10 Professional Photographers Who Still Shoot Film

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This might be the digital age, but in today’s contemporary art world, there are still flourishing photographers who prefer to shoot film for various reasons. Of course, most of them love the quality of images and the meditative process of the various formats; film as a medium can teach a photographer a lot to inform their work with.
The following 10 artists have been able to produce some exceptional work with film, and each one has a unique style which they formed through their use of this medium:

1.    BOOGIE

Actual name Vladimir Milivojevich, this photographer shoots almost exclusively in black and white film and fixates mostly on unusual and dangerous street scenes of dangerous New York Neighborhoods, gang life and skinheads and violent protests in his home town of Belgrade Serbia. This photojournalistic style is given a dark edge, devoid of distracting colors.
Boogie has been featured in various major magazines including New York Times, Time magazine, Huffington Post, Huck magazine, and an HBO showcalled “How To Make it in America”. He has also published 5 monograph books andtaken part in various gallery exhibitions in Paris, Milan, New York and California. His clients include Nike, Puma and the New York Yankees.

{Nike Cross Campaign 2013 by Boogie}
2.    RICHARD MOSSE

Richard Mosse is another photographer who utilizes the art of film in a creative and meaningful way. The film he chooses to use in most of his works - Kodak AeroChrome - has been discontinued. We have previously interviewed him about his AeroChrome series in Congo which is a beautiful contradiction of a war-riddled countryside depicted in unusually bright magenta hues. The resulting landscapes are beautifully haunting and pleasantly surreal.
What is most interesting and striking about this work is how the use of medium brings out the feelings of unease and unrest that this locality is going through. Instead of showing blatantly violent or depressing scenes, the artist instead puts himself in an uncomfortable situation by choosing a film that is new to him and provides such weird affects,and in turn instills his work with the same kind of aura to awaken these emotions in the audience.
Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Richard Mosse, and find out what it’s like to trek film through the Congo.

{The Enclave by Richard Mosse}

3.    AMANDA FRIEDMAN

Amanda is well known for her big collection of celebrity portraits, living as she is near Hollywood, but what interests me more is her series of haunting night landscapes that she has shot using medium and large formal film and no digital manipulation or affects. She says she loves using film for these low light long exposures as she simply can’t get the same kind of quality and exposure latitudes with digital. She can get better blacks and great quality even at ISO 800, and so we can see in her many long exposures. The lights and darks are just perfectly captures, and the whole scene has the feel of a UFO invasion in the process. There is always a strong light source in her photos that gives her night landscapes a staged yet haunting feel that is just simply beautiful.

{Public Offender by Amanda Friedman}

4.     SIMON WATSON

Watson is an Irish photographer who mainly works with portraiture, interiors, and travel photography. A lot of his work is commercial and he has published in various magazines. However, his series which encapsulates the interiors of houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and interiors of the Auschwitz concentration camp shows his fine art side and is quite powerful.
He reflects on how he questions whether he is invading the privacy of the victims, and notices how their presence in these spaces is still felt. He says he loves to shoot his work in film because it is so simple and easy to use, and so much more beautiful and sophisticated than digital.

{Elie Saab Vanity Fair Spain by Simon Watson}

5.     JEFF LIPSKY

Jeff Lipsky is a commercial photographer working and living in Santa Monica. His clients include various huge magazines such as Vogue and Outside magazine and he has countless celebrity portraits in his collection. Jeff finds film to be beautiful and states many reasons for choosing to shoot with it. His favorite is 4x5” format for portraits and he feels digital takes away a lot of the pace and feel of sheet film. Film is more forgiving and he feels you can capture more detail in most lighting situations, details which digital cannot yet match.

{Roxy Campaign by Jeff Lipsky}

6.     TODD HIDO

Todd Hido is most well-known for his haunting series of various houses in the night. These photographs are eerily devoid of any human presence, and yet the bright lights within the houses have a feeling of spying or encroaching on someone’s property. Hido likes to drive around, house hunt, and react to different lights, at times preferring to shoot directly into the sun or street lights. This gloomy night time scenes have a very dark painterly feel to them.
He says he shoots like a documentarian with the natural light available, but in the darkroom he is more like painter, slowly taking his photos to where they end up. Hido has been part of various exhibitions both solo and group, and has been featured in countless museum collections including the Guggenheim in New York.

