Confessions of a Photographer - episode 03

[odnanref1100]

what lens you use?

[antoniofotografia]

thank´s Bert!!!

[CutayyOletaaa261]

hihí_i_féêl_s0_lÖñÉly_tÔDAY

[sjphs]

why are you not using a softbox or umbrella?

[wrobe00011]

The power of flash! :)

[Zimonias]

Love your vids, i subbed, check me out too, please

i make art photography!!

Sub me too, if you like it,

Thank you!!

[waynebw]

"it's hard to move such a light source" lol, I love his jokes :)

[philj212]

I really appreciate your videos. Keep them coming! :)

[TommyPh500d]

What lens are you using

[EniGmiSta084]

sorry, but how do get so strong blacks and dark images so the only subject in the light?

[FlipSport1]

1.44 ..... nice !

[jeanlucandre]

Great tutorial !!! btw what''s the use to have such a big lense to take portraits ?

[AndyBJ]

@jeanlucandre Longer focal lengths compress perspective and make facial features more flattering and also make people look (smaller) thinner which can look better.

[whoppers1000]

Bert, do you offer dvd's of your photoshoots. Just wondering. Great job.

[skellingtone]

@whoppers1000 google motivationallight

[Zimonias]

Hai, i love you video´s, i make art photography, check me out!!!!! i subbed you!!! please comment my work!!  Thank you very much! Love

[AmiciZionsville]

Excellent job. Wonderful work!

[elcielo1981]

What is the piece on the end of your lens for. Is it to help with light or to protect it if you drop it??

[motivatdguy2000]

@elcielo1981 It prevents lens flare.

[BenjPhotoDotCom]

@elcielo1981 It's a lens hood. I helps prevent lens flare as motivatdguy2000 says, but it also helps protect the front element from being banged against stuff.

A lot of people think of lens flare only as the spots of light when shooting toward the sun, but the hood also protects against a washed out look from direct or reflected light to the sides of the lens. It assures the the only light you're capturing is what's coming straight down the barrel.

[BenjPhotoDotCom]

@elcielo1981 I should add that I very rarely shoot without it, regardless of the lighting conditions.

[martinaee]

Getting good photos of hot models is not that hard lol. The pictures practically make themselves :)

[rioalbert23]

Nice and Great Videos of your Photography experiences. Thanks for share lots of tips and lightning techniques. Very well done Job...

[GeorgeMaj15]

I've been getting into photography and I've been also been trying to capture natural light like this; how do you see the light before shooting? I've been having a ton of trouble doing that. Most of mine end up with a much flatter light, or harsh, shadow casting light.

[clintojo]

When shooting with the flash outside to overpower the sun like that, roughly what kind of shutter speed are you using?

[hicks0r]

nice video, I really like it

[TrajikFrikshun]

"very expensive light modifier??" ... HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA. OMG... now that was Funny... Your sense of Humor is excellent.... very good video

[AlphaSphere]

Thanks for sharing!

Great video, not so good music :p

[ArneW90]

the video is good, but the music sucks...

[darkcrunk]

hahahaha "very expensive light modifier" hahahahahahha can't stop laughing ROFLFLFLFLFL

[BlueXBlue2]

very appreciated videos..

just the music is too loud compared to ur voice :)

[AS7Datlas]

love your vids. very informative. :) will be trying some of your techniques. post some more! :D

[eddye85]

"who needs a studio!"

RIGHT!

[aldohodgkinson]

@eddye85 Who needs a studio when you have a model that cute :)

[slavkinb]

good stuff!

[xav90]

great! i love the photos!

but the village was beautiful, why didnt you use it as a background? :)

[grindstedlife]

WOW.. awesome

[Kaustabh0012]

which canon L series lense is this @ 1.06?

[Mike3ooZX]

looks like a 70-200 f2.8 L

[deJTC]

70-200 2.8 IS USM

[kansasvmax94]

Seriously... Come on, Seriously? Was that really necessary? I'm a Nikon guy full fledged, but do I need to write something like that. No. What a childish jackass.

[Gaget125]

You rock man keep it up! Love these videos

[seals1288]

this guy is a true inspiration! wow!

[Icehut]

I too want to photograph dirty whores in street. Where do I find them for low price is problem. I will come to belgium and we will have waffles and whores!

Hahaha! Little joke. Thank you. I have train ticket and will be there soon for to learn whore photography.

[Malle1221]

shes really pretty

[momentodigital]

Hi Great shots, i would like to know if you ´re  using an exposimeter to read light? or you are using the metering sistem in your dslr and if it´s, wich set up are you using, spot or center weighted? Thanks and keep good work

[Rappsnapper]

Responding to Amatsu34's question - I think the words are "light stands" (you can see one of them to the photographer's left).

[DramaKidStudioz]

I didn't Black n White looked so good with DSLR cameras, I will try to see if i can get some looks like that.

