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20 Different SUNBOUNCE Screen Fabrics & Their Techniques Explained
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Photography Tips
The 90-Percent Photography Lighting Rule
You often hear about percentages, sometimes in statistics, like 75-percent of all statistics are made up, which often leaves you wondering about the accuracy of such numbers, but when it comes to photography, one percentage that is accurate is the 90-percent rule of...
10 Photography Tips for Great Model Photos
One of the biggest challenges for a photographer is creating a photo from scratch, especially when you have a passionate craving to capture something with your camera. When the urge hits, you start thinking, what can I create? So, let me help you with 10 photography...
Tungsten Photography Mimic
Normally I don’t get a chance to capture images at my photography workshops as I’m too busy providing hands-on instruction along with ensuring everything from the models to the lighting flows smoothly. But a while I back, at one of my Las Vegas workshops, I took the...
Backgrounds in Photography
There are many elements that make a great photo, so I figured I’d discuss one of the most varied, but required elements in a photo—backgrounds. Understanding this element can improve your photography and photos overall as after the subject, the background in a...
Camera Position Makes Great Photos
I’m often asked, what are some of your secrets to great photos. First of all, I don’t believe in secrets, I believe it’s good to spread the gospel of photography for all photographers. So, here’s another photography tip article to improve your photos of people—camera...
Silhouette Photography
Throughout life we see natural silhouettes in many forms, whether it’s driving down the highway with the sun in our eyes as we pull the sun visor down to help us see the road, or the sun setting over the ocean as a young couple walks by holding hands....
Photography Lighting Accents
Adding Lighting Accents to Your Photos Rim lighting of your subject is easily accomplished in various ways, with either SUNBOUNCE photography reflectors or light modifiers like strip boxes or 7-inch metal reflectors for your studio strobes. With metal reflectors,...
Rembrandt Lighting in Photography
Aspiring Photographers Learn from the Masters Some of the greatest photographers in the world made their mark by simply studying the styles, ideas and techniques of other artists, whether it was their mentor photographer or one of their favorite painters. Ultimately,...
Gain an Edge in Photography
Applying Photojournalism Techniques Adds New Angles The evolution of wedding, commercial, advertising, fashion and glamour photography now requires diversification to survive. Some of these genre photographers have added video and other offers for their clients,...
Moab Golden Hour Photography
Thanks to a private instruction client of mine, Brian, I visited the Moab area of Utah in 2007 and I’ve been back to Moab every year since. On that first trip, Brian and I didn’t know what to expect, so we brought everything including battery power packs,...
20 Photo Tips, Working with Women
For most men, a woman is a mystery but for a photographer it’s important to understand women the best you can to create great photos of them. In glamour photography of women, a photographer must gain an insight into their female subject before they even think about...
Photo Shoot—Esther in Cologne
Click Photos For Lightbox View Commercial Photo Shoot By Professional Photographer Steve Thornton (Click Photos For Lightbox View) While in Cologne for Photokina, the world’s largest trade fair for photography and imaging held biennially, I shot a couple of...
Natural, Ambient and Existing Light in Photography
Which is it? Confused? It’s not uncommon to hear photographers describe light as artificial or natural light, but more often than none, I hear photographers at my photography workshops confuse the terms, ambient, natural and existing. Throw in artificial light,...
Photographers Strengths and Weaknesses
It’s About Ability, Not Inability. I’ve taught many photography workshops for almost two decades now and I constantly see many photographers get caught up in their gear. Contrary to all the marketing hype that slaps consumers in the face on a daily basis, it’s not the...
Communication is Essential to Great Photography
The Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver’s 1949 Communication Model Helps Photographers The greatest photographers in the world have three things in common, a creative eye, the comprehension of their equipment and the ability to communicate both to their subject and the...
Photographic Elements–Lines, Lines, Lines
Optional Elements in Photography There are many elements in photography that help create a successful photo, from the optional elements of lines, foreground choices, clothing, accessories, props, chiaroscuro and various forms of accent lighting on your subject. Then...
