This is the second entry in what I hope will become an occasional feature dissecting how some of my photos - and those of the Cheapshooter community - were taken. These photo dissections will highlight how a photo concept is developed technically on a limited budget and will be geared for more advanced photographers. Cheapshooter’s first photo dissection was dubbed “Held Hostage“.

The concept: As fall continues, I have more and more assignments to shoot. The bulk of these are boring as all hell - I shot a street sign yesterday, for example - but occasionally an opportunity to be a bit more creative comes down the line. After an earlier photo assignment fell through, I had to rush to put together a portrait of a member of a student skateboarding club. Daylight was fading quickly, so I knew I would need to break out the flashes for a night session.

The equipment: It’s been a bad week for me, equipment wise. One of my budget radio triggers has been on the fritz, so I was limited to one flash. My Canon 40D is already in the shop, so I broke out the trusty Digital Rebel XT. Light was provided by a Canon 430 EX, a silver umbrella and a stand. I wanted a wider perspective for this photo and my flash would provide plenty of light, so I utilized the 18-55mm kit lens, which works surprisingly well in situations like this.

See how it all came together after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first in what I hope will become an occasional feature dissecting how some of my photos - and those of the Cheapshooter community - were taken. These photo dissections will highlight how a photo concept is developed technically on a limited budget and will be geared for more advanced photographers. Cheapshooter’s first photo dissection is this concept portrait.

The concept: I shoot stock photography for iStockphoto, and I wanted an image to illustrate the concept of someone selling out or being held hostage by their finances. I decided to take a literal approach to things and develop a portrait where a person was literally gagged by their money. As is typical with my middle-of-the-night shooting sessions, I lacked a model so I had to use myself.

The equipment: Because of sites like Strobist, I’ve fallen in love with the use of off-camera strobes as a way of controlling the light within an image. I decided to use my two strobes - a Canon 430EX and a Vivitar 580HV - to provide the primary lighting within the image. I wanted a tight crop on my face, so I decided to use my Canon 200mm f/2.8L lens attached to my Digital Rebel XT.

See how it all came together after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »