New Service Offering - Photography Consulting and Education

We are expanding our services to include photographic consulting and education!

What does this mean for you?  Read on below!

Ever have questions regarding which gear you need, devising a pricing schedule?  Let's talk about those things and get you on a track that is comfortable for you.  This is meant for fellow photographers who want to get to a different level in their photographic journey.

Are you just starting out, an amateur, advanced or professional photographer with gaps in your knowledge base?

We can help you understand photographic concepts as basic as getting a proper exposure all the way to advanced concepts such as off camera lighting, HDR.  Need help getting a workflow developed for your image creation through archiving and post processing (Lightroom and Photoshop CS/CC)?
Want advice on your portfolio?  We can sit down with you and look at what you have and help guide you to a cohesive end product.

We can help you with all that and more.  Contact us either by phone or email to discuss your needs and we can setup a schedule that fits your time frame.
If you are local (Central Ohio) we can also use the consulting/education time for one-on-one shooting sessions.  One of the best tools for learning is having a mentor to bounce ideas and talk out situations/concepts while on  an actual shooting session.

Consulting and education is billed by the hour and you will control the time and pace of the sessions.  We will not force you to pay for three hours of time if you can get what you need in 1 hour.

As with the photography services we provide to our clients, we want to provide you with the best "bang for the buck" education and consulting.  We feel our prices are reasonable for the value you get.

Our contact information is below and on our website.

Some of our work is shown above, but if you want to see more about what we do and what we produce, check out these links:
http://www.bestlightphoto.net
http://www.visualohio.com
http://bestlightphoto.blogspot.com

Andrew Livelsberger
614-571-0359
andrew@bestlightphoto.net

PhotoBooth At A Birthday Party

I've been looking for additional ways of making income for my business and right now, there seems to be an upswing in the popularity of photobooths.

I recently had a birthday party and was asked if I could do a photobooth.  I had everything except for the software.  I do have lightroom, but wanted something more "end user" friendly.  Something that guests could do on their own.   I do have a 4x6 printer as well, but the client wanted digital sharing only.

The location did not have a Wi-Fi connection available, so instead, I tethered my 4G cellular phone to the laptop.  Worked great!
I picked up the dslrBooth software and it has the essentials that I will need to make the booth work the way I want.

All of my current Nikon cameras work with the software, which was great.  Just needed a good USB cable for tethering.

All the items I used:
Nikon D300
Nikon 24mm f/2.8
Tripod
Laptop
Table
Light stand
Alien Bee B400 w/ shoot through umbrella
Vagabond mini lithium pack
Radio Popper triggers
Backdrop stand
black backdrop
props

I was just amazed at how much fun people had.  I even got in on some of the fun!
Here are some samples from the guests that night.

Website version 2.0 is now LIVE!!!!

http://www.bestlightphoto.net

The new website is now 99%(just need to get the contact form page complete). All galleries populated and thumbnails are lined up as they should be. If you need to contact us, the phone and email are at the top of each page!!


Feel free to check it out!

My On Site Tethering/Printing Solution

I was digging through some of my old electronics the other day and came across an old Acer Aspire One netbook that I bought for my daughter a few years ago.

I remember looking around for a tethered shooting option, but all my camera gear and Lightroom are in my home office tower.  The Aspire One is a nice, ultra thin netbook, but it cannot run Lightroom.

Then I stumbled across the DIYPHOTOBITS website and realized that this might be the solution for me.

The Aspire One has 150GB HDD, which is plenty of room for the files I would need to transfer.

The DIYPHOTOBITS software is very low footprint, so getting it up and running was a fairly easy thing.  I just followed the instructions on the website and had my Nikon D50 tethered and running within minutes.

The software can even fire the shutter and change aperture, ISO and exposure compensation(only to the positive side on the D50).  The shutter speed value does not seem to work remotely.

It also has functions for time lapse shooting as well as bracketing.

I set the D50 USB mode to PTP, fire up the software, connect the camera, have the software detect the camera, start tethering and that is that.

You can get a used Aspire One netbook for around a $100, and the software is free - so this setup is worth it if nothing more than to experiment.  I plan on using it for doing on site printing of 4x6 images on a dye sub printer(Canon Selphy 800).

I did a test shoot the other day and ended up putting an Ugli fruit into the light box and shooting tethered.  I also ended up shooting some impromptu self portraits with the help of my daughter.
Here are the examples:

Tech Info on the Ugli fruit:
Inside light tent, gridded SB-26 above and camera right at about 1/32 power.  ISO 200, 1/250th @ f/7.1 - triggered with Radio Poppers.   Nikon D50, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8

Tech Info on the portrait:
In my kitchen, gridded SB-26 to camera right at 1/32 power, second light(bare SB-28 on the floor pointing up) in the room behind me shooting through the glass in the door at 1/64th power.  Triggered with Radio Poppers.  ISO 200, 1/500th, f/4.5.   Nikon D50, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
I really like Zack Arias' work and I did this in honor of the work he does and his ability to teach.

Guest Blogged Over At Project 52!

I guest blogged over at Project52.   Did a little write up on the importance of networking for your photo business.

Check it out here:
http://project52.org/networking-the-importance-of-getting-out-there/

Happy Holidays and Welcome to 2012!!

Hello all!!

Just wanted to take the time to thank all the regular readers of the blog.  I also want to welcome the newcomers and invite you to read through the past blogs for some great articles.

