The Joy of Giving Back

The saying "it's better to give than to receive" is something we've all heard countless times, but giving is a wonderful feeling, especially when giving back in a way that can enhance the lives of others.

As photographers there are many ways we can use our talents to give back.  We can donate our services to a worthwhile cause or share our knowledge with others from our experience.  Today I received a question from a photo student in Holland regarding a photograph of Tyra Banks.

The question came after he viewed the youtube video where I describe how I shot this image.



His question was in regard to redeye in your photos.  A common problem photographers have when using a ring light or on camera strobe.  To correct this problem you simple have to raise the level of ambient light (the existing light) in the room.  You don't want to shoot in a dark room as this will almost insure you have red-eye in your photos.    In studio I use a hotlight to keep the room bright while using a ring-light.  You don't want to have the hot light pointed at your subject, you only need it to open up the room.  I will usually point my hot-light to the ceiling.

You get red-eye when the flash reflects the blood vessels of the retina into the lens, so you want to make sure your subjects pupils are reduced by having a bright source.  Many of point and shot camera have a feature to reduce this by flashing multiple times before it takes the photo.   If you're shooting at an evening event and have this problem try and put a bit of distance between your camera and flash by using a bracket to hold your flash.  You can also bounce your flash into a white wall or up towards the ceiling so the flash doesn't fill your subjects eyes.

For more information regarding lighting and photography please check out the instructional videos in the Gallery Store.

Ten Ways to Use One Light Source

Ten Ways to Create Natural Light Portraits

Today's question comes from Holland.  If you have any questions regarding photography please send your questions to mjs@matthewjordansmith.com and we will answer them here on the blog!

Always Dream Big