Here’s A Simple Overview:

Camera Settings – Learn what all those dials on the camera mean and how ISO, Shutter Speed and F-Stop all work together as part of the exposure triangle. Lens selection will also be discussed along with why the quality of GLASS matters.

Hands On – That means you actually get to shoot during the workshop. There will be a model at the class to photograph in different lighting situations to gain a better understanding of lighting.

Hot Shoe Flash Indoors And Out Plus Studio Lighting – Most beginning level and even some more advanced photographers do not understand just how important a hot shoe mountable flash is. Get away from that little pop up built in flash if you have one and discover the powerful world of a hot shoe mountable flash. In addition, the basics of studio lighting will be covered along with why a white background is not as easy to photograph as you think.

The above is just a very basic overview. There will be a lot of information covered in this 3 hour workshop that will leave your head spinning with excitement about what you just learned.

Don’t forget: You can use the contact form on our website to contact me or call me at 919.723.8453.

The post Introduction To Camera Settings & The Basics Of Strobe Lighting: Saturday, July 25th, 2015 From 9 a.m. To Noon first appeared on .

In my own business, I find it interesting how many people that call me talk about how much they love my work and my site. BUT notice that I said, “people that call me.” There are visits to my site which do not translate to calls which reminds me of “Not everyone will like your work” and I have to accept that.

Below is Joel’s first video for his launch of his new video blog: “What Makes a Great Photograph?”

Here’s one from November 30th…”The Power of Branding”

Here’s one from December 4th…”Finding the Sweet Spot of Your Lens”

Click Here to Visit Joel Grimes Blog

Click Here To Subscribe To Joel’s YouTube Page

The post Photography Video Blog: Behind The Lens With Joel Grimes first appeared on .

Shot As Part Of Workshop – (1) Beauty Dish and (2) Brolly Boxes On White Background

I held a lighting workshop at our North Raleigh Studio today just off of Six Forks Road. The workshop was 3 1/2 hours long and went very fast. I covered various modifiers like soft boxes, strip boxes, brolly boxes and umbrellas. I even broke out a beauty dish at the very end which was how the shot above was taken.

Most of the lighting was focused on an indoor studio setting using one to four lights; however, we did venture outside to use a one and two light setup. The key to outside is balancing daylight and strobe together. Although overpowering daylight will creative a different look and can be very effective.

I am not sure when I will offer another workshop like this one or the second workshop to compliment this one, but I do offer one-on-one training by the hour that is great for new or part-time photographers. If you are interested in a workshop or would like to learn more about one-to-one training, please feel free to use my online contact form.

Check out some of the candid shots below from the lighting workshop. You can tell that it’s both fun and educational.

The post Lighting For Photography Workshop Held At Our North Raleigh Studio Is Now Complete first appeared on .

The model was in a shaded walkway area between two office condo buildings.  I wanted the bright light that you see behind her to help make the image pop.  The daylight reading was f/5.6 which I adjusted the camera via ISO and Shutter Speed to get.  Although I was on manual, you could set your camera for aperture priority at f/5.6 or on manual at f/5.6 and get the meter to even out based on the f/stop by adjusting your shutter speed and potentially ISO if needed.  I purposely slightly over exposed the image, so my meter was NOT exactly even at f/5.6.

I used a C-stand with a boom arm mounted with an Einstein strobe and a 22 inch beauty dish.  I used two sand bags on the C-stand to keep it from tipping over.  I adjusted the strobe manually instead of using a light meter.  With the adjustment on the strobe, I shot a few images until the light looked like it was balanced.  If I had of used a light meter, I could have adjusted it to f/5.6 to match it with the daylight.

***Equipment List…
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 70-200mm F2.8
Pocket Wizard
Paul C. Buff 640 WS Einstein (Strobe)
Paul C. Buff 22 Inch Beauty Dish (White)
Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini (Outside Power)
C-Stand with Boom Arm and Sandbag
Visit Paul C. Buff

***As for equipment, depending on where you are with your photography, you may not have most of the items listed and you may not be shooting with professional gear. That’s OK! You have to start where you are and use what you have. If you have a camera, a lens and a flash, you can still try to balance daylight and strobe together to create a similar shot.

The post Outside Photography Tip: Make Your Outside Images POP by Balancing Daylight and External Strobe first appeared on .

In the post Karl shows examples of Hard Light, Soft Light, Transmitted Light and Reflected Light.  He provides text to go along with his examples to help the reader better understand what he is showing examples of.  Karl closes the post with his “6 Top Tips For Working With The Best Light.”

To become a better photographer, understanding and using light properly is a key part of that journey.  It has been my greatest personal challenge with photography.  As a professional, I still continue to study and experiment with light.

I have included a video below that is embedded in the post.  You can find Karl’s full post by visiting Photography Lighting – The Basics.  To learn more about Karl Taylor and his photography courses, please be sure to visit Karl Taylor Photography Masterclass.  FYI, I am not an affiliate of his products and don’t even know if that’s an option.  I simply love his work.

The post To Become A Better Photographer – You Need To Understand Light: Check Out – Karl Taylor: Photography Lighting – The Basics first appeared on .

