Shoot Breakdown

Start to finish, these are breakdowns of photo shoots. Behind the scenes, how the image was created and what problems were solved.

The Stuck at Home Photography Challenge

Given the current world events – photography may be more important to you than ever. Let me take just a moment to offer my prayers and sympathies to those who have been directly affected and to offer my wishes and hopes that all of you will be smart and remain…
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Photo Shoot With Celebrity Magician Matthew Furman

My tagline says I Shoot People and that’s exactly what keeps me motivated as a photographer. My camera is my ticket to meet and interact with people. People that I would otherwise never have the opportunity to experience. Throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity to photograph numerous magicians on…
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Fashion Portraits With Cellophane

I’m always on the lookout for things that I can drape around a model, or turn into an outfit, or place over a light source to change the color of the light, or even turn into a background. As a result, I make frequent trips to local fabric stores and…
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How To Save a Shoot When Your Idea Isn’t Working

What do you do when you have a beautiful subject with amazing makeup in front of your camera and you want to produce a shot that is truly special and… it’s just not coming together? Maybe the lighting is boring, the camera angles are bland, and the sweat is starting…
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Sci-Fi Inspired Four Light Fashion Portrait Tutorial

What can we create with four strobes, some blue gels, a big fan, and a gorgeous model with incredible eyes? Two unique sci-fi fashion portraits. I’m going to show you how I did it and share with you why it’s important to emotionally LET GO of your work once you…
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Self Portrait Tutorial

How I shot my self portrait for social media and my photography website The task: I got a new pair of glasses and that means it was time to update my profile photo for my website and social media. When shooting a portrait, ask yourself: WHO is the subject? Me!…
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Three light Portrait, Headshot and Beauty Lighting

I want to show you some beauty lighting and a series of headshots done with three lights and a reflector – and NO modifiers on the lights. The modifier was the room that I shot in. In this series of headshots and beauty shots, I was working in my home…
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2 Light Lingerie Glamour Lighting Setup

I’m going to walk you through another one of my keep it super simple (KISS IT) glamour lighting arrangements that requires only two lights and a medium softbox. I also use the all-purpose box that I showed you in my DIY Home Studio blog article and showed you how to…
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Halloween Inspired Three Light Beauty Portrait

Today I have a Halloween-inspired three light beauty portrait tutorial for you guys, done with mixed light sources and with some cool orange gels for effect. This is a fun beauty shot that I did for Halloween a few years back. Like many of my shots, the real credit for…
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Beauty Portrait with a Beauty Dish, 4 lights & Red Gels

Today I’m going to show you a beauty shot I did with four lights, some red gels and a beauty dish. I will also show you a few awesome variations that I got by working the shot. Watch the VIDEO… This is a beauty shot that I did with a…
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One Light & Reflector for Dramatic Portraits

I have a really simple one light portrait lighting set-up that I use for beauty shots and dramatic portraits. I’ll walk you through it and show you how you can add more lights and gels to turn this simple arrangement into a bold and colorful set-up. Are you tired of…
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How To Shoot a Fitness Magazine Cover Shot

Have you ever thought about shooting a fitness magazine cover? You know, the ones with the white background, clean, crisp commercial lighting, three quarter length pose, really fit and sexy subject who looks really happy. . . sound familiar? You see these all the time when you’re in the checkout…
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Body Painting – The Mermaid Model Project

The Mermaid Model Project is a body painting and digital scenery shot that was conceived and executed by Philadelphia based makeup artist Morgan Chalfant. (www.MorganTheMakeupArtist.com) Body Painting Concept We made the decision early in our discussions that we didn’t want a Disney styled mermaid. We wanted a look that was…
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Wide Angle Pink Clamshell Beauty Shot

This beauty shot is from the “oldie but goodie” category for me. A follower on Facebook asked me for the details on the image since I recently posted it as a Timeline Cover – so here is the scoop. . . I like to challenge my creative process by trying…
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How Not To Shoot a Self-portrait

Radio DJ’s often say that they have a face made for Radio. Hence the reason they aren’t on Television. (Unless your name is Ryan Seacrest) There is a reason I work behind the camera, I simply hate having my picture taken. Probably because I am never happy with what I…
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What Exactly Is a Beauty Shot?

A Beauty portrait is a close-up portrait, usually a crop from the bust up or closer. It can range from little to no makeup all the way to dramatic creative makeup with lots of fu-fu surrounding the model. This is a Beauty portrait… …and this is a beauty portrait One…
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