[Amatsu34]

1:00 to 1:06 He says something that I can't quite hear and would like to know.

He says " For the next pictures we used only the available light so please ignore the light _______"

Anyone care to guess?

[jimtsa]

ignore the light stand

[RAZZ7]

"ignore the light stands"

[niurkarey]

Very good information, question: what is on top of the camera? remote for the flash? before starting the session do you use a light meeter ?

[hahelmy]

it is a wireless transmitter for the flash

[zxbcx]

its a wireless transmitter that connects to the reciever on the external flash

[djdannyray]

Love that tune .

Pretty catchy.

[MrPhoto0214]

Very Nice work I hope to be doing some of this simple strobe work as soon as my flashes come in.

[l0lercycle]

how can you NOT take a good picture of her?

[vkotis]

yeah she's cute:)

[johannescourtens]

Do you have a model mayhem? and or some kind of website?

[Jannacek]

she's cuuuuute

[coolchef1337]

Great use of natural light. Good photographs.

[consistentbass]

Hi again thank you for anwering the question. I just got it. White building. Now it makes sense.

hehe

I didn't quite understand what you said the first time. sorry. But I got now.

yup.

[excalibur440]

Very nice work

[acapmex1]

Why do you have a tranceiver hooked to the hot shoe? are you using any slaves or strobes?

[l33thustla]

How else he gonna fire the flash

[indimonkey6]

white kind of settings did u use on the above shoot?

[l33thustla]

Maybe F8/16 or something similar to underexpose ambient light, 1/200.

[pwils10]

great content and great sense of humour.

[mikeythenotsogreat]

I love your videos bert, keep them coming!

[pastori70]

Very nice..

[vamphunte]

where did you take your studies??

[Kaibot]

That model is sooooo hot

[27Commonsense]

Check this video out---Jason Photography shoot #1

[bim2x4]

Bert, what priority mode do you usually shoot with? I'm guessing shutter but I don't know. If so, how fast?

[fadetoblack22]

Probably manual. I'm only a beginner, but I'm guessing he set the shutter to around the same focal length of the lens and underexposed the backgrounds using the aperture. The then flash was used to make the contrasty images.

[FDPictures]

the aperture he uses is always very wide open (2.8 i think) and in fact he usses flashes I think he works in M

[flexichat]

fantastic!

[neelaakaasham]

hahahah.... "I am using a very large and expensive reflector...."... "that large white building.." LOL. "Its hard to move this reflector, so Kim and myself had to move..." nice quotes ...hehhehe

[Anime4lyfe]

Well said. The world is vast land of locations for a "STUDIO" Shoot. Good little vid and nice portraits.

[afterTelevision]

great way of shooting, keep it up, to shmeldick, soft sharp, hes using telephoto lens, hence low depth of field, its about 300mm. Proves u dont need some glam ego masterbator set up, to take good photos. Ive been experiementing with my camera phone :)

[danthemanporto]

cool

[jamsparty]

cute model it's great!!!

[gjlns123]

it's great!!!

[mlllee]

"who needs a studio" You are absolutely, using what is avaliable to the best is being skilful.

[genyouwin]

Without info on your camera type, settings and film (if you used film) this video is absolutely pointless. It works as an ego trip or an advert for your services, perhaps - but as a guide for other photographers, it's pointless.

[teiladay]

Exif information (shutterspeed, iso, f/stop) isn't going to mean anything to you unless you're shooting at the EXACT location, EXACT time of day, EXACT distance from the model and having the EXACT same light source hitting the model in the EXACT same way. The clip shows basic lighting and composition principles. The blurred background could be gotten if he was shooting at f/10 or f/1.4 depends on the distance of model to the lens and focal length used.  His settings are so irrelevant. ;)

[genyouwin]

I was making the point that examples of settings (and lens choice) would have been far more useful (guide, even) than this 'general' blurb.

As for your EXACTness; anybody shooting this TYPE of subject comes across this TYPE of location, TYPE of time of day, TYPE of subject distance, TYPE of light source (i.e. our sun), and TYPE of light incidence.

So his settings (i.e. per lens) are ABSOLUTELY relevant!

Any photographer knows this. Please tell us how you manage without this knowledge?

[CloudINC00]

The things you are talking about are the basics of photography (lens type and camera settings) You should already know how to do those things. that's why he doesn't mention it...

This video involves lighting techniques using a single strobe and available light... Thats what makes these videos great

[suzlwilliams]

Awesome Pics!! But what are your camera settings? what ISO? f-stops and speed settings? And when you used your flash what ratio was it set on or intensity?

[Supersonic5]

TOO MUCH VIGNETTING, stop it. it looks like shit.

[shmeldrick]

I'd like to know how you achieve that soft yet sharp look throughout the photos?

[papoh]

Love the videos, but please new music!

[key2highway]

These videos are great and give me some very good ideas.