{House Hunting by Todd Hido}

7.     RYAN McGinley

Ryan McGinley is well known for depicting youth in all its naked innocence. His various nude series are powerful and beautiful images, all shot on film except for his latest black and white series “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”. I find his most striking work is “Moonmilk”, also known as the Caves, since it is shot in underground caves where his nudes sort of become part of the landscape. These are long exposure so the models have to hold their poses for quite a while, and McGinley admits that he has never worked this hard on any other project. McGinley has the honor of being the youngest artist to get a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and has also had solo shows at MoMA P.S. 1, New York.

{Somewhere Place by Ryan McGinley}

8.     ROB HORNSTRA

Rob Hornstra is a Dutch photographer who mainly produces documentary style portraiture in former Soviet Union. He works mainly with medium and large format film, which he takes out to where ever he is shootings. Interestingly enough, he feels the bulky and slow medium of these formats lets him take more spontaneous pictures. Even though people are painfully aware of his presence, the amount of time it takes means that people eventually relax and no longer hold a pose. He likes the fact that he can turn any setting into his studio and how people cannot avoid his presence.

{Communism & Cowgirls (2004) by Rob Hornstra}

9.     NADAV KANDER

{Chongqing XI, Chongqing Municipality, 2007 by Nadav Kander}
Nadav Kander is a photographer who likes to make landscape photographs in large format which seek to capture “the aesthetics of destruction”. One of his most well-known series called “Dust” centers around the former nuclear test sites on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia, which depicts the strange beauty that lies in these ruined and abandoned sites. The large format helps capture the empty stillness of the eerie scenes perfectly. Kander is also known for his portraits of the Barrack Obama Administration, which was the largest series to be published in the Times magazine by one single photographer.

10.    JONI STERNBACH

Joni Sternbach technically works with a historic technique called the wet-plate collodian process which is used to create photographs on metal sheets known as tintypes. The process is slow and extremely manual where she covers each plate with emulsion by hand on location before loading it onto a large format camera – quite interesting! The result is atmospheric and mysterious shots of her subject matter which is an on-going series of surfers, the ocean and the beach. The photographs have a unique old-fashioned quality unlike anything else I’ve seen.

{SurfLand 14.09.04 #3 Alexa by Joni Sternbach}

These 10 photographers are great examples of professionals who still shoot film, but of course they are by no means the only ones. Most photographers who have been doing professional or fine art photography for some time prefer to stick to film because of the patience required, as well as the quality of the prints produced. Another added bonus of film is the ability to make absolutely enormous prints when shooting medium and large format. There is something beautiful about film, and a certain lushness in the grain, tones and color that digital just cannot provide.

Courtesy of: I Still Shoot Film

Need a Lens? Try These Excellent Budget Options

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With the new year upon us, a lot of photographers will spend a lot of time lusting after the new gear they want to buy.
However, not everyone has an unlimited budget for gear, which is precisely why I'm writing this article.
There are plenty of great lenses out there that will get you good results without busting your budget.
Below, I've outlined a couple of my favorites for Nikon and Canon cameras.

Nikon 18-55mm AF-S DX f/3.5-5.6G VR II

This little guy is an ideal lens for a beginner photographer.
It's got a nice focal range of 15-55mm, which on a crop sensor camera extends from wide-angle to short telephoto.
That means that you can photograph everything from landscapes to street scenes to close-up portraits, all with one lens.
It's got a small form factor and is lightweight, too, making it a good companion for travel photography when you want to work lean and mean.
Additionally, this lens comes with Nikon's vibration reduction technology, which gives you four extra stops of handheld shooting without any blurriness.
Granted, this lens has a maximum aperture range of just f/3.5-5.6, which means it's not going to be ideal for low-light shooting.
However, all the other features you get, and the fact that it's well under $300 brand new, is quite enticing.
Get more details on this lens in the video above by Angus Davidson.
Editor's Tip: Want to get even more for your money? Consider buying a pre-owned lens from Lensfinder. You can explore their marketplace of used lenses with ease, communicate with sellers to inquire about their lenses, and even pay via PayPal, right there in Lensfinder. See what lenses they have available by clicking here.

