Anthony Bianciella's Photography Blog

Winter - Outdoor Photoshoot

2012-01-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

Here are a few shots taken of Lian Price after we shot a series of fitness photos.

It was cold so the hat, coat and gloves gave Lian a chance to warm up a little.

Sharp Dressed Man - Pete Maddocks Model Shoot

2011-06-27T20:51:00.001-04:00

I met Pete through a search of Model Mayhem (proof that it can work). He came out for our Evening Wear shoot and we hit it off great. Pete is a great model and a great guy. He works well with everyone, allows direction and adds creative suggestions on how to get a great shot.

Pete and I both wanted to add to our portfolios so we decided to head out to a spot in NJ across from Manhattan to capture some new shots. A storm had just cleared out and left behind an interesting, cloudy-blue sky. We were both glad that we took the chance of shooting that day even though it had been raining earlier. But with the cool sky and the NYC skyline in the background, the scene was set!

Here's Pete as "the man on the go". Doesn't he look determined to get somewhere important?

I liked this shot with the straight lines behind him. Thought it made an interesting background.

We had plenty of sunlight by the time we started shooting but I also added some light of my own to balance things out. Here's Pete waiting for someone to arrive. Someone with important information. Or maybe someone that has something for him?

I think Pete has a great look. And he's awesome to work with. I hope I can cast in him in a role for a great ad campaign in the future.

Fitness Lifestyle Photos with Lian Price - Fitness & Beauty Model

2011-03-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

As a NASM certified full-time personal trainer and NPC Bikini athlete, Lian Price was looking to build her modeling portfolio with some fitness lifestyle photos. We set out to create images that showed Lian in different workout scenarios.

During our consultation, we talked about what Lian needed in her portfolio and the overall style of the photos. It works out really well when i can meet with my client and models ahead of time. It gives us a chance to get to know each other and to really understand what we all want out of the shoot. Next step...finding the right setting.

We were able to use a local gym with great studio space and lots of workout equipment. One other thing you'll find at a well-equipped gym; mirrored walls, which presents a challenge for getting photos without me in them.

We wanted to showcase Lian's level of fitness and agility. This was probably as tough as a real workout since we took several shots in the same pose. Lian had to hold each pose for the shot. It was a good demonstration of her actual level of fitness.

I also wanted to create some images that looked different than how a typical brightly lit gym might be. See two above and this one below.

For the fully lit shots, you can see how I photographed the original and then used some post processing to create different styles:
We also grabbed some time in one of the yoga studios for a different look.

I really enjoyed working with Lian. She's professional, dedicated and hard working.
It was a fun shoot and I think Lian has the photos she wanted for her portfolio.

Maternity Shoot in the Snow

2011-03-06T22:09:00.000-05:00

It was cold outside when Jaime and Dave had their maternity photo session. Snow everywhere. But they were troopers walking around without coats.

Of course, I had on a heavy coat and gloves.

To their credit, Jaime and Dave were up for almost anything...even a little snowball fight.

It was a great day with a great couple!

Yankee Baseball from the Pit

2010-04-25T00:00:00.003-04:00

Last week, I was on an assignment for (201) Magazine to photograph Jack Curry, commentator for the YES Network. Jack had made arrangements to do the shoot on the field at Yankee Stadium...and I couldn't think of a better place to set the context for the story.

Jack was so genuine and approachable. We worked together to get some shots of him talking to Joe Girardi, manager of the Yankees. Got some others of him around the field and in the Yankee's dugout.

The issue of (201) should be out in June. In the meantime, below are some shots I got of the game that night. The LA Angels were in town and with former Yankee, Hideki Matsui on the team, the Japanese press corp was also there to follow his every move.

I got to see how the pro sports photographers work. They shoot from either side of the dugout in a pit. The fence in front of the pit prevents foul balls from breaking their expensive lenses. And these things cost over $5,000 just for the glass!

In between the action, they scramble to a back room to upload their images and beat the other photogs standing next to them. I made the mistake of taking some shots from one of the photographer's "spots" while he was in back uploading. There seems to be some unwritten rule about where each shooter can stand. I'm sure it has to do with seniority or some other law of the land. Having just arrived from the other side of the field, I hadn't realized that he had occupied that place along the fence. He firmly explained that fact to me on his return but was pretty friendly after he realized that I wasn't trying to grab his turf. Like many things, the photographers around me seemed to take their situation for granted...guess that's part of being a seasoned professional.

It was great to be so close to the action.

Here are some warm up and game shots.

Small Strobes Big Results Workshop

2009-05-26T23:51:00.020-04:00

Eastern State Penitentiary was a great place for a workshop. This American ruin, with paint literally peeling off of the walls, provided stark contrast to the elegant models.

These shots are from a workshop that I attended: "Small Strobes, Big Results", given by David Tejada, world-class commercial photographer. The photos are all taken with one to three small flash units (Nikon SB-800s).