Use Wide Aperture Settings

The f-stop or aperture controls how wide the shutter opens when you capture the image. The smaller the f-stop, the wider the opening. I have found that wide aperture settings

Shot In The Shade At F/5.6 With Fill Flash

generally work better in most outdoor scenes because they allow more of the natural light to enter the picture. If an image is too bright, you can compensate for that by using a faster shutter speed.

Use the Subject’s Eyes as a Focal Point

Digital cameras allow you to select focal points when shooting. You see little boxes appear in multiple areas of the photo. For example, if you’re shooting a group of people, the camera will try to autofocus based on where the faces are. When you’re shooting just one person in an outdoor setting, the person’s eyes make the best focal point for the image. The camera may auto-select other focal points, but you don’t always want to accept the default.

Avoid Direct Sunlight

This is one place where you’ll want to experiment and do some test shots. Shooting with the sun behind you can work if the sun isn’t too bright—such as taking a sunset portrait. But if you’re capturing images at high noon on a clear day, you may want to consider taking images in the shade, or at least in partially shaded area. You want to capture some sunlight on the subject’s face, but too much will oversaturate the image and drown out their features.

Outdoor portraits allow you to take advantage of a number of neat lighting effects that you can’t create in a studio. At the same time, it can be trickier until you get the hang of it. As with anything else, it’s a trial and error process.

The post Tips For Better Outdoor Portrait Photography first appeared on .

Images are Uncompressed

Many lower-end digital cameras only capture images directly to JPEG format. The problem with JPEG images is that they use “lossy” compression. In plain English, this means that the processor lowers image quality to make the file smaller. Each time you edit and save a JPEG image, the quality is further degraded (although only a tiny bit). By saving the RAW image, you preserve the highest level of image integrity throughout the editing process.

Ability to Correct Brightness and White Balance

One thing that you can’t do with a JPEG image after the fact is adjust exposure levels of images. Sure, you can use Photoshop filters, but RAW images allow you to make finer adjustments because of the information stored in the file. This gives you a wider margin of error when it comes to over- and under-exposed images.

Improved Color Quality

In addition to brightness and lighting, the RAW format records better color profile data than the JPEG format does. The technical details of how this works are a bit involved—but the bottom line is that shooting in the RAW format improves the quality of the end product by capturing more accurate and precise colors.

Because RAW files are unprocessed, you can’t post them to the web or print them directly from your camera like you can with a JPEG file. They also take up a lot more space. I buy huge memory cards and drives for the extra space because I know that I’ll need it. But I know that things happen fast at live events and I don’t always have a lot of time to maneuver. That’s why I consider it vital to capture lots of images and keep them in a format where I know I’ll be able to make the adjustments I need.

The bottom line is that while RAW format may not be vital for amateur or hobbyist photographers, I believe it is a must for anyone who shoots professionally.  I also know that not all professionals will agree with that for logical reasons.

The post 3 Advantages of Capturing RAW Images first appeared on .

David Williams is a professional photographer with many years of experience.  Photography is more than just a job for our staff, it’s something we are very passionate about and something that we love doing!  Our love of photography has encouraged us to share our skills and knowledge with others.  We hope that others will get the same enjoyment that photography has brought into our lives.

We offer group photography workshops that go beyond the basics for those that are little more advanced.  We also offer one on one training sessions that are more personalized to your individual needs.  Please feel free to visit our website at https://www.rtpphotoandvideo.com/photography-workshops-raleigh-nc/ for additional information.

Also, please feel free to give us a call at 919.723.8453  if you have any questions!  If you are interested in one to one training with David Williams, please call us for availability and scheduling.  We look forward to hearing from you!

The post Photography Workshops & Training with David Williams in Raleigh NC first appeared on .

Canon 100mm Macro

Use a Macro Lens

Phones are not always good with close-up shots, but many inexpensive standalone digital cameras have macro zoom functions. A macro lens allows you to get a lot more detail on the product itself. As an alternative, if you do not have a macro lens, take a shot of the product as close as possible without blurring the image and use the highest resolution setting possible.

Set Up a Backdrop

A consistent background is important for product photography. Depending on the nature and layout of your facility, you may want to include your business in the product images. For example, for a restaurant, you might want to show a popular dish next to a bottle of wine on one of your dining room tables. If you decide to go this route, think about whether it makes more sense to pick different locations and angles for different products or to shoot all of the images from one spot.

There are two easy and inexpensive ways to create a backdrop that I use regularly. One option is to get a lightbox for small product images. Lightboxes are compact and portable, and you can buy them for as little as $25 for a basic model. You can even build your own lightbox. Alternatively, you can buy a roll of butcher paper or equivalent white paper. This is an easy route to go, especially if you are planning to take pictures of something too large for a lightbox.

Most types of product photography require the expertise of a professional, but even on your own you can significantly improve the quality of your images using these techniques.

The post Taking Product Photography Images: Simple Tips for Using a Camera NOT a Phone first appeared on .

The purpose of this post is two share two short videos that Karl recently produced in partnership with Broncolor.

The first one is “Broncolor Lighting (How To Part1) Necklace & Beauty by Karl Taylor” and the second one is “Broncolor Lighting (How To Part 2) Flash Painting & Bottle Photography by Karl Taylor.” You’ll find both videos below. You can see Karl’s blog post by visiting Training partnership with Broncolor.

The post Karl Taylor Photography: Broncolor Studio Lighting Video Tutorials – Part 1 is 7:10 & Part 2 is 8:53 first appeared on .