Photography Workshops - Photography Lessons - The inLIGHTin Workshop - Photography Lessons in Buffalo

Website Changes

Written by Michael Alan Bielat on January 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Hey all,
Just a quick FYI that I will be transferring this site over to Blogger over the next couple weeks. WordPress is nice and all but I am looking for something that gives me a lot more flexibility.On top of that, I have so many old posts on here that are referencing broken URLs or images that are no longer online so I have a lot of cleanup to do. I mean what good is a photography blog without images right?

So I will do a seamless transition with the domain name and whatnot once the Blogger site is 100%. In the meantime, take a look at the new resting spot for The inLIGHTin Workshop: http://www.inlightinworkshop.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone for their support.
Michael

Categories: News - Tags: 2012, blogger, blogspot, new site

Build A Home Photography Studio Cheaply

Written by Michael Alan Bielat on December 30, 2011 · 2 Comments

Q: What does $93 in flooring get you?
A: A new studio on the cheap.

With two kids and a newly built house, I really had no time (or cash) to buck up and build a brand new home studio immediately. However, the weather outside has been getting colder and my portrait shoots were still booking. No one is interested in freezing their butts off outside so I had to think fast. I was left with little to no options so off to Home Depot for some studio triage. I found some remnant vinyl flooring that came pre-cut in a 12′x8′ roll. It looks A LOT like hard wood flooring and but without the hassle of installing it. So I saved myself $30-40 by buying remnant and took it home.
I did try out this setup in my unfinished basement first but didn’t like that backdrop a whole lot:

I used some old curtains from our daughter’s room as the backdrop and it just screamed “amateur” to me so it was off to Plan B.

I closed off part of our living room just by moving some furniture and laid out the flooring for a second time (how nice is it that this floor is portable):

For reference: To the right of this picture I have some great windows for natural lighting in the mornings, and my trusty JTL Versalight studio strobe that I had since 2002. The set screws are stripped but I love this thing. It has a 60″ Photoflex Convertible Umbrella attached to it as well for a nice large, single light source. The light is fired wirelessly through a PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver / Radio Slave.

For my backdrop I just used our walls. How easy is that? The people who built our house put used some matte white paint so that is what is there now. They were also nice enough to install an outlet literallay every 10′ so I did have some Photoshop work to take one out of a coupl images but shooting at f/2 with my Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Lens helped a whole lot!
This really did the trick and I like the photos a whole lot more (thanks to my daughter, Addison who was my lovely model – and turning one next week)

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All in all, we have a 14′x30′ living room that opens up into the dining room so I have some room behind me to step back. The best part is that when the clients leave, then I can just roll up my floor and have my house back. All you really need is about 12′x12′ of space and a blank white wall and you should be well underway to making a photo studio on the cheap.

~ Mike

Categories: Flash Tips, For Professionals - Tags: build a home studio, cheap home studio, cheap photography studio, cheap portrait studio, inlightinworkshop workshop, lighting, lighting help, photography, studio, studio photography

Teaching Photography Classes in Buffalo, NY

Written by Michael Alan Bielat on December 14, 2011 · 2 Comments

Just a quick reminder to all you local Buffalonians that I am available for one-on-one workshops in and around Buffalo, NY.

My guesses are that a lot of people will be getting some new gadgets and gizmos within the next couple weeks (maybe that Digital camera or Digital SLRs you’ve been asking Santa for?) and you will probably want to actually learn how to use it properly…

That is where The inLIGHTin Workshop comes in… Simply shoot me an email at inlightinworkshop[at]gmail[dot]com or call me directly at (716) 491-8854 and we can set something up.

These One-on-One Lessons are personalized to meet your particular needs and last two hours. Price: $250 BUY YOUR TICKET HERE

You’ll probably end up dropping well over $100 on photography books and magazines that you’ll never get around to reading so why not just buck up, spend a little more and get hands-on knowledge that you can apply immediately and take better photographs.

The most common topics include:
- Introduction to Digital photography
- How to use your camera
- Photography 101
- How to take better pictures
- Portfolio Review
- Flash Photography (on and off camera lighting)
- and whatever else crosses your mind…

Take a look at some Testimonials and see for yourself. These classes work and will take your photography to the next level.

Remember, life is too short take crappy pictures. Call today and set up your appointment.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Categories: News, Photo 101 - Tags: buffalo, classes, flash photography, how to take better pictures, how to use a digital slr camera, intro to digital photography, michael alan bielat, new camera, ny, photo classes in buffalo, photography, photography 101, the inlightin workshop, winter

Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox Review

Written by Michael Alan Bielat on September 30, 2010 · 7 Comments

Honl Photographic was awesome enough to send me their Traveller8 Softbox for their speed strap system in preparation for my upcoming PPA Super Monday workshop on “Off-Camera Flash Techniques.” I took it out for a spin and put it through its paces and am really, really, really happy with the results.

From HonlPhoto.com: “Create beautiful soft light from David’s innovative new softbox design, with the quality and sturdiness you’ve come to expect from all Honl Photo Professional lighting products. Extremely easy to setup and attach to your shoe-mount flash unit using our popular Speed Strap (included). Folds flat to tuck into your camera bag, and weighs in at less than 4 ounces. Provides a pleasing circular catchlight in your subject’s eyes. Fits most any shoe-mount flash by Nikon or Canon as well as larger units like the Vivitar 285.”

The size of the softbox is roughly 11×9 inches folded and its look and feel is very rugged. It will definitely hold its own and I have confidence that it will not rip or tear even with me beating on it.

I photographed a senior portrait session over at a local park here and my setup was REAL simple. We’re talking just my Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR Lens, PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers, Nikon SB-900 Speedlight, Portable Light stand and the Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox. I started shooting with a camera strap again which is nice because I can cart around my light stand with ease and throw my camera over my shoulder to free up my hands when working with my flash settings and whatnot.

Since I was using the PocketWizards, I had to shoot with my Nikon SB-900 speedlight in Manual mode. This also meant that I had to conform to my camera’s maximum sync speed (1/250″) and could not do any high-speed sync whatsoever.

I had to work the power of the flash, the distance between the flash and subject, ISO and Aperture to control the effect my flash had in the photo while my shutter speed simply controlled the amount of ambient light recorded. The Honl Traveller8 softbox is small enough to provide a tight light pattern on my subject and didn’t really light anything that I didn’t want it to. Since it is small, that also means that it won’t get knocked over during windy days nearly as easy as my large 60″ umbrella or 28″ Westcott Apollo softbox. Due to the Traveller8′s size and light pattern, I would really only use this for lighting a couple people. Any more and I would move to a larger light modifier like the 28″ Apollo softbox or my 60″ umbrella.

Here are some shots from the portrait session with the Traveller8 Softbox:

The Honl Photo Traveller8 Softbox is $70 at B&H and comes packaged with a Speed Strap so that is an added bonus.

I would highly recommend this product for it’s price, portability and usefulness for on-the-go lighting. I’d love to hear your thought on it if you own one too so comment below and share your experiences.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike

Categories: Flash Tips, Product Reviews - Tags: fill flash, honl, honl photo, light modifier, lighting outdoors, outdoor lighting, portable softbox, senior portrait session, soft box, softbox review, speedlight, traveller8, using flash outdoors