Reflectors & Diffusers

Shooting at Blackwall Reach on the Swan River on a sunny, summer's afternoon the light was the typical mottled, splotchy mixture that makes portrait photography near impossible.
We unwrapped the diffuser part of the reflector and my assistant Martin stood in waist deep water to protect the subject. Its really the simplest thing ever. All you need is a tall, strong helper who doesn't mind getting a bit wet.
The image is a colour bleed through my sepia formula. Client is Cygnet bay Pearls; Model Phynia
You can learn techniques like these at UWA Extension's 'Portraits - Memories Forever' on Feb 11, 12 & 16 2012. $225
http://www.extension.uwa.edu.au/course/cc214

National Portrait Gallery - Canberra

One of Dale's images has been selected to be hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra on 15 March 2012. After two months on show it will tour Australia for a further 10 months.

The National portrait Awards attracted approximately 1600 entries in 2011 and Dale's image of a mother saying goodbye to her only son was one of the 46 finalists.

The image will be displayed on the FACEZ blog after the overall winner ins announced in Canberra on 15 March 2012.

Antarctic Portrait

Not often you travel all the way to Antarctica to do a portrait. Aboard the Russian research vessel Akademik Ioffe I photographed Carol, an Aussie I met on board - in the library, on the bridge with a slightly embarrassed first officer and in wet weather gear on the deck.

Portrait Tip - Panning with 1/15 sec

No tripod, no monopod and no Photoshop. I start my students practising on 1/20 sec. When they get it right I move them to 1/15. Then, when they are hot I let them loose on a 1/10 sec pans. One tip is to have soft, low-level lighting, a great background and the subject about 4-8 metres away. Its also a good idea to switch the camera to manual focus to stop the camera focus 'hunting'.
Be prepared to shoot lots of image - this is no 'one-trick dog shoot. The averagae is about one shot in 50 looks reasonable.

Vale Richard Swannell

Facez temporarily became a television studio for a short period last week. Andrew Njuguna
from Buffalo Film Studios came to record an interview for the Richard Swannell 'To Live By Choice' video. Richard died on Sept 8. Richard's enthusiasm and passion for photography, people and life was unparalleled. In early 2005 he asked me to accompany him to India to record the rescue of the Tsunami orphans. It was a life changing experience for me. http://www.facez.com.au/dale%20profile1.html
Photo by Dafna Lambert.

Koji Kids

I've been doing farm shoots for about twenty years now - Brookton to Yelbeni, Gin-Gin to Kojonup. So a three hour run in Spring down to Kojonup is a break from the rat-race. And even if you win the rat-race you are still a rat!
After three brothers, a Star is born. Much celebration in the shearing shed and canola crop. Besides that, Kojonup was a bit of nostalgic trip - its where I spent the second night of my honeymoon back in '67 and where my best man Frank Papasergio honed his teaching skills in the 60s.

John Maslin

It was a busy afternoon - John 'Maz' Maslin, popped his head in FACEZ studio. Part resident of East Freo and Bridgetown, Maz is also a frequenter of Tasty Express and has been deputy sheriff with Foto Freo for a few years. John's a prettty cool photographer in his own right and yes, he still uses an enlarger and prints on paper.

Margaret Halsmith

Lifelong client, Margaret Halsmith (Halsmith Consulting) breezed in and breezed out like a whirlwind.

Side Light

Eighty years ago the Great Yellow Emperor (Kodak) produced a small leaflett printed in 2 point font and reproduced in half a dozen languages. It was included in every single cardboard packet of Kodak film and sold hundreds maybe thousands of millions of times.

The sermon on the mount instructed photographers to shoot between 10am and 3pm and always have the sun coming over their left shoulder. Generation after generation of photographers followed the anthem from the Great Yellow Emperor. So we all learned to have the light falling on the front of the subject. So did I. For a while.

Nobody taught us that when light falls across a person, a pumpkin or a plateau the image actually looks better. A lot better. Why? Because the light produces light and shade, light and shade, light and shade. The italians call it chiaroscuro lighting. This produces an amazing difference in the image - making it look more three-dimensional, more contrasty and sharper. The Italians are famous for one more thing besides pasta and red Ferraris.

APPA 2011

APPA (Australian Professional Photography Awards) being held in Sydney this year. Two images picked up Silver Awards. We didn't break out French champagne but we did open up a bottle of good red.

The first shot was of Leonie Heydon who volunteered to be part of my 2010 H2O (Water) project. Leonie is one of my UWA photography students; she met up with me early one morning for a dip in the Swan River. Leonie was just fabulous; she floated and splashed; read a book underwater; took photos underwater with a non-waterproof camera and never complained about the jellyfish or seaweed. I reminded her she had to suffer a bit for art.

The second shot was of Father Michael from the Russian Orthodox Church in the Anglican Church in South Perth. I was photographing an Investiture Ceremony and caught Father Michael as he walked down the aisle. Sometimes I spend hours or days setting up a shot and other times its all over in a minute - like here. Mind you, when you have angels on your side its easier.

Veroniqua Alexy

Photography is all about light, composition and, most importantly, emotion. - Larry Wilder

There are few things better in portrait photography than to get an emotional reaction from your subject. Be it a turn of the head, a shoulder shrug or the moistening of the eye. That emotional reaction is rarely at the beginning of the shoot, it is usually after a few shots have been taken.

We were leaving an underground carpark when I noticed the the low level light bouncing off the concrete walls. Veroniqua's pose was spontaneous and fleeting and full of intensity. a 50mm prime lens on f1.4 hardly ever lets me down.

Helen -natural light

The translation of the Greek work 'Photography' means writing or drawing with light. I believe you will improve more quickly as a photographer by training your eye to observe light rather than buying studio lights. I study the way light falls on people's faces in cafes and buses, in meetings and at dinner. I've studied this light for more than thirty years. It never ceases to amaze me.

Rembrandt light adds contours and three-dimensionality, flat light drowns the face in a sea of nothingness and Rim light can transform the innocent person into the mysterious and dramatic. One light is all I need - anything more interferes with perfection.

I saw the light playing on the internal staircase of the hotel and asked Helen Bareham to lay back with her mandolin. The mandolin was more part of her life than almost anything else. I went to the first floor and hung over the balcony with my camera. I asked Helen to move this way and that an inch or two so the light played on her body. Its almost as if I can hear music when light plays so well.

Children's Fashion Photography Workshop

Don't shoot your own kids, shoot ours.
Children’s Fashion Photography Workshop
With Angelique Lee and Dale Neill - Fremantle
Saturday 10 Sept $349 (max group size 12) 10am-5pm


If you’re interested experiencing a full-on day about fashion, photography and creative natural lighting and backdrops in the quirkiest locations this could be your scene.
Angelique and Dale have just finished the highly successful Youth Week photography workshops.
Enquiries: Margaret 9430 6422 or Angelique 0410 411 040
Angelique Lee
Bookings:margaret.n@ozemail.com.au or 9430 6422

Using the Hair Light

A Hair Light lifts the image and separates it from the background. It adds 'zing' to the shot. A subject who has hair is a good place to start! Outdoors you can use the sun as your hairlight and your fill flash as the main. In this shot we used a 250W Elinchron with a honeycomb snoot about 80cm behind the subject. Model Ellyce Shaw; Make-up Lisa Chapman; Photographer Dale Neill; FACEZ Studio.
Follow me on Twitter @DaleNeill