Learn More:

• Shop for Pre-Owned Nikon Zoom Lenses
• Nikon's Best All-Purpose Lenses

Nikon 50mm AF-S FX f/1.8 G

Every beginner photographer should have a 50mm lens.
And for Nikon shooters, the best bang for your buck is the 50mm f/1.8G.
Not only do you get a huge maximum aperture for low-light shooting, but it comes with a new price tag of well under $200. As far as budget buys go, this lens is tough to beat.
It performs well, too.
The lens produces images that are sharp from edge to edge, with minimal vignetting or chromatic aberrations.
And like the previous lens I noted above, this one is also small and lightweight.

You can use a 50mm lens for anything, too - weddings, nature, macro, and everything in between.
See this lens in action in the video above by PhotographyTV.

Learn More:

• Shop for Pre-Owned Nikon Prime Lenses
• The Sharpest Canon and Nikon Lenses on a Budget

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Like the first Nikon lens on this list, this Canon 10-18mm lens doesn't exactly have a huge aperture.
But that's okay, because this lens is ideal for photographing landscapes under normal lighting conditions.
The wide-angle 10-18mm focal range allows you to capture wide vistas, even on a crop sensor camera.
With an optical image stabilizer built in, you can also shoot handheld with greater confidence and less blur due to camera shake.
If you fancy taking some videos while you're out shooting, this lens's stepping motor ensures ultra-quiet operation so your videos are about what you see, not about how much noise your lens is making.
Even though its priced under $300 brand new, it delivers the reliability and performance you'd expect out of a much more expensive lens.
Get more information about this lens in the video above from Christopher Frost Photography.
Editor's Tip: Whether you need a lens for your Canon camera, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, or other major brand camera, you can find great deals on pre-owned lenses at Lensfinder. Not only that, but you can sell your old lenses on Lensfinder to fund your new-to-you lens. Find out how to sell your lenses here.

Courtesy of: Photography Talk

Experience a Photography Adventure in Iceland Like No Other

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Unless you've been under a rock your whole life, you certainly know that Iceland is a dream destination for photographers.
From black sand beaches to incredible waterfalls, volcanoes to glaciers, hot springs to canyons, and everything in between, Iceland offers perhaps more fodder for a landscape photographer's camera than any other location on earth.

As a result, when planning a trip to Iceland, it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide what locations you can live without and which ones are must-see.
Here's a quick list of some of the best photography spots in Iceland to help you plan your Iceland photography adventure.

Haifoss & Granni - The Twin Waterfalls

What's better than one beautiful waterfall? Two beautiful waterfalls.
Located in southern Iceland near the highlands, these twin waterfalls, both of which are fed by the Fossá River, a tributary of the Þjórsá, Iceland's longest river, cascade hundreds of feet down a cliff.
The Þjórsá is a glacier-fed river that cuts through the Þjórsárdalur Valley. Both it and the Fossá River have helped create a gorge through which the river's waters flow.
The terrain here is stunning - the flat valley contrasts beautifully with the steep walls of the gorge, giving you all sorts of textures and colors to highlight in your photos.
What's more, you can photograph the twin falls from the ridge of the gorge, which provides an ideal spot for a panoramic photo. But you can also hike down to the bottom of the falls for impressive shots of their termination at the bottom of the gorge.

Reynisdrangar Sea Cliffs

Also in southern Iceland is another must-see location for your Iceland photography trip - the Reynisdrangar Sea Cliffs.
These massive basalt formations stand more than 200 feet above the surface of the ocean and the black sand beach below.
Legend has it that these formations were created when two trolls who were attempting to pull a three-mast ship toward shore were caught in the sunlight and turned into stone.
The cliffs aren't the only feature here to photograph, though.

Reynisfjara Beach is a gorgeous, dramatic black sand beach (just one of many in Iceland, as shown above) that can more than stand on its own as the subject of your photographs.
In fact, the beach has been noted as being one of the most beautiful non-tropical beaches on earth.

