N-photo POTY
The flash and studio lighting round of our photo competition
The search for the world’s best Nikon photographer of 2019 continues! Each issue the monthly
N-photo POTY 2019 photo contest’s top 10 images are selected by the N-photo team – along with a guest judge. This issue’s competition has the theme of studio and flash photography, and who better to join our judging panel than Nikon USA Ambassador Joe Mcnally?
After a solid few months of shooting with a Nikon mirrorless camera, I can safety say that the Nikon Z 7 will be a permanent addition to my kit bag. I bit the bullet and bought one, and have been banging on it pretty hard, and now I’m completely convinced of its worth. I also ordered a Z 6, because – why not? Some measure of mirrorless system will now be in the bag at all times. The handy FTZ adapter gave no signs of image degradation or loss of edge sharpness. Having it all together just gives me another wrinkle, another angle of attack on a job, another potential layer of hopefully appropriate approach. And the truly beautiful thing is that you’ve got 90% of the viewfinder covered with AF points.
1. Bluebell Queen By David Shelley
This is a fabulous outdoor portrait, subtly balancing daylight with David’s Godox AD200 studio flash head in a softbox to gently light Charlie, his model. Her clothing has been carefully chosen to match the bluebells that surround her, and David used a blue smoke grenade to enable him to capture the beautiful sunrays streaming through the trees, adding to the atmosphere of the shot.
2. Can Can By David Boam
To capture the erratic and constant movement of the dancer, David used a combination of continuous and strobe lighting. When balanced properly and using a correct exposure, the movement is captured as a blur, which is frozen at durations throughout the exposure with a blip of flash. He tells us that the final image is a Photoshop composite to add the fitting stage background.
3. Red Lady By Steven Barber
This warm and beautifully processed portrait works wonderfully well with the sultry background. It’s clear that Steven picked this background to enhance his clever choice of red lipstick, sunglasses and the adorable ribbon. The soft vignette around the edges of the frame helps to draw the viewer in closer to the red lady of this delightfully straightforward and classical photograph.
4. The Dilemma By Elena Paraskeva
Begging more questions than it answers, this unique image invites viewers to glean their own meaning from the vibrant colours and interesting choices in props. The sharp and well-lit composition leaves no room for second guessing, and allows you to focus entirely on trying to uncover the secrets that this photo presents.
5. Little Bear By Tracey Dobbs
Tracey wanted the light to be very soft on the baby, and she just wasn’t getting it with a powerful strobe. To help soften the lighting, she diffused it with a bed sheet. This allowed her to open up the aperture and achieve a shallow depth of field, helping create this soft and subtle, dream-like look.
6. Highlight on Ollie By Dani Clarke
After just finishing taking images of another dog, Dani thought she’d try to get a shot of her own dog Ollie with the simple backdrop and softbox lighting.
7. Floral Dress By Wayne Kliewer
Wayne confesses that he used almost every bit of lighting kit he could get his hands on, and says that balancing all the gels was a pain, but it paid off, resulting in this serene image. The freshly picked flowers lend a natural beauty to the composition.
8. Kara Van-gypsy By Elly Russ ell
Shot with two Nikon SB-5000 Speedlights, one with a strip softbox and one behind with a blue gel, this photo captures the atmosphere of the city streets.
9. Papa
By Shaun fox
This humourous character portrait of Shaun’s grandfather (Papa) was taken for his portraiture unit in college. Shaun used a snoot to light Papa’s face and had to adjust the lighting to avoid big hotspots on his head. Shaun reveals he also used an opaque sheet of plastic to soften the lighting.
10. The Inverse Square By Matthew Crosb y
Matthew took this shot during a lighting workshop demonstrating light fall-off according to the inverse square law. It may have been a practical demo, but Matthew loved the rim light that highlighted model Tizianna’s features, creating a partial silhouette while plunging the rest of her into deep shadow.