f/1.8 lens, stopped down, shot with f/1.4 lens, open
I have many times recommended 50mm f/1.8 lenses, and I’ll try to inspire you once more to go out and get one right now. Most manufacturers have a cheap lens like this: As you will have heard me say...
View ArticleDo I need a fast lens?
When students ask me “should I really buy a fast lens?” (For beginners, that’s a lens with a low “F-number”, like f/2.8), my answer is “it depends.” What are you shooting? Landscapes (no need for a...
View ArticleEye
Portraits? Then use a 50mm f/1.8 lens (affordable, fast, sharp) and shoot in Aperture (A/Av) mode with it wide open (preferably by window light). Look at this recent available-light shot of a student:...
View ArticleSnap
Photography is about composition/subject + moment + light. I reckon I got several of these right here: From earlier this year. Using a 35mm lens on a 1.3 crop camera (meaning it’s 50mm), set to f/2.8...
View ArticleMisc
Backgrounds and sharpness and white balance: oh my! I thought I would chat about some of the things that go through my mind when doing a portrait, like this one last night: Questions like: What camera...
View ArticleThat look over the shoulder
One common sexy model look is the “look over the shoulder”. Like here, in this shot of Nemo, a somewhat Rubenesque but nevertheless pretty model: In an “over the shoulder” pose women can look over...
View ArticleAgain, why "fast" lenses?
A tip for newcomers to SLR photography. I often hear: “Why do I need so-called “fast” lenses – like the 50mm f/1.8 lens Michael keeps talking about? Surely my 18-55 lens also covers 50mm?” Well yes it...
View ArticlePortrait using two flashes
Here’s an impromptu portrait I took on Tuesday, of a lovely student who kindly volunteered to be the subject, in the Flash for Pros course: And here’s how I did this: Camera: The camera was a Canon 7D...
View ArticleNifty Fifty
Everyone should own a fast 50mm lens, I keep saying. “Fast” meaning a prime, large aperture lens (like a 50mm f/1.8, or even a 50mm f/1.4, like this one:) 50mm fast lens, by Michael Willems One student...
View ArticleNot too shallow
I hear people say sometimes that “you cannot shoot portraits at wide open apertures”. So then how this available light portrait, shot on a full frame camera with a 50mm lens at f/1.2 (yes, f/1.2!)?...
View ArticleA very hard softbox.
Try this next time you want a person lit by a softbox and you have no softbox: Use a computer monitor. Display a white background (e.g. open a word document) and hey presto: a big and efficient...
View ArticleBlack and white…
..is underrated, I think; especially for portraits. Or else why don’t we do it more? A good black and white photo can full of character; moody, even. Especially in portraits, where the absence of...
View ArticleNifty Fifty
One lens that should be in everyone’s kit bag, however cheap your camera or however little you want to spend on equipment, is the 50mm lens. A lens they used to call the “nifty fifty”. I have mentioned...
View ArticleDawkins
I photographed Richard Dawkins tonight. In the sold-out Bader theatre in Toronto, where he introduced his new book to an enthusiastic crowd: Usually, theatre lighting is quite simple – if you get to...
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