Akranes Fishing Village

First settled in the 9th Century, Akranes is a quaint fishing village on Iceland's southwestern shore, not far from Reykjavik.
Most photographers that visit this area concentrate on the town's two lighthouses, one of which is still in use.
Langisandur Beach is another popular destination, which, along with the other beaches in the area, provide excellent opportunities for photographing the incredible array of birds that call this area home.
But the best hidden gem in Akranes is an old dry-docked ship that's just rotting away.
The Höfrungur was built in 1955 in the Akranes shipyard and was originally part of the local herring fleet.
However, the ship has been sitting there decaying for years and years, and makes for quite a dramatic subject for your images.

How to See Iceland

Though you can certainly tour Iceland on your own and have a great time, for my money, seeing Iceland as part of a photography expedition is the way to go.
Of course, being that Iceland is such a fantastic place for photographers, there are tons of photo tours available.
One that stands out, though, is the Land of Fire and Ice Expedition by ApertureXplorer.
There's a few reasons why this photography tour caught my eye.
First, it's nine days of adventuring in Iceland, seeing its beauty, and honing your photography skills.
Though it's impossible to see all of Iceland's beauty in a week and a half, it'll sure allow you to put a dent in your list of must-see places that this island nation has to offer.

Second, the itinerary for this trip is absolutely stacked.
There's the usual suspects - Reykjavík, the Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck, Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon, and Kirkjufell just to name a few.
But you also get to see lesser-known places like those I described earlier in the article to give you a more complete picture of what this part of Iceland is like.
The beauty of the itinerary - apart from the laundry list of possible locations - is that these locations are all located near one another. That means less travel time and more time behind the lens to capture the incredible beauty of Iceland.

Lastly, something else that helps you get more time behind the camera and less time traveling from one location to the next is the fact that this expedition puts you in mobile accommodations.
That is, each night you'll sleep in a camper van on location.
Not only do these camper vans offer a comfortable place for two adults to sleep on a full-size mattress, but they also allow the expedition to be far more flexible regarding the places to see and stay.
There's no more cutting your photo sessions short to catch a shuttle back to the hotel. Instead, you can stay out there in the beauty of Iceland with the ability to get up at a moment's notice to capture the breathtaking scenery before you.

It also helps that ApertureXplorers is run by two young, ambitious gentlemen by the names of James Conomea and Kyle Doughty.
Like me, both James and Kyle are trained pilots that rekindled their childhood passion for photography later on in life.
Their approach to photography adventures - to bring people to areas of the world they might not otherwise get to see and to tell stories with their photos - is an inspiring way to see the world and learn more about how to take incredible photos.

Courtesy of : Photography Talk

Keeping secrets: Settings, locations and equipment

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So, you‘ve done your research: you’ve used Google street view to scope out locations, found out what the best black spots are, the perfect spot where the evening sun comes through the trees. You’ve turned up at the crack of dawn or in the bitter cold of a winter’s night and painstakingly set your camera, using your years of knowledge and expertise to compose and expose your shot.

You decide to share your images on one of the online platforms, but are taken aback when someone, in one fell swoop, asks, “Where was this shot?” You freeze for a split second: what do you do? Do you ignore their request or do you let this stranger poach your research?

Should you try to protect this information? You might think that locations are there regardless and anything is open to be photographed - why the secrecy?

Selfishness

For:

Probably the key topic in the argument and easy to see why. One argument is that as the photographic community is bound by a shared interest, we should all support each other and share information. Whilst technically we aren’t doing anything wrong by not sharing, willfully withholding knowledge just isn’t a nice thing to do.

Against:

Finding a location might have required a monumental effort on the photographer’s part: a long trek, an arduous drive, failed attempts - you get the idea. If they went through all of that, then isn’t it fair to say that all photographers should go through the same if they want to stand out from the crowd? If one has done the research and spent the time looking for the perfect spot, why just hand all that over for simply a ‘thank you’? Not everyone desires to be an educator: for many the end result is what matters and it’s there as a photograph - to be enjoyed, studied and reflected over, that is all. And what’s more, the world’s greatest photographers didn’t get to where they are by sharing information freely and giving up all their secrets. In an age where everything is so easily shared and thus copied, isn’t it worth keeping certain things back?

