One of my favorite portrait photographers is Platon. His setup is simple but it's his interaction with his subjects that allows him to get great expressions and henceforth great portraits. I've been playing with that setup lately just trying to make some nice portraits in the studio. Here's the quick explanation:

-One light in a 28" softbox high and directly in front of subject
-White background
-Wide angle lens

Here are a few to look at:

I did some portraits for Dr. Eddie Orobitg, a dentist in town, this past week. They needed some shots for their website as well as an ad they will be running soon in Healthy Living Magazine. I did a very simple one light set up. I put a 580ex ii in a 28" softbox for my main light. I used a small white reflector close to the subject for fill. We shot all the pictures on a black back drop.

Here's one of the pics so you can get the picture:

The WhiBal card is an invaluable tool in my bag. I included it on my "Last Minute Gift Ideas For The Photographer On Your List" post in December. I have the WhiBal card that is about the size of a credit card. All you do is take one picture with that card in it and then use that picture for your custom white balance or just use it as your white balance target in post.

This morning I did a shoot for a dentist's office. I had to do a bunch of headshots for some of his clients and employees. My dad is in town visiting so I took him with me. Once we were set up, I had him hold the WhiBal card for a test picture.



Once I uploaded all the pictures from the shoot into Aperture 3 (which I'm loving by the way), I set the white balance for this picture using the gray card, then lifted and stamped that adjustment onto all the other pictures. Voila! Perfect white balance!

The first couple of dances that take place at a reception are traditionally the "first dance" and the "father of the bride dance". A great way to shoot these is to back light them. You can use a light that is already present if you are lucky enough to have one in the right place or you can use a small speed light.


In this first example, I put an SB800 on a light stand. You can actually see the glare I got, but it works in this image. By shooting at a fast shutter speed, I knocked the ambient light down and made a very dramatic, beautiful picture.



In this photo, there was not a good place to set up a light stand so I had my assistant hold a monopod which had a flash connected to it. That light gives me a very nice rim of light on the back of the brides hair and dress and rims out the grooms face so you can see his features.

I love how this technique really separates the couple from everything else that is going on and makes it feel like an even more magical moment!

Brian Williams Photography

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We had a really good time the other night with Samantha and Clay. I'm looking forward to their wedding on May 1st. Here's some of my favorites from the session:

It was a cool day to begin with... add a little 15-20 mph wind and the family dog, and pictures can get a little interesting! But everyone in the family was a trooper and we were able to get some great photos. Thanks for the opportunity, West Family!