Zenfolio Blog : studio photography

In-Between Days by Wendy Alas

Nataly — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:35:00 GMT

This post comes to you from one of our own users, Wendy Alas. Wendy is a documentary photographer based in Chicago, IL and a Visual Journalism/Photojournalism graduate from the prestigious Brooks Institute of Photography. She first discovered her passion self-portraiture in high school and has agreed to share her experience and love for the art form.

In-Between Days

Someone once told me that self-portraits are mostly for other people to see you for you, and others often say self-portraiture is a form of self-expression; to me it’s both and much more. I’ve been taking self-portraits for about ten years now. I began in my very first black and white photography class in High School when I was sixteen. I was part of a club called Gallery 37 in Chicago and was able to take an SLR camera home loaded with Tri-X Pan 35mm film. I didn’t have a tripod at the time so I improvised by using a table and holding the camera still by placing books around it. This is a method that I don’t recommend anyone to do! At that time, after only living in the U.S. for two years, I really had no idea where I belonged. I was often seen as a bookworm for spending my lunch breaks in the library or in the dark room developing black and white photographs. After taking my very first self-portrait I realized that I wasn’t the plain girl I often felt perceived as, but that I can actually be a good subject to make pleasant photographs. I did it for my own entertainment, and at the time I didn’t understand the effect it had on me. It actually gave me a boost of confidence, knowing that I could take my own pictures and that in fact, I looked good. I decided to pursue photojournalism in college, since self-portraiture has only been a hobby to me. Today I make a living as a documentary photographer, and even through my personal art of self-portraiture, I make it a goal to still take story-telling images.
While all my self-portraits may not represent me at my best, I have confidence that they portray emotion, even more emotion than I imagine to appear within the setting. Self-portraiture really is a way to express what I feel, whether it's sadness, happiness, love, romance, passion, bravery, etc. Through these photographs, I’ve also come to realize certain aspects of my persona: a withdrawn young woman, but with a need for attention? Or simply, love. It is mainly a way to reconnect with myself, and to scratch a restless itch that sometimes consumes me, but perhaps is also a way to tell the world… look at me, I am human, I am real. It’s a chance to project something that you may not see in person, for instance, an exotic alluring persona, a restless woman, a fearless and free spirit yearning to fly away from reality or ready to dive into this complex world as with no reservations. This makes me confident.

In the summer of 2007 I had marked nearly three years in a relationship that began during my last year of college in California, after receiving my degree I moved back to Chicago and due to the distance, and our fickle plans of being together again, I felt to be growing apart by mundane distractions. I was very confused and sad but at the same time I felt empowered to stand-alone. This is perhaps one of my favorite self-portraits because not only was a beautiful day to shoot outside, but also I am determined and ready to move on. When I see this photograph now, I remind myself of the way I felt then and it really does help! I shot this image outside in my backyard under the shade, I used a Westcott bouncing reflector to fill light on my left, 50mm lens, a tripod, and Sekonic light meter to obtain right exposure.

About a year ago I was involved with a wonderful man, a traveling cameraman. We traveled, we had photographic adventures and there was a connection I had never experienced in my life. I was inspired. At the beginning of the relationship, he was on a documentary adventure in the upper amazons of Peru; I took this photograph to show anticipation, because that’s exactly how I felt. I couldn’t wait for his return. Everything was so new and fresh in our relationship. The window light in my room was perfect, and there is no better time to make self-portraits than after washing your car and while doing laundry. I used a tripod, a Sekonic light meter, shot all manual and used the timer on the camera for the shutter release.

Self-portraiture is actually a bit ironic sometimes, because realistically, most photographers are afraid to step in front of the camera. It takes trust and confidence to feel comfortable being photographed. From personal experience, I have found it so much easier to direct myself than others to pose for me. There’s an unhurried energy to know that there’s nobody behind that lens, looking at you being distracted by your attributes or flaws. I think as women, we tend to care to look attractive, but as a documentary photographer I feel it’s also important to show emotion and tell a story. It is more captivating and really makes your audience wonder what goes through your mind.

Needless to say, there are a lot of technical aspects that go into making these images. It is important to follow rules, but I believe that, occasionally, when you break the rules you come out with better photos. So I recommend you follow your own instinct.