Unoriginality prevails

For:

With the advent of the online sharing community and social media, it’s getting harder and harder to remain original. Social media in many ways dictates our presence online, the key player here being Instagram. For the work to be seen, it has to be shared. Established photographers are generally less reliant on such platforms, but many up-and-coming photographers need the exposure. To get noticed, you have to share. However, the potential repercussion is that the work is there to be copied, mimicked or replicated by anyone with the inclination to do so. Whilst copying is something that most photographers at the beginning of their journey do, it can be harmful if more skillful and more established photographers copy. It’s rare, but it happens.

Against:

Unoriginality is subjective: a different take, a different vibe, a different time of day or even something as subtle as a different angle can change a photograph. So the idea that someone will simply sweep in on your shot should be taken lightly. Again, it depends on your photographic style: are you shooting landscapes with a very specific/iconic subject, or is the location simply a backdrop for a model or for something you have brought?

A risk to your success

For:

Not everyone has aspirations to make it as a paid-up photographer, for many it’s just a hobby, but truth is, when you start out, you don’t necessarily know what might happen. The photography world can be fickle: take a turn at the right time and you’ll find success - other times you won’t. Equally, some photographers’ work isn’t revolutionary - it might be great technically, but otherwise just a beautiful rendering of a pedestrian scene.

Against:

Ultimately I think it depends on the individual and the type of photography you do! So if you’re a street photographer documenting your city, catching a bit of serendipity and color play, then location matters less - your work is many components rolled into one. However, if your vibe is scaling peaks, visiting remote locations, urban exploration or unusual places, you might guard your locations much more closely.
We’re keen to hear what you have to say on the matter. Let us know if we’ve missed anything!

BY mpb.com

By Nick 

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What advice would I give my young photographer self 30+ years ago?

#photographyhobbyist  #photographybestoftheday #photographyforever

Becoming successful in photography, whether personally or professionally, can seem like an uphill slog sometimes. So, how can you make it easier when starting out in photography?

The main thing to remember and concentrate on is your mindset! Think like a photographer for long enough and you will become one.

Sounds strange? Well, your mind is the most powerful asset you have and can also be the most destructive. If you continuously think you cannot do something, you won't...period! When you truly believe in yourself and stay persistent in your efforts, you can achieve anything.

Don't be put off by naysayers or beautiful portfolios that you come across, be inspired and motivated by them.

Fear not the competition

Try not to be put off by the sheer number of photographers out there doing business all around you. Especially if you are in a built up, busy area. Just understand that it is a huge market and you can easily grab your own share if that is what you want.

The more working photographers in your area, the more work that is probably available, see it as a positive thing!

All the technical jargon, buttons, features, accessories, upgrade, updates and software out there can be a distraction. Photography is fundamentally simple in its basic form so don't let it worry you.

The quality of your poorer shots shouldn't get you down, it MAY be the equipment you are using and NOT you!

Camera Equipment

Don't think that you need to invest a fortune in all the latest equipment, you don't! All you need to start is a camera and a lens.

When I got back into (digital) photography in 2003 after a long break from film photography, I was as confused as anyone as to what kit I would now need. This is because I was used to medium and large format film cameras as well as the good old 35mm film SLR's.

So, I started with just one, simple camera body (Canon EOS 10D), one lens (28-135mm) and one speedlight (Sigma 500ST Super).

I decided that before I bought any more kit, I would have to earn the money for it by just using what I had. That worked well and I soon built up a huge arsenal of cameras, lenses, computers, printers, studio kit etc and still use that principle today.

Using a DSLR

Learn to control the camera and start to really enjoy photography for what it essentially is...art!

When you first get hold of a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera, it can be mighty confusing:

What do all those buttons do?

Do you need to use them all? 

Which ones do you need to use?

How do you control the shutter speed?

What does the aperture do?

How can you learn to combine shutter, aperture and ISO to make the best image possible?

    How do you process the images to really make them pop?

What will you shoot?