Market Your Photography Like a Glass of Water
As a professional photographer, it’s not uncommon for someone to challenge what you charge for your services, especially when another photographer lowballs for the same photo shoot. I’ve heard it, “Why should I pay more for you when I can find another photographer...
Photography and Modeling, It’s More Than What You Think
Recently I noticed a social media comment left on a photo about how modeling and photography are often misunderstood as easy professions. While I’m no model, nor do I play one on TV, but I’m known to photograph a model or two and can relate to that...
Law of Reflection
A Physics Rule for Photographers. In physics, the Law of Reflection, aka The Angle of Incidence Equals the Angle of Reflection, states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This tenet is fundamental to understand light and is summarized that...
Photo Shoot—Esther in Zingst
Photography Project Shoot By Professional Photographer Steve Thornton (Click Photos For Lightbox View) I have shot with Esther several times and try to shoot with her if I'm in Germany. I was in Zingst, Germany, on the Baltic Sea, and had a photography...
Round Lenses, Rectangle Photos
A Little Squared Humor. Often, I get interesting questions, some humor me and today was no different when a model asked me on the phone, “If lenses are round, why are photos rectangular?” I chuckled at first and then told her, “That’s a good question,” then I gave...
Light & Camera Paradigm Shifts
It’s Happening Now, Don’t Get Left Behind. In my recent blog post, Mirrorless Camera Madness, you found out that in my search for a replacement digital camera system, I noticed a paradigm shift to mirrorless cameras and how Olympus is tops in this field. A paradigm...
Photography’s Biggest Myth
Professional Photographers Primary Source of Income is Photography. The biggest myth in photography is based on the old age question, “What’s the difference between a professional and an amateur photographer?” Normally the number one answer is “a professional gets...
Flash or Reflector
Make Your Photography Natural. I’m often asked, “Why use a reflector and not a flash for fill-light outdoors?” There are several answers to this question, but the most obvious one, often overlooked by many photographers when trying to “pre-visualize” their final...
Capture Great Headshots
The Best Approach for a Photographer, Make it a Portfolio Shoot. Often you hear photographers or models make a comment that they need a great head shot for their portfolios and indeed, the ability to showcase your talent as a photographer of models should include a...
Triangles of Photography
Great Posing Tip. Often when you hear a photographer talk about a triangle in photography, they are referencing the correlation of exposure, or how the ISO, lens aperture and camera shutter-speed affect one another to create the correct exposure in a photograph....
Color Perception in Postproduction
Adobe Photoshop Tip for True Color. Adobe Photoshop has come a long way since its exclusive introduction for Apple Macintosh computers by Adobe Systems in 1990. Its origin actually dates back to 1987 when Thomas Knoll, “a PhD student at the University of Michigan,...
Shooting Beauty Imagery
Shooting Beauty Imagery By Professional Photographer Steve Thornton Most fashion photographers will also shoot beauty. Beauty is usually shot with attractive to stunning female models that have good to great skin, with make-up & hair being...
20 Inspiring Photography Tips
Get Out of That Photographic Rut. There are times when photographers draw blanks when it comes to the productive process of creating a photo, either through the lack of inspiration, passion, or imagination. I like to call it the photographic “rut,” or a state of mind...
Roela in Molano Photo Shoot
Photography Project Shoot By Professional Photographer Steve Thornton (Click Photos For Lightbox View) Aquabella Farm is one of my favorite locations in all of Italy. Emiliano (my lead assistant in Europe) & I were driving to pick up a rental car as I...
Million Dollar Photography Question
What Should I Charge? I’m constantly asked by photographers “What should I charge?” This seems like a million-dollar question, especially in today’s economic times where some photographers have reduced prices just to secure paid shoots. The sad part of it all,...
Typical Photography Questions
It’s About, The End Result, But Do Your Research First. It’s no secret, I’m often asked a lot about photography, so I decided to write about the big picture photography questions. Like most professionals in any profession, I’m constantly bombarded with repetitive...
Mirrorless Camera Madness
The New Paradigm Shift In Photography. Back in April during my Maui photography workshop I did something a photographer should never do, I turned my back to the ocean while I adjusted my portable flash system for one of our photographers. Within seconds, the Pacific...
Training DVDs
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