The threat of theft is a serious concern for any photographer, especially for those of us who've invested a good amount of money into our camera systems. Though a lot can be accomplished using some common sense, it's not always possible to keep an eye on your equipment, especially when you are in the midst of a shoot.

My equipment closet is where camera bags go to die. Empty except for a stray body cap or an expired roll of film (yes, some of the bags are that old!), they consist of all types of bags: shoulder bags, backpacks, slingbags and more. At some point, they held the promise of being the definitive bag, the last bag that I would ever need. That of course is a fool's errand, because realistically the best bag is like the best lens. It's only the best when it's the right choice for the job.

On a couple of recent portrait sessions I wanted to shake things up a bit, have a little fun and create a game to challenge myself photographically. I decided to only use two simple lenses for the entire session. Were these the industry standard 70-200 and 24-70?? Nope, instead they were the relatively small, relatively low profile and but super sharp 50mm lens and 135mm lens. The result were sessions that I really loved and the clients  loved the images too.  

From Chris Grey's best selling ShootSmarter DVD, Chris Grey covers a variety of Light Modefiers and their results in a closed loop lighting scenario. Parabolics, Umbrellas, Soft Boxes and Beauty Bowls they are all covered in this 4 minute video.

I had an interesting experience last year as I wheeled my camera case, tripod and grip kit alongside a fellow photographer on a Chicago street corner. I think we were both taken back a bit to see one another, but greeted each other cordially. This particular photographer is well known and well respected. His work represents the pinnacle of our industry. His images appear primarily in magazines, and his subjects are high-end residential properties. On the other hand, my work is predominantly corporate, institutional and hospitality.

The first time I heard the term “One Light Wonder” was from a newspaper colleague who was using in a self-deprecating way to describe his own lighting style.  That style was typically one large light source in conjunction with the ambient light to create a portrait that had feeling and reproduced well in newspapers and magazines.a

As professional photographers, we should always be looking for ways to set our images apart from those of our competition. For those of us who may shoot strictly for personal pleasure, every opportunity to grow as a visual artist should be explored.

Learning how to use bounce flash effectively was a bit tougher in the “old days” of still photography, using the venerable Vivitar 283 flash, coupled with using film, external light meters (and no histogram!!).