There are so many avenues you can take with photography these days. Whilst on a certain "journey" you may discover a new love and talent for a different area such as:

Weddings

Portraits

Commercial

Fashion

Nightclub

Schools

Events

Travel

    Stock

 

This certainly happened to me years ago in the early 1990's when I first got started out in photography with my business.

I was happily travelling around the UK taking photos of villages for a postcard company when a young lady called us. She used the contact details on the back of a postcard in her local village and asked us if we shot weddings. We didn't at that point but still said yes.

After a few training courses and a ton of practice, we shot that wedding. This led to more weddings and even a private shoot with the Princess Royal, HRH Princess Anne. What a buzz and all from the back of a postcard.

Be inspired

We will help you to shoot the best photography you can in whatever area(s) you choose to pursue. We'll also to help you to get your work and business seen to ensure that you get the best possible start. ATP is here to help!

Stay focussed and start to create your own style. Don't think that just because www.iamthebestphotographerintheworld.com (not a real site at the time of writing) gets a ton of work, EVERYONE likes their style and that you should imitate them.

The great thing about photography is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the beholder is your customer. Find your OWN market and style.

Get out and practice

Start out by simply practicing as much as possible and don't worry if you make mistakes, even the pros make mistakes believe me! Take your camera everywhere with you and shoot as much as you can, after all, digital is free!

Don't just take hundreds of shots and delete the poor ones. Analyse WHY they are poor and learn from them. Look at the settings used, look at the light, what went wrong and ask yourself how can you correct it?

The more you practice, the better you will become, guaranteed, and the day will come when you know finally your kit inside out. Then you will also know how to deal with any situation that arises by making the right adjustments to your camera, lens, composition and lighting. That day is a great day believe me!

I have seen beginners come to our site at All Things Photography with very little knowledge indeed. Then in just a matter of months, I have seen their work improve dramatically. I have also seen students from our courses (DSLR, Weddings and Stock Photography) go from complete novices, to full, working professional wedding and portrait photographers in just a year!

Starting out in photography

We are hoping to make ATP Members a friendly community where you will receive as much information and guidance as you need to get you going. Once you have that confidence and ability, we want to help you get established in whatever area of photography you decide to pursue.

The buzz for me is to see people succeed. I have been told far too often that people cannot find a photographer in their area who will help them get started. That is why the ATP and ATP Members websites exist!

I can see a fundamental shift in the way people want to work and live their lives. People are starting to wake up and realise it doesn't have to be "this way". Photography is now, more than ever, accessible to everyone and there is no reason why you cannot make a living from it if you so desire.

Whether you want to get out of the rat race and do something you love for a living, or you simply want to enhance what you already know by learning to capture your world in the best way possible, just get out and practice.

Photogenic Tricks Celebs Use In Every Picture

$25,000 Prize Available in World's Biggest Photography Contest, Open Now

^{Via PR Newswire}

#photographyhobbyist  #photographybestoftheday #photographyforever

The AGORA international photography contest opened on January 4th, but it runs through July 31st, and the grand prize this year is $25,000.

As much as I don't love crowdsourced awards (the photo with the most votes on the AGORA website wins the prize), AGORA's mission to democratize photography is one worthy of praise.
"We're proposing something completely new and unseen; we want everyone to participate in this creative revolution because we believe everyone's point of view is important," said Octavi Rovo, the co-founder of AGORA.
AGORA touts its' website as "the photo marketplace made by everyone," and has over 2 million users from 193 countries.

^{Via PR Newswire}

There are absolutely no genres for the competition and no rules. You can upload your entries until July 31st and then vote for your favorite photos during the month of September. The winner will be announced in November during a live-streamed event.

Editor's Tip: Do you have beautiful photos but aren't sure how to display them? Turn them into large format prints! See what your photos look like as fine art.

Once you download the app, you can also become a seller. You can't sell your photos while they are in the contest, but as soon as the contest is over you can put them up for sale.

Learn More:

• Small Newspaper Company Ends Print Run After Photographer is Shot by a Sheriff
• Travel Photographs to Inspire Your New Year

How to Create Split Portrait Lighting in Under Two Minutes

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Split lighting is an important lighting setup to learn because it results in a beautifully dramatic shot.
The term split lighting comes from the fact that the light splits the model's face into two equal sides - one illuminated and the other in shadow.
As you can see above, the results are certainly worth the few moments it takes to get everything set up!
In fact, even if you've never used split lighting before, it'll only take two minutes for you to learn how to get started.
In the video above, our friend Kat Armendariz of hushXpose in Las Vegas offers a quick two-minute photography tip on how to set up split lighting for more dramatic portraits.