Here is an example of the lighting. David is pushing an SB-800 through an octabox, camera right. Then, he balanced the light with the ambient to get a very natural, but defined light on the model.

Here's another set up with the octabox overhead.

The image came out a lot different than you might expect.
David cut down on the ambient light and used other small strobes to add color to the background.
David approached each scene with a fresh, creative eye. Deciding the lighting technique and set up for the current conditions.

Here are some other shots that I was able to make that day.

Changing the white balance to Tungsten gave everything a blue tint for a different kind of effect that can be done in the camera. No software editing afterwards.

Me and David at the end of the day. He's a great guy and really willing to share his knowledge and experience.

I hope to get back there and explore some more of the place. There are lots of things to find there.

A Day at the Lakota Wolf Preserve

2009-05-03T08:31:00.017-04:00

Hangin' with Wolves

One of my kids had a school trip to the Lakota Wolf Preserve in Columbia, NJ. I was lucky to be a chaperone for the trip (Lucky? Except for the noise on the bus part.)

It was a great trip. The kids seemed to get a lot out of it (plus they got to leave the classroom...and who doesn't like a field trip??).

Of course, I took along my camera and grabbed a few shots along the way.

The wolves live in natural habitats. They were pretty calm that day. It was about 80 degrees and they hadn't lost their winter coats completely. One of the cool parts was when the kids howled at the wolves, which kicked started a chorus of howling back by the wolves. It was pretty amazing. One started to howl. Then another and another. They all joined in.

The challenge for photography was that the wolves are behind a tall fence (probably a good thing - although the keepers told us that the stories of wolves attacking people are not based in reality - so maybe the fences are to protect the wolves).

Shooting through the holes in the fence didn't work because there was another half-height fence between us and the wolf pens. So to get as clear a shot as possible, I used a long lens (my most favorite 70-200mm f/2.8) and looked for wolves that were not right up against the fence. The long lens let me get a closer shot from all the way back. With subjects that weren't right up against the fence, the camera focused "around" the fence. You can still see the "haze" of the fence in some of the shots. But some are pretty clear.

Sometimes the autofocus wouldn't lock, hunting back and forth between the fence and the wolf. I had to focus manually in those cases. But most times, it was able to look beyond the fence and lock on to the wolves.

Lakota offers photographer visits where they open a special place in the fence to allow for an unimpeded shot of the wolves. Maybe I'll organize a photographer's trip in the future. They are really interesting animals...especially in person.

The Financial Crunch Can Be Sweet

2009-03-25T22:05:00.011-04:00

Lisa Nalen has her own Stimulus Package.

Lisa's company, Sweet Assets, stimulates the economy and taste buds too. offers "serious chocolate with a cents of humor"TM. And her clever play on words brings new meaning to high finance.

I first met Lisa last year when I was asked to photograph her for Princeton Magazine. They were doing a story on local, food-based entrepreneurs.

Within a few minutes of meeting Lisa, it was clear that like many entrepreneurs, she had great passion for her business. My hope was to capture a glimpse of that passion and confidence in the photos.

We used a bookshelf full of product as the background. We didn't have a lot of room to move around but I was able to use a shoot through umbrella with a speed light for the key light on Lisa. Shooting through the umbrella meant that I could put it up pretty close and still keep it out of the frame. I also used a second speed light to take out the shadows behind her.

Recently, I photographed some of the chocolate products for use in catalogs, brochures and on the web. The entire line of gourmet chocolate is creatively themed around financially sounding names. Check 'em out...

Financial CrunchTM - a "banker's dozen" of milk chocolate coins delivered in a strong, green tin

Nest EggTM - a milk chocolate egg filled with dark chocolate coins.
Think Easter!!!

Short ChangeTM - a treasure box of dark chocolate coins

Credit SweetTM - a dark chocolate bullion bar

Stimulus PackageTM - "a diversified portfolio of Sweet Assets products"

To get these product shots, I used three lights against a white seamless background. You can see that I used all Nikon speed lights. I have one SB-900 (camera right), one SB-800 (camera left) and one SB-600 strapped to a boom for the background.

Shoot through umbrellas softened up the light and kept the reflections to a minimum. Having the camera and light at the proper angles relative to each other also minimizes reflections. It's a similar technique for people wearing glasses. And since light falls off quickly (inverse square law), a third light was needed on the background. Otherwise the white background would have appeared gray. As it is, the background looks a bit less white relative to the background of this blog page.

I controlled and triggered the flashes from my camera using Nikon CLS. I have to say, it's great to be able to control the power of the flashes from the camera. I was working in pretty tight quarters so using CLS meant that I didn't need to climb over things to change power. Really great!!!

So Lisa is taking her bite out of these tough economic times with Sweet Assets. Great chocolate can brighten your day and don't forget, according to the experts, dark chocolate is good for you!!!

