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Jake Hicks Photography Techniques Archive 2019
Top 5 Jake Hicks Photography Articles of 2019
With 2020 less than a fistful of hours away, let’s look back over the past 365 sleeps to see what was popular in the JHP Archives.
Creating Separation Between Model and Background in Photoshop
Every Monday I ask my FB Page community to participate in my -Share-a-Shoot- post whereupon they share a recent shot they’ve taken in exchange for some feedback from myself. I’ve been doing this every week for what feels like years now, and each and every week I am often mentioning the same things in my responses. Often it’s the subject being lit from below, badly placed hair lights, awkward posing and so on. But the one area that I probably talk about the most is ensuring you have a clear separation between subject and background.
I’m just gonna come clean here and say that I just made up the name ‘corona’ for this lighting setup. In fact the word corona is a commonly used term with solar eclipses. During an eclipse, we can often see the moon silhouetted against a ring of light and the word corona is often used to describe that halo of light we see around the moon.
Review - Lumee LED Light - RGB & Bi-Colour
I guess it’s a sign of the times, but I get sent far more LED lights to test than any other light…. even though I never personally use LEDs.
What's the Best Projector to Buy for my Next Photoshoot?
There are quite literally hundreds, if not thousands of different projectors out there to buy right now and they can range from £10 to over £10,000. But which one should you invest in for your next photoshoot?
Using a Projector in your Photoshoot - Remastered
Edit: Full disclosure; this article is simply a modernised version of an older one I posted a long time ago. That original article can be found here, but it still remains among my top 5 most read articles to date. This remastered edition simply updates some ideas as I get ready to start teaching my new ‘Art of Projection’ training. If you’d like to see some more examples of my more advanced projector shots, then you can find them here and further reading on the topic can be found on my ‘Art of Projection’ page.
Reviewing The 105cm Softbox/Beauty Dish Rice-Bowl Modifier
Full disclosure, I am not a fan of softboxes. In terms of a lighting modifier for portraits and fashion, your average softbox is the vanilla solution. But not only are softboxes poor imitations of medium sized windows, they also have one major drawback that I try to avoid at all costs, their inherent hot-spots. This brighter centre of any modifier can make lighting feel unnatural, plus it’s frustrating to control and manage, but when I was sent this new Pixapro Rice-bowl softbox modifier by Essential Photo to test out, I was actually intrigued by a couple of its features.
Flash Duration - How to Avoid Blurred Flash Images
‘Flash duration’ isn’t a very glamorous topic, but it’s certainly something that every single photographer that uses flash should be aware of.
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 007
"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013 so there is now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact, I’ve been sharing these for so long now that even I have forgotten some of these great artists I share at the beginning. Because so many of these have been lost to time, I thought why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well.
For those of us born in the 1970’s and 80’s, this new phenomenon of mottled, cloudy backdrops appearing in modern portraits is an odd one. You see, back when we were kids, we had horrendously cheesy family and school portraits taken in front of these bizarrely arranged patterns, so to us, it’s pretty weird to see these painted, cloudy backdrops now grace the covers of Vogue and Tatler.
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 006
"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013 so there is now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact, I’ve been sharing these for so long now that even I have forgotten some of these great artists I share at the beginning. Because so many of these have been lost to time, I thought why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well.
Optical Snoot Review
Hard light can be anything from strong sunlight, to snoots, grids or even simple barn doors in a studio. But even with all that, none come close to the true crisp, brilliantly contrasty light of ‘Optical Snoots’.
Imitating Hazy Backgrounds with Diffusion Gels
Shooting in a studio has its advantages. But although being warm, dry and convenient are greatly appreciated, shooting between the same four walls can get a little boring if you’re constantly using them as backgrounds for your shots.
Lensbaby Omni Review
Lensbaby has become a bit of a household name in recent years and for those of us searching for a more unique look to our images, Lensbaby has been there to provide a whole host of creative solutions. Their latest product is no different, but this time around they aren’t producing a new lens, but instead a ‘creative filter system’ called the Omni.
Understanding Light - Hard Light
Being able to look at an image and understand the lighting within it is not crucial to becoming a great photographer. But having the ability to look at another image you love and recognise the qualities that stand out to you will undoubtedly help you to become a better photographer far faster.
Understanding Light - An Introduction
This article aims to look at how we as photographers ‘understand’ light. It may seem obvious to many of you, but to a vast majority of us, it’s simply not quite that easy. But what does it truly mean to understand light? Do we really need to understand light to take great photos? The simple answer is no…. but I guarantee it will help.
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 005
"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013, so there is now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact I’ve been doing it for so long now that even I’ve forgotten some of these great artists so I thought why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well.
5 Modifiers for Photographers on the Move
In this article my aim is to narrow down a handful of modifiers that may well be suitable for shooters on the move and compare certain aspects of each. Aspects like weight, ease of use, assembly time and yes, quality of light too.
Colour in Cinema: Daredevil
An exploration of colour in the hit TV show Daredevil. In this article I show how this is one of the best examples of colour being used as a narrative I’ve ever seen.
Are You Sharpening Your Images Enough?
I’ll own up to this and say that I’m guilty of being stuck in my ways. But age is no excuse for not being as adaptive as I should be to the changing times. But let me explain. Take a look at the changing ideals of what looks good and you may find that you’re not sharpening your images as much as you should be.
Do LEDs Have a Place in Your Kit? Part 3: Lighting Setups for Coloured LED Bulbs
In our final part on using LEDs as photographers, I wanted to share a shoot I did where I replaced the standard tungsten modelling bulbs in my strobe with coloured LED modelling bulbs. Here’s some LED continuous lighting setups for you to try.
Do LEDs Have a Place in Your Kit? Part 2: Coloured LED Modelling Bulbs
In this weeks article I aim to test a selection of cost effective, coloured LED bulbs that can be used in your strobes instead of regular tungsten modelling bulbs. Are they any good? What creative options can they provide us? And is it worth spending a little more to get some decent ones?
Do LED Lights Have a Place in Your Kit? - Part 1: Pros & Cons
In this article I look at what LEDs actually are, how they started out and where they sit in the world of photography now. Many photographers have switched over to using LEDs, but do they have a place in your kit and why aren’t we all using them?
Is Bowens really back?
For those of you that are unaware, a couple of weeks ago (28th Jan 2019) the U.K. online photography retailer WEX photographic, quietly announced that Bowens was coming back and to many, myself included, this was a huge surprise.
Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 004
"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013, so there is now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact I’ve been doing it so long now that even I’ve forgotten some of these great artists so why not try and collate them all into one place for not only myself but for you as well.
Emulating Dappled Light in the Studio
Sometimes the hardest lighting setups to achieve are actually the ones that look the easiest. For years I’ve wanted to emulate that dappled lighting you see through leaves on a sunny day, and here’s how.
Why You Should be Making an Annual Photo Book
In my recent monthly newsletter I spoke about the importance of making a photo book of your own work each year. Shortly after that I received several messages with questions regarding where I get mine made? And what constitutes a ‘good’ photo book in terms of printing and binding etc?
Using a Single DIY Globe Modifier for Simple, Stunning Portraits
An incredibly simple yet brilliantly effective single light beauty/portrait/corporate headshot setup!
Social Media Analytics for JHP 2018
Another year is behind us, and ‘like’ it or not (pun intended), if you’re a professional photographer in the modern day who sells to a global audience, we need to look back and see what social medias were working and how they performed in relation to the past.