days, here.
Come out and meet us!
Cheers,
David
Strobist
When he learned that he had a hearing condition that would make continuing his work in music production difficult, Greg Krycinski picked up photography. His stark black-white-landscapes and street scenes resonate in their simplicity. See a sample of his work here and find out more about him in our Q&A. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Photo Of The Week rounds had never seen a week like this, what could only be described as FIERCE! There were over hundred votes that was submitted and second and third place were biting right on the heels. It was very suspenseful week to watch and I felt my heart thumping out of my chest watching the leader board race back and forth like a day at the horse races, but in the end it was Greg Cunningham’s photo which is just one image in a photographic series, entitled “Vapour”, that won the crown of Photo of the Week, with only fractions separating second and third place.
With the race to the finish line over, I was able to get a chance to interview Greg Cunning on how he started as a photographer and what is the inspiration behind his hauntingly beautiful photo submission. When asked about his beginnings in fashion photography Greg explained that, “Fashion photography for me is a creative outlet. My career as an air crewman in the US Navy has little to do with artistic expression so it really helps to keep me level as a person.”
From operating planes to operating cameras he explained, “I was looking for a hobby around 6 years ago when I was based in the Pacific Northwest. So my intent was to take beautiful landscape photos of Washington state and that never happened. I knew a few of the night life promoters in Seattle and they would hire photographers at their events to take candid snaps for a little money, so I figured if I was already going to be there I might as well make some money and meet some new people.
That grew old before I had even photographed ten events in a three month period. The last event I photographed was a charity fashion show and I surprised how striking some of the models were. After I turned the photos over to one of the local boutique owners they asked me if I had ever thought of photographing fashion on a more serious level. They graciously introduced me to the agency models that I had seen walking in the show. So from then on I have been studying fashion and beauty photography and the professionals past and present.”
Greg remains humble about his photographic abilities stating “I am not proficient enough to consider myself a professional fashion photographer. It is a hobby that became a passion.” That is very true for most photographers in the industry on how they got started, and everyday is a learning experience in the field.
To create the shoot for his Vapour series Greg used the following:
Alienbee 1600 w/ 22″ Beauty Dish Key light
Alienbee 1600 w/ 20 degree grid for rim light
Canon 5D MK II w/ 24-70mm f/2.8
The results? Tremendous, breathtaking and surreal. When asked if there was any last words of wisdom he would like to share to the next generation of photographers, at the end of the interview, he shared these words, “Stay humble out there.”
To find out more about Greg Cunningham and photos from his Vapour series, including the one featured here, you can visit his website: www.gicunningham.com and blog: www.gicunningham.tumblr.com
You can also catch greg via email, instagram and Twitter:
Email: greg@gicunningham.com
Instagram: gicunningham
Twitter handle: gicunningham
Currently, we have another round of Photo Of The Week running. To participate in the voting, make sure you “like” our Facebook page here and vote for your favorite photographer‘s photo out of the finalists in the comments section of the post. The photo with the most vote’s by the end of the week at Sunday midnight will win Photo of the Week and win the great prizes on offer.
Since FashionPhotographyBlog.com is Google’s #1 site on fashion photography in the world, you might be interested in entering our Photo Of The Week competition. this could be your entry to some great exposure if you submit your photo and win. To find out more details on how to enter, make sure you join our mailing list. We will send you the entry details via your email.
As a reminder, voting ends at the end of the week so make sure you get voting on our Facebook page here. Tell us in the comments below, do you agree with how this week’s voting outcome? What is your critique on this photo? We want to here from you!
Greg Ponthus ist 20 Jahre alt und lebt in Brüssel. Trotz seines jungen Alters weiß er, dass er, solange er lebt, fotografieren möchte. Es ist eine Leidenschaft, die man seinen Bildern ansieht. Er selbst vergleicht seine Fotos mit dem Moment kurz vor dem Einschlafen, in dem man unfähig ist, wieder aufzustehen, zu sehen, zu sprechen. Ein Traumzustand.
Einige seiner Bilder hat er in einem Projekt mit dem Namen „Dull Age“ zusammengefasst.
Ich dachte, das passt gut zu dieser Zeit, in der ich lebe, roh und hart; etwas verändert sich. Jedes meiner Bilder zeigt einen meiner Gemütszustände, in einem bestimmten Moment meines Lebens.
Mehr von Gregs analogen, sehr persönlichen Arbeiten könnt Ihr auf Flickr oder seiner Webseite sehen.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
As cool as Gulf Photo Plus is in Dubai is every year, perhaps the very best part of the experience is the late-night conversation over beers at the nearby rooftop bar, the Vista. There, people leave the classes (and instructor/student roles) behind and simply talk photo until the wee hours of the morning.
An assumption is made that all at the table are just photographers. So the f/stops and shutter speed stuff is dispensed with in favor of everything that is the tapestry of photography. The resulting conversations are long, in-depth, very Inside Baseball and often funny as hell.
And a night at the Vista what Heisler's new book, 50 Portraits: Stories and Techniques from a Photographer's Photographer, feels like.
Read more »
Strobist
This video marks the last of Profoto's Greg Heisler BTS series.
In today's BTS, Heisler does some pretty cool problem-solving before the fact only to get blind-sided with the bison head on the day of the lightning-paced shoot.
Yeah, I said bison head. No, actually Heisler said that…
Read more »
In a ‘Master Series’ video posted by lighting maker Profoto USA, celebrated photographer Greg Heisler shares a behind the scenes tale of how he created a unique on-location portrait of then-NBA star Alonzo Mourning. In explaining a lighting setup that even most other pros would struggle to pull off, Heisler breaks down his lighting diagram for a shot that he conceived, ‘just because I think it looks cool’. (via Strobist)
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The Gulf Photo Plus 2013 Shootout just concluded, and boy was it a doozy.
The challenge: make a portrait of Greg Freakin’ Heisler, soup to nuts, in front of 350 people in 20 mins flat. No pressure there.
Major props to John Keatley, who managed to not crack under the pressure and actually make a portrait of Heisler that was consistent with the slightly off-center Keatley style.
Completely seriously, I want a 16×20 of this for the Strobist Cave.
And here’s the thing: Keatley didn’t even win it. This year’s winner was Zack Arias, who suffice to say has a brass pair for what he did. You’ll definitely want to watch the video when it comes out.
Whatever you have to do to get to Dubai for GPP, make it happen.
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For part two of his four-part BTS series for Profoto, photographer Gregory Heisler walks us through his Time cover of former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.
I really enjoyed this video. Not so much for the lighting tidbits, as it is a pretty straightforward photo in that regard. But rather because it exactly captures the vibe of photographers sitting around a table swapping stories. The interesting stuff is rarely about f/stops and shutter speeds, etc. It's more about what has to happen before you are in a position to make the photo at all. So, enjoy.
Oh, and Heisler has a book coming out, too. Read more »
Strobist
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