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Stephen Dantzig (60)

Stephen Dantzig is a nationally renowned lighting expert and owner of Hawaii School of Photography. He is the author of Portrait Lighting for Digital Photographers: The Basics and Beyond, Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamour Photography for Film and Digital Photographers, Mastering Lighting Techniques for Outdoor and Location Digital Portrait Photography and Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers (Amherst Media). He has written more than seventy articles and lessons on photographic lighting and ethics. He is a frequent contributor to RANGEFINDER Magazine and his lessons have appeared in Professional Photographer Magazine, PC Photo Magazine, Studio Photography and Design, ProPhoto West, ShootSmarter.com, ProPhotoResource.com, the Photoflex Web Photo School.

Stephen’s work has appeared on more than 30 magazine covers including local, regional and national markets. Some of his published works have appeared in the Amherst Media’s Portrait Photographer’s Handbook, Group Portrait Photography Handbook, The Best of Portraiture, The Best of Photographic Lighting (First and Second Editions), Lighting and Posing Techniques for Photographing Women, Professional Portrait Lighting Techniques and Images from Master Photographers, and Rangefinder’s Professional Photography This Week Magazine (Hawaii), Pleasant Hawaii Magazine, Doll Reader, Metropolitan Home, Studio City Lifestyles Magazine, Santa Clarita Valley Living, and The Los Angeles Times.

Stephen is a twenty-one time Award of Merit recipient from the Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County and has received two Awards of Merit from The Professional Photographers of Hawaii. His specialties include fashion, beauty and corporate photography. Corporate clients in Hawaii include: United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii; Mr. Brickwood Galuteria; Ms. Raeceen Woolford, Miss Hawaii 2009; Mrs. Alicia Michioka-Jones (Miss Hawaii USA 2003); several past and current Miss Hawaii and Miss Hawaii USA preliminary title holders and Miss Hawaii Teen/Miss Hawaii Teen USA preliminary title and title holders. Stephen also holds a Doctor of Psychology degree from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.

He now works, teaches and resides in Honolulu, HI.
Find Steve on Facebook, Myspace and follow me at http://dantzigphototalk.com and http://hawaiischoolofphotography.com

Monday, August 15 2011

Bokeh--Another Look At Cross-Format Lens Use

Written by Stephen Dantzig

There appears to be a lot of interest these days in creating "Bokeh" images--or images with a shallow depth of field. Most of you know that my usual comfort zone is in the f8 to f11 range--not the best for bokeh, but it's worked for me for years. There was a very practical reason for shooting at f11 for my outdoor work. The base exposure for a bright day on a Hawaii beach is about f11 @ 1/250th of a second. I could get down to the f2.8 to f4 range by increasing my shutter speed to 1/2000 or 1/4000th of a second, but most of you also know that I use a large studio strobe on location. The maximum sync speed on my Canons is 1/250th of a second, so that option wouldn't work.

Sunday, June 05 2011

Four Elements of a Successful Shoot

Written by Steve Dantzig

The interplay of your choice of location, model, wardrobe and lighting will determine the ultimate success of your shoots. The mixture and blending of these components will rarely be perfect, but your work will be more successful than not if you plan for each of these components. The results can be magical when all these elements do line up just right.

Thursday, April 28 2011

Old Lenses, New Cameras - A Detailed Look at Legacy Lenses

Written by Stephen Dantzig

I was chatting on Facebook with my friend (and PPR publisher) Cris about 6 weeks ago. Chats with Cris are always interesting because he will toss in links to random sites/videos/whatever. This time he sent a link to a page on Amazon.com that was selling an adapter to fit old Mamiya 67 lenses to Nikon DSLRs. I've had a beautiful Bronica SQ system collecting dust in my closet for well over ten years so I half-jokingly asked Cris if there was an SQ to Canon DSLR adapter. Two weeks and $80.00 later my adapter arrived from a company called Fotodiox.

Friday, February 04 2011

Photographic Composition: Positioning and Framing Your Models

Written by Steve Dantzig

This week we have an ebook excerpt from the ProPhotoPublishing.com release by Stephen Dantzig "Photographing Swimwear: Lighting, Composition and Post-Production".The composition, framing and posing in your image are all as important to the creation of a beautiful swimsuit photograph as is the lighting. The general "rules" of composition apply to swimsuit photography as well. For example, you will rarely create a particularly interesting image if your subject is posed head on to the camera and in the center of the frame. Move your subject around the frame and decide whether to come in close or back out and allow her to become part of the scene around her. If you choose to back up, then your model(s) become the important--but not the only--component of the story that your photograph tells.

Wednesday, January 12 2011

Internet Scams and Free eBooks

Written by Stephen Dantzig

My apologies. I've been working on some major projects and traveling for the holidays so I won't have a "regular" piece for you this month. However, I did not want to end the year without at least touching base to thank all of you for your support over the years and to wish you the best in the New Year ahead.

Friday, December 03 2010

Go Urban

Written by Steve Dantzig

Two old school rock anthems came to mind as I was thinking about the article for this month. Joe Walsh (and the Eagles) "In the City" began to battle it out with The Doobie Brothers "Taking It To The Streets." It was time for me to scroll through the archives for some urban images. We often get into routines when we shoot our images. We tend to find our favorite locations and return there time and time again. I admit that the beaches in Hawaii are wonderful "routine" places to go, but I live on Oahu, so there is so much more to play with. Downtown Honolulu offers so many different locations...all you have to do is look around.

Monday, October 18 2010

One for the Beginners

Written by Stephen Dantzig

This chapter was inspired by a conversation that I recently had with a young and enthusiastic photographer who was just trying out his "starter" kit that consisted of two "hot" lights and two umbrellas. I was walking down memory lane because he was describing exactly how I--and I am sure many other photographers--started my journey. This young man was doing what I---and I am sure many other photographers had done--we set the umbrellas up at opposing 45 degree angles and shot away!

Sunday, August 01 2010

Behind The Glamour

Written by Stephen Dantzig

Glamour and fashion photography is a great deal of fun. It also takes a lot of work and planning to create images that appear to be “effortlessly glamorous.”

Saturday, July 10 2010

And Now For Something Completely Different!

Written by Stephen Dantzig

I start this month’s article with a nod to the Monty Python gang because I would have thought it was equally as absurd as their many hysterical skits if someone told me 5 months ago that I would be writing this article. Every image in this article was taken on an iPhone!

Thursday, June 03 2010

Artist Profile - Amyn Nasser

Written by Stephen Dantzig

Speaking to Amyn Nasser is as fascinating as taking a long slow stroll through his art. Yes, Amyn is a photographer, but it is clear that the camera is merely the tool of choice that allows us into the creative mind that produces so many images that are consistently inconsistent. “Juxtaposition” is, ironically, a term that came up early in our conversations.

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Stephen Dantzig (60)

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