Behind the scenes with orbis® Photographer Dave Piper
March 14, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Follow orbis® shooter Dave Kai Piper on his fashion photography assignment for AKA Professional Hairdressing!
Watch the behind the scenes video of Dave using the orbis® ring flash and Elemental lighting to create stunning images.
Check out more of Dave’s photos in his interview HERE and on Dave Kai Piper’s website.
On and Off camera flash basics Part 1
February 28, 2012 by admin · 3 Comments
Using flash effectively and learning about lighting is often the “final frontier” in a photographer’s journey to mastering photography.
For many, the challenge is a step too far. The flash gun you bought lives in the bottom of your bag, or worse – in a cupboard, and to anyone who asks, you are a “natural” or “available light” photographer. What you really mean is that you’re a photographer who knows next to nothing about light! That was me a few years ago, so I’m talking from personal experience.
Until recently, learning about lighting was a hugely involving and time-consuming process. Now, thanks to the instant feedback we get on the back of our cameras, it’s easy. It’s just a question of finding out where to go to learn.
I’m going to de-mystify this whole thing a little bit and set you on the way to having fun with light.
The famous photographer Joe McNally says, “I’m an available light photographer. I use any light I can lay my hands on.”
So let’s put our flash onto our hotshoe. This is a great place to start. Yes, there’s a drawback that the flash is fixed in position relative to the lens, but we’ve got to start somewhere.
With the flash set on its TTL setting and your camera set to ISO400, put your camera on f5.6 on AV mode and let the camera decide the shutter speed. Take a photo of something. It’s always fun if you can find something (or someone) beautiful, but anything will do. Now set your camera mode to M and fix the same aperture and shutter speed into the camera that you had just now. Take another photo of the same subject with the same positioning as before. Your two photos should look identical.
Here’s where it gets interesting. We’re going to play around with the shutter speed and see what happens. It’s easy to forget the concept of “STOPS” of light thanks to our modern cameras that we can adjust in such small increments, but to review, shutter speed ‘stops’ correspond thus:
…. > 1/4 > 1/8 > 1/15 > 1/30 > 1/60 > 1/125 > 1/250 > 1/500 > 1/1000 > …
You can change your aperture in stops too, hence the term f-stops, but we’ll come to that later.
Photo by James Madelin
Interview with macro photographer Robert Lopshire
“Many times I’ve set up for a shot not knowing how the subject will react or if it will bite…I’m talking about the insects, not the models”
This week, we get up close (literally!) and personal with macro and portrait photographer Robert Lopshire. You may have seen his photos as part of the orbis® macro tutorial series with his macro iris photo using the orbis® ringflash to get stunning results. We find out what influenced him to become a photographer and how he uses social networking to stand out from the photography industry.
How long have you been a photographer?
About 25 years now, my first camera was the Pentax K-1000 which I still have tucked away safely in my china closet. Might have to go grab some film for it soon!
Illustration was my first passion though, I started drawing at a very early age. For quite a while, I was fine tuning my illustration skills by drawing photos I found in magazines. It seemed to make sense to take the shots myself so that’s when I decided to look into purchasing a camera.
Are you a pro or amateur? What was your breakthrough, either when you knew you were in love with photography or when you became pro?
I never thought about becoming pro for a long time until my stock photography started taking up a lot of my time, as well as friends and businesses asking for images for catalogs and websites.
© Lopshire Photography
I was mostly doing product photography which I enjoyed because I was given complete artistic freedom on the projects.
There were a few breakthrough moments which made me seriously consider going pro… Read more
orbis® Ring flash Photographer Interviews
December 11, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
Welcome to the orbis® Ringflash Photographer Spotlight section where you’ll find exclusive interviews with professional orbis® photographers all over the world.
Fuel your inspiration with these interviews and see how the orbis® ring flash gave these photographers an edge in the photography industry.
Click on the link or photos below to read the photographer interviews!
Massimo Zanigni- Italian fashion and beauty photographer
Dave Piper- UK Fashion photog
Robert Lopshire- Macro and Portrait photog
To get stunning results like these photographers, get your own orbis® in the enlight photo pro store now and lift your photography to a whole new level!
An interview with fashion photog Dave Kai Piper
November 23, 2011 by admin · 5 Comments
“Do you want the truth or something beautiful?”
When you get a man like Dave Piper to sit down and answer questions for you, what do you ask him for an exclusive orbis® ring flash interview? Perhaps, something about his equipment? Or maybe the work he did at The Cannes Film Festival? Or perhaps instead, like us, you’d ask him what he thinks about before he presses the shutter button (and read quite possibly the most eloquent answer to that question we’ve heard in a long time…).
We chat about his muse Chloe-Jasmine Wichello, shooting in London the day after The British Music Awards and how he thinks photography holds up against the heavyweights of digital media. Ladies and gentlemen, Dave Piper…
Q: How long have you been a photographer?
All my life I have had a love for art and story. I have spent my last four years shooting weddings, bands, portraits and fashion editorials. My time is balanced out with many other things. Most photographers have a number of incomes and I am no different. Much of my time is spent split between my re-touching service and bespoke one-to one workshops.
Q: Are you a pro or amateur? What was your breakthrough, either when you knew you were in love with photography or when you became pro?
Well, I have had a romantic link with photography in all its shapes and forms for as long as I can remember. People like Tim Burton have had an untold influence on the way I see the world, it’s all about the artistic vision for me. How could someone not love the world of photography, it shapes and drives everything around us?
I remember during a photo shoot at Cannes Film Festival this year, pausing and thinking, am I really here?…
Photo © Dave Piper. Model: Chloe-Jasmine Whichello
This year alone I have been to more places than I ever thought possible, all of it due to photography. One of my first breakthrough shoots was…. Read more
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