Proceed With Passion!

I readily admit that there are many times that I get wrapped up in the technical aspects of photography and lighting in particular: I love playing with the science involved with creating images. I was involved with a shoot yesterday that proved to be a subtle, yet powerful reminder that it’s the art that drives the passion behind photography. I’ve had a studio of some sort for almost 30 years and I’ve created images for a professional market for more than half that time. Walking into my studio is like walking into my living room--it’s my comfort zone. I was reminded yesterday that creating images--just for the pure beauty of creating art from what started out as an empty room is an awesome experience.

My buddy Max has helped me out on numerous occasions--both in the studio and on location shoots. Max owns and runs his own scuba diving company on Oahu called Manini Dive Company Hawaii. He is not a newcomer to photography by any means. However, most of his photography takes place underwater. He and I have had many many conversations about the differences between light underwater and light on land as well as creating the light you want with strobes an other light modifiers. Max finally took me up on my offer to share the studio for a day and for me to HIS assistant for a change.

Max has always been an artist and has been a photographer since high school. He had a shot in mind that he wanted to create that would use a fairly harsh lighting scheme to emulate the glamour lighting and formal portraiture of the 1940’s. He found his perfect model for his vision and Elizabeth was willing to sit for her first time in front of a professional camera. Melissa Hurley agreed to do the make-up for the shoot and a project was launched.

Max always puts his all into everything he does. His vision was to create a formal portrait of a young lady in a classic cocktail dress, so he showed up at my condo to load up the camera gear dressed to the nines in black slacks, a white button down shirt and black tie! Setting the mood an be a very important piece of the creative process!

Max and I both photographed Elizabeth in each of two sets. We took a quick look at the images before leaving the studio. Max half-jokingly stated that he thought that he had captured better images of Elizabeth than I had. It was meant as a light-hearted jab at his old friend, but I have to agree after a more careful review of the images. There is nothing wrong wit my images: I got some nice images of a very pretty young lady. Max’ images images show--well--they show his passion!

What’s the lesson to be learned here? The ability to create the images you want--whether it is underwater, outside on land, or in a studio is an awesome treat. Take every opportunity to do so that comes your way--and Proceed With Passion.

Max's images used with permission. All rights reserved.

New book!

My new book has a name! It's called "Portrait Lighting Made Simple." It's due out in November so I'd better get back to editing! Photo soon! I'll get back to blog posts as soon as this round of edits are finished.

Old questions revisited

I write a monthly column for a terrific website called www.prophotoresource.com. I am also lucky enough to have my own forum on that site called "Ask Steve." I get asked a wide variety of questions so it's always good fun to read what's on people's minds as they navigate their way through the fascinating world of photography. Many wonderful questions and discussions are now buried in the archives--they are still available on PPR, but you have to go digging. I thought it was time to bring them back to the surface and breathe some life into them. Hopefully they can spur on some new discussions and help some other photographers.

I wrote "Bring Back Your Background By Taking Your Studio Strobes Outside" several years ago for prophotoresource and covered the topic in some detail in my Outdoor Lghting book. The two images of Brooke that start this post show the before and after efffect of the technique discussed. The basic technique was to shoot at a faster shutter speed at a midrange f-stop to show the detail in the background and to use a powerful stobe to illuminate Brooke--jut the opposite of "dragging the shutter" to show detail in a dark background. This was the question and my response:

Stephen, when you changed the shutter speed to 1/250s didn't the camera indicate a 2 stop overexposure? This probably seems like a silly and very elementary question. But I ask because I think it is important to mention what the camera meter will display. Some photographers may not understand that many times the camera reading will not indicate a normal exposure but that the set exposure may in fact be the correct exposure to achieve the look you want.

Response: First off, there is no such thing as a "silly question." The only bad questions are the ones that you don't ask. Now, you pose an interesting set of questions. My camera is always set to manual exposure so I tell IT what to do rather than IT trying to dictate to me what it wants to do. I would have gotten that awful first shot if I relied on the camera's indicator. However, if I had checked the the camera's indicator, it probably would have said that I was UNDERexposing the image by two or more stops--which is essentially what I did--except that I used the strobe to bring the light on Brooke up to meet the the new exposure. Remember that your meter--in the camera or hand held--is both an amazing machine and a stupid tool: It understands one thing only: midtone gray. It's amazing because it will translate ANY metered scene into 18% gray. It's stupid because it doesn't know what to do with that information. That's where we come in. We get to take that critical information and tweak it to fit our needs. The image of Brooke actually had two correct exposures: one for her and one for the backdrop. The two were not compatible--until we introduced the strobe. (The originally questioner did mean to say underexpose but mistyped it)

My approach seveal years later is very similar. I've written several articles for PPR about metering for the background and using strobes to balance the foreground with the background. I also address this in detail once again in my upcoming "Back to Basics" book. Please feel free to visit me at either PPR or join my "Ask Steve Photography Related Questions" on Facebook!

Growth and Maturation in the Middle to Late Teen Years

Growth and Maturation in the Middle to Late Teen Years


The amount of growth and change that occurs in the first two years of life is remarkable. Capturing those changes for posterity is a viable and often lucrative market for portrait photographers. Many studios have established programs where babies are photographed every few months--creating a cherished baby album for the family--and eventually the child--to enjoy for years to come.

Senior portraits, on the other hand, are at the opposite end of childhood. Senior portraits are a snapshot in time that documents the transition from childhood to adulthood. There is, however, a critical period of time that falls between these extremes, albeit more towards the “senior” end of the timeline.

I have always like working with teenagers. I’ve worked with them as a school psychologist and as a photographer. The changes that occur in the mid to late teen years affect every aspect of the young person’s life. I have been fascinated by the changes in the way teenagers think and understand their worlds for as long as I’ve been in psychology (long time!) However, we have the opportunity as photographers to document the changes as they grow from children to young adults. I’ve had the pleasure of watching many youngsters grow up right in front of my camera.

One of the most dramatic examples comes from my work with Cassie Ann. I’ve worked with Cassie four times over about one and half years. She changed dramatically with each shoot from a pretty kid to a beautiful young lady--right in front of my lens.














(Cassie with Sam Chung)

















(Cassie with Serena)























































Cassie is also a very professional and friendly model. Drop me a note if you want to work with her and I will pass your information on to her. (Hair and Make-up for Fruits and Harajuku Girls was done by Toni Farley and Tiffany Pestana-Breaux)