Chef on the Move

2009-03-01T21:47:00.019-05:00

Anthony Pierrard is a personal gourmet chef who has created his own line of all natural marinara sauce. Inspired by his daughter Gillian, who Anthony says loves his sauce, Gillian's Gourmet Sauce Tomate, is great over pasta and can be used as the main ingredient in several recipes.

I had the opportunity to photograph Anthony and Gillian for Princeton Magazine. Anthony was offering samples of the sauce to shoppers at McCaffery's in Princeton. I watched and shot as he made friends with everyone that went by. Even speaking in his native French with some of the customers. Then switching to Italian (he was a chef in Italy for some time), he talked about recipes with another woman. Check out Anthony's recipes including those for avocado soup, Gillian's Lasagna and gazpacio.

Anthony has been moving his sauce store by store. Starting in McCaffery's
and now in four different Wegman's and Whole Foods too, including one of the largest in New York City. His hard work is paying off.

In addition to his commitment to creating an all natural sauce, Anthony donates 1% of profits to 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet.

Natural food and a healthy planet...a great combination. I really enjoyed meeting Anthony and we remain friends today.

Shoot Details:
Supermarkets are well lit. After all , we need to see the food in the best light. I added one small strobe to the right of the camera to fill in the shadows. I fired it remotely using the Nikon CLS, triggered by the pop up flash commander on my camera. I used a a small diffuser on the flash. It was positioned directly across from Anthony and pointed at him.

I stood back several feet from the action since I was using the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I was able to get great isolation of the subject from the background in many of the shots.

Privacy Note: One woman came up to me and in an annoyed tone asked me how it was that I was taking pictures in the market without asking her permission. Of course, I'm not an expert on the laws but in reality, as long as the management allowed me to photograph (which they did), it was OK for me to take pictures without people's individual permission. This is because people were in a public place and had no reasonable expectation of privacy. Now, I didn't explain that to the concerned woman...I just made sure that she was not in any of my photos. In fact, I normally don't publish pictures of people (where you can recognize them) who haven't given me their permission.

Gregorio's Restaurant Shoot

2009-02-13T23:55:00.025-05:00

On Assignment in Chatham New Jersey

I had the chance to photograph Gregory Farruggio, Owner/Chef, and his wife, Alessandra, at their restaurant, Gregorio's in Chatham, NJ. The shoot was for Milburn-Short Hills & Summit Magazines.

During the shoot, Greg and I spent some time talking about what he and Alessandra had created at Gregorio's. He is passionate about every detail from the color of the walls to the presentation of each wonderful dish. The menu is full of Mediterranean influence with just the right balance of "art" and broad appeal so everyone can find something special that they'll like.

Greg and Alessandra have created a place where people can relax and enjoy a great meal with tons of fresh ingredients and flavor.
I caught a few shots of fresh ravioli filled with butternut squash in the making.

And I highly recommend the pan seared tuna with eggplant caponata, herb pappardelle pasta, and a red wine reduction for a quiet explosion of flavor (above). Bennisimo!

Some technical details of the shoot:
Gregorio's has a large window and since it was daytime, I took advantage of the indirect sunlight to light the front of the dining room. I did need to bounce a Nikon SB-800 speedlight off of the white ceiling to add some fill light to the rear part of the dining room. I triggered the speedlight using Nikon's wireless Creative Lighting System (CLS). I seem to bounce between using TTL and manual when doing this. Either way, it's really convenient to be able to control the flash output from the camera, especially when the light is 20 feet away. For this shot, I used TTL. And even though you generally need to place the flash within the line of sight of the camera in order to get the signal from the camera to the flash, I placed the flash behind a shelf to hide it from the shot. Since there wasn't a lot of bright light, the flash picked up the triggering signal and fired every time.
For the portrait of Greg and Alessandra, I used a Nikon SB-900 with a small shoot-through umbrella as the key light and the indirect sunlight as fill. Again I used the Nikon CLS to trigger the SB-900. One drawback of this approach, however, is that the trigger, the pop up flash on my Nikon D300, fires a pre-flash to give the remote flash instructions on how and when to fire. Sometimes this pre-flash will cause people to blink just as the remote flash fires and the shutter opens for the shot. This turned out to be the case for this shot. That's when I turned to a pair of Pocket Wizards to trigger the flash instead. Since these are radio triggers, there is no pre-flash to cause people to blink. This worked for catching open eyes instead of blinking. I had to give up back of the camera control though.

I also gave up TTL mode of the remote flash. I switched the SB-900 over to manual and took it down to 1/4 power. I also dragged the shutter a bit to allow some ambient light in, lightening up the background. This change worked for dealing with closed eyes but it also shifted the white balance to a blue cast. With two very busy people in front of me, there wasn't a lot of time to mess with gray cards, so I opted to fix the color cast later in Lightroom.

If you happen to live in the Chatham area, look for the magazine in April. And stop by Gregorio's for a great meal.