Portrait Photography of Your Family

 
 
 

Marion

This image was made during a course I was running on Portrait photography. The shoot was held at an artist’s retreat in Melbourne, Australia.
I have a particular love for and, therefore, affinity with existing light photography. We were working in a darkened room with very low levels of light. I looked around and noticed a [...]

Studio Portrait

This portrait was made in the studio. The original 35mm color transparency (slide) was rendered into black and white through a Black and White Adjustment Layer in Adobe Photoshop CS4. I also utilized a Curves Adjustment Layer in CS4 to apply a subtle cool bluish tone to the shadows and a lovely warm apricot tone [...]

Pic of the Week_Bride and Flowers

This bridal portrait was made with the aid of window light. The localized color in the flowers has become popular over recent times, although it borrows from traditional hand-coloring techniques from years gone by.
In the busy time between the bride dressing and leaving for the church I wanted to take a few moments to make [...]

Portrait under Verandah Light

Here’s a lovely portrait made under gentle verandah light on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne, Australia. I utilized a Canon 50mm f1.2 L series lens to portray the subject under the verandah of this classic Greco-Roman styled frontage. Adobe Lightroom 2 was employed for basic image processing and rendering into black-and-white. The [...]

Soft Light and a Kind Subject

Here’s an image from a recent workshop with a great bunch of enthusiasts. The image was made on a day with relatively flat, uninspiring weather.
I photographed Dorota, one of the participants, with a Canon 50mm f1.2 lens. It’s a well-built lens that handles easily. The exceptionally shallow Depth of Field achieved at f1.2 enables the [...]

Pic of the Week_Ellen_Window Light

 
Here’s an image from a recent workshop on low light portrait photography in Eltham on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. 
The image was made in doors with the aid of window light. I love working in this way. Window light provides a lovely, soft light source that renders the subject in a very flattering manner. The [...]

Window Light_Portrait

 
This window light portrait was made during a recent workshop in the Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria. 
The weather was chilly and the light overcast throughout the day. This particular image was made indoors as part of a discussion on shooting with the aid of window light. Unlike the usual sunrise or sunset [...]

Group Shot_Myanmar

 

Here’s an image that’s bothered me for a long time. I was travelling in Myanmar (Burma) and had risen very early to ascend a hilltop not far from the famous temple site, Bagan. While the sunrise was not spectacular I did make several good shots of the surrounding landscape. Afterwards I descended towards the famous [...]

Novice Monks_Myanmar

 

The above image was made in the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Myanmar on a hot, bright day. The common perception is that this is the ideal weather for photography. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bright light is the death of photography. It reflects off the surface of the subject taking with [...]