Not only will your split-light portraits have a lot of drama, but they'll also have beautiful depth as well thanks to the contrast between the illuminated and shadowed areas of the portrait.

Notice how the differentiation between the areas of light and shadow split Kat's face perfectly, creating a beautifully dramatic look.

Click here to get a beautiful backdrop for your portrait photography.

As Kat explains in the video, setting up a split lighting scenario is really simple.
Just put your light source at a 90-degree angle to the model, and position it slightly above their eye level, as shown in the diagram below:

When positioning the light source, you need to consider the structure of the model's face in order to get that perfect delineation between light and shadow.
And, as you can see in the sample images above, the shadowed areas don't have to be completely devoid of detail...notice how you can still see Kat's facial features on the shadowed side, including her eye.
Though faint, the details you see on the shadowed side will only give the shot that much more depth and dimension.

Of course, to complete the look, you need a beautiful portrait background, and perhaps even a floor too.
As you can see above, Kat is positioned in front of a Click Props Backdrops Natural Brick background and she's standing on a Dark Wood Stained Floor that makes this a quick and easy way to take the quality of your portraits up a notch - or two or three!

Learn More:

• How to Create Rembrandt Portrait Lighting in Under Two Minutes
• How to Plan a Portrait Photo Shoot 

About Kat

Kat Armendariz is a published studio photographer in Las Vegas. She has a passion to create out-of-the-box portraiture and to give women an experience that will be a stepping stone to new found confidence.
Her photo studio sits in the heart of Las Vegas where she gets to work with incredible clients from all over the globe. Her studio, hushXpose, is a compilation of her two studio names: Hush Hush Shoot (boudoir photography), and Pose Las Vegas (glamour photography).

hushXpose offers an all­-inclusive Hollywood experience where Kat and her all­-female team work with clients one­-on­-one to create custom sets and scenes tailored to their clients.
Kat and her husband, Ephraim Armendariz, also own the US District for Click Props Backdrops, which specializes in professional-grade heavy-duty vinyl studio backdrops. Click Props Backdrops let you choose from an extensive and exclusive range of multi-award-winning backgrounds and floor grounds to  give you the opportunity of offering clients a multi-set portrait  experience.

Free Lightroom Presets

Free Lightroom Presets

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Editing

When it comes to photography we want to be as efficient as possible. That is why we created these free Lightroom presets. Learning how to best use your time whether it’s behind the camera or behind the computer editing is essential in your photography journey.
If you allow it you could spend hours editing a single image. It can be paralyzing. You second guess every edit. It all seems so final. Don’t you wish someone could give you a starting point? I know I did and still do.
Almost every professional photographer I know uses presets, whether ones they have made themselves or ones they have purchased.
Over the years I have done a combination of both. I have made my own when I find that there are several editing steps I do to every single image. I have also purchased presets.
This is why I teamed up with my dear friend and photography mentor, Megan Cieloha. We created these free Lightroom presets just for you.
Click here to download your free Lightroom presets

Work smarter...not harder

Allan F. Mogensen

There are five presets included in these set of free Lightroom presets:

• No.

  01
  Black & White
  
• No.

  02
  Clean Color (for underexposed)
  
• No.

  03
  Clean Color (for overexposed)
  
• No.

  04
  Cool it down
  
• No.

  05
  Warm it up
  

Click here to download your free Lightroom presets

Courtney Slazinik

Learn it all, step-by-step, with me, the force behind Click it Up a Notch, a Huffington Post Top 5 Blogs for momtographers.
A former teacher who got into photography to capture my beautiful family, I am eager to share what I’ve learned over the past 5 years & open the door to photography for other moms.

Learn the EXACT techniques that I use everyday to photograph my kids. Stop feeling frustrated with your DSLR. Let me help you with this FREE webclass.

Yes, I want this!