Baby Love

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all!  Well, here is an image that was shot on an impromptu photoshoot.  My friends just had a baby and were over and we decided to take some shots that they could send out.  I pulled out a black velvet background and threw it over my living room couch.  I grabbed 3 SB-800s and set the main light camera left 30 degrees off.  Fill light was over camera, and one stop under the main light F.  In addition there was a highlight flash that was shooting from behind subjects camera right.  This highlight flash was designed to separate the image from the background a bit more.  Anyway, the shoot was going great and there was this moment, unplanned, where mom put her hand on baby.  The scene was PERFECT!!!! All I did was click the button.

Specs: Nikon D200, Three SB-800s, umbrellas on each one. ISO 100, F/4.5 @ 1/60. 17-55 mm @ 17 mm.

Enjoy!

Getting it right the first time!

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all!  Today I wanted to share an image that I took on my Friday shoot.  This was at a local hotel with a great view of the river valley, as well as a wonderful sky view.  This image was posed to ensure the bride was on the right side of center, with her face on a node.  I have her looking back into the image so you are not wondering what she is looking at.  If she was looking the other way, I am quite sure it wouldn't have the same appeal, or impact on the viewer.  OK, so I took the original and noticed that I didn't like the way the background was set up.  I adjusted the background in photoshop and used a high pass filter for sharpening.  Of course I am not going over all the photoshop work, but you get the point.

Specs: Nikon D200, 17-55  mm lens @ 17 mm, F/3.2 @ 1/2000, right side main SB-800 at F/3.2, camera close left SB-800 1-stop under for fill.  SU-800 trigger on camera.

Key point - get the image right in camera so the work that you do afterwards is minimized.  

Enjoy!

The Details

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All!  On a recent wedding shoot I was scouting locations to shooting high angles of the ceremony from outside.  As I was doing this I had to walk through the reception area.  There was a great deal of movement in this area as people were getting the venue ready.  One person in particular, a relative of the bride, was getting the center pieces ready. She was really proud of this work and indicated that buying the pieces was a special treat for her and the bride.  I remembered this so I could try and capture this item in a unique way during the ceremony.

Technically this shot used a hand held SB-800 to light the candle and glass properly while the blurry background was lite naturally.  

Specs: Nikon D200, 17-55mm @ 25 mm, F/3.2 @ 1/60, SB-800 TTL left hand, SU-8-- on Hotshoe.

Enjoy!

Dad and Baby

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

This weekend I was doing a photography shoot of a family.  The mom wanted shots of the baby's hands, feet, etc.  Some of the basic stuff.  Well, it pays to pay attention.  As the father was waiting in the wings while mom and I chatted, the perfect scene was set, the father laid down with the baby and guess what? The baby fell asleep on Dad's chest.  Good stuff!  So I set up two portable SB-800's on light stands behind shoot through umbrella's.  The lighting for the image was main light on 30 degree angle left of camera at my cameras correct F, and the fill was over my right shoulder, one stop under.  The original image is shown on top. Notice that I accidentally left my group C SB-800 flash on.  It is on the counter.  Post production work, besides the building of the counter on the left side, including building a photo of the baby to hang above the scene.

Don't be scared to think through a picture after you capture it.  I didn't know what I was going to do with the original picture of the father with the baby, but after we had it, we were able to talk about what we could do. The family loved this shot and are going to be using it as a gift for the mom's parents!

Specs: Nikon D200, 17-55 mm lens @ 17 mm, 1/60 sec, F/3.5, two SB-800s (main left, and fill at camera position)

Enjoy!  Hope this all helps!

Swimmers Portrait

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All!  This portrait is really exciting for me and scarry for me also!  On a recent trip I was reading a great book by Joe McNally called The Moment it Clicks.  This book has amazing information for any aspiring or professional photographer.  Joe is very nice to share technique as well as style with the reader.  The image you see below is based heavily on a picture on page 72 from the book.  This image was made about one hour before sunset.  I took a number of shots of the background to get the right mood.  This was faster than the normal /250 flash sync speed, but with Nikon's Creative Lighting System (CLS) I was able to forget about trying to compensate for that and just focus on getting the right mood.  I was using the SU-800 to remotely fire off my single SB-800 which my assistant is holding.

My technique was to have an assistant in the water on the left hand side just outside of the range of the field of view firing the flash into my subjects face.  I was also aware that the water would reflect a great deal of light back up into my subjects shadowed side of the face. My largest fear was falling in the water myself. I am knee deep in the lake and the bottom is rather slippery! I didn't take to many precautions and lucky had no issues with the camera, the flash or my model.

My camera specs are: Nikon D200, fitted with a 17-55 mm lens at 28 mm, F/2.5 @ 1/1600 second, ISO 100. Hope this provides some inspiration.

Bride at Dusk

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all.  Today I wanted to show a bride image taken here in Edmonton this past weekend. We had a great day of shooting and as the evening progressed I looked outside and noticed a great cloud passing over. With a setting Sun in the West and the clouds in front of that Sun, I saw an opportunity to capture a great image of the bride.  The specs of this shot were 1/4000 of a second at F/3.2.  That was the numbers used to properly expose the sky. The flash was fired to illuminate the bride (balanced at F/3.2) and the lighting pattern was loop lighting.  I used an SU-800 on the camera to fire the off camera SB-800 flash I was holding in my left hand.