Self-portraiture is an art form and though it can be portrayed as an act of narcissism or delusions of grandeur, it takes creativity, patience, some confidence and practice. I think every photographer should try doing it, and have fun!

Wendy Alas

http://wendyalas.com/

Get That Thing Off of Your Camera by David Hobby

Nataly — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:15:00 GMT

The post below comes to you from David Hobby. We are very thankful to have him share his expertise with our readers. David, has had a 20-year career as a photojournalist, and is the author of a very popular blog called Strobist with 170,000 readers from around the world. Without any further adieu:

Get That Thing Off of Your Camera

As photographers, we learn to see light. We notice light when it is interesting. And we always try to make photos in interesting light. And neat light almost always looks so good because it strikes the subject from somewhere other than from the direction of the camera.

Seriously, can you imagine how boring the world would look if we always walked around viewing everything with the sun directly behind us? And yet, so many photographers - especially beginners - tend to keep their flashes attached to their cameras. This effectively rules out creating interesting, directional light.

When you light from "on-camera," your flash is very good at revealing detail, but it is very bad at revealing form. Essentially, you are using light about as creatively as a Xerox machine does. On-camera light is great for making an accurate record, but very poor at creating an interesting image of your subject.

Whether you are shooting to make money, or shooting to preserve memories of your friends and family, one of the best things you can do for yourself to improve your photography is to learn how to control light by using off-camera flash.

I spent 20 years as a professional photojournalist. And somewhere along the way I learned the value of a small, hot-shoe flash placed somewhere other than on the camera.

Lighting coming from somewhere else creates shadows. And shadows give a three-dimensional quality to your subject. A couple of years ago, I started teaching other photographers how to light, for free, at Strobist.com. To date, over two million photographers have benefitted from the over 1,000 articles posted there on how to use your small flashes more effectively.

Today, I would like to share three, simple, one-flash photos from my family album -- and how they were made -- in the hopes of getting you to think about getting your flash off of your camera, if you haven't already done so.

Hallway Portrait

I photographed my son, Ben, in the hallway of our house using a small flash (a Nikon SB-800) connected to my Nikon D300 with an SC-17 off-camera TTL flash cord. This preserves the TTL metering of my camera and flash, and lets me create more interesting light by changing its position relative to the camera.

I stuck the flash in a small soft box, a LumiQuest Soft Box III, which is very portable, inexpensive and folds flat at about 8x9 inches. Camera in left hand, flash in right hand, everything on full auto.

Shooting through an old plastic lens from a "toy" camera added a nice, soft effect to the image.

Late-Night Reader

I photographed my daughter during one of her late-night Harry Potter binges by taking a moment to place the flash in the opened book itself. This reflected off of the pages, turning the book into a soft light source which also illuminated the canopy around her bed.

I could have used bounce flash, but all of the cool atmosphere would have been gone. Today's cameras and flashes can communicate wirelessly and maintain TTL exposure, too. So even if you are not comfortable with manual flash, that is no excuse for not getting your light in the right spot to make a cool photo.

Parents at Sunset

For the upcoming 50th Anniversary of my parents' first date, I wanted to make a special portrait at the lake home to which they have retired in Florida.

The tiki hut pictured in the photo has no light in it. But that was a natural place to stick a small flash -- along with an orange "CTO" gel to allow the flash to simulate a tungsten light bulb.

I think the light coming from the inside of the hut adds a lot of dimension to the photo. And it also allows me to balance the exposure on my parents to that of the sunset. It also adds a feel of realism to the photo that no on-camera flash could have possibly done.

Now, You Try It

If you have ever wanted to learn how to use your flashes like a pro, there has never been a better time than now. Professionals are publishing websites and keeping blogs designed just to share this knowledge and expand the boundaries of your photography.

And for the most part, it is all free. You can join us at Strobist.com, where anyone, of any age or skill level can learn the basics of off-camera flash in no time.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

Studio Photography magazine publishes article about Zenfolio

Alex Peyzner [Zenfolio] — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:15:00 GMT

The latest March 2008 issue of the Studio Photography magazine includes an article about how Zenfolio helps a wedding photography studio handle all their Web hosting and fulfillment needs.

The article was written by one of our customers, Choco Studio, and includes a comprehensive review of how they use our services.

Link to the article.