Thanks.

Damian Gadal

[fkthatkd]

1Ds mark2~!

[riyadh07]

i like it.thanks.

[kenthephotoman]

Nice!

[someonesperson]

wow thanks for taking the time to make these videos...I cant believe how much I learned from them.

just out of curiosity...is that a 5D or a 20/30/40D ? ?

[slak18]

those are almost toy cameras, try 1Ds Mark II or Mark III. This guy is a PRO.....Thanks for the vids Mr. Stephani!

[EddCunningham]

Hey come on, the 5d isn't that bad!

At least it's full frame compared to the others listed...

[rmstudio]

IF you guys spent half the time you did reading Camera reviews and spec sheets from the manufactures of camera's on reading about lighting and the time actually shooting you guys might be actually good. I would bet you hands down a guy with a 10D that knows what he is doing versus the idiot that reads reviews on his new 5D camera would run circles around the 5D guy.. Get a clue guys. The camera has about 10% to do with what makes good skills.

[someonesperson]

Actually its a 30D, you mistook it for a 1 series because it has a battery grip on.

Check out Berts blog, says he used a 30D, that got stolen not so long ago and now he has a 1Ds II and a 1D III.

[dolphinDog]

The big white lense is a Canon 70-200mm 2.8L

[mafiaboy15]

what is the shutter speed you use? i need to learn that kind of shoot men thats cool!!

[treeflood]

what lens were you using at 1:39?

[ewaldduerr]

I think it might be the nifty-fifty! ef 50 1:1,8

[treeflood]

wish mine took pictures like that ;)

[cito117]

Or maybe the EF 50 1.4?

[amagawa05]

Great videos and your images are top stuff! Thank you very much for your generous contributions to amateur photographers.

[fyawerkz]

man I could throw a brick through a window!!

Ive been trying to figure that out for like FOREVER!!!!

[arrogantbastard76]

thank you very much Bert for sharing your knowlege. The hdr B&W images are beautiful abd You make it look so easy. Where can I find some of your work?

[kagapay]

great help!

[shmeldrick]

what kind of settings did you use for the picture at 1:12, and is it photoshopped?

[farturas81]

Very goos stuff!!!

Thanks very much!!

[ahello888a]

are those ambient light only exposures photoshoped at all or completely straight from the camera?

[knockart]

Hallo Bert,

Leuk om te zien hoe simpel het is om mooie foto's te maken, althans het ziet er simpel uit.

Handzame tips en natuurlijk een mooi model.

bedankt!

Gr Paul

[digitalskillet]

Thank you. These are great videos!!!

[phuketguide]

Oh, sorry for the lame question but why do you use a tele lens to shoot a model that is close as that?

[bertstephani]

Long lenses give a very pleasing compression for shooting people. A wide lens, distorts the face and that's not really desirable in most cases.

Other benefits of using a long lens are:

- it's easier to throw the background out of focus.

- The field of view is very narrow and that makes it easy to choose the background you want without any unwanted elements.

Hope this is an answer to your question.

[phuketguide]

Thanks for the answer, mate!

I'm buying a Nikon D300.

What sort of lenses do you think I should buy with it? I was thinking on an 18-135 as it looks versatile for landscape shooting but based on your sayings I image it would not be long enough for portrait, right?

Cheers, mate!

[bertstephani]

That lens is long enough for portraits. The 50mm f/1.8 is also a fantastic (and cheap) lens for portraiture, I think.

[timickan]

yes yes the 50mm 1.8 nikkor on the d300 is a great portrait lens, but do your d300 a favour and get a better lens than the 18-135. If you must, get a d80 and spend the savings on a lens. if you could have only one lens for the d300, landscape, general, portrait et al, it would be the 24-70mm af-$ 2.8.

[phuketguide]

great videos, mate, congrats !

[DebbiinCalifornia]

One more question please...what tripod do you use outside?

Debbi

(thx for the answer on the lens type you use!)

[bertstephani]

I use a Manfrotto 005 proB with the pistol grip ball head. Manfrotto is Bogen in the US btw.

[DebbiinCalifornia]

Is that a 70-200mm?

Debbi

[bertstephani]

Yep, the 2.8 IS version, it really rocks.

[amagnier]

very good :-)

thx

Antoine France

[wisie]

Great series! Keep them coming :)

[DarenSirboughMusic]

your photos are excellent. wish i could get photos done by you.

[bertstephani]

I don't use spot meterig very often. But the metering in natural light is mostly done in camera. I might tweak the settings a bit based on experience and the lcd.

On model shoots I also use a light meter pretty often. But I wouldn't be lost without it.

[DrShrinker]

Thanks!

[DrShrinker]

Bert, probably a stupid question but... how are you metering for these shots (in-camera spot with AE lock, I'm guessing)?

And if it's spot metering, are you exposing for a particular part of the face (the eyes or...)?

Thanks so much.