What do we have in store for the new year?  A bunch more "how I got the shot" posts for sure and we plan on pushing the boundaries and limits of our image making processes.   More choices, more creativity is good for everyone!

Looking for some that great family portrait?

Shamblin Family Portrait

A special, intimate image for that special someone?

Intimate Portrait

Couples Portrait
©Best Light Photographic LLC

Senior Portraits?

Before The Prom

Chris Cochran - Senior 2012

Brittany - Senior Portrait

Maybe you are a business in the community and are looking for something that will pop your ads off the page/screen or a style that will let everyone know that is YOU even without having to read a word.  We can and want to help you with that!!

Armando Javier Product Shoot
Image ©Best Light Photographic LLC
Products © Armando Javier

So, take some time, reflect on what it is you want to visually accomplish this year and then give us a call and let us know!  It would be our pleasure to help you make your visions a reality.

We are also looking to expand out and offer some educational classes.  Got a new camera or just want to better understand what it is that your camera can do for you?  Want to control your scene through exposure, lighting, concept?

We can help you with all of that and then some.   Private, one on one sessions will be offered as well as group classes and workshops.  Call us anytime to discuss the one-on-one sessions and stay on the look out for the class/workshop announcements.

From all of us here at Best Light Photographic:

Good luck in the new year, best wishes for success in all your ventures and we look forward to working with you in whatever ventures our paths happen to cross!!

Andrew

Photo Workshop At Franklin Park Conservatory

Just wanted to share with everyone about the photo workshop on 10/29/2011.

I've had a group that has been wanting to work on portrait techniques for a while now and the stars aligned and we were able to get a group together.  Ohio being what it is this time of year, we were not sure how the weather was going to cooperate.  I thought that the Franklin park Conservatory was a great location as there are both indoor and outdoor locations that lend themselves to great photo opportunities.

Ambient Light with silver reflector low
Nikon D300, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D
1/80 @ f/4 80mm ISO 320

My wife volunteered to be the model for the workshop.   She is a very gracious and willing model.  She made it very easy for those attending to get some great shots.

We started off with some expectations.  All those attending had some prior experience with photography and I've personally gone through some of the basics of photography and some information about off camera lighting and how to craft the light in order to make a killer image.  So I knew that they had the "book smarts", but what they were clamoring for was some real world, hands on experience.  A way to be able to put theory to the test.

I gave them some time to scout the location and determine if there was a good backdrop for our subject.

Not too far in we decided that the rain forest room, with its lush foliage and numerous waterfalls would be a good place to start.

I gave them some basic instruction on getting their exposures dialed in and then let them start to get some shots with just the ambient light flooding the room.

One of the first things that they noticed was that the daylight streaming into the room was a great free resource, but as bright sunlight tends to do, left some pretty harsh shadows on the model.

So,I asked them...."what can we do to make the image better?"

We discussed it for a minute and came to the consensus that we wanted to lift the dark shadows.  But how do we do that?    External flash?  Change the models position relative to the ambient light?  Use a reflector?

Ambient exposure only, no reflector or fill light
Nikon D300, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D
1/80 @ f/4 80mm ISO 320

Ah!  A reflector!    I brought with me a fold able 33" 5 in 1 reflector.  That sure did the trick!

Lesson here....good ambient light, proper exposure settings and a $30 fold able reflector and you go from getting a so so snapshot to a more professional looking portrait.

Nikon D300, Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8D
1/250 @ f/7.1    38mm ISO 320
Main light at camera left SB-28 with a Lumiquest SB LTP
Hair light at camera right SB-600 bare

Next we moved to one of the outdoor areas.  This section had some very nice looking lattice fence and a spiral staircase.

Again, I had them take a few test shots to get their exposures down.   Once they did that they evaluated them also for any improvements and again, those pesky shadows from the overhead sun crept into play.  The reflector was employed and did the trick.

After 2 hours at the Conservatory, we took ourselves over to a local coffee shop that had a community room and relaxed for a minute.  We then went through some flash portraits.

Here will be some from the attendees(update coming soon).  Pretty successful shoot from the group.  

New Project Coming - VisualOhio!!

Those of you who have been regular readers of the blog know that I attended the Flash Bus Tour Stop in Pittsburgh this year.

While there, David Hobby discussed his HoCo360 project.  Essentially it is a hyper focal news blog about interesting people or events in the Howard County Maryland area.

I though that this was a great idea and am going to start something similar.  In the next couple of days, look to find a new website, http://www.visualohio.com

This site will concentrate on bringing stories of interest regarding the people and events of the great state of Ohio.  While I am headquartered in the central Ohio area, and most stories will probably be from this area, I'm not limiting it.  Anything in Ohio is far game.  I've already got an initial article in the bag and ready to post once the site goes live.

The key to all this will be you, the reader. If anyone has any tips to a great story....a person they know that has some skill, talent or story of interest that you want to get out there, an interesting event...drop us a tip and we might use that as the catalyst for a future story!

Great Partnerships - Armando Javier Design(OP 1-16-2010)

** Originally Posted 1-16-2010**


 I had the great privilege of meeting the owner of Armando Javier Design, Lynda Zamora.  She is a very creative designer and skilled crafter.
As her popularity grew, she recognized the need for having her products shown in the best light possible in her advertising and web store.
To hear more about this partnership, read after the break...